𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕛𝕚𝕥𝕫𝕦 ~ L. Garmadon

6: Eavesdropping

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."