Kai's POV

     I shouldn't have been surprised by this, but Zane found where we needed to go within a matter of seconds.

     "North of Ninjago," he told me, weaving an Elemental Dragon into the air, "there is an old temple. My sources say it used to be for the writers of the Cloud Kingdom to send pieces of Ninjago's future to the citizens. There were all kinds of scrolls with prophecies, family trees, and vague hints about future that were being sent to the temple for the people to decipher."

     I watched the ice harden into a distinctive form. I hated riding on Zane's ice-cold dragon, but I was in no position to make one myself. I was told that I was still recovering from Malevolence's poison. I tried to deny the fact, but Skylor made the unbeatable argument that it had made me weak enough to pass out after one blow from the Overlord. I would have ignored all of this and insisted I was fine, but Skylor had made some threats on what would happen if I set back my recovery any further which I was too scared of to dismiss. She was the only one I would have listened to anyway.

     "After some amount of time all of the hints stopped coming, but those are for reasons no one on the internet seems to know."

      "How does that help us?" I felt itchy just looking at the freezing figure.

      Zane handed the ice dragon our luggage. It gracefully tucked the bags against its chest, purring as Zane rubbed its horns. "Scholars would map out family trees to try to connect the prophecies to. There are hundreds of them still lying around in the temple. Maybe they have our family trees mapped out."

     "Which would make looking up our ancestry so much easier." I caught on, messing with my hair.

     Zane slung himself onto the dragon's back. "Can you get on yourself or do you need a boost?"

     He laughed as I scowled.

     Flying was the easy part. It was cloudy where the old temple was, and the caretakers were reluctant to let us in. About a half mile walk away from the temple was a small town called Eolas. Zane was able to buy us a room for the night at a small inn. The room, like the town, was lacking in high-quality technology. The room's lights flickered every now and then, and there was no phones to call reception about luxury room service. I was appalled at the aspect of not being able to overpay for an abundance of spicy chips, to which Zane just shook his head and sighed. He insisted it was fine to the confuddled innkeepers, so we dropped off our luggage and headed out.

     The Cloud Kingdom temple was massive, built with towering golden spirals and rounded domes scattered across the roof. It looked faded by time, almost unimportant, especially since there was an obvious lack of guards surrounding the premise.

     "Once they bought out these lands, the leaders of the Elemental Houses only let those with their direct permission enter the temple." The caretaker explained in a monotone voice as he walked us up to the entrance, gesturing to the thick woods surrounding the temple. He never mentioned his name, nor did he act like he wanted to have this job. Apparently, the temple was maintained by taxes coming from the residents of the small town, Eolas. The caretaker probably didn't get paid much, with the size of the town in mind. "This land used to belong to House Nature." He waved around him like it was obvious. "But they disbanded years ago, leaving this temple in our care."

     "Elemental Houses?" Zane asked. "My databases are only picking up that they were nobility before city living became popular."

     "You know how you all go around using your magic in the main city?" He waited for us to nod, though I had to note how unimpressed he seemed by our presence. We must not have been as popular in the rural areas of Ninjago. "Yeah, that was basically it. The houses were filled with people who could use those magic powers, and they used it to get to the top of the social scene. If you had a different power, you belonged to a different house."

     "Interesting." I mused. Zane and I fell back a couple steps before turning to each other.

     "Do you think your parents knew about these Elemental Houses?" Zane whispered.

     "My parents are one step away from poor," I said quietly. I had offered them a place on the Bounty a long time ago, but my father gave a new meaning to the word 'stubborn.' "How could they have been part of nobility?"

     "We'll have to ask them about it." Zane nodded, probably adding that task to some sort of mental checklist.

     "The whole everyone-having-powers thing feels off though." I watched the caretaker open the flimsy gates surrounding the temple. "Wouldn't we have met someone else with our elemental powers?"

     Zane nodded as the caretaker led us through the rusted temple doors. I did a double take to make sure we were in the same realm as before.

     The air inside the temple was cool and moist, like walking into a cloud. The pillars inside were filled with rows and rows and rows of shelves; all holding scrolls. Large maps were spread out along the walls, each with several notes and pins attached. In the center of the temple, there was a pedestal that held a box. The box and pedestal were closed off from the rest of the area by the same type of iron gate that closed off the temple. The caretaker noticed our curiosity.

     "Every year the citizens of Eolas come to the temple to put their requests in the box. Most of them don't believe the Cloud Kingdom really come to read their wishes for the future, but it has been a tradition for hundreds of years. It used to be a point of contact with that great society; now people are just looking for an excuse to make their lives easier. Maybe that's why the Cloud Kingdom cut us off in the first place."

     "Cut off contact?" Zane inquired, while I wondered what about the misty air was vaguely uncomfortable. "I wasn't aware we ever had direct communication with the Cloud Kingdom. I thought they just sent us prophecies because they liked to help us."

     "Legends say that this temple served as a point of communication between the two worlds, since they were once quite close. It was here the Cloud Kingdom placed their prophecies, and here the citizens of Ninjago carried them out. History also tells that greedy people started to twist the gifts into something they could gain from. When the Cloud Kingdom saw this happening, they stopped sending prophecies. The temple was forgotten over time, so most people believe that the stories are myths."

     He stopped, pointing to a towering shelf near the back of the temple. "Those are the main elemental family trees. Remember to put them back once you are done. I will return in half an hour to escort you back to town. Don't try anything funny; we have cameras." With those words, he turned around and exited the building, leaving Zane and I in the moist air.

     "Do you think they actually have cameras?"

     "No." Zane replied, scanning the scrolls in front of us. "But I believe it would be wise to not try and break any rules. We need them to trust us if we are going to find the information we need."

     "Well then," I cracked my knuckles and pulled a random scroll out of the wall. Immediately, about ten more fell off on top of me. Zane chuckled while I tried to shove them all back into place. Within thirty seconds of this disaster, I had seemingly messed up the organization of the entire shelf. There was no time to put them back into order, because by then our half hour would be up. I guess Zane and I would have to go through the chaos scroll by scroll if we wanted to find what we were looking for.

      I frowned at the mess, turning to my companion. "I guess we have quite a few days ahead of us."

>(<>)<

Lloyd's POV

     It started as a whisper.

     Ancestry.

     It was barely there; it was something I had to try to hear. I wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or intrigued by it, especially since the voice was not my own. After a while of limping up a mountain its constant repeating, I became annoyed, and partially started to wish I hadn't made Harumi stop talking. At least the rustling of our luggage threatened to drown out the voice.

     Ancestry.

     I couldn't tell if it was male or female; I couldn't name where the voice was coming from. All I knew was that something, someone was calling to me. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the voices started on the Dark Island. Something bigger was behind this.

     The Temple of Light wasn't exactly easy to get to, and my own sore leg didn't help the matter. I refused to show the slightest weakness in front of Harumi, so I continued the climb without complaint, even when my head started to throb from the elevation and its own soreness of being slammed against a boulder. Harumi puffed behind me, but never said another word. Most of the time I would assume she was just tired from life (seeing as she also fought in the battle with the Overlord), but she had shown me that she was more than willing to carry on a conversation earlier. What I said must have really affected her. I felt a twinge of guilt as the throbbing in my chest increased.

     Stop talking about a lie like it was real.

     Our love, whatever that was, was only a deception. Anything she alluded to have felt towards me in the past was an act to cover up her hatred. Harumi had done nothing but wreck destruction and havoc. She didn't deserve to be given a second chance. Yet, no matter how many times the scene where she turned on me played in my head, I couldn't look at her and say she was the same person now. I clenched my teeth. I couldn't afford to think about this right now. It was better that she was silent. It was better for both of us.

     As long as she was silent and bitter, I could keep her deception clear in my mind. I had to keep my mind open towards any moves she might make. Even though she had done nothing but help since she came to Ninjago, I had to keep believing she was evil. I had to lie to my own heart, because if I didn't, then she'd have the opportunity to break it all over again.

     Ancestry.

     I almost tripped as the whisper returned. This time it was louder, like I was heading closer to the source of the voice. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as I continued up the rocky path. The air thinned as the Temple of Light came into view. The voice was almost at the volume of normal talking as Harumi and I walked up to the massive temple's door.

     I couldn't stop myself from feeling awed every time the Temple of Light came into view. It radiated power and mystery, much like my grandfather's legacy. It was strangely thrilling to enter it. Yet, with my curiosity getting the better of me, I ignored the beauty of the architecture and pressed my hands against the tall wooden doors.

     Ancestea!

     The call was stronger. It was no longer saying ancestry. Or maybe it was never saying that in the first place. I had never heard of an Ancestea.

     Under my fingers, the wood softened like putty. It was if the building itself was wanting me to enter. I shook my head and pushed through the doors, feeling the wood harden once more. It was completely impossible and illogical that a building could be sending voices into my mind, but then I remembered that I shouldn't be discounting those types of conjectures anymore. I had never thought it possible for there to be more than one realm, for the dead to be raised, or that one person could control the elements until I became a ninja. If those things could happen, it could be just a probable that a building would somehow be magical.

     The familiar sight of large towers and the massive bell felt comforting. I walked around the cold building, my fingers trailing across the walls. It probably looked silly, but if touching the doors made the call louder, maybe the walls could lead me to the voice.

     The stone walls were covered in paint. Each segment in between the pillars depicted a scene. Last time I had been here, it showed me giving my powers to my fellow Ninja. The murals had somehow shifted from the first time we came to show our past events once again. I hadn't been back to the temple in so long. As my fingers trailed the scenes, the paints started to change.

     The movement in the corner of made me jolt back, expecting something to attack. Instead, the pictures on the walls were moving, transforming, into something new right before my eyes. The scene had originally showed the Oni's darkness covering Ninjago. Now, the dark paints lightened, and the eerie shapes twisted to form simple squares. Before me, the picture shifted into a spitting image of Ninjago under construction, something that had been finished not too long ago.

     It wasn't the only picture changing. Mural after mural shaped itself into the story we had been living lately. I followed the changing paintings, seeing what the Temple had in store to show me. I saw my team leading Morro and Harumi to the Bounty, Kai and Nya facing Malevolence in the Boiling Sea, the Overlord rising from the darkness, and a... and a mural depicting the dragon ride here. The temple had chosen to capture the moment where I had allowed my defenses to crack; the moment where I allowed myself to be kind. Feeling sick to my stomach, I turned to the last picture.

     A green-eyed boy stood, looking straight at me. His features were sour, but his stance was light, almost as if he wanted to run. Behind him, a white-haired girl had her head held high, looking surprised at seeing history played out around the walls. She looked both defiant and unsure, but the expression highlighted her large blue eyes and heart-shaped face. My heart jumped in my throat, but my mind beat down the emotion so hard it had me spouting, "Well, what do you know?" with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

     When I turned around, Harumi was a few feet behind me, studying the scenes with a surprised awe. She wasn't focused on me, rather deciding to half-smile at the beauty of the murals. When I studied her face, I found my cheeks warming. It seemed my heart decided to be as naïve as when we first met. I clenched my teeth and turned away.

     Ancestea.

     I pulled off my gloves and resumed to touching the walls. The voice was not a shout, but it was still loud. I must be getting closer. Immediately, a torch I didn't know was there lit on fire. I stumbled back, seeing another torch light up. All around the Temple, wall after wall was illuminated by the mysterious fire. That wasn't the strangest thing. Every time a torch brightened a wall, it revealed a large bookshelf beneath and above it. Some torches had cozy sofas and oaken desks sitting beneath them. My bewilderment was almost too much for my already exhausted mind to handle. I backed up, immediately bumping into something.

     Harumi dropped her knapsack in surprise. I stumbled to get away, only to feel my chest contract into an agony even worse than ever before. It choked my breaths with its throbbing, filling my whole core with an almost deadly sensation. On top of that, the voices chanting into my head became excruciatingly loud, pounding a migraine into my brain. I dropped to my knees, my hands grasping to find the place that was giving me the most pain.

     "Lloyd? Lloyd! What in the—"

     History reveal itself with just one sip.

     Brew it, consume it, and face dark truths.

     Without its help, you may never find the light.

     Anger filled me with each word, a darker anger that seemed almost familiar. I cried out from it, crimson spots covering my vision so badly that I couldn't see. Everything hurt. Everywhere hurt. I couldn't find anything but pain in my body and mind. Why was I always the one destined to suffer?

     It wasn't my fault my mother abandoned me when I was too young to remember her. It wasn't my fault that my father had to die after finally getting to know me. It wasn't my fault the first girl I ever fell in love with broke my heart.

     Was the universe just doing this to me to see how far it could push me before I shattered into a thousand little pieces?

     Ancestea.

     I became vaguely aware that there was pressure against the top of my head.

     "...I'm really bad at this, but it's the only thing I could think of—please don't be having a heart attack—oh sweet Ninjago everyone is going to think I killed you..."

     Someone was massaging my shoulders.

     The voices had started to quiet down, leaving behind a stale headache. The fierce pounding in my chest had subsided as quickly as it came, making my vision clear, my rage calm, and my body start to realize its existence again. I coughed, gently releasing the suffocating pressure my hands had applied to my chest.

     The foreign pressures continued to rub circles on my arms, gently muttering words I couldn't catch. I sunk against whatever was holding me, grateful for the support as I regained my composure. The pains had never been that bad before, even when they first started. Why had they suddenly gotten so much worse recently? Was I slowly dying, and these were just the symptoms?

      I froze when I realized who was holding me.

     And shot out of her grip faster than any injured person should.

     My face was heating up to a tomato red and my mind grappled for an excuse.

     I was supposed to be a fearless leader, and I collapsed at the mercy of the girl I was supposed to hate.

     Could this situation get any worse?

     I attempted to scramble to my feet, only for my chest to contract so badly I had to remain sitting to even breath properly. Harumi did lean forward, her eyes narrowed in concern, but I waved her off. I just needed a second to catch my breath. I was fine.

      Still, she was watching me with those captivating blue eyes, wanting an explanation for what just happened.

      "It's never been this painful before." I mumbled after a second, feeling the pounding start to fade. It was following the same pattern it always had, just one hundred times worse. The pains always randomly came and went without explanation or pattern, which made them really hard to treat. Kai had been my chaperone when we went to the doctor, and had made sure I was taking my medicine, but nothing ever helped. Over time they had become so infrequent I didn't think much of them, but now it was so bad I couldn't push the reality of it aside with an excuse.

     "Do you have anything that can help it?"

     "I'm fine." I insisted, finally pulling myself to my feet. I couldn't be weak in front of her any longer. In front of me, the final torches illuminated on the walls. "We should keep looking for clues."

     "Are you sure you aren't having a heart atta—"

     "I'm fine." 

     Her glare turned cold. "Great. Just let it be known here that I am not at all responsible if you drop dead in the next twenty-four hours because of an illness you refused to treat."

     "You'll be trapped here if I do, so no one will ever know." Sarcasm dripped from my voice as I regained a proper breathing pattern. The twinges in my chest continued to bother me, but they were insignificant enough now for me to pretend away.

     She snorted at the comment, waltzing over to one of the lavish bookshelves that had appeared. "Eh, living in here for eternity won't be that bad. No people, no pointless drama, no Overlords and prophecies; it'll be nice. This temple is magic anyway, so it will take care of me."

     Right as she patted the bookshelf like an old friend, a book fell out. Harumi bent down to pick it up, somehow maintaining perfect posture. She was still a princess, even after all these years.

     "The Complete History of Ninjago," Harumi mused, stroking the leather cover, "it's almost as if the Temple is helping us."

     I tensed at the word 'us'. This was my mission, my ancestry, and she was acting like she had a part of it. Yet, when I finally forced myself to look at her face, I could find no trace of pride. There was something beneath the façade of not caring, some desire to help that didn't involve manipulative plans. Perhaps it was my own stupidly hopeful heart seeing goodness in places that didn't exist.

     Did she really wish to destroy me all over again, or was it my own paranoia driving her away?

     Once I had glanced, I couldn't look away. There stood the girl who I had once loved. There stood the girl I was once ready to die for. There stood the girl who destroyed any chance I had at love.

     I soaked in her features, feeling my pulse rise each second. Snow white hair, angular bone structure, kind eyes, a small nose, all traces of the princess I once knew. Memories surged through my head, each more powerful than the last, of the happy moments we had spent together. There was a time where things between us were simple and beautiful, a time where I had been fooled into believing our love was truly everything I had ever wanted.

     I was afraid to be that naïve boy again.

     Yet every square inch of my heart wanted to return to that past reality.

     Follow the darkness.

     I turned away, hearing the clear voice echo from the other side of the room.

     "I think I'll take a look at this while you do whatever." Harumi said, waving the book around. "Just... don't die or anything, okay? I'll never hear the end of it."

     She couldn't see my lips twitch upwards at her words. I forced the expression away, nodding as I made my way over to the opposite side.

     The darkness holds secrets, but it also holds truth.

     I spun, trying to find the source.

     "Where are you?" I whispered, touching a column. If this temple really was magic, then it would hear me.

     The aching silence stretched on, until a torch went out. As the light disappeared, so did the bookshelves in that area. It still didn't look like it had before because the shadows covered anything that might resemble a wall. I moved over to the dark space, wondering if the voice would get louder. Strangely enough, it seemed as if the wall had disappeared, leaving behind a murky blackened path. Voices pounded in my head, sealing the decision I had already made deep down.

     Face the truth.

     Find out who you are.

     Ancestea.

     Without a doubt, I plunged into the darkness.