Flames of the Past #4: A Tangle of Lies (A Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

"We have to tell the others," Cole huffed as he, Zane, and Nya hurried down the hall. Zane held the remains of the disguised bomb; the ice cube had eventually melted.

"Kai and Jay are still with the queen," Nya reminded him.

"Then we can't tell them yet," Cole responded. "Not with so many people around."

"Where's Lloyd?" Zane wondered.

"That's a good question," Cole mumbled, glancing from one ninja to the other.

"He was in our bedroom a while ago," Nya offered.

"Then we'll start there. Pixal and Misako should know too, anyway." Cole continued to lead the way back toward the bedrooms, feeling his heart pound in his chest. From finding out Chen could still be alive to realizing whoever bombed Shillvaron was right under their noses, he couldn't help nibbling on his necklace. It was only then he remembered they had never uncovered the spy.

The three ninja entered the girls' bedroom. To their relief, Lloyd was inside, sitting beside Misako on her bed and watching Laurie chase Kitty around the room. Pixal was reading on her own bed.

"Lloyd," Cole began urgently, walking over to him.

The green ninja's head snapped up, his face immediately hardened. "What's up?" he demanded, rising to his feet.

As the others gathered around, Zane held out the glittering crumbs of the bomb. "We found this," he explained.

Lloyd stared down at it. "What the heck is that?" he snapped.

Nya glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one else had come in. "It's a bomb," she murmured.

Abruptly, Lloyd drew back. "A bomb?"

"Was a bomb," Cole corrected her. "Someone was watching us, and when we chased them, they dropped it."

Lloyd stepped closer again. "A bomb as in... the same bombs that destroyed Shillvaron's palace?" he guessed.

"That's the theory."

"So whoever did it is here." Lloyd looked up at the black ninja and his eyes blazed with fury. "Who was it?" he snarled. "I'll tear them limb to limb for causing my father's death!"

With a grunt, Cole took hold of the green ninja's shoulders. "Calm down, and we'll tell you!" he spat back.

Lloyd yanked himself away from the black ninja, growling softly. He folded his arms tightly across his chest. "So you know?" he prompted.

"When we found your father, we also found a carving he left for us," Cole explained. "It was the letter C. We think he was trying to spell the name of the guy behind this."

Lloyd looked from him, to Nya, to Zane, and back again. "And I'm guessing you think you know who it is?" he grunted.

Cole met his gaze. "Chen."

Lloyd's face dropped. He glanced at his mother, but she seemed just as shocked. "Wait," he stammered, "isn't Chen dead?"

"We don't know that for sure."

"Don't we?"

"Chen was involved in dark magic, too," Zane broke in. "Anything is possible."

"With that kind of magic, he could've easily created a cloud of smoke around him," Cole agreed.

Lloyd bit his lip and began to pace the floor. "But my dad thought he was dead, too," he remembered.

"The guy that killed him—the Mage?—I'm guessing he revealed himself, since he knew Garmadon was going to die," Nya replied.