On a String

Chapter 9

(Flames being broken).

Lloyd hated it. The silence reflected in the four wooden walls of the room, echoed in the faces of the five silent beings who occupied the room. It just surrounded them, hanging thickly in the air. And Lloyd hated it.

No one knew what was going on with Kai. And the silence meant that Kai and Cole weren't back yet. And therefore that meant that they were still in the room with all the weapons.

With a quiet sigh of (not worry. He was not freaked out. Cole and Kai never got scared, so the Green Ninja did not either) boredom, he looked around the room.

Zane and Sensei Wu, who were sitting down the far end of the room, had gone into a meditative trance. They both looked peaceful.

Lloyd thought that anyone who could be peaceful now was seriously mad.

He turned to look at Jay and Nya. The two were sitting on the couch; Nya crying silently (oh, how he hated that word!) while Jay hugged her wordlessly.

"How long is a moment?" Lloyd questioned, breaking the silence.

But the silence still hung in the room like a predator waiting to strike.

Jay looked up. "What do you mean, kid?"

He'd never heard the Master of Lightening sound so sad before. "Cole said he needed a moment with Kai. Is it up yet? Is Kai okay?"

"We're all worried about Kai. No one knows what is happening with him, Lloyd. All we can do is hope Cole knows what he's doing,"

"But how long will it take?"

"However long he needs,"

Lloyd didn't know if Jay was talking about Cole or Kai. But he didn't dare ask when everyone else was obviously grieving.

Swiftly, the silence returned.

Cole gently dropped the sleeve and turned away.

Part of Kai wondered what Cole had made of the scar.

'P26'.

Puppet 26.

But another part really didn't care (had let go; detached) because the darkened lie had been exposed to daylight and now...now Cole knew...

... that Kai was nothing more than property of The Puppeteers.

No, wait. Nothing more than a puppet of The Puppeteers.

Kai felt weak just thinking about it.

He belonged... was powerless...controlled.

He was controlled by them!

Unbidden, a tear ran down his face. But he ignored it because it only showed how weak he was.

Weak... powerless... controlled...

("You belong to us, Fireboy!")

He couldn't...

He just....

He hated how weak he was right now.