- Cole -

The guys and I were outside on the bounty as it was floating on the ocean's surface . Zane was underwater while the rest of us counted the minutes he spent beneath there.

"Ten minutes!" Kai exclaimed while reading the stopwatch, "he just broke his own record! The guy's inhuman.

One last minute goes by and Zane swam back up to the surface to catch his breath. The three of us cheered.

"Amazing!" I pumped my fist in the air.

And Jay bows down on his knees, "we're not worthy!"

"I broke the record?"

"You destroyed it!" Kai answered the white ninja's question.

"Okay, is anyone thinking what I'm thinking?" Jay put his arm around Kai's shoulders, "we've been training for so long, I don't think we can get any better. Just thinking of all we've accomplished."

Zane climbed his way back onto the Bounty and I gave him a towel to dry himself off. After giving him a second, he was all dry and added to the theory himself. "The question should be raised. Perhaps we've reached our full potential."

"There's only one way to find out," I grinned, "let's go ask Sensei Wu."

- You -

"So you're going to go after him, aren't you?" I asked, arms crossed and leaning against the wall.

"I have to," Wu insisted, "we'll need his help to find Lloyd, and I'm certain he won't hesitate to lend a hand."

"No doubt, it's his son. But you're heading into my realm," I warned. "There's a reason why it was given the original name, Beila's Retreat." Beila was my second name and what the mortal researchers knew me as. Retreat is what the people- at the time- considered to be my homeland. A name to signify a term of weakness, seeing as how the light always defeated my darkness. But to me, it was a place of safety, and at the same time, a prison. "Garmadon may have gotten even more powerful there. And with my absence, he may also have the creatures wrapped around his finger. And-"

"(Name).." Wu gave me a look of reassurance, but also pleaded me to stop and trust him.

"All I'm saying is: be careful."

My friend nodded, putting away a katana in a red cloth and closing it in a travel case. There was a moment of silence until we heard voices of the ninja approaching the room. Barging in, the colorful quartet was about to ask something but stopped halfway. They read the room and bowed in apology.

"Forgive us, Sensei. We've interrupted you."

Wu sighed as he turned to face his students. "I'm sorry if I've been distant lately. My mind has been elsewhere since Lloyd has gone missing. What can I help you with."

"Sensei," Cole started off, "what if we've done enough training? What if we've reached our true potential? What if we're ready?"

Their master chuckled, "You might have reached peak physical condition, but you've yet to reach your inner potential." He said cryptically, "in each and every one of us, there are obstacles that hold us back. Only when you conquer that fear, will your heart be free. Only then will you reach your true potential...Only then will we have a fighting chance to stop the serpentine from releasing the Great Devourer."

"There's more to the Great Devourer than you've led on, isn't there, Sensei?"

I gripped the sleeves of my suit as Wu sighed again, more sorrowful than before. "I, too, have obstacles within my own heart. There's a story I've never told you..

Long ago, when I was a young boy, Garmadon and I were more than brothers. We were the best of friends-"

"Wait a minute!" Jay cut in rudely, "now, I know you two were brothers, but really? The King of Cruelty, the Doer of Destruction, the Captain of Chaos? And you two were friends?- Woah!"

A ninja star zipped in front of him, stabbing itself into the wall. The blue ninja turned to where it came from and his eyes landed on me glaring back at him.

"Please, no interruptions..

You see, he did not always have a wicked heart.

One day, I lost this very katana. Knowing our father would be mad, my brother told me to go retrieve it. But I refused. He told me "not to put off what can be done today" and went to go get it himself.

When my father found him, he was very ill. For he was bitten by a legendary snake that would grow forever as long as it consumes.

A great evil had found its way into my brother's heart, for the snakes venom could turn the purest of things wicked. The snake is the same one that the serpentine wants to reawaken, today. It is the snake that took my brother away from me..."

His story finishes and I felt the knot in my stomach tightening. Full of guilt and regret, I can't believe I created such a thing. I hated myself for it ever since I first heard of this from Wu. Oh, the amount of times I've apologized to him and his brother in the past....

"So the Great Devourer turned your brother into the Dark Lord?" Kai concluded.

"It was all my fault." Wu sighed, picking up his travel came "you four have finished your training. You must now focus on stopping Pythor from collecting the four fang blades. But never lose focus on the obstacles that lie within each of your hearts, that hold you back from true greatness. Unlock your true potential."

"But how are we supposed to do that, Sensei?" Zane asked confusingly.

"It is up to each of you to discover." He answered, "If you ever feel like you're at a dead end, I would highly suggest to ask (name) for help. She will be in charge of things while I'm gone."

"What?!" The four shouted.

"I know that you have your opinions about this, but my decision is final. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go on a personal journey of my own."

"Where are you going?"

"To a place you cannot follow." Wu answered vaguely.

"If you're for Lloyd, the City of Ouroboros is filled with hundreds of serpentine. You'll never do it alone!"

"I am going to find someone who can be of aid." Wu explained, reassuring his students that he won't be in total danger. "The Serpentine have united and have grown stronger. And we will need all the help we can get."

#~#~#~#

The ninja, Nya, and I were at the top of Ninjago's highest mountain peaks. Wu had gotten off the Bounty and had set off on his mission to find help. We waved goodbye as he left our sights, and then, we were back on the move.

Everyone had headed to the top bridge to lay out a plan to find the fang blades. Our only disadvantage was not having a map. However, these fang blades are ancient artifacts. Archeologists and historical researchers must've dug one up at some point.

"How are we going to find the fang blades?" Jay pondered, tapping his chin, "they could be anywhere in Ninjago."

"What I'm still on about is how Sensei left a kid in charge of us." Kai spat at me with arms crossed. "We're fully trained, ADULT ninja."

I rolled my eyes, "oh, boo-hoo! I have to be babysat by a 10-year-old. One that can easily beat my ass and should have done-- when she found out! That I was so irresponsible! As a NINJA! I let Lloyd get CAPTURED! BY THE SERPENTINE!"

". . ."

"Still want to complain, Red Ninja?"

The tension was thick in the air as I slapped Kai with his own misjudgment. His silence was enough for me to know he was back in his place. I really didn't want to be that kind of authority figure, but I also had a responsibility. Not to mention his disrespectful attitude was pissing me off. His pride and sexism makes him an arrogant fool. He's very lucky that I was too tired to tear him a new asshole the other day.

The silence stayed a little longer until Cole pretended to cough. "I have an idea how we can start searching..if I may?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself down and shrugged my shoulders, "we're open to any ideas for now. What do you have?"

Cole's idea was putting up missing poster ads all over Ninjago. From small villages to the big city itself. It wouldn't be that fruitful, but it's worth a shot. Everyone then got to work on making fang blade prints. Once we made enough, our first stop of advertisement was Hanabai Village, my birthhome. I was justifiably anxious to be back here.

The last time I visited here for food and supplies, there were missing poster ads for me when I ran away. No doubt I made my "parents" worried sick but, it was for the best...Because, the little girl they loved and raised died after I regained my memories. They would never understand if I told them the truth of my nature. So I had to be sure my face was completely covered, except for my eyes. I couldn't risk myself being recognized by an old neighbor and cause a scene, especially if I get caught by my parents.

Cole picked up on my sketchiness as he patted my shoulder, "Hey, kiddo, you good?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. It's just cold up here." I answered, rubbing my arms.

The black ninja nodded, understandably as we pasted the posters on the free walls. However, Zane thought this plan was silly, but what other choice did we have?

"Hey," Jay piped up, "maybe Sensei's gonna go get the Samurai for help."

"The Samurai?" Both Kai and Nya tensed up. "I'm sure she's-- I mean, he's busy looking for the fang blades, as well."

Cole then raised his bushy brow, "uh, is everything alright?"

"Yeah! Why wouldn't it be?"

"100%! We're not hiding anything.." Hehe, they think they're subtle.

I then turn my attention to Zane again and saw that he was spacing out. He didn't even notice he was littering the flyers onto the ground. We were all standing in front of a convenience store, so when the owner notice the the mess, he came out to confront the white ninja.

"Uh-oh."

"Hey, weirdo!" The owner marched up to to Zane, "you're making a mess of my store front!" However, Zane didn't seem to listen and the owner got more peeved as he dropped the rest of the stack. "Yoo-hoo! You got a problem? Maybe I should teach you a lesson on manners!"

The others hear this commotion and quickly rush to their friend's aid before the guy could give Zane a smack-down.

"I'm sorry, sir," Kai apologized, "sometimes our friend is in another world."

"He's littering all over the place!"

"We'll pick it up, sir. Deepest apologies." I bowed to the man as the ninja bent down to collect the paper.

The man scoffed and was about to return inside, but then, he glared at me with a raised brow. "Say, do I know you from somewhere?" He asked suspiciously.

Oh, shit. "Uuh, no~ I don't think so, hehe.."

"Mmmh, I swear I've heard your voice before. And those eyes.. Give me a minute, I know there's something I'm remembering." He said as he went back inside his shop. Looking in, I immediately spot my missing poster pinned behind the cashier. Oh-no, I'm in trouble!

"-falcon! Oh my gosh!" I suddenly hear Jay gasped excitedly. "Everytime we follow it, it leads us to good fortune!"

The boys were now compelled to following this mysterious falcon and started to chase. Kai turned back to Nya, asking her to wait back at the Bounty until she hears from them.

"Wh-? Where are you going? She asked, confused.

"We're gonna follow the bird. Who knows, he can lead us to the first fang blade." Her brother answered before taking off.

And I, kinda wanted to get away quick, told Nya that I'll going with them too. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them. Oh, also! If anyone asks, I was never here...Kay, BYE!"

- Nya -

As (name) left to join my brother and the ninja, I was left confused. Everything was predictable until she said that last line. "I was never here." After being out of sight, the store owner from earlier came back out with a paper in hand. He was out of breath and looking frantically for something.

"Hey, you!" He pointed at me, shoving a missing poster in my face, "have you seen this girl?! She's been missing for 8 months!"

"..what?"

"That little purple ninja girl! She was JUST. HERE. I know that was her!"

I took the poster from his shaking hands and got a better look. The picture was a little girl and in fact looked..exactly like (name) without her mask on! I was in shock. How? When? Why? (Name) is a missing kid!

"Please, miss. If you know where she went, tell me. Her parents are worrying to death."

"...-" Before I let a word slip out, I remembered what (name) said seconds ago. "I'm deeply sorry, I haven't seen her. I hope she's returned home soon though, I'll keep an eye out."

The man slumps sadly. Dragging himself back inside muttering, "that poor girl/family," over and over again. It almost broke my heart.

#~#~#~#

After cleaning up the littered papers the boys left behind, I headed back to the Bounty, still overwhelmingly curious about (name)'s "disappearance" and avoidancy in Hanabai Village. I could ask her when she comes back...But, knowing how she's a reserved mystery already, I doubt she'll say anything. I decided to take matters into my own hands and figure out myself.

As secretive as she is, it's no secret that she's very comfortable with Sensei Wu. With that in mind, I snuck into Sensei's room. Very disrespectful, I know, but what he doesn't know will hurt him. I did my best to not ruin much of his tidied up room as I searched for anything linked to the kid. After looking for about an hour, my search was fruitless.

"Ugh! Come. On." I groaned, hitting my head against one of Sensei's small bookselves.

A book fell off of it. As I go to put it back, I saw it wasn't just a book, but a personal journal. Not a diary! Journal, totally different...I think. Curiosity got the better of me since I still didn't have any answers. I opened it up and came to find that this journal was written during Sensei Wu's youth.

"May 3rd, ####

It has been another month since my brother, Garmadon, left to train under Master Chen. Even if I know he'll return soon, I miss him dearly.

Today has been a happy day, however. I found a new student to take under my wing. A little girl with (color) eyes and (color) hair, along with a light purple tuff in the front. She said she goes by the name of...

"...(name)." I uttered in disbelief. Whether I was more shocked or not, I kept reading.

"July 19th, ####

My young students have come to show much progress in their training. Especially my most promising pair, Moro and (name). The two are very fast learners, I feel like a proud parent. Although, I sense there's something within them that is missing balance. They're both determined, pushing themselves to the limit, but everything's off.

[..Nya skips past Moro..]

(Name), on the other hand, is getting easily more frustrated with herself. Saying things, like, "I have to be stronger. I have to do better. I have to fix everything." Maybe I'll have a talk with her over some tea. Whatever weight she's bearing on her shoulders, it's too much weight for a girl at her age. I'd like to help them both any way I can."

[..Nya reads through more journal logs, years have gone by in the pages..]

"June 20th, ####

War with the serpentine has been troubling. It's still not done and we've lost so many good people...Even today we lost a wonderful fighter. A student. A friend.

But I know she'll come back to us soon. She says she always does. Hope to see you soon then, (name)."

And that's where the entries ended. I slowly closed the book. It was all so hard to take in but, I get it now. (Name) acts the way she does because she's...
.
.
.
.
a demi-goddess.