Sorry this is late guys, I came down with a case of laziness
:^)
Review Replies:
Ninjachief: Wait, which thing- And you could be right, or you could be wrong...
NinjagoMLP: Cursed fanfiction.
Windy: He'll be able to see, anyway. "Okay" is... debatable. :)
Ebony: Someone needs to talk some sense into him.
Hey, wanna hear something cool? This chapter is exactly 2,000 words.
"She must've had something else on her, a lockpick or something." Kai 2 mused. "And picked the lock when we left to attack Morro."
"I guess, but why didn't she do it before?" Zane 1 asked.
"Maybe she's not good at picking locks, and only managed to do it like the sixth time we were away?" Jay 2 suggested.
"Maybe." In Lloyd's opinion, there was no point in discussing Charlie further. She had escaped, there was nothing they could do about it. They should let the civilians know that she was free, and warn them to be on their guard. Otherwise, there was nothing to be done. Standing up, the blond left the room and headed to the kitchen. He hadn't gotten around yet to bringing Morro some food. The blond located another packaged of dried fish and headed towards the jail. He debated on bringing him two, since it wasn't like it would spoil, but decided against it. Bringing him food was a good excuse to visit him, anyway. Morro 2 looked up as he entered the jail, looking expectant – and, almost happy to see him?
"Here." Lloyd pushed the fish through the bars towards him, and the ghost caught it.
"Thank… you." The ghost said slowly, almost awkwardly.
"You're welcome." Lloyd turned around to leave, but Morro stopped him again.
"Lloyd, do you think you could… get me some paper and a pen and ink?" The ghost spoke up as he reached for the doorknob. "It's boring being here all day with nothing to do…"
"Sure." Lloyd nodded, turning towards him for a moment. "I'll find some and be back in a few minutes."
"Okay." Morro nodded, picking at the fish package. "Th- thanks."
"No problem." Lloyd left, smiling as he headed down the hall towards his room. Morro definitely seemed to be on the right path. He wasn't as grumpy as he used to be, and he seemed to be warming up to him a little bit. Maybe he did have a chance with him after all.
TheDarknessReturn
"Thank you." Morro accepted the pen, paper, and the small bottle of ink that Lloyd passed him through the bars, setting them down by his feet. The words still felt strange on his tongue. He was more accustomed to being thanked than doing the thanking himself.
"Don't spill the ink, okay? You'll get burned." Lloyd warned him, and Morro gave him a faint, fake smile and a nod before watching him leave. Pity that was exactly what he planned to do.
Taking the pen, Morro took the cork out of the bottle of ink and dipped the pen into it, holding it up and letting a drop of black liquid fall onto his wrist. It burned. Good. It would work. Reaching down to the powers, the ghost drew a line, then another, and another, and another. The Japanese symbol for king. That could be him. He could still get his kingdom back. He just had to prove how loyal he was.
He had tricked Lloyd into thinking he was becoming soft and meek, tricked him into giving him his means to escape. Now he could kill himself, and appear back in his own Realm. Free. The Preeminent would see how clever and loyal he was, willing to feel the pain of death in order to further her cause. She would let him come back. Rule. Bansha had failed, perhaps he would get another chance.
Setting the pen down, Morro picked up the inkwell – only to discover that his hand was shaking. No, stop that! He wasn't afraid! He was only determined, determined to escape at all costs. He was brave, and emotionless, and… he was scared.
But that wasn't enough to stop him.
Carefully, he shook the bottle back and forth, trying to judge how much ink was inside it. It was small, but it seemed mostly full. That should be enough, especially if it hit his head or heart. Closing his eyes and flinching, Morro threw the ink onto himself.
TheDarknessReturn
"We can't wait for Bansha to make her move." Kai 1 leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the table. "She's crafty. She'll set another trap for us. What we-"
"Feet off the table, Kai." Dad interrupted.
"Fine." The fire ninja replaced his feet on the floor. "We need to capture her, and the Realm Crystal and the Sword of Sanctuary, and hope that she gets replaced with someone like Ghoultar."
"No, the Preeminent won't make a mistake like that." Soul Archer spoke up from where he sat beside Bansha. "Her replacement will be a ghost, someone the Preeminent can control, but she won't choose someone stupid. Perhaps Yokai, or Cowler."
"Never heard of them. But, yeah, she-" Kai broke off abruptly at the sound of a scream, and Lloyd looked up in alarm. That sounded like Morro. But their Morro was here… why was evil Morro screaming?
"I'm gonna go… check that out." Lloyd stood, hurrying out of the room and heading towards the jail. Opening the door, the blond's eyes widened as he felt his breath catch in his throat. Morro was slumped on the floor of his cell, black, smoking burns all over him. The inkwell he had given him was overturned on the ground, black specks of ink on the wall behind him.
"Morro!" He exclaimed. "What did you do?" His only reply was a weak groan. Grabbing the keys from a hook on the wall, Lloyd hurriedly unlocked the cell, stepping inside and kneeling beside the half-conscious ghost. "What were you trying to do?" The blond repeated, reaching down to touch his smoldering shoulder. When his finger touched him, the ghost hissed, flinching away, and Lloyd lifted his hand to see ink on the tip of his finger. It hadn't burned away? That's where the smoke was coming from – the ink was slowly burning away, instead of vanishing in a flash like water did.
Frowning, Lloyd took his other, dry hand, and brought it up through his arm, the ink coming off on his hand since it was solid. He could get it off. He had to, the ink might kill Morro if he left it, and even if he didn't, it would be cruel to let the ghost suffer. Standing up, he hurried back out of the cell, not bothering to lock it. He needed to get some supplies.
TheDarknessReturn
**** that hurt.
Morro clenched his fists, hissing under his breath as another wave of pain hit him. Stupid ink, stupid him. He had seen how the ink reacted when he let a drop fall on his arm, why didn't he put two and two together and not thrown the whole thing on himself? Now he was completely helpless. He couldn't even move.
He had heard Lloyd's voice a minute ago. He sounded upset. Angry? He had touched him a couple times, then left. What was he up to?
The ghost heard footsteps, and then Lloyd's voice again.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm gonna try to get the ink off, okay?" Wh- why? He felt the sensation of something passing through him, then the pain on his arm went down a bit. He took a shaky breath, letting his body relax a little bit. He felt it again, and the pain went down more. Lloyd repeated this process over and over, how, he wasn't sure, but slowly and steadily removing the ink that was slowly eating away at him.
Finally, it seemed to be all off, but his burns still hurt a lot. About half a minute passed of nothing, and he was starting to wonder if Lloyd had left, but then he felt a hand lift his arm and start wrapping it with some sort of cloth. It had to be something with deepstone, or else it would go through him. Whatever it was, it was cool, and the pressure made the burns hurt a bit less. Bandages?
Lloyd bandaged his arms and some of his head, he didn't try with the ones on his chest and stomach, probably because his shirt was in the way. He didn't attempt to bandage his face either, which he was glad about because he liked being able to see, talk, and breathe. Finally, the green ninja sat back, and asked,
"Can you talk?" The former king was silent for a few moments before saying,
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"A failed escape attempt." Lloyd sighed.
"I thought… I mean, why? What do you have to gain from going back to the Cursed Realm?"
"Bansha failed. I thought… if I went back, I might get another chance." The ghost muttered. "Now I don't have a chance to go back."
"The Preeminent doesn't need you anymore. You know that. You've served her purpose, now she's getting rid of you. Why do you even feel the need to try? Why do you want her to take you back? You know she's just using you."
"Because even if I am being used, at least I'm a king instead of a-" Morro snarled in pain as he tried to lift his head, letting it fall back to the ground. "…instead of a prisoner." He mumbled the last few words.
"You don't have to be a prisoner."
"And what, join you?"
"What's so terrible about that?"
"You hate me!"
"No I don't."
"Yes you do!" The ghost snapped. "You threatened to torture me to death! You took my entire life away from me! You hate me!"
"Morro, I don't hate you." Lloyd's voice was almost gentle. "I was angry about what you did to Madilyn. And yeah, your life involved tormenting us and imposing your will on the entire world. That's not a good thing. If I hated you, would I bandage you up and get the ink off you so it stopped hurting you?" Morro frowned.
"I… maybe."
"Really? You think I would go to all the trouble of trying to keep you from being hurt if I hated you? No one would judge me if I left you to suffer, would they? Not even you." The ghost curled into himself a bit.
"I don't- I don't know."
"I don't hate you. I want to be your friend." Morro opened his eyes in surprise.
"Are you serious? After all I've done?"
"Yes."
"No. You're lying." The ghost squeezed his eyes shut again. "You're trying to manipulate me into joining you."
"No I'm not."
"You are!"
"How do you know?"
"I just do! There's no way you can really like me after what I've done!"
"Morro, not everyone thinks like you do."
"I don't pretend they do! But no one is that forgiving! No one can trust their enemy that much!"
"But I can. Morro, there's a reason I'm the green ninja, and it's not just because I'm powerful. It's because I'm kind too."
"No! There's no way you-"
"Morro, you're in denial."
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are! Just think for a minute! Not everyone is so consumed with hate that they can't become friends with their enemy. Look at me and my Morro!" The former king frowned a bit.
"He didn't do all I've done."
"He possessed me and made me hurt my friends."
"Then you're manipulating him too."
"You think so? You've seen how much we care about each other."
"Well-"
"There's no point in my arguing with you if you're not going to listen." He heard Lloyd stand up. "Rest. Don't do anything stupid." Then he walked out of the cell, locked it, and left the room. Morro was silent for a few moments before lifting his head a bit, opening his eyes. Lloyd had cleaned up the rest of the ink and taken the pen and empty inkwell away. The papers were still there, stacked in a corner. Though… Lloyd had changed what it said. He had crossed out the symbol for king, and added his own.
"Friend".
Here's hoping I didn't make a typo and ruin the dramatic effect -ok emoji-
~FFF