It was late in the evening. The moon shining from above as everyone went about their nightly routines. Three ninja were up on the top deck training before heading in. I decided not to disturb them instead focusing my attention to my thoughts.
I brushed a hand through my disheveled black hair. I was still confused about the Spinjitzu I had done the day before.
As thoughts filled my head I noticed something red run into Sensei Wu's room. Raising an eyebrow I approached Wu's bedroom and peeked in.
There was Kai in the Green Ninja suit as he jumped around, dancing and twirling.
I snickered slightly and decided to take out my phone, recording Kai without him noticing.
"Woohoo!" He exclaimed as he punched the air evidently, enjoying himself.
"Fiyaaa!" He yelled, moving his arms around chanting commands so his powers will do as he wills it "Unlock fire! Uh, fire go! Shoot flames!"
Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turned and saw Jay, Cole, Zane and Nya standing there.
"Have you seen Kai?" Nya asked, I gestured inside Sensei's bedroom and they crept into the room while Kai had his back turned. I followed behind while I continued to record Kai.
He got down doing push-ups with one hand, when he jumped up to his feet he looked in the mirror and saw all of our reflections. Whipping his head around, we all laughed at his antics and I stopped recording.
"Wha- you were recording?!" Kai yelled in embarrassment as he took the green hood off.
"Yes." I said "Delete that!" Kai said. "No." I replied.
Jay awed gesturing to Kai's clothes, "Woah, the Green Ninja suit. That's awesome!" He said. "Well I was looking for some kind of clue from Sensei and I found this" Kai replied as he gestured to the suit.
"But you know only he is foretold to face Lord Garmadon is destined to be the Green Ninja and only he should wear the outfit. So Sensei would most likely be very-" Zane explained to Kai.
"I know, I know." Kai interrupted and sighed "I thought if I just tried it on, it might help me see my true potential."
"What's going on..?" Lloyd asked and I looked down, seeing he leaned against my leg.
"Aw, was Kai being too loud for you?" I cooed as I pet Lloyd's blonde hair. "I was wondering what all that noise was" he replied and I picked him up.
Kai walked over to the window looking outside with his back to all of us. "It's not fair that you guys have unlocked your cool powers and I still haven't.." he said and I raised an eyebrow. "Besides, Sensei's gone and we don't know when he's coming back."
"Hello? I'm home" Sensei Wu's voice rang.
"Sensei!" Everyone except me, Lloyd and Kai exclaimed and the others ran off to greet Wu. I left the room while holding Lloyd and closed the door behind me to let Kai change.
"Wanna go greet your uncle?" I asked Lloyd, he nodded sleepily and I smiled as I walked to the upper deck to greet Sensei Wu.
As I walked to the upper deck I heard a lot of fighting. Lloyd gave me a wary look as he clung to my ninja shirt.
The noise dialed down followed by "For so long as Pythor and the Serpentine area a threat, he is our guest" Wu said from just around the corner. I turned around the corner and arrived to the upper deck where everyone else was.
"We have to live with him?"
"But Sensei, he has four arms!"
"Uh, must I remind you ever since he turned evil he's been trying to get our golden weapons?!"
I blinked as I saw the others bickering to Sensei.
"Enough!" Sensei snapped at the others.
"..Yes Sensei." They all replied in sync and obedience. I raised an eyebrow looking at Wu's guest.
Looking at his four arms and appearance I immediately recognized the being. "This isn't about the weapons, it's about the threat of the Serpentine" he said with urgency and transparency in contrast to how he spoke before.
"From here on out, you will obey me and my brother" Sensei Wu ordered to which they all agreed. "To the bridge we must get to more pressing matters" Wu finished as everyone headed off.
"Dad...?" Lloyd gasped when he got a clear look in the moonlight of the figure before me.
Lord Garmadon smiled a toothy grin with his crimson eyes lighting up in relief "Lloyd!" He exclaimed as the boy asked me to let him down.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, he charged at Garmadon and engulfed his father in a desperate hug.
"Dad!" Lloyd exclaimed happily crying into his father's arms. I stood there, not saying any words allowing the two to have their moment.
Garmadon looked up into my eyes as both him and Lloyd pulled away from the embrace. Lloyd walked to me and grabbed my hand as he took me over to Garmadon.
"Dad this is Asteria, she's my friend" he smiled talking about me pridefully.
Garmadon smiled showing his fangs as he extended one of his arms for me to shake "Thank you for taking care of my son."
"He is a good kid" I say as I shook his hand.
Lloyd yawned sleepily turning to me. "You should head back to bed it's late." I chided as his father nodded in agreement. Garmadon watched my exchange with sadness in his crimson eyes. Picking up the boy once more I looked at his father as the boy buried his face in my jacket. "Go join the others, I'm gonna go tuck Lloyd in" I tell Garmadon turning my back to head inside.
When I returned to the shared bedroom I put Lloyd straight to bed. "What did I miss earlier?" Lloyd asked, I chuckled and showed him the video I took of Kai.
"Pff- How did he not notice you?" He giggled laying down on his pillow as I brought his blanket up to tuck him in.
"I guess I'm more clever than him." I replied and smiled "Now, get some shuteye." I told him and stood up as I left the room, gently closing the door behind me.
I couldn't help but wonder...why did he look up to me? It's not like there's anything interesting to learn.
~~~
Lloyd and I walked to the bridge as everyone was discussing important matters. "Any luck finding their whereabouts?" Sensei inquired as Lloyd ran up to stand next to his dad.
"No but the falcon is programmed to alert us if he sees any suspicious activity" Zane informed Sensei.
"Good, if we find the Fangblade we can stop them" Sensei replied. "Kai and Nya, prepare the deck and double deck the anchor. We need to be ready when we first get word of activity"
"Yes Sensei" both Kai and Nya replied and started to depart the room.
Kai glared at Garmadon "I have my eye on you..." he said but bumped into the wall. I rolled my eyes as Nya dragged him out.
I quickly swung by the kitchen grabbing an apple and a cup of juice. That's it. That's my breakfast. I was never one to eat very much, even if I ate a lot, never gained weight.
I don't feel like I changed.
When I was on the upper deck returning I ended up overhearing Kai and Nya talking.
"You have to remember he's not just the dark lord, he's also Sensei's brother" Nya reminded her brother "Though he is pure evil, Sensei holds him close to his heart."
I waved to Nya as I walked up leaning on the ship's railing eating my apple.
"That's it" Kai perked up not even realizing I was there. "To unlock my power, Sensei said the heart is the key. Maybe if I stand up to Lord Garmadon I'll find my true potential and then everyone can see I'm the green ninja!" He explained in a profound way.
I stared at the red ninja tilting my head perplexed by his thought process. From here I could see what in his heart held him back. It was on his sleeve but his head was too far in the clouds thinking about the green destiny he can't be bothered to look down.
Internally grumbling to myself I threw my apple aiming for his head maybe snapping him out of his obsession. The fire ninja caught the fruit easily before it could hit the back of his head. He looked at it confused before finally acknowledging my presence.
"That's not how you reach your potential" I told him as the fire ninja tossed it back to me. "You have to overcome what's holding you down internally. Not externally like Lord Garmadon."
"I'll overcome this when I get stronger" Kai replied overlooking my words. "I'll just need to train so I can be at the top of my game when I confront lord Garmadon!" He continued pumping himself up.
"But Sensei said he is our guest" Nya told her brother warning him not to do anything too rash.
"Garmadon might've fooled Sensei, but don't think for a second I'm not keeping my eye on him" he retorted and turned to both Nya and I. "The Lord of Darkness just became our roommate" he stated bitterly.
I snuck behind the master of fire and hit the side of his neck knocking him out. "Take a nap and calm yourself porcupine..." I hissed as I hovered over his knocked out body with a cold tone in my voice.
"Wasn't that a bit much?" Nya asked as she nudged her brother.
"He's fine. It will take a lot to get through that thick head of his" I replied shaking my head. "I'll take fire princess here back to his chambers to cool off" I told Nya turning around carrying him inside.
I took the fire ninja back to his shared room and dropped him into his bed. He was passed out cold as I hovered over him. I frowned looking at his peaceful sleeping face, a contrary to his usual fiery expression.
"Why would you want to try so hard to be apart of a big destiny?" I thought to myself. "Why ask for more when you have so much you can lose..."
~~~
Later on at lunchtime we all had sat down to eat together. Lloyd sat between his father and uncle while I sat next to Garmadon and Jay. I noticed Kai sending Garmadon glares and I sighed, annoyed by how hard he was trying.
"What's he eating?" Cole whispered to Kai but I could hear it clearly. "Consendesed evil, supposed to be low in fat" Kai replied.
I turned my head to Garmadon "What does that taste like?" I asked. "Tastes like chicken" he smirked and I nodded as I went back to eating, "Sounds good."
~~~
For the rest of the day I helped around the ship with Scout or I sat down and looked through my phone as Lloyd spent time with his dad.
Later that night Lloyd laid in his bed reading a comic book as I looked through the pictures and videos on my phone. I saw a picture of Jay and I when we were 10, I smiled gently, remembering when he and his parents found me.
I was so used to him being a girl back then. But either way, I respect who he is today...It's what makes him Jay. My brother.
There was a knock on the door then, I glanced over and turned my phone off, I set it on the bedside dresser and walked to the door, opening as the four ninja stood there.
They had pillows and blankets in hand each with tired expressions, except Zane he still had a poker face.
I blinked, confused. "Can we sleep in here?" Cole asked yawning while Jay was falling asleep standing up. "Your room flooded by the rain or something?" I asked.
"Can't sleep with Garmadon keeping us up" Kai explained and grunted in annoyance.
Sighing I gave in and held the door open allowing them to walk in.
"Find a spot and get comfortable" I told them as they walked in and I closed the door, going to my bed. "Also, Jay-" I told him as him and everyone else found a spot to sleep.
"No kissing pillows in here, do that outside the room." I warned him earning a snicker from everyone and Jay groaned from embarrassment. "Also, if you're uncomfortable there, then get over here." I told him, he brightened up.
"Really?" He inquired and I nod, he gathered the pillow and blanket he had and got on the bed next to me. "Oh come on, that's not fair!" Kai whispered, I rolled my eyes.
"I believe it's because they are siblings Kai. They are much closer" Zane explained, Kai glared at him as both Jay and I relaxed on the bed and we all soon fell asleep.
~~~
Author's Edit: Oct 9, 2023
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