Everyone sounds like they're whispering. Every conversation is hard to hear. I have to focus extra hard. Thank god for Lloyd signing.
"Ah. Another cup, please, Misako," Uncle says.
"Okay, but drink it slower this time," Mom replies. "Healing Tea doesn't work on a burnt tongue." Wu disregards her warning and chugs the new glass. "Sip! You are quite impatient."
"The same could be said of them."
"Okay, Master Wu," says Cole, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward, "you've had your tea. Now can we talk?"
"Ask any question you wish."
The boys start talking over each other. I can barely decipher their questions.
"Who did we fight in the monastery?"
"That was Acronix!"
"From the painting?"
"Twins look alike!"
"Or was it Krux?"
"Is he from the future?"
"How does he speed up time?"
"Was he from the past?"
"Who ate my pudding cup?" Of course, Jay asks that. "What? He said ask any question. I put my name on this, just because we're in a new dojo doesn't mean we disobey the refrigerator rules!" Everyone looks at him. "Right. Sorry. Guy in monastery. What's his story?"
"Well, to answer that, I must begin at the end.
"It was forty years ago, shortly after the Serpentine Wars. When I was a much younger man. As you know, we fought valiantly, but our enemies were strong, and our powers alone were not enough. It was the discovery of the magic flutes that allowed us to finally defeat the Anacondrai. Their leaders were banished. And peace was returned to Ninjago, thanks the Elemental Masters. Smoke, Meal, Lightning, Shadow, Fire, Water, and Time."
"Hold on a sec," says Cole. "So that guy at the monastery is an actual Elemental Master of Time?"
"No. Acronix was an Elemental Master of Time, like his brother, Krux." Wu pauses to sup his tea. "After helping us win our hard-fought peace, they betrayed me, Garmadon, and the others. The so called Hands of Time felt they controlled the most powerful Element, therefore entitling them to rule all of Ninjago."
"What did you do?" asks Nya.
"We had to stop them. And it would take all of us. Garmadon, myself, and every Elemental Master."
Kai steps forward. "Even our parents?"
"Of course. Kai, Nya, your mother and father were great fighters, but it appeared even they had met their match. Acronix was a skilled warrior, one of the best I've ever seen, but his real power was his ability to control the forward movement of time. By sending himself forward, he was always ahead of the action, as if he had super speed. However, a slow progression can be just as dangerous, but equally effective.
"One Master of Time was bad enough, but like hands on a clock, there were two. Krux's power was the opposite of his brother's. He could reverse time. It's a huge advantage in combat. Know your opponent's next move, know how to counter it. He could even control time to the point of halting it. Of course, he didn't halt himself.
"We knew we had to prepare. Fearing that next time, we would not be so lucky."
"You said the Hands of Time were unbeatable, yet you beat them," says Lloyd. "How?"
"The way one often defeats an enemy--by taking away their weapon."
Zane furrows his eyebrows. "But their weapon was Time."
"Indeed. Our only hope was four blades, hastily forged from Chronosteel: the Time Blades. Chronosteel is the only metal that can absorb Elemental Energy. Stripped of their powers, Acronix and Krux were just two ordinary men, easily subdued. But the ability to control time is too great for anyone to possess. Garmadon and I knew the Time Blades themselves were a threat that had to be eliminated. Forever.
"We created a temporal vortex to dispatch the Blades in time, where they would be lost to the ages. But Acronix and Krux refused to admit defeat. They thought they were more powerful than time itself."
"So what happened to them?"
"Krux disappeared into time itself, and I knew Acronix was going to return yesterday, so I waited. He was the remaining loose end to tie. Now he is no more."
"You mean, like, permanently?" asks Lloyd.
"Never my intent," Uncle says, "but it was his fate. Now Acronix is gone forever, along with that Time Blade. It took four decades, but the Hands of Time will never again threaten Ninjago." Mom offers him her hand, and she helps him over to a couch to lay down.
"Oh, one more question," says Lloyd, following. "How did you know Acronix was going to return to the monastery at that exact moment?"
"Why didn't you ask for our help?"
"How many Elemental Masters were there?"
"Can we make Time Blades?"
"Our parents, you said they were there."
I had half the mind to smack the five of them myself, although I was also curious. Uncle Wu fell asleep though, so they were left hanging.
"No more questions for today," says mom. "Your Master fought a powerful enemy. He needs time to recuperate."
The guys hesitate, so I grab Kai's and Lloyd's hands and start dragging them out. The other four instinctively follow.
"Hey, I just realized," says Cole, "the mural we saw at the museum. That must be the battle Wu just told us about."
"But Dr. Saunters said the Hands of Time were a myth," says Nya.
"History is art, not science," says Zane. "Even an expert such as Dr. Saunders can be mistaken from time to time."
"Ha! True that! Know how I know?" Jay says. "'Cause Acronix was a so-called myth, and we totally busted him! Haha!"
"Yeah," Kai agrees, chuckling. "Except now there's nothing to do."
"Hmm," I hum, squeezing his hand. "The temple still needs unpacking."
Cole sighs. "Tash's right."
"Ugh. Kinda wish we hadn't busted him," says Jay. "Hey, Nya. Wanna hang out?"
She grins. "Sure, Jay." Then she grabs his hand and leads him away.
~
"Doesn't surprise me," says Lily, shaking out the pale pink comforter before laying it on the bed. "I mean, you didn't know your own father was part of a cult until he was turned into a snake."
"That's different. That was a bad part of his past that he wished not to share."
She shrugs. "Still. It's important information. It seems to me like your family quite enjoys keeping the most important things secret."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Don't listen to me. I've only been alive for a couple years, after all."
I narrow my eyes at her. Having her around these past few weeks has been . . . strange. She and Cole act like they've been madly in love their whole lives, it's weird. And she's oddly nice to everybody. I don't particularly like it, but what can I do about it? I'm the one who convinced her she could be more than somebody's evil minion. It was my idea to take her in. I don't regret it, but it's just . . . I don't like it.
"Hey, Babe," says Cole as he enters our room. He walks straight over to Lily and kisses her cheek.
"Hi," she replies, beaming like a school girl. Gross.
"Get a room, you two," says Kai, wrapping his arm around my waist.
"How many times have you and Tasha been all PDA in front of the rest of us?"
"Well, I--"
"Exactly. So shut up."
"Cole, I think you're challenging us," I say, leaning a little closer towards Kai.
"What? No I'm--"
"Who can be more PDA? Sounds fun," says Lily, sliding her arm around Cole's waist.
"No. Nope. This is not happening," says Kai, stepping out of reach.
"Aww, why not?" I say with a small giggle.
Kai looks at me, shakes his head, and walks out of the room. With a guffaw, I follow. It only takes a few long strides for me to catch up to him, and when I do I snatch his hand.
"Kai," I drawl, pulling him to a stop. "We were just joking."
"I know, and I was choosing not to humor you."
I feign a gasp, placing my free hand over my chest. "Rude."
Kai smiles, leaning his head towards mine. I meet him in the middle and we share the sweetest kiss to date.
"Happy now?"
"We totally would've won."
"We definitely would've."
Then we kiss again.
~
I burst into my own room and catch Cole and Lily mid make out session. They pull away quickly, faces instantly turning to the color of Kai's suit.
"Tasha! Do you know how to knock?" Lily shouts.
"There's something you guys need to see. Come on."
They follow me back to our soon-to-be family room where the rest of our friends are gathered around the t.v. Onscreen is Dareth, standing in front of Cyrus Borg's new store.
"That's why I camped out all night," he says. "I never miss a BorgStore product debut. BorgPad, BorgPod, I even bought the Cyrus PDA. I guess you could say I'm the company's Borg-est fan."
I can't help but cringe at the pun. "C'mon, Dareth. You can do better than that."
"Anyway, I'm pretty excited," Dareth says. The camera pans to the crowd as it begins to cheer before focusing in on Borg, who has just wheeled out of the store.
"Not so long ago, if you wanted to tell time, you had to look to the sun, or a clock, or your wristwatch, or ask a friend. The point is, there had to be a better solution. Something merging advanced electronics. And there is. Today, I am proud to announce that we are changing time itself. I present to you . . . The BorgWatch!"
The crowd screams, but not in excitement. The camera pans to show them fleeing, but it doesn't show what they're running from. Then, in the background, something orange and snakelike is caught on camera. Then the footage cuts.
"That was the scene just moments ago in downtown Ninjago, where the launch of the new BorgWatch was tragically marred by a samurai," says a reporter from safely behind his desk. Then someone pauses the video.
"Well, Kai?" says Cole. "You said there was nothing left to do . . ."
And Ninja-ing certainly beats unpacking," says Jay. "Actually, anything beats unpacking."
"Yeah," says Lloyd. "Too bad there's only one samurai. They don't really need all of us."
"So," Kai says, "how do we decide who gets to deal with this?"
The obvious answer would be to let the Sensei in the room decide, but . . .
"I suggest randomly assigning each of ourselves a digit," says Zane, "then manually engaging a cube with graphical representations of each number to make a random, unbiased selection. Roll a dice."
Yeah, none of these bozo's are smart enough to come up with that logical answer.
I glance over at Lily, who is walking out of the room, headed back to where she came from. She'd never be permitted to join us on this mission, no matter how skilled she is. Nobody trusts her enough.
"Yeah," says Nya. There's mischievous gleam in her eye. "Or we could see who gets there first."
Damn.
"RACE YA!"
~
Hey guys, it's been a hot minute. I did not mean to disappear this long, life kinda hit me like a truck. Christmas break is coming soon and I'm going to write as much as I can. I can't make any promises when there will be another update, but there will be at least one before New Years. Thank you for being patient and thank you for your support. I love you all so so much. Until next time!
Word Count: 1952