Mamoritai 3 - A Llorumi story

11. Zane

Notes: Summer break is finally here! Jeez, I'm so happy. So here's a new chapter for you guys! Enjoy!

Words: 1666

It was time for round two. Aspheera spun into spinjitzu, but so did Lloyd. He and Aspheera collided and an epic fight broke out between the two. Goddamn, Lloyd was... hot... I mean powerful. And hot. I mean! Lloyd got struck down by Aspheera and the second scroll flew out of his hand, but Jay snatched it. Then Jay and Aspheera began fighting, but soon Jay was also knocked over. Cole gladfully snatched the scroll and attacked Aspheera. Cole got a couple of good punches in, but then... the scroll flew right in front of me... I panicked. I decided to pick it up, hesitantly. "Rumi!" Lloyd yelled out. I picked the staff up and I felt like nothing before. I felt like I found my life's purpose in one blink. I felt... indestructible. I felt like the greatest life force on this earth. I felt the power consume every cell of mine, it felt like I was on fire. "Look out!" Wu yelled. I looked up and saw that Aspheera had just... obliterated the mech that was between us! Now was my time. My time to show that I am not weak. That I don't need anyone. I am the savior of this world. This is my time. I charged at Aspheera, when suddenly. A million things started to go through my mind. I saw a weird goblin, I saw a giant water snake, I saw Ninjago City destroyed, I saw a young girl, I saw an old Lloyd. My mind felt like it was going to explode. I-it was too much! I saw robots more advanced than Pixal or Zane, I saw Lloyd as an Oni, I saw the other ninja with weird wings. I felt my body collapse on the ground. Then it stopped.

I blinked and my sight was back. I looked around to see that I had dropped the scroll, it was now in front of Zane. Aspheera was now staring at Zane. "Leave my friends alone!" He yelled as he charged at Aspheera. I felt lightheaded and saw that Lloyd was running over to me. Zane jumped up and down, freezing every snake, including Aspheera. "Nooooo!" She yelled as she froze. The rest of her army tried to flee, but Zane froze them before they could. "Holy cow!" Cole exclaimed, astonished. "H-how'd you do that?" Jay wondered. "It is the power of the Scroll of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. Zane, give it to me." Wu explained. Zane turned around, but... He looked like he did not want to give the staff over. Lloyd was now next to me. "Are you okay!" He asked, worried. "Yeah... I'm fine." I answered as Lloyd helped me get up. "Zane!" Wu commanded. Then Zane walked over to Wu. He was about to hand the scroll over to Wu, but then I noticed. Aspheera's hand broke free from the ice. "Look out!" I yelled, in panic. Aspheera shot a spell towards Wu and!... Zane pushed Wu out of the way and he... He disappeared! "Oh no! Zane!" Nya yelled. We all ran to the spot, where Zane had just been two seconds ago. "Zane!" Cole yelled as well. "No!" Pixal yelled out in shock. Did he... Did Aspheera... We stared at the empty spot in total disbelief. "Zane..." Pixal said quietly, kneeling down over the spot. I leaned on Lloyd, in shock. This... this can't be...

It had been five days since Zane's... passing away. Melancholy had taken over the monastery. Everyone was mourning, but Pixal... she was destroyed. She had been seeing nightmares about it, every single night. My room was next to her's, so I always woke up to her screaming and went to comfort her. And this night was no different. It was about three in the morning on a Friday night. "Pixal?" I asked as I entered her room once again. I sat down next to her. She was holding a picture frame of him and Zane, once again. "I was dreaming about the moment he... he..." She mumbled. "It's okay, I understand." I said as I rubbed her back. "I find it difficult to accept that he is gone..." She said quietly. "Me too, we all do. It just... doesn't feel real..." I answered, trying to comfort her. "Ninja! Wake up! Right now!" We heard Wu's voice all of a sudden. "What the-?" I wondered, but was cut off by Wu's yelling. "It's about Zane! Meet me in the living room, now!" He continued. I have never seen a person get up and ran out of their room, as fast as Pixal did. I ran after her. A spark of hope was ignited in me. I ran out to the corridor and saw that the other ninja were drowsily opening their shoji's and running after Wu.

After five minutes, we were all gathered in the living room. "Zane's alive!" Wu blurted out. "What!" We all yelled out. Everyone started to shoot questions at Wu. "Quiet, all of you!" Wu silenced us. "I spoke to Aspheera at Kryptarium prison. She didn't destroy Zane. She banished him to a distant realm." Wu explained. "Well what are we waiting for? We gotta go after him!" Kai yelled. "Yeah! What realm?" Lloyd asked. "The Never-Realm." Wu answered. What the hell? Lloyd has told me about the 16 realms, but that one does not sound familiar? "The Never-Realm?" I wondered out loud. "I've never heard of it." Cole continued. "There are a few who have." Wu answered. "What's the Never-Realm?" Lloyd asked. "According to legend, it is the most distant and remote of all realms. My father only spoke of it to me once... in warning. He told me of all the realms of creation, it was the one I should never visit. He told me it was a cold and dangerous place. He forbade it." Wu explained. "Uhhh... 'forbade', as in absolutely forever?" Jay asked. "Why?" Kai asked. "Yeah, what's wrong with it?" Cole continued. "I don't know. He went there only once, and said he nearly couldn't find his way home. He said it was unlike the other realms. He warned me that others would not be as fortunate." He explained.

"Well that's just great! Creepy and vague..." Jay said sarcastically. "I will use Aspheera's staff to find Zane. It banished him there. It will work for me too. Once I have found him, I will use the Traveller's Tea to bring us both home." Wu said. "You mean, all seven of us, because we're going with you!" Lloyd corrected. Wait... seven? Isn't there eight of us? "Yeah!" Kai said. "Absolutely not! I cannot allow it! What happened to him was my fault. It is my responsibility." Wu answered. Was Lloyd going to leave me here? Alone? Again... "Hey. no way! We're not sitting this one out!" Kai said. "Zane's our brother!" Jay continued. "Enough! I will not risk any more lives. My foolishness has already caused us enough damage. My decision is final." Wu forbade. Everyone in the room glared at each other, but I just stared at Lloyd. I can't believe he was going to leave me all alone, again! "Okay... we understand, master." Lloyd finally sighed. "But this feels a little rushed. Maybe you should sleep on it. For a night, to come up with a game plan." Lloyd pointed out. "A game plan?" Wu questioned. "You know, what you always say that we have to have." Cole added. Wu sighed deeply. "Very well. I will meditate on it." Wu answered and left the room.

After Wu had left, I wanted to talk to Lloyd. I wanted to talk about this whole... leaving me out of missions. But then I swear, Lloyd winked at everyone. What the hell was that about? Everyone started to leave the living room, so I saw my opportunity to speak. "Lloyd?" I said. "What is it?" He said, turning around with a smile. "Well, I just thought that we could talk about something that's been on my mind." I said. Lloyd went quiet. He sighed. "Yeah, sure." He said with a smile and sat on the couch. I sat next to him and swallowed, trying to clear my mind. "I understand that I'm not a real ninja, and I understand that I'm not in the best... state right now, but I-" I was interrupted by Lloyd. "Wait, who said you're not a real ninja?" Lloyd asked suddenly. That's the thing he noticed? "Well ya know, I'm not an elemental master or a samurai, so..." I answered. "First of all, you don't have to be an elemental master to be a ninja. Second of all, you definitely have powers. Remember, when you got hold of the Forbidden Scroll?" Lloyd asked. "Yeah, I felt... weird..." I answered. "Like you had all the power in the world?" Lloyd added. "Yeah, exactly. But it's the whole idea of the scroll. It makes you feel super powerful." I corrected. "Well, it doesn't happen to people without powers. When Pixal carried the scroll away, she felt fine. Also, I saw your face. What was going inside your head? It looked like it... hurted?" Lloyd wondered. All the vision came back to me. I hadn't told Lloyd about them yet, because I thought he should get over Zane first. But now I was doubting this decision. "Well... I- or me and Wu... or maybe just Wu. Anyway! We think that I might have... psychic abilities." I answered quietly. Lloyd's face dropped, but in a good way? He looked... excited? "No way! My girlfriend can see the future!" He said excitedly. The word "girlfriend" still sent shivers down my back and gave me a warm feeling. "Well, not yet exactly. I first have to... learn to control my demons or whatever, but that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about!" I cut myself off.