TW: Panic attack, which includes throwing up and slight suicidal thoughts. The TW will show just before the scene, and it'll end at a ~*~, plus I'll say (TW is over) once it's done, and there will be a summary of what happened during the TW, directly before, and directly after at the end of the chapter

Traditional Asian music played in the Palace Arena, now set up to host a grand feast. The Kabuki were dancing in their fancy kimonos and handing out appetizers. Lyra sat in between Lloyd and Jay, with Kai and Skylor beside Jay and Garmadon beside Lloyd. Neuro was beside Skylor. On the other side, Griffen sat by Garmadon and struck up a conversation with him. Shade was beside Griffen, his chair as far away from him as possible.

Lyra was intrigued by the Master of Shadow. To her knowledge, he hadn't willingly spoken to any of the Elemental Fighters. He seemed to hate conversation in general and also seemed to never get any sun. His skin was deathly pale, almost gray, even. It matched fairly well with his black hair and dark eyes, actually. If he bothered to look nice, he'd probably have a lot of girls--and guys--after him. At the moment, though, his hair was dishevelled and his eyes were bloodshot, which most people would see as an automatic nope.

"Thank you." Lyra nodded to Sakura as she handed her a tray of spring rolls, who gave her a faint smile in response.

She looks tired, Lyra noted. Has she slept enough?

"Try the horned wasp eggs," Chen suggested, looking directly at Lyra. "Delicious!"

Lyra was deathly allergic to wasps, and Chen knew it.

Is he still mad about the fight? she wondered. I'll have to talk to him later, convince him that I'm still on his side...somehow.

"Uh, I think I'll pass," Lloyd said, grimacing.

"If I eat those there's a high possibility I'll die, so no thanks," Lyra smiled.

"Oh, lighten up, you two. This isn't a trick. This is a feast to celebrate the eight of you making it to the second round!" Chen cheered. The Kabuki laughed and clapped. "And I must congratulate the Master of Shadow's defeat over the Master of Light. He was a bit too bright on the eyes, am I right?"

That wasn't even funny. Like, not even remotely.

The Kabuki laughed and clapped again. "Laugh harder!" Chen snapped. 

They did as he said, looking very uncomfortable. Lyra frowned at her father. He wasn't usually this harsh on the Kabuki.

"You can relax, Lloyd," Kai said. "Even if there was a fight, now that we told the others about Chen's dirty plot to steal our powers, we're safe in our secret alliance."

Skylor stiffened beside him. Lyra tore her eyes away from Chen and frowned at her sister instead, peering closer.

There's no way she told Father. There's no way.

"I tried to enlist Shadow, but that dude's throwing some serious shade," Griffen admitted.

"Lyra should try later," Lloyd suggested, nudging her. "She's good at making friends."

Lyra's eyes widened. She shook her head. "It's luck, not skill, and I'm pretty sure my luck ran out the second after I beat Tox."

"Well, if you plan to stop Chen, you'll need everyone on board," Garmadon pointed out.

Lyra glanced at Skylor. That means you, too. Especially you, because of how powerful you are.

"Each fighter that loses gives him strength," Lloyd's dad continued. "Soon he'll be too powerful for even all of you combined to overcome."

"Ooh, fortune cookies!" Chen cheered as Falia opened the door, a plate of said cookies in hand. "Bring them to me!"

Clouse and Chen started to whisper to each other. Lyra strained to hear them, but, even with her trained ear, she couldn't understand what they were saying. Clouse took Chen's fortune cookie away from him and put it back on the plate.

Who's gonna want it now that he's touched it? Lyra wondered. That's gross.

Falia took the plate over to Griffen and Shade, offering them some. They each took a few. 

"It has come to my attention that there are rumours floating about that I am stealing everyone's power." Chen stood up from his golden throne. "I am!"

Everyone began whispering to each other, wondering why he was admitting it so easily.

How's he gonna lie his way out of this? Lyra wondered. She frowned at Skylor. Why'd you tell him?

"But it's all for this staff." He clapped his hands, and the Kabuki took out their paper fans and began to fan him. "No, no, not you staff. I mean my real staff!"

The doors opened, and Sakura and Jalin brought out the serpentlike staff with fangs on the ends, a gold Anacondrai symbol, and a glowing crystal in the middle. They handed it to him, bowed, then joined the rest of the Kabuki. 

Every time Lyra saw it, chills ran up her spine. It brought a vague sense of déjà vu, and she felt like she'd seen it many times, even though she'd probably only spotted it three times total. It appeared to radiate the cold and darkness, and its power had grown tenfold since she'd spotted it last, much to her dismay.

Lyra just didn't like it, plain and simple.

"The Staff of Elements. It holds the power of your fallen foes, and soon it'll hold all but one. For the last standing in my tournament will win this prize and be the greatest fighter ever in the history of Ninjago!" Chen threw his hands out, almost hitting Falia in the process.

And let me guess: he's gonna be the last one standing. And here I actually believed he was stealing the powers for "research purposes," and was planning on giving them back later. How naive of me.

"You're lying!" Lloyd accused, standing up. He almost spilled his apple juice on Lyra in his rush. "What about the spell?"

"Spell?" Clouse raised an eyebrow. "What spell?"

"Don't believe him," Lloyd told everyone, though he was mostly looking at Lyra. "It's just another trick. Neuro read Clouse's mind and saw it. Tell them what you saw, Neuro."

Neuro hesitated, obviously not appreciating how he was put on the spot. "I...I don't remember. To be honest, I want to learn more about this staff."

"And why should we believe everything you say?" Griffen asked Lloyd. "How do we know you're not lying to get the staff for yourself?"

"How do we know Chen's not lying to get the staff for himself?" Lyra asked, ignoring Chen, Skylor, and Clouse's shut up looks. "I mean, what's the point in hosting an underground fighting tournament, giving the winner a lifetime supply of noodles, and making them the most powerful person in the world? I'd almost understand if it was being streamed somewhere, but no one except us even knows about it! Does no one realize how absolutely shady that is? It'd just result in a loss of money and power for him! Plus, where the hell do you go when you lose? I know everyone here is convinced they're gonna be the one to win, but that's literally impossible."

Everyone began to yell and shout at each other. Lloyd merely smiled at Lyra. "Thank you," he said as he sat down.

"It's quite simply the right thing to do." Lyra shrugged. Her entire body was shaking as she mentally ran over everything she'd just said. "Anyone who believes Chen's story is an idiot."

Skylor opened her fortune cookie and read the fortune. She gasped, glancing from Lyra to the slip of paper to Kai to the slip of paper, then repeated the process several times.

"Looks like they're all idiots, then," Garmadon muttered angrily. "So much for the alliance."

"They believe him over us?" Lloyd asked in disbelief. 

"If we're gonna convince anyone, we need proof," Jay muttered. 

A Kabuki hit him with her fan. Lyra narrowed her eyes at her. She knew all the Kabuki that worked there, but she didn't recognize this one.

"We need to," Jay made an annoyed sound as she hit him again, "find that spell. Ugh, would you cut it out?"

"Jay, it's me," the unfamiliar Kabuki whisper-yelled. 

"Nya?" all the ninja asked.

Nya? The one Jay and Cole were fighting over? 

"Lower your voices! I'm undercover. And, to be completely honest, a bit out of my element." Nya frowned at the fancy red kimono she was wearing. "And I heard what happened to Cole." She put a hand on Jay's shoulder. "That was big of you both."

My fault, Lyra reminded herself.

"Love is like war, Nya," Jay said, placing his hand over hers. He sounded more dramatic than Chen. "Everyone gets hurt."

Lloyd and Lyra glanced at each other, snickering. He was ridiculous.

"Is it just you, Nya?" Kai asked. 

Skylor wasn't beside him anymore. She had stood up to fill up her water or something. Maybe her fortune had said she was dehydrated.

"Darreth's also on the island," Nya murmured.

Who? 

"What up, ninja?" A voice that was presumably Darreth's projected out of Nya's watch. 

"He's in contact with Wu via mobile base," Nya explained. "Also, who's she?" She pointed to Lyra.

"This is Lyra." Lloyd put a hand on her shoulder. 

Lyra stilled. She felt butterflies rise up in her stomach, though they seemed a lot more like spontaneously combusting hummingbirds than tiny, innocent bugs. Don't blush don't blush Lyra you idiot get your act together what the heck is happening this isn't normal.

"She's a friend. You can trust her," Garmadon said.

Yep. You can trust me completely. It's not like my father is running this tournament or anything.

"Well, hi, Lyra." Nya smiled, her gaze flitting from Lloyd's hand to Lyra's eyes. "It's nice to meet you."

Lyra nodded back, not trusting herself to speak with Lloyd's hand still there.

"If you're undercover, that means you can get close to Clouse's spellbook," Kai realized. "All we know is that the spell's on page 149. I think he might have it in his quarters."

Lloyd removed his hand from Lyra's shoulder, much to her relief. Or disappointment. She wasn't quite sure which one. The butterflies were still there, though they weren't on fire anymore.

"Where are those?" Nya wondered.

"They take up the entirety of the East Wing," Lyra said.

"How do you know that?" Garmadon asked, arching a gray eyebrow.

Lyra shrugged. "I couldn't sleep one night and snuck around for a bit."

"I'll look into it," Nya promised. "And it sounds like you have your work cut out for you, too."

"How so?" Jay frowned.

"How do you think they found out about your alliance?" the fake Kabuki asked. "Someone in your circle of trust is a spy."

"A spy?" everyone but Lyra gasped.

Clouse's eyes narrowed at them. They'd been too loud. Nya bowed and walked away.

Wasn't that obvious? Lyra wondered. Maybe it's less obvious when you don't know who the spy is. Her gaze drifted over to Skylor, who was slowly walking back. 

"Do you know that servant girl?" Skylor asked Kai, sitting down again.

She doesn't recognize her either.

"Uh--know that girl? Heh," Kai stuttered. "Of course not. Why, are you jealous?"

Lyra and Lloyd exchanged looks. Both of them had to refrain from facepalming.

"My fortune tells me Cole and your friend Zane will be breaking out," Skylor informed him, handing the slip of paper over. "You're lucky this didn't end up in the wrong hands."

Lyra scowled at her sister. You better not tell Father.

Skylor avoided her gaze.

"He found Zane," Kai breathed. "I can't believe it! Thanks, Skylor."

Oh, right, that confirms that Father's evil. Fun times.

Lyra played with the stained ends of her hair. She used to hate how the paint she'd gotten in them didn't wash out--her stupid powers were weird like that--but they'd grown on her. 

"It's good to know there are some people here we can trust," Kai grinned.

This poor guy. He's gonna be heartbroken when he realizes. I should tell them the truth. It's the right thing to do. 

Lyra considered how Lloyd would react--how the whole team would react--when they realized she'd been spying on them, when they realized how much she'd been hiding. Maybe not, actually.

"A spy?" Jay wondered. "Who do you think it is?"

Lloyd turned to look at Shade, who was eating his calamari like there was no tomorrow. "I have my suspicions."

~*~

TW: Panic attack, throwing up, slight suicidal thoughts

Lyra rushed past her father's quarters, just wanting to dance and sing and design in the privacy of her studio. She came to a stop when she heard her name, though. She quieted her breathing and peeked around the half-open door. She couldn't see who was talking, but she could definitely hear them.

"She's become too reckless. Any moment now, she'll spill all of my secrets to the ninja!" Chen was saying. 

"Not if we stop her, first," Clouse murmured. "My pet hasn't been fed in a few days, Master."

Lyra's blood ran cold. Were they talking about her? I mean, I get I'm not his favourite or anything, and sure I haven't been the most respectful daughter to him recently, but that doesn't mean he has to kill me! Especially with that snake!

She hated the blue serpent. It slithered past her room from time to time, and it always looked hungry. It'd given her a major fear of snakes.

"No. I need to take her power first," Chen said. "But to be able to do that, I need everyone else's powers."

Why would he need all the other powers just to take mine?

"She's not that strong, Master. She hasn't even reached her full potential yet. She can't. All she knows how to do is sing and dance and paint. She believes that's all her Element is."

Isn't it? Lyra wondered. 

"She's still strong, even completely without powers. You saw her during Thunderblade! Ugh, why did she get the powers? I would've been a much better choice!" Chen complained.

Is he jealous? Lyra blinked. Is he seriously jealous that the power skipped his generation? It's literally just Art...I think. It's not that exciting.

"Plus, she's caught up on the Green Ninja," Chen continued. Lyra bristled. "I bet she'd do anything he told her to do."

That is not true! Lyra wanted to shout. I make my own decisions. Although he was the one who made me realize what I've been doing since the start of the tournament was wrong. But I was the one who chose to stop, not him!

"Let us end this quickly, then," Clouse suggested. "The quicker you steal everyone else's powers, the quickly she can die, and we won't have to worry about her anymore."

Chen laughed. He laughed. He laughed at the prospect of his own daughter's death. "I like that idea, Clouse."

Lyra couldn't bear to hear anything else. She quietly turned and sprinted to her room, locking the door behind her. Her breathing quickened and her heart was pounding. She pressed the amethyst in the middle of her wall and ran down the stairs to her studio. Holding back tears, she ran to the dance room and closed the door. 

Lyra sank to the hardwood floor and let the tears fall freely. She couldn't see anything, even though the light had turned on as soon as she opened the door. Her head was pounding, her heart ached, and she curled up into a tiny ball, wanting to disappear. Snot was dripping down on her second favourite hoodie, and her tears were changing the colour to a light pink, but she didn't care. She sobbed on the ground, clutching the fabric of her light blue leggings tightly. She heard her nails rip it.

Her entire body was shaking. She felt as if she was going to throw up at any moment. Her teeth were tightly clenched, and her cries were ones of pure agony. She pulled up her hood, as if that would help, and rocked herself gently, still curled up in a ball. 

I'm pathetic I'm so pathetic this is karma for telling Father about Jay and Cole and now I'm going to die to that snake and my own father laughed just thinking about it. I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I feel like I'm dying I can't breathe I CAN'T BREATHE.

Lyra's chest ached and her jaw was sore. She could tell her eyes were red and puffy and she didn't have to look in the mirror-wall to know her mascara was running.

Get yourself together, she told herself sternly. It only made her feel worse. 

She grabbed the bar on the wall, slowly heaving herself up, only to lean over and puke up the little amount of lunch she'd had. She collapsed again, forcing herself to crawl away from the disgusting puddle of vomit before she laid on the floor. I'm done. I want this to be over. Maybe I should just go feed myself to the snake.

She stayed there, her hands running through her hair and her legs shaking, for hours, unable to move.

~*~

Lyra woke up in her bed. The purple atmosphere and lavender-eucalyptus scent calmed her even more than it usually did--until she remembered what'd happened. She bit her lip, not having enough energy to repeat the panic.

Sakura was staring at her. Jalin and I found you, she signed. We cleaned you up, changed you into your favourite lavender hoodie and black leggings, and took you back here. We cleaned up the vomit, too.

Lyra closed her eyes, wanting to forget the experience. She tried to speak, but her voice immediately broke. She stuck to signing instead. Thank you.

Jalin is currently cleaning your hoodie and fixing the rips in your pants. Sakura hesitated. Do you want to talk about it?

Lyra shook her head, signing, It would put you in danger. I wouldn't ever do that to you. Now, do you think you can help me up so I can shower?

Sakura still looked hesitant, but she nodded and gently draped an arm around Lyra's shoulders, moving her hair away, and pulled her to her feet. She helped her walk to the bathroom in her room, then closed the door.

She took in the mauve marble tiles on the floor, and the royal purple walls. She flicked the violet-coloured lights on, knowing the normal ones would be too bright for her headache to handle.

Lyra then changed out of her clothes and turned the shower to the hottest setting. She watched as the steam curled around the edges of the bathtub. She climbed in, hissing in pain as it burned her skin, and grabbed her lavender-jasmine shampoo. Lyra turned the heat down a bit, then lathered her hands in the shampoo. She ran it through her scalp and washed the suds drain out, along with a bit of the paint in her hair. It didn't make her hair any less stained, though, as usual. 

She robotically grabbed her conditioner and put a heavy amount on the ends of her hair. She sighed, closed her eyes, and sat down.

She had a lot of things to consider.

~*~

(TW is over, recap of what happened will be at the end.)

Lyra had just finished applying her mascara when Skylor burst into her room. 

"There's a meeting with the ninja in Kai's room," she called, knocking on the bathroom door. "Be there in fifteen. Oh, hi, Sakura."

She exited the room as swiftly as she'd entered, giving Lyra no time to question her.

And here I was, thinking I'd have time to consider what just happened, Lyra thought. Whatever. 

She grabbed her blowdryer and turned it to the highest setting. Within ten minutes, her hair was relatively dry and slightly wavy, as it always was. Lyra knew she didn't have time to straighten it, so she decided to just quickly brush through it and hope it looked okay.

Ok, Lyra, she gave herself a pep talk as she waved good-bye to the black-haired, black-skinned Kabuki girl and walked out of the room. Her legs were unsteady for the first time in her life. This shouldn't be too difficult. You're an actor. Just pretend nothing happened. Pretend you didn't just hear your sole parent plot your murder alongside your uncle. Well, your family friend that's so close, you called him your uncle when you were younger. How hard can it be?

Before she knew it, she was knocking on Kai's door. It swung open, revealing the rest of the Elemental Masters--and Garmadon. "Sorry if I'm late." Her voice cracked slightly. 

"It's okay," Lloyd smiled, gesturing for her to come in. "We haven't been waiting for more than a minute."

Lyra walked up to him, her entire body still shaking. Skylor frowned at her, as if trying to figure out what'd happened.

"Let's start the meeting now," Garmadon suggested. He was the closest to the double doors and was staring at them as if they held the secrets to end world hunger.

"Like I said, I ain't joining your little alliance," Shade sneered from the back corner. "I'm gunning for that staff."

Lyra tried giving him a shy smile, wondering if she really was good at making friends, but the Master of Shadow simply ignored her existence.

"Hey, this isn't about an alliance," Lloyd said, moving a piece of his blonde hair away from his eyes. "This is about finding out who is the spy. No one leaves this room until we find out who is passing information to Chen."

Lyra wanted to laugh. Perfect. And here I was thinking my day couldn't get any worse. 

Everyone looked around, wondering which one of them was the traitor.

"Why are you looking at me, Greenie?" Shade hissed. "I'm not your spy."

"Perhaps I can help," Neuro suggested, putting a hand on his temple. He looked like he was concentrating for a moment. "I don't know who, but someone here isn't who they say they are."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Skylor quickly accused. "Maybe I should use your power and see inside your head."

He got too close to figuring her out, Lyra thought. She's scared.

"I'd like to see you try, power hoarder," Neuro scoffed. 

The two looked like they were about to fight. Kai ran in between them and pushed them away from each other. "This is what Chen wants. He wants us to fight. But we don't have to," he claimed. "There has to be a more civilized way around this."

"There is," Garmadon announced. "Everyone who's ever worked for Chen has the Anacondrai tattoo on their left shoulder. Find the tattoo, find the spy."

Skylor visibly gulped, glancing at Lyra. Lyra knew she was fine, as Chen had never trusted her with the tattoo, even though she'd given others the tattoo, and had the look memorized. Skylor, on the other hand, got tattooed as her birthday present when she turned 13.

"Anyone object?" Lloyd asked.

Everyone shook their heads. 

Lyra stepped forward first, showing her left shoulder. Sure enough, there wasn't anything there.

Neuro went next. "Can I go now?" he complained.

Lyra shook her head as she sat down, crossing her legs. "Not until we check everyone. Who's next?"

Her gaze met Skylor's, who was looking at her with pure panic.

Lyra felt bad for her. Yeah, she'd betrayed the ninja several times, but, then again, Lyra did, too. It definitely wasn't by choice. Their father was just...scary. And annoying. It made Lyra think of another annoying person, one who could definitely help in this situation.

Camille, Lyra mouthed when no one else was looking.

Skylor furrowed her eyebrows. What?

Lyra just shrugged, not having time to explain more. She really hoped Skylor realized what she'd been trying to say. The Master of Form's powers would allow her to easily cover up the tattoo.

The Elemental Masters lined up. One by one, their shoulders were checked. Pretty soon, Skylor and Shade were the only ones who hadn't gone yet.

"Only two left," Lyra announced, faking an easy smile. Skylor still didn't seem to realize what she'd been saying about Camille. "Skylor, you're up next."

Skylor scowled and walked up to Kai, who was checking everyone. 

"Uh, I hate to do this, but it's your turn." Kai rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I see your back, please?"

Skylor put a hand on her hip. "How could you not trust me? I came to you with the fortune cookie."

She was obviously stalling. She was so obviously stalling.

"I'm sorry, but we all have to know," Kai apologized. "Even I was checked."

Skylor slowly started to pull the edge of her shirt's collar down, but was stopped by Lyra, who'd noticed a certain Elemental Master had disappeared. "Wait, where'd Shade go?"

"He disappeared through his own shadow!" Jay gasped.

Skylor, wide-eyed, stared at Lyra with pleading eyes.

Form, Lyra mouthed.

Skylor's eyes lit up as she realized what her sister meant. Thank you. 

"There he is!" Griffen pointed to a corner. "Get him!"

Shade backed up, looking like a cornered wild animal. "I ain't your spy, and I ain't your friend either. That staff will be mine."

Lloyd shot a burst of glowing green energy at him. He simply disappeared, and the energy hit a painting of Kai that Lyra had spent quite a bit of time making. It fell onto Jay, who screamed.

"Aah! My leg! Get Kai off of me!"

"Jay!" Lyra cried. She rushed to pull the portrait off him. Meanwhile, Shade ran out the door.

"It was Shade!" Neuro cried. "He must've been the spy."

"Ahh! Ow," Jay whined, starting to stand up. 

Lloyd and Lyra let him lean on each of their shoulders. Lyra could already tell he was gonna have a pretty nasty bruise on his ankle. He didn't even seem able to walk.

"Skylor, look, I'm sorry." Kai grabbed her hand before she could storm off. 

"Don't," Skylor snapped, pulling her hand away. "And if you still think I'm the spy, watch me walk out that door."

She paused right before exiting, pulling down her hood to show a plain, tattoo-less back. Then she left.

Kai sighed, sitting down.

"What happened to our alliance?" Jay asked.

Lyra joined Kai on the floor. "What alliance?"

"At least you're still here," Lloyd muttered, sitting next to her. "Are you okay, though? You looked kind of hurt when you walked in. Like you were limping, or tired, or something."

Lyra shrugged. "I didn't get much sleep, and that usually throws my balance off."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Lloyd asked. He turned to face her, and she found herself getting lost in his entrancing eyes again. 

After a moment of staring, Lyra regained her ability to speak. "It'd take more than lack of sleep to take me down."

Something more dangerous, like two villains and a snake, would be more effective, she thought. Oh, wait...

Y'all we're halfway done this seasonnn. I haven't even published any of these chapters yet though.

Word count: 4.5k

TW Recap: Lyra finds her father and Clouse talking about how Chen wanted her power, how it'd take all the other elements combined to take her power, and how they were going to kill her because she was getting rebellious. She runs to her room, panics, and collapses. Sakura and Jalin, two Kabuki, find her and clean her up. She wakes up then showers. (If I missed anything major in this recap, please tell me). 

QOTD: What's your favourite holiday?

A: Ik it's basic but Christmas. For one, presents (both giving and receiving). For two, I get to see a lot of family that I don't normally see. For three, there's always really good food~

Please do comment and vote because it really does help with motivation and motivation=frequent updates

Please remember to drink water, eat food, and get an appropriate amount of sleep for your age<3

~Aspen