Dusk approached to the very blurry day, and peaceful, soothing rain fell over Ninjago. The nightmares hid from this and went back to the Dark Island to plot, and Summer was switched with a sea dragon named Cuttlefish. Nya wandered over to where Neuro, Ash, and Skylor were looking over a scroll. "What's that?"
"It's some sort of prophecy concerning the sun and moon," Skylor said. "I can't really understand anything except for the words sun and moon, because it's in a mystic language. We're trying to figure out what it says."
"Did you say there's a prophecy? What does it say?" Cole asked as he and Zane walked over.
"We can't read it," Neuro pointed out. "It's in a mystic language."
Inside Zane's head, P.I.X.A.L. scanned the scroll. "It's in the language of the Xan, which has been a puzzle to many of the realms because no one can decode it. Not even I know what it says. Only star spirits and Xan spirits have been able to read it."
"I can't read it, and even P.I.X.A.L. says it's not decodable," Zane told them. "Only the Xan and stars can read it."
"Well then, where would we find star spirits?" Cole asked. "They're nowhere around here."
"Um, well, yes they are, Cole," Neuro retorted. "Did you forget the Twin Terrors? They brought us to the Town of Zephyrus, remember?"
"Wha—oh, yeah! I can't believe I forgot!"
"Well, we can ask them what it says, then," Skylor stated.
"And hopefully we'll be able to figure out everything, because it looks like it has a lot of metaphors and double meanings," Nya suggested. They brought it over to Nilla, who was talking to a few daisies (yes, daisies can talk to her). She looked up as she saw them. "Oh, hi guys! What's the matter?"
"We found a prophecy in Xan, and since you're a star spirit, we figures you could read it," Cole said, handing the scroll to her. She peered at it and read aloud:
"Sun, moon, and stars,
They say opposites attract.
The yang, daylight, and the yin, nightlight.
He is the sun, the yang, the dragon.
She is the moon, the yin, the phoenix.
Dragon's Blood and Phoenix Heart,
They shall drive away the dark.
Love will be their guide.
Never shall they part.
But a test will come to challenge this love.
When the arrow flies, tragedy befall them.
One will die from the deadly poison,
Dark enough to vanquish the love.
If they overcome this obstacle,
Ever faithful, loyal, and true,
The powers of sun and moon
Will be bestowed upon them.
If they succeed and pass this trial,
Nothing will be able to stop them.
"Why is this sounding like it's a love poem talking about two star-crossed lovers hanging out and one gets killed and the other promises to love them forever?" Nilla yodeled into the paper. "Why are you soothsayers so weird?"
She grabbed a pen from a pack attached to her cloth belt, writing the translation on the back of the paper. She shoved it into Zane's hands. "Take it to Lorris, she knows more about romanticity and cupidity than me."
"Uh… okay…" Skylor slowly crunched out. They found Lorris writing in a book. She looked up. "Why do you have that scroll with you? It's my personal copy of the Prophecy of Sun and Moon. Huh, must have fallen out of my pocket. And I see that Nilla's already translated it for you, right? I can recognize her handwriting on the back."
"Yeah, that's what happened," Nya said. "She can't explain it so she said to take it to you."
"Well, you guys must already know that the people in here are a boy and a girl who are like yin and yang. Their destinies are entwined, and they're meant for each other. But something known as Soul Taker will try and come between them and kill them with the Abyssalisk Arrows. That's the test that will try to destroy them and their love for each other. Everything revolves around love, guys. Don't ask. As for the part when they stay faithful and true, that basically means if they won't ever forsake the other, they'll receive special powers and they'll be inseparable. That's only a rough explanation, because my whole explanation would take up a whole hour."
"Man, this has really gotten weird," Skylor shook her head as the group left.
"Who even are the two people?" Cole asked.
"That's something that is yet to be discovered," Zane replied. "We have to be patient and watch for signs."
"Maybe it's someone in this group right now. We should make a list—what's that sound?" Nya asked.
They looked to where Cupid was whistling a mournful tune and whittling. But that wasn't the source of the sound because someone else was whistling.
Who?
Where?
"Don't look at me! I'm not doing anything!" Cupid called as they stared. "You see who has the stereo over there?" Akira was sitting on a particularly large piece of rubble outside, holding the stereo next to her. She was soaked from head to toe in the rain.
"Hey, what are you doing out here, eh? You're gonna catch hypothermia, darl," Prancer whinnied, flying out from her work area.
"Nothing. Just thinking," Akira sighed.
"Oh, really? Well then, this is worse than the Dust Bowl back in the 30's. Lemme guess—it's that boy again."
"*sigh* Yeah. He doesn't see me the way I see him."
"Are you sure about that, cowgirl?"
"Please, just leave me be. I can't think straight anymore."
"Oh, well, okay, if that's the way ya want it," Prancer shrugged, walking back inside to the kitchen area. "Kids these days. They don't know the difference between flirtin' and gettin' truly twittered."
Akira stared off into space, looking forlorn. What Neuro heard in her thoughts: I don't think I'm even worth it. Yeah, I know that Lorris told me to go out with him one someday, but he doesn't look at me like he would if it were in that case. Even when he went to rescue me. He just doesn't want anyone to fall to the Abyss.
By now Neuro knew exactly who she meant. And as he had already been sworn to secrecy on this matter, he couldn't say a word. But he thought that he'd won the bet between him and Lorris. So they weren't a match after all! 50 bucks are owed!
Lorris seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and glared daggers at him. "Not a chance you're winning this bet," she muttered under her breath, turning back to her notebook and scribbling what's in the parentheses. (In about five seconds Akira will start singing "On My Own" from Les Misérables. See? She just started. Soon, Neuro, I KNOW you're gonna lose this. It's scientifically proven by the night dragons that live in Cloud Kingdom and see into the future.)
Indeed, her prediction was right. The reason why Akira began singing it was because she was absolutely twitterpated, but she felt like Éponine from the play, who Marius rejected.
"And now I'm all alone again nowhere to turn, no one to go to
Without a home without a friend without a face to say hello to
And now the night is near
Now I can make believe he's here
Sometimes I walk alone at night
When everybody else is sleeping
I think of him and then I'm happy
With the company I'm keeping
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head
On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I walk with him 'til morning
Without him
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me
In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is me and him forever and ever
And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there's a way for us
I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers
I love him
But every day I'm learning
All my life
I've only been pretending
Without me
His world would go on turning
A world full of happiness
That I have never known
I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own."
Cupid watched from the very top of the pagoda and face-hoofed. "Seriously? Singing that song in the rain? While you don't even know if it's true or not? Oh, hey, and look! Your Cape Verde over there thought that you were talking about some blind guy or an old childhood friend, which you never had any! What is this nonsense?!" he whispered furiously, not caring if anyone heard or not.
Indeed, our friend Cape Verde aka Lloyd had heard the whole thing and had gotten the wrong meaning, thinking that she meant someone else. Well, mostly because he was practically her neighbor, and the other guy must be somewhere far away.
Lloyd was extremely hurt and angry. He walked upstairs and sat underneath a windowsill, brooding. I can't believe I even thought I'd have a chance with her. That prophecy or whatever is all wrong.
Lorris smelled the sadness wafting past her nose wither super-sniffer nose, so she jumped up and started pacing and creating a note. The first person she brought it to was Akira, outside. "Excuse me, Akira. If you would please fill out this piece of paper?" she requested, passing the paper and her pen.
1) Name the person on your mind. .
2) Do you like them? Yes_ No _
3) Write the name of the person who you are in love with. . .
4) If they were in danger of being killed by Soul Taker, with only a few seconds to spare before her arrow hits their heart, what would you do? (put a line through the one you choose)
a) Fight Soul Taker
b) Find a way to snatch them out of their prison
c) Jump in the line of fire and sacrifice your life for the beloved
d) Watch from the sidelines and grieve
e) Commit suicide (NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL)
5) Would you rather die alone or die with them at your side? . .
6) Please sign your name of the line below to verify this survey as completed.
.
"What exactly is this for?" Akira asked suspiciously. Lorris didn't shrug this time like usually did when casually answering a question. "This is an urgent quiz. It's clear that you don't see the prophecy clearly, and you're the one who's blind to this kind of twitterpation I see flying around in the air, so you should take a look at this. Hurry."
So Akira did the quiz.
1) Name the person on your mind. Lloyd Garmadon
2) Do you like them? Yes No_
3) Write the name of the person who you are in love with.
Lloyd Garmadon.
4) If they were in danger of being killed by Soul Taker, with only a few seconds to spare before her arrow hits their heart, what would you do? (put a line through the one you choose)
a. Fight Soul Taker
b. Find a way to snatch them out of their prison
c. Jump in the line of fire and sacrifice your life for the beloved
d. Watch from the sidelines and grieve
e. Commit suicide (NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL)
5) Would you rather die alone or die with them at your side?
I'd rather die with him by my side than wallow in death alone. .
6) Please sign your name of the line below to verify this survey as completed.
Mizu no Akira Hockley .
"Okay, with that out of the way, have a good night. It's about nine-thirty pm," Lorris quipped curtly as she trotted back in. Akira reluctantly followed behind.
Now, dear Lorris had another copy of the survey, and she passed it to Lloyd up stairs, not waiting for him to say anything. "Do this quiz. It's extremely urgent. Don't skip anything because this stuff could decide your fate. Well, it can't but it will make its way into forming your fate once I notify Cupid."
1) Name the person on your mind. Mizu no Akira Hockley
2) Do you like them? Yes No _
3) Write the name of the person who you are in love with. .Mizu no Akira Hockley.
4) If they were in danger of being killed by Soul Taker, with only a few seconds to spare before her arrow hits their heart, what would you do? (put a line through the one you choose)
a. Fight Soul Taker
b. Find a way to snatch them out of their prison
c. Jump in the line of fire and sacrifice your life for the beloved
d. Watch from the sidelines and grieve
e. Commit suicide (NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL)
5) Would you rather die alone or die with them at your side? I'd be with her forever, even if she doesn't love me..
f. Please sign your name of the line below to verify this survey as completed.
Lloyd M Garmadon .
"Thank you very much, I will be going now," Lorris meowed as she got the paper back. "Get ready for an onslaught of nightmares attacking any minute. You must have constant vigilance. What did I just say? Never mind. Good night to all!"
Most of the Elemental Masters went to bed in a large room, with Skylor, Ash, Gravis, Karlof, Tox, Camille, Kai, and Jay staying up to explore around the place. Lorris and Nilla stayed up talking to each other.
In the meantime, Cole was wandering around the Temple, noting how some parts had changed and some places stayed the same. The library was weirdest. Every scroll had somehow managed to stay preserved for over who-knows-how-many years. And lots of them were written in Xan.
"…and then he's like, 'Hey, look! It's a butterfly!' and I was like, 'Dude, there are butterflies everywhere.' I mean, like, seriously, it was sort of funny how it all worked out, but still," voices said from the hall. Tox and Camille sauntered into the library, chatting away. They briefly greeted Cole and went to a shelf of scrolls. Tox snorted. "Seriously, this is a bunch of scribble-scrabble."
"Who even needs this stuff, anyway?" Camille drawled, opening one and skimming her eyes over it. She got ready to toss it, and that's when Cole noticed the tiny gleam coming from a part of it.
"Wait! Camille! Don't throw it yet!" he yelled, racing over and opening the scroll to its full length. It spanned all the way to the door, and when it completely unraveled, there were two necklaces at the end. One was silver, with a phoenix on it. The other was gold with a lung dragon on it. (A lung dragon, of course, has a long body and doesn't use wings to fly.)
"Ooh, shiny jewelry," Tox mumbled, picking up both of them.
"Why a phoenix and a dragon, anyway?" Camille inquired.
"Dunno. Maybe some weirdo just liked those animals," Tox replied. Cole remained silent and peered closely at the two images. There was something familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The dragon had a tiny red ruby over where its heart would be. It looked like blood. The phoenix had a small, bright green emerald heart on its chest. Argh, come on, Cole! You know there's something!
Then it clicked. The prophecy. Dragon's Blood and Phoenix Heart… That's it! Cole quickly grabbed the necklaces form Tox, yelling, "Sorry, I need to take these for a quick inspection!" and he raced around the Airjitzu Temple until he found the NSG huddled together in a circle on the top floor, sitting at a round table. They looked up.
"Hi, Cole! What do you need?" Vixen asked. He dropped the necklaces on the table. "I think these have something to do with the prophecy."
"The prophecy…" Blitzen mused. "Heyyyyyyyy, hang on. Do you mean the Prophecy of Sun and Moon?"
"Uh, yeah, the Terrors explained it to Neuro, Skylor, Ash, Nya, Zane, and me," Cole stammered.
"Corpus bones. I told her not to let her scroll out of her sight," Vixen trilled. "Well, never mind. Let's take a look at this."
"I think it's Dragon's Blood and Phoenix Heart," Cole said.
"You're right, it is," Hyperfang told him. "These two are special amulets created extremely carefully by the Xan stars, or the beings that have both Xan and star powers. This tiny ruby, obviously, is the blood that will be shed by the dragon for the phoenix. This phoenix will then give her emerald heart to the dragon, because he has won her. I say the phoenix is a she because the yin is the female element and symbolized by the phoenix while the yang is the male element and symbolized by the dragon."
"What were the code names we had for them again?" Rudolph asked.
"Dragonyx and Phoenicia," Cupid replied. (Phoenicia = foo-NEE-sha.) "In reality, those are their honorary titles, even though the word Phoenicia was the name of a place in one of the other realms."
"I like to think of it as Slytherin and Gryffindor from Harry Potter," Prancer nickered. "Ya see? One's Slytherin colors, silver n' green, and the other's Gryffindor colors, red n' gold. It's those two rival houses, suddenly hooked together."
"Well, I'm trying to figure out who to give these to," Cole said. "I was hoping you guys knew who they were."
They all blinked twice in sync, looked at each other in sync, and nodded three times in sync.
"We usually don't spare ANY of this info to ANYONE, but since we trust you not to spill a single thing unlike your friends, you are to swear never to tell anyone until all of this has passed. Do you understand, soldier?" Blitzen snarled. Cole nodded determinedly, saying "Yes" without any wavering.
"Good. Well, Lloyd's actually gonna be Dragonyx, and Akira's gonna be Phoenicia. You know how we found the name Mizu no Akira for her? Well, we know—and so do Morro and the Terrors—that her real name is actually Phoenix Hope Akira."
"So that's why Gale called her Aunt Phoenix!" Cole gasped.
"Exactly. Well, we don't know exactly what happens next, but based on the nightmare that was revealed in the Town of Zephyrus, Lloyd's gonna be the one who dies by the Abyssalisk Arrow by sacrificing his life, and if they do something about the loyalty part of the prophecy, he'll be revived and they will receive the powers of the sun and moon from the Xan."
"Also, Lorris told us that all the ninja will raise families," Prancer added. "This means that someday, all of you will get married to someone, so about your future family…" she broke off laughing.
"I did not need that spoiler," Cole remarked, frowning.
"Yeah, anyway," Dancer snorted, "don't give the amulets to them. They're gonna find those themselves when the time comes. And keep your mouth zipped about this."
"Okay."
He walked downstairs, bumping into a frantic Jay. "OW! Jay, what was that for?!"
"Sorry, Cole! But something bad happened downstairs and somehow someone impaled themselves on a stake!" Jay wailed.
"WHAT?!"
"Don't worry, Gravis didn't hit any vital organs, it only pierced his right shoulder. But he can't get it out, and we need a medic ASAP! I don't know anyone who can help!"
"Did someone say that someone was impaled on a stake?!" Blitzen shrieked, flying up to them with a doctor's coat on and a medical kit. "Get me to him right away!"
Along the way, Jay wheezed, "You're a medic?"
"Yeah, I am. Do you not see how I look right now? And why do you think I always have a stethoscope with me?" Blitzen scoffed, pointing to the stethoscope hung around her neck.
"Yeah, I was wondering about that thong," Cole commented. They landed at the scene of the crime. Gravis was being supported by Karlof on his left, the pointed stake on his right shoulder smeared in blood. Blitzen quickly flew up and carefully inspected his injured arm. "Oh, great Hippocrates. THIS is why I got a PhD and a medical degree. Gravis, your collarbone is shattered, and the socket connecting to your arm has broken in two. That stake has gone all the way through, and around five inches are jutting out of your back. I am gonna have to do some delicate surgery here."
"Do you even know how to perform surgery?" Skylor asked. Blitzen glared. "Ahem! Did you not hear me mention my medical degree? Don't question me." She hoisted Gravis up, taking him from Karlof, and marched into an empty room with Donner, Hyperfang and Rudolph.
"How many doctoral careers does she have?" Kai asked. Nilla thought for a moment. "Well, she's a surgeon in all different kinds of surgery like heart surgery and brain surgery, she's a pediatrician, obstetrician, alchemist, microbiologist, dentist, ENT specialist, geologist, biologist, physicist, inventor, etcetera, meaning she has a lot of things she specializes in. And they're all in the fields of science or the doctoral field."
A grunt of pain was heard through the door. Ash peeked in. "She just removed the stake, now she's giving him the anesthesia. Hyperfang just coughed up a bed and X-ray."
"Yikes, that sounds bad," Cole winced.
"At least it's not as bad as shattering ten ribs in battle," Lorris remarked. "I'm glad that didn't happen."
"Why'd you say shattering ten ribs?" Shade inquired.
"Because it happened to me once when I took on a few skellions in an ambush. They broke six ribs on my right and four on my left. Plus, they dislocated my shoulder, tore a hole in my left hind leg, sprained all four paws, and pulled a bone through the skin. Blitzen had to change the gauze every hour."
"Okay, don't give us anymore details, please! You're making me lose my lunch!" Kai choked. Lorris shrugged. "Sorry, just glad none of your suffered my troubles."
"Great Queen Greatness! It cut into five arteries!" Blitzen squealed in a muffled voice through the door. "I need an emergency blood bank!"
"What's his blood type?" Hyperfang asked.
(Blood type is random) "Type A! Get me five pints! And find a container of white blood cells and platelets, too, to help fight off infection!"
"*HAAAACK* There you go!"
"And get me a thread and needles, because parts of the skin need stitches!"
"TONE DOWN! Now those comments are hurtin' mah ears," Prancer whinnied.
Everyone agreed. Well, mostly everyone. Lorris strutted into the operation room to hear more of the talk.
"Get a mask if you want to stay in here, Lorr. We don't want the patient to get infected," Dasher stated.
Long hours passed. Everyone outside the room fell asleep. Finally, at about 12:30 am, the surgery was finished and Gravis patched up. He woke up flinching. "Ow—did—you get—"
"Don't worry, your arm's fine. Let's get you onto a mat, and you can rest there," Hyperfang reassured him. The quickly moved him to the large room and placed him down on a mat.
Let's take a break and go into what the nightmares were doing. Instead of their usual chaos and gladiator fights, they directed their attention on forming different troops to be strategically placed around the Golden Peaks for the next day. Bloodthirst had informed the preemimares of Soul Taker's plan, and all of them sharpened their teeth for the harvest of new blood.
Soul Taker was in her upright form, her eyes sweeping over her army. Now all the plans would settle. The Nightmares would be attacking in dreams tonight, reminding the enemy of their greatest fears and hindering them useless, wary to attack. In the meantime, she herself would be out, upgrading her arrows with a poison even more deadly than the Abyssalisk venom. It would come from the depths of the heart of evil, the hearts of the dragons of darkness, the nightmare "evolutions," the Abyssal Legions.
This poison was from her.
Watch out, ninja. After I destroy this realm, like I have done to Djinjago and several others, this universe will bow to my control. You cannot stop me. Not even the prophecy will work anymore.
WHAT WITH THE WIERDNESS!
This is Lorris the Terror, reporting that my stories are eternally weird.