Chapter Ten: The Truth Comes Out...

Ryder opened and closed his mouth multiple times as I took over for Star. "Surprise?" I gave my arms a little wave, forcing a smile onto my features. Unfortunately, Ryder was still in shock over this old, new to him, detail. "Uncle Ryder? We really need to get going." I reached out one hand to grab him by the arm, already moving to get past the stream of people.

Ryder shook his head quickly, before mumbling to himself. "I knew he had multiple split-personalities...but I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Uncle Ryder! We have to go!"

…...

"Ella! There you are... I thought we told you to stay here?" Cole just about pounced on me as I finally arrived at the Ninja HQ.

I opened my mouth to explain to him the whole had to fetch my uncle thing, when Ryder stepped forward, reaching a hand out to shake. "Ryder Hawthorn, top P.I. in all of Ninjago."

Kai scoffed, rolling his eyes skyward, "So you're overly-confident..."

"Actually, he has won more rewards for his work than most of his colleagues, and he has solved all but one of the mysteries he goes out to find." I cut in, feeling as if I should defend Ryder.

"Oh..." Kai took a step back, startled to learn that his confidence was not misplaced.

Nya smiled, though I couldn't help but notice that she was rather upset over something, her voice forcibly light. "It's nice to meet you Ryder."

Zane smiled warmly, his pleasure to meeting Ryder was not forced like the others...maybe I should remind them that I can sense their emotions, his voice was monotone though. "What is this one mystery you haven't solved?"

Ryder's smile faltered, a wave of sadness nearly suffocating me. "Oh...that one. My sister was murdered. I haven't been able to find who did it though."

"Was she married? Perhaps a disagreement between her and her partner..."

"No." Ryder took a deep breath, trying his hardest to control his feelings so as not to cause me any problems, very considerate of him. "She was married, however her husband was murdered with her."

"That's horrible!" Jay blurted out from where he was standing next to Griffin.

That was when I realized that I was the last one there. Even the mailman beat me! Wait... "Why is the mailman here?"

"You, missy, are really late. All of Ninjago is going to head up to the Corridor of Elders, to help us drive Chen and his men off." Garmadon clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"Really? Then what are we waiting for?" I perked up at that,Yes! Yes! Yes!, already getting infested by Star's excitement.

"Really. Let's go." Sensei Wu gestured for everyone to head out, pointedly not looking at Garmadon.

I stifled a groan as I looked between the two brothers, and Misako. "Do I need to remind you guys that I can sense emotions? What's going on between you three? You're family! You shouldn't fight between yourselves."

Misako groaned, even as Ryder burst out laughing. She shook her head, one eyebrow shooting upwards. "It's impossible to hide things from you, isn't?"

"Well..."

"You should have seen her at her second birthday party. She asked if everyone was sad because her grandfather passed away earlier that same month." Ryder paused, shooting her a mirthful look. "The funny thing was, everyone was putting on an act of pure happiness and joy for her benefit. Just about gave my sister an heart attack when she asked that."

I gave him a withering look, even as a single question popped up in my thoughts. "What did you get me that year, Uncle Ryder?"

"Wait...uncle!?" "Oh, a little locket that had Dad's picture in it."

….

I pressed a hand against my mouth, fighting the urge to cough. The air here was thick with emotions, too thick with emotions. Really, I'm just useless when it comes to these things! Shaking my head in a poor attempt to clear it, I took a step back, only to lose my balance and nearly tipped over. Ryder, who was sticking pretty close to me probably because of the emotions everyone was polluting the air with, arms darted forward, wrapping them around me rather firmly. I nodded briefly to him, before closing my eyes and asking Star a quick question. I do better with emotions like this when we combine together.

Got that right! Come on...

We opened our eyes to see that the battle was going down hill. Moving quickly, we flipped over two Anacondrai soldiers, grabbing and flipping them as we did so. Their yelps of surprise was purely beautiful. Moving quickly, we continued battling the fake Anacondrai, when we spotted a familiar rat that we were so sure that we had lost ages ago. "Styles!"

A miniature Pythor that was riding the albino rat blinked rabidly, lifting one eyebrow up in surprise. "Styles? I thought his name was Rodrigo! And why does your voice sound like two people talking in unison?"

Ignoring him, We picked both of them up and rushed over to where Lloyd was fighting. "Lloyd! Pythor has an idea on how to win against these guys!"

Lloyd nearly fell backwards, having not realized that we had combined together, or approached him. "Ella!"

….

I stood in front of Ryder, silently watching the Ghosts of the Anacondrai Generals take Chen and his men to the Cursed Realm, a Realm that Garmadon was now a permanent resident of. One of the generals, Arcturus by the looks of things, approached us, eyeing me curiously. "Interesssting… children ssso young, and yet cursssed to share a body and mind. Perhapssss I ssshould fix that..." He pointed a ghostly finger at me...and then everything went dark...

When I came to, the first thing that I noticed was the fact that Star wasn't asking me if I was okay. Not only that, but I was below deck on one of the ninja's bed. Might have been Nya's though since it appeared to only have the one bed in it. Pushing myself up onto my elbows, I looked around the room silently, before reaching out to ask Star if she was alright. Star? You okay there? Silence met me as Star didn't respond. Now really worried, I sprang out of the bed and rushed out the door. Following Ryder's emotion scent, as well as the Ninjas, elemental masters, their allies, and one other that I didn't recognize, I made a beeline to a large room that appeared to be the ship's bridge.

Scanning the room, I gave a small nod to Ryder...only to freeze upon realizing that Star was standing next to him. "Star!?"

"Hey Ella..." Star flashed a nervous smile, her brilliant blue eyes latching onto my gray ones. "To be fair, I fainted too when Arcturus separated us."

Ryder shook his head, reaching a hand out, to pull me closer to him. "I don't know how you two got stuck like that, but I am glad that I can have both of my nieces back and not one or the other... that was just plain weird."

Star burst out laughing, before turning to face him. "Hey, Uncle Ryder? Exactly how old are we?"

Ryder hummed, sipping carefully at a water bottle that he was holding. "Hmm, you're both sixteen. Elisa had twins. If memory serves correctly, Ella was born first."

"What!? I thought I was older!" "Wait... I'm older than her? But I'm the short one!"

The End!