Finding Jay ⚡️

Chapter 24- Forgotten

     Nya ignored the buzzing of conversations around her. She didn't really care what they were saying. All she could think about was the confused look on Jay's face. She replayed the moment he pushed her away again and again in her head. Her worst nightmare, playing out a hundred times in the same way. Nya didn't even notice as tears began to blur her vision. Suddenly, the conversations stopped. Nya realized everyone was looking at her, and she felt her cheeks heat up. She couldn't be this weak, especially in front of the younger ninja. Kai, who was sitting next to her, gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She didn't want to meet his concerned gaze, looking everywhere in the room but his face. They were back at the monastery, and Kai had just finished telling the rest of the team what had happened. They all seemed to be expecting her to say something, but Nya couldn't force herself to spout out some positive nonsense.
     "What do we do now?" Sora asked, voicing what the whole group had been thinking.
     "We're going to find Lord Ras and make him pay for whatever he did to Jay," Kai declared angrily.
     "How? We don't know where he is," Arin asked quietly.
     "But we know what he wants," Zane informed them. "That medallion they stole? It's part of a set. The three combined could bring back the Blood Moon." Gasps were heard around the table. No one was too eager to have a repeat of the last Blood Moon.
     "Lord Ras is trying to summon the Forbidden Five again," Cole growled.
     "Which is exactly why we need to find the medallions before him," Lloyd declared. "Zane, any ideas where they could be?"
     "It took some digging, but I was able to locate the second one, the Medallion of Power." Zane said, a grim expression on his face.
     "You don't seem thrilled," Cole observed.
      "Do you remember the tournament of elements? Well, the second medallion is a prize to a tournament a lot like that one," Zane explained. The older ninja exchanged meaningful glances, remembering their time on Chen's Island.
     "Who cares?" Kai scoffed. "Everything turned out fine last time." Lloyd glanced down, remembering how his dad had sacrificed himself to defeat Chen's snake army. Kai winced. "Sorry Lloyd."
     "This one is an underground fight club called the Gladiator Games," Zane said solemnly.
     "And?" Kai asked impatiently.
     "And," Zane continued, "Gladiators were ancient Roman warriors who fought to the death." The room fell silent.
     "So to win the Medallion, we need to kill people?" Arin asked, dread etched into his features.
     "We're ninja, we don't kill," Lloyd assured him.
      "Then how are we going to get the Medallion?" Wyldfire demanded.
       "We'll find a way. We always do," Lloyd told her. "Everyone, we've got a mission to plan. I want to leave by the end of this week." The group began to break up, but Nya felt glued to her chair. If Lord Ras had wiped Jay's memory, that meant their entire relationship had been erased. Nya had been missing him so much it hurt for years, and he didn't even know who she was. She would've laughed if it hadn't been so painful. To think for those brief peaceful months before the merge they had been foolish enough to believe they could live a happy life together. She should've learned by now. Jay and Nya never get a break. The universe seemed dead set on teasing them with brief happiness before snatching it away. Dying of tiger widow venom, Jay getting stranded in the first realm, merging with the sea; everything horrible that had happened to them, Nya had been able to get through it because she had Jay. He somehow managed to give her hope in even the worst situations. He knew how to make her smile and laugh when no one else could. Now he didn't even remember any of those things. All of the struggles that had made them who they were, the trials that had bonded them together, were gone.
      Jay you idiot, she thought furiously, How am I supposed to do this without you?
     "Nya?" Cole asked gently from the doorway, noticing she hadn't moved. The rest of the team had left, already making plans for the upcoming mission.
     "He doesn't know who we are, Cole. He doesn't-" she whispered, her voice breaking. "He doesn't know how much we love him." Cole sat down beside her, head falling into his hands.
     "I know," he said softly. "But we'll remind him. We'll bring him home and he'll remember." Nya nodded, convincing herself he was telling the truth. Because if she didn't believe Cole's words, Nya knew she wouldn't have the strength it took to bring Jay back. And no matter what she had to do, she would bring him back. He would remember.