Disclaimer: Ninjago doesn't belong to me. I own the OCs, story idea, and tumblr art I post.

Sorry this is late guys. But I got to meet firstfandomfangirl in person! Also, I did have a few things to do, school especially with our big final end of the year projects coming up so everything is crammed. Hopefully this chapter will further express my apology. I worked really hard on this and the art I put on my tumblr, so it sorta made sense why this took long, plus it's a special chapter!

I dealt with my first case of writers block! It hit really hard because this is one of my longest chapters so far, until I do the final battle chapter. (;

Now let's dive on in! (Also, I changed the title to fit a bit more with the plot in this chapter.)

Chapter 35: Darkness In A Pure Heart

"Are we dead?" were the first words Jay, Kai, Zane, and Lloyd heard as they woke up. Each had felt they bumped their heads really hard at one point. Now they were waking up to find themselves in a field of lush greens with a spotting of flowers and herbs. They were under the shade of a great tree as they awoke.

"Are we dead?" Jay repeated as they stood up. "If we are, I'm gonna hate being here until I see some technology."

"Why are we here? Last I remember, we were kidnapped and everything was going down hill because of that crazy-" Kai stopped short as he noticed a familiar piece of jewelry upon his upper arm.

"My gem! Guys, I got it back!" he exclaimed while showing it to his teammates. They quickly examined themselves and found their own gems in their respective places.

"Finally!" Jay shouted. "I missed it so much!"

"This is perfect," said Lloyd, "now we might have a chance against Oiwa. Now we have to get out of here and save Maria, ASAP."

"I'm afraid we can't," Zane said in a shocked tone.

"Why not?" they asked.

"The gems can sometimes give us memories of our past lives, right? Unless I'm mistaken, I think we are experiencing one now, because here we come!" Zane pointed ahead at what he seeing, making the others gasp in awe.

Four young men that resembled them, mostly in terms of their faces, were walking down the slope of the field, led by what looked to be the youngest. Lloyd knew it was Oliver, from his choice of wearing a green jacket, his silver chocker with a green gem, and how he was in front of the group, confidence written all over his face.

The second was a man in red, with a cut in one sleeve. Kai was indeed a spitting image of this man, as the man's, Levi's, hair was more spiked than his, but both shared a similar frown that told people to back off when worn. Proudly he carried a shogun helmet, one that resembled the shogun armor's, under his left arm where a golden armlet and ruby red gem rested.

A third wore clothing that made him look more of a person from a higher class, almost like a prince. Peter had on a gold belt and buttons that popped from the blue dress shirt he wore, almost drawing attention away from his golden bracelet with a blue gem. And by watching every move he made just by walking, Jay couldn't help but think if his hair would look the same if he grew it out.

Lastly was a man who resembled Zane from his earlier times before he became the Titanium Ninja. His hair was combed down more, and his lower face was covered with a white scarf that was firmly pinned over his tunic by a silver brooch with a snowy white gem. Snow…the man gave off a presence just as cold as it with his lifeless but fearful eyes.

"It's them," Lloyd whispered as they passed by them, "our past lives. This is a memory."

"Wait a minute, where's Cole? And my sister?"

"Perhaps they are not here because they have yet to find their gems ," Zane suggested.

Jay completely ignored the conversation as he was in awe. "Woah. I look like a prince! And Kai, you were handsome."

"Thanks, Ja-" Kai stopped as he realized what Jay had said. "Wait. WERE?! I look as handsome now as I did during this time!"

"Shhh! I wanna see this memory. Maybe these guys are here to do an important mission that would help them defeat Onryō and win the second war."

The leader of their past lives, Oliver, stopped the group as he stopped himself and turned back to face them. "Men, we finally made it after a long journey. You know your orders: document the flora of this field."

Immediately, they each took a piece of paper and quill out from their pockets, spreading out and beginning their "important mission." Jay's eye was twitching while the others tried not to laugh out loud.

Kai leaned over with a smug look on his face. "So, our past lives had to defeat Onryō by drawing flowers?"

"Oh, shut up," Jay snapped. "Why aren't they doing something useful?"

"Perhaps we should be patient and observe them more," Zane said. "If we are experiencing this memory, then there must be a reason behind it."

"I'm sick of this!" The Ninja turned to see Peter, Jay's past life, throw his hands in the air as he fell back onto the earth. They sat and closely watched the scene unfold. "Why can't we do something more useful than drawing flowers?"

"There's a purpose for this," Zane's past life, Aquilo, calmly replied. "This was once a battlefield during Dominance. Seraphina told us that ever since that war, she's been planning to observe all the battlefield sights to ensure each was healing."

"So why do we have to go out and do this when we should be finding the other gem bearers before Onryō comes and tries to attack us?" Peter whined.

Levi had heard enough and turned to Peter with an annoyed look. "Hey, Pete? Remember that time you kept whining about how hot Forge Mountain was when you guys found me? And how I selflessly used my new power to pick you up and throw you down the mountain headfirst so you wouldn't be hot anymore?"

"No," he quickly responded, "how can I when I'm observing such beautiful flowers? Like…uh…like that one!" He pointed from his position on the ground at tiny blue flower.

"That's a forget-me-not!" Oliver gasped as he got down on his knees and crawled to it, his men mimicking him. "When I was younger, Seraphina told me stories on how forget-me-nots found near graves or battlefields like this are the lost memories of people who died and reincarnated into another being. She said, 'If you ever find even a single, frail flower like the ones in my garden, you must respect it and never step on it. You'll never know when the person who lost it will come back to retrieve it, remembering who they once were and find closure to their confusing new life.' Even the fragrance of them can make you feel certain emotions, the same emotions that are sealed within them that clue you in on what the memory was about."

"Wow," Kai whispered to Lloyd, "you were quite the leader in your past life. You were mature for your age."

"Well, I think it's a great quality in a leader," Lloyd proudly said. "A good leader must always carry himself with dignity, maturity, and respect so his teammates will follow in example."

"Guys, I found one!" Oliver exclaimed as he caught something from the grass that he now held in his hands. "This is a rare delicacy that's been proven to support longevity! Now who wants the first taste?"

With a huge smile on his face, he held up a fat, warty toad.

"Y-y-y-you want us to eat it raw?!" Aquilo shouted.

"Yeah! The warts are a key factor, and they can be used as a moisturizer if you cook them separately!"

After a quick exchange of glances, they took off running. Their leader was persistent and chased after them while trying to shove the toad in each of their faces to tempt them to eat it. Oliver was gaining on Levi when he had quickly dodged to the side, making the boy run into the tree. Excluding Lloyd, who was mortified at what he was seeing, the Ninja were cracking up at the scene.

"You know, I can see the resemblance between you two much better now, Lloyd!" Jay laughed as he gave Lloyd a slap on the back.

"We're leaving," he said.

"This really is similar to that time you and your dad were training, and he dodged-"

"We're leaving," he insisted. "We should be waking up from whatever is going on."

No sooner from when he said that, everything around them became lighter. It all fade before their eyes, but they weren't scared. They slipped into slumber as they would soon wake up for real this time.

Gashadokuro had fallen asleep and was snoring up a storm as he was tasked with keeping the Ninja under close guard in his ribcage as instructed by Oiwa. Nya and Cole were wide awake just in case she came by and noticed the gems Kitsune had returned to them, which knocked out their teammates into a deep sleep. They didn't have to wait any longer as the four Ninja began to open their eyes.

"You guys are awake," Nya said with a breath of relief. "We were getting worried."

"Hey, bone man, they woke up," Cole said while reaching out and tapping on the his skull.

"I didn't do it!" Gashadokuro stopped and noticed the Ninja were awake. "Oh, you guys are up. Well, this is perfect, Oiwa should be doing her initiations soon. Harionago will give a signal shortly that will tell us the guards are gone from the end of this cave. I will instruct you where to go, so you guys have a clear path to sneak up on the queen."

"What're you talking about? Where are we?" Kai asked. It was hard to tell as it looked like they were in a cave, cold and damp. Gashadokuro was sitting on the ground as his ankles and wrists were chained, limiting his movement.

"We're in Oiwa's base. While you got your beauty sleep, we've been planning the alliance."

"The alliance… Oh, yeah! That's how you defeated Oiwa the first time," Lloyd said. "But what's this about an initiation?"

"Those kids that I saw with Zane, they're getting initiated," Nya explained. "She's going to brainwash them and feed off their pain as she's doing it. If we don't stop her, she'll get too powerful. Lucky for us, we've got four demons on our side."

"Four? I thought there were five demons that were on The Council of Death, excluding Oiwa and Onryō," Zane said. "Did something happen to one them?"

"It's Goryō, he's the reason Oiwa's been let out," Cole explained, anger on his face. "He let out some of her essence- which is just as bad as the real thing since it has some independent thought- because he thinks it'll help them win Chaos, but she doesn't even treat her allies with decency. I mean, look at Gashadokuro, he's chained like a prisoner! That's why we have to stop her."

Jay got an excited look on his face. "Oh, I know where this is going! We just have to get to Oiwa and free Maria by-"

"We're not smacking her with a piece of paper," they all deadpanned.

"Why not?"

"The girl seems to have some effect on Oiwa," the skeleton explained. "Oiwa's powerful and could only be stunned by exorcism spells, never removed. That was that old lady's mistake; however, to fully resist a spell the way she did must mean that something is going on in that girl's heart. To free her might be by getting through to her, it's the only option….but I still have doubts if it'll work."

"Well, we're gonna find that out as soon as we get out of here." Lloyd stepped forward and tried poking his head out to make as much eye contact as he could with Gashadokuro. "Are you sure you can't let us out now? We're wasting time; Maria, those kids, and maybe even Wu, Cliona, and my mom are in danger."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't. She could take me down in a heartbeat….if I even had a heart. The point is that she's treats all of us badly, and I'm nothing more than a portable prison for her."

"And you can't stand up to her, even if you tried?"

"Oiwa…" He stopped as sadness fell upon his face. Just for a moment. "Oiwa knows how to hurt us….where it counts."

CLANG….CLANG

CLANG….CLANG…CLANG

CLANG….CLANG

The chime of what sounded like a rusty old bell stopped them from pressing Gashadokuro wth their questions. The skeleton opened his ribcage for them to walk out and look back at him for instructions.

"Here's what you humans must do: At the end of this cave, you'll notice many hallways that can take you to different areas of the base, do not wander from the set path. Jorōgumo marked the walls with a thin, and I mean a thin webbing, forming an arrow to point you where you must go next, so look carefully. She stopped making them in an empty ballroom, the room just below Oiwa's chambers. Take the stairs up and climb out the window and up onto the roof, the highest point of the base, so you can get a whole view of the outside where the initiation will be taking place."

"You heard him, guys," Lloyd said to his team, "it's up to us stop this Demon Queen. Now let's head out!"

Oiwa kept a close ear as her back was turned on Jorōgumo. The initiation would begin soon and Harionago just vanished to do something. The only one who truly remained loyal to her was Goryō, the same demon who took part in sealing her was so supportive of her and all she did.

She promised herself to remember to repay the favor.

She kept searching through her drawers and pulled out what she needed: an old banner of The Council of Death. Oiwa knew something was going on with all of her "allies." Deep down, they had their own intensions, thoughts of getting rid of her to fulfill their own personal goals.

Oiwa looked back on Jorōgumo with a smile. "Remember this old thing?"

"Yes," Jorōgumo replied, not making eye contact with her.

"Such a pretty banner. Perfect for the initiation; those kids need to see and realize where their lives are going now once they're under my control. I particularly love the symbol woven into it, the demon symbol. Speaking of which, where's yours?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your symbol," she tensely said, "the one that shows your loyalty to me and me alone."

Jorōgumo took a deep breath, hiding her worries of where this was headed. "It was removed; King Onryō's orders to ease his grief over you. Your absence affected us greatly, everything changed from that day."

Oiwa just chuckled and handed her the banner. "Hang it up. The moon will rise soon and my new children will be with me, along with all the pain they and their parents have to offer."

She bowed. "Yes, Queen Oiwa," she said before turning to walk out of the chambers.

"My Queen."

"I beg your pardon?" Jorōgumo asked.

"I believe you meant to say, 'Yes, My Queen,'" Oiwa explained. "So say it now, then you may leave."

'Like I'd ever pledge full loyalty to you, traitor!' the spider demon screamed in her head. This demon was no Queen, not after all she had done. She'd always use their own pasts against them when she needed the pain and suffering.

How'd she like to scream in her face that sentence that ran around in her head, that told her brain,to tell her head, to tell her mouth, to let it out. But it was too bold to say to someone so powerful, instead she forced a smile and tried to do as she was told.

"Yes, My….My...My-"

"Oiwa!" Kitsune screamed as he bursted through the doors panting. "There's a situation concerning-"

Oiwa held up a hand to silence him. "How many times have I told you, Kitsune, THAT WE DO NOT SHOUT OR RUN IN MY BASE?!"

"I'm sorry, Queen Oiwa," he said in a mumble. "We just had a slight problem with-"

"How am I supposed to hear you when you're whispering!?" she hissed.

"The children broke free of your entrancement! They're waking up and starting to whine and cry and call for their parents! So….we need to start the ceremony soon before they try to ride me or cause a mess."

Oiwa threw her head back and groaned. "I HATE brats. I will head down there and begin early, while you, Jorōgumo, rush down and hang the banner up in the ballroom. And send the guards farther down in the hallways to protect the ceremony from any…disturbances."

"The ballroom?" Jorōgumo asked, fear on her face. How would those humans fulfill their part if they couldn't get close to the Queen? The plan was to go outside where they could attack from the air and be far away from her guards and new minions, very far away.

"Queen Oiwa, we planned the initiation to be held outside," she said, trying to convince her. "We all worked hard to clean up the courtyard, and tonight will be a full moon, further enhancing the beauty of this event. I would like to list a few more reasons as to why we should continue with the original plans and-"

"ENOUGH!" Oiwa screamed. The volume of it shook the room slightly. Kitsune ducked down with his ears flattened against his skull and his tails between his legs. Jorōgumo had stepped back and gulped at the Queen's rage.

"This day has been a long and tiring one," Oiwa said in a calmer but harsh tone. "I've been dealing with children, rainbow colored fools, and this girl who keeps trying break free of my control, even though I have her helpless. It's making me annoyed, and I want to do bad things when I'm annoyed."

"Like what?" Kitsune asked.

Oiwa gave him a hard glare right in his eyes, a wicked smile spreading on her face. "For instance, it makes want to get new accessories. I've always desired to have a fur coat."

"Well, good luck finding-" the fox demon's eyes widened and his mouth dropped when he realized what she meant when she brought that up. "Ohhhh. If I may, can I suggest sticking with non-animal based clothing?" he sheepishly asked.

"Get out," she hissed, her eyes flashing. "Both of you get out and do as I commanded you."

"Yes, Queen Oiwa," they said before darting out of the room.

She chuckled quietly to herself when a quick feeling came darted across her- or actually, the girl's mind- giving her a chill. It was a good chill, it was pleasurable. It was powerful and full of pain and sorrow.

Maybe, just for a bit, she could squeeze out of this cursed body and do the ceremony in her own form.

"So how are we gonna free Maria?" Jay asked the Green Ninja as they were walking down a dark hallway.

"…I don't know," he replied.

"I recall Gashadokuro said we must get through to her," Zane thought aloud, "maybe we must help remember the times she spent with us that made her happy."

"It's a start, but I think I've got something that'll really help." Lloyd stopped and turned towards the group. He pulled out a familiar purple scarf from the folds of his gi and held it to their faces. "Maria's scarf has more sentimental value to it than we thought, it's all she has left of her dad."

A bittersweet look came upon Kai and Nya's faces. Nya spoke up and said, "It should help. I mean, if I was her, I'd want to remember a dad I barely got to spend anytime with."

"Then you guys should get going!" a familiar nasally voice snapped at them. The sound of running footsteps came towards them, but they didn't get into fighting positions as they already knew who it was as the person skidded to stop when they reached them. "Oiwa's ….begun her initiation …early, it's starting now!" Harionago told them while trying to catch her breath.

The Ninja had shock on their faces. "Well, we'll just hurry up and maybe we can make it in time!" Cole proudly said.

But Harionago stopped his moment as she shook her head. "You can't, she doing it in the ballroom. She'll see you and have you destroyed, along with the Spirit Princess and King Onryō. Don't you see? It's all over, we lost!"

"Oh, this is great!" Jay shouted as he threw his hands in the air. "The kids will be slaves, Maria's gonna die, we're gonna die, and the scary Demon King will die and be replaced by his crazy wife that back stabbed him. There's goes all hope that we'll win, so whoop-dee-doo! Anything else to say other than this hallway is beginning to stink up?"

They all sniffed the air and gaged. It had a thick rotting meat scent that made their stomachs twist and turn. The Ninja held their noses, but Harionago on the other hand had her face fall as she realized what was happening. "I now have something else to tell you: the guards were sent to guard the hallways. And they know you're here."

CRASH!

CRACK!

The floorboards just below the Ninja's feet bursted into splinters as smelly, meaty hands grabbed them and squeezed the air out of them. They tried squirming, wriggling, and shooting blasts of elemental power, but they couldn't see and aim for the creatures face because it had none. It was a beast they had read about a long time ago: a Nuppeppō.

"What….are they…doing?!" Zane shouted as he tried to freeze the one that grabbed him.

"Oiwa uses Nuppeppō as guards because their scent and thick body can suffocate intruders before she deals with them herself," Harionago explained.

"That's nice to hear, but I prefer you help us now and explain later!" Kai exclaimed. "It's like getting buried under a pile of rotten meat, or getting hugged by a big, sweaty guy! Make them stop!"

"Hang on! I'm com-" There was the sound of a punch being thrown, and at Harionago as she fainted on the ground.

Behind her stood Goryō with a smirk on his face before walking to the Ninja, whose heads stuck from the thick folds of fat from the Nuppeppō. "What a delight to see you humans here, but it's rather rude to roam around and snoop," he said in a mocking voice to them. "Did you get lost little humans?"

"Oh, shut it!" Cole snapped. "Why are you so happy? You have a door knocker for a face!"

"Silence!" Goryō had raised his hand a gave a sharp swipe at Cole's face. The Earth Ninja now had scratch on his left cheek and another near his eye, making him almost close it all the way. "You see, when someone's says something that upsets me, I want to make them ugly.

"I used to be beautiful, adored, practically royalty. But now I'm a Goryō, soon I can be a Goryō of all Onryō!"

"This is a load of baloney~" Jay whispered in a singsong voice to Nya.

"I heard that!" the demon shouted as he pointed a finger at him, scratching him in the process. "I will be royalty once again! And if you humans want to say something, then say it now so I can give you my response before I take you to My Queen!" he threatened while cracking his knuckles.

The Ninja gulped and looked down, not making eye contact with him. Goryō chuckled and began to walk away. "I thought so. Now it's off to Queen Oiwa, where you will receive proper punishment after the ceremony-"

"I do."

All eyes were on Lloyd as he bravely said, "I do."

"Then say it, boy," Goryō hissed, his eyes flashing green.

"Just why? Why are you betraying the only person who took you in? The others- Gashadokuro, Kitsune, Harionago, Jorōgumo- they treat Onryō almost like family in a way. Why are you throwing that all away?"

It was dead silent. The other Ninja feared for him, but no amount of struggling could even help themselves. Everyone waited for Goryō to respond, with words or actions, yet he did nothing but stand there like a statue.

Then he began to walk towards them.

He walked right up to Lloyd, kneeled down to get a better look in his eyes while still being higher above him. He grabbed his chin with his clawed hand and forced Lloyd to look up more than he was able to in his trapped state. Goryō's voice was just barely a whisper as he asked a question of his own.

"I have a question for you, boy. Tell me, what do you think I'm going to do to you and your friends?" He laid a claw just below Lloyd's right eye.

"Because whatever it is, I'm going to do much worse than what you could ever conceive."

"Thought you could get away with such rebellious acts, did you now?" Oiwa angrily asked as she held up Kitsune, Gashadokuro, and Jorōgumo up in her hand, her real hand, before the children that were soon to be her new followers. There was much pain and sorrow in the air, enough for her to form a physical form that was visible to all, but half her original height. Yet she could hold the traitors in one hand as she sat on her throne that was on a platform, looking down on all the weeping children that shivered with fear.

"I believe we can get away with it!" Kitsune proudly exclaimed. "We've formed an alliance with some of the greatest, bravest, and strongest humans we've ever seen in years! They'll defeat you!"

"My Queen," Goryō's silky smooth voice spoke as he entered the scene with three Nuppeppō waddling behind him, "what a pleasure it is to see you capture the unfaithful members that plotted against you. And in your own graceful and elegant form that you've manifested. You'll be happy to know I also captured members of the alliance."

He snapped his fingers, on cue the Nuppeppō dropped the Ninja that had been trapped under their bulky, meaty arms. They stayed on the ground, faces with some scratches, but mostly pale with trauma as they either rocked themselves or just shivered.

"A-are you all right?" Jorōgumo asked with great concern in her tone.

"No!" Jay shouted, followed by a whimper. "It was like being born!"

"I feel so violated and sweaty," Cole shivered.

"Sweaty?!" Kai snapped at him. "Being sweaty is a good feeling! What we experienced was like, getting dumped into a pile of rotting meat!"

"I take back every nice thing I said about these guys," Kitsune deadpanned. "Now snap out of it and help us!"

The Ninja looked up as best as they could at Oiwa. Her new form resembled that of Onryō, a formless shadow with her own personal touches. Long, crazy hair was visible, along with her purple eyes that glared down on them. On her forehead was the demon symbol, but more elegant and somewhat frightening in a way.

"Where's Maria?" Lloyd demanded as he stood up. "So help me, if you did anything to her…."

"Relax, the child is right here." She pulled back the lower half of her shadow body, like a long flowing dress, revealing Maria with her head down as she sat with her legs pulled to her, crying softly. With a long claw, Oiwa reached out and stroked her head. "I got tired of her body, her pain, however, was too good to resist! So I'm keeping her here to fulfill my need of pain and sorrow, but when I get tired of her..."

Lloyd's one good eye widened. Furiously, he marched toward them. "You witch! Maria, we're going home, so come-"

As he reached to take her arm and lead her away from this, she immediately hugged herself tighter and cried harder. "S-s-stay away…please….please don't hurt me," she whimpered out.

"What? No, no, no, I'm not gonna hurt you. Maria-"

"Sorry to break it to you," Oiwa spoke as she pulled the Pink Ninja in closer to her, "but I kind of…broke her."

"What are you talking about, you hag?!" Nya shouted.

A wicked grin came upon Oiwa's face. "I got a bit bored controlling her body and wanted more fun. So I peeked at her most painful memories, and because of her already sick and frail heart, she forced herself to keep thinking of those memories. Now she believes the whole world is out to get her- her past bullies, her friends…then there's the six of you, with you keeping secrets about her."

The Ninja were suddenly lifted off their feet and into the air by what turned out to Oiwa's other hand that snatched them up in the blink of an eye. They struggled once again, but failed as most their energy was used to endure Goryō's attack on them. They were held up just above Maria as she was slowly consumed by shadow.

"Put us down, you crazy lady!" Kai shouted at her.

"Why don't you make me with those fancy gems of yours?" A look came upon her face as an idea went through her head. "In fact, I can let you all go once I have the gems."

"Oh, forget it, I just got it back!" Jay snapped at her. "None of us are gonna give them to you."

Oiwa's eye twitched a little at his statement. "You pest. I never asked for you to give them to me."

A sudden jolt of purple lightning flowed through both of her arms, shocking all who were in contact. They let out a scream, when it was over they panted heavily as though the attack took some energy out of them. The children watched from below, crying hard as their heroes, the great and powerful Ninja, looked weak and worn.

Goryō clapped from where he stood as he approached the Queen. "Marvelous, My Queen! Such beauty and grace! I've never seen anyone attack like the way you do, and with such an evil twinkle in your eyes!"

He leaned on her leg as he let out a false swoon. "Onryō never treated you right; King Onryō was a fool to try and rebuild the relationship you two had. Now, if you may excuse me, My Queen, I'll fetch Harionago from the dungeon and bring her up here for you to shock her."

"You know, Goryō," she sweetly said to stop him from leaving, "my former husband was a fool indeed, thinking I would love him again. And that pesky Seraphina was a fool, too, thinking that she could seal me in my base and make it my new tomb."

"My thoughts exactly, My Queen. The nerve of them to banish you was a crime, one that should be dealt with with the most gruesome punishment, My Queen. My radiant, beautiful, Queen Oiwa." He bowed before her with a grin on his face, a wicked one he planned on hiding until he could finally-

"The problem is, Goryō…" she whispered as her head suddenly appeared above him, "….you were one of them."

Another bolt of lightning shot out from her finger, making a direct hit at Goryō. He shook from the attack and promptly fell face down on the ground when it had ended. He didn't move but still uttered a weak breath. Goryō, the proclaimed most powerful of all Goryō, first ranked of Onryō's guard, had fainted.

"About time you took care of him!" All heads turned towards Gashadokuro, as to which he quickly defended his outburst. "Don't look at me like that! We all wanted it and saw it coming!"

"Enough of this!" The anger that went through Oiwa had sent a more powerful jolt of lightning through her arms and shocked her captives. "I can do this all day until those gems fall off and until my 'followers' pay the ultimate price!"

In intervals, she shocked them continuously. More and more power flowing through each shock draining more of their energy. Through pauses, Cole managed to say in a weak voice," Kai….we could…use your…armor..about now…please."

"I've been trying…ever since I got….my gem back," he responded as his voice faded away. "But I think because I've….been away from it….for too long…it won't respond."

It was Nya's turn to try and speak. "J-Jay…can you see…what'll happen next?" Just after, she fainted just as Jay had so suddenly.

One by one, the Ninja and demons went out like a light. Lloyd was the last to pass out, the sight of Maria crying being the last thing he saw before he slipped into unconsciousness.

"….I'm sorry…just stay away," a voice pleaded.

The Ninja opened their eyes, a dark and depressing shade of black surrounding them. The voice continued to plead for them to leave it alone, where ever it was.

"Come on! How many times are we gonna pass out?" Jay complained. "Why can't the universe make up its mind? Are we going to be awake or possibly dead, 'cause I don't really care at this point anymore!"

Nya shushed him. "That voice…it's Maria's. Maybe we've connected with her or something."

"That might be true," Zane agreed. "It's probable that in her distressed state, along with us fainting, we've connected with her mind."

"Oh, get out!" Jay snapped. "She's the Master of Spirit, Zane, not Mind. It's not possible!"

"Maybe…it is possible," Lloyd thought aloud. "The element of spirit can mean many things and can touch on a few areas you wouldn't think it had a connection or potential to do, like energy."

"I'm so sorry…stay away…please," Maria's voice pleaded again.

"Maria! You in here?" Cole asked.

One by they all began calling out for her. It wasn't long before an ominous light shone not too far from them and revealed her as she was last seen, crying with head down and all closed up.

Overjoyed, Lloyd was the first to run over to her. "Maria, you're ok! Don't worry, we'll get out of here and then things will go back-"

"STAY AWAY!" she screamed, shielding herself from him.

Though he was startled by this, he kneeled down to her and spoke in a more comforting tone. "Maria, it's me, Lloyd, your big brother, remember? I'm not gonna hurt you, the others and I want to help you. We want to take you back home, okay?"

She didn't move from her position, yet her crying turned into sniffles, so his words must have reached her. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry," she whimpered, "I'm sorry I did it."

"What're you talking about?" Nya asked, just as the other Ninja had stood be her side. "Do you feel guilty about something?"

"My..my..my past….my bullies…my town…." Maria said while holding back a sob.

"Oh, I think I get it," Cole whispered to the other Ninja before spreading to her. "Maria, you're a good person, all those jerks from your town are probably having a hard time living while you've got us. You're way better off than those idiots."

"It's like Cole said," Lloyd said while managing to put a hand on her shoulder without her freaking out, " you've got a good life now and you're better off. All those insults and everything they said about you doesn't matter anymore."

"That's not it. I.." she looked up, her eyes becoming visible again. "I wanna hurt them."

Lloyd pulled back. "What?!"

"I always felt something in me, but I didn't know what it was. Then Oiwa took me over and made me realize that I wanted to hurt them, especially since I have powers. I wanna hurt-"

"Oh, shut up, Maria!" Kai shouted.

Lloyd snapped back at him. "Kai!"

"Just hear me out for a sec," he said while leaning down, face to face with her. "Look, I know how it feels to have anger in you that bottles up and makes you think things. But you shouldn't do these things, it'll make you a real freak, a real psycho if you try and hurt them. Maria, it'll make you a monster."

"I'm on board with Kai," Jay agreed. "We pretty much beat up monsters, and I don't wanna fight you because you had some anger issues. You're a good person who shouldn't stoop down to their level."

"I too can't process the idea of where we fight you, Maria. Or how you feel you should carry this anger on with you," said Zane.

"It's like we say in Ninjago, 'the past is the past," Nya said.

"'And the future is the future,'" Lloyd finished. He reached into his gi and pulled out her scarf, which to his surprise was there, and handed it to her. "Maria, the future is in your hands now. You can be the person you want to be, you just have to let go of the pain and move on."

For a moment she just stared at her scarf, knowing what to do with it. She remembered dad made it for her as a blanket, for her. As if he already knew the kind of person she would become and that she wanted to be.

Maybe he knew from the beginning that she was meant to be great.

Finally, she tied it back on to where it belonged on her head, and stood tall. "I understand now, I have to let go," she proudly explained. "My mother is a great person, and I trust her judgment if she chose my dad to be my dad. She knew that he would help support me into being the person I want to be."

She took a deep breath in, allowing her voice to gain strength and volume. "My father and I never met, but he was already proud of me, of who I was to become. But all that means nothing if I don't let go and cause problems because of my past weighing me down and making think these things. So I'm letting go."

A loud shriek echoed around them, snapping them out of that moment. The scene had changed as Oiwa was on her hands, allowing them and the demons to be freed. Harionago had an unconscious Goryō tangled up in her hair as she kept looking up at a new hole in the base.

"Seriously, how come all the good stuff happens when we're passed out!?" Jay shouted.

"YOU!" Oiwa screamed as she pointed at the Ninja. "I thought I could take on Harionago since she foolishly picked the locks of her chains and came down here, but this girl," she now pointed at Maria, who quickly ran over to the Ninja, scarf and all, "this girl now has healthy heart because of you!"

"I don't understand, Oiwa," Maria yelled up to her. "I don't have Seraphina's memories, so I just don't understand why you hate me so much!"

"You…you…did something awful! So awful, I can't remember because it shocked me greatly!"

"Enough of your excuses," Kai said as he stepped forward. "Time to end this!"

CRASH!

From the ceiling an anchor dropped, making yet another hole in it. It was the anchor of the Bounty, as Cliona slid down waving her staff as she held onto the chain.

"Pupils!" Wu's voice called from above, "Fly up here, now!"

Doing as they were told, the summoned their dragons, Maria hopping on with Lloyd, as they flew through the hole and above the Bounty. They quickly landed on the deck here Misako and Wu rushed to them.

"Nya, take the wheel, quickly!" Wu commanded as she ran to the bridge. "The rest of should brace for impact."

"What about Cliona, and the children and demons?" Maria asked.

"Cliona is down there now, teleporting them out and making it seem like a nightmare," Misako explained.

"Why didn't you do that for us!?" Jay asked. A staff whacked the back of his head, the staff of Cliona.

"We were right out here for hours!" Cliona sharply replied. "Oiwa had a barrier up that canceled out all powers, rendering me, the gems, and your elemental powers useless! Only Maria's power-as it was once Seraphina's- could counter it and break the barrier!"

"…you didn't have to shout and hit me though."

CRASH!

They turned to see Oiwa crawl out from her small gothic castle of a base. She pulled herself up and flashed her eyes in their direction. She pointed as she screamed, "YOU WILL NOT SEAL ME AWAY AGAIN!"

"Ok, anyone know how to take her down? The only guy who did once is passed out and a back stabber, we only have four gems, and Maria is probably weak after all she's been through. In other words…WE'RE DOOMED!" Jay had begun to panic.

"Perhaps your elemental power can seal her away once again," Misako suggested.

"But Nya is too busy steering the ship, and what about the gems?" Lloyd asked. "It's too risky to try at a time like this-"

CRASH!

Oiwa began throwing chunks of her base at them, one just scrapping the ship. "On second thought, things couldn't get any worse, so let's just do it. Let's combine our powers and aim for her forehead, that might be the weak spot."

Five of them quickly shot their respective elements in a stream that combined at on point, while Maria struggled to spark up a spirit beam.

"Any time now, Maria!" Kai called over the noise.

"I'm trying, but nothing's coming-" A stream of spirit energy suddenly bursted from her hands, swirling into the elemental stream and gave off a bright light at it reached Oiwa, leaving them with a sound of her scream.

As the light faded into normal, the Bounty finally landed at the bottom her burned out base with piles of fallen stone and towers. Oiwa was defeated.

"Did…we win?" Maria asked as they walked off the ship and observed the scene. "Oiwa's….oh, my head."

Lloyd quickly caught her and let her lean on his shoulder. "We did it. We won, but I think you should be more careful in using a lot of energy like that."

"We won!" Kitsune, Jorōgumo, Gashadokuro, and Harionago, who still had Goryō, climbed out from a pile rock. "We beat that old hag!" the fox demon cheered.

"It was just her essence, if it was the real Oiwa, then-" Jorōgumo stopped as she looked back the Ninja. There was a silence as they observed each other, especially the gems that were miraculously still on them after all they went through. She took a deep breath before she walked over to Lloyd and held out her hand. "We should take a break; Goryō will be put on trial and we need to recover…thank you."

Lloyd took it and shook it. As they began to leave, he called out, "You know, it doesn't have to be this way."

"I'm sorry," she said over her shoulder, "but we can't control Destiny just like anyone else." In a puff of smoke, they vanished.

"So, now what?" Nya asked.

"You must rest," Cliona answered. "Your souls have lost their touch with the gems, a rest and spiritual growth may help restore the bond and powers, but in time."

They groaned at the thought of that while Maria stepped away and walked toward a pile of rubble. She quickly came back with a small forget-me-not, sniffing it softly. A confused look was scrunched up on her face. "Strange…when I smell it, I feel mad at the Seraphina part of me."

Without a word, Lloyd took it, threw it on the ground and crushed it with his foot.

Oiwa is pronounced oi as in oi vey, then wa as in water. I can always help with pronunciation if needed.

Next chapter on Ninjago: Legend Reborn….

The Hands Of Time

Until then, God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.