The ninja all stood in front of Jay, who was wearing the helmet they took from the defeated snake samurai. They came up with the idea to wear the helmet to figure out who created the samurai, as if the mind of the samurai would be transmitted into his mind. But it was to no such luck.
Jay sighed and took off the helmet, "Sorry, guys, nothing."
"Darn, I was sure trying on the helmet was gonna help us figure out who those samurai snake guys were." Cole groaned.
"Me, too." Nya said, "Jay, are you positive the helmet doesn't do anything?"
"Ha! Besides does it makes me look cool?" Jay asked.
Anirei smiled, "I think you look nice, Elder Brother Jay."
Jay smiled at the compliment, but Kai walked up to him and took the helmet from his hands, examining it as if he was looking for something important.
"Hm. Something about this is familiar, though. I just can't place it." He said, "Maybe we should ask Master Wu?"
"Maybe not, Elder Brother Zane. Master Wu was resting the last time I saw him." Anirei said, but the others were already on the way to Wu's room. Without even knocking, they burst through the door and saw Master Wu resting on his bed.
"This helmet, I feel like we've seen it before." Kai said placing the helmet on Wu's lap, "Can you tell us anything?"
Anirei sighed and helped Master Wu sit up on the bed to examine the helmet.
"Curious." He said, "Time...."
"Time?" Kai asked.
"Time waits.... Time waits for no...." Before he could finish, Master Wu had already went back to sleep.
"Uh, Master?" Kai questioned and Master Wu suddenly sprang up.
"Did someone mention lunch?" He asked.
"No, Master, no one mentioned lunch." Lloyd said helping Master Wu lay back down.
"Then why did you wake me?" Master Wu asked then went back to sleep.
"He isn't himself." Lloyd said and ushered everyone out of the room to give their Master some peace to rest.
"Clearly. Lunch isn't for three more hours." Jay stated and groaned, "Ahh, this is just perfect. Mysterious snake samurai... uh, things attacked Ninjago, Cyrus Borg missing, and our team is down one master and one ninja."
He said that referring to not only Master Wu, but also to Zane, who has been offline since their last battle with the Snake Samurai.
"We've got to get Zane back online." Lloyd stated, "He was the last one to see Cyrus Borg."
"Yeah, except Cyrus Borg is the only one who has the equipment to get him back online." Cole pointed out.
Anirei thought for a moment, then smiled when an idea came to mind.
"Elder Sister Nya, what about the computer in your Samurai X cave? Could you boot up Elder Brother Zane from there?"
Nya smiled and nodded, "That's right. I might be able to do it. Although, I could use some help."
"I'm in." Cole volunteered.
"You know I'm going." Jay said.
"I'll stay." Lloyd said, "One of us should keep an eye on Master Wu."
"I'll go to the Museum and talk to Dr. Saunders. He's an expert on all things Ninjago. Maybe he knows what Master Wu is too weak to tell us." Kai said.
"I'm going with you, Elder Brother." Anirei, "I'd like to talk with him as well. Something about that painting of the battle against the Hands of Time, the shadows in the corner. I need to know more."
Kai nodded, "All right then."
Lloyd smiled and handed Anirei the helmet, "Go... see what you can find. And Rei, be careful, all right?"
Anirei nodded and handed Kai the helmet before hugging Lloyd.
"We'll be back soon, Lloyd. Just keep an eye on your Uncle."
They parted and Anirei went with Kai back to the museum. As they made their way to the museum, Kai noticed that Anirei was in deep thought. It was a behavior that all the ninja were used to seeing from her, but he thought that now was a different kind of thought. It troubled her badly, and Kai could see it clearly.
"Anirei, are you okay? You're lost in thought again." Kai asked. Anirei snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at Kai with a frown.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about the Hands of Time. There's something about them that seems strange. And with that shadow in the painting, it was certainly my mother, but why was she there?"
"Do you think that the Hands of Time knew about your parents?" Kai asked and Anirei shook her head.
"No, my mother and father are careful, and even if they were spotted, they would just erase memories of them and the body's natural instincts is to replace those memories with ones that made sense to the mind. There's no possible way for my mother and father to be remembered."
Kai nodded, thinking that everything she said was right, but her face expressed concern and worry. He cared about his little sister, even if she wasn't related by blood, and he wanted to help her. But how could he? Anirei was the type of person that wore her heart on her sleeve, but tried to cover up any kind of bad feeling and emotion.
And all he wanted for her was her happiness and for this to be nothing more than just a quick mission.
~~~~~
Back at the temple, Misako and Lloyd were taking care of Master Wu. Misako handed Master Wu a a cup of hot tea while he stayed on the bed.
"Thank you, Misako." He thanked and took the cup, "Focus Tea might help to clear my head."
As he took a sip of the tea, Master Wu noticed his nephew's distressed expression.
"Maybe you should have some as well?" Master Wu offered.
"Uh.. what?" Lloyd asked snapping out of his thoughts.
"You seem... distant."
"Yeah. It's just that, as a master-in-training, it feels like I should be doing something. But what?"
"A trust Master must always..."
"Yes, Master? A Master must always..."
Lloyd didn't get an answer as his Master had fallen asleep and let his mug drop to the floor while he snored away, but then he popped back to life.
"...and only then will he be a true Master." He said.
"Sorry, I-I-I didn't quite get that." Lloyd said.
"I said, a true Master must..." And once again Master Wu fell asleep. Lloyd looked back at his mom, worried about his Master and family.
~~~~~
Kai and Anirei walked into the museum, but it was abnormally quiet.
"Hello? Dr. Saunders?" Kai called out, but no one responded, "He's gotta be here somewhere. He's the manager, so he should be here. This guy is practically an exhibit himself."
"Elder brother, that's not kind." Anirei scolded.
Kai looked down at the helmet in his hands and pondered, "If anyone can shed light on the origin of this helmet, it'll be him."
Little did the two know that they were walking right over to the painting of Kai and Nya's parents. The smiles on their faces made Kai wonder even more about his parents, and hearing about their powers over the elements of fire and water made him even more curious about their disappearance.
"Mom. Dad. I wish I could ask you what this is." Kai muttered.
"Elder Brother." Anirei said, "Are you all right?"
Kai shook his head, "Not really, Anirei. I just wish that I could ask my parents about the helmet, or anything for that matter. It's just been so long."
"I understand, Elder Brother. There are many things I wish I could have asked my parents, but some things can't be helped. Parents tend to keep some things from their children to protect them from danger."
"Did your parents do that?" Anirei nodded.
"They did. There were many secrets they kept from me, and though I wanted to know more, I knew they would never tell me unless there was an important reason. Now that they're gone, their secrets are locked away in journals they used to record information on all sorts of things."
"But then couldn't you just learn all the secrets with those journals? They would be a big help with any missions or enemies."
Once again, Anirei shook her head.
"I don't know where they are. I don't even know where the home I lived in is and that's most likely where they were. I don't have any memory of where we lived, but then again, I was till young and memory fades with age."
Kai thought that it was strange, Anirei not remembering anything about her early childhood or even the location of her childhood home. Was it really because of time? Or did it have something to do with her parents?
They stood in front of the painting for a while longer, until Anirei felt something approach them from behind. The two turned around and saw Dr. Saunders behind them, but to her, it looked like he was almost standing over them before he fixed his posture and smile.
"Dr. Saunders?" Kai questioned seeing the Museum manager behind them.
"In the very flesh-flesh." Dr. Saunders said and laughed, "You were expecting a different doctor?"
"No, you just startled us, Doctor." Anirei smiled.
"Actually, we were looking for you." Kai said.
"Were you now?"
"Do you recognize this?" Kai showed him the helmet and the Doctor grabbed the helmet to examine it.
"Hm. It slightly resembles a post-Serpentine War Samurai battle helmet, but is probably just a knock-off. Cheapy-cheap-cheap." He stated, "Perhaps costume from Ninjago-Con?"
"Uh, I don't think so." Kai said, "We got it off a snakey Samurai Warrior we defeated."
"Snake warrior?"
"Well, I suppose you could say that it was more like a bunch of snakes all twisted together to form a bigger warrior." Anirei explained, "It was there attacking the Borg Store."
"It was on the news. Don't you watch TV?" Kai asked.
"I despise TV. A vile, bilious contraption." Dr. Saunders muttered quietly then turned back to the Ninja, "I-I-I mean interesting. Heh! If you leave it with me, then perhaps I can look into its origins. Heh! Goodbye."
"Master Wu always says "never put off till tomorrow what can be done today". So I would like to look around now. Maybe we'll stumble on something useful."
"I agree. Is that all right, Dr. Saunders?" Anirei asked.
"Of course. We are open to the public for seven days of the week. Late on Thursdays." He replied, but Anirei could hear the forced tone he had. And it drove her curiosity away from the task and more towards the suspicious Dr. Saunders.