I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
••• Bleed Magic •••

hiding out inside my head, it's me again, it's no surprise I'm on my own now

every time i turn to you, i see the past

it's all that lasts and all i know how

learn to look me in the eyes

•••••

This reads like a filler chapter but it isn't so idk what to make of it lmao. It's kind of bland considering the absolute chaos this book is usually

"What were you thinking?!" Garmadon snapped as soon as Kai and I made it back on deck. Staring hard at the ground, I inhaled shakily. Kai stormed off. The others gathered around.

"That was unbelievably idiotic of you!" he continued.
"You certainly got the stupid part of it right," Ronin grunted, crossing his arms. "What if you missed the chain on the way down?"
"Did anything go through your brain before you leapt over the side?" Cole shot. "You're not invincible, Y/n!"
"I- I know, I'm-" I stammered.
"What did we talk about before? How Lloyd would be destroyed if you were dead!" Garmadon exclaimed, face furious.
"Lloyd would be devastated," Wu murmured disappointedly.
"He would-"

"You're always talking about how Lloyd feels, how about how I feel!" I burst, on the defensive and fists curled. They silenced. "I can't sit back like you expect me to! He's down there and he's fighting a never ending battle because of me! Because Simon or whatever his name is screwed with my head!"
I brought my hand up to roughly wipe away the rivulets of tears that had burst again. My chest was shaking and aching.
"I brought Lloyd home. I let Simon know who he was because of that!" I shouted, my entire body trembling with emotion. "It's my fault he's possessed! It's my fault he's down there and not with us! It's my fault he's in this pain! It's my fault and I have to fix it! Please don't make me sit back. Please, let me do something. Please. P-"

"Oh, Y/n," Misako murmured, wrapping me in a hug as I shook. "It's okay. It's alright. You couldn't have known who Axon was. You lot - stop yelling, for Pete's sake. What matters is that she's in one piece."
I slumped into her hold, staring hard with watery eyes at the button on her cardigan. I sniffled, body still trembling.
"Nya..?" Misako asked softly.
"Of course," was her gentle reply before I was transferred from one hug to the next. She led me inside, attempting to soothe me with her hand rubbing my shoulder. "Don't worry about them. Men are dumb."
"As a man, I can confirm," Jay piped up as he followed us. I choked a laugh. Nya giggled.

"Can you get Y/n's bag from her room?" Nya asked as we stopped outside the bathroom door. "She needs dry clothes."
Jay nodded, bounding down the hallway.
"Get inside and have a warm shower before you get sick," Nya ordered, puffing up her cheeks seriously. "We don't want Lloyd thinking we let you get sick!"
I cracked a smile, hand on the doorknob.
"Okay..." my voice was still scratchy and thick with tears. "Thanks, Nya."
"Hey, we sisters gotta stick together," she said with a proud smirk. "And then we're gonna pummel this Axon guy!"
Smiling a little more easier at her enthusiasm, I entered the bathroom, eager to fall into the promise of a hot shower.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

Twenty minutes later, I was on the window seat again. This time I had my head in Nya's lap as she patted my hair and Jay distracted me with stories of the ninja's earlier excursions.

I felt better that I was in dry clothes and the temperature had risen the further we flew from the alps. I didn't feel like I was shivering anymore due to the cold.
But then Kai entered the room and I stiffened. He ignored us, simply picking up a scroll and leaving. He didn't even look our way. I sighed.
"Y'know, if it makes you feel any better," Nya murmured as she gently threaded my hair through her fingers. "I'm really grateful that you went after him. If it weren't for you, my brother probably wouldn't have gotten the sword back. He probably wouldn't have come back at all."
"Exactly," Jay said seriously as I sat up with a downcast expression. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed reassuringly. "They're only acting like this because they want to protect you. You know that, right? We all care about you. We just want you to be safe."

"I know," I groaned. "I feel so lame."
"Lame?" Nya echoed incredulously, bouncing to her feet and stomping her hands on her hips. "Y/n, that was the coolest thing ever! You looked like Tarzan! No hesitation!"
"And the way Kai and Morro were just frozen in shock," Jay snickered. "That was funny."
My smile was small, but it was genuine.
"I'm gonna grab something to eat," I murmured. "Thanks, guys."
Jay and Nya smiled at me as I left, in search of food. Nose-diving off of the bounty and then crying a swimming pool's worth of tears really makes a person famished.

I regretted it as soon as I entered the kitchen.

Kai was busy making lunch for the team, Zane by his side.
"... that isn't what the recipe says-" Kai was arguing.
"The recipe is wrong," Zane shut him down coolly. They silenced when they noticed me hovering uncomfortably at the door.
"... hey," I whispered, hugging my arms tight across my torso.
"Hello, Y/n," Zane greeted pleasantly. "Would you like to help us prepare lunch?"
"Uh... sure."
We began working in silence, aside from Zane's expert instruction. Lunch was simple, noodles and chicken. Even then, Zane was making something so plain into a beautiful, luxurious masterpiece and I was thoroughly shook.

When I didn't have anything else to do except hover, I finally built up the courage needed to address Kai.
"I'm sorry," I blurted, turning to the fire master. He glanced up at me with wide, amber eyes. "You were right. I was dumb and I- I wasn't thinking-"
"I'm sorry," he cut me off, sighing and looking away. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. We're all just a little stressed out that Lloyd's still... gone."
"I think that everybody needs a breather," Zane suggested from where he was stirring the noodles. "We must not get on each other's throats if we want to save Lloyd. The only way is through teamwork."

"Which means no more diving over the side of the bounty," Kai grinned. I wilted, laughing guiltily. "Don't worry about it. Not everybody's first mission is smooth sailing."
"Indeed," inputted Zane as he tested the consistency of the noodles. "You should have seen Kai during our first mission to retrieve the Scythe of Quakes. It was most entertaining."
"Seriously?" I asked in amusement as Kai scowled. Zane nodded in beguilement, glancing up and grinning.
"He was terrible."
"Uh- we all were, tinhead."
Zane shrugged as he returned his attention to lunch.
"Correct," he confessed with a tilt of his head. "But you were by far the worst."
Kai sent him an exasperated glare before returning his attention to me.
"Can you believe this guy?"
I giggled, mostly amused but also in the sweet, sweet sense of relief. I really didn't want to be on Kai's bad side. Looks like he doesn't hold grudges for long, lucky me.

By the time we finished lunch, we had arrived back at Steep Wisdom to work out the third clue. While the adults were doing that, the rest of us set to ghost-proofing the site.
"Why do you think morro pushed her off?" Kai asked as he set a catapult. "Think he likes her because of Lloyd's feelings?"
"That's what Ronin seemed to think," I murmured as I helped Nya make up water balloons.
"Why the hell does Morro like her?!" Jay cried. "What, does he like the way she breathes?"
"Jay," I said, sending him a dry look. "Shush. I don't want to think about it."
"What," Cole asked as he peeped around the side of the entrance to the shop, staying as far away from the water as he could. "You think he's got some weird breathing fetish because he's the Master of wind?"
"LiterallY PLEAse," I cried, dropping the balloon I was working on. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHUT UP."

"Hey, Y/n," Kai coed with a teasing smirk in a voice that sounded like Walmart Morro. "You breathe really nice, you know that?"
I dryly sobbed, dropping my head into my hands.
"I hate this reality," I wailed.
"You guys are so dumb," Nya snorted. Zane remained silent through the conversation as he placed a sign over the entrance to the courtyard.
"There," he said, changing the subject thank you, Zane. "This should keep customers away. 'Closed for renovations.'"
He stepped down the ladder as Kai grinned from beside me.
"More like fortifications," he snickered as he set up a bucket of water over the front entrance. "If Morro and his ghouls show up looking to steal the Sword of Sanctuary, they won't know what hit 'em. How's the water balloons coming, girls?"
I glanced up from where I was continuing my task. My fingers were beginning to ache. Nya probably had the easiest job - all she had to do was fill up the balloons I held open.

"Fine," I commented, not willing to whinge over tying five hundred water balloons, even if it meant I'd never be able to use my fingers again. "But you know what would be a good idea? Water guns."
Nya shot me the finger guns, accidentally spraying my face in the process. I flinched in surprise.
"I like your thinking," she commented before sheepishly removing the droplets with a flick of her wrist. "Sorry."
"Water guns would be so cool," gushed Jay as he set out bamboo sticks on a little moat around the courtyard. "We should definitely add it to the list."
"Oh, shoot, I was meaning to ask," I piped up, peeking up at Nya. "How come you're the only one who can still use your powers?"
"Because I'm the dopest," she snorted. I blinked and she grinned sheepishly. "Kidding. It's because I'm not connected to Lloyd through the original green ninja prophecy like these guys are. There was even a point when they all gave back their powers to Lloyd and he was op for like. Five minutes. But that didn't last long."

I tilted my head. "'Gave back'?"
"Well... yeah," Nya shrugged. "His grandad was the one who gave our parents their powers. Oh! Don't tell anyone we know this, but we overheard the sensei's and Misako talking one night. They seem to think that Lloyd's really strong. Like, first spinjitzu master potential kinda stuff."
My gaze widened. "But that's..."
"I know," Nya gushed. I tied up another balloon and tossed it to the pile. "It's crazy wild."
"Y'know Lloyd's power, how it isn't like an element or anything?" Kai inputted, stepping down from the door.
"Yeah?" I replied, stretching open the lip of a new balloon.
"Garmadon thinks it's a culmination of all our powers combined," Kai claimed. "Just us four, which is why we're more in tune with him than Nya and why we lost our powers. But they think that Lloyd will be able to eventually fully control each individual element that his grandfather had!"
"I heard that he might even have the ability to take away one's elemental power," Zane chimed in. "With enough training, that is."

I had stiffened up as I slowly processed the information. I think it really just hit that Lloyd was the grandson of an actual god. I couldn't feel myself breathe.
"That is-" I choked in shock, inhaling deeply as I shook my head. "That is a lot of power for one guy."
"Yeah," Cole stressed as he leant against the doorframe. "Which is why they don't want to tell Lloyd yet."
I frowned. "They're very good at keeping secrets. When are they going to tell him?"
"Perhaps when he is a little more wise," Zane offered. "Lloyd is still young. He has more to learn about the power he has now before he begins to know more about his limitless potential. And since this amount of power skipped the senseis and was inherited directly by Lloyd, they have no idea how to approach training him for it."
"And he has to worry about school," Jay grumbled. "How many weeks until that starts up again?"
"Three," Nya murmured. "Hey, Y/n, you're going to Ninjago High this year, right? You're in your last year?"

I nodded, throwing another balloon onto the pile. "Yeah."
"Maybe we'll have some classes together," she smiled. I grinned back at her.
"Oh, man," Jay grimaced as he began walking towards the shop. "You're going to hate it there. The people are terrible."
"Jay," Nya frowned.
"No, I'm serious!" he insisted. "Every last one of them is a bully!"
"No, Jay, I'm talking about the-!"
Jay pulled open the door and the bucket tumbled down, splashing Jay. Cole had to throw himself away from the splash zone, barely missing being hit.
"Careful!" Cole shouted. "Y'know, not all of us are immune to water! And I for one, would like to stick around long enough for Misako, Garmadon and Sensei to figure out the last clue!"
Nya and I shared an awkward look. In an attempt to break the tension, Nya lifted her hands and pulled her fingers into guns.
"Pew, pew."
The water pathetically fell to the ground. I bit back a grin.

"We got Cyclonedo, we got the sword," Jay said as he set out more bamboo sticks. "Now we just have to figure out where the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master is."
"Well, I hope they figure it out soon," Kai said with a frown. "I don't know how long we'll be able to hold out."
I glanced around at our 'fortification work.' Despite the primary-school-prank defences, I thought we were pretty well protected.
"Don't worry, Kai," I reassured him as I tied another balloon. "I'm sure it'll be- whoops!"
The balloon slipped from my hands and fell onto the ground, drenching Nya's shoes in the process. She sent me a look before willing the water away. I sheepishly chuckled. "Sorry."

"We are doomed," Zane said humourlessly.

"Was that sarcasm, Zane?" I quipped, peeking an amused look at him. He grinned back at me.
"Ah, who turned on his humour switch?" Jay asked.
I flexed my painful fingers. Three hundred and twenty-seven water balloons would have to do.
There was a sudden clanging of a bell from the shop. Kai and Jay leapt to their feet, while Zane immediately took position at one of the catapults.
"Intruder!" Kai exclaimed.
"Let 'em have it!" Jay shouted. I whipped my head around, confused.
"Wait, guys-" Nya tried, but was cut off by Jay yelling "pull!"
Four water balloons were launched into the air, sailing through the sky. I watched before grimacing as the balloons burst against the 'closed for renovations' sign, drenching the man in purple beneath it. He sighed in exasperation.
"... it's just the mailman," Nya mumbled, defeated. I glanced warily at the pile of water balloons. Okay. Three-hundred and twenty-three. Three-hundred and twenty-three will have to do.

"No wonder you're going out of business," the mailman grumbled before thrusting an envelope at Kai.
"No- you're the one- going out of business!" Jay shot back awkwardly before triumphantly grinning. Oh, Jay. "Hah- who sends letters anymore?"
"Guys, he's right," Kai said wearily. "It says they're gonna shut us down unless we drum up some money."
"Well, don't tell Ronin," Cole ordered with a frown, holding out a hand to whisper as if the man himself was hiding in the bushes beside us. "If this place is worthless, he won't want to stick around and we need all the help we can get."
"He wouldn't do that," I murmured, shaking my head. "He's a good guy."
They sent me pensive glances. Clearly, I was the only one who thought that. Well, alright.

"C'mon, we're gonna need more water balloons," Cole said, gesturing for us all to get back to work.
I looked down at my aching fingers before holding back a groan and trudging after Nya. As if like magic, Ronin decided to appear, holding a tin bucket for Nya to fill up using her powers. She frowned.
"I'm not a tap."
"It's easier than trudging into the stream," he shrugged.
As Nya begrudgingly began to fill up Ronin's bucket, I caught some of the stream and tried to tie the mouths closed with my aching fingers. The others joined me for once, with the exception of Cole, who stood far away and watched on with a bored look on his face.
My fingers felt like lead as I tried to twist the elastic to my will. I groaned as it slipped free and split water all over the sandstone courtyard.
"I wish I could do more than just tie water balloons," I grumbled as I stretched the mouth open with a painful hiss and slipped the balloon under the water for a couple of seconds. "I feel so useless."

"What do you mean?" Jay asked as he expertly tied the ballon shut with a swift flick of his wrist. Whoa. "You're helpful."
I sighed, fumbling with the tie before groaning and giving up.
"I meant like... fighting and stuff. Without being yelled at."
"Join our training," Kai shrugged. "Once we get back to our usual schedule, you should join us. Then we can get a grasp of how much you know and what we need to teach you."
"I don't know why you'd want to join them," Ronin huffed as the bucket topped up. Nya moved her stream to Zane's unfilled balloon. "Sitting back and staying out of danger is great."
I frowned.
"But it's my fault," I argued. "And Lloyd-"
"It is not your fault, for God's sake," Ronin groaned as he crossed his arms. "I don't know how much you know with your whole-" he eyed the confused ninja "-situation, but I can guarantee if you try to fight Morro, you'll fail."

"Excu-"
Ronin caught me off before I could call him something rather colourful.
"I'm not saying don't go for it," he defended as he held his palms up. "I'm just saying, if you do go into battle, go in not caring."
I frowned. Kai sent him a ludicrous look.
"Of course she'll care," he scoffed. "It's Lloyd. She'd do anything for him."
"I know she cares. Why else would she be here? And it's just a suggestion," Ronin shrugged as he lifted up the bucket with a grunt. "You can't fail if you don't care."
"Then how could you ever succeed if you don't care?" Nya asked suspiciously.
"Through dumb luck and skill," Ronin replied without hesitation. He sent me a pointed look before turning on his heel and walking off.
"Don't care so much," he said over his shoulder. "Usually when someone wants something too badly, they'll trip over their own feet."

"What a moron," Jay commented once Ronin left earshot. "Don't listen to him, Y/n."
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Kai snorted. "He doesn't even make any sense."
I frowned at Ronin's back before glancing up at Nya. She had her stormy blue eyes narrowed in contemplation as she watched him leave. Her thoughts seemed to be clouding her mind.
"Are you okay?" I asked. Nya shook her head, turning her gaze to me.
"Oh- uh, yeah," she said, blinking rapidly, as if just returning to reality. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Y/n?" Misako poked her head out of the shop. "Your mother's on the phone."
"Be right back," I murmured, handing Jay my untied balloon and standing up.

"She's angry," Misako warned in a whisper as she handed me the device. I wilted, stepping aside and pressed the phone to my ear.
"... hey," I greeted slowly, wondering why she was angry at me this time.
"Hey, sweetheart," she greeted sweetly. "How are you doing?"
Oh no. Oh no. This is really bad.
"U- um, fine," I squeaked, venturing through the courtyard.
"Oh, good, good," she hummed. "Then mind telling me whY YOU THOUGHT JUMPING OVER THE SIDE OF A FLYING SHIP WAS A GOOD IDEA?!"
I winced. "Ah... you know about that."
"Yes, I know about that," she hissed. "What were you thinking?!"
"I have literally heard that line so much today," I sighed, running a hand through my hair agitatedly.
"I don't care if you've heard it once or five times," Mum snapped. "I did not let you stay and help the ninja for you to risk your life like this! Your father is right, these vigilantes are dangerous. I don't care about the prophecy, I'm coming to pick you up right now. And then we're going to be talking about your relationship with Lloyd - like hell a daughter of mine throws herself over a flying ship for a boy she's known for barely two months and for another-"

The line died. My thumb was over the end call button.
I blankly wandered back inside the shop and wordlessly handed Misako her phone back. She stared at my empty face confusedly. I listlessly made my way back to the others and continued making water balloons.
"Are you okay?" Kai asked, raising his notched brow. I shifted my gaze to him.
"I just hung up on my mother," I whimpered. "I just signed my own death warrant."
Cole hissed through his teeth in sympathy.
"That's rough, buddy," Jay patted my shoulder.
Misako called us in for another debrief. We piled inside the little shop, where Misako had set up another projector.

"Looking for something?"
Ronin leapt up from behind the counter, looking frazzled. We paused, staring at him oddly.
"Ah!" said Ronin, trying hard to not look flustered. He made a big show of scanning the tea leave containers. "Just making sure that the tea blends are in alphabetical order - ah, yep, there we go. A to Z. Heh."
My gaze flickered to Kai's. He frowned at me, as confused as I was by his weird behaviour.
"So you figured out where the tomb is?" Jay asked, catching Kai's and I's attention. We rejoined the group as Garmadon replied.
"Not yet," he shook his head as Misako turned on the projector. An image of a stylised skull appeared on the wall - the third clue from Wu's staff. "But we think we know how to locate it."

"To bring you up to date," Misako began as she approached the projected skull. "The skull symbol refers to the tomb's entrance."
"We also know that it's my father's resting site where the Realm Crystal resides," Wu said.
"It is protected by three deadly tests," continued Garmadon. "And is designed to keep anyone unworthy away. Only the Sword of Sanctuary can see past its riddles."
The skull symbol changed to a 3D version of the Sword and the scroll of Airjitzu. Designed to keep anyone unworthy away? Sounds swell.
"Yeah, but where is it?" Cole asked the million dollar question.
"We started to wonder if the Scroll and Sword combined held a secret," Misako said. "That's when Kai reminded us there was a map on the back of the Scroll and-"
"If you use the Sword on the map, the blades reflection will reveal the tombs location!" Kai snapped his fingers.
"Exactly," Garmadon nodded.
"Which means," Cole said as he stepped forward and gestured to the holographic Scroll of Airjitzu. "We'll have to get our hands on that map."

"Doesn't Morro still have the original Scroll?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "We don't know where they are. They could be anywhere."
"Yeah," Jay spoke up worriedly. "What are the odds that we'll find them in time?"
"We still have the Sword," Kai reminded. "And if our theory is right, then we're both at a stalemate."
"So we need to attack first," Cole said. "Grab the Scroll before they have a chance to try and come after the Sword."

"Hey, guys?" I asked as my eyes leapt around the room. "Where's Nya?"
"And where is Ronin?" Zane queried. I locked gazes with the nindroid. Something cold settled in my gut.
"Nya looked suspicious of Ronin after that 'uplifting' speech of his..." I trailed off, still staring hard at Zane. "I thought she was just glaring at him, but now that I think about it..."
"You don't think Ronin would betray us..?" Jay asked in a grimace. My eyes jumped to him.
There was silence.
"Go, quick," Kai ordered as he stomped over and threw open the entrance doors. "He was just here a second ago. He can't of gotten far!"
The ninja raced out. I went to follow them but Garmadon caught my arm.

"Y/n, please," he insisted. "Let us train you. Then I promise, you will be let on missions."
"But I am trained!" I argued. "Just... not in Ninjitzu."
"And not with the team," Misako pointed out. "Please, Y/n. Stay back. Just this once."
My breath caught in my throat desperately. But I had to help!
"Y/n," Misako continued. "This is serious. We couldn't protect our son. Please, let us protect you."
I clenched my eyes shut in frustration as I turned my head away. I hated that her words made me feel so guilty. How could I disobey them when she put it like that?

"Fine," I said brokenly, voice catching. "Fine. I'll stay."
"Thank you," she pulled me into a quick hug. "I'll come get you when it's over."
The sensei's and Misako raced out after the ninja, leaving me alone in the shop. I slumped dejectedly against the counter.
I hugged my sides, glaring at my socks while the sound of fighting went on outside. There was an unexpected roar of a dragon and then the rumble of the Bounty taking off accompanied it.

I scowled at my hands.
This is so dumb.