8. The Desert of Doom

                                    

                                          
Words: 1510

The desert felt like it went on forever. We had been looking for the temple for the whole night. The sun was already rising. The fear in me grew by every kilometer that we traveled. What if... we never find the temple. What if the temple was destroyed and the ninja with it. I looked around frantically trying to see anything that resembled a pyramid. "Rumi! We found it!" Pixal suddenly gasped. I turned my head and saw a HUGE lake of lava, and in the middle of it stood a pyramid. I studied the pyramid closer and saw six characters sitting on it. "Over there!" I pointed at them. Thank god. Pixal flew closer and opened the helicopter door, so the guys could jump in. The lava was rising rapidly. "We have to go, now!" I heard Lloyd yell. Pixal quickly flew away, just before the lava hit us. I sighed deeply. They were safe now. "Is everyone okay?" I asked through the comms. "Yes. Sort of..." Nya answered. "Pixal, drop us at the land Bounty. I'm transferring the coordinates to you now." Zane said. "Thank you. We would have been literally toast without you." Lloyd thanked. "We need to find the land Bounty, fast. We have no time to waste. Ninjago City is under attack." Pixal said. "What happened?" I asked. "Well..." Cole started. "We went into the pyramid, which was rigged with traps! Then we accidentally awoke a snake, empress, witch sorta thing named Aspheera! Then she used her weird staff and sucked the elemental power right out of Kai! Kai fainted and the snake lady trapped us while hot lava rose closer and closer to our asses!" Jay explained. "The serpentine witch said she was out for revenge." Zane filled in. Chills. I had goosebumps and the same strange emotion filled me up again. "Just like..." I wondered quietly out loud.
We found the Land Bounty, thanks to Zane's coordinates. We landed and helped the ninja out of their chains. Then Kai started to wake up. "Ugh... Where am I? What happened?" He groaned. "Kai!" Jay yelled and hugged him. "You're awake!" Nya celebrated. "Long story short, the serpentine witch that stole your powers is attacking Ninjago City. And we've got to stop her, fast!" I explained. Lloyd turned to look at me and was about to say something, but he was interrupted. "Ookay, but why does my face hurt so much?" Kai groaned. All the ninja looked at each other and started to mumble something like "no idea". "Here's the important thing. We're free again, and ready for round two. Aspheera has no idea what she's in for now! Let's go!" Lloyd said, jumping into the Land Bounty. The other ninja also jumped into their vehicles. Me and Pixal jumped back into the helicopter. When we got back to the monastery, all the ninja gathered their weapons. Expect Lloyd. He took me by my arm and pulled me into a corner. "Why aren't you getting ready?" I asked him. "Can you stay here, please?" He asked. What? "No! I want to help!" I answered. "But you're still recovering! Besides, you'll be here in case the serpentine attacks the monastery. Please, just this once?" He pleaded. Ugh, I can't say no to those eyes. "...Okay fine! But just this once!" I yielded. "Thank you! I'll go now, bye!" He said, kissed me on the cheek and jumped back into the Land Bounty. I sighed as I watched the ninja leave. Well I have to talk to Wu anyway. 
I knocked on Wu's door. "Come in." His voice answered. I opened the door to find Wu going through some of his scrolls. "Oh, Harumi! Are the ninja okay?" He asked. "Yes, they're fine, almost. Kai lost his powers, but they headed into the city to protect the citizens." I answered. "How did Kai lose his powers?" Wu asked. "A serpentine witch took them, I guess? I actually needed to talk to you about her." I answered. "Or not about her per say but..." I corrected. "What is it?" Wu asked, looking slightly frightened. "Well... You meditate a lot, right? And you see visions, right?" I inquired. "Yes, yes I do. Would you like to try?" He asked. "Maybe someday, but my point is... that I think... I saw a vision about this... In my dream." I explained. "What do you mean?" Wu asked. "Well, I had a dream where I walked around the monastery, but the thing is I didn't know what the monastery looked like. I had the dream right after I woke up from my coma. And in the dream, I saw a fiery snake army take over the city." I explained. "Hmm... Could it be..." Wu wondered out loud. "What? Could it be what?" I said. Wu looked at me. "The flower we used to save you, was called the 'Sisu' flower. Sisu means resilience and determination. But not much is known about this magical flower. It could have some side effects..." Wu explained. "Can we try something?" Wu asked. I nodded. Wu took out some incense and placed them on the floor, in front of a pillow. "Sit down over here." He said as he lit the incense. I sat onto the pillow. "Now cross your legs and close your eyes." He instructed. "Now feel your breathing. Focus on each breath going in and out. Let your mind wander. Let it wander to places you wouldn't normally. Open your unconscious, investigate it." Wu instructed. I breathed slowly in and out. My mind wandered from Lloyd, to our date, to Val, to her family, to... my mother. The painful memories started to surface. I had been suppressing them for so long. 
"Allow your mind to go to places that hurt you. You have to process those feelings before you are ready to enter a state of seeing." Wu explained. I tried my best to go through those hurtful memories. I started to grunt out loud, as they became too difficult. No... C'mon you can do this Rumi... No, no I can't! I opened my eyes and blew the incense out with my heavy breathing. Wu sighed. "I see you have your own demons to fight. You clearly have an ability to see, but if you want to control it, you have to face those demons. Otherwise, your demons and your gifts will control you." Wu explained. I was annoyed. At myself, at Wu, but most importantly at my memories. Wu wasn't helping, though. I stayed quiet and got up. "Thanks, Wu..." I said quietly and walked out. I suppressed those memories back into the little drawer I always kept them in. I went into the bathroom and splashed some water onto my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. My mind kept wandering to my mother. Everything she said to me. Everything she did to hurt me. "No!" I forbid myself. I had to suppress those feelings, they were too painful to handle. I decided to go watch the TV, in order to get my mind somewhere else. 
"Ugh why did we ever agree to babysit two babies!" I complained as I changed Phoenix's diaper. "Well they wanted to have a free double-date-night. And if I remember correctly, it was you, who agreed to this." Lloyd said as he fed Caspian. "How can you say no to Skylor! She looks like she hasn't slept for months! And in my defense, I didn't know Nya and Jay were going as well." I argued back. Phoenix started to cry. "No, shhh, shhh. It's okay, it's okay. Mama will be back soon. Shh, shh." I cooed Phoenix. Caspian lifted his hands on his ears. "Phoenix too woud!" He yelled. "Yeah, I know buddy. That's how small cousins work." Lloyd explained. "Ugh... I didn't ask fow hew!" Caspian answered. "Spider's in the house, sleep, deep. Spider bit the mouse, sleep, deep." I sang to Phoenix. She started to drift off to sleep. Phew. I sighed and placed her into her crib. "Now we have to be really quiet, ok Cas?" Lloyd whispered. "Ok." He whispered back. "Can I sleep between you and aunt Wumi?" He asked. Lloyd glanced at me and I nodded. "Yes you can. Now let's change into your pajamas." Lloyd answered and lifted Caspian out the high chair. Lloyd changed Caspian into his pajamas and we all climbed to bed. "Can you sing to me too, aunt Wumi?" Caspian asked me. "Of course." I chuckled. "Spider's in the house, sleep, deep. Spider bit the mouse, sleep, deep. Don't wake up or else, you'll find a spider in your mouth." I sang to Caspian. He, as well, drifted off to sleep. I raised my glance at Lloyd, who was staring at me. He had a sweet, and sleepy, smile on. I yawned. "I love you, good night." I said to him with a smile and turned off my nightlight. "I love you too, good night." Lloyd said and did the same. Then I fell asleep.