Departed

Chapter 25: Munja

Nya's POV

     Cole and Morro left quickly; I had an idea of where they were going to go. The ancient Cloud Kingdom temple seemed like the perfect place to start looking up ancestries, and I half wanted to drag Jay up there myself just to get this mess over with quicker. But there was a bigger mystery we needed to solve.

    Storm Lightning.

     Leader of House Lightning. Cliff's wife who died in childbirth. Jay's mother.

     There were so many unanswered questions about Jay's past, and I knew if we didn't address it now, he would never be the same again. Jay didn't like to admit to it, but his mysterious past was like a festering wound. The facts he had learned today kept him quiet during the entire ride to my parent's house, and Jay was never quiet. It must be hard on him. He grew up with loving foster parents, but never actually knew they weren't his parents until Nadakhan came into the picture. That was the time when everything got... messy. I twisted the golden band on my finger. Our relationship may have been chaotic back then, but we were much better off now.

     As I faced my parents while Jay hobbled outside, there were so many questions I could have asked. What was Ray hiding about Storm? Why did he look so pained every time we talked about her? Why did Storm die in childbirth. especially since there had to be hospitals around? What influenced Cliff to leave his only son with a different set of parents; then never tell him the truth about who he was?

     There were so many questions I could have asked.

     But I chose a selfish one.

     One to satisfy my own burning curiosity, simply because I knew my parents would not help us further on our journey of discovery.

     "You said only one Elemental Master can hold the power at a time. Why did you pass down your powers to kids that barely knew how to tie their own shoes?"

     My mother gritted her teeth, which normally meant she didn't like being asked these things. She was probably tired from all the questions.

     "When Krux led us away, we knew we might not see you again. We had no choice but to transfer our powers to you so that Krux couldn't abuse them. We also did it on the hope that you would one day use them to free us."

     "Was there some sort of safeguard you put in place so our powers wouldn't activate until later?" Kai and I hadn't even known we had powers until several years after they supposedly gave them to us.

     Mother looked guilty. "No, that wasn't intended. I think your powers didn't show themselves early because Ray and I didn't do the ceremony properly. Kai received the ability to control fire, but it wouldn't manifest until extra power activated it. As for you, it took you painstaking effort to get the power to start manifesting. It was an... unintended side-effect of a flash decision."

     I tried not to scowl as I thought of all those days Master Wu pushed me to start controlling water. The days where moving the slightest drop was nearly impossible. I was getting the impression that if Ray and Maya had completed the ceremony correctly, it wouldn't have been as hard. Then again, if I had been able to control water at a young age, things might have been a lot worse for Kai and I growing up.

     "Thank you for answering all those questions." I said, plastering a grateful smile on my face.

     Mother nodded, pulling me in for a gentle embrace. "I hope you find what you are looking for."

     I didn't want to stay much longer; Jay was staring at the horizon like it held the secrets of the world. The dirt path that led us away from our old home seemed familiar, yet so distant. I hadn't been to Ignacia in forever. The responsibility of being a ninja kept me away from the community most of the time. When Ninjago wasn't being saved from some impending disaster, we were busy trying to rebuild it and put things back in order. I'm not sure how much that bothered my parents; they didn't seem to mind scarce visits. I guessed they just wanted some peace and quiet after practically being slaves for so long.