Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 64- Exchange

Z A N E

Wu approached us slowly, his steps light. His expression was unreadable—stoic, yet weary—and his robes were torn in several places, still faintly scorched from the lighting. None of us said anything as he neared. There wasn't much strength left for words, to be honest.

We were all too broken, too bloodied, too exhausted.

Jay lay on the ground beside me, barely breathing. The mirror's strange glow continued to pulse, black and gold threads of energy linking him to it—reaching like tendrils, coiling gently into his skin. He was alive. That was all I could confirm.

Alive, but far from safe.

Wu knelt beside us, casting a glance around the scene. His eyes lingered on each of us in turn. On Lloyd, who could barely keep upright. On Nya, who hadn't stopped pressing her hands to Jay's chest. On Cole, unmoving near the wall. On Kai, leaning against a piece of rubble jutting out onto the pavement we were sitting on.

Then finally on me.

"You need to understand what the mirror is," Wu said, voice low. Calm. "It's not just a prison. It is balance, made physical. Old magic."

He placed one hand against the mirror's edge, and the rim glinted.

"When you were fighting this battle, I was searching the monastery for information. I found a scroll, that my father had written about this artefact. It can hold a soul, yes—trap one as terrible as the Overlord's for eternity. But it can do other things— with deeper purposes. It can also exchange."

I blinked, focusing my attention on him. "Exchange?"

"Yes. The mirror binds what it touches. If the blood of a living being marks it, it takes part of them. Not body— it takes a piece of the soul. And if that person dies while that connection still exists... part of them remains trapped inside."

My internal systems processed the information quickly. Algorithms spun and rewrote—recalculating what he was implying.

Before I could speak, and ask him to elaborate, Kai whispered softly. "Rue. Her blood is on the mirror. From earlier. When she fought him."

Wu nodded. "Then part of her soul is still tethered. Caught between this world and the mirror."

A pause. We all looked at each other.

"But she's dead," Lloyd said, hoarse. "Kai saw her die."

"Yes. But death isn't always final when artefacts this old are involved." Wu turned toward the mirror.

"If we seal the Overlord's essence—his soul—into this fully... the balance will shift. The mirror must release something in return. Which would in turn be Rues soul."

Cole stared at him. "You're saying... it'll bring her back to life?"

"If Jay manages to win his fight, and trap the Overlord," Wu reminded. "Then yes. The soul would return to its body."

Nya's brow furrowed. "But how would it... how would it find her? The body's—she's far, and—and it's been hours—"

"Souls remember," Wu said gently. "It would return to what it once knew. As long as the body is relatively close, the soul will find its way back to her."

No one spoke for a moment.

Then Kai moved.

He jerked upright from where he'd been slumped against the wall, pain immediately flashing across his face, but he didn't stop. His movements were jerky and uneven as he tried to stand.