Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 59- Memories

J A Y

Falling

Falling

Falling

With a gasp, I opened my eyes. I was back in the darkness.

But... but that was okay, for now.

I'd managed to break free.

I'd seen Nya. I could almost laugh. I'd managed to—somehow, I'd pushed him back just long enough to see her. She was there. Close enough that I could reach out and touch her, and—

She was going to save me! She was going to save me, and everything was going to be okay.

The thought made me feel lighter than I had in ages, like I could finally breathe again. I didn't know how long I'd been stuck here, drowning in this suffocating black void, but it didn't matter now. Nothing did. Nya knew. She'd seen me. She'd save me.

I closed my eyes—and let that feeling wash over me.
Relief.
A spark of warmth in the never-ending cold. I wanted to hold on to it, but something was nagging at the back of my mind. A pressure, a whisper I couldn't quite make out.

Kai. Lloyd.

I frowned, the warmth slipping away. Those names—why did they sound so familiar? They buzzed around my thoughts like fireflies, but every time I reached for them, they darted out of reach. I couldn't see them—couldn't picture faces, or hear voices. Just names, faint and hollow. No meaning. Empty.

But Nya talked about them like I knew who they were.

The Overlord has been messing with my mind. Maybe I do know them.

I need to remember.

A chill crept through me, and I forced myself to focus. No, don't panic.

Kai. Lloyd.

The names were important. I knew that. I was sure of it. But the harder I tried to hold onto them, the more they seemed to slip away, sinking back into the void.

Kai. Lloyd.

"You're wasting your time."

The voice echoed, clawing through the darkness like nails on stone. I flinched, trying to turn towards it even thought it came from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"You think she's going to save you?" The Overlord's tone was dripping with disdain, wrapping around my mind like barbed wire. "She can't. And she won't."

"No," I whispered, forcing the word through clenched teeth. "She will. She will."

His laughter rattled the void, making my skin crawl, and I could feel the darkness pressing in tighter, seeping into me. "You really believe that?" he sneered. "She's terrified of you. Afraid of the monster you've become. Didn't you see her face, Jay? Didn't you see how she looked at you?"

I swallowed hard, trying to block him out. I had seen it—fear. Panic. Maybe even a flicker of pure terror and heartbreak. My stomach twisted. But I had to believe she still wanted to help me.

She wouldn't give up.

The Overlord didn't stop. "Your precious friends don't know you anymore. You're nothing to them. A broken, hollow thing wearing the face of someone they used to trust."

The pressure in my chest grew heavier, suffocating. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold on to that shred of hope, but it was slipping—bleeding out of me like sand through my fingers.