Hey LMBE! Time for another installment in the Silent series! Here we goo!
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Jay’s face was practically planted on the table as he simply listened to the world go by around him. He wished Nya had never betrayed him, and he was under a lot of stress and pain. And for years, he had tried to control a habit of stress-eating. It finally came out one day, when he had stayed up late enough that he was alone. He had found himself sub-consciously reaching for the ice cream in the freezer, and started eating it before he realized what he was doing. Next he downed a large glass of milk and began rummaging through the pantry.
“Jay?”
Someone's awake! With a gasp, Jay bit his lip. “Oh, morning! I, uh..woke up earlier than usual and was just getting breakfast.”
“Oh?” The person, turning out to be Cole, raised his eyebrows. “I wasn't expecting you to be up so late eating.”
He caught me…
“I know you miss Nya. I do too.” Cole sighed. “But we're moving out tomorrow. We have to move on, as hard as life can be.”
Jay wiped his mouth. “What are you doing up?”
“I couldn't sleep,” he replied. “I was just getting some warm milk.”
“Oh. Go ahead.” Jay sighed. “Just don't mind me…”
As soon as Cole left, Jay eyed the pantry with curiosity.
They moved out early in the morning. When they left, something occurred to Jay.
“Who's going to take care of the Bounty?” he asked.
“I’ve left it up to Milky,” Cole replied. “She and her friends can defend each other. We gave them weapons in case of an Aquavestia attack.”
“Yep, we’ll be alright!” Milky giggled. “Have a nice move!”
Cole had reserved for them a decent apartment in the city with the money he had, and they unpacked right away upon arrival, assigning rooms and such.
Kai was bitter and angry during their stay. He wouldn't eat a bite of food and kept talking about how they should be taking action, not refuge. He refused to be comforted and stared at pictures of Nya with disdain.
Jay was optimistic and tried to cope with their situation, putting a positive spin on their circumstances and trying to remain calm. Unlike Kai, he was eating more than usual in his nerve, and he was beginning to look less skinny than he was before. He would look at pictures of Nya in a melancholic state, but he tried to keep his head up.
Zane acted as the mediator, attempting to calm them down; though Jay genuinely thanked him, his counseling barely worked on Kai.
One day, the computer started flickering. As Jay was about to look into the problem, a very familiar face showed up on screen: Nya.
Jay swallowed hard.
“I know you're shocked to find out I created your enemies, the Aquavesti,” she told him, her voice flatter than normal.
“Guys,” Jay whispered, and they followed him.
“But I had reason to. The five of you let me be captured, you abandoned me and didn't even notice me go. So I created these systems to carry out my vengeance. Because they will never truly die, and the Nyx will prevail. The-” Nya suddenly shook her head, her eyes growing wide. “Don't let them know I’m still recording! I’m locked in a secret area of Kryptarium Prison, behind another door in the Locker Room.”
“What is the Nyx?” Jay asked quietly.
“The Nyx is- they're coming,” Nya whispered. “Seeya!” The signal turned to static.
“We have to go find her,” Jay muttered.
“Is everyone in on this?” Lloyd asked, looking around.
Night fell, and the six other Ninja snuck past the traffic to the prison, found the locker room and freed Nya. An Aquavestia she seemed to have gained the trust of stood in her place.
As they escorted Nya to freedom, Jay felt something enter his head, almost as if it was trying to barge in.
Hello, Jay. I'm here to tell you the truth.
No you're not, Jay’s consciousness replied. You're only telling lies. I saw what you did to Nya.
But is that really true?
No! Get away from me!
But don't you want to see your precious girl before she gets, hmm...executed?
Jay’s eyes widened. Executed?
Ah, your emotions. The voice inside his head sounded smug. You really-
Jay pounded his head on the floor and the voices ceased. So that's what the Nyx is…
Nya was going to be sentenced to demise? He had to stop this. But the Aquavesti guarding the cells closed in on them like walls. Jay found it hard to breathe, struggling on his words.
“Since we probably won't last longer like this, I want to reveal something to you all! I'm actually an orphan and I was adopted and my real parents are either dead or missing and-” he found it harder and harder to speak.
“Why are you telling us now?” Kai gasped.
“What am...I... supposed to do...when we're probably...about...to lose our breaths?” Jay struggled.
Before Nya was taken away, she destroyed the beasts with water, then destroyed the ones taking her and running towards Jay. “Jay!” She smiled at him, before scowling. “You will never get away with what you’ve done.”
“Are you really that much of a coward?” Lloyd added, rising up. “So afraid to face your enemies that you get others to fight for you.”
“You act like everything is fine, like all's right with the world,” Cole chimed in. “But you're suffering, suffering, suffering, because you know the truth.”
“Nothing is okay,” Kai added. “The world is just a cruel inferno and you don’t get the little good in it. You hope and pray, but it never comes. Sad, isn't it?” He tilted his head in mock sympathy.
As he watched his friends rise up against him, he realized something…
“Sorry, everyone,” Jay muttered. “But this freak show has come to a bitter end.”
Concentrating his energy, Jay began to shock every single one of the Ninja, and they all woke up before they could attack again. But they weren't awake for long.
Jay had shocked them too hard. They were all unconscious.
“You really messed up this time, didn't you, Jay?” He buried his face, covered in tears. “It's all over, and you're unscathed. How does it feel?”
He looked for the source of the voice. There was nothing around.
“Who are you?” Jay asked loudly.
“I am the voice inside your head,” the voice replied. “The voice that tells you how worthless you really are. I am the Nyx.”
Jay crouched down, covering his ears. “Go away. You will never penetrate me.”
“Very well. I won't affect you,” it answered. “If you're lucky, your friends will be alright as well. But those around you... let's just say the world is your enemy.”
Silence. Nothing. Jay felt as though he had lost. The Blue Ninja woke up the others as Kryptarium Prison gradually returned to normal.
“What happened…?” Cole moaned.
“Jay? Is that you?” Nya added.
“Let's get out of here,” Jay replied. “And it's best if we lay low.”
“What?”
“Nevermind. Let's go home before anything else weird happens.”
Jay sighed as he got home, and the others, unaware of their hypnosis, asked what was wrong. And he told them.
“You guys were all hypnotized. You were saying all these nasty things to me...so finally, I had to snap you out of it. So I shocked every one of you. And now I feel bad for it.” He sighed.
“We don't feel that bad,” Lloyd told him. “You did what you had to. And look, we’ve got Nya back!” He shook a body that had been lying on the floor. “Nya?”
Jay inhaled sharply, sinking down to meet Nya's eyes. She woke up.
“Jay?”
“Nya, are you okay? Did I shock you too hard?”
“No,” she replied, taking in a deep breath. “They did...what they wanted.”
“No, I can't lose you this time! You have to hold on! I’ll get you some of Wu’s tea.”
“Tea wouldn't do it for me.” She smiled good-naturedly. “But I’ll tell you what I told Lloyd. You have to fight on. Even when you lose people, as long as you have breath in your lungs….” She took a deep breath. “Just remember...my love for you...and...fight...on…”
Jay rest his head in Nya's hair as he felt her take her last sigh of a breath. He was silent for the rest of the day. He was angry, sure, but mostly sad. Nya had finally quit the “boy's club,” and Jay couldn't help feeling empty.
After the funeral, Jay had come home to a lot of support and compassion from the other Ninja, even Kai, who was otherwise bitter.
Remember what Milky told you, Jay reminded himself. Keep your head up.
“I'm just glad you guys support me so much,” Jay admitted. “None of us expected this, and you...you took it in stride.” He smiled sadly.
Think positive, Jay. We tried to rescue her, we were almost successful! Everyone else is safe. Nya told you something really good! They didn't mean what they said in hypnosis. And... she's probably in a better place now.
Due to his coping skills, Jay recovered quickly, though he was a bit more fragile than before. He was especially fragile when they had found out that the Nyx had resided in another realm, cold and remote, known as the Realm of Desolation. But he would do anything to get Nya back.
So they travelled to Mistaké’s to pick up some Traveller’s Tea. Saying a quiet “goodbye” to Ninjago, they left everything behind.
Jay felt cold. Something crystallized was under his back as he lay. He waited. His lips trembled, his face numb. He could barely open his eyes.
He heard a small groan, and someone shook him awake. He sat up and blinked the icy tears from his tired eyes. “Is...anyone else here…?”
“I'm here.” Cole’s voice was comforting in his ear. He smiled lightly.
Zane's voice was even more of a relief. “I'm scanning the area presently. We seem to have arrived.”
“Big brother, why is it so cold?” Hanna added. “I don't recall this place.”
“The Realm of Desolation. We should be able to find the source of the Nyx here.” Zane sat up.
“What about Lloyd and Kai?” Jay asked.
“Lloyd is fighting in Ninjago. We sent him down there so the people would be protected,” Zane explained. “He sends his regards.”
“Kai isn't doing so well,” Cole said, placing a hand on the Red Ninja’s forehead. “He’s burning up. We have to get him to warmth.”
Kai was unconscious, his face frozen in a pained expression. Jay felt a knife to his heart.
“Well, can't he just warm himself up?” Jay asked.
“He’s passed out, bolt-brain,” Cole retorted.
“I know! You can build a shelter with him, can't you? I mean, I know your power can break earth, but can't it also create?” Jay asked.
“Not really,” Cole answered.
“First we lose Nya, now we're losing Kai too?” Jay huffed. “Man, I so wish we had the bounty right now.”
As if on cue, the Destiny’s Bounty, sent by the slime girl who had helped them earlier, appeared out of a tea vortex.
“Wow,” he muttered. “I thought that only happened in cartoons.”
“Climb on,” Cole said with a sigh of relief. “Unless the heater is damaged, we should be able to warm up a room for him.”
The four Ninja quickly piled into the ship, and Cole and Jay began running an engine that would heat the place up. It coughed, coughed in their faces more like, but it didn't do any more.
“Darn you, you dead, frothy, loggerheaded- ugh!” The Master of Earth banged his head on the metal.
“So it didn't work,” Jay told him in a calm voice. “We can always try my lightning.” He stepped back and blasted it with a great bolt of electricity. It ran for a bit, then sputtered and stopped. “Hmph. Must have been damaged.”
“What are we gonna do now?” Cole asked.
Jay kicked it, and it worked. “Boom. That's what.” He walked away and placed Kai in the bedroom, blanketing him and placing a cloth dipped with warm water on his forehead. Cole watched from behind. He smiled at his friend. “You’ll be okay, Kai. We’ll be nice and warm in no time.”
Kai’s eyelids fluttered, and he smiled. “Nice...and warm.”
Cole watched Jay take care of Kai in curiosity. He didn't think he'd ever seen his best friend like this. He was so calm, so relaxed, almost as if they weren't in a realm cold as ice, where an evil mysterious and sinister resided, hadn't lost Nya and weren't potentially losing Kai. Yep. He had totally lost it.
Jay found himself alone that night, and wondered if the had some food around, anything nice and warm. As he ate, he thought of getting something for Kai.
Jay placed a bowl of hot soup by Kai’s bed, and he woke up immediately, taking it and drinking it carefully. Jay smiled softly and slipped back into bed, his own full belly keeping him warm for the night.
Jay woke up first again, so he wound up making breakfast. Omelets. His mother's recipe.
“You're acting a little weird,” Cole admitted. “Almost as if you're...happy.”
“I’ve just learned to accept my situation,” Jay replied with a shrug. “So we're in the middle of a cold, remote realm with the Bounty our only source of comfort. So what? If this is our new home for a while, I might as well, I don't know...embrace it.”
“Oh,” Cole answered, taking a bite. “This is good.”
“Mom taught me how to make it,* he said as he served himself. “She taught me a lot of recipes. This is probably one of my favorites.”
Jay started eating as well, sitting next to Cole. “Did your parents teach you anything?”
Cole became distant.
“Should I not have asked?” Jay was concerned.
“No, I just…” He sighed.
“Oh. I remember now.” Jay took another bite. “Sorry.”
“I just heard consuming a high amount of calories keeps you warm,” he replied. “And maybe if I keep doing it my stomach will get stronger, and I’ll be able to take on more.”
“Nya's gone with virtually no hope of bringing her back?” Jay chuckled. “We're trapped in a realm with literally nothing? Kai could potentially be departed? Ha ha ha, couldn't be better!”
Cole’s eyes widened. “Jay, are you okay?”
“Yep!” He laughed again. The sound was pleasant enough, but somewhat unsure of itself.
“We should get back to the Bounty before anything weird happens,” Cole told the others. He heard a loud stomping, and yelled suddenly, “Zane, take care of Kai!”
“Alright. What about Jay?” Zane asked.
“He's staying with me,” he replied. “Go!”
As Zane left, the stomping grew louder. Cole bit his lip, stepping back. To his relief, it was a dragon.
“Huh? A dragon?” Cole studied it. “An Earth dragon…”
“Cool,” Jay whispered.
“Alright. Come here.” He gestured to it. To his surprise, it followed him. “You…understand me?”
Jay just stared in awe. The dragon, though it couldn't speak, nodded and nuzzled into Cole’s side. “Aww, he likes me…”
Jay smiled. “Heh. I wonder where he came from.” He stepped closer to the dragon. “Are there more of you?”
It nodded. Jay gasped, turning to Cole. “Cole, there are-”
Another stomp, and a small crackling, like that of lightning. A small, blue dragon. Jay was captivated. He ran towards it and immediately fell in love.
“You're so beautiful,” he whispered. “You can understand me too, right?”
It nodded, puffing out smoke. Jay coughed, but laughed. “This changes everything. I'm gonna name you...Sparky.”
The dragon shook its head.
“Bolt?”
It repeated the gesture.
Jay stroked his chin. “Then how about...Galvan?”
“Galvan?” Cole asked, confused.
“It's the first part of 'galvanization,’” the teen explained. “It kind of sounds like a name. Galvan.”
The dragon nuzzled his side.
“Oh, you like that, huh?” Jay smiled. “What are you gonna name your dragon, Cole?”
“Clay,” the Earth Ninja said with a small smile.
“Heh heh...I like that. Galvan and Clay.”
“They're kind of like us,” Cole added. “Mine is big and strong, and yours is small and weak.”
Galvan glared at him just as Jay did. “You really don't want me to zap you again, Cole. Don't make me do it.”
“He-hey, okay, I take it back!” Cole laughed a bit.
“I was kidding,” Jay replied. “But it's nice to know there's more in this realm than just...nothing.”
Then a shadow loomed over them, bigger than any dragon.
“What is that?” Jay shouted over it's noise.
“I don't know, but it doesn't look friendly!” Cole grabbed Jay and ran back home, only to find that the Bounty was no longer there. They were alone, left to survive with no food and a freezing Kai.
“Mom, I’m going out to play in the junkyard again.”
“Okay, sweetie! Don't get hurt!”
“I won't mom!”
A 12-year-old Jay had left the Walkers’ small, old trailer to climb a particularly large pile of scrap metal, breathing in as he felt like he could see for miles. Sometimes he’d pretend he was a samurai warrior, or a pirate, a cowboy, or even a ninja. But today he just wanted to look out at the desert outside of the fence enclosing the literal dump he lived in. He exhaled. He had to admit, the rock formations several feet away from his home were pretty. But the curious thing was the footsteps he heard from afar, the faint pitter-patter of feet along the canyon…
Jay, curious, ran outside and followed the sound curiously, his skinny legs nearly giving out at the edge. That's when he got her attention.
A young girl, dressed in a blue T-shirt and shorts, with tangled black hair and the prettiest brown eyes, had grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He gasped.
“Hey, mister.” She smiled, or... smirked a little. “Don't you have parents?”
“Um...I…” Jay averted his eyes, trying to get his head together. “I...well, I...yeah, but...I was just curious, you know?” His voice cracked, and he winced.
“You were curious.” The girl crossed her arms.
“Yeah, well, I heard footsteps outside and I just had to go check it out! I have….compulsions, I guess.”
“What's a compulsion?”
“Nevermind.” Jay chuckled lightly, getting up. “So...what are you doing here?”
“I'm trying to gather supplies for a mech my brother and I are building,” she answered.
Wow, she's so cool already! Jay blushed slightly. “A mech? As in, the stuff you'd see on those action shows on TV?”
“Yeah. We...we have to defend ourselves.”
“What kind of environment do you live in?” Jay asked the girl, curious. “I didn't know you were being threatened.”
“It's just in case,” Nya told him. “And you live...there?” Nya pointed to the junkyard.
“Yeah,” he replied, breathing out. “I mean, it's not the greatest, but it isn't bad either…”
“I was just going over there, actually,” the girl replied, “you know, to get the materials I was talking about.” She turned to face him, and a shy Jay struggled to keep eye contact. “Smith.”
“Huh?”
“Nya Smith. That's my name.” She smiled again. “What's yours, blue boy?”
“It's Jayson. Er...Jay. Jay Walker.” He backed up slightly. “I...yeah. I gotta go, my parents are probably worried…”
“Okay,” Nya replied. Jay ran off and Nya watched him for a moment, then turned around.
(That's why he'd gotten so excited when Kai Smith announced he had a sister. That's why, since he had been attracted to her, he asked if she was hot, and, because of the blue shirt, why he'd wondered if she liked blue. He’d seen her before. He wanted to know if the sister his friend was talking about was the one he’d known.)
Jay had gotten back home to find smoke billowing from...somewhere. His parents were outside, and they looked panicked. And then he realized: The invention they’d been working so hard on had been wired incorrectly and was set on self-destruct. They had practically accidentally built a bomb.
“You guys get inside!” the tween yelled, not caring anymore if his voice broke. “I’ll try to defuse it!”
*But Jay!” Edna yelled, tearing up.
“Just go!” Jay yelled as he searched the wiring for something he could cut. The red wire? The green one? The black one? Jay took a deep breath and picked a random one...a dumb move, as he could barely get far enough away until the contraption blew. He shielded himself, but was knocked backwards as pieces of glass and metal flew everywhere. He felt a sharp, blinding pain above his right eye, and he lay barely moving in such pain for several seconds before giving out.
Jay regained consciousness and it occurred to him that his parents probably thought he was dead. His vision was blurry, and he couldn't open his right eye, but he felt something warm and sticky trickle down his cheek. Gingerly, he touched it, and he winced in pain. But it wasn't as bad as he had thought; he had expected excruciating pain. Jay opened his left eye, cupping his hand over his right. From what he could make out, the place was very clean, with a strange smell about it, like disinfectant. It hit him.
He was in the hospital.
Jay checked for anything else broken. He ran his tongue through his mouth to check for missing teeth; none, phew. He tested each limb, each appendage, his torso, checked his pulse...he was in pretty good shape. It was just his eye that had been affected. He also noticed he was strapped to a machine, which he detached himself from and sat up. Still in his hospital gown, he ran back home immediately. The Walkers were shocked.
“Jay, you're alive!” Ed breathed, his expression like he’d seen a light after a long time of darkness.
“What happened to your eye?” Edna added.
“Oh, that was the explosion. I think some glass hit it or something. It probably won't be the worst thing ever if it scars…”
“I’m just glad you're okay, son,” Ed told him, hugging him gently.
“Thanks, dad,” the tween breathed.
The next morning, he had pretty much healed, with the help of medicine and his mother's care. He could open his eye again, and the pain was light if at all. Although he did find something when he looked in the mirror;
A small chunk of his eyebrow was gone, replaced with a light but noticeable scar. He took a deep breath and…
“MOM, I BROKE MY-
“-eyebrow,” an 18-year-old Jay muttered before waking up, blinking the faint light out of his eyes. “Oh. Morning, everyone…”
“It's late afternoon,” Cole replied.
“What?”
“If you're sleeping that long, I wouldn't blame you. We've been walking for so long, I wonder why anyone else hasn't been falling asleep.”
Thinking about his mom and dad, Jay averted his eyes, sighing.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing,” he replied.
Cole glared at him. “You can't just go around acting like all’s right with the world. What's up?”
“I’m worried about my parents, alright?” Jay replied. “Ever since we left Ninjago City, who knows what's happened to them? There are no more Aquavesti after Nya finished them off, but...that Nyx thing. Who knows if random hypnotized citizens are going after them?”
“Lloyd's down there,” Cole replied. “He contacted me when we had the Bounty. He’s gathered the Elemental Masters and the slimes, and they should make a pretty powerful team. You don't have to worry so much.”
“I still miss them,” Jay muttered bitterly, shivering in both the cold and the grief. “And if we don't find Nya anytime soon, I’m not going to sleep for weeks.”
The days went by, and Jay was acting...strange, to say the least.
“It's so beautiful out here. I wonder if Nya would like to see this, don't you? You think she’d love it too?”
“It's so cold. If only I had Nya to warm me up.”
“Shouldn't we be looking for Nya right now? Forget the dragons, we need Nya!”
One day, Kai couldn't stand it. “We’ve lost Jay! Jay has definitely cracked, and we're doing nothing! What is up with all of you? We’ve lost Nya, we’re losing Jay, and you're just...I dunno...surviving!”
“What are you talking about?” Jay giggled. “Silly Kai, I’m not broken~” His voice was like a child.
“He’s broken,” Cole mumbled.
Hanna turned to Jay. “We’ll find her. I promise.”
“There's no hope,” Kai replied, sudden and bitter. “She's gone.”
“No, she's not,” Hanna replied. “We’ll find her.”
Jay stared at the floor, his hands clasped together...he was praying. He rarely ever prayed in public.
“Please...we have to get Jay back,” Cole told Hanna.
“Zane, scan for any signs of life.” Hanna turned to her older brother.
Zane nodded, but could only detect the current vicinity. “Hanna, you try.”
Hanna obliged, but her sensors detected even less. “We have to do it together.”
“What?” Zane was confused.
“Do it on the count of three.” Hanna was stubborn. “One….two…”
Zane opened his eyes and glanced around. “There's something. Something in the distance...a human.”
Jay followed Zane’s lead, silent and smiling subtly. It was scary, how mellow he was, almost as if he’d lost all grip on reality. Yes, he was insane…all because of Nya’s loss.
The human girl was shivering faintly, her hair frozen up and her eyes forcefully closed. She had a mole on her right cheek, and her hair was black and untamed...Jay picked her up, shook her awake. Her eyes opened, but they were almost white, pupil-less. She was blind.
Jay began to regain his grip on emotion, tears coming to his eyes. “Nya? You can hear me, right?” His tears froze to his cheeks. “Nya.”
Nya blinked at him.
“Can you speak?”
She blinked.
“No…” Jay whispered. “We have to go home. We can't just leave her like this in this cold.”
The tears from Jay’s eyes froze to Nya’s chest, and nothing happened. He felt as though his brain had been wiped, and the only thing on his mind was “Nya. Nya. Nya.”
That last part, though. . . quite dramatic. Ó.Ò