July 2nd, 2023

"Liv!" Cole jabbed me in the shoulder, "Focus here, okay? I thought that you were the one who wanted to advance your training, not me." Cole grumbled and I scratched the back of my head, taking my attention off the butterfly that had grabbed it. I looked over at Cole.

"I'm really sorry. It's just- It's summer!" I lifted my hands to the beautiful cobalt sky. "Isn't it beautiful, Cole?" I looked over at the Earth ninja, who raised an exasperated eyebrow at me before his face caved in to a smile. 

"Yeah. It really is pretty." He smiled and then shook his head, as if to snap out of something, "But never you mind that. Right now I'm trying to teach you a new move. Now, how much of what I said did you take in?"

I winced, "Not all of it…?"

Cole facepalmed and dragged his hand down his face, "Ughhhh. Livana Garmadon, are you serious?" He looked over at the monastery gates, a wave of… something passing over his face, "You know… we have been doing a lot of training. Wanna call it a day and just… review for now? I won't tell anyone if you won't."

I hid my smile under my hand as I pretended to cover up a yawn, "Sure, Cole."

As Cole and I headed back into the monastery, I reached up to the sky and a butterfly landed on my finger. Cole glanced over at me and he said, "You know, sometimes it's hard to remember that you're only 13 years old."

"Why is that so hard to believe?" I asked, looking over at Cole.

"Because you're so mature all the time. Sometimes it feels like everyone else is a child compared to you. Do you know what I mean?" Cole asked, raising one eyebrow as he grabbed two water bottles, and I bit back a laugh.

"Ha. Yeah, I get you." I looked over at the monastery wall and the murals that Uncle Wu had painted across the wall. Uncle Wu claimed that these are the memories of all those times that the Ninja saved Ninjago. It was history and extremely important. My heart sank a little when I realized that I wasn't featured on any of those adventures. Snap out of it, Livana. I growled to myself, You weren't here. Of course they didn't feature you yet. 

Cole caught my gaze and then he looked over at the murals too, "I see that the murals have caught your attention." I dropped my gaze and looked down at my water bottle and Cole nudged me, "Hey, what? I was just saying."

"It's honestly nothing." I smiled gently to reassure Cole. I always smiled gently when I needed someone to back up. A smile was my secret weapon to get people to go away. To hide my next move. To appear innocent when I was really planning something. It got me along in Darkling's Boarding School for Bad Girls. Unlike Darkling's Boarding School for Bad Boys, my school never got touched by Uncle Wu. I had to grow up in the same, old, environment with the same, old trauma. I was the shyest out of all the girls in that boarding school and people could pick on me easily. I was known for throwing out perfectly crafted roasts and insults to defend myself every now and then, but I was silent most of the time.

"If you say so." Cole nodded his head just as Zane approached us.

"Cole. We are needed at the Destiny's Bounty. It seems that the Mechanic has caused havoc in prison. We need to contain him." A soft whirring came from within Zane as he turned around and looked at me, "Oh, hello, Livana. I am sorry to have to take Cole from you."

I wrinkled my nose. I don't think Zane realized how weird that sounded. Next to me, Cole's cheeks flushed with rose bushes of red, "Okay, buddy. That sounded really weird. Let's go. We'll come back before dinner. Will you tell P.I.X.A.L and Master Wu for us?" 

"Sure." I agreed and Cole turned to Zane.

"Let's roll." Instead of walking or sprinting away, Zane dropped to the ground and started to try and roll. He clunked against the ground and he winced, getting up.

"That was not a comfortable mode of transportation." Zane muttered and I bit back a laugh, watching as Cole shook his head and held back laughter of his own.

"No, tin can. Just come on. I'll explain to you later what "let's roll" means." Cole and Zane finally left and I looked over at the murals. I then looked away. Staring at the murals won't change anything. I still won't be there and everything will be the same. My gaze then slid over to the murals that were featuring Dad. There was this one picture of when he was good. When he was finally free of evil for a good few years. I sat down in front of it and glanced at my father's features. Whoever painted this did it well. It had my father's pale skin, his soft gray and white hair, and his soft chestnut brown eyes. He looked so kind. He looked just like the father that had come to me after Mother picked me up from the boarding school.

I brushed a finger against his cheek and whispered, "Where are you, Dad?"

"Livana?" I jumped and whipped around, relaxing when I realized that it was P.I.X.A.L. She sat down next to me and gazed over at the murals, "What are you doing, looking at these?"

"Nothing special, Pix. Just…" I trailed off when tears started to form in my eyes. I held them back, even though they stung while they were being contained, "I was looking at my dad when he was… not missing, or evil, or-" Tears fell down my face and I scrubbed them away quickly. "It's honestly nothing."

"I am sensing sadness and longingness within you." P.I.X.A.L touched my shoulder, "Would you like to talk about it?" 

Yeah. But the words that came out of my mouth were, "No, thank you." Always bred to be tough. People don't always end up as caring as you want them to. I shook off the thought of the mantra that some of my classmates had shared once at lunch. They weren't talking to me specifically, but there was something about that mantra I couldn't shake. 

"Alright. Well, I will get going now. I think I have something to do in the mech room. But please, if you want to talk about it, know that we're all here." P.I.X.A.L patted my shoulder and I smiled at her.

"Thank you." But as soon as she left, I glanced over at the mural once more.

Stupid snake. Stupid, giant, damn snake. 

But that snake was more than just a giant, stupid, damn snake.

It was the snake that had torn my family apart. It was just one of the Overlord's minions. One of the evils… that was planning on destroying the Garmadons' life.