Hey everyone! Yeah I'm not dead. To be honest, I lost interest in Ninjago for a while. But I rewatched some of the seasons and now I'm into it again. So here I finally give you a new chapter. Hope you enjoys ;)
A week has passed by now and Harumi regrated everything. Every choice she had made that led her to this point. It was her fault and she knew it well enough.
If only she had accepted things how they had happened. If she had accepted the death of her parents and moved on. She should've been grateful to have survived on that day, that the emperor and empress took her in when she had nowhere to go.
She should've known so much better. Now it was her that caused pain among the citizens of Ninjago. Because of her, the oni had the chance to return, and they did. Because of her, everything happened.
Kai had been right, she realized. It wasn't Lloyd's fault. It never was. In her desperation she took the first person she could, to blame the death of her parents. The person that had freed the serpentine in the first place.
But it wasn't his fault, Harumi knew that now. It didn't matter who freed the serpentine. What mattered was that he had tried to make it better. That he had tried to stop them. But she was blinded by her own rage.
"This is my fault" she whispered to herself.
She didn't lie when she told Lloyd she had tried. Tried to hate him, to blame him for everything. In the beginning she did, but in the end she lost, again. This person sitting on a throne and feeding of humans was not the boy she loved.
It was a creation of dark magic and oni blood. Not too long ago she would've loved to see that image, but now? Now she just wished she really could've helped him. Could've stopped it. But all she could do was bring the pieces of the crystal back together.
She had all of them in her possession and was honestly surprised that Lloyd had yet to notice this. Harumi had made up her mind days ago. She would help the ninja get their friend back and stop the oni.
But the fear she had was stronger than her will to help. She feared that, if Lloyd actually found out about this, she would be dead before she knew it. And the pieces would be buried somewhere. In different places, never to be found again.
But everyday she saw how Lloyd would look out of the window, eyes gleaming in delight when he thought about the ninja attacking and running into their doom. The blond girl didn't need to ask. She knew what he was thinking about. She had thought like that for a long time.
She couldn't take it anymore. Harumi has made her decision. Now she had to act on it. She knew how to do it, there was just one problem: the oni were always watching.
No matter she went, one of them was always around, circling the castle, inside and outside, to make sure no one got in unnoticed. But they were ninja, Harumi reminded herself. They wouldn't have a problem getting inside.
Everyone had told her what to do. How to make sure everything went smoothly. Contact the ninja, tell them when to come, put the crystal together (preferably when Lloyd was around to knock him out), get to the dark island (which she had never heard about) and give Lloyd his golden power back.
Then he would be able to defeat the oni and everything would be fine again. At least she hoped so.
Harumi sighed, sinking down further in the throne. It was Lloyd's yes, but she hadn't gotten her own yet. While her back rested on one of the armrests, her legs were thrown over the other. She rubbed her temples. Life was way to complicated when you lived with the ninja.
The oni perked up at her frustrated sound but said nothing. Lloyd had commanded them to listen to everything she said, which was great. Of course they wouldn't listen to commands like: restrain your master, but she would take what she would get.
Harumi rubbed her temples. Why couldn't she just do it? Contacting the ninja would be so easy. Everything she needed was right on her dress. The dress she came to hate. It was rather fast when she decided she didn't like the darkness as much as she had thought.
As if everything she had done and believed in these past years had been a dream, a lie.
"Mistress, are you feeling well?" one of the oni finally asked.
Harumi looked over with boredom in her eyes. She rested her cheek in one of her fists. No, nothing was alright. Maybe it was the thought of betraying Lloyd once again that made her struggle, but this time it would be the right choice.
"No" she said, rolling her eyes. "Leave me alone for a moment" she ordered.
The five oni bowed before leaving the room. Large double doors slamming shut behind them. Biting her lip, Harumi took the hairpin out and started tapping.
When she was young, the emperor had taught her morse codes. And she knew that at least Zane would understand them. She remembered what they had told her on the day she left.
"It is simple" Zane said. "When you have the final piece you will contact us. Tell us when we must come to get you and Lloyd out of there."
"And remember, the oni could be listening. So could Lloyd. Make sure you are alone and tell us in a way they can't understand" Cole reminded.
"How do I know when the right time is? I can't get you guys on the first day" Harumi said.
"Wait a few days" Morro said, crossing his arms. "Gain his trust. The moment you think you have it, you contact us. Be careful though. Who knows what they do if they catch you."
She took a deep breath and nodded. Yes, that could work. It had to work. "Okay" she breathed.
"Well then" she looked over to the door. "Only one thing left to do" a deep breath and a shudder. She could only hope that this would go well.
At 4am a message arrived at the home of the ninja. An alarm rang through the whole monastery.
"With a scream of surprise, Jay fell out of his bed. He groaned, sitting up again and leaning against his bed. He looked up to see his brothers having a reaction. Well, except for Zane, who sat up slowly and patiently. The ginger could've cursed. Nothing could bring that nindroid out of his calm nature. Sometimes he wished he had that too.
"What the actual hell" Kai groaned, ready to roll into his bed again.
Cole looked over at the clock on the nightstand. "Really?! Now!" he yelled, throwing his hands up in annoyance.
"I do hope its important" Jay muttered.
"indeed" Zane nodded. "It appears that Harumi has send us a message."
"At this hour?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
"Zane! I thought you said that the messages would come in the second she send them" Cole groaned, falling back onto his bed, a pillow over his face.
Just like the others, she preferred to go back to bed and ignore the message until it was morning. But with the nagging feeling that it could be important….
"Let Morro get it" Jay waved them off, climbing back into bed. "He barely sleeps at all."
"I would but…."
Jay yelped falling right back to the ground. He groaned, this would be a long night. He doubted that there would be any more sleep at all.
"But what?" Kai asked, jumping to the ground. Having the upper bed wasn't always bad.
"I have no idea what it says" the former ghost shrugged.
"Did she forget how to talk?" Cole asked, still not moving.
"I do not understand. Did Harumi have an accident? One does not simply forget how to talk" Zane said with confusion.
Morro raised an eyebrow at the nindroids before looking at the others for answers. Jay just shrugged.
After everyone was gathered, they looked over the message Harumi had left them.
"Play it again" Garmadon ordered.
"Jay pressed the 'play' button again for what felt like the hundredths times, a yawn escaping him. None of them had slept very long and it was only 4:30 am.
"Still have no idea what that means" Cole shrugged.
The clicking and tapping sounds that could be heard in the audio made no sense to him. It sounded like she had let the hairpin fall a few times before finally picking it up again.
"It seems like I have forgotten to teach all of you how to understand morse codes" Wu said.
"What's a morse code" Morro asked.
"Something that has been invented for communication without words. The sounds you hear is a message, designed for only us to understand" Misako explained.
"I see. In that case I can analyze them" Zane said. "From the beginning please" he said, eyes glowing a faint blue light.
Jay groaned, throwing his head onto the table and pressing 'play' yet again.
When the complete message had ended yet again, Zane smiled. Finally a good message.
"So, what does it say?" kai asked, a bit of impatience in his voice. He was tired, just like the rest. Going back to bed would be a blessing now.
"Harumi says that she believes to have gained Lloyd's full trust. She has obtained the ability to give the oni orders. She has that last piece of the crystal. She thinks the best is if we attack at midnight. Harumi will be waiting in the throne room. She also advises us to sneak in" the nindroids explained.
"Well duh" Jay rolled his eyes.
"At midnight? Is it really a good idea to attack when its night? They are stronger then" Cole added.
"You do realize that it is night all the time right now? Daylight isn't really a thing anymore" the former ghost said.
"Oh, yeah. Forgot that" a sheepish grin followed.
"But she's right. Attacking now is the best option. We'll make a plan, get in there, get them out and fly to the dark island. Can't be that hard" the brunette shrugged.
"I've been there. I know what it looks like on the inside" Morro reminded them. "I think I can make a plan of the castle. Then we'll know what to do." He looked over to Wu.
"You said that the light of the realm crystal would knock him out for an hour, right?"
"Yes, abut an hour" the old sensei nodded.
"I don't know where this dark island is, but I doubt it will only take and hour to get there" he crossed his arms.
"Me neither" Cole nodded in agreement. "I suggest vengestone cuffs. But I don't know if they work against oni."
Everyone looked over to the elder people in the room. Only they knew if there was anything else to keep an oni from fighting at their full power.
Garmadon sighed. "It will definitely work with his elemental powers. As for the oni part itself, I know that they hate light. Natural light that is."
"Does fire count? It's kind of natural light, right?" Kai asked.
"So is lightning" Jay added.
"I'm not sure. I remember that in the city, the golden armor was enough to hold them back" Garmadon explained.
Kai grimaced. They didn't have that anymore. "That thing doesn't exist anymore."
"Yeah, but we have our weapons back" Cole smiled.
"Yes" Misako nodded. "Keep one of them close to him, always. That should be enough to keep Lloyd at bay."
She didn't like it more than any of the others, hurting her own son like that. But what other choice did they have?
"Then it is settled. Get back to sleep everyone and sleep as long as you need. In the morning we will make a proper plan" Wu ordered.
As everyone left the room, none of them felt as if it was the right thing. Kidnaping one of their own, even under these circumstances. But it was necessary.
And sometimes you just had to do what didn't feel right.
Here we go. I want to update more often again. Though I don't really know how many more chapters there will be but I have a lot of different ideas for other stories.
But for now, tell me what you think, what you would want to see happen next. I love adding ideas from readers into stories.
Bye