***Oh, boy, fellas. This book climaxes over the next couple chapters...get ready. I hope my Ninjago brain cells don't kill me first. Um, excuse me, but I cannot write a proper ending if I'm dead.***

***(Jay's POV; song for this chapter: "The Lonely" by Christina Perri)***

When I come to, it's dark. And wet. And kind of smelly.

I moan, then sit up frantically. It causes me to smack my already aching head on the wall.

"Ow!" I groan and flop back down.

You know, I believe using bad language is a sign of poor grammar skills, but I so badly want to swear right now. That really hurt.

Then it all comes back to me: Nya forgetting her backpack, running it out to her, her warning me about Zane...and then nothing.

Nya! I wonder where she is?

Through the dim lighting, I see several other bodies. Some are unconscious, some are quietly crying, some seem to be lost in another world. A sweet, soft voice drifts toward me. Someone is singing.

"Two a.m., where do I begin?

Crying off my face again.

The silent sound of loneliness

Wants to follow me to bed."

I shiver at the haunting tune. I have to find Nya.

I try to get up, but feel an enormous weight on my hands. I look down.

I'm handcuffed.

It's then that I panic. What if the Sons of Garmadon have already taken my power? How long have I been down here? What if the team needs me?

My breathing speeds up, but I force my mind to clear. I have to find Nya. She can come up with a plan to get us out of here. She's good at that kind of thing.

"I'm a ghost of a girl

That I want to be most.

I'm the shell of a girl

That I used to know well.

Dancing slowly in an empty room.

Can the lonely take the place of you?

I sing myself a quiet lullaby,

Let you go and let the lonely in

To take my heart again."

The singing is anguished, but there's some note of familiarity to it. Nya? But – it can't be. I love Nya, but she's not known for her vocal capabilities.

I wriggle along the floor, searching for her. I hope she's in here with me. I mean, the Sons of Garmadon would be smart to separate us, but if they've stolen our powers, what's the point?

That's when a door creaks open. Light floods in, making me squint. I hear someone yell in agony from nearby.

"Close the door! Please!"
"Paleman?" I ask.

"Close the door!" he begs again.

It slams shut, but not before a familiar form is thrown in.

Nya!

I caterpillar toward her. With what little light I do see, I can tell her face has broken out in hives.

They must have taken her power!

"Are you okay?" I exclaim, finally reaching her.

Somebody nearby groans. "Speak quieter, please!"

"Jacob?" I wonder.

Nya takes a shallow breath beside me. "Their powers have been stolen," she explains. "They're having withdrawals."

"But that means – you shouldn't be on the floor! It's wet!" I arrange her in my lap. "Are you feeling okay? You're not going to die, right?"

"Don't panic, Jay," she replies weakly. "I'm fine. My withdrawals are just a normal allergic reaction." She sneezes. "Don't expect me to drink much water, though. I'm not taking any chances."

"But – that doesn't make sense," I frown. "You're allergic to yourself. The other elemental masters are having problems with outward stimuli. You, however, are constantly in a state of being inwardly touched by water."

"That sounded really smart, Jay," she responds.

"Well...I'm just glad you're okay." I wrap my arms around her, once again noticing her uneven locks.

That gives me an idea. Even handcuffed, I can still braid hair.

"Jay, what are you doing?" Nya sniffles.

"I'm fixing your hair."

"All right. Why?"

I think. "It gives me something to focus on other than our imminent peril?"

She sighs. "Have at it."

"Too afraid to go inside

For the pain of one more loveless night.

For the loneliness will stay with me

And hold me till I fall asleep."

"Can whoever's singing stop?" I ask, annoyed. "It's already hard enough to stay positive down here."

I don't get an answer. The soprano continues to float through the air.

"I'm a ghost of a girl

That I want to be most.

I'm the shell of a girl

That I used to know well.

Dancing slowly in an empty room.

Can the lonely take the place of you?

I sing myself a quiet lullaby,

Let you go and let the lonely in

To take my heart again."

"Look, I know you have a nice voice and all," I snap. "Your song is really pretty. But some people are trying not to totally freak out here!"

"Quiet!" pleads the master of sound.

Resigned, I continue to braid Nya's hair.

The singing stops.

"I'm sorry," says a female voice. It approaches my side. "Music helps me deal with pain. I'll stop."

"Thank – " I look to my side and turn white.

"Mom?"

***(Nya's POV)***

At Jay's startled words, I turn my face. Beside us is a beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair. She looks not much older than us. With eyes the same piercing blue as Jay's, and a smattering of freckles across her nose, there's no mistaking the resemblance.

The woman frowns and looks Jay up and down. "Says who?"

"Um, y-your son."

She raises a brow. "I haven't seen my son in...I don't know, three weeks? He's a whole lot younger than – "

"For goodness's sake, it's me, mom! Your son, Jay? We watched Breakfast at Tiffany's every Saturday night we were together. You always cried at the end because you said you should've run back!"

Her face is shocked. Her mouth opens. No words come out.

"Mom, it's me," he says softly. "I love you. Please say something."

Without warning, she squeals just like Jay. "It really is you!" She throws her arms around him and laughs.

I, of course, am knocked off his lap in the process. "Ow!" I complain as my head collides with the ground.

"Silence!" Jacob orders.

Jay quickly repositions me on himself. "I can't believe it's really you," he breathes, addressing his mom.

"This is crazy!" she whispers excitedly. "I have so much to tell you! But – you have so much to tell me! You must've inherited my powers, for one! Tell me, how's school? Golly, you look so old! Well, I guess that makes sense, given I was sucked into a time portal. Are Ed and Edna doing okay? Oh, and is this your girlfriend?"

If there was any doubt the two were related, it's gone now. I see where Jay gets his ability to talk so fast.

"Um, well, that's a lot at once," he replies. "If you're the master of lightning, then yes, I inherited your powers. Um, and Ed and Edna are fine, I guess. And..." He looks down at me, hopelessly lost.

"I'm Nya," I cough. "Jay and I are...friends."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Call me Libby. Are you an elemental master? I mean, you're in here, so of course, you are. What's your element?"

"Water."

"Oh, that's nice. Let's see here, who all is captured with us? There's the master of sound, of light, of mind...well, actually, he's not down here anymore. I have no idea where they took him. I guess it's a good thing, though, that they took him. He wasn't doing too well."

"So your power was stolen before you got in this room?" Jay confirms.

She nods emphatically. "Oh, sure. I mean, mine was gone as soon as I woke up – "

"Wait, you could still wield lightning, even when Jay had the same element?" I thought there was some rule about no two current elemental masters sharing the same power.

"Well, see, I wasn't in this realm for a long time." She laughs. "I actually have no idea where I was. I know it was super dark, though. And rocky. And muddy. That's another weird thing that happened. See, there were these mud monster things – "

"Mom, none of this makes any sense. Can you please start your story from the beginning?"

She titters. "Of course. So, back when you were a baby – "

"No, mom. Go back before that. I need to know everything, including the truth about my father."

His voice is laced with pain. I can't help but stroke his hand.

The woman takes a big inhale. "Okay. All right. Here it is." She swallows. "The truth."

She takes a long pause. We stare at her.

"All right, all right, fine. I'll tell you. It all started when I was sixteen." A far-off look crosses her face.

"That was when I met Cliff."

"Who?" Jay prods.

"Cliff Gordon. Have you ever seen any Fritz Donigan movies?"

Jay shrugs. "Yeah, sure. I love those shows."

"Well, honey...Cliff Gordon plays Fritz. Or did play Fritz, I should say. Back in the day, though, he was just becoming famous. That's when I knew him." She smiles. "We were young. We were in love. He was so dreamy. I mean, he was tall, muscular, handsome. And he showed interest in me. Me!"

"You're hard not to notice," I inform her. And it's not necessarily a compliment. This lady is scatterbrained.

"Thank you," she grins. "But Cliff made me feel so special. And as I got to know him...I realized he was more than just good looks. He was sweet and so ambitious. Sometimes, we'd get carried away just planning our future."

Pain spears my heart. That night in the basement, Jay and I dreamed of what it'd be like to have a future together.

"I loved him oh-so-much. I would've done anything for him. My parents, though, thought he was bad news. They said fame corrupted people, and that I should look for someone I could settle down and have a life with.

"I got mad and went to Cliff's. He welcomed me in, as always. And I told him we should run away together."

"But...wait. You were sixteen!" Jay interrupts.

She nods. "Yes. Cliff made that point, but I wasn't having any of it. He said my parents would send the police after both of us. I told him if we gave them a big enough reason, my parents wouldn't care whether I was dead or alive." She sighs miserably. "Getting pregnant became that reason."

The look of self-pity on her face enrages me.

I try to sit up. "You may think having Jay was a bad idea, but it's the best thing you ever did," I growl.

She smiles sadly. "I don't regret having Jay. I regret the way I did it. I was still growing up, but trying to care for a child. My parents kicked me to the curb. I couldn't finish school. Not to mention, I put Cliff's career on the line." She wipes a tear from her eye. "But when he was born, one look at his face washed away all that pain. He became my everything."

"What about...dad?" Jay rasps.

"He loved you, too. And he loved me. And we were going to get married." She pauses dramatically.

"What happened?" I ask.

"One night, my dad showed up. Cliff opened the door, saw him, and told him to get lost. But I shoved my way through and stopped my dad. Despite all my bravado, I loved my parents.

"My father told me he missed me, and that he'd come without my mother's consent. He offered me a deal.

"Cliff and I were suffering financially. Since our scandal, job offers were coming fewer and fewer. Neither of us were smart with money, either. It was a plague to our relationship.

"My father, though, proposed that I leave Cliff, at least temporarily. If I left with our child, Cliff could get some sympathy from the public. It might set his career back on track. My father promised to send enough money for Jay and I to make it until Cliff was financially stable. I told him I'd think about it."

"No offense, mom, but that sounds pretty fishy."

She laughs bitterly. "You're so much like your father. He said the same thing. But as we fought more and more over money and talked about downsizing, the deal became more appealing. The last straw came when Cliff applied for work with a local factory. I was livid."

"He just wanted to take care of us," Jay reasons.

"Yes, but at the cost of his dreams. That's what our relationship was formed from, you know: Those wild dreams we'd constructed before you were born. Without those, why were we even together?"

"Because you loved him," Jay argues. "And because you had a family with him, no matter how messed up it looked to the public."

She nods. "I know that now. I was so stupid.

"The night Cliff got the factory job, we fought. He told me he didn't care about what happened in the future, as long as it was with you and me. I told him I cared too much to let him sacrifice his aspirations. I also promised I would return when circumstances were more favorable. He said that things weren't just going to magically get better. We had to stick together for anything to turn out right."

Tears are now pouring down her cheeks. To our surprise, she starts up her song again.

"Broken pieces of

A barely breathing story.

Where there once was love,

Now there's only me

And the lonely.

Dancing slowly in an empty room.

Can the lonely take the place of you?

I sing myself a quiet lullaby,

Let you go and let the lonely in

To take my heart again."

"Um...hey, Libby, are you okay?" I ask. She seems a little...messed up.

She wipes the tears from her face. "I'm fine, I promise. But I'm sure you want me to finish the story."

Jay nods. "Please. Whenever you're ready."

She regains her composure. "Okay. Um, I stopped arguing with your father that night, since I knew it wouldn't do any good. Instead, I went to your room and pulled you out of your crib. I gathered all your favorite things: Your teddy bear, those little blue pajamas you looked so handsome in." She brushes moisture off her face once more. "I packed a bag and told your father it was time for us to go."

I so vibe with her right now. I would love to pack up and hightail it out of here.

Libby continues. "He, of course, refused. So I left without his will. I ran. Jay and I slept in an abandoned building that night, but I could hear Cliff outside, calling my name. It was so hard not to come out.

"The next day, I called my father. He told me he'd be happy to give me the funds, but I had to move out of the city. So I did, and you never saw your father again."

"But...did you see him again?"

She laughs sadly. "Yes. Your grandfather helped us have a happy life as long as we obeyed him. However, I began to miss Cliff more and more as the months passed. When your first birthday came, I told my dad I wanted Cliff to be able to celebrate with us. He got mad. He said I wasn't allowed to see your father as long as I was receiving the money. So, we struck out on our own. I brought you to Cliff's that day, but he wasn't home."

"Where was he?" Jay asks in a small voice.

"He was on set, working on a movie. And his agent made it abundanty clear that Cliff never wanted to see either of us again."

"Tell me you didn't believe that," I cut in.

"Of course, not. I mean, I feared it, but I didn't really think it was true. I left a note at Cliff's." She sighs. "I tried to work things out, but Jay and I had been gone for more than half a year. Without us...he threw himself into his work. And it consumed him. I believed he'd leave us if his job required it, so I decided it was in our best interest to be separated, at least until his work life calmed down." She shakes her head. "That didn't happen.

"I got a job at a daycare so I could take care of you while making some money. It was tough, but worth it. As long as we had each other, life was wonderful.

"And then the Hands of Time came. They were two elemental masters who controlled time itself. Ninjago needed me."

"More than I needed you?" Jay asks with a wounded look.

"I fought for you. I left you with Ed and Edna, fully intending to come back. Unfortunately, the time twins trapped me in the fabric between realms. I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time."

"How did you get lost?" Jay queries.

"The two sons of the first Spinjitzu master, who were leading the elemental masters, opened a time portal to trap the twins. The younger twin, Acronix, grabbed the closest elemental master to go in with him. That was me.

"I woke up in a strange place. It was dark and incredibly muddy. That's what I meant when I mentioned the mud monsters earlier. I spent my days wondering how to get back here, trying to avoid the monsters' grasp. I didn't even know if I was in a timeline where you existed," she sighed. "It seemed I was there for only a few weeks. Obviously, though, it's been much longer."

"Um, yeah," Jay answers. "How did you get back?"

"That's the tricky part. A few days ago, the mud monsters had finally caught up with me, and they were about to swallow me whole." She shudders. "Then there was this flash of light, and a portal opened through the ground. Out came an old man. He pushed me through the portal, then it closed, and then I fell out in Ninjago."

Something about this story bugs me. "Where did you wake up?"

"In a basement of some sort. I heard voices and got scared, so I broke a window and – "

I facepalm. "Libby, that was the monastery basement."

"You mean, like, the one owned by the sons of the first Spinjitzu master?"

"Yes!" I continue. "We were there! Jay and I fell down the stairs and saw you leaving."

"So the realm mom traveled to must be where Sensei is," Jay reasons.

"Wait." I process all this. "Libby, if he had to go in to get you out, then somebody will have to go back in to get him out."

"Why didn't he tell me this was about retrieving my mother?" Jay moans.

"Because you would've jeopardized the whole mission to get her?" I try.

"Fair point."

Libby's face is all happiness now. "On the bright side, I came out to search for you, and here you are!"

"Um, mom, how exactly did you end up in the clutches of the Sons of Garmadon?"

"Well, there was a mass explosion when I entered this realm. Because my element had fully come alive inside you, there technically couldn't be two of us in the same realm."

"Thanks, Tommy Andreasen," Jay mutters.

"Because of the crazy burst of elemental energy, it was easy for Harumi to find me. What a wicked witch."

I'm not getting it. "Okay, but...how did you still have your element again?"

"I was in another realm, at another time. Once I got to Ninjago, my power probably would have killed me. However, Harumi found me and took the element within a few hours of my return. Since the staff is a combination of vengestone and chronosteel, my element is safely locked inside. Now, who knows what would happen if it were granted to someone else. I just hope the Sons of Garmadon have the wisdom to keep it in that staff."

"I wonder if Jay's element can be trapped inside when there's already lightning within the staff," I muse. "Theoretically, the Sons of Garmadon would think they had subdued him. He really would still have his powers, though, which would put us at a serious advantage for an escape."

"I guess there's only one way to find out." He closes his eyes in focus.

A spark appears at his hand.

Libby leaps back. "Whoa, there! Keep in mind, I'm allergic to that!"

"Sorry, mom. I think we're on a roll here, though."

"You mean...we might get out? I can see Cliff again?" She's bouncing up and down now. "Oh, boy. He might've changed in all these years, but – "

"Quiet!" Jacob reminds us.

"All right," I begin. "So, I figured out who's working with the Sons of Garmadon. I also think I know their plan. This is what we need to do."

I hiss my plan to Jay and his mom, the only two I can trust not to rat us out.

I just hope this works.