When the bright golden light died down, Harumi found herself near the center of the room. She blinked several times, adjusting her vision. Even though her eyes had been closed, the light had been bright enough to make the sun look dark.
It had been like looking directly into the sun, only brighter. Looking around, she noticed that the others must've experienced something familiar, with how they were rubbing their eyes and shaking their heads.
But Harumi's mind quickly focused on something else. Something more important. She saw Lloyd laying in the center of the room, unconscious once again. Must be annoying to miss this much, she thought. Neither the weapons nor the crystal were there anymore though.
The former princess quickly rushed forward, shaking his shoulder. "Lloyd?" she called.
He was blond again, skin not as pale as it had been minutes ago. She still held her breath when she noticed that his eyes were twitching with effort to open. And when they did, they were the pure innocent green that she loved.
Without thinking much, Harumi helped the blond sit up. He groaned, rubbing his right temple. "God my head hurts" he complained.
For a second, Harumi stopped. Unsure of what to do. He had said that the other day too. But it had worked, right? He wouldn't use the same trick again, right?
Morro had said that Lloyd was a terrible liar and actor. He would be able to see through him if he did try it again. She looked over to the former ghost, looking for a sign. He had his eyes narrowed. But didn't move otherwise.
He was cautious, just like her. But she wouldn't fall for the same trick again. The others had worried look too but didn't move. She knew that they would if they had to. In the end, none of them hated her enough to let her get killed. At least she hoped so.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Lloyd looked at her with nothing but confusion. "I'm fine, I guess. But I am more than just confused" he said.
Harumi laughed quietly. She heard the others chuckle as well. He didn't look this confused the time he had tried to trick her. This was a good sign. A very good sign.
"Wait, did it actually work though?" Jay asked.
"I'd guess so. Lloyd's not stupid. Using the same trick twice won't work, he knows that" Cole shrugged.
"What trick?" the blond leaned his head to the side. "What did I miss?"
"Do you remember anything from the last weeks?" Harumi asked.
Lloyd looked at the ceiling for a moment, humming to himself. "Well, last thing I remember clearly is going to town to get the pieces of the realm crystal. The rest is kind of fuzzy. Some things are there, some aren't" he explained.
"What do you remember?" Kai asked, crossing his arms.
"Well, there's the incident with one of the oni's who I think I threw down a cliff" and he did not sound pleased with himself while he said that, Harumi noticed.
Another good sign. Remorse was always a good sign in these situations. Not like any of this has happened before. Harumi was sure all of this was a first.
"I have no idea what this is about though" he gestured towards her whole being.
That made her suspicious though. He said that before. This was just a coincidence, right? There was no way that the crystal along with the golden weapons did nothing. Especially when they vanished. Harumi decided to let it go for now.
"Ah, this. Actually, you anted me to wear it" she chuckled lightly.
"I did?" the look of utter embarrassment of himself that hit her was hilarious. Who knew that Lloyd Garmadon could be so embarrassed of his own actions?
She hummed. "Indeed."
Harumi swore that his whole face got red the second she said it. She still wasn't sure what this look in his eyes was that she was receiving. Was it good or bad? It was like he couldn't decide if this was real or a dream.
If she really helped him for once, while also meaning it. She did, she really did. There was no doubt in her mind that every ounce of hatred for him had been crushed and replaced with affection.
"Not that I dislike this reunion, but we have a problem. I sense a force heading near us. And judging by its power, there must be many" Zane said.
Everyone rushed towards the door of the temple, peeking outside. Harumi helped Lloyd stand up, slowly walking him towards the door.
"Oh" Nya said with concern. "This seems bad."
Harumi peeked past her shoulder. With how high on the island they were, she could see the shores of the island. Even if they were REALLY far away. Large ships were heading towards them. She could only guess who was on those ships.
"Those…..aren't the oni, right?" Kai asked with little hope in his voice.
"I don't doubt it" Morro grumbled. The door was slammed shut again.
"How did they even find us? How did they know we were coming here? There is no way on earth they could've known" Jay rambled, clearly panicking.
He was right. Oni were smart, but there was little chance that they knew what was going on. That they even knew how to cure Lloyd. And even if they did, how could they have gotten here this fast? Harumi didn't understand at all.
"That… might be my fault" Lloyd said, rubbing his arm.
"Huh?" everyone looked at him in surprise. No way. Why in the world would he do that?
"I might have called them here" he said with A LOT of guilt.
"What? When!? How?!" Jay asked shaking the blond.
"I don't know! I just know that I did!" the blond exclaimed.
That made some sense. He did say that there were only pieces he remembered of the last weeks. And this might be one of them. Llyod knew that he called them. When or how, he did not though it seemed.
They could deal with this though. It wasn't the first time any of them were backed into a corner. And this corner had yet to be invaded. They were still far away. It would take them hours to get to the temple. And Harumi doubted that any of them would dare to enter the temple.
It was the temple of light after all. Beings of darkness would rather die than go inside. Lloyd was an exception though, Harumi decided. He wasn't made out of darkness. Right now, looking at him he seemed more like a being of light.
"We don't really have anything to fight them though" Nya frowned.
"Of course we do. What did we come here for?" the wind master said.
The blond bit his lip before summoning his energy. It was a faint golden color, before fading again. He shook his head. "I think I can deal with them. But I need more time to get my full power back" he said.
"Okay, but what do we do? The golden weapons are gone. Along with the realm crystal" Cole said, pointing towards the point where the weapons and crystal had been.
He was right. They were gone. Probably all absorbed to help the blond get his golden power back and clean him from the oni blood. Or venom?
"How much time do you need?" Cole asked.
"To long. It wouldn't be enough time until they get here" the blond said.
"How much time Lloyd?" the wind master hissed.
"I'd say one or two days" he sighed.
"That is definitely to long" Kai grumbled.
It was. They had maybe three hours until the oni would start arriving. Not enough to flee either. There was no way out. The only chance they had was to fight them. Otherwise, it was over.
Oh no, Harumi wasn't going to allow this. She didn't do all of this just to give up now, none of them did. She'd fight herself if needed. Give Lloyd enough time.
"Wait, maybe we can do something else" Morro suddenly said.
"That would be?" Harumi asked.
He ignored her though, turning towards the blond.
"Remember last time we traveled through the realms?" he asked.
"Yeah, you left me in one of them" the blond rolled his eyes.
"Not what I mean! One of the realms was empty. There was nothing" he explained.
"You want to send them there?" Harumi asked, realizing his plan.
"Yes" the former ghost nodded. "In an empty realm they can't hurt anyone. There was just a void of land. They would have nothing and no one to hurt."
"How do we even know it's still empty? It could have been centuries there since you have last seen it" Nya said.
She was right. Time could work different in different realms. But did they really have any other choice right now? It seemed like the last resort.
"We'll just peek through. And if not, we'll take another one. One of them has to fit for our conditions" Morro said. He was getting desperate, Harumi could tell. She was too.
"Okay, but how? The realm crystal is gone" Cole said.
"No, its right there" he gestured towards the blond.
Lloyd raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "I can't travel through realms" he said.
"Indeed you could not, until five minutes and twenty-three seconds ago" Zane cut in.
The blond looked at the ice ninja with a mix of confusion and excitement. Maybe even some hope, Harumi couldn't tell.
"You have absorbed the realm crystal. Its power has transferred to you."
"You sure?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes, my scanners confirm it" Zane nodded.
"Okay, but I don't know how to do that" the blond said.
He was right. Lloyd had never done such a thing. Simply because he couldn't. He had never had such an ability. Who knew how long he needed to learn that?
But it seemed to be the only thing they could do right now. Other than that? Harumi didn't know.
"We don't seem to have any other choice right now. We have some time until they get here. All we can do is try" she said firmly.
Everyone nodded. Only Lloyd still looked at her with some suspicion. Right, he didn't know what had happened these past weeks. And her outfit didn't seem positive either. But she tried, she really did.
And nothing would stop that. Redeeming herself was the last thing she worried about now though. She would do it right, if only this once. And there was just no way these oni would take that away from her.
Her one time to help others and make sure people wouldn't suffer more than they already have.
It was time for Lloyd to learn a new trick.