Chapter 16: Interrogating Morro
"Master Wu is this one of Jay's bad jokes," Lloyd asked.
He, Wu, and Misako were gathered in the command center of the Bounty, staring at a seated Morro and Dareth. Dareth fidgeted with a Chinese finger trap, while Morro quietly sipped on a cup of tea. Both seemed oblivious to the world around them.
"To whom do you refer," Wu asked. "Do you consider Dareth or Morro a case of misplaced humor?"
"Both," Lloyd sighed. "Dareth should be in Yoshi's Labyrinth and Morro should be dead."
"Thank you for the obvious," Morro interrupted. "Now can we please move on and get to something more important already?"
"Firsts things first, you answer my questions, Morro," Lloyd retorted.
"Fine, green ninja," Morro rolled his eyes. "Fire away."
"How'd you get from the departed realm into Ninjago," Lloyd asked.
"Loaded question," Morro winked.
"What Morro means is be more specific," Wu added.
"Fine," Lloyd nodded. "If I recall, you drowned with the Preeminent, which for ghosts as yourself meant death."
"True, green ninja. I did die, and I did end up in the Departed Realm."
"And once someone dies, they don't come back to Ninjago. They stay in the Departed Realm forever."
"Wrong."
"Wrong," Lloyd fumed. "How can that possibly be wrong? Dead people stay dead. They don't come back to life on a whim!"
"Three exceptions," Morro smiled, lifting three fingers.
"Name them," Lloyd ordered.
"First, Master Yang summoned dead villains with the Yin Blade," Morro smiled. "Second, your sweetheart Harumi resurrected Lord Garmadon with three Oni voodoo masks. Third, you took a trip yourself and visited with the big man himself."
"Harumi was never my sweetheart," Lloyd retorted. "And that last one doesn't count."
"Why not," Misako interrupted. "The First Spinjitzu Master lives there, and he's the one who returned you home after you died."
"Hah," Morro laughed. "Score one for the ghost ninja."
"Cheap move," Lloyd scowled. "But that doesn't answer how you got here. You had no Yin Blades, Oni masks, or masters to help you."
"No, I didn't," Morro winked. "You can thank the Iron Doom."
"I thought the Iron Doom disintegrated and scattered across Ninjago," Misako remarked.
"Not before it weakened the fabric of time," Morro sighed. "When Master Wu pulled out the reversal blade, he caused Iron Doom to enter an alternate timeline, one which weakened the power of time significantly."
"That explains why Jay and Nya didn't age when they were struck by the forward time claw," Misako realized. "But I still don't get how it affects you or anyone else. After all, we still don't know if the time claws exist."
"Remember I said, 'alternate timeline'," Morro repeated. "In an alternate timeline, time doesn't travel in a continuum. It instead warps forward and backward, leaping and backtracking over itself without any consistency. And oftentimes, this results in objects or people being teleported to random places on the timeline."
"So you were teleported out of the past," Lloyd asked.
"Yes, I guess you could say that," Morro winked. "Typically, objects transfixed in the alternate timeline hover in place, but I zipped straight through and landed on a snowy mountain above Jamanakai Village."
"So, just to be clear, there are two versions of you," Lloyd concluded. "The version that drowned is still in the Departed Realm, while you're the version that appeared in the alternate timeline."
"Correct," Morro stated. "Everyone has two versions of themselves, one here and one in the alternate realm."
"Cool," Dareth oohed. "I'd hate to bother, but can one of you help me? My fingers are stuck in this finger trap and I can't get them out."
"Alright, Dareth, I'll help," Misako chuckled. "In the meantime, tell Lloyd how you got here."
"I…um…I," Dareth stuttered.
"He teleported," Morro finished.
"Oh, yeah, right. Whatever he said," Dareth agreed.
"That's not possible," Lloyd scowled. "Dareth's never had any real powers, let alone the ability to teleport himself places."
"You forget that I'm the Master of Brown," Dareth boasted.
"Yeah, yeah, you and your brown power," Lloyd laughed. "More like the power of ten bathroom stops a day."
"Lloyd, Lloyd, come in," a voice crackled.
Lloyd pulled out his commlink, then pressed the hologram button. Immediately, a 3-D image of Pixel appeared on the screen, illuminating above the table where they were gathered.
"What is it, Pixel," Lloyd asked.
"Did I interrupt something," Pixel asked, glancing around the room. "And is that Dareth and Morro sitting over there?"
"Yeah, long story," Lloyd sighed. "Anyway, any luck finding the Realm Crystal shards?"
"You mean the Realm Crystal was destroyed," Morro questioned. "This I got to hear, green ninja."
"I'll tell you later," Lloyd retorted.
"I found all the shards," Pixel answered, "but it seems that one of them is missing."
"Oh, you mean those bluish chips," Dareth interrupted. "Don't try them. They taste awful and leave your stomach queasy for hours."
"You ate a Realm Crystal shard," Lloyd and Morro yelled at once. "Pixel," Lloyd continued. "Lockdown the base, then report back at the monastery. We'll finish the search for Garmadon later."
"Over and out," Pixel acknowledged. Once the hologram beamed out, Lloyd scowled at Dareth again.
"Dareth, you should be ashamed of yourself," Lloyd fumed. "Now we can't even reconstruct the Realm Crystal shard because of your stupidity."
"Lloyd," Wu rebuked. "You are being too harsh. Take a seat."
Lloyd sighed, then reluctantly plopped down into a chair, still scowling at Dareth and Morro. Dareth sighed. Suddenly, a large pile of flowers appeared overhead, raining down on Morro and Dareth's head. The flowers sank straight through Morro onto the floor, but they buried Dareth completely. Then Dareth disappeared again, leaving a heaping mound of flowers in his empty chair.
"Dareth," Lloyd exclaimed. "I didn't mean to…"
"He's gone, Lloyd," Morro interjected. "He teleported away again. Good luck finding him this time."
"He could be anywhere in Ninjago by now," Misako noted. "Finding Dareth will be next to impossible."
"Finding Dareth is not our top priority," Lloyd interrupted.
"Lloyd is right," Wu agreed. "Find Dareth, we will, but first, our task is to defeat the Master and his minions. Continue the search; the enemy cannot hide his secrets forever."
The Temple of Silence. Erected in simpler times upon a frost-stricken mountain, it stands aloof, the last relic of the ancient Order of Silence. Here, the last Master of Silence resides with his twenty pupils, preserving what the Anacondrai almost destroyed. Here, they sit in silence, focusing on inner peace rather than the damaging words of others. And here, in the darkness, a weary traveler approaches, knocking weakly at the door of the temple.
"May I help you," the Master of Silence nods.
"Yes," the traveler gasps. "Do you have a place to stay for the night?"
"We do," the master of silence nods. "Come right in."
"Do you not swear to silence," the traveler asks when they enter the master of silence's room.
"Yes, but only until sunset," the Master of Silence nods. "We used to practice total silence, but then two intruding ninjas forced some of my students into breaking the vows. Since then, we remain silent only during the day, for sleep is the silence of the night."
"I understand," the traveler sighed. "One more question I must ask: do you know who I am?"
"I do," the Master of Silence smiled. "But I treat all my guests the same, regardless of their origins or their pasts. I only concern myself with hospitality. You are free to stay as long as you like, Lord Garmadon."
Author's Note: Hey there, Lord Hakas here. To keep everyone straight, I published in the next file a character list. That way, both you and I don't lose track of who's where. And as always, please give feedback. Not only does it help with critiquing my writing technique, but it also plays a role in how I write future chapters. :)
P.S. I also updated the synopsis and the title.