I'm still here! I've got more schoolwork, and not a lot of time to write, but recent inspiration has struck and I have written ahead some more! I'll have to consider whether this is still okay as a T rating, as my main worry is just continued violence and cruelty.
I probably will leave for a long time again after this, but I will try to write more, and I am still determined to finish this! It may take me a long time, but we'll get there.
There was no need for sleep as a ghost. If I tried to sleep, it wasn't the same as it was in life. It was more like being on the edge of consciousness, where you could hear people but forget what they said.
Yet, my mind was begging for it after I had closed hundreds of portals. Every old piece of my home only put more weight on my shoulders, left scattered around like a junkyard. It was a sad sight, a world of dead souls being covered in the remains of another.
Somehow, the portals began appearing at a far slower rate when I began to close them up. It was nothing short of a miracle, all things considered. If I had not returned, the entire realm would likely have been consumed by the holes in spacetime. I could only be thankful for the fact that it didn't happen.
What puzzled me was my ability to keep the portals closed longer. I was a ghost just like everyone else, but my presence just seemed to stabilize them. At this point I could only hypothesize why this happened, and none of it seemed to make sense.
Well, admittedly I couldn't tell left from right at this point. Trying to think hard on anything was the last thing I wanted to do, and there were still insane amounts of portals to close. If anything, I'd say only half of them were gone. I was still pushing through and closing them with no breaks while the others rested. They had been fighting so hard for so long, and against such a powerful force, I felt obligated to run myself into the ground before stopping.
Scratch, scratch, scratch. Fly around a bit, scratch again. Repeat again and again.
Then a portal of the larger variety decided to spit out a boat at me. With the speed of a bullet train, it tried to impale me and split my form apart, but I remained whole as always. I screamed as the rapid acceleration was pushing and pulling my body in ways that would have instantly killed anyone alive.
Of course, I was given the blessing of being dead, and had to struggle against the massive metal boat. Pushing back as hard as I could, I hoped that I could slow or stop the boat. However, it's weight far outmatched my strength, and barely seemed to slow.
As the air flew past me and the metal kept digging into my chest, I just kept hoping that whatever this was would end. Luckily, my thoughts were answered as the wind shifted direction and began to push with me. Slowly but surely, it stopped trying to crush my body and crashed into a small floating island. I stumbled backwards and laid on the ground and just groaned in pain. The after-ache tingled throughout my body, leaving behind pins and needles of fire.
"Are you okay?" I heard the familiar voice of Morro yell out at me. My brain soon forgot what he said, and I just gave a noise of agony. It was time to rest, I really needed it. Closing my eyes and just writhing on the ground, I began to let my mind fade from reality.
"Hello again." The void of my mind was enlightened as the Preeminent came into existence, morphing from a green orb into a regal figure, with a dark green ethereal dress settling into place beneath her feet. Long dark hair reached down her front, every movement dragging them slowly through space, as if she were underwater. What surprised me the most was that her figure was not that of a Lego that I had come to get used to, but a reflection of the human design that I had missed greatly. The mind was really a fantastical place.
"Miss Preeminent! It is nice to hear from you, it's been a while…"
"I'm sorry that you have gone through so much, and I was not able to help." She sighed, and I shrugged.
"It's nothing you could change."
"As the Cursed Realm, I should have the power to protect every single one of you."
"You're an entire realm. While you have power, it's only applicable here and in limited amounts. It is unfortunate what happened, but there is not a lot that you can do."
"What can I do? I cannot have my subjects being swept up from beneath my feet and treated like you!"
"I'm not sure, really. The most I can think of is an alarm system, where others can call to you that someone is missing or is at risk. Though I don't know if that is very effective."
"Perhaps, we will have to look into such a system."
"There is just so much change over the time I've been here that I'm not sure whether we should continue to bring in such drastic changes so quickly. It can cause a lot of issues." I sighed.
"Another day then. My apologies if this subject would be a recent wound for you, but I wish to inquire about your time in Ninjago."
"What about it?"
"The treatment you received could be considered an act of war, and I am very inclined to view it as such. However, I understand that you are the best advisor we have in the realm and comprehend the idea of war. Considering you were also the subject of poor treatment, I want to know if you deem war a beneficial plan." The Preeminent growled, and I frowned.
"War is the last thing I want. Do not engage in war, especially since this is the actions of one and not many. I've also already instilled diplomatic relations, which a war would cut that to pieces. And there is too much pain that is involved with it. Please, only begin war if there is no other choice."
"Very well. I suggest you return to the tears, they continue to bring me unease." Her regal voice echoed, obviously in disagreement with my statement. She faded away into the black, the world becoming green once more.
I returned to the real world after who knows how long, staring up at a ceiling. I was inside? As I began to sit up, I stretched out my achy limbs. No one was around, and I realized I had to do my job.
Shooting off into the sky, I searched for more portals to close. Finding a good sized cluster, I noticed that we only had about a fourth left to go on the portals. I sighed and began working again, more rested and prepared to handle the job.
Portal after portal disappeared, and I felt good as each one faded away. Finally, this whole debacle could be over.
"Glad to see you're doing alright." I heard Morro from behind and I immediately turned to face him.
"Morro! I'm glad to see you!" I laughed as I greeted him with a smile.
"I'd hope so! Considering I had to help stop the boat trying to tear you in half!" He laughed back, not even worried in the slightest.
"Yeah, that wasn't particularly fun…"
"I hope you're feeling better now."
"Could've been worse." I shrugged, and Morro facepalmed.
"You exhausted yourself and got hit by a boat moving faster than people could blink, I don't know how you think it could've been worse!" He exclaimed, but I only sighed.
"Lots of ways it could've been worse. I'm fine now though, and that's all that matters."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes." Morro fell silent for a moment.
"Well, if you need to talk, just come and find me."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Alright. I'm going to keep working on closing portals. See you later." Morro sighed as he flew away, leaving me to feel a bit regretful by myself.
I had done something wrong, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. I couldn't pinpoint whether it was my flippant attitude about being hit by a boat, or that I easily admitted that there was worse than a boat.
Nonetheless, I had a job to do. I couldn't afford to waste too much of my time.
Continuing the monotonous process, I kept my thoughts in the back of my mind. There would be no way to control them if I dared let one ."
He flew off into the distance, leaving me behind. I stared where his green aura disappeared and I frowned. I knew somehow I had missed some sort of social cue. And I felt bad about it too, knowing that Morro was the person I knew most here in the Cursed Realm.
Turning away, I continued my task, closing the last of the portals.
Bright green danced along the skies in celebration, as every portal was closed. Songs were played and sung, it was a party to beat Mardi Gras.
Even I was in a celebratory mood, mingling with more strangers than usual and occasionally speaking to the Preeminent. It was a glorious event, the realm reaching the highest peak it had yet.
Sports events and competitions were held in the amphitheater. Trade was opened to Ninjago for a short while, food being distributed to as many ghosts as the people could afford. Neighborhoods would suddenly burst into cheers, and Heart was always full.
Though at the moment, my mind was focused on looking out at the realm before me, sitting atop a bone spire on the legislature building. While I had enjoyed the festivities, there still hung a cloud of guilt above me. The stress that had been laid upon the citizens and the queen herself was only due to me.
I needed to build again.
Gliding towards a new space, I stared at what could be. What else was there to build?
After a few different designs flashed ahead of me, I felt that a market was the best to build. Quickly, I began to pile up materials that had randomly fallen through, collecting all that I could carry and marking other junk for when I could get others to help me place things down.
Yes, this would end up nicely.
"You need to stop."
Well, it had been a while since I had heard those words.
"Stop what?" I turned away from my project, twenty greek-themed stands patiently sitting upon the dark green ground, colors mismatching in a patterned yet chaotic way. Carvings laced their sides, weaved to portray misery through a cheerful lens. Sharp lines danced around the inside, yet curved and dainty shapes twirled around the edges.
"You've been doing this for a long time. You're ignoring everything by building whatever this place is." Morro argued, and I shrugged.
"So? That's what I've done this whole time."
"It's not healthy." My emotions boiled at that statement. Several responses danced across my mind, but I kept them silent. No need to start a fight with the only person I really considered a true friend.
"It's not that simple, we both know that. It's complicated, it's ugly, and I don't want to be consumed by it."
"Neither do I, but every time I look at you all I can see is…" He trailed off, and I looked back at my stands.
"See this? See my whole life hidden behind these carvings and buildings, poured out for the whole realm, but still buried underneath so many stupid layers that no one can figure me out? Is that what it is?" I spat out, my temper burning with a passion.
"Yes, and it's hurting you!"
"I know that! I deserve it! At least it's productive, because obviously I've shed too many tears, and can't spare a single drop of water anymore." Internal suffering, always my best defense and knife to my own heart.
"Something's wrong with you, isn't there?" Morro seemed to realize something.
"Really, what gave you the impression of that?" I sneered, facing back at him.
"You're ignoring everything. Don't you remember all the things you have to do, to uphold and protect the realm?" A valid point I could not ignore, slapping me in the face.
"I do. But I can't… I need to do this. I have to finish it."
"Do you now? What, sit here and ignore the responsibilities you have? Do nothing? I came here because I wanted to make sure that you'd stop trying to achieve some impossible dream of making yourself suffer enough, but obviously you need a slap to the face with reality!" Morro sent a gust of wind at me, a gentle nudge that felt like he had punched me.
"And what do you expect? I'm not even an adult!"
"You're right, but you've taken on these responsibilities. You need to wake up and do them! We all may be immortal, but the rest of the realms aren't. Work on this later, but right now you have jobs to do."
Well, he wasn't wrong. But what did he expect?
"I'm not leaving." I picked up my tools, floating back to the stand I was working on.
"Yes, you are." The Preeminent?
"Sounds like you've got the message." I frowned, staring up at the sky.
"Morro and I have been taking care of a lot while you have been here. While we understand and respect you, we cannot continue taking care of the issues that have plagued our communication with the realm of Ninjago. You are needed." Another message I had not heard in many, many years.
"I cannot ignore a request of yours. Consider it done." I sighed, and the triumphant look on Morro's face was almost heartwarming.
"I am glad to have reached a speedy agreement." The Preeminent seemed humored by my response, and I wished to roll my eyes.
"You have played your cards well." I huffed, and Morro laughed.
"I knew you probably wouldn't listen to me, no matter how much you cared. It's a bit of a pattern with you, after all." He smirked, and I knew it was true. Of course, I didn't want to admit it.
"Guess you know me well." I shrugged, giving one last glance back at my incomplete creation.
"You'll finish it, just not today."
"Let's just… Fix what needs to be fixed."
"Then I guess we're going on a trip." Morro held up the Realm Crystal, opening a portal to Ninjago.
"What now?" I complained, and Morro raised an eyebrow.
"Does the 'Hands of Time' mean anything to you?"
"You've got to be kidding me." I deadpanned, diving into the portal. He followed behind me, and we appeared in the remains of a burnt Monastery.
Wu stood in front of us, staring above at the sky, lost in the secrets it kept; of which I knew not.
"You've called in the right person for time travel." I interrupted his staring, though he only spared me a short glance.
"While I wish to fight this on my own, I have seen what you have gone through to do the same. I am often a fool, but today I hope to be wise." Not once did he tear his eyes from the heavens above.
"Well, that doesn't surprise me." Morro poked, and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"It's probably not the best time for that right now." I replied. As soon as I finished, the blue above me opened to reveal a vortex, no, two vortices! Green, red, yellow, and blue, wisps swirling into the dark infinity of Ninjago's timeline.
"Woah." Morro gasped, and I only felt anger.
"We fight until Acronix yields." Wu's words only egged me on, ready to beat them into oblivion.
A figure burst from the hole in the sky, dark hood with a green cloak and all. I did not hesitate in becoming invisible, diving towards the stranger.
"Why hello there!" I laughed, knocking Acronix down.
"New friends? You're getting old, Wu!" He shouted, aiming to hit what he could not see. I simply danced away, delighted to toy with the person who dared to mess with the timeline willingly.
"In his age, he finally made a wise choice, Mr. Acronix. I'm the best expert on messing with Ninjago's timeline, and you had better yield before this reality falls apart!" I hissed, grabbing onto his cape and raising him towards the vortex, but not letting him escape my grasp.
"Ghosts? You'd partner with ghosts?" Acronix teased Wu, even from this height.
"Seems like I've already got you in a compromising position, and it hasn't even been a minute. Is it really in your best interest to insult me?" I wiggled his cape, bluffing that I'd actually drop him. At worst, I'd possess him. I dared not kill again.
"Oh, really? Says a Solenade!" He pointed to my arm, as if it meant something to me.
"Belongs there. I could describe to you in perfect detail of how I earned it, if you'd like. Does murder sound pleasant?" I hissed, and he shut up real fast.
"That's what I thought. Now, are we going to yield? Or do I have to leave a stain on the remains of the monastery?" I held out the cape, letting it slip slightly. A yelp of fear followed, and I could see the defeat in his eyes.
"Yes, yes, I yield!" I gently lowered him down to the ground, ready to hand him over to Wu when another thing fell out of the portal before it closed, green and electric, leaving a shockwave to burst out through Ninjago.
It was a rush, a blur. I could remember it before knowing I had felt it. The cape would leave my grasp, I'd rush to grab what Acronix wanted desperately, Wu would shout, and we would end up here.
Well, here was me being hunched over the blade and attempting to prevent Acronix from grabbing it as I could feel something tear my insides apart. I reached to grab the blade and throw it away, but a portal opened on my hand, forcing me to miss and letting Acronix steal it back.
"Not so confident now, huh? And it's only been a minute into the future!" He laughed, and Morro instantly came to my defense, wind howling as he tried to separate man from blade. With a steel grip, Acronix jumped above the wind currents, diving towards Morro.
"No!" I screeched, forcing my body to move and protect him.
Green, lightning, the shock. From the outside in, striking for the core, the glowing time-travel blade aimed true. I could feel my body struggling to translate the energy, both immortal and foreign. Sparks, and more portals forming, deadly freckles of time sprouting all across my form.
It was worse than Lloyd, no matter how much I didn't think it was possible. My atoms were being ripped apart, put together again, and forced to move in the fourth dimension. There was no way to describe it, my ghostly nerves set alight with information, yet in the moment they didn't quite exist.
The fabric of time was tearing apart at my seam, trying to fix what had punctured holes in the delicate space. I had tried to scream, to express the new pain that the universe chose to make me suffer for my crimes, but all that had fallen out were earthly things, slicing up my insides.
Being aware of the outside world was impossible at this point, when my own reality was a color outside of the imagination, flashing brighter than the whitest of whites, burning green with an intensity far beyond that of a powerline, solid black creating voids beyond my sight. A sensation that couldn't be replicated by anyone else, a punishment just for me.
In that moment, I wanted death again. If the afterlife was this cruel, where I could never reach an ultimate threshold of pain, it wasn't worth living.
But of course, that wasn't the case. It never would be. The Preeminent would never take over Ninjago and die in the waters beside Styx, I would never be free of the curse placed upon me.
Thus, I could only writhe on the stone, continuing to vomit the objects forced through my center, while the punctures of spacetime clawed into my ghostly body with white-hot spikes, my reality flipping back and forth between what was, what would be, what could be, what should be.
One by one, the tears began to fade away, leaving a light green circle behind in every space they occupied. Imaginary colors faded away to reveal the true space around me, quiet and peaceful. Of course, peaceful in all areas other than the random objects that ejected themselves from the portals and even through my mouth, teddy bears of children and razor blades littering the floor beneath me, lucky to not be covered in red.
I couldn't speak, and I couldn't move. The afterglow of pain made sure of that, hazing my view and making it horrible to move my limbs at all.
Within the back of my mind, a creeping guilt merged with the fading pain, staring at the hazy visions of children's toys. The reminder that they were all dead only made the pain worse, more punishment for my sorry excuse of a soul.
Time only seemed to drag, every moment captured in a hazy view that seemed so perfectly accurate. Like the slow motion of a camera in snow, catching the flakes falling out of view.
When the blur became clarity, I began trying to sit up, hands catching onto the blades beneath, but only a small annoyance in comparison to my unearthly tendons begging to be left alone.
Speaking was still out of the question, but groaning in pain was easy as I finally leaned forward and curled in on myself. I could see countless circles left behind, unnatural in their shape and amount, but looked like they belonged.
Eventually, the pain finally became an ache I could handle.
"Acronix took the time blade." Wu whispered, careful not to irritate my senses. Or perhaps he was also in shock, I couldn't tell the difference.
"Are you okay?" Was Morro's question, but I stared up at him, and he knew.
"Oh."
"I'm so tired." Three words, yet they felt like lead.
"We can't stay." I could hear the sadness, the understanding that passed between us. I lied there for a few moments more, preparing for the ache that would arise from moving.
When I finally did stand up on my own, my body felt like hot wax. Aches burned everywhere, slow and heavy. At least it was better than before, far less invasive and more manageable. With that, I could finally start thinking and find a way to get rid of those things.
"I'm sorry that I have brought you into this, it was a mistake-" Wu began to apologise, but I cut him off quickly.
"No. You were right to bring me in. I know my weakness now, and I have the most drive to bring them down. And… With the current state of Lloyd, it's difficult to fight enemies as a smaller team. Now it's my job to make yours easier." I hissed, staring down at the perfect circles still imprinted on my skin. Unnatural, even on a Lego. More so by the fact that I was still short compared to everyone else, representing a child. It would be their mistake.
"But I cannot in good spirit-" Wu tried to start again, but I refused to listen to him.
"Good spirit or not, they're still out there. Besides, considering the diplomatic relations between our realms, we are your ally. It's either me, or someone else."
"And if something goes wrong, I'm still here." Morro agreed, sticking up for me. It was nice of him, I noted.
"Then what will you do when another…" Wu stared at the glittering blades sitting nearby, "incident like this happens. It would be far too cruel to send you against an enemy who with one punch, can give you an awful and horrible pain." Quiet, reserved. He was traumatized too. I didn't blame him.
"A valid point. Admittedly, I do not want to face the possibility of being hit by another Time Blade. It was…" I trailed off, unsure of how to say it, "It was. It was and I want it to stay that way. But time is my domain. It is my burden to bear. If they think that I will simply allow them to manipulate it without a fight, then they are fools." I hissed, fury reigniting in my veins. Sensei Wu remained quiet for a moment, then sighed.
"I know there is no way to stop you. Many have tried, and you still remain. All I ask is that you do not treat the Time Twins with cruelty." Wu gave in.
"I will do my best to restrain myself. I cannot promise any more than that."
"It is enough for me." The old man resigned to face away from us, and stared into the distance with guilty eyes.
Pain is Myrana's best friend at this point. Don't expect it to leave either...
Well, if you care to read these Authors Notes, I would like to let you know that I am very busy. Really, really, busy. My schoolwork has increased by a substantial margin, and it won't go down until at least another year from now. I'm struggling in classes, and I have exams coming up as well. I may not post for a long while again, but I will try. We will see. But always stay confident that I will finish this!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to be back soon!
Review, favorite, follow, share, whatever. HAVE A GOOD DAY!