Miraculously from Ninjago | Stranded in Etheria

16 - Search Party

Cole's POV

I got up early the next morning--the sun hadn't even risen yet. I couldn't sleep; I kept thinking about y/n. I went to the bathroom to splash water on my face, then headed for the kitchen.

"Why aren't they back yet?" Nya asked worriedly. She was talking to Jay. "It's been hours."

"Maybe they're still talking. They were best friends, after all."

"Who are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Lloyd and y/n," Zane explained, popping up from behind the kitchen counter, a box of cereal in hand.

"Y/n was here?"

"Yeah, apparently she came back to the bounty last night, but then went out to look for Lloyd."

"Wait. Lloyd's missing?" Kai asked as he came into the room.

Jay, Nya and Zane all nodded nervously.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go look for them!" Kai said, and before anyone could stop him, he rushed up above deck. I was right behind him.

We leaped off the ship and summoned our dragons, then immediately started searching. Lloyd and y/n were like a little brother and sister to us--there was no way in hell we were gonna leave them alone to get hurt.

We didn't get very far before I heard a flapping noise behind us. I turned my head to see Nya, Jay, and Zane all following us on their dragons. I wasn't surprised--family was our top priority. It didn't matter that y/n had been gone for years, she still meant a lot to each of us.

"Look!" Kai shouted, pointing down towards a lake surrounded by a forest.

There was a boy sitting on the shore, throwing rocks into the water. As we got closer, it became obvious it was Lloyd. We called out to him, and he waved. I took that as a good sign--he didn't seem very angry right now, or at least not with us.

"What's going on?" Kai asked once we all landed. "Why didn't you come back last night? Have you seen y/n?"

Lloyd sighed as Kai cheked his hands and arms for any injuries.

"You're being overprotective again," he said, rolling his eyes playfully.

Kai grinned. "I promised to look out for you, and I'm not going back on that now."

"So, what happened?" Nya pressed.

"I just wanted to be alone for a bit," Lloyd shrugged. "Y/n found me, but--"

"Wait, y/n was here? Where did she go?" Jay interrupted.

"Relax, I'm getting to that. She found me, and I kinda sorta yelled at her--"

"What?! No wonder she ran off!"

"Would you stop doing that and let me finish?! She left because someone from Paris came to bring her back. Something about this Hawkmoth guy or something... but anyway, she said that she'd come back this time."

"You look pretty happy about that," I smirked.

"Well, yeah, I miss her. And even though I'm still upset it took her this long to tell us the truth, I'm just glad she's okay."

--------------y/n's POV----------

We put a pin in the argument and started searching for Hawkmoth and Mayura. We split up in twos; Reena and Carapace together, Lady and Bee, then me and Chat. Although nobody had actually said it out loud, we all suspected Gabriel Agreste was behind the mask. We didn't have an idea of who Mayura could be, though.

"Is there a basement under this place?" I asked Chat once the others were out of earshot.

Chat thought for a second. "I'm sure there must be, but I don't think I've ever been down there."

"Let's go try and find a staircase, then," I suggested.

"We could do that, or we could take the faster route," he replied. "Cataclysm!"

Before I could stop hi, he brought his hand down onto the tile below us, and we fell through the floor. Chat landed on his feet--lucky cat--but I faceplanted. I groaned as I pushed myself up.

"Seriously?" I asked. "There wasn't a safer way to do that?"

"Probably, but I wouldn't have thought of one," he said, then averted his eyes and lowered his voice. "I'm not really in the best frame of mind right now..."

I sighed sympathetically, and didn't make any further remarks. I stood up and brushed myself off, then glanced around at the room we were in.

"Maybe we should call the others," I said. "If Hawkmoth is down here, we shouldn't advance on him alone."

"Good idea," Chat responded, then pressed a number on his baton.

While he waited for Lady to pick up, I had a look around. The ceiling was high up, and was being held up by massive pillars. The large hall was pretty dark, but there was one section that was illuminated by a skylight. In the center of the well-lit area was a strange vessel made of glass, so I took a few steps closer. I didn't make it far before I realized what it was.

A coffin.