*2 days later*

Nya's POV

My sisters and I all sit around the table, Auntie at the head of it. We all eat our lunch that PIXAL prepared for us while discussing our plan for the banquet tonight. PIXAL was able to hack into the guests list and add our names, so now we can get in easily. As long as the ninja don't spot us while we're entering, we'll just look like everyone else.

"The Obsidian of Earth appears around nine tonight, which is in the middle of the banquet. Skylor is going to try to strike a deal with their leader beforehand, which I'll explain to her later. If he agrees, you guys won't have any competition when you steal the obsidian later. If he doesn't, then they'll end up busy anyways," Auntie instructs us. We nod. "Make sure you look natural. I'm not coming with you. The police want to catch me and know what I look like. While you guys are going to do that, I'm going to visit an old friend."

"Before you depart tonight, I need to look over your stitches to make sure your arm is healing properly," PIXAL informs her, making Auntie nod.

"Of course. I would expect nothing less. Now, you guys should start to get ready. I'll do the dishes, so you all can prepare. Seliel, you can do everyone's hair right? Chamille, can you do makeup?" Auntie asks them. They both nod, giant smiles on their faces.

"I've been waiting years for this moment! Come on Chamille, let's go get our things set up," Seliel tugs on Chamille's arm. The two of them rush out of the room to go get their supplies.

"I'll help you while they get set up," Skylor offers Auntie, who smiles in response.

"Why thank you Skylor. Can you grab the dishes off the table?" she asks. Skylor takes all of the dishes in her hands, and the two of them leave the room, leaving me alone with PIXAL. I've been waiting for this moment for days now.

"PIXAL, you know how you told me that you now have access to infinite information?" I try to slyly bring up, not raising any suspicion.

"Yes, I have still been trying to figure out why it happened. Why?" she looks at me with her bright green eyes.

"I've been curious about something. I thought about it a while ago, and now that you have all information ever, I thought it would be smart to ask you," I say nonchalantly.

"What is it?" she asks kindly and politely.

"Can you tell me anything about elemental genetics, like how powers pass from generation to generation and things along those lines?"

"Of course. I found a document from a research study conducted in 1987. Do you want to me to read it to you?" she offers.

"Yes please."

"'The results we have found are remarkable. We have traced every single elemental power through several generations. They have all been passed down from either the elemental master's mother or father who were also a master of the same element. There is no instance so far where an element has been passed down that was not one of the parent's elements.

Even more remarkable is that along with each elemental power, there is a dominant physical trait along with dominant personality traits that shine through. While it is likely that a child shares traits with their parents, it's remarkable how every single master of each element share a significant trait that can be traced back hundreds of years.

However, these elemental masters still show resemblance to their non elemental parent along with their non elemental siblings. The single trait is not enough to significantly alter how the child looks. Even with the master of form, who has bright purple hair, he still looks like his sister who has brown hair.

These results have been cross checked with several other findings of other scientists and across all of the known elements. Not a single time did we ever find an outlier. However, when the destined green ninja is born, he will be the one exception to this information, since he will be the first of his element.' Do you want me to find more information, Nya?"

"No, that answers my question. Thank you," I stand up, making sure to give her a smile before quickly walking out of the room. While I'm making my way to my room, I spot Seliel's most recent magazine on the table. I grab it, taking it with me, before entering my room and shutting the door.

Immediately, I walk over to my mirror. Flipping through the magazine, I find the spread I was looking for. Across both pages there is a picture of the ninja. They are standing on a stage, medals around their neck. My eyes dart to the red ninja.

I look between the picture of him and my reflection. Our hair colors are different. Our eye shapes are similar, even though our eye colors are different. Although our face shapes are different, our noses are nearly identical. I look between the picture of him, the picture of my sisters, and my own face. I look significantly more like him. I wouldn't have noticed it before, but now I can't get it out of my head.

To distract myself, I look at the picture of Jay. His smile is giant, his blue eyes bright. He's wearing blue and black gi, the same gi he was wearing the first time we fought them. His hair is fairly neat, a large difference from the mess it was when we had him here. Looking at the picture makes me smile.

I didn't expect to miss him, but in my defense, I didn't expect for him to leave either. He was fun to talk to, even if it wasn't supposed to be. He seemed to understand me fairly well, and talking to him made me feel a way that none of my sisters ever have. Plus, it seems like he was telling me the truth about the things he told me.

I sit down on the ground, leaning my back against the wall. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It's reached the point that I don't know what to believe anymore. I don't know if it was his plan to take over my thoughts, but if it was, it definitely worked.

---

Skylor and I sit in our little living room, waiting for the rest of the girls to finish getting ready. We were the first two done, and while Chamille is doing her own makeup, Seliel is doing PIXAL's hair.

Skylor is sitting in her two piece dress, looking slightly uncomfortable. She has on light makeup, just some mascara, a bit of concealer, and some lip gloss. Her hair is done in an elaborate, curled ponytail. While it looks fancy, it is still functional for fighting.

"Are you alright Nya? You seem distant," Skylor moves next to me, giving me a small but comforting hug.

"Maybe? I'm a bit confused," I answer honestly, rubbing my temples.

"Why?"

"Well, it started when Jay escaped. I had just made sure I tightened the ropes. I checked them several times, and they were tied tight. He couldn't have wiggled out. He had already tried when I said Auntie was coming, and he couldn't get out. The ropes were a lot looser while lying on the ground than when I left them," I admit, letting some of the information off my chest.

"Maybe he found a way to loosen them?" she suggests, but I shake my head.

"I made a point to make sure he couldn't escape. It just doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense," I put my head in my hands.

"If you don't think he wiggled out, how did he escape? The ropes weren't cut," she asks me, comfortingly, rubbing her hand on my back.

"I think Auntie let him out," I admit. Her eyes widen.

"Nya, do you hear yourself? That's crazy. Why in all of Ninjago would she do that?" she furrows her eyebrows.

"I'm not sure, but it makes sense. She was furious when she saw that we had a captive, so she let him out. She didn't want us knowing, so she loosened the ropes to make it look like he escaped. Think, Seliel used her powers to get in there as soon as she heard a scream. If Jay had stabbed her, Seliel would have seen him. Besides, he told me himself that he had never been able to escape without the help of his team. He wouldn't have even tried," I try to reason with her. Skylor looks confused.

"Nya, I think Jay might've gotten into your head. Are you sure you want to go on this mission?" she looks me in the eyes, giving me a caring look. Her hands rest on my shoulders.

"Did you even comprehend what I said? I think..." I start, but I'm cut off when Auntie walks into the room.

"Oh my gosh, you two are so pretty," she smiles at us. "Skylor, I need to go over the plan with you."

"We'll finish this conversation later," Skylor tells me, standing up. I sigh as they leave the room, leaving me alone once again.

---

Cole's POV

"Come on guys, we might be about to go on a mission, but this is also a public event! Not taking a picture for our followers would be a crime!" Kai argues as the five of us stand on the deck of the Bounty. In our typical fashion, we're wearing corresponding outfits, just in our own colors. I'm wearing a classic black tux while the other guys are all wearing some in their own colors, just a bit dulled down so they aren't too bright.

"I agree with Kai. We need to make things look normal, so we don't worry the public," Lloyd agrees.

The five of us line up. Lloyd is in the middle, with Kai on his right and Jay on his left. Zane and I are on the outside, both being the tallest and the ones with the most neutral colored tuxedos. After several photos are taken in several different poses, Kai posts the picture. "We already have over one thousand likes."

"The girls will most likely be there, so we need to be on the top of our game. We don't know if they'll attack us on sight, or if they'll try to sneak past us, or what they'll do. If you spot any of them, try to keep them in your sight," Lloyd reminds us. We all nod.

"We have to look like nothing is wrong though, so we need to interact with people and pretend that we don't know the girls if we see them, or at least that they're not our enemies. If they feel challenged, they'll most likely attack, no matter who is around," I add. The rest of the guys nod.

"Jay, are your stitches still intact?" Zane asks, glancing at Jay's arm.

"Yeah, for now at least. I'll try not to use it, but if worst comes to worst, I'll deal with it," he shrugs, wincing. "Dang it! I need to stop doing that."

"You know what all of them look like, right?" Lloyd checks with Jay. He nods.

"Yeah. I'll point them out to you guys if I see any of them."

"Great. Now, let's go save Ninjago."

A/N Surprise! Another chapter. It's a bit shorter, but I grinded it out all morning to get it to you guys.

Nya's cracking y'all. She's a smart girl who saw through it.

Any predictions for the banquet? Right now, it's planned to be 3 chapters (it was the most fun section of this book to plan)

I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your days/nights! The book is going to reach its climax soon