Aether

Chapter Forty-Three

Sora's Pov

__________

Come to find out it was right around the time of New Years and I had completely forgotten about it. The only way I had been reminded of it was because of the festivities going on around all of Ninjago. We could see it as we flew over the towns and cities on our way back to Steep Wisdom. Well, at least we were all together and alive for the New Years, right? I was trying to be a bit more optimistic with everything going on, especially since Lloyd was in the dumps, trying to rest while checking on Hikaru. Misako and Sensei Wu both checked on him again the moment he got his necklace back and right before we landed and according to them, he was doing a lot better now with the necklace. Could it be like an elemental object? Kinda like the boys had elemental swords? In a way it made me think of a handicap for children to learn how to use their powers and only needed it in emergencies, and that's exactly what was going on right now. Hopefully he would heal a lot quicker with his necklace back. But who's to say he would be back by the time we would need him to fight Morro? We could only continue to remain optimistic as we prepared ourselves.

We had seen glimpses of Morro in Stiix, but Sensei Wu insisted we head to Steep Wisdom. I walked out on deck with the others and jumped off the side, hearing Kai ask. "Shouldn't we be going to Stiix? The longer we wait, the worse it'll get." Kai said, walking over to Sensei Wu as the rest of us jumped off the Bounty and walked up to the building without him. "We need to stock up." I heard Sensei Wu explain to him. Jay turned around and asked. "On what? Magic tea that will make us invincible? Give us special powers? Is it gonna give us four arms?" I frowned at his words, nudging him when he said the four arms part as we walked closer to the building. Lloyd was with us by this point as all of us that were able and ready were to be a part of this and we wanted to see what Sensei Wu had in store for us. He never did elaborate on what we needed to stock up on exactly and he still won't.

That was when I noticed a big sign with a red 'X' on the doors to Steep Wisdom, making my mouth fall agape. "Sadly, no magical tea today. I had to sell the rest of the merchandise along with everything else." Sensei Wu said, making the others notice the big red X as well on the door. "What? You sold your business? But that was for your retirement!" Zane exclaimed, looking at Sensei confused. Just as he said that, the doors busted open and revealed Dr. Borg. "Ah! Hello again, ninja!" He greeted us, making me give him a small smile. "While we were away, I had Borg use the money from the tea farm to create us some new toys to balance the scales. They are expensive, you know." Sensei Wu said, stepping to the side so Borg could roll his wheelchair forward to see all of us more.

"It's been so long, I hardly recognize any of you." He said, looking at all of us as he started to speak again. "Lloyd looks older. I see a water ninja. A titanium nindroid. Cole is...uh a ghost uh—Sora's growing his hair out. Jay looks shorter. Then there's Kai— but uh, where's Hikaru?" Borg said, making me reach for my hair which was a little longer since he had last seen us. It wasn't long or anything! But it was a little longer since then. "Hey! What do you mean I look shorter?" Jay asked with narrowed eyes. "Hikaru is out of commission, you see. He's resting right now." Zane explained, making Lloyd frown and turn away sadly. He was still upset about what Hikaru's current condition is. Don't get me wrong, we're all happy he's even alive, but it's just sad to know he's not awake to help us or to be around us in general.