what happened to all my guest reviewers. where did they go. more than half of the reviews I got used to be guest ones. what happened.

Review replies:

RandomDragon: Yeah, true. Though, if the FSM knew the future, wouldn't he know that his son wouldn't find it for years and years? And could have given him some clue? Heck, why did he give him the clue at all? Wu doesn't need the Realm Crystal. All it's done is cause trouble. And yeah, airjitzu is a far better ninja skill, but there's no need to be stealthy when getting into the Blind Man's Eye, which was the reason it was needed(?).

Draconis: Ayy! Hi! Trust me, there's going to be plenty more character development in the next few chapters.

Entity: College. I'm taking an english class while im still in high school so I can get my degree sooner. xd We'll... we'll see how it happens. At this point, I don't know. I'm just letting my characters take the wheel.

Spitfire: There's quite a bit of mutual softening-up going on.

Kat: Yay, another live reader! I feel you. I'm really bad at reviewing myself haha.

NinjagoMLP: At this point? The tomb scene will be VERY different. If Morro ever gets there. Trust me, though, there will be plenty of betrayal and angst.

Ebony: Lol yeah, I know why LEGO put airjitzu in. To add a new element. And yeah, my personal hc is that using elemental powers takes mental energy, while Airjitzu is a martial arts move and therefore requires physical energy. And yeah. His DotD plans are pretty much ruined now lol. If I... ACTUALLY got sent to ninjago, I would never work up the nerve to talk to anyone, much less the ninja, and would eventually starve to death in a gutter.

Kitkat: Maybe ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

"Take my hand!"

"Why?! So you can take the Realm Crystal, and use it to find your own prize pupil?!"

"You are all my prized pupils! But none of us can do this alone! You're strong, Morro, but it takes others to make us stronger. Even me! Take my hand, so we can be stronger together!"

"…"

"Please, Morro!"

"…you can only save those who want to be saved.

Goodbye, Sensei."

Lydia jerked up, covering her mouth to keep from gasping. She blinked in the darkness, but it didn't help her to see any better. It was pitch black.

"Well." She muttered under her breath. "That was a rather unfriendly reminder that Morro is going to die."

"Huh?" Lloyd mumbled from next to her, half-asleep.

"Nothing. Never mind." She patted his shoulder, and he mumbled something incoherent before going back to sleep. Standing up and bracing her hand on the wall, Lydia limped out of the room. She needed some fresh air.

As she was trying to find her way out to the cliff's edge, she stopped at the sight of Morro sitting on the floor in their sort of meeting room, examining the scroll of Airjitzu in the light of his own glow. He looked deep in thought, so she quietly limped past. However, just as she thought she had moved out of sight, he called,

"Who's there?" She stopped, backing up a foot.

"Just me." She called back.

"Lydia?" He stood up. "What are you doing up?"

"I woke up from a… weird dream. And I'm hungry." She eyed the table in the center of the room, seeing something that might possibly be food in the darkness.

"Ah." He stepped closer to the table and picked something up, tossing it to her. She somehow caught it.

"What's this?" She asked, squinting at it.

"Dried meat."

"Figures." She limped into the meeting room and sat down against the wall, stretching out her injured leg before starting to try to open the package. Morro took a few steps closer, frowning at her ankle.

"You really shouldn't be walking around. How does your foot feel?"

"Eh. A little better, I think." She got the package open and pulled out what looked and smelled like beef jerky. Hmm.

"Here." Morro sat down in front of her and reached towards her ankle, stopping when she drew her foot back warily. "I got a real bandage for your ankle." He held up a roll of cloth. "Can I trade it for your current one so I can have my sash back?" He smirked, but not in a malicious way, and she nodded, pondering his apparent concern for her as he gently unwrapped the green fabric from her ankle and set it aside. "It looks even more swollen than it did." He said with a sigh. Lydia squinted at her ankle in the darkness, but she couldn't tell.

"I'll have to take your word for it. I can barely see." She said with a shrug.

"Well, it is. You really should stay off it for a few days." She wrinkled her nose.

"I don't wanna have to ask someone to carry me any time I wanna go somewhere."

"Well… maybe I can get you some crutches." Morro started wrapping her ankle with the wider, courser bandage. She watched quietly, observing that he was careful not to pull too tight. He'd done this before. Maybe Sensei taught him? Once he was finished, he looked up at her. "How does that feel?"

"Snug, but not too tight. Thanks." She took a bite of the meat. "Wow. That's tough." She mumbled with her mouth full. Morro chuckled.

"Well, as long as you're up… what does the next clue mean?" She swallowed before answering.

"The sword in the cloud? That means…" She trailed off.

"What? Don't you remember?" Morro frowned.

"I do, I just…" She stared at the package in her hand, her dream coming back to her. "…no."

"No what?"

"I can't tell you what it means. I won't."

"What? Why not?"

"Because I can't let you die."

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm already dead."

"If you continue along this path, you die!" She snapped. "And I don't mean go-back-to-the-Cursed-Realm-and-try-again die. I mean you're be gone! Forever!"

"What do- how?"

"You succeed in summoning the Preeminent. Then Nya kills the Preeminent, throws her into the ocean. Your master drags you down with her. The Cursed Realm dies, and you die with it. But I can't let you die!" She struggled to her feet, leaning against the wall. "I've watched you die twice already! I'm not letting it happen again!"

"Shut up!" Morro snapped, shooting to his feet as well. "I'm not just gonna give up! Anyway, how do I know you're not just lying to me?!" She opened her mouth to reply, but he went on. "Even if I did, what would I do? Give myself up to the ninja? Turn myself in for my crimes?!"

"Why not? They forgave Lloyd and took him in, why not you?"

"Because they know what I'm going to do, thanks to you, if what I've already done isn't bad enough!" He shot back. "Why do you care, anyway?! If you are telling the truth, why do you care about the man who kidnapped you and tried to hurt your friends?!"

"Because I loved you!" She snapped. He froze.

"Wait. What?"

"I loved you." She repeated, crossing her arms. "I don't know if I still do. But I did when I watched you die the second time."

"Wh- why?"

"To be honest, I don't know. It's not like you really deserve it. I guess I started feeling sorry for you, then that turned to affection, and that turned into love."

"Were we… close?"

"No. I'd never met you."

"You fell in love with someone you'd never met?"

"It happens more than you'd think." Morro blew out a frustrated breath.

"Alright. So, assuming you're not lying to me… if you loved me, why were you such a jerk to me when I was your prisoner?"

"You were a jerk to me, so I retaliated with being mocking and annoying."

"You kidnapped me."

"To foil your evil plot!"

"Still. You can't blame me for being disagreeable."

"I suppose not. And you can't blame me for gloating. You would have done the same thing."

"Yeah, but you claim to have loved me."

"Yeah, I kinda fell out of love with you before I kidnapped you."

"Oh. So why do you care now?"

"Because you can be a good person! I've seen it!"

"I thought you said I die!"

"You do! You come back, for like half an hour!"

"What? How does that work?"

"It's a really long story and not important because it won't happen in this timeline. But, just as you are about to get dragged into the ocean, you realize you messed up! You become good!" Morro groaned.

"The world's not black and white, or good and evil. I'm trying to free myself and everyone trapped there. Does that make me evil?"

"You forgot the part where you curse the entire Realm and rule with an iron fist."

"Who says I'll rule with an iron fist? I just want to be free!"

"Then you should be happy with what you've already accomplished!"

"No I shouldn't! If I ever go out in public, I'll be killed! Just because I'm a ghost!"

"Then ask the ninja for help!"

"Why would they help me?"

"Because they're good people! They're quick to help people, even if those people used to be their enemies!"

"Even if they would, I swore allegiance to the Preeminent." Morro crossed his arms, turning away. "I can't break my promise."

"Normally I would be against breaking promises. But the Preeminent is a lying, manipulative, abusive ruler! You need to just get away from her!" Lydia didn't actually know that. It was just an educated guess.

"No she isn't! She helped me! Helped me get my revenge on the one who sent me there!"

"And who would that be?"

"Lloyd's father, Lord Garmadon." Lydia clapped once.

"I knew it!"

"Wh- what?"

"I never knew how you died. I guessed Garmadon trapped you in the Caves of Despair and killed you, since you were released when he was cursed, but I couldn't be sure. How did he kill you?"

"That's not really something I like to talk about." Morro scowled.

"That's fair." She paused. "What was my point? Oh yeah. The Preeminent is an absolute jerk and you need to get away from her."

"I already told you, there's no life for me in Ninjago unless it's cursed!"

"When Cole became a ghost, no one tried to kill him! Well, that's not true. Bad guys tried to kill him. But not random people!"

"What difference does that make? I'm not a ninja!"

"You could be!" Lydia groaned. "Ugh, we're going in circles. Just… just trust me. Have I lied to you yet?"

"Not as far as I know?"

"That you know of?"

"Everything I can confirm has been the truth, yes."

"See? I'm just worried about you." She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but he stepped away. "I swear, if you die, then I will go to the Departed Realm and I will kill you again." She jabbed a threatening finger at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"You are such a weird girl."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Weird!" Morro threw his hands up in the air and turned away. "I'm going back to bed."

"Me too." Lydia started to turn, to go back to the room where Lloyd was chained, but Morro spun around, tilted her head towards him with a hand on her cheek, and leaned down and kissed her on the lips. As she froze, he straightened up, said,

"Good night, Lydia." And walked out of the room. Eyes wide, Lydia sank to the ground, hands pressed to her face.

"Oh shoot." She whispered. "I just got kissed by a boy."

MORRO WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING YOU CAN'T JUST. KISS A GIRL AND TRY TO PLAY MATCHMAKER BETWEEN HER AND YOUR OTHER PRISONER AT THE SAME TIME. WHAT THE HECK.

~FFF