"So, you've been having dreams about these warriors with wolf masks?"
We were in the monastery courtyard and Lloyd was sitting on the steps. "They've been so terrifying, I haven't been able to sleep for weeks."
"I know that feeling. I've been having them too." I chimed in. "It's like the Source Dragons are warning us or something..."
"You think so?" Junior questioned. I nod, "Yes...But, I keep seeing dad in these dreams as well. Not just these warriors..."
"I hope he's doing alright."
Frohickey walked to Lloyd, "Drink up, sir! My dear mummy's very own Fetid Swamp Tea recipe." He handed the tea over. It sorta looked...Gross.
"What's with the flies...?" Nadine asked and yelped, swatting them away from her face.
"That's how you know it's working" Frohickey replied. Lloyd drinked the tea and gagged, "Compared to that tea, my panic attack doesn't seem so bad."
"Even if these dreams are visions, that doesn't always mean what you see is true, right?" Nadine asked Lloyd. I nodded, "Nadine is right. We're in charge of our own destiny. Whatever we do will affect how the future will go."
"We weren't in charge last night" Arin frowned. "My wonky spinjitzu was no match for that new Elemental Master."
Nya put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't be so hard on yourself Arin. You were caught off guard."
I chimed in, "Yes. It'll take time to control that spinjitzu of yours. It took a while for me."
Kai laughed, "Oh, I remember that. Your spinjitzu was so wonky, you fell off a ledge in the volcano."
I rolled my eyes at the hothead, "Well, you're the reason the volcano went off, porcupine."
"Hey!"
Nya spoke up, "So, this Elemental Master took the mallet he stole to Lord Ras. What does Ras want with it? We know it can't be for something good."
Sora chimed in, "I can think of one place to look for answers."
——
We arrived at the Crossroads, standing in front of a shop and Lloyd spoke, "I've heard Fedulian, the guy who owns this place, is kind of sketchy."
I got what he was hinting at and glanced at the Sora and Arin, "Both of you have been in the Crossroads longer than we do. It'll be easier to get information from him."
"Which means, Arin," Sora turned to her friend. "We gotta stay tough when we interrogate him."
"Huh?" Arin asked, "Why wouldn't I?"
Sora rolled her eyes, "Because you believe anything anyone tells you. Remember when Kreel convinced you she was a robot?" She raised an eyebrow. "I really couldn't think a human could dance like that" Arin shrugged and we followed the two.
Fedulian turned around to face us, "The ninja. Can I help you?"
"What can you tell us about the ancient mallet that was taken from your shop last night?" Arin asked.
"Hm...I don't know anything about that" Fedulian replied. "Cool, thanks for your time" Arin went to walk off, but I grabbed him. "Hold it."
I pulled him back and let go of his hood. Sora approached Fedulian, "We know a mallet was stolen from this place, Fedulian. You don't want your property back? We could help, but we need to know why someone would want it."
"Who knows?" Fedulian shrugged. "Look, people bring me old stuff, I sell it. I can't research everything in this place. Like, what's this?" He picks up a book.
"A doorstop? A helmet? There's no way to know."
"That's a book..." I muttered and narrowed my eyes.
"I'd love to catch the ruffian that broke into my place, but I have business to run." Fedulian turned around, grabbing a trash bag and walking down an alley.
I scowled, "Let's follow him."
Lloyd's eyes widened and he looked at me, "What?"
Sora chimed in, "Asteria is right. He's definitely hiding something."
——
We made it to the rooftop and peaked down. I saw Fedulian pull out a device, "Hantro, the ninja were just here."
"Uhg, gross." Hantra replied. "They asked about the mallet. I told them I knew nothing, of course. But, consider this a warning: the ninja might come calling."
"Hm..." Handra replied, "Might be time for me to take a little vacation, then." She ends the call.
"That graffiti on the wall behind her, I know it" Sora spoke up and we looked at her. She turned to us, "I was young and bored. But, let's go."
——
We found the graffiti and I raised an eyebrow, "It's a...Cat spaghetti?" I tilted my head.
"It's not a cat spaghetti..." Sora replied. "Why are there meatballs on its face?" Lloyd asked. "Those are the eyes!" Sora groaned.
"We didn't come to dunk on my old art. Hantro's hideout has gotta be around here somewhere."
Lloyd had walked to the graffiti and turned around to face us, "Let's do a search—" he couldn't finish as the door opened and Handra stepped out with a cart.
She saw us and froze for a moment, "Oh, hey ninja, nice to meet you. I was just cleaning up this non-valuable junk as part of a city beautification plan."
"And, uh, uh, the best part is—"
I didn't let her finish as I shot a lighting zap out my mouth that barely missed her. "Enough. What's with the mallet that you gave Fedulian?"
Handra's eyes widened, "That thing? Rumor had it that's the mallet to something called the Gong of Shattering."
"Gong of Shattering?" Lloyd asked. "It's a myth from the Wyldness" Handra continued, "Supposedly, someone can hit the gong with that mallet and it releases their dark energies."
Arin raised an eyebrow, "Are we believing her? I can't tell anymore."
"Would I lie?" Handra asked. "Eh, yes, I totally would. But, right now I'm not, this is just what I heard. Apparently, everyone has some good inside them. But, if you're wearing a weird wolf mask, and then hit the gin with the mallet, it shatters the goodness inside you."
"A wolf mask? That's quite odd..."I muttered. "I know" Handra replied, "And once you shatter your goodness, you not only get stronger, apparently you can learn all kinds of evil things."
"What kinds of evil things?" Sora asked. "Fighting techniques, mystical powers, all the stuff your goodness was holding you back from. If you believe in that "mystical curse" garbage." Handra hissed.
——
We stood in the Monastery courtyard. "So, you buy Handra's story?" Sora asked. "A gong that shatters goodness?"
"It matches his visions." I spoke up and Lloyd nodded, "She's right."
There was a knock on the Monastery doors. "Oh, I'll get it" Nadine walked to the doors and opened them.
Arin gasped, "Percival, what are you doing here?" He asked. He stepped in the courtyard, Euphrasia walking with him as he held her arm over his shoulder.
Lloyd ran over and she spoke, "Ninja...We need your help."
"What happened?"
——
Kai was steering the Bounty as the rest of us were on the dock. "I tried to fly to your Monastery, but came up short. That's where Percival found me" Euphrasia told us.
"The Cloud Kingdom archives is a bunch of scrolls and research. What would Lord Ras need to learn about?" Arin asked.
"The Blood Moon." I spoke. "He wants to learn about the ritual and whatever else he needs to know about..."
At that moment, we arrived at the Cloud Kingdom, getting on the pathway and snuck around. We looked ahead, seeing the Writers of Destiny and the wolf mask warriors.
"The Writers of Destiny, thank goodness you're okay" Euphrasia sighed.
"It looks like they're translating some sort of ancient language...Zane, can you analyze?" I turned to the ice ninja. He scanned the scroll and shook his head, "That language is not in my database."
We heard muffled yelling nearby and Kai took off towards the noise. I followed after him, noticing a blue mask warrior. Kai tapped its shoulder and it looked over, but Kai jumped to the other side, punching it and it blacked out.
He opened the bag and Suetonius was in there. The rest of us approached, "Suetonius, what happened?" Euphrasia asked.
——
By the time he finished explaining, we got him out of the string. "Do those scrolls have anything to do with the Blood Moon?" Lloyd asked.
"Ras wouldn't, he couldn't." Suetonius replied. "That sounds like a yes" Arin spoke up.
"The Blood Moon rises once every few millennia in the Wyldness. And on this rarest of events, there is an arcane ritual that can be performed to resurrect...The Forbidden Five."
My eyes narrow, "I know what you're talking about. I've read about them. They were once Elemental Masters, but thousands of years ago, they had discovered evil powers. They conquered their realm and destroyed anything that stood in their way."
Arin's eyes widened, "Nothing could stop them?"
I shook my head, "It's said a mystical force arrived from the east and banished them. Everything about the Forbidden Five have been banned for centuries..."
"Ras could bring them back and if he discovers their secrets and unlock the ritual."
"Why is everyone so serious? This is simple" Wyldfyre chimed in. "We just stop Ras before he even knows we're here."
"Might be too late for that." Sora replied. We turned to see blue mask warriors and I noticed Lloyd breathing heavy. I went to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at me and I smiled, "We're with you, bean sprout."
He smiled and nods. He pulled out his sword, "Ninja go!"
——
"We're ending your occupation of the Cloud Kingdom, Ras!" Lloyd shouted as we faced the masked warriors.
"I beg to differ. Cinder!"
He appeared behind Kai, but the fire ninja blocked the attack. "I heard there's a new Elemental Master of Smoke. You know I thrashed the last one, right?"
"Don't get cocky, Kai!" I yelled and sighed as I hit back a warrior with my tail.
Lloyd yelled up to Ras, "We know what you're doing! Trying to uncover ancient secrets. But, they were forbidden for a reason."
Ras grinned sinisterly, "Tried? No, I've succeeded. I have begun to unlock real power" he holds up the gong. "Behold what becomes of an Elemental Master who has studied the lost teachings of the Forbidden Five."
Cinder out on a blue mask as Ras hit the gong. I watched as the blue mask glowed and turned into some sort of armor on Cinder. He jumped in the air and my eyes widened.
"Shatterspin." I gasped once I saw Cinder use it and he started to attack each one of us.
Junior was knocked back and I caught him. "You wanna do this together?" I asked him. He smirked and nodded, grabbing my hand, "Of course."
I transformed into my Dragonoid form and I snuck around. "Hey!" My brother yelled and Cinder looked.
Junior threw a smoke bomb at the Element Master of Smoke's face and the smoke got in his eyes. He yelled and stumbled back.
When he opened his eyes, I dashed and jumped in the air, hitting Cinder with my tail and knocked him back. I landed on my clawed feet.
"Junior, aim for the armor!"
"You got it!"
My brother grabbed his sword and aimed, throwing it towards Cinder. The Elemental Master of Smoke looked ahead and his eyes widened.
Before it could even hit him, Ras had hit the Gong of Shattering and someone hit the sword back with their own weapon.
I froze, my eyes widening at the sight and my breath hitched.
"Dad?"
Skales stood there, the same armor placed on his shoulders and he helped Cinder stand. The Master of Smoke ran off to deal with the others and my brother and I were faced by our father.
"Dad, we found you! This is where you've been this whole time?" Junior went to run to Skales, but I put an arm in front of him.
He looked up at me and I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. "That's not him, Junior..."
His eyes widened, "What?" He asked. "It's not him. He's trapped under their control..." I spoke with shakiness in my voice.
"We need to get him back. We need to try..." Junior said. Before I could do anything, Skales lunged forward and swung his sword, but I blocked it with my scaled arm.
Junior gasped and tried pulling him back, "Dad! It's us! You're children! Don't you remember?!"
"Ah!"
I gasped once I saw Junior being hit back. "Junior!"
Skales grabbed me by the throat and I grabbed his wrist, feeling it tighten around my neck. "Dad...Don't do this, please."
I reached up and lifted my blue gem necklace. "You made this for me. Don't you remember? It's me, Asteria. Your daughter..."
He scowled and glared at me with his red eyes.
"I don't have a daughter."
I felt my heart shatter. He grabbed my palm and squeezed it with his own. I let out a yelp, feeling my hand twist and he dropped me to the ground.
I winced and looked at my palm, seeing the gem necklace had cracked. I was knocked back by my father and I groaned.
"Finish her off!" Ras yelled to Skales and he started to slither towards me. Junior ran to me and grabbed my arm, "Sis, we gotta go! Now!"
"But, what about—"
"We can't do anything right now!"
He pulled me along and I looked back to see Skales staring into my own eyes. We jumped onto the Bounty and Kai took control of the wheel as the Bounty took off.
I sat down against the railing and Junior kneeled to my level. Lloyd sighed, "How can we stop Ras with that kind of power?"
"We'll find a way, Lloyd. Master Wu trained us well" Nya replied. "He did...But, he didn't train us for this" Lloyd frowned. "Who can teach us how to stop Shatterspin?"
I turned back human as I stared at the broken gem necklace. Arin spoke up, "Asteria...Who was that?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
Lloyd turned to Arin, "Skales. He's a Snake General and..." He paused.
Junior looked up at everyone, "Our father."
Sora's eyes widened, "You both are related to him?"
"I..." I started to speak and everyone turned to me. "He didn't even recognize me...He didn't recognize us."
"The necklace he made for me...He didn't know who I was even with it. And now it's cracked."
"It's as if he didn't know who I was." Tears rolled down my cheeks and Junior hugged me.
Lloyd approached and kneeled down to me, "He was under their control, Asteria..."
"I know...I know. I...I feel so heartbroken. My own father...Doesn't know who I am anymore."
Junior leaned into my shoulder, trying to hold back his own tears.