A Hero's Protection

Understanding

Caroline looked around the room which was filled with morning light. It had been a month since she had woken up and she still didn't remember very much. The ninja had told her all about their adventures, but she still didn't see everything clearly.

The ninja told her about her powers and her ability to fight. They really wanted her to try, but she refused. She was scared to try it in fear of hurting herself or doing something she didn't want to do. Lloyd had told her how eager she had been to try and test her limits before, so why did her personality change so much?

Today she was isolating herself from the Ninja. She didn't need them trying to activate her memories, she just needed to sort everything out for herself. She sat down, going over all the things the Ninja had told her about her life.

She didn't have any memory of when they found her, or she found them. Slowly she started to regain her memory, about her name, what she had told them about her past, and something about her sister?

There was something they wouldn't show her. A letter of some sort. Apparently, when she had read that letter she had been cursed or something. Black smoke had surrounded her and it took a while for it to disappear. The ninja were unable to contain it, and it got absorbed back into me before I woke up.

The ninja had said something about a tea or potion or something that could show her a memory. That's where it all began. Maybe she could take it again, relive a memory. Maybe that will activate her memories again.

Caroline felt strange. She didn't exactly remember anything yet, but everything seemed familiar. She just couldn't put a finger on it. A plan started to form in Caroline's head. If she took the tea to remember something, then she could read the letter again. But what if it would end with the same result?

Shaking her head, Caroline decided to take a walk. She stepped outside her room and walked around the courtyard, stopping at the mural that had been painted on the wall. Eleven different moments in time were depicted.

Caroline scanned them all, her eyes stopping on the one on the far right in the bottom row. There was a golden tornado, the tornado of creation if Caroline was remembering right. She recalled the ninja telling her that they used it to defeat the oni when they had rescued her.

The oni. Caroline looked around the courtyard, wondering if there were any ninjas nearby. All plans of keeping away from the ninja dissolved as she went back into the monastery, hoping to find the ninja.

"Zane," Caroline called, spotting the titanium ninja. He was walking down the hallway, probably to do some training outside. "I have a question for you."

"What's the question?" Zane asked in his robotic voice. Caroline met him and turned around, walking back outside.

"You guys defeated the oni, right? With that golden tornado thing." Caroline began, not sure what to ask.

"The tornado of creation," Zane nodded, correcting her. "It was the only way to defeat the darkness. With creation."

"Darkness," Caroline pondered. "Like as in black? You guys were talking about black stuff covering the city. What did that black stuff do exactly?" They had reached the courtyard and Zane pushed a button, making the training equipment come up from out of the ground.

"We do not know for sure," He replied. "Cole could give you a better definition. My database tells me that it suffocated you and turned you to stone. It was Oni magic."

"Oni magic," Caroline murmured. "Did it match the smoke you said you saw surrounding me?" Where was she getting these ideas? Zane thought for a moment before nodding.

"They do seem similar," He looked at her questioningly. "Where is this going? Did you find a way to regain your memory?"

"I believe so," Caroline said, surprising herself. "I mean, I'm only going off of things you guys have told me. If the magic you saw around me was similar to that covering the city we can assume that it's Oni magic. As you guys saw it seemed to reactivate when I saw that letter. Maybe I remembered everything or something. Either way, they didn't want me to remember who I was."

"I bet they did not foresee us defeating them," Zane added, now giving Caroline his full attention, forgetting about training. "We were able to defeat them with creation, but I do not see how this might help you. In theory, all the oni magic had been destroyed, so there would be no way you would still have some inside of you. Everyone else who was affected has returned to normal."

"I think we need to get more opinions," Caroline looked at Zane. "Not that you aren't any help, but I think Wu might be able to help as well." Zane agreed and they went to search for Wu. They had found the rest of the ninja in the game room and gathered everyone together outside.

After telling everyone what they had concluded about Oni magic there was some speculation as to how this information might help, none of which seemed helpful.

"The magic would have to be attacked when it is weakest," Wu said after a full discussion as to why they could not do the tornado of creation again. "That seems to be when Caroline remembers the most about her life."

"But she said she doesn't remember anything," Kai pointed out. "Only the stuff we've been telling her."

"Remember how you told me that you gave me tea to help me remember?" Caroline asked, looking at Wu. "Do you think I could have some of that again?"

"That tea might not work a second time," Wu said sadly, shaking his head. "I don't know if it is safe to give it to you again." Caroline looked at the ninja, determined to figure this out.

"I'm willing to take that chance," Caroline announced "It won't unlock all my memories, but I can read the letter again and," But she was unable to finish her thought.

"We are not doing that again," Lloyd stood up, looking at Caroline. Caroline stared back, surprised that he would be against her. "That's too risky."

"It may be the only chance. Like Wu said, that's when the magic is the weakest," Nya jumped to Caroline's defense, trying to catch on to what she was saying.

"You remember last time, we couldn't do anything about it!" Lloyd defended himself. "We don't know anything about this, what if it kills her the second time?" It took a moment for those words to sink in. Everyone stared at one another, now scared about the unknown.

"We don't have to know everything right now," Jay piped up. "We didn't know what we were doing when we started training Lloyd, but we still gave it our best shot. We never know what's going to happen when we jump into battle. We may have a plan, but when has that plan ever gone smoothly?" "Jay's right," Cole nodded his head. "It's enough that we know it's Oni magic. We need to activate her memories in order to do anything about it." Everyone nodded in agreement, but Lloyd still seemed unconvinced.