Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The valley was quiet. The waterfall splashed into the pond, sending bubbles to the surface. A rabbit kit hopped cautiously towards the water, dipping its foot in before scampering away. It rejoined the other kits of its litter. The five of them played together in the beautifully bright grass. 

The grass was green, the rabbits were out, the water was running. Spring was here once more, and yet Nya couldn't bring herself to enjoy a single moment of it.

She sat in one of the only windows of the tower, her left leg resting on the windowsill and the other hanging over the edge. The view was gorgeous. Anybody would be lucky to see it, but to Nya, it only represented the aggravating limits of her world.

The valley itself was small. Perhaps crevice would be a better word to describe it. The tower took up most of the space between the looming cliffs. There were only a few hours each day when the sun would shine into the valley. Shade was plentiful in Nya's life. She envied the rabbits below her. They could leave any time they wanted; when the sun went behind the cliffs, they would just leave the valley and follow it. That's why the valley was so quiet. The creatures would always leave as soon as they came.

While the valley was quiet, the tower was not.

Nya turned her attention back to the only other people in her world as they yelled at each other. Kai and their father had never gotten along, but they'd been a lot more explosive recently. Kai's short temper and Father's lack of patience didn't combine well.

"You've never let us leave!" Kai shouted, his clenched fists sparking. For the screaming match only having lasted fifteen minutes so far, he was already quite riled up. 

"Maybe if you had more control over your fire, I'd trust you more." Father countered. He was facing away from Nya, but she could easily picture his scowl. "The people out there are awful. You can't even begin to imagine what they'd do to you if they saw it!"

"I can't imagine it because of you! I've never met another person in my life, how could I know what they'd do?"

"And I'd prefer to keep it that way. You are not ready for the horrors of this world!" Father's hand reached for his bag. Kai took a step back, the fire in his hands immediately snuffing out.

Nya slowly stood up, closing the shutters as she went. She made her way towards Father. 

"I don't like how you've been speaking to me as of late, boy." Father sneered. He pulled a knife from his bag and brandished it towards Kai. 

Once again, I have to diffuse the situation, Nya rolled her eyes. Father advanced on Kai, but she caught up to him before he did anything too drastic. Ignoring the head shake no from Kai, Nya gently laid a hand on Father's shoulder. 

He whipped around, the knife in his hand grazing Nya's stomach. She suppressed a wince as a bit of blood started to stain her off-white blouse. The hand on his shoulder moved to his arm. She softly ran her fingers up and down his arm as she tried to ignore the horrible feeling in her stomach. She reminded herself that the alternative was worse, that anything was worth keeping Kai out of danger. "Father, there's no need to get violent. Kai's just had a long day, is all. You both have. Why don't we put the knife away?"

She brought both her arms around Father's neck, looking at him sweetly as her put the knife back in his bag. "There we go..."

Nya glanced over Father's shoulder to see Kai glaring daggers into the man's back. 

The family shared a brief, tense lunch before Father had to leave once more. With replenished supplies and a full stomach, he disappeared through a trapdoor in the middle of the tower floor.

Nya watched from her seat at the table as Kai tried the door. He kicked a stool in frustration when it didn't open, as it hadn't for as long as either of them could remember.

Two hooded figures made their way across the palace rooftops. They were light on their feet, and their black clothes allowed them to blend in with the shadows of the night. Clearly they had some sort of experience, since none of the guards had noticed them.

None of the guards, except Morro. 

He stalked the intruders on the roof, never more than ten feet away from them. In his colorful uniform, it was a bit harder to hide in the shadows, but he managed it.

The intruders stopped just above the royal armory. One of them tied a rope around their waist. The other held the end of the rope firmly, nodding to their companion. Morro's eyes widened as the first intruder bent down and opened up a hatch. He'd never known of a ceiling entrance to the armory. That's a horrible design flaw! And if even I don't know about it, how do these two?

Morro wondered how he could've missed such a crucial part in the palace's architecture. He'd lived there all his life. Apart from the queen herself, he knew the palace better than anyone else. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, as he watched the second intruder lower their partner down into the armory.

He quietly unsheathed his sword and lifted himself from his crouch. Stepping out from his cover, Morro silently inched towards the intruder, who was looking down into the armory, their back facing Morro. He gripped his sword with both hands and raised it.

Just as Morro was about to strike, he caught sight of a pair of green eyes in the darkness. Morro's breath hitched.

The intruder whirled around. Their blue eyes seemed to be glowing as they locked their gaze on Morro. They switched the rope to one hand and put their other hand behind their back.

"Greetings," They nodded at Morro. "I assure you, me and my companion mean no harm. We simply must take something from the palace before we can return ones of far greater value."

"By the Queen's authority, you are under arrest." Morro ignored their rambling. "Come with me peacefully, and your sentence may be reduced."

"Unfortunately, that cannot be arranged at this time." With a simple flick of their wrist, three shurikens flew out at Morro. He quickly blocked two of them with his sword, but the third struck his thigh, digging into his skin. A trail of blood seeped out of the wound and down his leg. He stumbled a bit, but caught himself in time to see a blur of green jump onto the intruder.

Lloyd clawed at the intruder's face, his legs wrapped around their torso. Morro doubted Lloyd's stubby fingernails would do any damage, but he had to admit he was grateful for the distraction. Morro charged at the intruder, his sword raised above his head. He usually preferred to keep things civil, but the moment Lloyd got involved, that went out the window. 

His sword collided with the intruder's arm and simply bounced off with a clang. "What..?"

An explanation came to mind, and Morro hit their arm once more, just to be sure. The sword didn't even leave a dent. He'd only ever heard of two sentient robots: Pixal, who lived alongside Morro in the palace, and Snake Jaguar, one part of an infamous thieving duo. Kind of an odd name, if you asked Morro. Their wanted posters were so abundant that people had started collecting the new editions like comics. The two of them were known across Ninjago for their daring heists, of which not one had failed. Well, there's a first time for everything.

Clearly attempting to attack Snake wasn't working, so Morro turned his focus to getting Lloyd away from the thief. He was still latched on quite tight, despite Snake's thrashing. Morro lunged at Snake, dragging his injured leg along. He grabbed Lloyd's arm and pulled him off of Snake, pushing the kid behind him.

"Morro!" Lloyd tugged on his sleeve. "Look what I got!" 

He looked down to see Lloyd holding the limp rope, presenting it to Morro with wide, hopeful eyes. He grinned, ruffling Lloyd's hair and taking the rope from him. "Good job, kiddo. Now go get the other guards."

Lloyd's expression dropped, but he ran off anyway. Morro watched him long enough to see him slip down the roof and into one of the palace's many windows. He quickly turned back to Snake, blocking another shuriken with his sword just in time to spare himself another injury.

Morro ran at Snake, tripping him with his sword. He swerved and jumped through the hatch.

As he fell, air whipped past Morro’s cheeks. He shot one hand out, commanding the air to slow his fall. He rolled as he hit the ground, trying to make his landing seem natural. He’d worked too hard to keep it to himself, Lloyd, and Sensei; there was no way he was losing the secret for two petty thieves, even if their current target was a bit less than petty.

Morro surveyed the armory as he stood up. There was only one lantern lit, next to the door, and at first Morro couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Until he looked for the armory’s crown jewel: the Scythe of Quakes.

The glass case was cracked open, and the other thief’s hand was gripping the Scythe, about to pull it out of the case.

Morro charged at the intruder- Rocky Dangerbuff (seriously, what is up with these names?)- and aimed his sword at Rocky’s arm. Rocky dropped the Scythe as he yanked his arm out of the way. The Scythe clattered to the floor.

Morro and Rocky both dived for it, but Rocky got there first. Rocky swung the Scythe at Morro’s legs, knocking him to the ground. Rocky ran past Morro, grabbing the rope from him with incredible strength. Morro winced as he glanced at the raw rope burn in the palm of his hand. He pushed himself up and hurried after Rocky, dodging the many shurikens raining down on him from the hatch in the ceiling.

Rocky threw the rope up to Snake, who started pulling his partner and the Scythe up out of the armory.

As Morro started after them, the doors to the armory burst open and a dozen guards filed into the room.

”Took you long enough,” Morro snarked, ignoring the eye rolls that spread throughout the room. “They’ve got the Scythe of Quakes.”

“We’ll take care of this, kid.” One of the guards commanded in a gruff voice as the others rushed out the door to chase the intruder outside. “Go report what you witnessed to the queen. She’ll want to hear about this.”

The guard left the room, leaving a scowling Morro behind.

When Nya woke up the next morning, Father still hadn’t returned. She frowned as she searched the whole tower for him. Usually he let them know when he was going to be gone overnight.

She finally made her way to the main room of the tower, where Kai had already started on their chores.

”Good morning,” She dropped her forced smile as quickly as she’d put it on. There was no use in trying to pretend like yesterday didn’t happen.

”’Morning,” he grumbled, tossing Nya a broom. She began to sweep as Kai continued to polish their father’s collection. He always brought things back from his travels. Small knickknacks were tossed half heartedly to Kai and Nya, while exquisite collectibles were put in case and on shelves. Their upkeep became Kai and Nya’s responsibility, but otherwise they weren’t allowed to touch them. Nya didn’t mind though; they were a window to the outside world, after all.

After sweeping the whole main room, Nya moved on to mopping. Kai settled on the sofa to fold yesterday’s batch of laundry.

Morning chores usually got done quickly, and today was no exception. Pretty soon, Nya found herself on the sofa next to Kai, reading a book she’d read a thousand times while Kai knitted.

“What’re you making?” Nya asked as she finished up the last chapter of the painstakingly short book.

”A cowl for you.”

Nya thanked him, but laughed a bit. “Dude, make something for yourself for once!”

”That’s what you’re for,” Kai retorted.

”Fair,” Nya shrugged, eyeing the vest he wore, on which she had stitched a fire design.  

Nya stood up and headed to the kitchen. She started up some soup for lunch. Letting it simmer on the stove, Nya glanced out the small kitchen window. She could only see the cliff wall out of it, but the cliff was still more alive than she would ever be stuck inside this tower.

A nest sat in a crevice in the rock. Two birds sat guarding a cluster of eggs. A lizard climbed up the cliff. A bee landed on the center of a bird of paradise flower. The flower clung to a crack in the cliff where a bit of dirt slipped out.

Nya sighed. When will my life begin?

Chapter Text

"Woohoo!" Cole exclaimed, pulling off his hood. "That was our best heist yet!"

"You almost got us caught," Zane deadpanned. 

Cole ignored his partner-in-crime in favor of examining their prize. The Scythe of Quakes shone in his gloved hands, the polished gold contrasting the black silk nicely. The Scythe felt as if it was made for Cole to hold it, and he never wanted to let it go. Cole swiped it through the air a few times, practicing a couple stances. Sensei had trained him specifically to use a scythe, so he was right in his element. "How is this thing even supposed to help us?"

"You are holding a priceless artifact forged by the First Spinjitzu Master himself, Cole. Please try not to somehow ruin it within the first day of having it." Zane reached out and pushed the Scythe down, shaking his head at Cole's antics. "And to answer your question, Sensei said that the Scythe will reveal the way."

Cole rolled his eyes, but obliged with Zane's request, attaching it to the back of his suit. "I know what Wu said, but it doesn't make any sense. How can a scythe reveal anything? It's a scythe!"

"An ordinary scythe, perhaps, but the Scythe of Quakes is far from ordinary."

"You're starting to sound like Sensei," Cole mumbled. If Zane heard him, he chose to ignore him.

The reformed thieves continued walking through the woods, each keeping an eye out for guards. They weren't close to any villages at the moment, but the royal armory had been broken into the night before. It was safe to assume that the kingdom of Ninjago would be crawling with guards looking for the culprits. 

Cole laughed under his breath as he thought about it. Reformed thieves. He never thought he'd see the day where he lived a lawful life, but the past six months living with Sensei Wu had given him a new chance. Before, he and Zane did jobs for Ronin and petty crimes for some food. They'd gotten pretty good at it over the years, though they barely got to keep any of the profit. At the monastery, they spent their days learning how to use their powers and other life skills that they'd missed out on as kids on the streets. But the best part was that Cole hadn't had to worry about whether or not he'd be able to eat that night for the whole time he and Zane had lived with Wu.

And now that the six months Wu had offered them were up, the Scythe was Cole's ticket to keeping this incredible new life.

If only he knew how to use it.

Cole grabbed the Scythe and began to mess with it again, but this time with a purpose. They couldn't waste any time just walking, especially since the guards were after them. He tapped it, rubbed it, jabbed with it, anything he could think of to get it to do something. Zane watched with interest, but didn't move to help or stop him. 

About an hour into Cole's attempts, right after he'd searched all over the Scythe for secret compartments or messages, Cole brought the Scythe directly up to his face and whispered, "Tell me your secrets."

"Well, that was quite rude," Zane offered his input for the first time since Cole had started trying to figure the Scythe out. "Why don't you try asking it nicely?" 

"I'm not going to ask the Scythe, Zane. That's stupid."

Zane just hummed and went back to ignoring Cole while he examined the Scythe.

Another hour went by before Cole gave up. He sighed, beginning to hook the Scythe back on his back when Zane stopped him.

"Ask it, Cole."

"Fine," he muttered, bringing the Scythe close to his face again. He opened his mouth to ask, but hesitated, looking at Zane. "What do I even ask it?"

"You're the Master of Earth, maybe you'll be able to connect with it?" Zane suggested.

Cole turned back to the Scythe, looking one of the carved dragons right in the eye. "We need to find the prince and princess. Do you know where they are?"

When nothing happened, Cole dropped the Scythe to his side. "I told you this was stupid."

"You're being too factual. Connect with it. I'll give you some privacy." With that, Zane turned on his heels sharply and walked away. He disappeared within a matter of seconds, leaving Cole alone in the woods.

"Zane! Zane, come back!" Cole called, receiving no response. His eyes darted around the woods, checking everywhere for guards. What if someone spotted him while Zane was gone? Or what if he never came back? Cole ignored his heart pounded in his chest. No, he's just waiting for me to talk to the Scythe. He'll be back as soon as I'm done.

He wouldn't leave me.

Taking a deep breath, Cole lifted the Scythe back up, holding it further away from himself this time. "I have to find them. Sensei trained me for this, and I can't let him down. If I do, he'll kick us out, and we need this. Zane and I don't have anywhere to go since we got on Ronin's bad side. And, I kind of want to keep learning about my powers, but I don't know how to do that by myself. This is my chance to prove to Sensei that I'm worth keeping around and teaching. So please, how do I find the prince and princess?"

Cole waited a few seconds, his face heating up. He couldn't believe he'd just admitted all of that out loud, to a scythe, no less. I really hope Zane was out of earshot for that.

He kept waiting, but the Scythe didn't seem to be doing anything. Just as he was about to give up and call Zane back, the Scythe started to glow. Cole let out a yelp, letting go of the Scythe in surprise, but it didn't clatter to the ground. The Scythe floated in front of him.

Cole's eyes widened, and he reached out towards the Scythe. As soon as his finger touched the Scythe, it shot out, zooming towards the east, further into the woods. Cole gasped, starting after it.

"Zane!" He yelled as he ran. "Get back here, it's moving!"

With in a second, Zane was running by his side.

"You must have really inspired it," Zane remarked with a smile. Cole grinned back, keeping his eyes trained on the Scythe ahead of them. It kept a good pace: not too fast that they'd lose it, but still by no means slow.

"I guess I did."

Morro burst into the barracks, grabbing an empty leather backpack from a hook and storming over to his bunk.

It'd taken the whole night for him to get permission to pursue the thieves. Other members of the guard had been deployed the second the news had reached Queen Maya, but his deployment had to go through the advisors first. He knew exactly why. Garmadon was on the Queen's council, and though Morro wasn't allowed in the meetings, he knew for a fact that he'd fought tooth and nail to keep Morro at the palace. 

He doesn't know what I'm capable of, Morro thought as he shoved supplies into his pack. He has no idea how valuable I'll be in the search.

Because whether they realized it or not, those thieves had planted a tracking device on themselves, and Morro knew exactly where to find the monitor. 

As he picked out some weapons from the barracks' stock, there was a knock on the door. Morro whirled around to see Pixal standing timidly in the doorway. That's odd, she's usually so confident.

"Hey Pix," He tried to keep his irritation out of his voice. He wasn't mad at Pixal, there was no reason to upset her anymore that she already clearly was.

Pixal entered the barracks and stood next to him. She began to help him pick out supplies, silently putting a few tools into his backpack. After a few minutes she spoke. "It was Snake Jaguar who broke into the armory. That's what you told Queen Maya, correct?"

"Yeah?"

"I have never met another being like me," Pixal whispered.

At that, Morro stopped his packing and gave her his full attention. She smiled slightly and continued. "I understand that this assignment will end with his arrest, but I would like to meet Snake Jaguar. I have already spoken to my dad and the Queen, and they have given me their permission to accompany you. If you are alright with it."

"Of course you can come." Morro would never admit it to her, but he understood where Pixal was coming from. After all, he'd never met another elemental master until Wu took him in, though the element of creation and the element of wind were extremely different. "You'd better start packing. I'm leaving at dawn."

"I will wait by the palace gates," Pixal nodded and hurried out of the barracks.

It was midday when it happened.

Morro and Pixal were well into the woods already. Morro had felt off since they left the palace, but he'd dismissed it since he had a habit of being overly paranoid, but when a twig snapped behind them, so did Morro's restraint.

"Alright, who's there?" Morro called out to the surrounding trees. Pixal stopped and looked around, her bright green eyes scanning the area. 

"There is a heat mass behind those bushes," she said in a lowered voice, nodding slightly to a patch of berry bushes. Morro hummed in acknowledgement. He pulled a knife from a holder on his belt and slowly stepped towards the bushes in question.

"I am a member of the royal guard. If you show yourself now, there will be no consequences for following and spying on me and my companion."

The last person Morro would have ever expected popped up from behind the bush with twigs in his blonde hair, a cotton cinch sack, and a guilty smile.

"Hiii!" Lloyd greeted sheepishly. 

"What the hell are you doing here, Lloyd?!" Morro demanded, ignoring Pixal's protest of curses in front of the ten year old. Morro shoved his knife back in its holder and rushed over to the boy. He checked Lloyd for injures, and when he determined that he had none, Morro flicked him on the forehead.

"The palace would've been so boring with you two gone!" Lloyd complained. "I would've had to listen to Dad's lectures on peace and tranquilizer for days, so I snuck out!"

"I believe you mean tranquility," Pixal interjected.

Morro shook his head. "You can't just leave the palace without telling anyone. Your dad is going to be so worried about you. And you especially can't come with us, where we're going is dangerous."

"I'm big, I'm ten! I can handle some danger."

"Absolutely not, you're going home." Morro shushed any further attempts by Lloyd trying to convince him to let him stay. "We're heading to Wu's monastery, so we'll drop you off there and he can get you back to the palace. And until then, you always have to hold one of our hands, and if there's a fight, you run away immediately, understand?"

Lloyd mumbled a yes and grabbed Morro's hand.

This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Chapter Text

Krux showed up again the next morning. Kai watched him fumble with the keys as he attempted to lock the trapdoor. His hands itched as Krux once again dropped the keys. All Kai had to do was walk over and take them.

But he just stood there, frozen in place as his and his sister's captor locked the trapdoor and another chance of escape passed him by.

Nya walked over from the kitchen, handing Krux the hangover cure Kai had made the night before. Krux snatched the smoothie and starting drinking it, turning his attention to Kai. "Come with me."

The man immediately started up the tower's winding staircase, Kai trailing silently behind him. He knew exactly where Krux was taking him.

Kai would never forget that first day in the tower. Krux had dragged him up the stairs by his shirt’s collar and slammed him down on the cold floor, tossing his three-year-old sister into his arms. As Kai scrambled to catch her, Krux had began to list off the rules of the tower. He ended his spiel with a single threat. “If you’re good, you’ll never end up in this room again. Now quit your crying and I’ll show you around.”

Kai had followed Krux around the tower, shaking as he tried to keep his tears in. He’d spent the tour wondering what would happen in that room. He found out the next day when he jabbed a fork into Krux’s leg in the first of many failed escape attempts, and throughout Kai and Nya’s thirteen years in the tower, they’d both been in the room countless of times.

Kai held his head up high as he entered Krux’s bedroom. One of the many qualities Krux hated about him was his stubborness, and Kai wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

The room looked exactly as it had the last time Kai was brought in, which was only a week ago. The siblings were never allowed in unless they were being punished, not even for their monthly deep clean of the entire tower, but they both knew it like the back of their hand. Displayed all over the room were dozens of weapons and torture devices. Kai surpressed a shudder as his eyes glanced over them, looking for any new additions to Krux’s collection. After a few deep cuts on his arm hadn’t done the trick, Krux began to try all sorts of torture methods to stop Kai from acting out. And while he did stop trying to escape by the age of seven, Kai had never stopped arguing with Krux or defying him, doing anything he could to inconvince his captor. Recently, Krux’s favorite method was burning Kai with his own fire, and the last time Kai was in the room, he’d pinned Kai’s left hand to the wall with a knife through his palm and left him there for hours. Kai still couldn’t move his hand, and was beginning to worry that Krux might have permantaly paralyzed it, but at least that meant it didn’t hurt anymore.

“Take a seat,” Krux said, facing one of the walls of devices. Kai slowly sat down in one of the two plush chairs in the room. When Krux first kidnapped them, the chairs’ cushions were pearly white, but now they were stained deep red, almost black. Kai winced as he sat on his and his sister’s dried blood, the stench of iron overwhelming him. “You’re probably wondering why you’re here.”

“Because of two days ago,” Kai muttered. His eyes shot daggers at Krux, who still had his back facing Kai.

“No, Kai, I mean here in the tower.” Krux chuckled and a shiver ran down Kai’s spine. What’s going on? Why’s he so calm? Why isn’t he hurting me?

Krux turned around, taking another sip of his hangover cure. He strolled towards Kai. He hadn’t seen Krux grab anything, but Kai’s muscles tensed up anyway. He tried to summon his fire, earning another laugh out of Krux when no flame appeared.

“You know your fire doesn’t work unless I let it. Why do you still even try?”

“So why am I here?” Kai tried to steer Krux back on topic. The man had a tendancy to get distracted with taunting him, and there was no way Kai would let that happen if he had a chance of finally finding out why he’d been kidnapped, why his life had been destroyed.

Krux sat down in the chair opposite Kai. “Did I ever tell you that you have an uncle?”

“Neither of my parents have siblings.”

“I think you would have liked my twin brother.” Krux ignored him. “Raising you brats definetly would’ve been easier if he were here. Then again, if he was, I wouldn’t have had to take you two in the first place.

“Before their powers were passed onto you and Nya and Maya took the throne, Maya and Ray were skilled warriors in the Elemental Alliance. So were my brother and I.”

“You’re an elemental?” Kai exclaimed, but quickly shut up when Krux sent him a glare. He would put aside his stubbornness just this once, if only to learn a bit more about his parents.

“My brothers and I were the Masters of Time, yes, but we did get in a bit of a quarrel with the rest of the elementals. The Alliance stole our powers, storing them away in four blades that Ray and Maya had forged. In the battle, my brother was lost in time, and only with the power of all four Time Blades may he be returned.”

“So you kidnapped us for revenge on our parents?” Kai snarled. Of course. Only Krux would do something so petty.

“Why of course, but that wasn’t the only reason. You see, Ray and Maya hid the Blades in the Boiling Sea, knowing that only the Masters of Fire and Water can access it.”

Nya leaned against the kitchen counter, tapping her foot as she waited. The walls of the tower were thin, so while she could tell that they were just talking, she couldn’t hear what they were talking about.

They’re just talking, they’re just talking, they’re just talking . Nya’s foot tapped faster.

When she was younger, Nya would often sit outside the door to Father’s room when Kai was in there, counting the seconds until her brother would be released. She didn’t remember much of what they would yell at each other, only Kai’s piercing screams and calls for names she didn’t recognize. When Father eventually caught her, he made sure she never sat outside the door again.

Since then, Nya started waitng in the kitchen. She’d bake cupcakes or cook Father’s favorite meal, preparing to calm him down once he was finally done with her brother.

But today, Nya couldn’t bring herself to make anything. The whole situation was too unnerving. Father had left for a whole day without telling them, came back hungover- though that wasn’t entirely unusual- and wanted to talk to Kai when he returned. Nya was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“He’s okay, they’re talking, he’s okay,” she muttered to herself. Her breath shortened and her heart pounded in her chest, quickly becoming the only thing she could hear. 

What if he’s screaming and I can’t hear? She thought in her panic, the idea only making her breathing quicker.

And then she heard something she’d never heard before: a stranger’s voice.

“We’re almost to the top!”

Nya blinked, the voice bringing her out of her spiral and directly into another one. Father had told her countless horror stories of the world outside the tower, and while she wanted more than anything to leave the tower and meet people, all the stories immediatly flooded back into her mind. Father’s tales of ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, and other horrible threats bombarded her. 

“We must hurry. Those guards may have seen where we turned.” A metallic-sounding voice called out. Nya squeaked, grabbing the first thing her hands found, and dropped behind the counter. She looked at her hands and saw her white knuckles clutching a cast iron frying pan. Great, what am I going to do with this?

She peaked out from behind the counter just in time to see a boy around Kai’s age hop in through the window. He was wearing all black and held a golden scythe that seemed to be tugging him further into the tower. Another boy climbed in through the window, and Nya gasped when she saw him. He was dressed the same as his compainion, but his skin was silver and his eyes glowed bright blue. 

Hearing her gasp, the second boy turned towards her, his eerie blue eyes locking with hers. Nya ducked back behind the counter as he started towards her, crawling to the other side of the counter to look at the other boy. He was still being pulled by the scythe, and it looked like it was taking him to the stairs.

As Nya leaped out at the boy, she only had one thought: Father can’t know they’re here.

Chapter Text

Nya lunged forward, swinging the frying pan at the boy's head as hard as she could. He screamed and fell forward, his grip on the scythe loosening. It kept floating for a few seconds before dropping onto the third stair. 

She started at the boy for a few seconds before whirling around and facing the second intruder. He had his hands up, slowly walking towards her. "I assure you, we mean no harm, Your H-"

"Stay back!" Nya exclaimed, raising the frying pan again. Upstairs, Nya heard a door creak open. She glanced between the metal boy and the boy on the floor.

"What's going on down there?" Father called, and Nya could hear the irritation in his voice.

The metal boy opened his mouth, and Nya's eyes widened. "You can't let him know you're here!"

Nya raised her voice, "Everything's fine, Father! I just dropped a pan."

When she heard the door close again, Nya let her tense shoulders drop and turned back to the metal boy, who was watching her with interest. 

They stood there for a while, his hands up and her frying pan pointed out at him in what she hoped what a threatening manner. Nya didn't know how long they were in the stale mate, she just knew that she could stare at him forever. She'd never heard of a metal boy before.

Eventually, he broke the silence. "Your father. Who is he?"

"Sander Saunders," she whispered, giving the fake first name Father had taught her and Kai to give in case anyone ever found the tower. She spared a glance upstairs.

The metal boy furrowed his eyebrows at that. "I do not have a Sander Saunders in my database."

"Who are you?"

"I am Zane Julien. I was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Who," he paused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Nya Saunders."

The door upstairs opened again. Nya started towards Zane, lifting the pan up higher.

Zane took a step back. "Wait! Would you be more comfortable if I powered down?"

"What-"

Before she could ask him what that meant, Zane went rigid, his arms smacking to his sides and his head staring straight forward. His eyes lost their glow.

Nya slowly crept towards him, waving a hand in front of his face. When she got no response, she took a deep breath and listened up to Kai and Father. They were still making their way over to the staircase. "Okay, I can do this."

Once again, Kai stood by as Krux left the tower. Usually he would sulk, but he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Kai turned to his sister. She was rocking back and forth on her heals and her hands were behind her back, no doubt fidgeting like mad. Her eyes darted around the room, before meeting his.

"Alright, what's going on?" Kai crossed his arms.

Nya laughed loudly. "What? Nothing's going on. Everything is totally normal."

"You're a horrible liar, Nya." Kai scoffed as he made his way over to the linen closet, where Nya's eyes kept lingering. He leaned up against the closet and knocked on it. "Do you want to tell me what's in here, or should I just open it?"

Nya rushed over to the closet. She barricaded it, pressing her back against the doors and spreading her arms out. "Don't open it!"

He rolled his eyes, pushing her aside with ease. Kai opened the door, immediately jumping back at what he saw.

Inside the closet were two boys, both about Kai’s age. One seemed to be made of metal and was standing upright. His- it’s?- eyes were open, but they felt dead. Not glossed over, just empty and dull.

The other boy was on the ground, his back rested against the side of the closet. His breaths seemed even, but it was clear that he was knocked out.

Kai stared at them, unable to move. He was frozen. It wasn’t like when Krux left, and he froze by the trapdoor. It was almost…

Kai hadn’t seen anyone since he was five.

Like always, Nya’s voice brought him back.

“They just climbed in from the window. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know how they found us, I swear-”

And just then, the boy on the ground’s eyes flickered open.

Chapter Text

Cole blinked, his head still hurting and his vision blurred. Two figures stood above him, and one brought something down towards him.

He fell away again.

To Morro's surprise, Lloyd was able to keep up with him and Pixal fairly well as they climbed the Mountain of Impossible Height, though not without complaining.

It was their third and final day climbing the seemingly endless stairs up the Mountain. Morro led the way, with Lloyd holding his hand and right behind him. Pixal followed directly after Lloyd. He knew that they were nearly to the summit, but the clouds surrounding them made it seem like they still had a ways to go.

I suppose that's where it got it's name. Morro thought as Lloyd whined about how much his feet hurt.

"We're almost there," he told the kid. 

"Morro, I am receiving a message from the palace." Pixal spoke up. "It says that the thieves were spotted entering Hiroshi's Labyrinth. A group of guards followed them in, but quickly got lost and had to be extracted."

The clouds were starting to clear as she continued. "It does not make any logical sense. Surely Snake Jaguar would understand the dangers of the jungle. Why would he go in?"

Morro shrugged, "He's a thief. He probably wasn't built to be as intelligent as you, Pix."

"Perhaps."

She fell silent, and Morro picked up his pace.

Within minutes, the clouds had completely disappeared, revealing an old gate at the top of the steps. 

Passing Lloyd off to Pixal, he approached the doors and raised a fist to the wood. Morro knocked and took a step back. 

The doors swung open, light shining through them out onto the group. A dark silhouette stepped forward out of the light. He wore a conical hat and long robes. As he walked forward, the light seemed to disappear and his features, including his long white beard, were easier to see, though his face was still hidden by his hat. 

Morro bowed slightly. "Sensei Wu."

Feeling a hand land on his shoulder, Morro looked up to see Wu smiling cheerfully at him. "Morro, my student, it has been so long since you have visited. Come in!"

As they followed Wu into the monastery, he glanced back at Pixal, who quirked an eyebrow. "Student?"

Morro smirked. "Welcome to the Monastery of Spinjitzu, Pix, where I grew up."

Cole's eyes shot open as water was thrown on his face. He coughed as his vision adjusted.

He was tied up with rope to a wooden chair. The chair was in the center of a dim living space, complete with a small kitchen and dining table. Light shone down on him from a sky light in the circular ceiling. 

In front of him was a boy about his age with brown spiky hair and fire in his eyes. He was holding an empty cup in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other. Cole recognized him immediately.

"Prince Kai!" Cole exclaimed.

“Don’t call me that,” the prince warned, making a small jabbing motion with the knife towards Cole. “What are you doing here? How did you find this place?”

“I’m here to rescue you,” Cole’s chest swelled with pride. It wasn’t every day a thief like him got to be a prince’s knight in shining armor.

The prince, however, didn’t seem as impressed, his arms crossed and a doubtful look on his face.

”I am!” He insisted. “My companion and I have been training for six months to save you.”

Prince Kai was silent. His eyebrows furrowed as he stared into Cole’s soul.

Breaking the silence, the prince scoffed. “And how don you plan to do that?”

“Well,” Cole coughed and shifted in the chair. His arms rubbed uncomfortably against the tight rope. “My companion is more of the planning type-”

“The metal boy?”

“He’s a nindroid,” he said. “Where is he?”

“He’s, uh, elsewhere. That doesn’t matter right now. What matters,” the prince glared at Cole. “Is that you tell me who you really are.”

After greeting Lloyd and fixing them up with tea, the elderly man Morro called his Sensei sat down at the head of a table. Morro and Lloyd were to his sides, and Pixal sat next to Morro.

Taking a sip of the tea, the sensei spoke, “It’s wonderful to see my student and my nephew together at my monastery. Tell me, young Lloyd, how is my brother?”

“Good, Uncle Wu.” The child mumbled, staring down at his tea and swirling it with a spoon. Pixal nudged him under the table with her foot, reminding him of his manners. Lloyd looked up and spoke up. “My father is good, Uncle Wu.”

“How lovely to hear,” the sensei smiled. “Although, Garmadon hadn’t informed me of your visit. Could the letter have been lost in the mail?”

“Sensei-” Morro started, but he was quickly cut off.

“And Morro, are you enjoying Ignacia? You’re a member of the royal guard, I hear?”

He sighed, and Pixal muted her speakers as she laughed. “I am, Sensei, and Ignacia is a good city. However, we are not here for a visit.”

The sensei stayed silent, taking a sip of his tea. Morro took this as an invitation to continue.

“Pixal and I are on a mission from Queen Maya to find two thieves. Rocky Dangerbuff and Snake Jaguar- you may have heard of them.”

“I do believe I have,” he nodded.

“They stole the Scythe of Quakes, Sensei.”

The sensei’s gaze darkened. “I see.”

He stood, placing his tea cup onto his placemat, and Morro followed quickly. Pixal remained seated, still not quite trusting the sensei.

“Follow me, my students.”

Chapter Text

While Kai “interrogated and intimidated” the human boy, Nya was instructed to stay in their shared bedroom and watch over the metal boy- Zane. They had painstakingly carried him up the stairs and laid him on the rug in the middle of their room. If he woke up, Nya was to not interact with him and alert Kai immediately.

She could hear a whisper of a conversation downstairs, but the door was shut, so she couldn’t decipher what they were saying. 

Nya stared at Zane, his arms still pressed to his sides and his silver face not so much as twitching. His chest didn’t rise and fall, and when she inspected him earlier, he didn’t have a heartbeat. If she hadn’t seen him walking and talking earlier, she would’ve thought he was some kind of statue. 

Tearing her eyes from Zane, Nya decided to look around the room, as if she hadn’t already memorized every detail a million times before.

She sat on the lower bed of her and Kai’s bunk bed, which was backed up against one of the two straight walls. The other held the door and a full length mirror.

Their room was shaped like a triangle with one curved wall that was the outside of their tower. The curved wall held an old wooden desk underneath a small window and a wardrobe. Nya and Kai had painted the wardrobe many times. Most recently it had been painted turquoise with multicolored flowers littered all over it. Nya was beginning to tire of the turquoise. Neither of them particularly liked the color, but Father had found the paint for a cheap price and gifted it to them.

Nya frowned at the wardrobe. Maybe they still had some maroon paint leftover somewhere.

She stood up and walked over to their desk. It had a cupboard as support on the right, where the siblings kept all their paint. Opening the cupboard, she took their inventory, particularly the corner where they kept their reds.

List colors. But no maroon. Nya thought. Father had made it known that maroon paint was expensive, telling Nya and Kai to just mix it up whenever they needed it. The only time he had ever brought them maroon paint was when Nya asked for it for her tenth birthday-

Nya’s thoughts snapped back to Kai and Father’s argument a few days ago. The conversation had started off normal. Father had asked Kai what he wanted for his eighteenth birthday, which was by now exactly a week away. Kai had asked for a trip out of the tower.

And like every other time Kai had brought up leaving the tower, it hadn’t ended well.

Nya may not know much about life, but she knew one’s eighteenth birthday was important. It was the day you grew up and became an adult. In books, it was when the noble scholar graduated school and the heir took the throne. It was when the knights left home to go on adventures in far off kingdoms, slaying monsters and saving princesses.

As a plan began to form in her head, Nya cautiously approached Zane, grabbing the frying pan on the way. She crouched down next to him and waved her hand above his face.

His eyes remained devoid of their icy glow.

Nya frowned. She reached out with the frying pan, both hands gripping the handle, and tapped him with it.

Again, nothing happened.

She began to look around, seeing if there was any sort or button or switch on him that might power him back on. She’d read a few books on mechanics, so she knew there had to be something.

As she continued to poke him with her frying pan, Zane suddenly shot up.

Nya let out a little shriek and stumbled back. She tried to remember where she had just tapped him as she held out the pan with wide eyes.

Zane turned towards her, his eyes lit up blue, with an unreadable expression on his face.

”Nya Saunders,” he addressed her, his gaze briefly flicking to her frying pan. “Where are we?”

”My brother and I’s room,” she whispered.

”Can you tell me about your brother? What is his name?”

”Kai, and-“ Nya stopped herself. “You said you were built to protect, right?”

The metal boy nodded.

”Then can you help me with something?”

Zane furrowed his eyebrows, and Nya wondered if this was a bad idea. “Yes, however, now is not the time. My companion is with your brother downstairs, correct?”

Nya hummed in response.

”He must come up here and hide. My sensors tell me someone is coming up through this tower.”

Nya let out a gasp. Kai had thought he wouldn’t be back until the evening at least. She rushed towards to door, turning back to Zane at the last second. “Stay here and be quiet. My father is back.”

Sensei Wu led the three of them to another room in the monastery, repeatedly telling them to “make haste” over his shoulder.

The room was one Morro had been in many times before: the monastery’s weaponry. It held all the practice weapons Morro had learned to fight with, along with several real weapons that as a child Morro hadn’t been often allowed to touch.

Hung up along one of the ways was a display case with room for four weapons, but only held one. The golden Shurikens of Ice were proudly displayed- but securely kept.

When he was twelve, a year before Morro left the monastery to live with Sensei Garmadon in Ignacia, Wu had decided that Morro was skilled and old enough to handle the Shurikens. In his excitement, Morro had hurried into the weaponry and tried to open the case, just as he had seen Wu do a thousand times. Morro was left puzzled when it didn’t immediately swing open, as if the door was nailed to the case. 

As he always had, Sensei Wu opened the case with ease- and without a key. He turned to Morro, Pixal and Lloyd, holding out the two Shurikens in each of his palms.

“These weapons are no ordinary shurikens. They were created by the First Spinjitzu Master himself using the four elements of creation: fire, earth, ice, and lightning, along with the Sword of Fire, Scythe of Quakes, and Nunchucks of Lightning. The Shurikens of Ice are meant to be used by the Elemental Master of Ice together with the three Elemental Masters of Fire, Earth, and Lightning. However, the old Elemental Masters have not been all together in many moons, and the new ones have yet to surface. Consequently, the Golden Weapons have been scattered, only the Shurikens remaining here, their birthplace.

”However, the First Spinjitzu Master foresaw this, and created a fail safe within the weapons. For each weapon can track another and lead its holder to it. The Shurikens can find the Scythe, the Scythe the Sword, the Sword the Nunchucks, and the Nunchucks the Shurikens.”

Sensei Wu then turned to Morro. “These Shurikens are the last to remain protected at the Monastery. But if there is anyone I trust to keep the oath to protect them, it is you, my student. You may use the Shurikens to find these thieves, provided you return them to me after, so that they may wait for their rightful master.”

He held out the Shurikens, and Morro lifted one hand, fingers automatically reaching for the weapons that he had longed to possess for as long as he’d known of them- had only been permitted to handle once. He wanted to harness their power, an element stronger, more controlled than his wild wind.

Morro’s hand faltered. Sensei was placing his trust in him, his student. He couldn’t…

Morro reached forward, grasping the icy weapons. He’d almost forgotten how amazing it felt to feel the golden power rushing up his arm and through his body.

But how wrong it felt, to feel ice try to invade the home of wind.

He looked up, meeting his sensei’s eyes. “I will, Sensei. Your trust is not misplaced.”