Hey guys back again.
I'm actually really happy that I paid more attention to detail with this chapter, I realize now that the last one was pretty bad and for that I'm sorry. Also I noticed I made some really stupid plot inconsistencies with past chapters so I went ahead and fixed those. Anyways hope you guys enjoy this better
But first a review reply
ItsYoGreenGirl: Yeah you are completely right, I think I just got too antsy and excited to put out another chapter I didn't give it a good proof read. That was really irresponsible on my part ,but I promise to do better in the future. Thank you for giving your thoughts and feel free to so again anytime. Also I'm glad you like the Morro and Lloyd dynamic I've written, I was really hoping to write them in a way that made sense and wasn't overly exaggerated. If you have any opinions on how I can best do that please feel free to share.
Chapter 10
"Well you certainly tried ."
Koso said as he surveyed the three plates of burnt, chopped up fish that lay on the kitchen table before him.
"I tried to tell the idiot the fish was getting too dark."
Morro defended himself, whilst making a small head gesture to the blond beside him.
"I thought, the fish might still be raw on the inside!" Lloyd said clearly offended. "Besides at least I didn't hack it to pieces "
"I was trying to get the f**king bones out!" Morro objected.
"Well nice jo-"
"Alright, that's enough now. Let's just all agree you're both idiots, and suffer through this pathetic meal together shall we? " Koso said rolling his reptilian like eyes as he pulled out his chair and gestured for the two teenagers to do the same before sitting down.
Once everyone was seated, with Morro and Lloyd having to pull their chairs embarrassingly close together, Koso took the liberty of pouring the water from the bucket he had fetched out of the well earlier
into the three separate cups he had set on the table earlier
As Lloyd stared at the murky water invading his cup, he was about to speak up that drinking this would likely kill them, however within a second he realized he didn't have to because Koso simply snapped his fingers once again and instantly the water in all three cups was crystal clear.
Lloyd stared perplexedly at the man and decided to ask,
"Hey, how does your sorcery, magic stuff work?"
Koso lifted his head, eyes slightly widened sense he had clearly not expecting the question.
"I …...it's hard to explain. What exactly do you want to know?"
"Like, why are you always just snapping your fingers? Is that how you do those spells?"
Koso couldn't stop his eyes from flickering down to his hands as the green ninja pointed it out.
"No ...Well ... the motion doesn't have anything to do with performing the 'magic' as you call it, no that is all done up here ," Koso explained gesturing to his temple. "Because of the years of practice under my belt I've learned how to mentally recite spells I snap my fingers, because it helps to signal to your body, the end of a spell chant. It's basically become muscle memory at this point for me." Koso finished whilst once again looking at his boney fingers.
"Wait, so do you just have a bunch of random spells memorized?" Morro chimes in unexpectedly.
"Well, yes ,but it's really not as complicated as you might think, most spells are boiled down to simple symbols and if you can put them to memory perfectly you can perform the spell just fine without any words." Koso replied. "Of course the hard part is keeping a steady flow of energy in order to cast the spell just right, otherwise it will not turn out pleasant."
"Where do you get the energy from" Morro asked with his left eyebrow raised.
Koso cast an almost surprised look at the wind master before replying.
"Well typically sorcerers use the energy that exists within their own bodies, however that tends to drain pretty quickly depending on what spell you cast, if you were a really skilled sorcerer and you could probably learn how to take someone else's energy and use it yourself, however that would require years of practice, and while I could very well attempt it myself, I find that due to my oni and dragon lineage I have enough vast amounts of energy I could cast at least a thousand spells within the same day and not tire."
Lloyd processed what Koso said as he stared down at his burnt fish before another query popped into his mind.
"Wait, okay, so let's just say I believe the whole you're my great uncle, brother of the first spinjitzu master and all that, how did you get the spell that brought you and him back to life if you were stuck in the departed realm for sixty years?"
Koso sighed before answering "I see you boys have suddenly caught the curious bug. Alright how do I explain this in a way you'll understand?" Koso paused for a moment seemingly in concentration. "Well,great nephew for one that wasn't a spell, it was a curse and before you ask, a curse is different from a spell in the way that it's supposed to take a long amount of time to fully be complete, also only curses have even the slightest chance of reanimating someone."
"Why did you do that instead of just, I don't know casting a curse that would have revived you the next day instead of sixty years from now." Morro suddenly questioned.
"Well that's quite simple to answer , I had no other choice. See in order to cast a curse that will bring someone back from the dead, you need some form of energy that can, how do I put this, retrieve someone's soul from the departed realm and restore their body. That energy for I was my elemental power."
"Wait I thought you said that we inherited it?" Lloyd suddenly asked.
"Alright, let me explain. Yes, you two did inherit my elemental power, however due to the curse I cast on the realm crystal, a small sliver of that amazing power I used to weild was used to revive both I and this one." Koso gestured to Morro as he spoke.
"So you're saying we don't even have the whole element, if you're telling the truth and it does exist, and you want us to learn how to summon it, do you even know how long that might take?" Lloyd asked, scepticism apparent in his voice.
Koso narrowed his eyes once again at the blonde.
"Yes, I do expect you to learn how to summon my elemental power eventually. As to how long it will take, it doesn't really matter, you'll be kept here until you can and I don't plan on giving up." Koso stated calmly as if he was talking about something as common as the weather.
Upon hearing those words, something rose up in the green ninja and he was suddenly hit with the remembrance of his situation. Lloyd had no idea when, or if his brothers would find him, and this lunatic was somehow to powerful for him to fight, even with his elemental power, not to mention he was chained to one of his worst enemies. The worst part though was that he had no idea how long this would last, days,weeks,months,years...
No...wait ...no! he couldn't think like that, he would get out of here, he wouldn't stay chained to the blowhard for long, he just had to figure a way out of this place and the best way to do that would be with a level head and to plan his actions carefully. This man defeated him once. That doesn't mean he's invincible, he has to have a weakness.
Then a thought came into the green ninja's mind and before he could process it, another question sprang from his lips.
"Hey how did that sword you carry around protect you from my blow when we fought yesterday?"
"Hmmm? Oh you're referring to this?" Koso pointed to the sheathed sword he had placed on the back his chair earlier.
"It's really nothing important." Koso said simply before, his eyes suddenly widened.
"Oh my, what time is it?" The black haired male asked out of nowhere. When no reply came , because there wasn't a clock anywhere to be found in the small cottage, Koso looked outside and surprisingly enough it the sun seemed to be about to set.
"I suppose that, fishing trip of ours, took a little longer than expected, (and perhaps the large amount of time we spent walking) anyways you two best hurry up and eat so you can get to rest. Tomorrow you'll both be waking up far before sunrise." Koso said cutting into his burnt fish, with the wooden silverware he had placed on the table that morning before they left.
Once they were all finished eating, ( actually more like picking at) their fish, Koso had the two boys stand up as he walked them back to their 'bedroom'. When the two teenagers stepped into the small room, thankfully no problem getting through the doorway this time, they found that the two tiny twin beds they slept on last night, were now pushed together side by side in the center of the room right under the window that was glowing with the fading light of the sunset.
Morro looked as if he was about to get angry at the sight,but before he could have an outburst, Lloyd quickly tugged on the chain and walked straight to the beds, before turning back at Koso.
"Okay thanks, we'll just head get bed now." Lloyd said casually, with a hint of a fake smile appearing on his face.
Koso narrowed his eyes as he stood in the doorway, arms crossed while he replied.
"You'll be alright? I won't have to cast another paralysis spell?"
"Yeah, I feel fine tonight. I was stupid for being so of afraid of someone who screamed at a fish." Lloyd said quickly, trying not to look at the now fuming wind master beside him who was clearly angry at the insult.
"I see…." Koso said quietly. "Well hope you two are ready to despise my existence tomorrow, also don't even think that you can escape when I fall asleep. I was a light sleeper since before either of you came out of the womb." The black haired male warned as he left whilst shutting the door behind him.
As soon as they were alone Morro turned to face the green ninja with a pissed off expression painted on his features.
"Okay what the f**k's gotten into you?! Last night you'd rather sleep in the cursed realm than within ten ft of me. Now, you're just fine with it, despite this?" Morro jerked his arm up, as a gesture to the chain
Lloyd rolled his eyes up at the taller boy as he replied.
"No I'm not okay with any of this, especially you, believe me,but *inhale* I think we both have a common enemy. Koso. Look I don't like you and you don't like me and we can both agree that neither of us want to be here, however I think if we want to get away from here and each other as soon as possible we might …have to….work together. "
Morro frowned whilst raising an eyebrow at the blond.
"What exactly are getting at?"
Lloyd quickly looked around the room and out the window to make absolutely sure the crazy man wasn't nearby to hear him, before he replied to Morro in a whispered voice
"Okay, listen you saw how Koso reacted when I asked about his sword, he brushed it off and didn't answer me. I think that the only reason he was able to beat me before was because of that sword."
"How do you know it wasn't anything to do with his magic or whatever?" Morro asked skeptically.
"Because think about it so far, he's only used his magic to do little things, nothing major. I think that's because it's like he said, he can only perform certain spells with minimal energy requirement because he's just a regular guy with creepy eyes and nothing more, he knows if he tries anything with magic above, freezing some stupid fish he'll be drained because he is definitely not related to the first spinjitzu master. He's just some deranged sorcerer, probably related to some former enemy I've fought before and is just trying to humiliate me and take some form of revenge or whatever."
"How do you explain a simple sword being to able do all that sh*t though?"
"It's probably just some ancient artifact with some amazing power or something, it probably was the thing that brought you back too." Lloyd explained.
"Look my point is, if we can find a way to get the sword from him, we'll be able to defeat him and get out of here."
Morro narrowed his eyes at the green ninja suspicion reflected clearly in his grey green orbs.
"And how do I know I can trust that you won't f**king try to get rid of me as soon as we do."
" You're the one afraid of getting backstabbed?"
"I told you I don't care anymore, I'd rather jump into the nearest lake and drown myself than stay in Ninjago a second longer." Morro defended himself.
"Well then why does I matter to you if I end do up killing you." Lloyd pointed out.
"I….Look I just...I don't want to be made a fool of a second time ok ." Morro spoke softly, with a hint of hoarseness.
Lloyd felt taken aback by the almost gentle tone the wind master spoke with. "Okay, let's make a deal, neither of us fight each other or try anything underhanded until after we've escaped and separated, if we cross paths later, free for all. Deal?" Lloyd asked
"...fine, deal." Morro agreed, both teenagers refusing to seal it with a handshake.
After a moment of awkward silence, Lloyd looked at the conjoined beds and said.
"I hate what I'm about to say more than anything else in the world,but ...I think we'll be best able to get the sword away from Koso if we're ...fully rest." The blonde gestured to the beds.
"What?!"
"Shh, listen, I hate this as much as you do probably more,but if we just stand here all night and don't get any sleep it's going to be harder to get the sword away from Koso."
Morro looked like he was about to object, but clearly decided against it, for he simply nodded slightly in reply.
Once again there was a moment of awkward silence,
before Lloyd decided he had to just push past it as he silently made his way to the beds. It was a little difficult figuring out how he should get on until he ultimately decided to just get on first and pull the wind master behind him and hope that worked out okay. Once both teenagers were on the beds, each tried to stretch as far as the chain would allow them away from the other, which due to its short length wasn't far.
Thankfully though as they both laid on their backs, with faces turned the walls, they were able to find comfortable positions they could fall asleep in. However the ever growing feeling of awkward tension was not forgotten by either teenager.
As Morro made very good friends with the wall beside him a strange feeling of what could only be referred to as relief crept into his system and he was actually pretty sure why. Something about Lloyd being able to sleep near him, unlike the night before felt…good ok?
It was as if the blonde was saying he wasn't that bad of a monster, hell he even formed a temporary truce with him.
Something about that made the wind master feel like, perhaps….he, despite everything he had done to Lloyd in the past wasn't so…..bad.
As Lloyd stared at the cottage wall, not feeling at all tired because it was probably only six o'clock right now, he couldn't help ,but endlessly question how he ended up here, sleeping next to the ghost that possessed him and used his body to try and kill his friends. Life was just very full of surprises.
Hey thanks for reading, what do you guys think? Did I do an okay job explaining Koso's magic? Will Lloyd and Morro be able to work together? Maybe.