The Jade City

Chapter 28: The Crystal Blade

I laughed. "Okay, so are we going to discuss the plan now? The others might get worried if we're gone for too long."

"Good point," he said, "But just one more thing. And you're not gonna like this question, but it's important. Just please don't attack me."

I felt the grin fade from my face. "What is it?"

"Well, it has something to do with the prophecy, and I know it because Master Wu told me, and I still remember. I've been thinking about it for quite a while now. Actually, the question by itself doesn't have that much to do with the prophecy, but you'll understand in a second. So basically, I have a hunch I know the answer, and the conclusion I'm drawing from it is not good, so hopefully you'll prove me wrong." He paused to turn around and see my reaction. I found myself smiling again at his rant.

"Just ask already," I said, rolling my eyes. "I promise I won't attack you." I wondered if he doubted that I was the Chosen One. Honestly speaking, if he even had the tiniest piece of evidence that I wasn't, I'd believe him right away. So far I'd done nothing that warranted the title.

"You can lie to me, but don't lie to yourself. I promise I won't call you a monster or anything, but did you feel any real grief when... he died?" His breath hitched a little.

I had not been expecting that. Now, looking back, the only things I'd felt were guilt and emptiness. I had been the one to drag everyone into my stupid quest, and I had been the one to lead Kai to his grave. He had been innocent. But like Morro said, I couldn't lie to myself. I couldn't lie to him, either.

"No," I whispered, hating myself for it.

"That's... what I was afraid of."

"I'm sorry, okay?" I snapped, suddenly angry. Not at him, but with myself. "I'm sorry that I'm a terrible person and have no human emotions! No, wait, I'm not even a person, I'm a monster! Just like Lloyd said in my stupid shared dream!"

"Hey, I wasn't accusing you of anything!" he shouted, "Look, I literally tried to curse all sixteen realms just because I wasn't given a green gi to wear. Do you have any idea how much pettier I was than you?" Morro took a deep breath, then continued, "Also, you're not a monster."

I bit my lower lip, silently disagreeing. Both my arms were still around his waist, and my hands were tightly knitted together at the front of his stomach. A part of me wanted to let go as I could sense the tension in the air, but I knew it would be a bad idea.

I felt him place one of his hands, which was somewhat rough but warm, on top of mine. My face burned at once, and I swore its temperature was well over forty degrees Celsius. I also felt my heart speed up, thumping so loudly in my chest there was no way he couldn't hear it.

"Don't," I said quickly, and Morro instantly let go.

"Oh, sorry," he muttered. I knew he did that to comfort me, but it still felt weird.

"I just wanted you to know, that wasn't the point of the question," he said after a while, "I wasn't trying to tell you that you're a horrible person, because you're not and we all have past mistakes. Sure, some outweigh others, but we're all striving for a better version of ourselves. You know what, maybe I shouldn't tell you. Let's just focus on the plan instead."

"Well, now that you've already gotten into it, why don't you just finish the job? It'll be nagging me for the rest of the day if you don't," I muttered, feeling terrible for directing my anger at him.

"Then promise you won't hate yourself."

"Fine."

"Do you remember the prophecy?"