The Last Telekinesis

Chapter Nine

"From childhood's hour I have not been as others were; I have not seen as others saw." -Edgar Allen Poe

I was lead inside by Master Wu. I was guided to a room full of cabinets, shelves and scrolls. There were two cushions on the floor opposite each other, there was a large incense holder in the middle of the room, the embers on the incense sticks were still growing dim.

"Please, take a seat," Master Wu said. "I have a feeling that you want to talk to me."

I took a seat and looked at Master Wu. "My mother told me to come find you. She said you could protect me. Is that true?"

Master Wu smiled. "I can try to help. Let me go make us some tea, then we can get started."

Master Wu walked out of the room, then the ninja filed in. I looked at them as they looked at me.

"Why did you run from us," the green one asked. "Are we really that terrifying?"

"It was really rude to ditch Cole like that," the girl said. "He was only trying to be nice."

"But I-" Cole was trying to say something but got interrupted.

"Zane said you passed out and got a bloody nose," Jay said. "Are you feeling okay?"

I wanted to hide. My body tensed and I scooted away from them. My hands gripped the lamp a little tighter in my lap. My discomfort must have shown. Zane and Cole looked at the other ninja.

"Guys," Cole yelled. "Can't you see she doesn't want to answer all these questions!? Think about it, her telekinesis is really powerful. She might just want to stay alive."

"But we could have protected you," the green one said.

"Lloyd, no matter how well we would have protected her, we are strangers to her." I was beginning to realise Zane had one mode. Calm. "She might have thought that we were going to steal her powers, or kill her."

The ninja all looked at me. Before anyone could say anything, Master Wu walked in with a tray with a tea kettle and eight tea cups. "Students," he said in a demanding tone. "Let the poor girl breathe. She has had a long journey. Sit. We can all hear about what happened."

I bit my lip. All of the ninja sat and looked at me. I held my lamp tighter. Kai put a hand on my shoulder.

"Everything will be okay. We just want to help. It's okay to tell us."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, the day before, we were lucky to catch a lot of fish. We were celebrating the great catch, by having a small feast for the entire village. Suddenly, these ships came. They docked and began overturning things. They kept yelling about some sort of teapot."

My heart was racing. Jay looked at the girl. They both looked a little nervous. Master Wu was stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"The teapot of Tyrahn," Master Wu murmured. "They must be looking for Nadakhan. I see you escaped with a lamp."

I looked at my lap shamefully. "Mother locked me in the basement. She was looking for others. The lamp was the only thing that wasn't destroyed."

"What happened to everyone on the island," Lloyd asked.

My eyes were beginning to fill with tears. I could feel my nose becoming blocked with snot. I had avoided that day for a little over a year. Now it was all flooding back.

"Lloyd," the girl said. "Think about it. What do you think happened?"

I took a deep breath. Master Wu handed me a cup of tea. I looked at him and wondered if my mother had made a mistake.

"What is the lamp for again," Kai asked.

"Weren't you listening," Jay squeaked. "It releases an evil djinn that wants to take over Ninjago! Then he wants the realm crystal to summon all his pirate crew and kick us all in jail!"

Everyone narrowed their eyes at Jay.

"That sounds a bit specific, Jay," Cole added.

Nya hit her forehead with her palm. "Oh my god."

"Zane and Kai didn't say anything about that on the way over," I said. "And how do you know the lamp lets out a dijinn? My father has had this lamp for years, and I've never seen anything come out of it."

Jay was breathing heavily. Everyone looked at him. He then ran out the room screaming "I said too much!" Nya quickly followed after him.

I stood up and set my father's lamp on the table. I began pacing and tried not to cry. Cole stood up and wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me close to his chest. I hadn't realised how fast my breathing was, until he rubbed my back.

"Everything's going to be fine. There's no need for panic and tears."

"I'd be panicking and crying," Kai muttered. "I mean, imagine all the horrible things she saw."

"Kai! Not the time," Lloyd said.

"You were the one who started it," Zane informed him. "You asked what happened to her village."

"Ignore them," Cole said soothingly. "We're here to protect you, no matter what the cost is. That's why I took responsibility for letting you go, I knew you'd run when you had the chance and I didn't want to hold you back. I let you go and it showed that you needed us. You came back into our lives after all."

"You let her go," Lloyd asked as he stood up. "How could you have done that?! That was so irresponsible and reckless! We needed to ask her questions, and help her then! We could have trained her to protect herself against the witch!"

"You're making her sound like a test rat or something! I let her go because I knew she wanted to be away from us! She wanted to be free from anyone chasing after her! That's what has happened to her for her entire life! Can't you see that Lloyd!?"

I burst into tears and pulled away from Cole. I grabbed my lamp and ran out of the room. I ran down the hallway and sat by the door. I collapsed and tried to stop crying. My chest hurt and my heart felt like it was being torn to shreds again.

"Thalia," I heard softly behind me.

I jumped and looked behind me. Zane was standing there, calmly holding the cup of tea. I got up shakily, slowly backing away.

Lloyd was still yelling from the meditation room. "You wasted a year of time, Cole! You didn't respect my authority!"

"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I wanted answers, not some insane adventure about djinns."

"Don't worry about that," Zane said as he gave me the tea cup. "Drink this. Crying like this will make your body weak, if you don't hydrate yourself."

I looked down at the tea, then back up at Zane. He smiled and wiped away my tears.

"Why are you being so nice?"

"Because, I know what it's like to be different. I know how scary it is being alone. However, you don't have to be alone. We're here to help you. Fighting is normal. You didn't start that. Lloyd is the youngest, yet the one destined to lead us, so sometimes we fight with him."

I nodded slowly. I took a sip of the tea and sat down again. Zane sat next to me.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Nothing came to my mind, so I shrugged. Zane nodded and put his arm around me.

"Just let me know if you change your mind."

I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder.