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Chapter 27: Yang's SecretsLloyd and Morro strolled through the Temple of Airjitzu, searching every room for a sign of Master Yang's presence. Each room they check, though, was empty, save for furniture the ninja had not yet moved out.
"Looks like someone lived here," Morro whistled, glancing into what was Kai's room. "That stench of half-eaten noodles is terrible."
"I thought ghosts can't smell, given that they don't have nostrils," Lloyd winked.
"Not this ghost," Morro wheezed. "Didn't you guys clean out the trash before you moved out?"
"Moving out…wasn't a piece of cake," Lloyd sighed. "We only took what we wanted, then left everything else. I…I haven't been here since Master Wu vanished in time."
"Oh, right, he told me about that," Morro sighed. "He told me about a lot of things, including the Sons of Garmadon and…"
"Drop it," Lloyd growled.
"What? All I said was Harum…"
"Drop it or I dissolve you in water."
"Okay, okay, but don't be such a sour puss. Man are you tense tonight."
"The sooner we leave the better," Lloyd grumbled. "Now come. Master Yang obviously isn't in this room."
Morro shrugged, then followed Lloyd into the living room. There, they found Master Yang, the bearded ghost-master who resided permanently on the premises. Yang lounged on a sofa, his eyes closed in meditative rest. As soon as Lloyd entered, his eyes opened and he smiled.
"Master Lloyd, I presume," Yang smiled. "How nice of you to accept my invitation."
"I'm not in the mood for small talk," Lloyd grumbled.
"Oh, come now, don't be bitter toward me," Yang sighed. "Perhaps my pot of tea was too much for you, or maybe I should not have poured gunpowder into the kettle. But what is done is done and cannot be reverse. Who, I presume, is your friend?"
"This is Morro, and he is not my friend," Lloyd grumbled.
"Ah, so you are Morro," Yang nodded. "A fellow ghost like me, only much younger."
"Master Yang," Morro smiled. "Please save your flattery for your students, who I presume are still trapped in this prison?"
"The past is the past," Yang shrugged. "My students are free and so am I, thanks to your friend Cole."
"How do you know Morro," Lloyd asked.
"We met once, many years ago," Yang nodded. "He came one day to my temple, seeking food and rest after journeying all day. I took him in, and for a week hosted him as a personal guest. I even attempted to make him my pupil, but with no success."
"True, true," Morro nodded. "I was stubborn then, stubborn and furious at the world I knew. You had no fault in my demise."
"Yes, but come now, let us talk," Yang nodded.
"Yes please," Lloyd insisted. "Why have you called us back to this temple?"
"To share a secret of dire importance," Yang sighed.
"What secret," Morro asked.
"That the time claws are returning to Ninjago," Yang answered.
"Wait, how do you know about the time claws," Lloyd asked.
"Do you still not realize that I live in this Temple as Master of the House," Yang laughed. "Surely Cole has not neglected to mention I resided here with you?"
"Ugh," Lloyd grimaced. "No wonder Kai said he felt the air move about him at night. Have you been spying and eavesdropping on everything we've said or done in this place?"
"Not particularly," Yang chuckled. "But yes, I have seen the time claws, or at least the ones you retrieved. Yet that is not where I first learned about them. No, I learned about them from this."
Yang pulled out a half-torn scroll, decayed and faded on the edges. He unraveled it, revealing a written message scribbled on the page. Lloyd barely made out the words, while Morro failed to detect what letters were written.
"What does it say," Morro asked.
"I…I can't tell for sure," Lloyd sighed. "The words are too squished together."
"This I apologize for," Yang nodded. "What you're looking at is a page from one of Clouse's spell books, which I found a week ago in my shelf. For some reason, that book, along with this page, appeared on my shelf, despite my aversion to sorcery. Anyway, it is Clouse's notes concerning the time claws."
"Why would Clouse be interested in time claws," Lloyd wondered aloud. "If I recall, Clouse served under Chen his whole life. And he was defeated before the time claws reemerged."
"I wondered this too, until I read further," Yang nodded. "From what I could gather, Clouse and Krux at some point designed the apparatus to the Iron Doom, or at least the blueprints of the apparatus, but found that they could not finish the project until the time claws returned. So Clouse and Krux traveled separate roads, Clouse to serve Chen and his cultist plans, Krux to finalize his vengeance on Master Wu. But of course, you know how they fared."
"So what did Clouse know," Morro asked. "It seems as if he and Krux knew what they were doing."
"They did, and they knew the dangers of time travel," Yang sighed. "Clouse even predicted that if the Iron Doom was lost in time, then the time claws would reappear in Ninjago on certain days."
"Which days," Lloyd asked.
"The forward claw has come, correct," Yang asked.
"Yes," Lloyd nodded. "Jay and Nya tried to recover it on Chen's Island but failed."
"Then Clouse's calculations are on schedule," Yang nodded. "The pause claw will come next, on the second new moon from today to hit Ninjago."
"That's six weeks away," Lloyd whistled.
"Precisely," Yang nodded. "I cannot determine where it may land, but at least I can alert you to its coming. You need every secret available, for the enemy is cunning and ruthless, and he will tear you down if you stand in his way."
"You seem to know this enemy well," Morro remarked. "Do you know who he is?"
"I wish I did," Yang sighed.
He strolled over to the window, then glanced out onto the front porch.
"Lloyd, may I ask you something," Yang suddenly remarked.
"Um, yes, I guess so," Lloyd shrugged.
"What happened to the reversal blade," Yang asked.
"The reversal time blade?"
"Yes, the reversal time blade. What happened to it? Was it lost in time like the others, or destroyed?"
"Master Wu retrieved it while the Iron Doom was time traveling," Lloyd sighed. "Kai and Nya then brought it back to us, while Master Wu was lost in time."
"And where did you hide it," Yang asked. "I presume that you hid it away for safekeeping?"
"It rests in the Boiling Sea," Lloyd answered, "but I don't see why that matters to you."
"Concern, Lloyd, concern," Yang sighed. "This Master of yours, what was it he used to steal the power of amber?"
"A shuriken, I think," Lloyd replied. "We've never been able to retrieve one successfully, though, and video footage isn't enough to make any conclusions on."
"But you know that it steals elemental powers, correct," Yang added.
"Yes, or else Skylor wouldn't be powerless," Lloyd nodded.
"And can the enemy harness these said powers," Yang finished.
"Unfortunately, yes," Lloyd nodded. "And he's not alone. We've confirmed that his second-in-command, Laisha, can also harness elemental powers."
"Agh, it can't be true," Yang shouted unexpectedly.
"Master Yang, what's wrong," Morro asked.
"Laisha…I…I never thought I'd hear that name again," Yang stammered. "She…she's supposed to be dead."
"Who is Laisha," Morro asked. "A student? A friend?"
"No, much worse," Yang shivered. "She's…she's my daughter and … and Skylor's mother."