Hey hey fellas! TJ back again, once more breaking my promise not to put up this chapter until I finished Chapter XI XD! Ah, that's all right, I'm no closer to finishing XI than I was when I made that promise anyway XD

Thank you so much for your support on Chapter IX! So happy you guys like this story! :D

MasterofCupcakes: You'll find out that connection eventually ;) And I'm seriously glad that nightmares that cause physical pain aren't very usual (I think :/ )

LiaLia15: Thank you so much! :D I'm glad you're enjoying this story! And it is tricky for me to keep track of the kids' names too XD

The Mayor of Ninjago City: It's just her personality . . . I think. *frowns thoughtfully*

Also, thank you MoC and MNC for submitting your entries to my "username prompt" contest! (Contest details in the story titled "Titanium Jay")

Anyway, I'm just about outta time, so see y'all later, and I hope you enjoy this next installment of Darkness: A New Vengeance!

Chapter X: The Visitor

While all this activity was going on at the main training complex, someone else was creeping around the shadows of the Temple of Ten Whirlwinds. Veiled in shadow, a dark figure slipped between walls and doorways like they had no depth.

He seemed to float weightlessly above the carpeted floor of the living quarters. He went right through the wall of an apartment on the first floor, the sleeping quarters of Cole and Seliel Brookstone. The two Elemental Masters were asleep on a large black and blue bed decorated with Earth and Chemistry symbols.

The mysterious stranger glided silently over to the bed. Cole's and Seliel's faces were emotionless in their slumber. The shadow waved his hand over Cole's head, and the Master of Earth's subconscious seemed to appear out of thin air. He was not dreaming, merely sleeping, his thoughts jumbled up in a milkshake of confusion.

"Ah, worries and doubts," the shadow murmured. His voice was as smooth as an iced lake, almost Serpentine. "You fear you shall fail your wife, children, friends, and students. And if you do not follow your true instincts, that is what you shall do. Let me just straighten things out for you."

He scooped out a thought, and placed it into a dark corner of Cole's subconscious: the dream-conscious. After a little poking and prodding, the thought burst like a bubble into a dream, a nightmare.

Cole frowned in his sleep as the nightmare began. The shadow watched Cole's dream-conscious with approval. "That's much better." He balled up Cole's subconscious, and gently placed it back into the Master of Earth's head.

Then he turned his attention toward Seliel. Using the same lithe hand motions, her subconscious hovered over her head like a cloud. Her thoughts were also mixed up, floating randomly through her mind like confused storks. "You worry that you do not have the respect of you compatriots?" the shadow asked. "Mm-hm. Very true. But since you doubt even that, let me nudge you along, just a bit."

Taking a thought from her subconscious, he fiddled around with it, then placed it in Seliel's dream-conscious. It too exploded into a blast of color, into another nightmare. She suddenly began writhing in her sleep, calling out in murmured protests. The shadow nodded. "Good. Very good." He brought out a tablet from under his sleeve, and checked off two names from a list he had written.

"I shall come back to the second floor, best for last," he murmured, gently replacing Seliel's subconscious. He left the two Elemental Masters tossing and turning, calling out in their sleep in agitated voices.

The mysterious shadow floated up past the second floor, and up to the third floor, the living apartments of the Julien family.

Zane and Pixal slept in two separate beds, one decorated in white and silver, the other in purple and silver. The shadow glided up to Zane's bed, where the Master of Ice was lying in restful slumber. With some difficulty, he opened up his subconscious. "Complicated android," he muttered. Then, his irritation melted as he studied Zane's subconscious. His dream-conscious was already lit, with a peaceful dream. Dream-Zane was wandering a snowy mountainscape, with only his falcon friend for company.

Carefully scrolling past the dream and into Zane's mind, he read Zane's every thought, which, unlike his friends', were neatly organized and categorized. "Hmm, only one of these thoughts will come in handy," he murmured, picking out a thought orb, dark as night, from Zane's subconscious. "Ah, you think there's still a mystery to your life, something you don't know about yourself that you should know." A glimmer of a smile flickered across the shadow's face. "I'll satisfy your curiosity, gentle Zane."

He returned to Zane's dream, where the Master of Ice was approaching the Birchwood Forest where he had found his father's abandoned workshop. He carefully placed the thought he was holding into the dream, and stirred his finger around in the dream itself, so the new thought was completely mixed in. "Perfect," he purred as dream-Zane peeked into the tree where his father's workshop was hidden. "You'll discover hidden secrets, Zane, but not the ones you expect."

The shadow then drifted over to Pixal's bed. "Oh, I forgot," he said, a disappointed frown crossing his face, "you don't dream, do you? You're more robotic than your husband. Oh well. I guess I'll have to leave you alone. For now, anyway."

The shadow continued his progress up the floors to the Fiero living quarters, one floor above the Juliens. He passed through Kai and Skylor's bedroom door as if it were nonexistent, and glided up to the bed where the two Elemental Masters were sleeping. "Those pillows look soft," he remarked, and a small smile danced across the shadow's face. "Now, let me see. . ."

He turned first to Kai, who was in an emotionless sleep, much like Cole did before this strange shadow did his work. Kai's subconscious burned a bright orange, like a flame. "Your wife manages to keep you on the ground," the shadow muttered, "but just barely. Your thoughts are so scattered I can hardly read them."

Then, the shadow's eyes lit up with delight. "Perfect!" He scooped a thought orb up out of Kai's subconscious and stroked it gently. "You feel there is some reason to avenge your father's death. Well, you should. After all, your father sacrificed himself because you and your sister. I guess you could say it was your fault." He tut-tutted slightly. "Tsk, tsk. Naughty boy, you were. But enough of that."

He scrolled into Kai's dream-conscious, which was dark. After gently squeezing and probing the thought orb in his hand, the shadow placed the thought into Kai's dream-conscious. It exploded into a vivid nightmare, and the Master of Fire's facial expression changed from one to restful sleep to one of confusion.

"Wonderful!" The shadow clapped his hands with pleasure. "Now, on to the mysterious Skylor."

Skylor was also in a dreamless sleep. "These ones I like," the shadow murmured as he opened up the Master of Amber's subconscious. "The ones who are so tired they can't even dream. Makes less work for me. And so many delicious thoughts to choose from! Billions of combinations of nightmares and dreams can be made here!"

He sighed. "But I have my orders not to tinker with their other thoughts." He tenderly stroked a thought orb in his palm. He suddenly got a shiver down his spine. "I haven't gotten this shock in a long, long time," he muttered. "I can relate, truly relate, to this thought." He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep from falling to the emotion. "Loneliness," he murmured, "a desire to have pupils with powers like your own to teach. Feeling set apart."

He shook himself out of his trance. "You have work to do," he reminded himself. "No time to get sentimental over days gone by." But he was thoroughly shaken by the link he had to this thought.

Now part of me doesn't want to do this, he thought. Part of me doesn't want to put Skylor through the same pain that I experience every day.

"Hesitating, Dremar?" A veiled face appeared in the thought in his hand.

"Not at all, Mistress," the shadow, Dremar, replied hastily.

"Good," the Mistress purred. "I wouldn't want to take uneccessary measures if you failed in your duties."

"No, no, not at all." Dremar gulped nervously. "I will continue, Mistress."

The Mistress's face disappeared from the thought orb. Dremar heaved a sigh of relief. "She scares me," he muttered. He reluctantly placed the thought into Skylor's subconscious, where it popped into a nightmare. Skylor's sleeping face morphed into an expression of worry. Dremar hurriedly averted his eyes from the bed, and continued his course up to the top floor, where the Garmadons lived.

Dremar was growing more and more reluctant to carry out his orders. "I don't like this," he muttered, gliding up to Lloyd and Chamille's bed. "This could turn out pretty bad if we're not careful."

He opened up Lloyd's subconscious and his hand drifted through it listlessly, uninspired to cause Lloyd grief. His hand clamped around a thought orb and he studied it. "You have feelings of weakness, incapability," he murmured. Another jolt rattled up his spine. "Another link?" He frowned as he dropped the orb into Lloyd's dream-conscious.

With distaste, he closed up Lloyd's subconscious, and created a nightmare out of one of Chamille's thoughts. "Traits run in the family," he yawned, tossing the thought into her dream-conscious. "You fear failing your family and students, just like your cousin." Chamille was now rolling over in her sleep, muttering worriedly in her dreaming.

He was about to sneak out of the building, when the veiled face reappeared in the mirror. "Forgetting someone, Dremar?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"The most crucial part of my plan is on the second floor, my Shadarian friend," the Mistress said. The eyes under her veil glowed with a mysterious purple light, unknown to most.

Dremar sighed. "Why are the Walkers so crucial to your plan, Mistress?"

"Because the relationship between Jay and Nya is rather wobbly, despite their deep love for the other," the Mistress replied. "They do not know each other well enough to read the other's feelings and emotions."

Dremar arched an eyebrow. "Pardon my saying so, Mistress, but they've been married for fifteen years, and they haven't had any spats or fights between them. How can they not know each other that well?"

"You distrust my judgement, Dremar?" The Mistress's tone was dangerously soft.

"I do not distrust it, I merely wonder. I am a Shadarian DreamMaster, it is my duty to know every aspect within the human and inhuman mentality. That includes the relationship between a husband and wife. I have every right to have doubts."

The Mistress nodded begrudgingly. "Yes, I suppose you do. The only thing holding each other back is that they do not tell the other their hidden worry. Jay feels insecure with his relationship with Nya, always feeling like he has to prove something to her, that he's good enough for her. Nya, on the other hand, doubts that Jay even loves her, believing that if he truly loved her, he would display his affections more prominently."

"That makes sense in a," Dremar coughed, "convoluted way, Mistress."

"Convoluted." The Mistress gave Dremar a look. "Is that all?"

"Given more time, I could probably come up with a better way to describe that logic, Mistress."

"Speaking of time," the Mistress's face morphed into a clock, "it's almost midnight. If you don't want to be banished back to your Dreamscape Realm, I suggest you follow through on your orders and then report back to headquarters."

Dremar moaned inwardly. "As you wish, Mistress." The Mistress's face disappeared from the mirror.

Yawning, Dremar sank through the floors back the way he came, until he arrived at the second floor. Jay and Nya were both sleeping on a blue and red bed, marked with Lightning and Water symbols. Dremar glided up to the bed, and opened up both Jay and Nya's subconsciouses. "Amazing," Dremar gasped. "They are experiencing the same dream, minds interconnected. They love each other so deeply that their sleeping minds work as one."

Jay and Nya were dreaming the exact same thing. Sitting together on a grassy green hill, they gazed up into the starlit night sky, Jay's hand coming to rest on Nya's with a timid hope. "No, no, no," Dremar moaned, eyes squeezed tightly shut. "Please, Mistress, spare them. I don't want-"

"You must, Dremar," the Mistress's voice hissed in his ear. "Do it, or you'll suffer far worse than these two."

"But I can't," Dremar whimpered pitifully. "To lead them astray in a lie when in their hearts they love each other purely would be wrong, cruel. The worst thing you could do to a couple like these two would be to smash their hopes and fuel their hidden worries about the other."

"Then I shall do it myself!" Dremar watched in horror as the Mistress stepped out of the mirror hanging on the wall opposite the bed. The train of her ghostly black dress trailed behind her as she approached the bed. Her gloved hands glowed the same mysterious purple color as her eyes. "Weak Shadarian," she sneered, giving the cowering Dremar a sharp kick with the toe of her boot, "allow me to show you how a real DreamMaster does things."

She moved her hands through the dreams, swirling them into purple tinted nightmares. Dremar tried to sneak off, but the Mistress grabbed him roughly by the collar of his cloak. "Stay," she ordered. "See what I have created." Dremar was forced to watch the nightmares.

Nya suddenly jerked her hand away from Jay. "What makes you think you're good enough to even touch me?" she snapped. "You're lucky I married you, and that was only because Cole was head over heels for Seliel. I should have convinced him to marry me instead. You were the only choice, and I put up with you and your stupid joking."

Jay's eyes widened in shock. "Nya, please," he pleaded, "let me prove it to you! Anything you want me to do, I'll do it! I love you, and I would do anything for you! I know I don't deserve you, but I'll do-"

Before he could finish, Nya scoffed, "That's what all you guys say. Then later, you say you didn't really mean it. You're not good enough for me, Jay. I deserved better than you, you immature, cowardly, self-centered liar." She got up and stormed away.

"Nya, wait!" Jay tried to get up and follow her, but his feet were glued to the spot. Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Nya . . ." He buried his head in his hands. Cole and Nya's jeering laughter rang in his ears as Jay sobbed.

Nya asked timidly, "Do you love me, Jay?"

"What kind of question is that?" Jay scoffed. But it wasn't his usual playfully teasing scoff. It was a cold, scornful scoff. "Would I show it if I loved you, is that what you're getting at?"

"Well, um . . ." Nya wasn't sure how to answer him.

"Then that answers your question," Jay replied coldly. He pulled his hand away. "Since you doubt me, I suppose I should live up to your suspicion."

"I don't doubt you, Jay!" Nya protested.

Jay laughed mirthlessly. "If you didn't, you wouldn't have asked me if I loved you." He got up and started to walk away.

"Jay, wait!" Nya tried to get up and follow, but she couldn't move. "Where are you going?"

"To find someone who doesn't doubt my love for them, even if I don't show it," he called back. "You're too suspicious, Nya. If you really knew me, you would already know my answer!"

"And what is your answer?" Nya called, hope shrinking.

"You're the judge," Jay's voice echoed back to her. "According to YOUR standards, I don't love you!" His mocking laughter rang in Nya's ears as she sank to her knees, weeping.

As the subconsciouses of Jay and Nya were closed up, Dremar could see them crying in their sleep, silent tears streaming down their cheeks. The Mistress purred, "Yes, yes, Dremar. That is exactly what we want, isn't it?"

Dremar didn't have the courage to reply. "Come, my servant," the Mistress beckoned Dremar back through the mirror, "now that our time here is complete, we have more matters to attend to."

With that, the two shadows vanished into the mirror. Just as they left, an alarm buzzer went off. Jay and Nya woke up with a start. They stared at each other, noticing the other's red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Nightmares!"