Heeeeeeeeeeeyyyy GUYS! Thank you so much for reading, real quick before you read the chapter, please take just a second to read the following:
So, IDK if y'all have noticed ,but like literally almost all of the covers for my various fics were created by a talented artist on tumblr who goes by the name Etchy-a-Sketchy. Well it just so happens that I recently discovered Etchy-a-Sketchy is now officially doing art commissions ( for those of you who aren't aware commissions are basically art that you pay ) from a post on tumblr the link of which is below along with the link to Etchy-a-Sketchy's art blog
Guys seriously Etchy-a-Sketchy's art is WELL worth the price! I know first hand that Bread can really bring an OC to life, it's honestly just really cool to see your character drawn in such a wonderful art style. So if any of y'all are interested as I stated previously the link is down below!
FIRST! ANOTHER DISCLAIMER THOUGH!
I just feel like I should clarify this, If you are not of the age where you cannot buy something online without your parent's permission then please be responsible and do not do something foolish like trying to go behind their backs that will literally. help. absolutely. NO ONE!
Okay phew! Now that that's out of the way here's the links. The one at the top is the tumblr post about the commissions and the one at the bottom is the link to Etchy-a-Sketchy's art blog. If you have questions read the post first and if there's anything else you're confused about politely dm Etchy-a-Sketchy. From my personal experience Etchy-a-Sketchy is a very patient person who honestly just wants to make the best drawing possible.
post/627714842260832256/reblogs-are-greatly-appreciated
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Phetiamwantip : Thank you! Also yeah like I said Elizabeth is Tera and Koso's daughter (also kinda Morro's mother)
Chapter 27
"What did you do?"
"I….He...Ok look I was..uh-MAGIC and then the…" Lloyd trailed off as he felt Morro's deadpan gaze burn two beady holes into his spluttering form. Jasper's attention had also been thrown his way and it was glaringly obvious the two were going to wait for as long as need be for a much desired explanation.
"Ok so here's what happened," Lloyd began, pausing to shakily inhale a deep breath as if getting some Oxygen to his brain would make his tongue feel any less like a deepstone armor piece. "Umm, so the secret bedroom uh, yeah I kinda found one of Koso's spellbooks and...ok look I didn't think it would actually work-I mean in a way I was right, I didn't mean to turn Jasper into a-"
"Wait, Are you telling me this is the dog?!" Morro suddenly rasped, cutting Lloyd off as his gaze immediately darted back to Jasper whose own pure blue eyes were wide with realization.
"Oh...so that's how you made me like this." Jasper mused his tone oddly light for someone-err some animal suddenly given the ability to form tangible thought. "Wow, I guess ol'e bean pole's hand wavey stuff is pretty powe-Hey wait! You just call me a f**king dog?!"
Before either teen could so much as blink, Jasper was on his feet, Morro's bed covers thankfully still tightly clinging to his muscled torso like a comically elongated raggedy old skirt .
"I. Am. A. Wolf. Period. You got that? Those...house pets don't even come close to me." Jasper (for lack of a better word) growled as he boldly slammed a calloused against his chest with confidence akin to certain Earth master Lloyd couldn't stop imagining standing in the former wolf's place.
"You do realize a second ago you didn't even know what you were. You know, cause you were literally a do-animal." Morro flatly replied, the annoyance in his voice radiating in thick waves of obvious exasperation.
"Pft, shows what you know. I always knew what I was-am, don't need to be one of y'all to know that. I just do and always will." Jasper flippantly rebutted as he crossed a pair of startlingly well scarred arms over his chest.
Morro merely blinked before turning to face Lloyd, with the space between his thick eyebrows already tightly clenched between his fingertips.
"So…. you're telling me you found a spellbook, Koso's spellbook and then you...accidentally turned him into a human?"
Lloyd nodded, grinding his lower lip between his teeth like a sawmill as Morro released another sigh.
"Okay ok,ok,ok,ok so...what can we do? You know before the old man gets back and dismembers us both?"
"Uhhhh, well…." Before Lloyd realized it he suddenly felt the prickling sensation of his hands frantically scratching the back of his neck as his mind whirled trying to find an answer. "I think maybe...I could try casting that spell again, maybe."
For a split second, Lloyd imagined he saw a spark of panic within Morro's eyes as the wind master inhaled another steady stream of air before abruptly slamming his palms together and slowly exhaling.
"Ok, that's... fine. This is fine. Yeah, yeah let's just...do that. Can't be that hard right?."
ForgottenFamily
"How the f**K is this so hard!?" Morro unhelpfully ranted from his spot beside Lloyd as the blonde tried in vain to snap his fingers for the billionth time whilst the bold black symbol silently mocked him with it's simplicity in design. This was by far the most difficult spell Lloyd had ever attempted to perform then again that wasn't exactly saying much since the blonde's experience with magic was rather limited (limited in the sense that he had only performed exactly two spells throughout his entire lifetime and one was literally just five hours ago...by accident.)
"He's gonna kill us. You first, because you started all this sh*t and then me because of course it'll all be my fault some f**king how." Morro exaggeratedly complained, making Lloyd wonder if Jay had somehow managed to switch bodies with the former ghost.
"Maybe...we could just...hide him." Lloyd suggested, before promptly regretting it when Morro fixed him with a 'are you kidding me' look.
"What? It could work. Koso doesn't even like Jasper so he probably won't ca-"
In a stroke of profound irony the green ninja was abruptly cut off by the sound of heavy feet pounding against the creaky wooden floor. Looking up both Lloyd and Morro starred as Jasper pressed his face up against the glass of their bedroom window and started screaming at the highest pitch possible for a newly turned human.
"HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! I SEE YOU MOTHERF**KER! HEY! GET BACK HERE!"
The two teenagers instantly panic as they consider the possibility that Jasper was yelling at Koso. Thankfully however as they shot to their feet and made their way to the window, Lloyd and Morro were met with the sight of nothing more than a humble rabbit innocently hopping about in the early evening hours seemingly without a care in the world.
As Lloyd exhaled a soft sigh of relief he also felt Morro's eyes back on him as if to say 'I told you so.'
"Look, I don't know, okay!" The blonde defensively admitted as they stepped away from the transfixed former wolf. "I just...it's already 4 o'clock, we're running out of time. Koso'll probably be back in another hou-"
Just then, the blonde's words were cut through with the force of a jack hammer as the sound of footsteps and something being put down (most likely on the kitchen table) filled the room.
Both teengagers immediately froze. The atmosphere suddenly turned icy cold. Without thinking about it, Lloyd had already shoved a freckled finger between his lips, ,making sure both Morro and Jasper were aware of his silent command to stay quiet as he hesitantly edged towards the door.
If he greeted Koso first then maybe the green eyed man wouldn't feel the need to enter their bedroom.
With the sole motivation of not wanting to get caught in mind the blonde carefully tiptoed down the hallway into the living room, bracing himself for Koso's inquisitive gaze as he made his grand entrance.
However much to Lloyd's defied expectations, Koso was nowhere to be seen.
There was a small moment of relief flooding through Lloyd's veins ,before he was suddenly the realization that if, that wasn't Koso then…..
'What the! Who's here! How did they get i-'
Once more Lloyd's train of thought was promptly derailed, however this time the cause was not verbal ,but rather visual.
There on the kitchen counter was a long thin cardboard box with a note attached. Cautiously stepping closer, the green ninja immediately recognized the handwriting on the note as Koso's.
Arching a perplexed brow, the blonde carefully picked up the note for closer inspection.
Dear insufferable brats,
As disappointed as I'm sure you both are, I'm afraid I am unfortunately held up at the moment. Not to fear I should be back before morning tomorrow. Until then, I have decided to be kind and bring home some dinner. I'm sure you're sick of rabbit anyway. However before you dine I must request that you refrain from touching the one with the fish, you'll see what I mean once you open the box.
Before I end this letter I'm just going to remind you both to behave. I'm remiss to say I'm in a bad mood right now and I truly truly pity the next fool to irk my ire.
-Koso
"Dinner?" Lloyd asked aloud as he set the note aside to further inspect the box below.
Then. The most wonderful, tantalizing smell was gracefully dancing across his senses like the most beautiful ballad known to Ninjago.
No it couldn't. There's no way.
The blonde's hand was already at the helm of the box ripping it open with renewed vigour to peer inside.
Pizza. It was pizza, cheese pizza in fact, perfect and pure and just wonderful in every way-hey wait.
Lloyd's thoughts came to a sudden halt as he took notice of a single slice standing out against the river of golden cheddar with a layer of tiny blue fish, staining the near perfect meal like the lone crooked finger of an otherwise gorgeous painting.
As the blonde's thoughts spurred with more than a thousand thoughts as he tried to rationalize his more than a little bizarre circumstances, he could only make out two definite statements.
One. They had until tomorrow to turn Jasper back and two apparently Koso liked anchovies.
Great, as if Lloyd needed another reason to dislike his captor.
ForgottenFamily
Some time before that
Of all places Koso could have expected to find himself that evening, waiting in a line of some famous eatery was not high on his list.
However that mattered little because one of the old man's many many talking points about how to better teach his 'students' was to apparently be kinder towards them.
It shouldn't be too hard really. He was already making the generous sacrifice of purchasing them a meal that seemed to be pretty popular among the youth of Ninjago City (granted it wasn't the most creative nicety he could come up with, he only had so much time to spend pointlessly wandering about Ninjago city like a common buffoon).
What was it called again? Pitza, no that wasn't right Piazza, also no..Pezza, no…. oh well a name was at most a superficial label most of the time anyway. Koso knew that better than anyone. At any rate if he were being honest, Koso didn't exactly see the appeal. From what he could tell it appeared to be a simple combination of bread, cheese and -
"Next!"
Koso was pulled from his lackadaisical musings as a young boy in an obnoxiously red uniform waved him to the front counter.
"Good evening sir. Welcome to Berry's Pizza Gallery. What can I get you?"
'Well they've certainly trained, they're errand boys at this establishment' Koso thought amusedly as he stared down at the short lad whose expression portrayed the same mundane boredom of the professional basket weavers from Koso's day.
As the ravenette's sharp eyes darted to the menu, he immediately found himself confused, much to his inner embarrassment and shame. This new generation of Ninjagians certainly liked having options. The 'menu' read more like one of Tera's old ten page essays about her most recent discovery of a new kind of amphibian.
So in order to guise his confusion Koso simply looked back down at the working teenager and bluntly commanded.
"Well, you look pretty young so tell me what do the youth of these parts tend to enjoy?"
The young man immediately looked up from his hunched over position over the register, his tired eyes slightly wider than before as a confused frown graced his freckled features.
"Ummm, well most of our customers order a large chee-"
"Perfect." Koso flatly interrupted. "I'll have one of those then."
"Umm ok, for here or to go"
"I believe to go is the correct term." The teal eyed man boredly replied.
Once again the teenager was staring at him, his frown deepening as he quietly asked. "Is..is there like a Doomsday Comic convention going on near here or…" The boy trailed off as he eyed Koso up and down.
Now it was Koso's turn to look confused. "Come again?"
"It's uh..nothing, nevermind. Your total is $15.50"
The sorcerer nodded his assent as he reached inside his white cloak. "Ah yes, I'm sure this will cover i- wait...what is that?"
Koso asked, his monotone inflection suddenly sounding slightly interested as he pointed
across the room, in the far end of the kitchen where a young woman was spreading out a handful of little blue fish onto the sauce covered doe.
"Uh those?" The errand boy asked as he threw a thumb across his shoulder in the direction of the fish. At Koso's nod, he replied. "Um, well those are anchovies. You know the little fish you can put on piz-"
"Yes. I would like some of those then." Koso said already nodding to himself. "Just sprinkle some on a small section of the….uh..tomato cheese bread. If you would be so kind."
ForgottenFamily
Despite his mood being slightly soured by the errand boy's idiotic decision to ask if Koso had actually paid him in real gold to which the sorcerer had readily rebuked his idiotic claims by saying he was many things in this life ,but a perjurest was not one of them, the teal eyed man couldn't help ,but feel a sense of satesifaction as he strolled down the evening sun washed streets of Ninjago Pe-tza box in hand, getting ready to free his right so that he could snap himself back to the valley.
'Alright I don't believe I have neglected any duties here. Seems I'm free to retu-'
Koso slid his train of thought to a screeching halt as he suddenly took notice of a total of four pairs of eyes peering at him through the mist of distance across the street.
He knew they were trained on him and him alone because he was the only one currently standing on the crooked sidewalk pavement.
Despite his best efforts, Koso couldn't help letting out an exasperated sigh as he focused in on the amber pair and immediately recognizing the mop of spiky brunette accompanying them from the many many news broadcasts he had seen during his short visit. All of them featured the boy standing with his friends as they pleaded for anyone and everything in Ninjago to come to them if they had even just a scrap of information about their lost brother.
Koso had never considered himself unitengellent and so it was easy for him to come to the logical conclusion that in the now increasingly darkening hours of evening the boy had recognized the glowing quality of his green eyes that matched nearly identically to the many posters from his oh so wise sensei's amazingly accurate descriptions.
'I suppose they're looking to challenge me.' The teal eyed man quickly surmised as he watched the numerous pairs eyes steadily grow closer until four colorfully dressed bodies stood bunched together against the edge of the opposing street obviously ready to cross it once the road was clear. 'I do suppose it couldn't hurt to entertain the lad. After all who am I to deny someone's right to an honorable duel.'
'Well, looks like this may take a bit' Koso mused as he looked back down the peetz-a.
'It would be a shame to have this get cold and my exuberant efforts laid to waste.' With that sole thought in mind, the ravenette lazily raised his right hand into the air.
ForgottenFamily
Lloyd wasn't sure what reaction he expected to receive from Morro as he watched the former ghost hesitantly bite into the last, smallest edge of the pizza slice. It had taken every ounce of the blonde's argumentative skills to convince the former ghost to just try it ,but he still couldn't help ,but mildly surprised when the wind master features simply relaxed as he shrugged and said.
"Not bad."
The green ninja was remiss to agree ,but he'd be lying if he said he was in the mood to launch into a petty argument over the validity of pizza. That was Jay's job.
As if reading his mind however, Jasper suddenly interjected from his criss cross spot on Morro's bed saying. "Ay, you crazy this stuff is amazing!" The former wolf argued through a mouthful of cheese as he sloppily chomped down on his slice like a man- er temporary man possessed.
Morro merely rolled his eyes in response, not so much as bothering with a reply as he slowly took another bite.
"Okay, seriously we only have until tomorrow before Koso gets back." Lloyd reminded everyone in the room once he had conveniently finished his last slice.
"You're right." Morro sighed as he reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Get out the book, let's keep trying. Jasper get off my-the bed and get down here." The wind master causally ordered as he got to his knees and pointed towards the center of the floor.
Jasper eyed him for a second, before crossing his arms over his chest, harshly dismissing the wind master's command with an abrupt head turn.
"Sorry I don't take orders from guys who throw me into walls when all I ever did was try to be nic-"
"Are you seriously still upset about that?" The former ghost demanded his voice suddenly rising an octave. "We've got more important things to worry abo-"
"Jasper please?" Lloyd pleaded, cutting Morro off. The former wolf spared the green ninja a brief over the shoulder glance before hesitantly nodding his head, sighing as he did as told.
The blonde could have very well imagined it ,but he could have sworn he saw something akin to jealousy flash across the wind master's angular features. His theory of imagination 'must' have been correct because Morro had maturely turned his head to the side, uttering a brief. "Whatever let's just get this over with." before falling into complete silence.
'Well, this is gonna be a long night.' Lloyd knowingly predicted as he flipped through the pages.
ForgottenFamily
"Maybe it's upside down." Morro dumbly commented after over an hour of nothing ,but failure had passed. It was now Lloyd's turn that day to look at the wind master with an expression of absolute disbelief. "Are you kidding me-"
"Well, I don't hear anyone else offering ideas!"
At that Jasper suddenly snorted, as he obviously tried to stifle a bellow of laughter.
In an instant Morro's accusing grey green eyes were on him. "Something funny?"
"Yeah," The former wolf sighed in admittendence once he had recovered. "I forgot how funny y'all are when you get all mad."
The wind master once again rolled his eyes, this time saying. "Look, because of you, we could very well all get our a**es kicked by that f**king old man so if you could just keep your mouth shut. I would really appreciate that!"
"My fault?! How's this my fault?" Jasper immediately shot back, offense obvious in his stance.
After taking a second to pant after his long (honestly unnecessary ramble) Morro responded with. "Uh yeah! If you hadn't had distracted the idiot, he wouldn't have done this to you!"
"Hey-
Lloyd's defensive protest was cut short by Jasper's snarl. "Well, if you hadn't pushed me away when I just wanted some f**king egg, I wouldn't have felt the need to find Lloyd in the first place."
For what must have been the millionth time that day alone Morro rolled his eyes sarcastically muttering. "Oh yeah nothing like a dog,always thinking of your stomach."
"I head that!" Jasper angrily declared, his upper lip curled upwards as he let out a toothy snarl. "Urgh, I can't believe you're Elizabeth's so-….oh wait dammit.. F**K!"
The previously less than hospitable atmosphere was suddenly thrown into a cold tundra of hostility as Morro stared wide eyed at Jasper, his already pale fists immediately clenching into pure white knots so tight they were beginning to look transparent.
"What... . just. say?" Morro grounded out, all previous exasperation and boredom banished from his razor sharp inflection.
At that exact moment, Jasper's azure eyes took on a hue of what could only be described as melancholy.
"Oh.. right. I forgot."
"Forgot wha-" Morro's demand was promptly cut off as Lloyd gasped in realization.
"Wait," The blonde hastily stumbled towards his bead and yanked out the other book. The picture one. That..that girl...could she be?
As he grasped the frail edges of the old painting between his fingertips, the green ninja wasted no time straightening up and trying his best not to just shove the illustration in the face of the former wolf.
"Is this Elizabeth?" Lloyd bluntly asked, pointing to the girl with the green hair whilst trying his damndest not to avert looking back at Morro. He didn't need to look to see the shock and betrayal swimming within the wind master's grey green orbs.
Almost instantly Jasper's expression brightened as his features shifted through a variety of imperceptible emotions. Each wild with passion despite being as brief as the last flicker of a dying flame.
After a moment that could have very well been a century and Lloyd would have been none the wiser, the former wolf's expression eventually settled back to his previously melancholic visage this time with a wistful smile adorning his features like a drop of color in an otherwise grey void of nothing.
"Yeah, that's...Master alright." Jasper confirmed, as he slowly raised a course palm to gently lift the picture into his own hands. Lloyd let him. "Damn, this one's old as hell you know. Little one's not even in it."
'What?! Another mystery person?' Despite the immediate desire to ask who 'little one' was, Lloyd realized looking back at Morro's intense stare that he had some stuff to answer to first.
"Morro….I-I'm sorry. I didn't know if showing that to you was a good ide-"
"Is she my mother?" The wind master straight out asked
For the first time since he had been turned into a human just fifteen seconds ago, Jasper looked unsure of himself as he shifted back and forth on his toes like a toddler about to confess to sticking his grubby hands into the cookie jar.
"I...I..-"
"Spit it out, yes or no?" Morro demanded, his quiet deadpan inflection meshing horribly with the otherwise heavy subject matter spewing from his lips. "Is. She. my. Mother?"
For a brief tense ten second moment of silence that seemed to span over the course of a thousand years, Jasper and Morro just stared at one another as if both were engaged in an unspoken, unhumorous staring contest.
Then finally,Jasper gave his reply.
"It's...a long story."
"I don't need a long story." Morro rebutted without missing a beat. "I need a yes or a no. It's that simple."
"No it's not!" Jasper shouted back, his voice heavy with unspoken emotion. "Being a wolf, that's simple. You humans are anything but!"
The former wolf exhaled a shaky breath as he stumbled backwards, seemingly only able to find balance once he found a spot on the wall to lean against.
"I guess...you're right. It is a simple answer. But Master Elizabeth deserves more than just a yes or a no, if you really want the truth out of me, you need to know the whole story." Jasper firmly declared as the room descended into another long stretch of tense silence that was only broken when Morro finally sighed, quietly saying.
"Ok, fine. Let's hear it. Tell me why that b**h abandoned me."
So I have a question, could Koso be classified as a boomer. LeT mE kNOw iN tHe cOmMeNtS.
Seriously y'all thank you for reading I couldn't have gotten this far with these stories without y'all's support.