Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago, or any of the characters therein.
A/N: This oneshot here is my first Ninjago fic. I have found myself fascinated by Garmadon and the saga of his backstory...so here is my take on the night of his downfall...and what he left behind.
In a torrential storm, an anchor can only hold for so long. The rope could fray, or the anchor's grip on the ocean floor may loosen in the sea's rage, sending the ship adrift and at the mercy of the cruel waves. Misako felt this tether gradually tearing day by day, her beloved husband losing his grip to the evil venom which had slowly been poisoning his heart. She had hoped her love would be enough to keep it at bay, then hoped their newborn son would be enough…
The deafening boom of thunder startled her awake, the lingering ozone from powerful lightning penetrating through the very air around her. A strange sense of foreboding filled Misako, causing her to shiver despite the summer heat.
Lloyd had been roused from his slumber by the sudden noise as well, wailing in fright from his crib across the room. His mother could see his tiny fisted hands ripping free of his swaddling cloths and wave frantically in the air front of himself. She instinctively got out of bed and made her way over to her son, lifting him from where he lay and clutching him protectively to her chest. His screams progressively diminished in a comforted decrescendo at the contact with his mother and her tender, but nervous humming.
Something was horribly wrong, she just knew it. The silence surrounding her was thick and dangerous, a suffocating blanket wrapping itself around her being. Garmadon's absence from their bed was also an ill omen weighing upon her. Tears of apprehension began to prick uncomfortably at the corners of her eyes, Lloyd's now rhythmic breathing of infant slumber doing nothing to calm her nerves.
She left her room cautiously, checking the weapon room first, where the Four Golden Weapons were on display. Where the weapons were supposed to hang were tell tale spots of emptiness. Did Garmadon...take them?
More and more recently, in his growing moments of evil madness, Garmadon would remark to his wife that the immense power of the Four Weapons was being wasted with them simply hanging on a wall and that his father had been a fool to not allow them to be used to their full potential. Garmadon ranted that he had such plans for them...that he could reshape the whole world in his own image… The moments would pass with Misako's gentle prodding, but it was getting increasingly difficult to reach him. Garmadon was growing progressively distant, accusing her - along with the rest of the world - of not understanding him; that with the Four Weapons he could make the world understand.
She took off toward the front courtyard, her urgency multiplying with every hurried step. Pausing at the ornate front doors, she took a deep, shaky breath. Misako had the uneasy feeling that whatever lay on the other side of the doors meant that her life was going to change forever. Her son slept on, blissfully unaware of the tumult of thoughts racing through his mother's mind.
Careful to support Lloyd with one hand, she used the other to tentatively push the door open. She stepped through into the front courtyard. In the dark, it was hard for her to see, but she could make out the form of a man hunched on the ground. She tried to push down the sliver of hope in her heart that Garmadon was the one before her...that he was alright. But as her eyes adjusted to the blackness around her, no hope could break through the sorrow which welled up, threatening to spill over.
She knew that the day she had feared the most had come. The Golden Weapons lay scattered upon the ground, rocks and other debris littering the courtyard and leaving it in a nightmarish disarray. Clearly a battle had taken place, and where there should have been two men, there was only one.
"Garmadon?" she questioned unsurely, carefully making her way over to the lone figure kneeling on the ground. She wrapped her arms subconsciously around her baby, filled with a mother's intuitive need to protect her offspring from the unknown.
As she drew closer, she gasped in alarm when she noticed that a gaping cliff was now where part of the courtyard should have been. What had happened here?
"Misako…" the man spoke. It was not Garmadon. "I - I tried...but he fell…"
Her eyes widened as the grief now became more for her to handle. The tears which she had been trying to contain began to fall, painting twin rivers down her cheeks. She came to stand next to him, staring into the fathomless depths in front of her. It was darker than the night around her. Dark...and evil.
"Wu…" she whispered, having to will herself to speak though the tears and shuddering breaths.
Her breathy voice caught his attention and he broke his stare from the chasm before him. His gaze then locked with hers, his blue eyes mirrors of loss and self-blame, rimmed by a wreath of unshed tears.
"He - I -" Wu stammered, still in shock.
"Did he...did it finally happen?" Misako's voice was still soft, but her words were coated in pain.
Wu nodded mutely and swallowed heavily, his throat feeling dry and parched. He turned his scrutiny back to the newly formed cliff, explaining to his sister-in-law all the had transpired from Garmadon's attempting to take the weapons to his being struck by the protective lightning from Wu's kimono before plummeting down the cliff. Actually hearing what she had reluctantly expected made it all the more real for Misako. Her tears fell in full force, the sobs wracking her petite form. The infant, sensing his mother's distress, began to wriggle and fuss in her arms.
Wu rose to his feet and gathered Misako into a gentle embrace. She buried her face into his kimono, her cries muffled by the silken shield.
"I - I'm so sorry," he choked above his own tears, his voice cracking through the emotion. "Misako, I - I tried to stop him. I never meant -"
"I know," she murmured into the folds of Wu's kimono. "His ambition...the venom...my husband is gone…"
Her words were jumbled and disjointed, but Wu knew what she meant. What more could be said? He raised a trembling hand and ran it soothingly over her brown tresses as the other held onto her like a lifeline. The silence took over, and won the night.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Sleep had not come easily to Misako after she had returned to her room in the monastery. It was as if Lloyd knew something was amiss and had continued to whimper for some time before finally settling. He had refused to be put down, and thus Misako had put him in his baby wrap and managed a few fitful nods of sleep in her rocking chair.
She was awake for the dawn, the sun bleeding a mournful red over the mountain peaks and staining her skin in the dreadful hue. What normally was a sight of inspiring beauty held nothing but ugly uncertainty for the lone woman.
In a daze she stood, causing the baby to stir. Misako turned her attention to her boy, regarding her son's tiny face around the folds of the wrap. Her heart clenched at how much he resembled his father.
Lloyd awoke silently, his striking green eyes attempting to focus on her hazel orbs with the lack of control which newborns possess. Newborns were often born with blue eyes, which change color as they age. She remembered well Garmadon commenting at how amazing their son was to be born with green eyes…
Green eyes…
Wu's words from the previous night echoed in her mind. His anguished explanation of his elder brother's skin turning black as the lightning struck…
Misako refused to believe her husband had died in the fall. Garmadon would be back. With skin as black as night and fully corrupted by the Great Devourer's evil.
A dark lord.
She gasped as the puzzle pieces slowly fell together, forming a truth even more dreadful than the loss of her husband. At least he was alive...but this…
Drawing into a memory from years ago, she drew her son close to her heart, as in an attempt to shelter him from the inevitable.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
" A green ninja?"
The pale flicker of candlelight played across the scroll set on the table before Misako and her companion. The scroll was ancient, and fraying slightly along its curled edges, but the painted pictures and elegant calligraphy appeared to be as vivid as the day the First Spinjitzu Master had penned them centuries, perhaps even thousands of years prior.
"Y-yes," the young man beside her stammered nervously. "It - it's a prophecy. It says that one ninja will rise above the others and become the green ninja, the ninja destined to defeat the dark lord."
"Fascinating," Misako breathed in awe. "Wu, this is amazing!"
"Yes, you are -" Wu caught himself and blushed furiously. Clearing his throat he continued, "I mean - yes, it is. My father doesn't like me looking at the scrolls much. He says Garmadon and I aren't old enough yet to understand…"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Misako shook herself from the memory. Lloyd's eyes were still taking in her every feature, as if committing them to memory. He seemed quite observant for a newborn, the emerald green orbs hiding secrets even his archaeologist of a mother couldn't quite understand. But if she was right…
Lloyd - her son - the destined green ninja? Everything seemed to fit, and it only made sense.
"Oh, my boy," she cooed softly to him, lifting a hand to his head of downey blonde hair. "There must be a way - there has to be - to stop this. I have to prevent it."
Lloyd squirmed in the confining fabric that cocooned him.
"I am your mother. I am Mrs. Misako Garmadon," she continued with conviction. "I love you, and I love your father. I will save you both, and we will be a family again, no matter how long it takes."
She was not aware if she would be able to find a way to cheat destiny, but she had to try. Her mind made up, she hastily gathered what belongings she needed. Lloyd still strapped securely to her chest, she silently made her way through the halls of the monastery. She paused momentarily at the door to Wu's room.
"I'm sorry, Wu," she apologized even though he could not hear her. "I couldn't save him either. But I will."
She knew a goodbye would be awkward and painful, and raise too many questions. For now, her realization had to remain a secret. The last leg of the hall seemed to stretch on for longer than she wanted before she finally reached the front doors. Opening them with renewed purpose, she noiselessly shut them behind herself and never looked back.
The shadows of the early morning seemed to murmur around her feet as she shielded Lloyd from the fierce winds of the mountain's height. She began to make her way down the countless steps.
"Goodbye, my husband," she spoke in a distressed whisper.
As she descended the mountain, the shadows appeared to shift sorrowfully around her. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could have sworn she heard one of them call softly to her...barely a gruff whisp of a voice saying a forlorn goodbye in response.
A/N: I was trying to figure out when Misako drops Lloyd off at Darkly's. In "The Stone Army" he says he doesn't remember his mother, but in "Double Trouble" he remembers when he arrived, so I figure he may have been 3 or 4 when she dropped him off? At that age, some things are remembered and a lot are forgotten. Sounds good in my mind at least.