between these walls | ninjago au

Chapter 19

3rd Person POV

"We've had this delivered to our door." The Emperor stated, placing a sheet down on the table. Another copy of the hitlist. Keeping calm, Wu nodded, "Yes, it seems someone wants us all dead. We didn't know what to do...so we just left it, and are taking strict security measurements."

The Empress nodded approvingly, "Good. But just to be on the safe side, I suggest it would be best if you went into lockdown. We've checked with all the other schools in the city, nobody else has received hitlists. However, a few of these people don't attend your school, if I may recall to the attendance records."

"Yes, that's true," Garmadon lied, "we too, are confused by this. But, with your approval, we will go into lockdown."

"Okay then." They headed to the doors, "We will be checking up once every few days. Have a nice evening."

From the guest wings, Amber perched on the edge of her bed, as she attempted to summon a small flame. She'd greeted her daughter's fiancé with a warm embrace to test out this experiment.

The flame was weak, and Amber struggled to keep it alight, as it flickered and vanished. Clenching her fist, she glared at the door. She felt so...so weak, useless. She wanted her power back.

That would mean getting rid of Skylor. Flopping back onto the pillows, Amber stared at the ceiling. She would do anything to gain her element back.

She would even be willing to kill her own daughter.

Upstairs, Jay had his face in his pillow as he groaned in frustration. He'd basically rejected his dream girl.

Way to go.

Lifting his head up, he flipped over so that he was laying on his back, and let out a high pitched scream.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!"

Jay laughed, "My fault. How did you get in here without making a sound?"

Nya shrugged, "I prank Lloyd all the time. It gets easier. I was sorta eavesdropping on the conversation between Wu and the Royals. Bad news: they know about the hitlist. Good news is they don't know what it's for."

The auburn sighed in relief, "Phew, looks like we dodged a bullet there, am I right?"

"Yeah..."

"I was actually gonna ask if you wanted to go out into the woods, but it looks like that won't be happening."

Nya sat next to him, her feet tucked neatly under her thighs, "Because of the lockdown?"

"That...and the weather." The raven's face grew red as she saw it was still raining outside. Chuckling, her hair fell forward, "Sorry...Lloyd was planning on tossing a book out of the window and I had to stop him." Snapping her fingers, the rain stopped on impact. Jay smiled and reached forward, tucking her hair behind her ears.

They both stayed silent for a few minutes, slowly leaning in, closer and closer-

"Guys! Dinner!" Yelping, they jumped away, as Seliel continuously knocked on the door, "Come on, the food's gonna get cold!"

She raced off and Jay rested back on his pillow. Nya leaned against the wall, "Did we just try to..."

"Yeah..."

She bit her lip nervously, "D-Did you want to..."

"I mean, do you?"

They both laughed, and Jay cupped her chin, pulling her closer-

"Hello! I thought I said the food was getting cold!" Seliel snapped impatiently.

"On our way, Seliel."

The pink haired girl huffed and spun on her heel, sauntering downstairs, as the other two shuffled to the door.

"After you, milady."

A smile formed on Nya's lips, "Thanks."

As they entered the dining hall, Lloyd caught Nya's eye, and a teasing smirk grew on his face. Nya rolled her eyes at him and collected her dinner.

Locating their friends sat at a round table in the corner, they went over and joined them. Once everyone was seated, Morro leaned forward, "Someone else died. Bolobo. It happened just before the lockdown."

Kai sighed and stabbed at the meatball, "That's another three million claimed. What are they doing with the bodies?"

"Burying them on school grounds," Pixal explained, turning the page of her book, "Skylor, didn't your mother have a plan or something?"

Skylor nodded, "It won't be able to work. She needed more time. She told me what it was, and I highly doubt anyone would emerge alive. So, no, she doesn't have a plan."

"But she does have a new son-in-law!" Seliel teased. Skylor buried her blushing red face in Kai's shoulder.

After dinner, they headed up their separate ways. As Nya closed the blinds, Lloyd started, "So...you and Jay..."

"...yes?"

"Did you guys kiss or something?"

"No." Lloyd studied her face closely, "Your pupils widen when you lie. You're lying, something happened, didn't it?"

"No! We didn't kiss!"

"Well something must have happened. Look, now you're blushing!"

Growling, Nya grabbed her pillow and whacked him around the side of his head. Lloyd made a grab for it, "Stop hitting me with pillows! You nearly knocked my tooth out when we were 10 and it has given me severe PTSD!"

Nya slipped her shoes back on, "I'm gonna head to Skylor's. I'll be back before curfew."

She headed up the stairs and down the corridor, before knocking on the wooden door, "Sky? You in?"

The door opened and Skylor let Nya in, shutting it behind her, "Pixal's at the library with Zane."

"Oh okay. So...how's your mother?"

Skylor shrugged, "She hasn't really spoken much. I haven't seen her come out of her room, at all."

Nya frowned, "Odd-"

There was a knock on the door and Skylor opened it, revealing it to be Amber herself, wearing all black, holding something behind her back, "Ladies, mind if I join?"

Skylor beamed, "Come on in!"

"Sorry if I've been a bit distant lately,"

"It's alright, Mom, don't worry about it." Amber smiled, "I actually wanted to show you both something."

Nya exchanged a glance with Skylor, who peered at her mother, "What is it? What's that in your hand-"

Without warning, Amber brought out a metal baseball bat and swung it, hitting the side of Nya's head, knocking her out. Skylor glared at the former master, "What was that for?!"

"To get her out of the way. Now, it's your turn." She hit her hard, with the bat, and picked her up, leaving the room, and an unconscious Nya.