Flames of the Past #1: The Man in the Mist (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 17

"This doesn't make any sense," Skylor's soft voice drifted across the room.

Kai frowned as he followed the voice through the library, turning into the bookshelves. He found the princess standing in front of one, flipping through a book. She was clearly frustrated.

"What's up?" the red ninja asked as he drew up beside her.

Skylor looked up at him, alarmed at his voice until recognizing his face. "The Sons of Darkness," she began, turning back to the book in her hands. "Everywhere their name used to be, every bit of information the books are supposed to have on them, are just gone."

"What do you mean 'gone?'" Kai moved behind her to look over her shoulder at the book in front of her.

"They're all... blank," Skylor said, turning a page covered in words to a page completely white.

Blank.

"Well, where'd the words go?"

"They couldn't have just evaporated," Skylor mumbled in thought, gesturing toward a few open but blank books on the floor. "But there's nothing about them in anything."

Kai reached around her to flip a few pages, finding other blank pages. "Well, to me, this looks like dark magic," he murmured in her ear.

Skylor laughed. "We don't have dark magic around here," she claimed.

"Excuse my objection, Your Highness, but the Sons of Darkness is practically built on dark magic," Kai coaxed. "I'm saying someone must've heard us talking about researching, snapped their fingers, and boom. Their slate's clean."

Skylor turned her head sideways to look at him, jaw dropped slightly. "You think there's a member of the gang hidden in the palace?"

Kai stared into her amber eyes. "That's what it seems like, isn't it?"

They fell into silence, and Kai realized how close their faces were. He felt himself move even closer, although Skylor was frozen. Her eyes flicked down to his lips the same moment his flicked to hers before their eyes met again. Kai's face shifted into a smirk as his head ducked down toward hers. "It's not against the law to kiss a princess, is it?" he breathed.

But... Skylor was leaning toward him, too.

"Ahem!"

The two jumped apart in alarm. Kai nearly hit his head on the bookshelf as he skittered away from Skylor and whipped around to find Chester behind them. Anger flushed the prince's face and both Kai and Skylor looked at the ground, horribly embarrassed.

"Skylor," Chester barked, jerking his head toward the door.

Without looking up, the princess placed the book in her hands back on the bookshelf and swept past the prince without so much as a word.

Kai gazed after her with round eyes, wondering why she obeyed him so quickly. Technically, she's in charge here, isn't she?

Suddenly, Chester's hands were gripping the ninja's shirt. He slammed Kai against the bookshelf. "Have you got a problem with me?" he snarled.

Kai stared at him in surprise. He hadn't known the prince was a fighter. "No, of course not," he stuttered.

Chester leaned into his face, eyes blazing. "What's up with you kissing my fiancée then?" he challenged.

"I didn't kiss her!"

"You would've," Chester growled. "As soon as the threat on our palace passes, I'm marrying Skylor. I'm not gonna let some amateur like you mess that up for me."