Hello again! Sorry it took so long to update (again) but life has thrown another curveball at me and it's a bit crazy. Not to worry though, I am going to finish this story and start Three Wishes HOPEFULLY before the end of next month. We'll see.

Anyways, you all will notice how I keep changing my name. I promise, this is the last one (at least for now nyehehehehe). I'm trying to keep my nickname at least similar through all my social media things, so I have adopted the name Dragongem! Or Dragon for short.

Thank you so much for reading this, I always love the reviews and they bring a smile to my face. On a note of the ftau, OnlyLonelyStars just brought in a bit of a tie-in to Three Wishes and there will be a tie-in to OUAD coming soon! If you read all our published fics so far, we always have little notes of things that tie the world together. Read through the stories and see if you can spot them!

Jdizzle27634: Wow, so many reviews! I'm so glad you liked it! Try reading the other stories in the ftau if you liked this one, they are SO amazing.

OnlyLonelyStars: I think we all love Sir Cole, honestly. At this point, he's practically the MC of the whole dang au. Gotta say tho, #loveprincekai. I love that you're reading the dialogue alouddddddddd! These children are so precious and I will always love them. Always.

Seleine16: Well, you'll have to wait for a planned oneshot to find out what happened to Echo! Yes, Nutmeg and I have oneshots planned that explain a ton of backstory and little details. If you have any ideas for a oneshot, drop it in a review and we will take it into consideration. You never know what may come of it! *wiggles eyebrows with a huge grin on her face*

The very next day, the party was awoken by the roaring of a dragon, maybe ten or so miles away. Despite what they had all hoped silently, there was, in fact, a dragon, and it did not sound happy.

With this in mind, they packed up fast and got on the road, all on alert in case the dragon happened to show up. As the hours passed, however, most of everyone relaxed, deciding that it must have been further away then they thought at first. That's when the teasing and joking around started.

Nya grinned, looking over at Kai. "So, mister oblivious, finally decided to pay attention to what's going on around you and figure out how much you were in love with Skylor?"

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Kai retorted, arm around Skylor's shoulders. "I wasn't that oblivious."

"I'm not so sure about that," Skylor interjected. "Your first reaction to me telling you about the curse was to completely deny it existed."

"Hey, what am I supposed to say to 'oh, sorry, by the way, I'm cursed?'"

"Also, do you remember those letters you were sending me? Like, yeesh, figure out your feelings and look at the girl right in front of you!" Nya laughed, enjoying teasing her cousin.

"Come on, I was preoccupied! Lloyd, back me up here!"

Lloyd shook his head, grinning. "Preoccupied with what? Moaning about how much you didn't want to marry that other lady? Don't think I haven't saved those letters you sent to me."

Skylor laughed, throwing her head back. "Oh yeah, I haven't forgotten that part either. I'm just over here trying to keep my legs!"

"Skyyyy!" Kai whined. "Come on..."

"Skylor isn't gonna help you with this one! The whole thing almost didn't work! Besides, those letters were hilarious." Lloyd grinned even wider, totally enjoying this.

"Okay, fine. At least you admit I'm funny," Kai pouted. "Still, we had a more reasonable love story than a certain pirate princess…"

"Excuse me? That's if you call almost making your true love go back to the ocean because you were denying that the curse even existed in the first place!" Nya grabbed Jay's hand. "I at least knew that I liked him and didn't deny it."

Skylor laughed more. "Okay, it's partially my fault for keeping it secret. It's not exactly what you'd expect. You two, on the other hand…"

"What about our romance is more absurd than yours?" Jay asked.

"Well, you knew a djinn. He helped you, instead of tricking you into wishing for something horrible. I might be a mermaid, but that is much different from the norm."

"I believe KNOW is more correct. He's just away on vacation. Besides, he's a great guy!"

Kai smirked. "He's pretty charming, huh?"

"If that is meant to be a joke, Kai, that was terrible." Nya raised an eyebrow. "Like, I didn't even get that, it was that terrible."

Skylor rolled her eyes. "Pixal would have gotten it. At least she's researched magic."

"Pixal?"

"Yeah. Didn't she tell you? She's a mage."

"Oh my goodness, that is awesome!"

"Isn't it?" Skylor grinned and waved down the woman in question. "Pixal, tell Nya about your magic!"

Pixal dutifully approached them from the back of the group, where she and Zane had been talking with Cole. "Pardon me, I didn't hear you. What did you ask?"

"You're a mage? That's way cool!"

She blushed faintly. "Oh. Thank you for the compliment." She brushed a lock of hair out of her face, and her fingers brushed her hairclip.

"Is it through the hairclip that you do your magic?" asked Jay.

"It is enchanted. I do other magic using spells I learned; each has its own requirements."

"Like what?"

She thought for a moment. "I know a short-distance teleportation spell that requires a certain herbal array and the trigger words. It is one of my most practiced."

Kai whistled. "Teleportation? That must come in handy. If I could teleport, we wouldn't be walking through here!"

"If you could teleport, we would likely be in a completely different place than you intended," Skylor said with a grin.

Nya laughed. "The chances of it not working the way you thought it would is very high, Kai."

"I could do it! It can't be that hard!"

Pixal laughed quietly. "I am not so sure of that fact. I have done it several times, and it is still a temperamental spell. It would not even work inside Ninjago, due to the disruptive nature of the curse."

"Oh, yeah that makes sense. The magic around here is extremely overpowering. I would be surprised if much light or chaos magic worked here," Jay said.

Skylor shrugged. "If magic can't work here, it's no wonder everyone's asleep." She yawned, cutting off that last word. "Even now it's tiring."

"Is it affecting you?" Kai asked.

"No, I don't think so… not yet, anyway."

Lloyd rubbed his head. "Well, it's definitely noticeable. Let's just hope it won't take too long to get to the kingdom of Ninjago."

Just as the words left his mouth, the group rounded a hill, a forest coming into view. Lloyd's breath caught in his throat and he felt a pinch of fear in his chest. It wasn't natural, any of it. The trees were grey and lifeless, and the aura of magic was so strong it was like you could cut it. Even the grass under their feet was withered and grey. As soon as they stepped on the blades, they withered.

As they looked upon it, Pixal winced and put a hand to her head, massaging her temples. Zane put a hand on her back.

"Are you all right, love?"

"I am all right. The magic of this forest is overwhelming…"

Jay blinked, shaking his head. "No kidding, it's almost like you can touch it. Ouch."

"What's going on?" asked Lloyd.

"Basically, those of us who have used magic before can feel and sense it. This is so strong that it's giving me a headache." Jay sighed. "Wohoo…"

Skylor frowned. "It certainly isn't pleasant. We shouldn't waste any time here; the pain will sap your strength."

Kai looked at her questioningly. "Do you not feel it?"

"I feel it, but Clouse's curse wasn't painless. I'm pretty used to it."

"Oh…"

Nya looked at the trees, making a face. "Okay, these trees aren't creepy at all. This must be because of the curse."

"Yeah, this is nothing like how my grandfather described it. It wasn't all… grey and weird." Lloyd touched a leaf, drawing his hand back. "Ew, it feels weird."

Cole took his scythe and cut a leaf off one of the trees. It fell to the ground, and within moments it had withered away to ashes. "We have to go through or around. If this spell takes hold of us while we are inside the forest, we will not simply fall asleep."

"We have to go through, or it could take weeks to get around it." Lloyd glanced at the trees nervously. "This forest stretches for miles, the curse would get to us before we could reach the city."

"Then we shall enter." Cole sheathed his scythe. "Lead the way, Prince Lloyd."

As soon as they entered, it got more intense. Lloyd gripped the pommel of his sword tightly, turning in a slow circle as he walked to look at it all. The joking mood of the group from only a few minutes ago evaporated into thin silence.

Time seemed to stop in the forest, or at least slow down. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, it could have even been days as they walked. They stopped to take breaks when they needed to but didn't dare sleep for too long. As time passed, it got harder and harder to keep their eyes open, and just about all conversation ceased to conserve energy. Those who could feel the magic didn't look or feel so good (although they tried to hide it), and as the hours passed, the exhaustion only got worse.

Lloyd didn't know how much time had passed since they entered the forest. What he did know was that he was exhausted. The curse was starting to get to all of them, and it wouldn't be too long before they started to succumb to it. Just as he was starting to despair of getting through the forest, a shout interrupted his thoughts.

"There's something through the trees!" Nya shouted near the head of the group. She pushed a branch out of the way, inhaling a bit. "It's a cottage!"

A cottage? In the middle of the woods? That isn't… normal. Ninjago sure was full of surprises, not all of them pleasant. Or welcome, for that matter.

Ey ey eyyyy, a cottage I say? (Hey that rhymed...) What cottage do you think this could be? As always, if you like it, drop a review and tell me what you thought! Any and all feedback is welcomed! Also, if you have an idea for a oneshot to tie some things together, (like that planned Echo oneshot and others), let either myself or OnlyLonelyStars know! We are in constant communication on the au and if we like your idea, we may make it a oneshot or, even better, a fic with multiple chapters. You wouldn't know if we WOULD like it if you don't tell us, so please if you have an idea, don't be shy! We would love to hear it.

Alright, signing back off on OUAD now. Hopefully the next chapter will come in the next few days, but we shall see what life has to say about that. Ttfn my friends, see ya next time!