Review Replies:
Fallingtoast - Lol yeah you're totally right Tera would be beating him to death if she were alive.
tsYoGreenGirl - So basically Morro looks like his mom Elizabeth, who was really close to Jasper as a child- that's why Jasper is always hanging around Morro. He sees him as a version of Elizabeth whom he needs to protect and love. Also thank you. I'm glad you're getting invested in Koso's character arc. I hope I do an okay job of portraying his progression.
Phetiamwantip - Thank You! Also yeah Koso's got like three tragic backstories rolled into one.
Chapter 22
Now that the storm had had time to completely die out, the dark clouds hovering above the two men and their canine companion began to slowly fade and give way to the bright night sky-shining down upon the path back to their lodgings like a theatre stage.
As they finally began to near the old cottage, Koso allowed himself to ease ever so slightly under the suffocating mountain of tension he had found himself supporting the second they had left the forest.
After chancing yet another over the shoulder glance at his grandchil- relative , the sorcerer couldn't stop himself from releasing a silent breath of relief that the naked eye would have never been able to detect.
However the small repose that simple action had granted him was all too soon washed out with his own self loathing.
'Stop worrying you old fool. It's not like you wouldn't be able to catch him if he decided to run off again…even if he did decide to use his powers.…wait what if he does. How am I supposed to keep track of a flying teenager? I knew I should have kept the vengestone on the Oh just perfect I've sunk so low I'm beginning to sound like a paranoid housewife.'
Even still, Koso couldn't find it in himself to stop frequently checking behind him just to make sure the silence between them was a result of Morro's own stubbornness and not because the boy had already run off again and the two figures following behind him were just figments manifested by his deluded time the entire time.
'This is ridiculous.' The sorcerer spitefully told himself as they finally reached the cottage and quietly entered through the hollow entrance.
After making a quick mental note to begin fixing the door's hedges at morning's first light, Koso quickly turned to face Morro and tell him to go to bed however before the words could leave him, the raven haired boy had already made his way down the cottage's short and narrow hallway with Jasper right behind him and silently slipped into his room.
For a moment all Koso could do was stand there blinking like a stunned fool until finally he regained control of his senses and allowed an annoyed huff to escape him.
The nerve of that ungrateful little- well no matter Koso was sure his brilliant mind would be sure to come up with some form of proper retaliation later.
As silence engulfed him once again, the sorcerer finally began to feel the exhaustion weighing on him like a boulder.
'I suppose I should follow my own advice.' With that thought in mind Koso silently began to end his night the way he had every other for the entirety of his stay in modern Ninjago, by making his way to the oversized piece of furniture that modern he believed Ninjagians referred to as a couch.
As the teal eyed man eased himself onto its admittedly comfortable surface he couldn't help but feel the familiar sense of absurdity he felt every time he had to lay himself to rest on the blasted thing. Why did if he have to listen to that swindler of a tradesman and purchase the stupid item when he could have just bartered for a third bed instead? He supposed if nothing else he could blame it on his naivety of the modern world.
'Although I suppose it is a better fit for such a small space.' Koso surmised as he laid himself down upon the couch before taking the time to remove his hat and set it on the ground.
As the room eventually settled into stillness, the teal eyed man found himself unable to support the tremendous weight of his eyelids and before he could berate himself for being such an old man, he was already thrown into the realm of unconsciousness.
ForgottenFamily
"Brother watch out!"
Spinning around and ducking underneath the arm of the stone warrior standing behind him he was quick to make short work of the mindless soldier with a brash hit to his- no its, ITS they weren't people!- chest with the hilt of his sword causing the creature to fly backward long enough for him to dart to the cover of a nearby trench.
With chaos going on all around him and sweat pouring out of his skin at a phenomenal rate, Koso quickly turned his attention to the crouched figure beside him; his brother. From the looks of it, his little warning had cost him another set of cuts to match the ones he sustained from the last battle.
Fixing his sibling with his signature penetrating gaze it wasn't long before the panting teenager cracked and spoke to him.
"I'm not sorry" He said in a hushed raspy voice. "I know you say I shouldn't be focused on you during battle ,but that one almost got you and if I hadn't had said something-"
"Then I would have to live with consequences for not being diligent enough." Came Koso's sharp retort. "That's how it's supposed to be, you stay focused on your opponent and I mine, other wise you let your own guard down to worry about me and next thing you know-"
" I'm dead. I know I know ,but I'm still not sorry! I'd rather die than watch you get killed!"
"...
…...
...liar"
ForgottenFamily
"Urghhhh" Koso groaned as he slowly sat himself up whilst rolling his shoulders back as the remnants of his dream slowly faded away to recesses of his mind. When he eventually found the will to open his teal eyes, he was immediately met with the sight of moonlight pouring in through the hollow doorway of his cottage home.
Feeling thoroughly annoyed with himself for waking up in the middle of the night and content to try (and most likely fail) to fall back asleep, Koso began to ease himself back down onto the couch.
However before the sorcerer's eyes could close again, his senses were suddenly reawakened by the sound of a soft whisper ringing out like a gunshot in the still room.
"Hey wait, I...I need to talk to you."
Koso froze. He...He recognized that voice. With his amazing speed, the sorcerer shot to his feet as his sharp eyes began to frantically search every nook and cranny for the source of that voice. After a few moments passed Koso began to shake with the unfamiliar feeling of panic as he found no trace of evidence that the voice he was sure he had heard, was not just a manifestation of his terrific imagination.
However before the teal eyed man could sink any further into the belief that his mind had succumbed to madness, the voice spoke again, and this time the image of a young woman dressed in shabby clothing, with shoulder length black hair that would have been hard to notice in a crowd if it didn't adorn a very notable bright green stripe accompanied it.
"Hello father.."
All breath left Koso's lungs as his eyes widened to an uncharastically almost comical size and he could only conjure one word-or rather name- to mentally scream inside his head.
'ELIZABETH!'
This,...no this couldn't be possible, this couldn't be her! He had seen her tombstone. Greta had told him!
And yet as Koso continued to observe the young lady standing before him he could not muster even the slightest doubt that this was his daughter. The fact that she also looked so much different from when she was just a child did not serve to hinder him from believing it at all either.
After a few moments passed and Koso's heart eventually started again as he managed to inhale air back into his lungs Elizabeth broke the silence between them by speaking again ,but not before letting a small breath giggle escape her as she rubbed the back of her neck like a nervous school girl.
"S-sorry I...I didn't mean to scare you."
"Elizabeth…you're...you… you've grown..." Koso finally managed to say as he took a step forward and attempted to rest a hand upon her shoulder. That action soon proved to be quite difficult….mainly because his hand went right through her.
Jumping back slightly Koso let out a small gasp before-after a moment's confusion- realization suddenly dawned on him.
"This….this is another dream isn't it?"
When Elizabeth's only response was a tight lipped frown as she avoided eye contact with him he received his answer.
After taking a moment to berate himself for his own naive foolishness, Koso spoke again.
"Then,...then you're not really Elizabeth are you? You're just something my deluded mind conjured up because I….I…" Koso paused to let out a sigh and get his thoughts back on track before he continued. "I'm a fool, an old hopeless fool who can't get it together."
His daughter took a moment to decrease the amount of space between them until she was gazing right up at him. Her blue eyes shined in the moonlight as she stared at him.
"No, you're not, listen to me dad this may be a dream ,but it's the real Elizabeth who's talking to you right now. I swear."
For the life of him, Koso couldn't stop a small part of him from wanting to believe her.
So after letting out a small humorless laugh the teal eyed man found himself saying "Alright, then I suppose it couldn't hurt to allow myself to indulge this one illusion."
The annoyed look Elizabeth sent his way made Koso's heart ache as he fondly remembered that same expression present on her five year old face when she had just been told she couldn't stay up all night just because it was Day of the Departed.
"So….may I ask, why have you come here?" Koso asked earnestly as he watched Elizabeth's still so very youthful features soften in reply before she began to respond.
"To tell you the truth, dad, mom sent me. She's worried about you. Well we all are ,but she's really worried"
Upon the intense gaze Elizabeth sent his way that made every word she spoke seem like fact, Koso couldn't stop his throat from constricting in on itself. Still there was nothing stopping him from attempting to brush it off with another humorless laugh.
" Is she now?"
"Do you not believe me father?" Elizabeth asked with the familiar no nonsense tone that used to accompany every word she spoke with. Koso couldn't help ,but feel happy that his delusional mind could at least still remember that much about his own daughter
"I don't know what to believe anymore." Came the teal eyed man's honest reply.
Elizabeth's features once again softened as she let out a small sigh in response.
"This..this is what mom was worried about. Dad you can't keep going on like this."
Koso didn't mean to scoff at his own daughter (or his mind's twisted premonition of her) ,but he had just been so tired of being told that same sentimental lesson over and over again he just couldn't take it anymore.
"Dad, I'm serious." Elizabeth warned, taking a step back most likely so that her intense glare would seem more intimidating. "I mean just look at you! You torture yourself every night by trying to sleep on that instead of just using your and mom's old room. Hell you even cast an invisibility spell on the f**king door just so no one could fin-"
" Alright enough!" Koso yelled, cutting her off. "I...I know," He admitted like a guilty criminal trying to clear their conscience before they were executed. "And...and I'm trying." He explained straining to keep eye contact with his daughter's knowing stare. "I'm trying to move on, so...so I can be with you all again and once...once I've finished training those boys I'll be able to di-"
"No father that's not what I'm talking about!" Elizabeth interrupted her voice ringing with an edge of what could only be described as frantic desperation and worry.
Despite his best efforts Koso could not hide the shock that washed over him as he heard those words. What was she saying? Then as if Elizabeth had heard him, she began to elaborate after taking a breath to presumably calm herself down..
"What I meant was that you need to stop living in the past! We've all passed and...there's nothing that can change that now, but dad ..you….you've been given a second chance and...we…I can't just sit back and watch you waste it."
"I..I don't understand." Koso admitted as he tiredly stared down at his deceased daughter.
When a moment of complete and utter silence passed between them the sorcerer was beginning to believe this was the part where he woke up. However he was soon proven wrong when in an ironic twist of fate Elizabeth raised her right hand and snapped her fingers.
Almost instantly their surroundings melted away around them like an oil painting and shifted until they were both suddenly standing in the middle of Lloyd and Morro's bedroom.
Despite himself Koso found it gratingly difficult to not become at least slightly dizzy at the change in scenery.
When he did finally regain complete control of his senses, Koso quizzically looked back to his daughter, whose gaze was fixed on the sleeping ravenette whose unconscious body was all ,but buried under Jasper's fur coat.
Had this been reality, Koso was sure Elizabeth would have broken down into tears at the sight of her son.
As it were though, the only reaction she allowed herself to display was one of solderady as she continued to silently stare at Morro's sleeping form.
After a few moments of silence that could have passed for the mourning kind only seen at funerals, Elizabeth seemed to have realized her father was staring at her.
As she turned back to face him, Koso took immediate notice of the glazed over look in her bright blue eyes ,but he didn't make mention of it aloud. If this was really his daughter, that last thing he wanted was to cause her more pain.
Then as if nothing had happened in the first place Elizabeth began to speak again ,but not before stretching her arms out to gesture to the two boys sleeping across from one another.
"Can't you see?" She asked, her voice hoarse with a variety of emotions. "You think that your family is in the Departed Realm ,but it's also here! Within them. That's why you need to stop treating them like this. It's as you said they're family and I know for a fact you wouldn't have dreamed of ever treating me,mom, or Grant like this."
As soon as the name of his son rolled off Elizabeth's tongue Koso couldn't stop himself from flinching as unwanted memories flooded inside his mind. After a few minutes when he managed to recover, Koso looked back to his daughter's blue pupils, whose gaze made him cringe with new found guilt.
"I...I'm sorry Elizabeth. I know you think me cruel and you'd be right..I know that I haven't treated them as kindly as I could and I will try to do better in the coming future ,but...you're wrong….they...they don't need me." The teal eyed man admitted as he allowed his eyes to wander over to the sleeping forms of his young relatives. "and..Ninjago doesn't need me. All I am is a relic from a time long forgotten and there's nothing I can give this world, much less them except for-"
"Your elemental power." Elizabeth interrupted as her signature no nonsense tone reared its ugly head yet again. "Dad please stop trying to fool yourself!" She begged with no hint of humor present in her voice. " Whether you want to believe it or not, trying to bury the truth will only make everything worse. Once they eventually find out, things will-"
"They won't find out anything," Koso said, cutting her off. "and revealing the truth would only cause more unnecessary pain."
"For them or for you?" Came Elizabeth's earnest reply.
Feeling thoroughly exhausted from the tirade of emotions this one single conversation was evoking from him, Koso found himself unable to muster a reply that wasn't drowned out by more sighing.
"What does it matter what I say?" Koso honestly asked. "This...this is all just in my head, and when I open my eyes you'll...you'll be gone."
As silence settled between them yet again, Koso couldn't help ,but feel as if he had made a mistake with those words. However before he could have time to beat himself up over it, Elizabeth raised her right hand again and Koso somehow instinctively surmised tha once she snapped her fingers the dream would end. So before she could he quickly started to yell.
"Wait!" Elizabeth paused before turning to meet her father's green eyes. " If you're really her there's one last thing I….I need to know …how...did you..."
"Die?" Elizabeth guessed with a raised eyebrow. When Koso nodded in reply her bright blue eyes turned down to stare at the floor as she bit her lip before responding.
"I….I really f**ked up and….let myself freeze to death. It was a really bad winter," She explained tersely obviously hoping her father wouldn't press her on the traumatic experience.
Koso didn't
" and I don't have anyone else to blame except for myself." Elizabeth admitted an less than subtle attempt to ease her father's guilt over the matter as she raised her right hand once more to snap her fingers.
As Koso awaited to be woken up he heard his daughter speak one last time before she allowed him to be pulled back into reality.
"I wasn't able to be there for my son, Dad. I'm hoping you will though."