{Location: Mayor's home} (Seliel's POV)

I get as comfy as I can. I manage to sneak food out so I can eat and listen. Once I'm situated, I ready the tape.

"Honey," Dad comes out from gate, he looks like he's trying to save an entire village, "Are you ok?"

I don't look up or respond. Mom can't say she's ok, I shouldn't either.

"I'll take that as a no." He comes and sits next to me. "I miss her too." He rubs his ring. He's lucky, he has something of her to hold onto. I have nothing, "She would want our home put back to how it was. She will be missed."

"I'm not worried about her being gone." I feel the hole in my heart, I don't know if anyone can fill it, "I am worried about not seeing her." I'm mostly dehydrated so I am only able to let a few tears slip, "Ever. Again." Those words rip and scar my heart. "Oh geez." I let Dad hug and hold me. "She's dead."

"I know." He squeezes me, "I know. Maybe you should take a few weeks off of school to mourn."

And live in my misery? Let the pain hit me over and over again. Letting every small thing remind me of her. No. But school will probably take a longer break of their own, grieving on their own time. Maybe there's another, much more physical way to channel my grief. "Mabey."

"I loved her too." Dad lets go, "I see you found the tapes." He slides his finger over the player.

"You knew about these?"

He nods, "I know how much you looked up to your mother. I remember every grade school project was dedicated to her in some fashion," He holds my hands like he about to tell me I'm going to die, "But your mother was.....complicated. Very big things happen to her when she was young."

"Is that why she's given so many warnings?"

"Yes." Dad sighs, "Don't toss those aside. If you want to keep the hero of your mother in your mind, stop listening right now."

"And if I don't." I stare at him, he's where I get my violet eyes from, "What if I want to keep hearing her voice."

"If you want to know the truth," He offers up a pair of blue and light grey headphones that go over my ears, "Keep listing." He gets up, his hand steadies on the door, "I'll see if I can find the other tapes."

I wait until he's in the house, put the headphones over my ears and press play.

{Location: A mysterious island}(Dawn's POV)[Time:Many years ago]

"Hello?" I look at the jungle as the hot sand hurts my bare feet. "Is anyone here? Does anyone know who I am?" I think as I get up. What's my name? Who are my parents? Where are they? Where am I? Where do I come from? How old am I? The jungle is semi-trimmed like it was part of a garden. My feet carry me to a lake where I see myself. "Cool, I have pink hair." But maybe that's normal from where I come from. I stare at a tree for a long time, "Ninjago. That's my home."

Crack. Snap. Sssss. Snap.

Something massive isn't too far away from me. My heart starts racing, my hands drip buckets of sweat and my teeth chatter, "W-who's there?"

Sssss. Snap.

I grab the nearest thing I can grab, a black rock big as my tiny hand, "I'm armed."

One more snap and a large purple snake towers above me. His tongue flickers in and out. His red eyes look hungry for a lost girl.

As the snake lunges to eat me in one gulp, someone tackles me and we land in the water. "Ugg, Cloues' gosh darn snake got out again."

"Thank you." I'm sopping wet but alive.

"Glad to be of help." A man gets off of me and stands up. The snake looks at him, "I don't care what you mean to Clouse, if I find myself in need of a snake skinned rug, I'll find you." The man glares. The snake backs down and slithers away. "That doesn't look good." He points.

My ankle is bent in a funny fashion, "Ow!"

"Hold still." He picks me up. He looks nice. "Who are you?"

"I don't know."

"Tell me what you do know."

I study him, his brown eyes have something behind them, his red hair pops out on the green layout and he seems to like wearing a dress. I tell him everything I know as he carried me over the jungle.

"That is very interesting, Dawn." He says the name and it feels right.

A small thing clicks, "That's my name. How'd you know?"

"Your necklace." He starts walking into what looks like a small city, "The name Dawn. Followed by a J. And the word Shadow. Is that your name?"

"Sounds right." I think on it. Dawn Janet Shadow.

"I know you said that you don't remember much, but how did you get to my island?"

My eyes flicker around, it's not a city, it's a palace with red walls. "A boat. The Mercy." I'm hyped on remembering something like that, "The N.S. Mercy."

"One of my men did report hearing calls for help while connected to a ship with that title." He kicks a gate and it opens, "I'll have Clouse and some men make a search party. Until then you can stay here."

I nod as my ankle begins to throb.

"Come on, let's get some ice on that." He carries me to a smaller part of the place. "I think I have the first aid kit somewhere here."

I try to wiggle my toes and pain shoots up.

"Try not to move it. Talking helps lessen the pain."

"I have nothing left to talk about."

The man chuckles, "I did not mean about you," He set the bag down next to me and gently picks my ankle up, "I can talk about me."

"So who are you?"

"My name is Chen." He smiles. Something pokes my brain. But it's in the spot where my memories should be. But he saved me, he can be trusted. "I was banished to this island for a while now."

"Why were you sent here?"

"I made a little trouble." He looks at my foot, "Your ankle should be ok. It may hurt to walk on."

"Thank you for everything." I smile. Grown-ups melt for things like that, "I have no way to repay you."

"There is no need for payment." He starts to put the stuff away. "Now I have a question for you. It's a bit of a sad one."

"Ask me anything."

"I am not allowed to go back to Ninjago. If my men do not find your family, would you like to stay here with me?"

I feel chill crawl over my skin. My Mom and Dad, whoever they are, are out there. They'll find me. Maybe I can ask Mom then if we can stay here. I keep quite for a few more seconds when Chen claps his hands. Girls with white faces and pretty dresses come out with all kinds of sweet things for my sweet tooth. I reach and grab a plate of red jello and take a big bite out of it. Sweet strawberry, this is wonderful. I shovel more into my mouth, "Sure."

A smirk crosses Chen's face, "Good. Eat and rest. I'll go to find Clouse." He gets up and pulls out a walkie talkie.

I don't know how, but something bad is happening. I feel whispers to run in my heart. But Chen saved me, fixed me up, and fed me. He's not evil.

{Location: Mayor's home} (Seliel's POV)

Mom sighs on her end, "That was my first mistake. Staying there. Over the years my memories came back. Chen was kind to me at first but he had something up his sleeves. In the years to come, I learned things. Ways to kill a man, torture and how to truly destroy a person. Chen was training me to be an assassin. I figured all this out when I was about 17. But I didn't leave the island in the right way. I stopped trusting him but that a story for another tape. As it turned out, Chen never intended for my family to come back to me. He needed a doll to mold and it was me. That was mistake number one." Click. The tape pops out and I can't believe my ears.

I find my way to my feet. The cleaners have left a while ago. The house smells lemony fresh, looks freshly vacummed and everything is shiny. Like how Mom use to clean the house. I walk up to my room. Some of my action figures are missing. But the town even cleaned under my bed. I close my door and look for a blank space to stare at.

Except there isn't any.

My ninja memorabilia is everywhere. I look up, Kai's range of outfits is there. I look left, Jay's motivational poster of him hanging off a tree. I look right, Zane holds out a sword. I look at my desk, Lloyd's standing over the Overlord's ashes. Then I look at my bed, Cole's face is scrunched up.

Something stirs in my heart. It's as truthful and painful as my mother being dead.

They didn't come.

They left me.

They don't care.

Then my phone goes off, "Depend on the ninja. They'll keep you safe." That ridiculous line lights up something in me. I kick the tapes and player under my bed and pull off the covers. I jump onto my bed and rip Kai's face in half.

That feels....good.

My phone won't shut up as I rip the poster up some more. Now it's tiny scraps on my floor. Nothing more to do. But I'm not done. I chose Jay as my next target and destroy that.

Rip. Bye-bye, Zane.

Sher-pe. See ya, Lloyd.

I get on my knees next and pour out all my playing cards. Them and their stupid smirking faces.

I rip as many apart as fast as I can. Each feels better than the last as my phone keeps up with that jingle.

"I bet you guys knew about it." I yell at a playing card for Samurai X, "I bet you knew and didn't come on purpose." I destroy her's and more, "Protections of Ninjago. A plastic bag can do your job better."

Rip. Smash.

Zship. Crack.

"You never came." I fall into a rhythm now. Rip a card. Breck an action figure. "You never came. You never came." I find my black ninja costume in my closet. Who cares how much it cost. I tear into that thing like a tiger. "You.." I am sobbing again. "Never came." I break the fake scythe in half, "And my MOM IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"

I look for something else to break. My hands fall on my first card.

Cole doesn't say anything to me.

I ready my fingers to rip it but find it hard.

I can't hurt him even if I tried.

And that's infuriating.

I tuck the card away as my door opens.

"Seliel?" Marci steps on the blanket, "What happened?"

"They never came. Marci, they left us for dead." I curl on the floor as I cry buckets. I am in a ball on the floor. A sad pathetic but very hurt crying ball.

"Oh gosh. It's hitting you all now isn't it?" She comes in and pulls the blanket in, letting me use it for blowing my nose and wiping my tears.

I nod.

"I heard it all." She rubs me, "Are you mad that you destroyed your own collection?"

"No." I look at the mess. My eyes sting, "I'm over the Ninja now." I stare at the one thing I couldn't break. Cole's card. His betrayal hurts worst of all but unlike his team, I can't hurt him. Maybe for the same reason I collected his stuff in the first place.

"I'm so sorry, Seliel." Marci hugs me. Everything hurts. Especially my heart. And I need to do something about it. My eyes look over to my closet.

Grey and light blue clothes and armor look back at me.

"DO you really want to help me, Marci?"

"Of course." She lets me go.

I get up and show off the armor. Her brown eyes look up and down on it with amazement. It just needs one more thing, "Want to help me finish it?"

"I'd love to." She holds it up in the light, "It needs an emblem. Something unique and special to you."

"Remember that Eclipse?" I have a small smirk on. If mom went out fighting, then so will I.