The Gold Ninja (A Lego Ninjago fanfic) //Permanent Hiatus//

Chapter Seven

(Ravenna)

My father. 

"Ravenna, you do remember!" he nearly gushed, his oddly purple eyes twinkling.

"How did you find me?" I snarled. "Where am I?"

"Ah, your location is on a need-to-know basis, and, dear, you do not need to know," he mused. 

I stared daggers at him.

"But," he continued, "I do suppose you are wondering as to why you are here, and that I can tell you." He paused again, as if pondering something, and then nodded to himself. "Yes, first we should get rid of these glasses... they're only going to slow you down..."

I raised my eyebrows, wondering what he meant. Was he going to give me contacts?

My 'father' came closer to me, and pulled off my glasses, making the world a blur once more. Then, he snapped the things in half, making me gasp. Those glasses were expensive! My heart raced as he raised a pitch-black hand and put his palm inches away from my face. I cringed as a purple light manifested from his skin, growing brighter and brighter until it was launched straight into my eyes.

I blinked a few times and opened my eyes to find that the world was crystal-clear. 

Flabbergasted, I searched for words. "Uh, okay... now you have randomly fixed my sight with some weird... what is that? Where did it come from? Did you give me intensely fast lasik eye surgery?"

"No, Ravenna, I've used my power to heal your eyes. It's pure shadow energy. The stuff can do almost anything."

Almost anything. I took note of that. 

"Okay, whatever. Why the heck am I here? Also, how did you find me?"

"Oh, yes. Right. Well, I found you through a thing called 'blood tracking,' which is a skill that I have mastered during our time apart. It's been so long since I've seen my little girl. So much has changed. Your mother was smart, though, changing your last name so it would be harder to trace you. It's what has kept me from finding you. Garron is a lot different than Garmadon.
"Now, for as to why you are here. I don't know if you know, but my brother -your Uncle Wu... you've never met him- recruited four young men a few years ago to become the next elemental masters and ninja. They defeated me once. I then returned to power, but I was overcome again, and the darkness was presumed to have been taken out of me. But after the Evil Overlord was defeated by my son, a bit of him was left over. He manifested in the shadows. He found me again. The Overlord has caused the Legion of Shadows to come to power once more, like they did long before even my father was alive. I am now the leader of the Shades, who are the shadow people. And, since your brother has joined Wu's side instead of his own father's, I've come to recruit you to be my apprentice."

He paused, and so I took the time to jut in, "Wait, I have a brother?"

"Yes, he was born shortly before I was banished to the underworld. He should only be around 12 now, but a while ago an incident happened where he aged rapidly to become about eighteen years old. That reminds me- how old are you?"

"Twenty-three," I deadpanned, wondering how he didn't even know my age.

"Anyhow, I came upon a realization that all of my past attempts have failed because I have used idiots as minions; whether they be bonehead skeletons, moronic Serpentine or stupid Stone warriors, they were all followers. Now, I know that I have to fight fire with fire, the ninja with ninja of my own; ninja of darkness. You are my first recruit."

"And what if I do not want to become a ninja of darkness?" I spat. "I hardly even know you and you're my own father."

"Oh, I think you will find it quite hard to say no," he grinned, pearly white teeth shocking against his midnight colored skin and violet eyes. 

Out of a plume of black smoke, an obsidian staff appeared in his hand, tipped with a bright red orb that was encased in silver designs. Inside the orb, a red substance swirled, and looking at it made me feel dizzy. 

My dad- Garmadon- said some things in a dialect that was foreign to me. I felt compelled to stare at that red orb. It began to glow, and then shadows flowed out of it, making their way toward me. The black smoke curled around me, causing my eyes to sting, but they would not shut. The last thing I saw before my sight was completely enveloped in darkness once more was the Cheshire cat- esque grin of my father.

Only one thing rang through my head before my consciousness slipped away.

"Side with the shadows."

(Brielle)

Dawn, Misako, Cole and I were in my plane, with Jay and the others in his jet. Misako gave me the coordinates of the Shadow Temple, and I put them into the plane's GPS device. Jay was following my plane's lead in the search for the building.

The temple was on the Western side of Ninjago, which was hardly populated because it was mostly mountains or deserts. High in the sky, the sun sat, reminding me of how close it was to lunch time. My stomach rumbled and I cursed myself for not keeping snacks in this plane. 

"Is anyone else starving?" Cole inquired from the co-pilot seat next to me.

I nodded furiously.

"Here, I think I have some food," came Misako's voice. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out four granola bars; one for each of us. 

Snatching mine away from her hand with a quick "thanks," I wolfed the food down, wishing that I had eaten a bigger breakfast.

"How much longer until we arrive?" Dawn questioned quietly.

"Uh, I don't really know," I replied, furrowing my brow at the plane's dashboard, "the readings on here are going bananas."

Misako looked over my shoulder. "Oh, that's either a really good thing or a really bad thing."

"How is it a good thing?" asked Cole.

"It could mean that we are close enough to the temple that the shadows are interfering with the airwaves, or that your plane is malfunctioning and we're all going to crash into the mountain below us."

Dawn looked horrified.

"Elemental vehicles can't malfunction so I think the former is our best guess," Cole explained, trying to soothe Dawn's worry.

"Just in case, you should call Jay on the radio thing," Dawn piped up.

"Good idea," I said with a smile.

Cole did so, and, apparently, Jay's jet was acting in the same, strange manner. At the sight of a strange-looking, black archway, tucked into the mountains below us, our suspicions were confirmed. Cautiously, after reassurance from Misako, I landed the plane a little while away from the arch and stepped out of the vehicle. The four of us waited for Jay to land on the little cliff, taking in the chilly mountain air.

Misako squinted at the monument after the boys stepped out of the avian craft and nodded, taking out her scroll to compare. She turned around to us, her expression stern behind her circular glasses. 

"We have to be extremely careful around here. We do not know our enemy."

"Wait, does that mean-" Jay cut in.

"Yes, Jay," Misako finished, "we have arrived at the Temple of Shadows."