Finding Jay ⚡️

Chapter 23- Breaking Point

     Jay couldn't get that girl's face out of his head. Ever since the mission, she had occupied his thoughts. He was sure he had  never seen her before, but as soon as he had seen her face he had been hit with one of his worst headaches yet. It felt like his skull was being split open, a pain so searing that his vision had turned fuzzy for a moment. He had felt her presence tugging at some part of him. She felt important somehow, tied up to the blank space that was supposed to be Jay's past. But that wasn't possible, Jay was sure he would have remembered someone like her. She was beautiful, with silky black hair and stunning dark brown eyes. For a moment, being in her arms had felt so right that he had been tempted to hug her back. It was the first time Jay could remember being hugged in, well, his entire life.But that wouldn't have been right. The poor girl had gotten him confused with some other guy. She had seemed so broken when he pushed her away, a reaction Jay could not understand. Why did she act like she knew him?
     "Jay, Lord Ras wants to see you," Cinder called from Jay's door, interrupting his train of thoughts. He scrambled up from the bed and opened the door to find Cinder waiting for him. Cinder began towards the direction of Lord Ras's meditation room. Jay trailed behind him, deep in thought.
     "Don't be nervous," Cinder chided, bumping Jay's shoulder. "Lord Ras was pleased with how the mission went."
     "It's not that," Jay said softly. "Lord Ras promised to help me get my memories back. As much as I want to know my past, I'm a little scared of what I will find." Cinder looked away uncomfortably, but Jay didn't notice through his haze of anxiety.
    "I'm sure everything will be fine." Cinder assured, guilt creeping into his voice which went unnoticed by the Master of Lightning. "No matter who you used to be, you're one of us now. Nothing from your past can change that." Jay shot him a grateful look, and Cinder turned away quickly before his expression could give anything away. They made it to the meditation room, and the two of them stepped inside to find Lord Ras and Jordana already waiting.
     "Lord Ras," Jay said, him and Cinder bowing respectfully.
     "Jay, I am very pleased with the result of your mission. You have proven yourself worthy to join my ranks," Lord Ras acknowledged. "As promised, I will induct you fully into my followers through the Ceremony of the Mask as well as answer any questions you may have."
     "Thank you, my lord," Jay responded.
     "However, I am assuming you want to take advantage of my promise to help restore your memories first?" Lord Ras asked, raising an eyebrow. Jay nodded quickly, his anticipation building. He needed to know who he was.
      "Jordana will cast a simple spell used to resurface memories," Jay glanced at Jordana, who shot him a small smile from the corner. "I must warn you, Jay, this may be very painful. I do not know exactly why your memories were lost in the first place. It may have been to shield you from something," Lord Ras warned.
     "Yes Lord Ras, I've considered that. But I need to do whatever it takes to get my memory back," Jay asserted firmly.
      "Very well," Lord Ras replied. "If at any point the pain gets to be too much, just say stop and Jordana will stop the spell." Jay nodded grimly, knowing he would push through the pain anyways. Lord Ras led him to the center of the room, directly in front of Jordana. Cinder and Lord Ras backed up behind her, and Jordana began to chant. The room filled with an eerie green glow as magic began to flicker in her palms, and Jordana took a step forward.
     "Ready?" she asked.
     "Ready," Jay confirmed, and Jordana placed her glowing hands on his temples. Instantly, his eyes flickered with electricity and sparks began to fly from his fingertips. Jordana stepped back, continuing her chant from further away. She focused all her attention on his memories from the Administration. She couldn't tell exactly what he was remembering, only flickers of emotions, but his face scrunched up in pain. Jordana was careful to not go past the two years he had been prisoner. She knew Lord Ras would have a horrible punishment in store for her if she messed this up. She began with mild memories, hoping she wouldn't have to venture into more painful ones. Jay did not say anything, his eyes shut and his features were pulled into a mask of determination. She could only feel a fraction of his emotions, and even those were threatening to overwhelm her. There was so much loneliness, anger, and grief. She glanced over at Lord Ras, who gave her a significant look. She knew she had to get Jay to stop before she ran out of memories of the Administration. Jordana pushed further, digging into memories Jay's mind had tried so hard to forget. Jay began to tremble, his forehead breaking out in sweat. He fists clenched by his sides, but he didn't make a sound. Jordana could feel echoes of his pain. She could feel anger burning rising up inside of her. Even though she didn't know exactly what he was remembering, it was easy to tell that the Administration hadn't just kept Jay a prisoner. They had tortured him for months until they broke him. She wanted to find the agents who had done this to them and kill them herself. His whole body was shaking now, and Jordana wanted to cry at the look of fear and pain on his face.
     Just tell me to stop, you idiot! Jordana screamed at him in her head. But he remained stubbornly silent. One glance at Lord Ras told her she needed to push harder. She reached into his mind and brought up even more painful, horrible memories of the wretched place. He whimpered, collapsing to the ground. Jordana gasped, feeling the echoes of his memories.
     "I have to stop this!" she screamed at Lord Ras. "He'll die!"
     "No," Lord Ras growled dangerously. "He has to tell you to stop. It's just a memory, it can't kill him." Jay started crying silently, tears streaming down his face.
     "Jay," Jordana pleaded, "Stop! Please, you don't have to do this!" He didn't respond.
Jordana knew she had to end this soon. She pulled the most painful memory she could muster to the surface, sobbing as just as a fraction of the pain hit her too. Jay screamed, the fear and agony in his voice stabbing her right in the heart. She dropped down beside him, breaking the spell. He was curled into a ball, his silent sobs shaking his entire body. She had never seen him cry, not even during the most painful training sessions. She wanted to hug him, tell him everything would be all right, but she stayed frozen to the spot. She had done this to him. It was her fault.
Jay could not think. The pain had been unlike anything he could have imagined. It was like his headaches had spread all over his body, each nerve on fire. The emotions that came with the pain were worse: waves of fear, grief, loneliness, hopelessness. He wanted to forget everything. He wanted to stop breathing. He could feel the others around him, their whispered words snathed away before they reached his ears. He felt so vulnerable, so weak and afraid.
"Jay, I'm sorry," Jordana sobbed.
"Stand up," Lord Ras ordered. Jay dragged himself slowly to his feet, still trembling. He couldn't look any of them in the eye.
"Jay, you need to know the truth," Lord Ras growled. "Do you know the people you fought at the Mountain Monastery?" Jay nodded weakly, staring at the ground.
"Those were ninjas. They have abilities much like yours, and they pretend to be the saviors of Ninjago. But they are liars," he spat. "They are afraid of power like yours. You became a threat to the ninja, Jay. They were the ones who handed you over to the Administration. They were afraid of what you could do." Anger washed over Jay, remembering the girl from the monastery. Was it guilt then, that had made her act so strangely? Had they been friends when they had betrayed him? Or had they surrounded him when he was weak?
"They hand all those they deem threats over to the Administration. The ninja don't want anyone to challenge their authority or power. So they send them away to be tortured or worse."
Jay remembered the little Slytherin girl, and his hands began to shake with rage. Those ninja would pay for what they had done to all those innocent people. He would make sure of it.
"How do I stop them," he growled, voice hoarse from crying.
"You already have. Once we get three of those Medallions you brought back from the Mountain Monastery, we will be able to conjure a blood moon. Then, we'll be able to release five powerful warriors with enough strength to defeat the ninja once and for all," Lord Ras informed him, smiling in triumph.
"Then let's go find the next one," Jay snarled, anger flashing in his eyes as he prepared to stop the ninja from hurting anyone else by whatever means necessary.