Everyone as cats.
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"IF MOM'S NOT HERE, THEN WHERE THE UNDERWORLD IS SHE!?!" Cole yelled at the top of his lungs. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU JUST GIVE MOM'S ASHES AWAY!?!"
He couldn't believe what his father said. His FATHER gave away his WIFE'S ashes for what?!
"Harumi..."
"WHAT!?" said the others as they stood.
"Let me explain! Please!"
"Well, you better hurry the fuck up, Mr. Steel!" Lloyd said as his fist slammed against the table.
"When she visited me in my house, she held a gun and made me choose. Either she takes Lilly's ashes or..."
"Or what?" growled Aloy. She already knew what the deal was, but she knew that Cole had to find out eventually, and considering that Harumi wants his seed... She may not believe in religion, but she's praying that the albino leader isn't doing what the cat thinks she's doing...
"I told her to take Lilly's ashes instead of Cole..."
Eyes widened as heads turned unsure what to say.
Half of the room was trying to figure out what Harumi was trying to do with Lilly's ashes that involved Cole's seed while the other half was hoping it wasn't what they thought it was...
"Kai."
"Yes, Aloy?"
"Do a hard search in ritual history. Find everything that involves ashes and human seeds."
Kai did a little hand jester that made it look like he had opened some technical thing as he scrolled.
Cole was nervous as to what's going on, but Edna and Misako placed a hand on each shoulder of his.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Cole, sweetie," said Edna as she pulled him in for a hug. "Harumi is a crazy girl and there's rituals that work."
"I fear that if it's a certain ritual, then everyone is in danger," said Misako. "Things might change from now on."
"Agreed," said Aloy. "If Harumi's doin' a ritual dat I think she's doin', den we can't let you leave Da Die 'ouse without one a us an' when ya leave, we need ya to have a trackin' device dat's tied ta Zane's motherboard just in case ya do get kidnapped. I'm sorry, but we can't risk 'er takin ya."
"I know she's crazy," said Jay. By now, only Kai was still standing. "But I never thought she was THAT crazy... How did she find out about Mrs. Steel's ashes?"
"She most likely has some kind of record," said Zane. "The military has records of their men and women so they know who to go to if they were killed in action. Perhaps she found out through that."
"Either way, we'll get Mrs. Steel's ashes back from her!" said Nya.
"Plus Pixel 'n' Skylar."
"What?"
Aloy laid out a map of Ninjago on the table.
"Da reason why I kept Morro 'live is 'cause 'e said 'e knew where Da Oni's lair is," she said. "Fuckin' bastard said dat Pixel 'n' Skylar are dere too... True, Pix is a bot like Zane, but Sky..."
"I found two rituals," said Kai. "One has a human making a circle of ashes in the ocean and then... ugh... why does this one even exist?..."
"It's the weird siren one, isn't it?"
"Yep..."
Judging by everyone else's reactions, The Steels count themselves lucky that they don't know what this siren ritual is in the slightest. Count yourself lucky too.
"What's da other one?"
"If Harumi gets her hands on Cole's seed and something treasured... then it'll be THAT ritual..."
The mood shifted to worry...
"Mr. Steel?"
"Yes, Aloy?"
"Tell me your wife's fightin' style..."
"What?"
Aloy sighed...
"How. Did. She. Fight?"
Silence...
"She was a strong woman," he said... "I would joke that she lifted tanks that were stuck, but she definitely could carry the heavier loads..."
"Which means we must expect 'er ta rip trees out 'n' throw 'em; renember dat, y'all!"
"WHAT!?" said Cole. "Surely, you're kidding; right?! What are you even talking about!?"
"I wish I was kidding... an' if Harumi ever gets even a drop a your seed, we gotta prepare fer when your mother returns..."
Cole's mouth dropped as tears ran through his eyes... Aloy growled...
"No, no, no! Stop smilin'! It's bad dat she's returnin'!"
"How!?" said Cole as he stood up. "I've been dying to see my mom again and this ritual will bring her back! What's wrong with that!?"
"Well gee," said Aloy as she stood up too while slamming her paws on the table. Everyone else backed up "If we were ta perform dis ritual fer all of our dead relatives, den we all would be royally screwed!"
"Don't you miss them?! You said that when it's a celebration, you'd bring all of the ashes to the dining room so you'd have a family dinner! This ritual would bring them back and things could go back to how they were before they died... What's wrong with that?..."
"What's wrong is dat if your mother were ta come back, she'd kill YOU."
Silence as his eyes widened...
"It may look like Lilly Steel, it may sound like Lilly Steel, it may even have memories of Lilly Steel, but it'll NEVER be what your mother was when she was alive..."
"It's true," said Lloyd. "We tried to use this ritual with my father and my uncle, but both of them had turned wicked trying to kill us... They were stronger than they were when they were alive... We were lucky that we managed to kill them, but..."
No words had to be said on how hurt Lloyd was when he had to kill his father... It wasn't even recorded to try and help him forget that day, but this is one of those cases where it's practically impossible to forget...
"I'm so-"
"Don't... Kitty?"
"Yes, green bean?"
"We don't have to wait outside of the bathroom for him... right?"
"It's... not mandatory, but it would be appreciated... Ya never know with Da Oni... Jay, Zane, pause on your experiments fer makin' da rest of you morphlings normal. I need ya ta take Cole's lion earpiece an' install a trackin' device on it as well as a second trackin' device in his shoes."
"My shoes?"
"Who takes off someone's shoes when kidnappin' people?"
"Fair enough."
"An' make sure dat no outside device c'n pick up on either tracker."
"I am already preparing my motherboard for a tracking signal," said Zane.
"And I just need a few more parts before I can do that," said Jay. "I think I have some lying around in the garage, but I'd have to double-check."
"Do as you need."
This meant that Jay was dismissed so he went to check for parts laying around the mansion.
"Shar-Cole," she said. "If ya need ta leave, tell us. Otherwise, you are not ta leave Da Lyin' Forest. I'm sorry, but only us morphlings know how ta navigate through the forest safely."
Cole stayed silent as he looked away... He understood why he couldn't leave by himself, but this was also like one of those... what's it called?
It's not Aloy's intention, far from it mind you, but she was pretty much keeping Cole in her home much like how The Beast did in Beauty & The Beast. Cole was aware of this method, but he also questioned what was going on, what will happen next, what COULD happen next, and what he should do now...
Does he still want to make that ring for Aloy?...
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What do you think, reader-chan? Would you trust them?
Word Count: 1260