At exactly 8am everyone gathered on the bridge of the bounty. The ninja stared at the drawing in front of them. They were more than just a little impressed. None of them had expected it to look this good or detailed.
What was in front of them was more than what they had expected. After more than 2 hours Morro had called all of them, saying he was finally finished with the map he was supposed to make. But when they entered the bridge, it wasn't like looking at a simple map.
It was like taking a look at one of the most detailed paintings they had ever seen. A modern Picasso.
Jay had been to a gallery once, with Nya. She wanted to see the paintings so badly and the blue ninja saw his chance on a date. Not like he had told her that he had seen it as one. Jay himself hadn't been very interested in the paintings. Or so he thought.
When he arrived with Nya, he had been impressed. It was weird at first. Usually, Jay was only interested in computers. But looking at the paintings he noticed how simple things as paint and drawing was creativity and technique just as much as a car.
Everything had its place and when you did one thing to early, it was ruined. And from that day on, it was Jay who insisted on going to the gallery whenever something new came.
"This is very detailed. How were you able to recreate it with such presession?" Zane asked.
The former ghost shrugged. "I just have a good memory."
"Even with good memory, making a map that detailed seems near impossible" Cole meant.
"Yeah, I don't know anyone that would be able to recreate it after seeing in only once. Well, beside Zane" Kai said.
"Indeed. Though I believe that it has to do with the memory games I taught you" Wu smiled.
"Memory games?" Jay raised an eyebrow.
And this was the first time they had actually seen Morro act uncomfortable. Embarrassed even. He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, maybe."
"Nu-uh, now you have to tell us" Jay grinned. This was way too funny to let it go. They finally had a chance to embarrass the wind master. And that chance would probably never come again.
"It's nothing worth talking about" Morro said, crossing his arms. But the blush on his cheeks told the ninja otherwise.
"No need to be shy about it. I found that time very nice" Wu chuckled.
The wind master glared at his sensei. Traitor, he thought. Giving the ninja something to annoy him. Something to embarrass him. But he would find something in return. Something that would make them shut up about it. But for now, he had no choice but to tell them
"Fine" he groaned. "A few weeks after I came to the monastery sensei taught me some tricks to remember stuff better. I was really bad with grammar and stuff. He would call them 'memory games'. I hated them" he grumbled.
"Not what I remember" the old sensei chirped.
Morro glared back. He was so not getting out of this one.
"You were excited for it every day. 'Learning something new during the day is worth getting up for' I believe were your words" Wu chuckled.
Another groan came when the ninja began laughing. He remembered how excited and innocent he sounded on those days. Yes, he had loved learning something new, but the others could seriously shut up about it.
"At least you got one of them to listen to you" Garmadon chuckled.
"Hey!" the four boys yelled, offended.
The former ghost snickered, earning a glare from the ninja this time. It was so worth it. Carma will always get you.
"Now that we all got out laugh of the day, it is time to get back to business" Wu reminded.
All of them nodded before looking back at the map in front of them. Morro didn't see any reason to draw the whole castle. Not like he had seen every room. He had drawn every room he had seen thought, connecting them with lines. The lines showed the hallways. It showed them how every room was connected.
There was just one room he had seen its existents, but not what was in there. The room on the lowest level. He and Lloyd had never gone in there. But Morro had seen the staircase that led further down. He had his own suspicions though.
"What's in there" Cole asked, pointing at the unknown room.
"Not sure" Morro shrugged. "I haven't been down there. I just know that it's there."
"What could be in there?" Kai asked.
The former ghost took a deep breath. When he thought about it, he knew. He knew very well hat, or rather who was in there. They had to keep prisoners somewhere, right?
"If I had to guess, I would say the citizens" Morro grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Why would they keep the people of Ninjago in the castle?" Misako asked.
She was nervous to know the answer, Morro could tell. Of course, he could just lie to her. But they knew just as much as him how the oni kept themselves alive. And there was only one way for their twisted minds.
"It does make sense" Zane said. "We know what oni feed on. Keeping the citizens of Ninjago in the castle would always give them a source of food."
"Yes" the wind master nodded. "But I doubt they kill them to feed. As sick as it sounds, their recourses would run out way to fast."
That thought alone send a shiver down his spine. Being half oni himself, Morro knew what it was like to feed from a human. In the first few minutes it felt good. But once you realized what had happened, it just felt wrong.
Even though he had been very young when that incident happened, he remembered it clearly. After he had gotten back to reality, he had felt more than just sick. He shook his head. Back to the main topic.
"If we go in there it would be hard to get all of the citizens out to. I saw oni everywhere. They're guarding this place 24/7. There is no way to get all of them out. But leaving them in there isn't really an option as well" the former ghost said.
Kai crossed his arms. "It has to be, for now. We wouldn't be able to sneak all of them out of there. If just one oni notices us, it would alert Lloyd. And then the whole plan would be garbage" he said.
The others nodded. As wrong as it felt, for once they had to leave the citizens in danger. It was better this way.
"Okay, the throne room is there" Cole pointed at the largest room. "Harumi said she would meet us there. She has all the pieces of the crystal. The moment that the pieces are brought back together, Lloyd has to be in there. If not, we're toast."
Yeah, pretty much. From what he had learned about Harumi, Morro still didn't know if she was someone they could trust. Then again, he had once been just like her, maybe worse. Tricking and using everyone.
"You think she'll find a way to make sure that he's there in time?" Jay asked. He still felt unsure of attacking one of his friends, no matter the circumstances.
"Harumi has proven to be crafty and convincing in the past. I am positive that she will find a way" Zane said.
Which is exactly what concerned most of them. They knew that Harumi could be manipulative. The question was who she decided to manipulate. Lloyd, or the ninja.
"None of that is important now. Harumi will concentrate on her part, as will we!" Garmadon interjected.
"Right" Misako agreed. "It is rather simple. Get into the castle, put the crystal back together, fly to the dark island and allow the golden power to help Lloyd."
Saying it like this, it did sound simple. But all of them began to ask themselves if maybe, it sounded just too simple.
It was 11:30pm when Harumi found herself in the throne room alone once again. There wasn't much time left and things were getting complicated.
While it wasn't a problem to get the oni out, getting Lloyd in was rather hard. He didn't see any reason to spend time with her alone in there. That was when she had noticed how right Kai had been.
He had warned her. Told her that he would get bored with her soon enough. Toss her aside. She didn't know what he was doing all day long if he wasn't sitting in the throne room. But she knew from experience just how boring that could be.
And it wasn't out of boredom that he was avoiding the room. It was because he was planning something. Lloyd was no fool, Harumi knew that. He knew exactly that the ninja would attack sooner of later.
Which was why he was preparing himself. And nothing Harumi did would be able to move his thoughts into a different direction.
It didn't matter though. All she had to do right now was wait. Wait another thirty minutes until the ninja would arrive. By then, that she was sure of, Lloyd would already have joined her in the large room. And the second the ninja entered; she would do it.
Harumi knew exactly where all of the pieces were. The most important piece never left her side. And the rest of them, well, she couldn't leave them in her jacket. She decided to hide them. Leaving most of the realm crystal in their shared room would only cause trouble.
If Llyod had found out about them, then he would start to mistrust her. He would want to know why she hadn't told him right away. Why she kept it a secret. And then her cover would be blown.
Harumi sighed, running a hand through her hair. Fifteen more minutes. That's what the clock said. She hadn't even noticed its presence until a few days ago. It was time.
Crouching behind the throne, Harumi lifted one of the stones. She had dug one of them out and hid the pieces in there. It was the safest place. But when she reached inside, unable to see properly into the hole, she was surprised to find nothing.
Nothing. Empty. That couldn't be! Harumi knew that this was the place she had put the crystal into. In a small bag out of cloth to make sure that they weren't damaged any further.
It was here! She knew that it was here. So why wasn't it? Where was the crystal? God damn it!
With a frustrated sigh, Harumi stood back up. It was fine. Maybe she had taken the wrong stone out. No one beside her knew of her secret. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she stroked her hair back with both of her hands, turning to sit back down for a moment. She didn't get that far.
Harumi shrieked when she opened her eyes again, being met with familiar purple eyes. Lloyd sat there with a calmness that the former princess didn't expect.
He held the bag with the crystal pieces in one hand. None of them could see them, but they knew that they were inside. The other hand was holding his chin up while the elbow rested on the armrest.
"So" Lloyd spoke calmly, not even bothering to get mad at her.
Harumi took a deep breath. Seems like she had been caught. She was a fool to believe that he would not mistrust her for even a second. It wouldn't be the first time, right? Last time it had been worse. But even when she tried to do the right thing for once, she still betrayed him in every way possible.
"You betrayed me again."
Fifteen more minutes….
Hello fellas. After over two weeks I have finished another chapter. I have never been a person of many words, so I'll leave it here with six important words:
Shit is about to go down