Seliel's POV

Cole and I try to quietly stride through the dark forest in an attempt to escape the palace grounds. After spending what felt like an eternity trying to find our way out of those tunnels, we managed to locate a secret hatch that let us out in the forest, and we've been trying to quickly yet quietly find a place far away to hide out because if the guards end up finding us, they'll do whatever they can to tear me from Cole.

My feet are tender in the heels that I am wearing, and my legs ache beyond belief. That's not even including the throbbing burn mark that I still haven't been able to check. I'm in agony. To make it all better, my chest is at its wits end.

Other than the brief training that I've done with Cole, I haven't exercised a lot in my life. I usually have a busy schedule, whether attending my classes or going to public events, so in my free time, I like to relax and decompress by flopping on my bed and doing nothing. I scorn my past self for that decision as my chest now feels like it's about to explode. My lungs heave to circulate oxygen to my muscles, and my legs get heavier and heavier with each increasing step. I can't help but let out heavy breaths, trying to soak up all of the air that I can.

I glance over at Cole, and although we're in the dark, I can tell he isn't breaking a sweat, jogging beside me as if we're on some sort of leisurely stroll. His breathing is completely even, and his steps are nearly silent while my feet hit the ground with loud thuds. He gracefully avoids every obstacle in his path. I let out a huff at how he's making this all look like child's play.

However, his face is stone cold. He's clearly deep in his mind, and I don't blame him with the bomb that was just dropped on him. The woman who has caused him and his friends never ending torment for the past six centuries was standing before him, cocky and condescending as she quickly uprooted the new life that he formed for himself.

The thought of her makes my muscles twitch with a rage I didn't even know I had. Not only has she separated the most important person to me from all of his friends, but she has also caused countless atrocities on my people. In her search for the elemental masters of creation, she sent her army to destroy towns, massacring innocent people just for her own selfish needs. There were cities torn down by their wrath, defenseless as she clung onto any hope of finding five people. She cost thousands of lives to lure out five people.

"Do you want to take a break?" Cole looks over at me, and if he wasn't running next to me, I'd assume he was sitting down and relaxing seeing as how even his voice is.

"No," I pant. "I'm not...stopping...until we can settle down for... the night," the words barely escape my lips as my muscles demand my air.

"Let me carry you then, Princess," he offers, and while the offer makes my legs cry out with joy, I shake my head.

"I don't want..." my foot catches on a tree root, and I go tumbling forward, rolling and lathering my skin in dirt and grime as I skid to a halt. My heart pounds as I spit out a wad of dirt that found its way to my mouth, and I have to hold back a scream as I choke on my anger laced embarrassment.

I'm the soulmate of the master of earth, one of the most powerful beings to ever exist, yet I can't even run for a short period of time without immediately getting gassed out. I can barely defend myself, and even with all of the education I've been given, none of it has actually been put to practice, and most of it never will be. I'm powerful only in title.

I'm an absolute deadweight right now, seeing as he could have taken Aria down had she not taken me into her hold, and he could have fled by now. I'm slowing him down, even while putting in my best efforts, and I can't help but get mad at myself for everything. It's my ineptitude that has left me here, sitting on the ground covered in muck.

"Ugh!" I let out a sound of pure rage, ripping the dumb, impractical heels off of my feet and throwing them hard against a tree trunk. One of them bounces right back and collides with my head. I immediately squint my eyes tightly and take some deep breaths in and out to simmer down the pool of rage boiling inside of me.

"Princess are you..." Cole stops mid-sentence, a loud crackle cutting him off and making him let out a yelp of pain. My eyes flash open, and he drops to his knees, twitching and trying to catch his breath. "We're under attack."

With his palms facing downwards, he draws spears of jagged rock out of the earth, each of them ending in a sharp point that could easily impale someone. Flicking his eyes upwards, he shoots his spears into the dark void of the trees. There's a rustle in branches where his attacks are aimed, but each of his spears break before they make contact, shattering as a bright flash hits it. However, one makes through our assailant's defenses, and I hear a hiss of pain at the contact.

I'm suddenly propelled forward from behind, a cold, powerful liquid hitting my back and sending me flying into the tree in front of me. The impact is fierce, and I let out a groan as my head hits the hard bark.

It's difficult to spot Cole in the darkness of the night, but he quickly rushes over to me, the effects of the initial attack on him mostly worn off as his limbs move at an impossible speed. He's immediately at my side, and my cheeks flare up at where we are again. I was talking such big words while we were in my room, but now that we're on the battlefield, I can see that my little bit of training is no match for our opponents, especially since they're clearly unnatural elemental masters.

Cole kneels down beside me, quickly yet delicately reaching out to check out my head. "How badly does your head hurt?"

One of the assailants rushes Cole from behind, their shadow moving closer and closer. My eyes widen as their fist charges up, some sort of buzzing energy forming between their fingers. "Behind you!"

I warn Cole a second too late, the man's charged fist hitting Cole with a hard thump. My eyes widen at the power which makes Cole stumble as his body twitches and begins to lock up. It doesn't stop him though, as Cole regains control of his fingers and flicks them upwards, bucking the earth beneath the man's feet and sending him flying into the next tree over. He hits it with a loud thud, yet he just lets out a groan before getting up and brushing himself off.

My heart drops at the sight. I knew he wasn't normal from the power in his hands, but even at that, the pure force of Cole's attack should have at least stunned him for a couple of seconds, yet this guy is already back at his feet, completely unphased. We're screwed.

He raises his hand, the same crackle coming out of it as before, but instead of another attack, words come out of his mouth. "Cole?"

Cole stands next to me, still twitching, yet a smile grows on his lips as he looks at the man who is still shrouded in the darkness. "Jay!"

A torrent of water shoots out from somewhere else in the trees and attacks Cole, surrounding his head in a bubble. He tries to swat the water off, but it is persistent in maintaining its shape as he tries to rip it off with his strength. Any droplets that are scraped off are immediately replaced.

"Nya, Nya, let him go!" the man calls out in a panic, sticking his sparking hands up in the air.

"He hurt you," a woman's voice hisses from somewhere to my left, making my head whip in her direction, and my eyes widen at the sight of the woman who I have tried to emulate for my entire life.

She's a few feet away from me as she holds out her hands in front of her. Her jaw is clenched, and her eyes are narrowed. Rage radiates off of her tense frame as the moonlight barely slips through the branches of the trees.

"It's Cole. He was just acting in self-defense, and besides, it's only a scratch," the man explains. The master of water's features soften, and the water plummets down from Cole's head, splashing the ground and creating mud around his feet.

As soon as he's freed, Cole lets out a gasp for air and places his hands on his head. Despite his previous situation, the smile on his lips lights up his entire face, his eyes sparkling as the man who was previously attacking us runs over and jumps on Cole, wrapping his arms and legs around my soulmate and holding onto him like a koala. Cole lets out a deep, hearty laugh and grips onto the guy.

Suddenly, the two of them are illuminated, and I whip my head to see the master of water shining a flashlight onto them, a smile on her lips. Her brown eyes shine as she looks at the two of them, and I take the rest of her in. Not only is she gorgeous, but she's also clearly a total badass.

She looks about my height, possibly a little shorter, but she's astronomically more built than me, her defined arms highlighted by her short sleeves. She looks like she could wrestle a bear and send the bear running. My eyes catch on the soulmate tattoo on her left shoulder, a miniature storm with rain and lightning beautifully falling from a cloud.

"Gosh, Cole, I've missed you so much," my attention is drawn back to the display in front of me, the man dropping down from my soulmate. He runs a hand through his hair. "We looked for you in the mountains, but you weren't there."

"I was hiding in plain sight in the capital," Cole lets out a laugh, and the other guy's jaw drops. He's wearing a matching outfit to the master of water's, except completely in blue, and while he is by no means as muscular as Cole, he is still very toned.

In fact, he is still very handsome, but he's a different kind of handsome than Cole. While Cole exudes rugged allure, this guy gives off more of a boyish charm. His auburn hair is a bit rustled on his head from the fight, yet his blue eyes shine with a joy I've seen very few times in my life.

When I take a glance over him again, I see the same tattoo that the master of water has on his right shoulder, and my interest is piqued further. To my knowledge, the master of water is in a relationship with the master of shadows, the head of the elemental army, yet this guy is clearly not him. I've heard that the master of shadows was quite sardonic, and this guy is anything but.

"That's so out of character for you. You must have gone there for a reason. Ooo, was it to try to get some of our stuff back cause trust me, they threw that out a loooong time ago," the man shakes his head and lets out a sigh.

"Actually," Cole looks over at me and smiles, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. He has a proud shimmer in his eyes that turns my insides to mush. "I went there for her. Jay, this is Princess Seliel, my soulmate. Princess, this is Jay Walker, also known as the master of lightning."

My eyes widen at the man in front of me. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Out of all of the places I was expecting to meet one of Cole's friends, let alone Cole's best friend, this was not one of them.

Jay appears just as shocked as I am, his blue eyes buzzing with questions. His surprise quickly turns into a smile, and he wraps his arms around both of us. His touch gives me a little zap, catching me off guard, but I quickly ease into the hug and wrap my arm around him too.

When he pulls away, his teeth are on full display with his smile. "Wow. I never thought I'd see the day where Cole finally actually got a girlfriend," Cole gives him a quick elbow to the side. Jay grunts and puts his hands in the air in surrender, "Hey, you know I was just messing around. I'm happy for you both, really." Jay takes an extended pause, briefly tugging on his lower lip with his teeth. "However, I really never thought I'd see the day where it took you that long to recognize my powers. Who else is gonna hit you with voltage like that?"

"Hey, in my defense, I thought it was you, but I wanted to make sure of it with all of the unnatural elementals running around these days. There's a reason I went easy on you," Cole lets out a laugh, and Jay rolls his eyes playfully in return.

"Suuuure you went easy on me. You just don't want to admit that I'm more powerful than you in front of your lady," Jay looks down at something on his wrist that lights up, and his eyes widen. "I would love to keep this catch-up session going, but Nya and I are kind of late to break some elemental masters out of captivity and..."

"Nya like Kai's sister?" Cole raises an eyebrow at Jay, and Jay facepalms before looking over at the master of water.

"Did I not introduce you?"

"Nope," she lets out an amused chuckle, clearly not offended by it.

"Well Cole and Seliel, this is Nya, the master of water," he looks at her with an enamored smile as he introduces her.

"It's an honor, Princess. I'm sorry for attacking you," she gives me a bow which quickly flusters me. I'm used to people bowing at me, but she's been my role model for as long as I can remember. I should be the one bowing at her.

"Just call me Seliel, and it's alright. You thought we were unnatural elementals, so it's only fair," I am miraculously able to keep my composure.

She gives me a small smile and looks over at Cole. "And yes, I am Kai's sister. It's nice to meet you, Cole. I've heard so many amazing things about you," she sticks out her hand, and with the firm handshake she receives from Cole, a subtle smirk falls onto her lips. "Super strength comes with a super grip I see."

When she lets go of his hand, she looks down at a little device on her wrist. When she taps it, it lights up, and numbers appear that make her eyes widen. "Shoot, we've fallen behind. We need to get going." She starts to take the little device off of her wrist, frantically undoing the strap, before she taps on it a few times and hands it to Cole. "Walk in the direction that it points. It should lead you back to our camp where Harumi is waiting."

"Harumi?" Cole's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. "How is she still alive?"

"We all knew Lloyd was going to be powerful. It should be no shock," Jay shrugs, and Cole nods in return before taking the device and strapping it to his own wrist.

As soon as he's wearing it, Jay and Nya say a quick see you later and turn the other way before they start to rush off, kind of in the direction we came from.

"Wait!" Cole calls for them, and they skid to a halt. Both of their heads whip around.

"Yeah?"

"I know who's behind the unnatural elementals and the attack six hundred years ago. The princess and I are running away from her and the guards as we speak," he lays it onto them without sugar coating it.

"Who is it?" Jay asks, and I can practically see the electricity flickering off of his skin in a nervous anticipation.

"It's Aria. She's convinced that we convinced you to break up with her because we were mad that she didn't have enough power, so now she's trying to become the most powerful person ever in order to get you back. She wants to rule Ninjago with you by her side, and she's been trying to lure the rest of us out so she could defeat us individually and that we'd convince you of it.

She's using our blood that she saved from when she used to be the palace physician to give her army powers. I think the effects are temporary and that our blood needs to be mixed with that of our soulmates in order to stabilize their powers even for that short amount of time. Aria doesn't have any of Princess Seliel's blood, so I'm trying to get her away as quickly as possible," Cole gives the abridged version with a frenzied rush in his eyes.

I watch the color drain out of Jay's face as he hears Cole's words. He freezes in his spot with a slightly slacked jaw for several seconds before he starts to furiously comb his fingers through his hair. "This has to be an attempt at some sort of a cruel joke, right?"

"I wish it was. She's still thoroughly convinced that you're her soulmate. Good news is that she definitely isn't at her little base right now, so that should hopefully ease up your mission," Cole tries to cheer him up, if only a little bit, but it clearly doesn't help. Jay lets out a groan of agony and rests his head in his hands. He's slightly shaking as he tries to process the information

When my eyes hit Nya, she's absolutely fuming. Her hands are tightly bunched into fists at her side. All of her muscles are tensed up, and her face is contorted into the visage of pure rage. Plus, I'm not close enough to her, but I can swear that I see fire in her brown eyes.

"Aria is a monster," Jay strains out, still with his head in his hands. "My relationship with her...I didn't completely see it until I was out of it, but it was so messed up. She is the most manipulative person I have ever met. If I ever said that I didn't want to do something, she would start to cry and turn me into the bad guy until I agreed, and then she'd turn back to normal within an instant as if nothing happened. She guilted me into having sex with her on several occasions and into being her own personal lab rat at times. If I ever disagreed with her, she found a way to spin it so that I was neglecting or patronizing her. I was so hyper fixated on everything that I did because I was so afraid of ticking her off.

She was also obsessed with me, which I found endearing at first, but it ended up being way too much. She constantly talked about and told other people how she was going to have my children, and she had already planned out over 100 years of life for seven different kids. She also kept insisting that I had to let her surgically chop off my tattoo and reattach it onto my thigh to match hers. One time, she actually tried to start the procedure when I was helping her with something else, and I had to jump away to avoid getting my tattoo cut off.

It all got even worse once I broke up with her. She stalked me, genuinely stalked me, everywhere I went. No matter where I was, she was within 50 feet of me at all times. I'd find things moved around and missing in my room, especially my clothes, and never truly felt like I could rest. One time when I woke up in the middle of the night, I caught her in my room, just sitting on a chair right next to my bed and watching me.

I...I hate her; I hate her so much."

"How did I never know about this stuff?" Cole asks softly.

Jay sniffles from where he is now leaning up against a tree. He's on the verge of tears when he replies. "I thought I was strong enough to deal with it myself, but she just wouldn't stop."

"I'm going to fucking murder her," smoke pours out of Nya's nose, and she punches a tree to her left, not even flinching as her skin collides with the rough bark.

Jay wipes off his eyes, getting rid of any tears that he let slip out, and stands up straight. "We need to land this blow on her tonight. She needs to know that she is fighting a losing battle."

Nya's ferocity softens as she turns to look at Jay, the tension falling from around her eyes. "Are you sure that you're up for it?"

"Cole said she wasn't going to be there, and besides, going against her in such a grand way will be a clear sign to her that there is not a single universe in which I will stand by her side.

A/N: Happy new year everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! I know I've been absolutely sucked into the books that I got for Christmas haha

Cole finally reached the rest of the team, or at least some of them! The ninja are finally complete!

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