(author's note~ i dont think people read these, but i like doing it so. my fun fact of this chapter is that im allergic to sunflower seeds but i like them too much to not eat them :))

(if you enjoy this comment or vote so i know that people actually like this, it would be really helpful. thanks lovelies~)

{First Person POV}

Early that next morning, after finding myself awake and unable to go back to sleep, I decided to go outside and find a cozy spot by the ocean to meditate. I creaked open the temple doors, trying to make very little sound. As I finally shut the door back with a sigh of relief I began walking toward the sand.

"Good morning, (Y/n)."

I let out a scream as I jumped.

"Oh, it's only you. Good morning, Zane. You scared me to death," I said with a sigh. I came face to face with the silver ninja. He was also meditating, maintaining closed eyes and a body perfectly still.

"My apologies. It was unintended," he said back, not losing his focus.

"I'll just go find another place to meditate," I said after a beat of uncomfortable silence.

"You may stay here if you'd like," he offered.

"Oh... Okay. I didn't know nindroids meditated."

"I've been doing it long before I found out I was a nindroid. I suppose I just never stopped even after. May we be quiet now?" He asked politely.

"Yeah, sorry." I set a cup of tea I had made on the ground in the sand next to where I sat, the aroma filling my nose. This morning I had chosen a jasmine tea blend, another one of my favorites.

I found myself struggling to stay still as I meditated, probably attributed to the situation we were all in. I did my best to clear my head, and after what felt like forever I finally found my mind calming itself, my body following suit. Zane and I sat not too close to each other and did this for about an hour and a half before the others on the island began to wake up.

"We will not find much more peace," Zane said. "Jay is about to wake up." I laughed at this, although I'm not sure if it was intended to be a joke.

"Well thank you for allowing me into your meditation space," Zane nodded in response, and I soon found that he was right, Jay's voice was heard by everyone outside when he emerged from the temple.

It wasn't too long after that we all worked on decommissioning the ways off the island, so Chen couldn't escape no matter where he was. Jay was yelling, and some people cheered. I felt calm. This morning really helped me feel rested and ready for the day, despite continuing to get little sleep.

"No one's getting off this island!" Jay exclaimed as the Master of Nature sunk the ferry that brought us here in the first place. We had guards of Chen tied up as others led a search party looking for Chen.

"Still no sign of Chen and Clouse," Cole said as he walked up to the group I was standing in with the other ninja.

"What about Skylar?" Kai asked with anticipation. Cole shook his head sadly.

"She wasn't able to pick her family, but she was able to pick her friends. And since you're her friend, that means so are we. We'll find her," Lloyd said, trying to help Kai. this brought a small smile to her face as the other ninja crowded around him.

"He's right. With no way off the island, it'll only be a matter of time," Cole added.

"I'm proud of you five," Garmadon walked up to the group of ninjas. I began to walk away, as this was not a conversation for me.

Other elemental masters were mingling, but I honestly hadn't spent a lot of time making friends here so far, so I didn't know anyone well besides Cole and Garmadon.

I walked up to Neuro to offer help with the "prisoners" we had.

"Need a hand?" I asked.

"Yes, that would be helpful," he responded with a smile. I crafted a sword so I could stand guard with him. We small-talked for pretty much the whole time we were there, talking about the tournament and what we both wanted to go home to when this was all over. Okay, maybe not so small talk.

"When I get back I wanna tell my dad thank you for being a good teacher to me, and I wanna hug my mom again," I said to him as we got deeper into the conversation.

"I have a family I'd like to see again too," he said.

"When I get out of this, I finally wanna get my driver's license."

Neuro looked shocked. "You don't have one? Isn't your family um... wealthy?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's why I never really got it. I still rode bikes and stuff like that, but I don't have a driver's license," I confessed with amusement. Neuro laughed before beginning to hold his head abruptly.

"Neuro?" I asked with concern.

"Skylar's sending me a message," he replied quickly. "We have to tell the ninja."

"Tell them what?"

"Chen is going to use Skylar's powers to complete the spell," he said with a frightened demeanor.

"Griffin!" I called. "We need you to go tell the ninja something, and hurry!"

After Griffin explained the situation to the ninja and Sensei Garmadon, they all agreed to head out and try to save her.

"Jay, Zane, you take the mech and buggy. Cole and I will take the roto jet. Lloyd, you've got your dragon. Nya, how fast can she go?" Garmadon began barking orders.

"Fast enough," Nya responded.

"I'll go with her!" I said jumping in behind Nya. We drove off in a flash as we headed towards the other side of the island.

"We found them!" Nya shouted as a run-down neighborhood came into view. Skylar was avoiding blade copters and her father's helicopter. She was on some sort of flying saucer. Cole began firing at Chen from his jet, but Clouse jumped on board, trying to down the jet from the air.

Garmadon joined Clouse on top of the ship, before lunging forward to take both him and Clouse out of the air. Kai met up with Skylar and began to assist her through the jungle and city.

"Kai found her, and they're heading back now!" Nya said after hearing this from her earpiece.

"Yes! Finally, some good news!" I said back with a smile.

"Let's turn this baby around!"

Back at camp, Cole delivered two guards he had captured from the scene.

"Still no sign of Chen?" Karlof asked as he took the two guards by their collars.

"He escaped, but we'll find him. Did Zane ever return?" Cole asked.

"The metal man? I have not seen him," he responded.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon. He did have to foot it the rest of the way after all," I reassured him.

We were interrupted by a commotion further down the beach. Garmadon had fallen to his knees and was writhing in pain.

"Dad! What's wrong?" Lloyd asked. Cole and I ran over with the others on our heels.

"I don't know," he said back through gritted teeth.

"Your tattoo..." Lloyd said. Garmadon's Anacondrai mark began to glow a bright purple around the edges.

"No..." I whispered. "It can't be. Kai said they were safe," I said as my eyes widened.

"Something inside of me..." Sensei Garmadon grunted. "Something is happening!"

"It's the spell! It has to be. We have to get out of here!" I grabbed Cole's arm and began to yell, panicking. "All of those prisoners are about to become Anacondrai and so is Sensei! This is not good!"

"Calm down, we can figure this out!" Cole grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me to face him.

"The spell... The spell, it's completed," Garmadon confirmed as he emerged to reveal himself as a purple Anacondrai serpentine with a long tail. "If everyone with the mark of the Anacondrai is affected, that means..."

We turned to face our previously tied-up prisoners who were now advancing toward us quickly. We immediately took up arms and began to fight. I crafted two katana swords to fight with and came face to face with a newly revealed Anacondrai warrior.

I struggled against one on my own, even though he didn't have any weapons. It didn't seem like I was the only one also struggling against them, however. I tried every move I knew on it, but it guessed every single one.

"They're too strong!" Cole yelled from across the stone yard.

"They're too fast!" Griffin added.

"They're too smart!" I struggled as both of my blades were now out of my hands.

"And there are too many! Retreat!" Garmadon yelled.

"Everyone! To the palace!" Lloyd yelled. We all ran as fast as we could behind the large wooden doors, and we struggled to keep them shut. Jay gasped as we were inside.

"Snake among us!" He yelled lightning formed between his hands.

No, don't! It's my father," Lloyd told him.

"First it was four arms, then you became a dragon. Would you mind picking a body and sticking with it, please?" Jay asked with his hands on his hips.

We all stood by the door, trying our best to keep it closed. I stood by Cole as everyone put our strength up to the doors, the only thing between us and the Anacondrai. A sudden jerk of the door caused me to lose my balance. One of my feet came out from under me, but I didn't hit the ground. Cole grabbed me by the waist with one arm and stood me back up quickly.

"Thanks," I said. He nodded in response and went back to what we were doing. He put his back to the door, and swords began poking their way through slabs of wood.

"Does anyone know any knock-knock jokes? Cuz, this ain't funny anymore," he commented. As he said this the noise on the other side got quiet, and we were no longer being pushed against.

"Huh?" I asked

"Where did they go?" Said Nya.

"Don't! It could be a trick," Jay yelled as Cole peaked through the door.

"I don't think so... Listen. Helicopter blades..." I said. We all ran and climbed a ladder where we saw the Anacondrai army escaping the island. We started to get shot at, causing us all to split in different directions.

"Ugh! This, this is just priceless!" Jay yelled. "He took the roto jet and all of the blade copters!"

"We're trapped," I said.

"What have we done?" Nya asked.

"We all have families in Ninjago," Griffen said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Argh! And we had to destroy any other way off the island! Who's idea was that?!" Jay continued wigging out as he paced back and forth.

"Your father was right, Lloyd. We thought we had the upper hand. Our guard was down and... look what happened," Cole said discouraged. My chest hurt as I thought of my family.

"I'll go alone," Lloyd finally said, earning protest from Nya. "I'm the only one with an elemental dragon."

"Not anymore!" We all heard a voice yell over flapping wings. It was Zane! On his elemental ice dragon!

"Zane! None of us could do that before! You gotta tell us how you did that!" Jay demanded with a determined look on his face.

"I faced my fear," he responded simply, "when I realized it wasn't something in front of me that held me back, but something inside me, I found a deeper power," he elaborated.

"Zane's right," Kai said as he emerged on his own fire dragon. "We all have this power inside of us. But you have to see that it's not the Anacondrai we're afraid of, it's our doubt. Divided, we failed. But together, we will succeed!"

Elemental masters began jumping off the bridge we were on and unlocking their powers deeper. I looked inside of myself and felt no fear. I was NOT afraid. I had mastered this power. I only had to believe in myself to use it like I knew I could.

"Crystal!" I yelled as I jumped and focused my power within the air. I cleared my mind and focused on one thing and one thing only, and my dragon appeared. It had purple and blue tints to it, and it was made of armor like that I could conjure up. "Woah... I wish Dad could see me now," I said with a confident smirk. As I looked around, I saw a sky filled with elemental dragons.

"A battle of our past has returned, but we will rise to meet the challenge!" Garmadon encouraged.

"Chen brought us here so that only one would remain. Well, we are one," Kai added.

"Hope will never be lost!" I screamed from atop my dragon.