Departed

Chapter 15: Discovery

Harumi's POV

     "A tea shop?" Morro exclaimed. Morro, Wu, the Ninja, and I stood in front of a decent sized building that was crammed in between shops on a busy street. Cars honked and zoomed down the streets of Ninjago City, while gaggles of vibrantly dressed citizens pointed and stared at our group. A few cameras started flashing, so Cole had to politely ask them to stop recording 'official Ninja business'.

     Wu nodded as we approached the shop. "Steepest Wisdom was opened last year. I hoped it would provide a good set of living quarters for the Ninja once they moved out of the Bounty."

     "It's like you don't want us," Kai grumbled from behind me. He had a grip on the ropes tying my hands together. They insisted on extra security measures for me once I left the small room I had been locked in. Morro had been spared that treatment, courtesy of Wu, which was a really dumb move. If Morro could magically recover his elemental power, we could escape here and now.

     "You're getting married," Wu replied, "I'm sure Skylor doesn't want to share a room with Nya. Think of a few years from now. You don't want to live in the same room with five different families."

     That explained why the Ninja looked older. It was easy to forget how much time I had spent in the Cloud Kingdom, along with the time jump caused by the Memortea. Each of the Ninja had started to lose their youthful glow, especially Lloyd. His features were sharper, and his frame was sturdier. He had also grown taller. When I looked at him now, it was almost impossible to remember the scared little boy I had broken.

     "I get to move into a mansion when Wu kicks us out," Kai bragged. "Benefits of marrying well."

     "Wow Kai, such news," Nya said sarcastically, "It's not like you've told us that one hundred times."

     The rest of the group laughed. I felt my spirits sink. There was a time where I would have been able to join in their camaraderie without being glared at. There was a time where they trusted me and wanted to be my friends. They hated me now. I hated them now.

     "You will work here until further notice," Wu continued, mostly talking to Morro. "We have a full-time staff working. They have been trained in basic safety maneuvers if anything gets out of hand. During each day, two ninjas will be with you so that they can make sure you aren't getting into any trouble with the customers."

    Protests started rising the minute the words left Wu's mouth.

    "You never mentioned making us do work," Kai complained.

    "Why do we have to be stuck babysitting?" Cole huffed.

     "You should have just stuck them in Kryptarium," Lloyd muttered, still not looking in my direction. He was acting like if he ignored my existence then I would actually go away.

     You're the whole reason I'm stuck here.

     Wu held up a hand, signaling for them to quit talking. "You can decide who is on duty each day, I don't care if you split the days up equally or if two of you take one week while two others take the rest. Just make sure two of you are working each day. And don't complain about the job, you already work when you have spare time."

     "We work because we want to," Jay whined. "I don't want to be stuck watching her."

     "Thank you for volunteering to take first day," Wu replied. I had to bite my tongue to keep from snickering.

     "I can take the second spot," Nya immediately offered. Jay shot her a grateful glance.

     "Are we allowed to leave the tea shop?" Morro asked. He had somehow acquired a fedora over the course of the morning and kept messing with it while he walked alongside his sensei.