The school week passed like nothing and now Natalie was woken up by Martha who was excited to head to the temple. Natalie looked at her alarm clock after being woken up and she saw that it was currently 8 in the morning. Natalie smiled a bit as it was much nicer than the last time Martha woke her up on her first day at her new school.
"Hey cous, are you excited to go back to that temple and get some answers?" Martha asked cheerfully.
"Yawn... Yeah I am, thanks for asking cous. I'm just gonna get ready for the day and after breakfast I'll be ready to head out," Natalie explained through yawns while also getting up from her bed.
"Awesome! I'll wait for you in the living room, let me know when you're ready to head out," Martha said before leaving the room to give Natalie the space she would need to get ready.
"Well, better get going, neither me nor Martha are going to get any answers if we stay here all weekend," Natalie said to herself before getting up and walking up to her dresser to grab her clothes for the day.
About an hour later Natalie had finished up her daily routine and was now ready to head out. So after putting her dishes from breakfast in the skink, she quickly whipped off the stove, so her mom wouldn't bother her about it later, and went into the living room to tell Martha. When she walked in she saw Martha just chilling on the couch watching a Ninja show.
"Hey Martha! I'm ready to go!" Natalie called out, getting Martha's attention.
"Alright! I'll be there in a sec! This is my favorite part of the episode! So once it's over we'll go!" Martha exclaimed.
Not wanting to wait as Natalie knew her cousin well enough that she'd just move on to the next episode once this one was finished, Natalie picked up the remote and paused the TV before turning it off.
"Hey! What gives cous! Why'd you have to do that?!" Martha asked a little annoyed that Natalie had turned the TV off.
"Sorry, but knowing you, you'll just be sitting here watching that show all day and we won't be going anywhere, and I'm not in the mood for that, okay?" Natalie asked.
Martha groaned a bit, but nodded her head, she got up and walked out of the room. Natalie put the remote back down on the table then followed her cousin out of the room then out of the apartment. After leaving the apartment the two went down to the bakery, and saw Morgan frosting a cake.
"Hey dad!" Martha called out which got her father's attention.
"Huh? Oh hey girls, where are you two doing today?" Morgan asked the girls.
"We were just gonna head out to that temple we went to on our school field trip. Natalie loved it so much that she wanted to see more," Martha explained.
"Really? That's actually perfect timing, we got an order for some cherry blossom shaped mini cakes so could you girls do me a favor and deliver them for us? I would've asked one of my employees, but that wedding cake is due today so everyone's hold up," Morgan explained.
"Sure dad! We'd love to! Oh and is it alright if we take some sticky buns for the road?" Martha asked.
"Hehe, of course, I know that you two just love my buns," Morgan said.
He then grabbed a tray that was sitting next to him and handed it over to the girls. The tray was covered in gooey, cinnamon sticky buns that were all shaped differently. Somewhere squares, while others were hearts, diamonds, circles, and even triangles. Martha and Natalie both giggled a bit at the randomly shaped buns before the two grabbed some bags that were sitting on the shelf behind them and took about two buns each.
"Thanks Uncle Morgan, we'll see you and mom later when we come back," Natalie said.
"See you girls, too, oh and the cakes are sitting on the delivery counter out in the eating area. Just go on and grab them before leaving," Morgan explained.
"Alright dad, thanks for the info! We'll see you later bye!" Martha exclaimed cheerfully before she and Natalie left the kitchen.
Once they were out of the kitchen they went to the delivery shelf, took the box that had the cakes in it, and finally went out to Martha's car and drove off. While they were driving Natalie took out one of her sticky buns and began to eat it. The first bite in Natalie could taste the frosty, cinnamon goodness in it as her taste buds were coated with flavor. Natalie smiled as she chewed on the bun, smearing a little frosting on her face as well.
"Hmm, OMG! I've forgotten how tasty Uncle Morgan's baked goods are," Natalie said joyfully after swallowing what was in her mouth.
"Hehe, yeah dad's the best pastry chef I know. Stella and Carol might try to tease me by calling me a baker's daughter, but I remind them of how successful my dad's bakery is. After all, a huge line wraps around the apartment building almost every week so people could just get a taste of my dad's baked goods. And when I see the look on their faces after I tell them that is just so priceless. HA! They have zero power over me and can never bring me down with anything! I'm just too slick and clever, and I'm not just being cocky," Martha explained while smiling.
"Haha, yeah that's a fact about you... and sometimes I wish I was more like you cous. You don't let anything bother you, you're always going no matter what, how do you do it?" Natalie asked.
"It's just how I am, mom told me I got that from her!" Martha exclaimed.
"Hehe yeah I remember auntie being like that. Hey I know you still chat with your mom over calls. How has she been?" Natale asked.
"She's been good from what I heard. She told me that her job is amazing and she has a new partner now, so I'm happy for her," Martha explained.
"Oh I wonder who her new partner is?" Natalie asked.
"I've seen him on our video calls. He's a bit short and chubby but incredibly friendly and kind, he told me he can't have children of his own, but would love to meet me one day and hope to be as much of a father to me as my bio dad is," Martha explained.
"Ohh interesting, I hope I get to meet him myself," Natalie said.
Martha smiled brightly at that before focusing her attention onto the road so she wouldn't hit something or someone. After about half an hour the two arrived at the temple, so Martha parked her car in the handicap spot closest to the gate, as she was physically handicapped without her prosthetic. She then turned off her car and put her car keys in her purse for safekeeping, as it was right next to her phone and she always kept her hand on her phone in public places.
"Alright, cous you carry the cakes and I'll ask around and find out who ordered them," Martha explained.
Natalie nodded and reached into the backseat where they had put the cakes, grabbed onto the reusable bag the box was in. After grabbing the box the two cousins got out of the car, closed the doors, Martha then got out her keys, pressed the lock button and locked up the car doors.
Once the car was locked and secured the two walked into the temple grounds. They looked and saw that some lovely cherry blossoms were staring down at them. There were also some workers who were either sweeping up the place, or tending to the plant or sand gardens.
"Wow, this place is so beautiful! The eye-catching cherry blossoms, the clear crystal blue water with the little fishies in it, and even the sand gardens done so beautifully," Martha explained calmly as she just took in what she could see.
"Yeah it is, I can see why you like it so much, this place is so calming and-" Natalie was saying but was interrupted when the two heard some yelling. They looked and saw a timid employee getting yelled at by either their co-worker or boss. Natalie and Martha walked up to the two in order for them to understand what was going on.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU DID IT WRONG AGAIN! HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO GET IT WRONG!" the boss or co-worker screamed.
"I-I'm sorry. I-I'll do it again," the timid employee responded.
"Hey! Sam! You shouldn't be yelling at our new employee's like that!" everyone heard an old, weak female voice call out before two coughs were heard. The Eri came into view from the inside of the building next to the two workers.
"Hey! You might be the owner but I'm the garden manager! So I'll manage things here my way!" Sam exclaimed.
"You might be the manager, but that means you still need to treat everyone with respect! If you want our new employees to do better, yelling at them wont work! What you need to do is explain calmly to them what they should do instead," Eri explained in a stern voice as she pointed her cane at Sam to emphasize her point.
"Phsh, whatever, come on Ted! Let's see if you can do this job right," Sam angrily said while grabbing onto Ted's wrist and dragging him off.
"What in the world was that?!" Eri heard a familiar voice sounding confused and surprised. She looked and saw Natalie and Martha standing there with shocked and confused looks on their faces.
"Oh girls! I'm so sorry you two had to see that. My garden manager Sam had just lost his temper over an easy fix mistake," Eri explained.
"Oh really? Well yelling like that is just uncalled for," Martha commented.
"So Eri, we um kinda came here to both ask you some questions and to deliver some cakes that were ordered from here," Natalie explained as she showed the bag that contained the cakes.
"Oh what perfect timing, I ordered those cakes and I just came down here to grab some fresh ingredients for a new tea brew I'm trying out. Come come girls and join me for some tea and cakes and I can answer any questions you all have," Eri offered and started heading up to the main temple of the grounds.
Natalie and Martha looked at each other, before deciding that they could go for some free tea along with the answers they wanted. So they followed Eri up to the temple; once inside she took them up to the top floor which turned out to be where Eri lived. The floor had a bed room with cherry blossoms printed on the doors, bed sheets, and pillow cases. The kitchen walls were covered with bamboo strips that were placed over the walls while the wall over the stove was made of emerald green tiles. The floor was made with mahogany wood that had a slick coat of polish over it. There was also a bathroom that had a shower with a seat in it for Eri, there was also a toilet with a handlebar next to it. Martha and Natalie assumed that those where they were as Eri could have a hard time standing up on her own. The walls of the bathroom had water effects painted on them and the wall over the sink had a bamboo water fountain painted over it as well.
"Wow, nice setup you have here," Martha complimented.
"Why thank you, I do try my best to keep the place clean even if I'm not expecting guests. I feel like a clean house gives you a clear mind," Eri explained as she started making the tea.
Natalie saw her putting the ingredients that Eri had collected into a stone mortar and started crushing them up together with a stone pestle. She had only ever seen this in TV shows and movies so seeing this in real life was fascinating to her.
"Wow, what's that you're using?" Natalie asked.
"Oh this, it's my mortar and pestle, to me it's the most effective way to properly mix in my ingredients for tea," Eri explained.
"Doesn't that like, set your forearms on fire? I used that once and it was the last time I ever did due to how much it made me sweat and hurt my arms," Martha explained.
"Not at all, I've been doing this since I was a little girl, so I've gotten used to it. Now why don't you two wait for me in the living room and I'll be in once I'm done here," Eri explained.
"Um, alright, we'll take out the cakes while we're waiting," Natalie said. She and Martha then went into the living room and saw that walls were painted with lily pads and white lotus flowers. There was also a brown wooden book shelf that had a variety of books on it, a low floor table with cushions as seats, an altar with a family photo on it, cherry blossoms that have wilted, and some lit incense.
"Aww that's a sweet photo, I wonder where Eri is in it?" Martha asked.
"We should ask her after we're given the important answers," Natalie explained as she sat down and placed the cakes down on the table.
"Yeah you're right, let's do that," Martha said as she sat down next to Natalie.
A few minutes later Eri came into the living room with some wooden tea cups on a tray in her hands. She sat down across from Martha and Natalie, then gave the girls their tea before setting the tray aside.
"Now I'm sure you both want answers," Eri implied.
"Yes, who are you? What's with the whole people turning into monsters? That crazy Ninja cult? And what are the charms?" Natalie asked while pointing to her ring after asking everything she wanted to know.
"Now now cous, let's not go nuts, just one at a time," Martha explained.
"It's alright, all of them can be answered. I'm Eri Livewood, and I'm the last survivor of my home, a place that now does not exist. A place that was once known as Shinob Mamoru, back when I was a little girl, I lived with my parents and siblings. I dreamed of becoming one of the best known Ninjas in our village, one of the Colored Ninjas. Only the best and purest of hearts are chosen to be given one of the colored Ninja charms and have the duty to protect the charms and our loved ones. I worked hard day and night to achieve my dreams and one day I was accepted into the Color Ninja Academy. I was so happy and my family were very proud of me. My mentor had trained me and taught me everything he knew about ninjutsu. However not all good things last forever; one day when my people were celebrating our new year festival we were attacked. The Judas Ninja cult had invaded and attacked us, they used the torches and bond fire to burn my village to the ground. I wanted to fight to protect everyone; but my mentor had told me that we had to protect the colored Ninja charms because if Judas got his hands on them it could lead to utter disaster. Before we left we went to my family home to see if my parents and siblings were alright. However when we got there some of the cultists had arrived and they... let's just say my family was gone," Eri explained the last part with her head down and some tears flowing out of her eyes.
Natalie and Martha looked at her in shock and sadness, but Eri collected herself and continued on with the story. "After that we had tried to run, but the cultists had ambushed them and my mentor had taken a death blow to protect me. Before he took his last breath he gave me the box that contained all the colored Ninja charms along with the spell book and told me to run. I obeyed and ran as fast as I could, I only looked back once to see what was left of my home," Eri explained, finishing recalling the events that had happened with sadness in her voice.
After hearing her tail the two cousins felt awful for her, they couldn't believe she had gone through so much when she was a kid.
"Eri, I'm so sorry to hear that," Natalie said.
"It's alright, neither of you are at fault for it," Eri said.
"Hey um you said colored ninja charms right? So does that mean there's more?" Martha asked curious to see if there were others.
"Why yes, let me grab the box," Eri said and got up from her seat.
She walked up to the book shelf, pulled out a book slightly, which activated a secret compartment that held the box. She brought it over to the girls, sat it down on the table and pressed a button on the top. The box then began to spin around, became taller, and finally the compartments opened up showing each of the ninja charms. There was red, orange, light blue, dark blue, cyan, green, lime, brown, pink, magenta, gray, and white, however the black compartment was empty.
"Hey where's the black ninja charm?" Martha asked when she saw that the charm was missing.
"Unfortunately one of the cultists had managed to catch up with me after I had fled the village and they managed to steal the black ninja charm. And from what I've been able to discover, they were able to somehow give it to Judas. The black ninja charm is capable of giving its user the ability to grant anyone any kind of power. However none of the charms are meant to be used for evil so I've been trying to find a way to take it back and return it to its rightful place," Eri explained.
"Wow, alright now that charm sounds cool!" Martha said.
"And dangerous when it's in the wrong hands," Natalie pointed out.
"All the charms can be when not used for their intended purpose," Eri explained.
Martha and Natalie both sat there for a while, thinking about everything they had learned. They couldn't believe that Eri had gone through so much and was now trying to reclaim the black ninja charm. However they believed that due to her age and obvious declining mobility and health she couldn't use the charms any more. So they both looked at one another and knew that they had to help in this mission to retrieve the charm and put a stop to this cult once and for all. That way no one else would suffer in a similar way that Eri had.
Meanwhile in the gardens Ted was shaking his hands as he was trimming up the bushes. He was afraid of making another mistake and getting yelled at again so he tried his best to not mess things up. However his trembling hands had caused him to mess up and he cut off too much of the shrubbery. He then heard an angry scream from behind, that made his heart drop out of his body. He looked back and to his horror he saw Sam glaring at him with angry eyes.
"YOU USELESS IDIOT! WHY WERE YOU EVEN HIRED IF YOU CAN'T DO A SINGLE JOB RIGHT!" Sam screamed angrily, with spit flying into Ted's face. Ted crouched down in fear as Sam continued screaming at him. "UGH! THAT'S IT, YOU'RE FIRED! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT NOW!" Sam screamed.
With those words Ted started to cry in despair and ran off to the changing rooms. He threw the garden clippers to the ground and sat down on a bench, as he held his hands on his head and he cried some more.
"W-why did he say that? I'm trying my best here, oh what am I going to do now?" Ted asked himself. He sighed and decided to just go home; however he saw some gardening tools still out so he decided to put those away first.
Meanwhile in a dark limbo Judas sensed the feeling of despair and humiliation from a human. He looked through his window to earth and looked for where the feelings were coming from. He soon found Ted tidying up the gardening tools, some tears still falling from his face. Judas smiled and raised his hand, using the black ninja charm to create a creature that would give him the powers to find the charms and get his revenge.
"Aww the feeling of despair and humiliation, such a perfect vessel for my corruption. Go through my creation and corrupt his heart!" Judas commanded his new creation.
The creature went through the window and down to earth; it merged itself onto a rake that Ted was holding. Ted's eyes turned black and Judas started talking to him in his sinister voice.
"Garden Bash I am Judas, I'm giving you the power to control plants and get revenge on those who have humiliated you. All I ask of you in return is the colored ninja charms," Judas explained.
Ted smiled evilly and accepted, a black haze surrounded him and he transformed into Garden Bash. Meanwhile Natalie, Martha, and Eri all came down stairs after talking some more. Eri wasn't sure if she should've given the girls the charms in the first place due to the danger they could be put in.
"Hey Eri, if you're worried, then you don't need to, we'll take care of the cult and get the Black Ninja Charm back!" Martha reassured Eri with confidence.
"W-Well I'm just worried about you two, especially after what happened to the previous Purple Ninja," Eri explained.
"What happened to them?" Natalie asked.
Eri was a bit hesitant to tell that story, but thankfully she didn't have to just yet as the three heard loud crashes and screams of terror.
"Um, let's talk about that another day another time!" Natalie exclaimed.
"Yeah, let's go cous!" Martha exclaimed and the two ran to the garden section and when they arrived they were shocked by what they saw.
In the garden was a Garden Bash and he was as tall as the shrubbery, his skin was bark, his clothes were made of different kinds of grass and leaves. He was stomping around seemingly looking for someone or something.
Martha immediately called out, "Yellow Ninja let's Shed Some Light!"
Natalie called out, "Purple Ninja, it's time to Purify!"
The two transformed into their Ninja persona's and smoke bombed right in front of Garden Bash.
"Hey you Plant boy!" Yellow called out getting Garden Bash's attention.
He looked down at the two and heard Judas say, "If you want to keep your powers to get your revenge then destroy those two and take their charms!"
"Understood!" Garden Bash replied.
"Hey listen buddy we aren't here to fight, we just need to purify you," Purple Ninja said.
"Sorry! But I'm here to fight! And to get payback on those who have humiliated me!" Garden Bash exclaimed.
Purple and Yellow Ninja both got into a fighting position and waited for Garden Bash to make his move. Just then the grass under their feet grew incredibly fast and wrapped around the two ninja's. Both of them tried to think of a quick plan to escape but they were in a panic and couldn't think straight.
"HEY! I THOUGHT YOU TWO WERE NINJAS! SO YOU TWO NEED TO DO YOUR JOBS RIGHT!" They three heard an angry voice scream out. They all looked back and saw Sam standing out from behind a bush.
"Who puked in his breakfast this morning?" Yellow sarcastically asked.
"YOU! SAM! You humiliated me! You screamed at me for the littlest mistakes! And worst of all! You fired me for just a small mistake!" Garden Bash called out angrily as he stomped over to Sam angrily.
"W-What the?! T-Ted is that you?!" Sam asked, now getting scared.
The sand in the sand garden then rose up and grabbed on to Sam in a bone crushing grip. Garden Bash then brought him up right to his face and said, "Yes and now I will have my revenge!" Garden Bash then took out his rake that turned into a garden scythe.
"W-Wait! I'm sorry! Okay! You can have your job back, just please don't hurt me!" Sam begged.
"Too late to apologize!" Garden Bash declared and was about to strike when suddenly a purple scarf wrapped around his arm and he was forcibly turned around.
Yellow Ninja then called out, "BLINDING LIGHT!" A bright force of light was blasted right into Garden Bash's face which caused him to temporarily lose his eyesight.
This distraction made him lose focus and the sand that was holding Sam crumbled into regular sand, which allowed him to run away. Purple Ninja looked at the scythe that had turned back into a rake so she knew what she had to do now.
"Purify Bloom!" Purple called out, aiming right at the rake. She blasted it and flowers bloomed all around it before they withered away, Garden Bash was instantly covered in a black haze and turned back into Ted. Purple and Yellow both fist bumped each other, before running off as they would transform back soon.
Ten minutes later they came back; however they had to say goodbye to Eri as Martha's dad texted her asking to come home for some family time. So they planned to say goodbye to Eri and come back another time for some more answers. However when they got there they saw Ted smiling and hugging her tightly.
"Oh thank you! Thank you! I'm so happy to hear that! I won't let you down, Miss!" Ted exclaimed happily.
"I'm sure you won't, my gut is never wrong," Eri explained.
Ted gave her a smile and ran off. Curious Martha and Natalie went up to her to ask what that was all about.
"Hey Eri, what's going on with Ted?" Natalie asked.
"Yeah what was he thanking you for?" Martha asked curious to see what Eri had done.
"Well let's just say that a certain hothead named Sam isn't employed here anymore and Ted was allowed to keep his job," Eri explained.
"Really? Well that's good, a hot head like that shouldn't be in a boss position, they think with their butt cracks rather than with their head and heart," Martha commented.
"Yeah they do, also we kinda have to leave now, but we will come back some time," Natalie explained.
"I sincerely hope you both do, I enjoyed our time together and those delicious cakes your father had made Martha," Eri said with a smile on her face.
"Aww thanks, I'll be sure to tell him that!" Martha exclaimed.
"See you again Eri, and hope this place continues to look stunningly impressive," Natalie said as she and Martha left the temple for the car. Eri smiled and waved goodbye to them as the two girls got into their car and dove off back into the city.