*3 years later*

Ray's POV

"But I'm not tired," Kai tries to wiggle out of his bed after I tuck him in. I had to chase him around the house just to get him in bed.

"It's late. Besides, we had a long day," I urge him, sitting down in the chair beside his race car bed.

"Mmmhmm. It was Mommy and Nya day," he tells me matter of factly.

"Yes it was," I rub the top of his head, ruffling his hair. He quickly goes to fix it, making me smile.

"Why aren't Mommy and Nya here on Mommy and Nya day?" he asks, his light brown eyes wide.

Every year on the day Ciara came, Kai and I celebrate Maya and Nya. We do things Maya enjoyed, although it's hard because Kai is petrified of the water and refuses to even get close to it. We make Maya's favorite meal for dinner, and afterwards I tell him stories about his mother.

The day Ciara came was easily the worst days of my life. Kai and I went into the forge, and almost immediately, we got locked in. I saw her slam the door and lock it. Just the sight of her face shook me to my core. I tried to get out, while Kai was just confused, considering he was a toddler at the time.

When the fire started to spread, I was terrified. I knew I would be fine, but I was unsure about Kai. He was too young to tell if he inherited my powers or not. I felt a connection to him, but I was unsure if it was just a father son bond or an elemental bond.

The fire engulfed us, but he was completely fine. The smoke on the other hand was nearly suffocating, and the building started to lose its stability. We were able to break through a part of the building that collapsed.

As soon as we escaped, I rushed to go to Maya. When I saw her, everything froze. Nya was gone. Maya was pale, motionless, lifeless. Her blue shirt was stained with a sea of red over her heart. I felt everything crumble under me, and I collapsed. The love of my life was murdered in cold blood, our daughter gone. The only thing that kept me going was Kai.

Earlier that year, Maya insisted that we install security cameras. I thought it was pointless considering Ignacia was practically crimeless, but I obliged. They ended up recording the entire exchange with volume. I couldn't bear to watch it, but I gave a copy to the commissioner, so he could issue a dangerous person warning as well as giving him a start that could help him track her down.

When I gave the tape to him, I found out that he also had 4 more surveillance tapes of the same nature. Sarah, Libber, and Lilly's deaths were all caught on private security cameras at their households. The master of form was stabbed inside his wife's hospital room, which was on public footage.

With all of this evidence, I was surprised that he hadn't found her. This woman had murdered 4 people on tape before Maya and undoubtedly Amber. The commissioner explained that any time they got close, she would use a portal to disappear. She's also been off the grid for months at a time, which makes it difficult to find her when she randomly shows back up.

"Mommy is in a better place," I tell Kai.

"Is Nya there too?"

"No. Nya's lost, but don't worry, I'm trying really hard to find her," I comfort him. His face scrunches up in intense thought.

"How'd she get lost? She's a baby," he wonders.

"Do you want to hear a bedtime story?" I try to shift away from this conversation. It works. He forgets what we were talking about and nods rapidly. "What do you want to hear?"

"A new story," he snuggles deep under his covers.

"Do you want to hear a story Mommy likes?" I ask him. He nods, excited.

"Yes please."

"Once upon a time..." I start.

"Eew. Those stories are booooring," he groans.

"A long, long time ago in a different realm..." I start again. He gets a content look on his face, so I take it as a signal to keep going. "There were 4 boys. Two were brothers. The four of them worked together to protect their realm."

"Were they special?" Kai asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Like us Daddy," he tells me before whispering "our fire."

"Yes they were. One of them actually also had the fire we have. Another had ice, and the other two were brothers, masters of creation and destruction."

"Woa," he says in awe.

"Woa indeed. One day, 5 girls came and tried to steal 4 very important gems. They wanted to combine them and free their master."

"They were evil," Kai says. I shake my head.

"They weren't evil. Their master was a bad, bad woman. She, along with her sister, took them when they were kids and brainwashed them. They didn't know any better. Their master had been trapped by the brother's father a long, long time ago because she was evil. She was jealous of the brother's mother because she had loved their father.

The 5 girls she trained had one mission: to combine the gems in order to break the seal that trapped their master. They fought with the boys valiantly, but the boys were able to get one of the gems and protect it. As long as they had at least one, the other three were useless.

One of the girls saw this, and she knew that her and the other four girls couldn't battle the gem out of them. Instead, she pretended to get kidnapped in order to get close enough to steal the gem. However, things didn't go as planned. While she was there, she was flattered by the hospitality of one of the boys. He was kind to her and showed her that she was on the wrong side. Eventually, they fell in love."

"Love, yuck," he scrunches up his nose.

"You say that now, but just wait ten or so years. The girl, with this newfound love in her heart for this boy and a newfound sense of what was right, went back to her sisters and stole the 3 gems they had back and brought them to the boys. She took a risk and did what was right.

Her sisters and her master's sister who was with them were furious with her. There was no way they were going to be able to get the gems back. The girl talked to her sisters about how their master wanted to rule their realm, and if she was released, she would cause death and madness. She was able to convince them to turn to the light.

Their master's sister was no match for the 5 of them, considering she was powerless, so she fled. The five sisters stayed in their original realm and lived out the rest of their lives. One married a singer and had a baby boy. Another married an actor and also had a little boy. One married a mayor and had a little girl. One married a lunatic, but she loved him so her sisters supported her, before having a baby girl.

Most notably, the girl and the boy stayed madly in love. They got a little home in a nice village and opened up a business. After several years, they had a handsome little son and a beautiful daughter."

"Like you and Mommy," Kai adds, yawning.

"Yes, just like Mommy and me."

"And they all lived happily ever after. Mommy likes happy endings," he finishes the story for me. Closing his eyes, he rolls onto his side.

"Goodnight Kai. I love you, and remember, if you see anything or anyone scary, come get me," I remind him, giving him a kiss on his forehead. Before he can say anything back, he's already asleep.

---

Mara's POV

"I'm tired, mother," Seliel whines. "Can we please come down now?"

I look up at the pink haired girl standing on top of a 10 foot wooden pole. She is barefoot, and on three pegs next to her are her other sisters.

"No. Our bodies must be tough, but our minds must be stronger. Whining shows weakness," I scold her. "Auntie is bringing dinner. There is no reason for you to come down when food is not here."

"Mother, my legs hurt," Chamille complains.

"The world hurts. You better get used to it," I snap. Immediately, she regains herself and quiets. "We must train to beat our enemies. Every extra minute that you're up there is another minute we have against them."

"Yes mother," the four girls repeat in unison. I smile to myself

"A great way to increase your chances of winning a fight is by knowing your enemies," I start, beginning to walk back and forth. All four girls have their eyes closed. "I am not sure who the guardians of the gemstones will be when you face them, but I have a guess. We can prepare against that and change as we go on. Now, who are the four elemental masters we will probably be going against? Nya, you start."

"Earth," she says, but it sounds more like 'earf'.

"Good. What is the best way to fight an elemental master of Earth?" I ask all four girls.

"Stay away from the ground and don't get within their reach," Seliel answers. I nod.

"Good. Now Skylor, what is another element we'll be up against?"

"Fire," she answers easily, looking at peace up there.

"Correct. What is the best way to fight an elemental master of fire?"

"Dodge their attacks. They'll get too mad to focus," Skylor repeats what I've told them before. I nod.

"If there is water around, use it. Chamille, what's another one?"

"Ice."

"And how do we defeat them?"

"Get to a warm place. Strike fast cause they're...um..." she drifts off.

"Calculated and if you give them too much time they can analyze your every move and find patterns," I snap. "And finally, Seliel?"

"Lightning. Stay away from metal and wires."

"And try to overwhelm them because they get distracted easily," I finish the statement for her. In front of all of us, a purple vortex appears. My sister steps through, a bag of takeout in one hand and more groceries in the other.

"Auntie!" Chamille cheers, putting a smile on Ciara's face.

"Hi sweethearts. Sorry I was late," she apologizes to the girls.

"Don't tell me you were spying on Garmadon again," I grumble.

She rolls her eyes. "You're just jealous the man you loved trapped you in this prison realm."

"What's a man?" Skylor asks, opening one eye to look at us.

"Nothing. Go back to what you're doing," I instruct her. She obliges, closing her eyes again. "I think it's foolish for you to still long for him after all he's done. He was a part of stealing the gemstones back and keeping me trapped in here. Besides, he chose a mortal over you." I say with a lower voice.

"We can continue this conversation after dinner. The girls must be hungry," my sister settles, moving the conversation topic away from her unrequited love.

"Fine. Girls, you may come down by yourselves," I give them permission. Seliel closes her eyes, focusing hard. Soon, a cloud of smoke appears where she was, and she reappears on the ground in front of her pole. Skylor does the same. Chamille skillfully climbs down the pole.

"Come on girls. Let's go," Ciara sticks out her hands. The girls flock to her, latching onto her arms. "Where's Nya?"

I look up, and Nya is still on her pole, wide eyed. She looks down before quickly glance back up.

"She doesn't know how to get down," Skylor observes, looking up at her little sister. "Can I please go help her?" Ciara goes to answer, but I interrupt her.

"No. Sometimes we get in tough situations. We need to be able to persevere through them," I state, looking up at the young girl.

"But she's only three," Chamille tries to dismiss my point.

"That's no excuse. That would be giving up. Get down here Nya, or you will stay up there all night," I say with authority. Taking in a shaky breath, the little girl attempts to climb down the pole like Chamille did, but she immediately loses her grip. She falls on the ground hard before she starts to cry. "Oh get up and stop crying. Warriors don't cry."

Nya quickly climbs back up onto her feet, even through she's in pain. "Sowwy Mother." She tries to hide her tears.

"Girls, go inside and wash your hands. I need to talk to your mother real quick," Ciara tells the girls.

"Yes Auntie," they say in unison. Skylor takes Nya's small hand in hers, and the girls walk in a line inside.

"What was that? A three year old doesn't have the motor skills for that."

"I was building strength," I explain.

"No, you're building hatred towards you. Last time I checked, we failed last time. Do you know why? We were mean to those girls. We pushed them too far to they point where when a boy was so much as a little nice to them, they switched sides. We want loyal girls, not girls who will abandon ship once they're introduced to a little kindness."

"You've gone soft," I roll my eyes at her.

"No, I just don't want history repeating itself. I want to rule Ninjago beside my sister, and we can't do that without undying loyalty from those girls," she gestures towards the room they entered.

"I don't understand why we even need them. Why can't we just kill the future guardians and go on?" I cross my arms, raising an eyebrow at my sister.

"Killing an elemental bloodline off will result in disastrous consequences for us. Because of our father, we are the opposite of the light. The elemental masters all branch off of the light. Losing one of them would set us, especially you considering you have powers, and all of the elemental masters off balance. That risks everyone losing their powers," she elaborates. "Besides, the girls will serve as henchmen for when we are in power."

"And why exactly can't you just grab the gemstones now and go, when all the elemental masters are either young children or too old to be lethal?" I point out.

"Because the realms are constantly in motion, and for the gems to be obtainable, the realms need to be specifically aligned. It happens once every 30 years, and the gemstones get activated in order, so the scolecite of ice is the first to be activated. When each gemstone is activated, it becomes visible, solid, and it has the ability to be combined with the other three. They're impossible to grab when the realms aren't aligned," she explains, making me groan.

"I'll be nicer to the girls," I cave into her initial argument, seeing our need for them.

She smirks. "There's a reason I'm the brains, and you're the brawn."

"Yeah, because I was the one who inherited powers from father," I smirk back. "Now, let's go get some dinner. I'm starving."

A/N I was supposed to write the Chaos epilogue but I was too motivated for this so you guys got this instead. I hope you guys aren't disappointed 

It turns out Ciara is the nice sister. Let that sink in.

I realized I made the nameS super similar, but MAYA AND MARA ARE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

The season 13 trailer came out today, and it looks soooo good. I liked that each ninja seems to be important this season, but Cole still seems to be the main focus. There was only one thing I didn't like however. I know you guys can probably guess what it is... Nya was more willing to fight when her pride was on the line than when Jay was on the line. I'm going to hope that she said that she wouldn't fight because she thought it was stupid she had to fight for her long term boyfriend, not because she didn't think it was a big enough incentive. However, after seeing how upset Jay looked, I'm going to assume it's the former which DEFINITELY needs to be addressed.

Also, I realized I forgot an elemental rule, so I'm adding it below

7: Elemental powers are passed on either when the previous elemental master dies or she the previous elemental master decides it's time to pass on their powers and performs a transfer spell.

Thoughts on this chapter? 

Any predictions or questions?

Also, some stuff is going to happen that doesn't happen or happens later in the show, but most of the important events are the same (like the big battles and stuff). I'll elaborate on that later in the book.

Thank you all so much. You help keep me writing