Emeralds and Roses

Old Friends Turned Foe

The next morning we all came down to find a big commotion around the tournament board. Someone, I know exactly who, had switched the names and now Cole and Jay were going to have to fight each other.
This naturally had Cole and Jay bickering amongst themselves once again, I nudged Lloyd slightly and whispered "what's up with them? They never used to fight like this" Lloyd was about to explain when Claus walked up to the group and asked "Is there a problem, ninja?"
"you cheated! You changed the brackets."
"oopsie"
With that Claus and one of the guards walked off laughing and Garmadon joined the group once again
"what do we do they can't fight each other. We came here to become whole, not fall further apart."
"you can't undo what's been done. My only advice is to be at peace with it." ever the wise master this man was but I think he's lacking a bit today, because those words were the opposite of what we needed to hear.

"peace? One of us has to lose!" Jay was the first to object and so he continued to mouth off as Lloyd pulled me aside.
"They used to be best friends I don't understand" I was honestly so lost.
"there was an incident, involving Nya"
That's when a light bulb went off in my head
"Nya, Kai's sister?"
"yeah... She and Jay had a thing going but then she fell for Cole and couldn't choose between the two but Jay blames Cole and they haven't been on good terms since"
I lifted a brow at Lloyd not impressed whatsoever at the story
"you mean to tell me, their years-long friendship crumbled because of a GIRL?!"

This is ridiculous and I was going to make sure they knew how ridiculous it was. Grabbing Cole by the ear I dragged him off throwing the excuse 'sibling talk' over my shoulder. I didn't bother responding to his protests or the calls of confusion from his other teammates all I saw was red and I was going to beat him over the head with my rage if he didn't man up and get over this petty feud.
"you both are idiots you know that?" I asked, my face visibly showed my frustration and Cole merely held onto his ear like I had tried to rip it off
"what did I do now?" he whined
"This little fight between you and Jay ends here do you understand me? You're holding a grudge against him over a GIRL"
His eyes narrowed and he tried to defend himself but Id already walked off telling him to "man up and make peace" before plastering a smile on my face and joining the group.

I came back to Lloyd reassuring Jay that the fight wasn't until tonight so they still had time to find Zane and stop Chen.
"I think I know just the person who can help. And I think he already knows"
That's how we ended up going to Neuro for help, he was meditating on a rock in the courtyard when we all walked up to him Lloyd being the one brave enough to address him. The man is freaky I'll admit, imagine having to speak to someone who can simultaneously read your mind, your thoughts, your memories, and your innermost desires (I didn't like that part). They could know everything about you in mere seconds.

"you think I can get close to Chen to read his mind, so you can find your robotic friend and not have to fight."
"don't forget-"
"you still need to know what Chen's up to because he's hiding something."
As I said, freaky
"Why thank you Y/N I take that as a compliment, especially from someone like you. Tell me does your brother know what the markings on your back mean? Have you told him yet? I bet you also haven't told him about your little crush on-" he turned to face me and I instantly broke out in hives. Lloyd noticed me shaking a little and stepped in front of me like a protective shield " Stick to the point Neuro" Lloyd warned eyes flashing red to emphasize his words.

He wasn't fucking around and Neuro knows that but he couldn't help but feel curious at the man's words.
"We wanted you to help Neuro not make things worse"
"but why would I help? You're competition. The sooner you're out, the better for me."
"If you want what's best for you, just look into my head and you'll see what this tournament is all about."

And Neuro did that, he saw Karloff's element get stolen.
"it's only a matter of time before Chen steals your power too. So are you in?" Neuro groaned but still agreed.
I was standing outside of Cole's little training room with Lloyd watching him go absolutely berserk on a punching bag with a picture of Jay's face taped to it.

Neuro was too late and they signaled to Lloyd that the fight would be continuing
"you don't have to say it, it was inevitable we were gonna have to face each other. May as well be Jay. This fights been a long time coming." I reached between the bars and my brother grabbed my hand. I'd only just gotten him back I couldn't bare the thought of losing him again. There was so much we still had to talk about, so much we still had to do.
"Well, I'm not at peace with this, but that doesn't mean you still can't find peace with each other. We don't have control when we fight, but we do have control how we fight. Jay's not your enemy, Chen is. Remember that."
With that, Lloyd left and I looked back at my brother. "please try not to die" I joked and he smiled back "I can't make any promises" he laughed back as I backed away to join the others up on the pavilion.