A Second Chance

Part 92 - Numb

I walked back into the living room and took my seat next to Synergy on the couch, keeping my expression perfectly neutral. 

A few moments later, the kitchen door swung open and Nya slipped back into the room. She quietly took the empty armchair on the opposite side of the coffee table, folding her hands tightly in her lap.

The air was still thick with unsaid words, but Lloyd mercifully shattered the tension by leaning forward, his green eyes locked onto me and Nya.

"Alright," Lloyd started, his voice carrying the firm, undeniable weight of a leader. "Before we plan our next move, we need to clear the air on one specific thing. Nadakhan."

"Man, I've been waiting for this!" Kai added. 

He rubbed his temples, looking frustrated. "I've had these weird flashes for years. Déjà vu. A pirate ship in the sky, a sword that traps souls, a voice telling me to just wish it all away. Jay, Nya... you both know about him, so I'm calling it in. I need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

I let out a heavy sigh and leaned back against the cushions. I glanced over at Nya, silently offering her the floor, but she just gave a microscopic shake of her head. She couldn't do it.

"It's a long story, Lloyd," I said. "After we beat Morro, a Djinn named Nadakhan escaped from the Teapot of Tyrahn. His home realm was destroyed, and he decided to rebuild it out of pieces of Ninjago, suspending them in the sky."

"Wait, chunks of the city were floating in the sky?" Kai interrupted, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline. "How do we not remember that?"

"Because it technically never happened," Nya finally spoke up, her voice quiet but steady. "Nadakhan was practically unstoppable. He picked us off, one by one. He didn't just beat you in a fight; he tricked you. He twisted your words and forced you to make three wishes, and once you wished it all away, your soul got sucked into his sword. And he tricked me into wasting two wishes as well. I was insecure and all, but the point is, he trapped you all in a sword,"

Cole stared at his hands in horror. "He trapped us in a sword?"

"All of you," I confirmed with a hollow chuckle. "Zane, Kai, Cole, then Lloyd. It was just me and Nya left. We were on the run, trying to find the venom of a Tiger Widow spider to stop him. It was the only thing that could slow down a Djinn."

I felt the entire room zero in on me. 

Synergy was watching me with a very sharp, analytical intensity. He wasn't glaring, but he was putting the pieces of the puzzle together - the pieces of who I used to be to the woman he was now married to.

"He wanted Nya," I continued, keeping my eyes fixed firmly on the glass coffee table so I wouldn't have to look at Synergy. "If a Djinn marries on Djinn land, they get infinite wishes. He captured her and forced a wedding ceremony. I had to put together a ragtag replacement team with Ronin and Skylor just to infiltrate his ship and stop it."

"We fought him," Nya took over, the memory clearly bringing a painful edge to her voice. "Jay managed to hit him with the Tiger Widow venom. But... some of it scattered."

The room went dead silent.

"It hit me," Nya whispered. "The venom is completely lethal to humans. I was... I was dying."

Kai sucked in a sharp breath.

I swallowed the dry, jagged lump in my throat. I was so emotionally numb, but saying this out loud in front of her new husband felt like ripping open an old, infected wound.

"I was holding her," I said, my voice dropping to a low rasp. I forced myself to look up, my eyes sweeping over the team before briefly landing on Synergy, then Nya. "She was fading. Nadakhan had achieved infinite wishes, but I still had one of my three wishes left."