Morningbloom

Borg's base was hidden deep in the dense Birchwood Forest, within one of the smaller fishing towns on the Northeastern coast. The sun reflected off the snow, giving every branch of every spruce, pine, cottonwood and birch a golden-pink hue. Beautiful.

You've got some bats in the belfry, Stormstrider thrummed. How could you ever think that having numb fingers and breath so cold it freezes on your face is a beautiful thing?

Everyone has different tastes, Jay said. And while I prefer the warm weather of my island, there's nothing wrong with a little snow.

Nutty as a fruit bat. Stormstrider vibrated against his belt. Don't you dare drop me in the snow.

I wouldn't dream of it, Jay said, smiling softly.

Stop smiling, Stormstrider said.

Why should I?

Because I can read your mind, and that smile means that you intend to chuck me into the nearest snowbank when we stop.

"Are you talking to that voice in your head again?" Cole said.

Jay drew himself out of his conversation and chuckled. "It called me a bat twice. Said something about a belfry."

"Ah," Cole smiled. "I like that Blade. It's honest."

I like you too, Stormstrider thrummed, though Cole couldn't hear it.

Jay rolled his eyes and turned to Kai. "What do you want your Blade to be like?" he asked.

Kai looked up- he was doing a complicated braid in Besai's hair as she slept on his lap- and shrugged. "It should be...strong," he said, voice thick with exhaustion. "It should have a power that helps people. It should be firm, but kind."

Are there any Blades like that? Jay asked.

I don't remember. Stormstruder sounded angry about it. My past is a blurry mess. But his description was vague, anyways. I think we're all like that.

"But I don't know," Kai said. "As long as it can cut stone warriors, I'm happy, I guess."

"We need to find it soon," Cole said. "There's no time to waste."

"But we don't have a translator," Jay said. "You remember, Wu translated the map it last time. He's disappeared, so we're kind of stuck."

Cole held out a hand. "Give me the maps," he said. "I'll see if there's anything."

Jay reached into one of his many pockets and fumbled for a moment. He frowned. "Huh," he said. "I...uh..."

"Would you stop that?" Cole said. "We all thought it was hilarious the first time you did it. Would you grow up?"

"No, seriously." Jay dug into his other pockets, then grabbed his knapsack and threw it open. "I...can't find the cylinder."

Kai leaned forward, frowning. "Can't find what?"

"Maps," Jay said. "Maps that are supposed to contain the locations of your Blades."

"Jay, it's not funny," Cole said. "Stop it."

"I'm not kidding you," Jay said, throwing his sack to the floor. "It's not here."

Cole eased his head into his hands, brow crinkled. "When was the last time you saw it?"

"Probably," Jay's face flushed, "in the cave. I rolled them up and put them in my pocket, then sort of forgot about them."

"Forgot?" Kai said. "You were put in charge of the one thing we could use to destroy the Overlord, and you forgot?"

Jay opened his mouth, inhaled deeply, then faltered.

He closed his mouth, then lowered his gaze.

"When was the last time you saw it?" Cole asked again. "Things like that don't just disappear. Is it on the Black Bounty? Kaytake's estate? The White Rose?"

Jay shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "The last time I saw it was probably while we were still on the island. I...I'm sorry."

"Why don't you give that apology to the people- my people- when they've all been turned into the Overlord's mindless slaves," Kai said.

Jay turned away. I'm a klutz, he thought.

Indeed, Stormstrider said. But please...don't lose hope. You humans seem to do that so easily, and it is not worth your time. I'm here for you, Klutz. Heh. I like that name. Mind if I call you that from now on?

Oh, so now the talking sword had a sense of humor. Jay fingered the gem as he forced a smile onto his face. Not at all, he said. It's the truth, anyway.

Just keep smiling. No matter what, keep on smiling.

The carriage stopped. Jay breathed a silent prayer of thanks as he peeked out the window at the familiar surroundings. "We-re-" he cleared his throat. "Ahem. We're here."

"I'm leaving now," Kyle said as he opened the door. "Thanks for letting me come with."

"Sure thing," Jay said.

Kyle disappeared onto the streets.

The carriage was parked to the side of an avenue lined with tiny, modest houses. Men and women wore thick furs, many carrying little toddlers or sacks of miscellaneous supplies. They looked up to see Jay leap from the carriage, and bubbling excitement shattered the peaceful scene.

"Gdand'dy!" one little child cried, and threw himself at Jay.

"Ooof!" Jay caught the toddler, broadening his smile just a touch. "Hey, Kledyr," he said. "Are you getting taller?"

The little boy giggled. "Nanesh."

"Oh, sure you are." Jay set him down, then looked up at the young boy's approaching father. "Renen, I've got a couple of ill women here, need some doctoring. Is he around?"

"Doctor's busy at the moment," the man- Renen- said. "You think you could wait 'till nightfall?"

The code.

"It's a little chilly to leave them out here, don't you think?" Jay said.

"Just wrap 'em in furs. They'll be fine."

"Look," Jay said. "I know you're busy, but this is urgent. Can't he hurry it up?"

Renen sighed dramatically, then pretended to think. "All right," he said. "Fine. But only 'cause it's you, Jay. The Doctor is running on a short fuse lately, so be careful."

"Thanks, Renen," Jay said. "I appreciate it."

"Yeah, yeah." Renen peeked into the carriage. "These two men don't look ill."

"They are," Jay said. "Trust me."

Renen raised a skeptical brow, then backed up. "Fine," he said. "I'll go alert the Doctor. Four patients." He scooped up his little boy and trudged down the street.

"We're sick?" Kai asked. "I'm pretty sure that Besai's the only one."

Jay jumped into the carriage. "Code," he whispered. "When I say there's an ill person, that means I've got refugees."

"So the Doctor is..." Cole said.

"Cyrus Borg. Yep. Hey, Vara. Can you stand, or is your motion sickness still hurting you?"

Varasach cracked an eyelid and moaned. "Yes," she said. She accepted Cole's hand and used it to pull herself to her feet. She swayed, clutched her stomach, and took a deep breath.

Besai was a little easer. Kai hooked his arms under her knees and neck and stood, legs unbalanced.

"You haven't slept at all, have you?" Jay said. "Not last night, or the day before that, or the day before that, while we were still on the Bounty."

"No," Kai said as he followed Cole onto the snowy road.

Curt and cold. Jay sighed softly and motioned for another man standing nearby to take the carriage. He deserved their coldness. He'd messed up with the maps big time.

You're acting just like Kai last night, Stormstrider said. Stop it.

"I don't care," Jay said. Then to Cole and Kai, "follow me. Er...please."

They went down the road at Varasach's pace. Jay nodded, smiled, and waved politely to anyone who looked at him. Some grinned when they saw him. Others- mostly the children- laughed with glee, calling him 'gdand'dy', which meant 'big brother'.

Ha. Like he deserved their praise, now that the prophesied Knights were going to lack two Blades forever.

I'm warning you, Stormstrider said. Stop being so dramatic-

"Agh!" Jay snatched Stormstrider's sheath from his belt and threw it into the snow. "You're the one who needs to stop!"

In an instant, Stormstrider's presence fled his mind.

Without missing a step in his stride, Jay snatched up his Blade from the snow and shoved it into a pocket. "No more talking," he said, then threw open the door to a small house.

"Umm...don't you need to knock?" Kai asked as he followed Jay into the house. Besai still slept in his arms.

"Not if it's my house," Jay said. "So...come on in." He kicked the snow from his boots and continued through the kitchen to a side room with a couch and fireplace.

"Jay," an elderly woman said, her face the perfect example of flustered delight. "Renen said you'd be coming. The Doctor's in his room."

Jay patted her shoulder and displayed another well-rehearsed grin. "Thank you," he said. "We'll just go and see him. I'll visit later, 'kay?"

"Of course."

Jay knelt next to the couch and pulled at a tiny 'flaw' in the wood paneling. A trap door opened with little trouble, and he turned to his surprised companions. "What? Did you really think that the Doctor would be traipsing around town like a normal person? Come on."

He descended a narrow flight of stone steps into a lamplit tunnel. A guard stood next to the door at the bottom with a large, dangerous-looking sword on his hip.

"Four others," Jay said to the man. "Renen spoke to you?"

The man nodded. "Welcome back, sir," he said. "Doctor will be happy when he hears the news."

"You informed a messenger, I assume?"

"Yessir. You'll probably run into him on your way to registrations."

"Good. I need to talk to him."

The guard opened the door and let the five travelers through.

The room Jay walked into was as familiar as the back of his hand, with its many concrete doors lining the walls, and armchairs centered around a table. It was the room where Jay usually waited with his newest Keitorin refugees for Borg to come and introduce himself and give the refugees a simple rundown of his or her new life.

But Jay wouldn't be stopping here today. He opened one of the doors and held it for Kai, Cole, and Varasach, then shut it and regarded the long, gray corridor before him.

He breathed deeply. The sweet, clean smell of Cyrus' underground realm, bustling with women and children that rehabilitated here before being released into the world above to live free and happy under King Garmadon's rule.

This...this was beyond beautiful. This was completion. This was a miracle.

Cole stood with his mouth parted, gaping at the wide corridor that was filled with busy refugees. "How... You're the one who does this, Jay?"

"The one who does what?"

Cole gestured with his cane. "These women. The...the kids. The ones that have escaped the island. You're the one who collects them?"

"Yeah," Jay said. "I...there's no nice way to say this, Cole. Their story is that you bring them here for the slave trade. They've all either been 'lost during transport' or have escaped the Bounty during a raid."

Cole chuckled breathily, shaking his head. "All of them...I can't believe it. To think that you're the one who does it."

For a moment, Jay allowed himself to forget about his map blunder. Cole approved of what Jay had done with his life. And for some reason, that filled Jay with pride.

"C'mon," he said. "Borg's probably in session with one of the kids right now. Let's intrude."

"...Yeah," Cole said.

The scene was much like the one above ground when Jay had first left the carriage. Little toddlers ran up to greet him, and the women- most under twenty, some pregnant- smiled and nodded in recognition.

But then they would see who walked behind him, and their faces would blanch.

"Dark Knight," one girl- Jay recognized her as Pvenya, the thirteen-year-old he had found and rescued about four months ago- whispered, clutching a baby close to her chest.

The pain in Cole's eyes was hidden by a mask that Jay recognized all too well.

"A'ah," Jay said to Pvenya. "But he will not hurt you. Okay?"

Pvenya nodded, then retreated to another room.

Jay repeated his reassuring line to whatever little boy, girl or woman passed by as they made their way down the hall. He finally stopped before a tinted glass window and peered in.

Cyrus Borg sat in his wheelchair before a little boy. He scribbled notes as he conversed with the child, then paused to look up and adjust his glasses. He sipped at a glass next to his left hand, then started talking again. Jay could not hear the words.

"How come he doesn't see you?" Kai asked, breathless from carrying Besai so far.

"It's one-way glass," Jay whispered. "The other side just looks like a wall." He reached up and rapped the glass with his knuckles, causing Borg's head to shoot up. His frown was dark as he said something to the child and wheeled his chair over to the door.

"I told you already, Unden," he said as he peeked through the door. "I'm too busy today. If there's a..." He saw Jay's face and stopped, jaw hanging at a funny angle.

"Hey, Uncle," Jay said. "I..."

Cyrus quickly wheeled back into the room and dismissed the little boy.

"Come," he said to Jay when he returned. "Not a word, Jay. Hurry."

Jay hesitated, then motions for the others to follow Cyrus. "What's wrong, Uncle?" he asked as he jogged behind the wheelchair.

"Shh." Cyrus went to the end of the hall and entered his office. "In here."

After the group was in the room, Cyrus locked the door with a few quick clicks of a number pad. He went to an enormous screen on a table on the far side of the room and tapped furiously on the keyboard.

"What is all this stuff?" Kai asked, nodding to the many shelves that lined the walls.

"Top secret inventions," Cyrus said. "I-oh, yes. You can set Besai down over there, Milord. I'll get to her in a moment."

Kai deposited her in the corner, then covered her with his cloak.

"Is something wrong, Uncle?" Jay asked.

The screen buzzed to life, and Cyrus typed in a series of letters and numbers too fast for Jay to follow. "Overlord contacted me a week ago," he said. "Told me that you were to talk to him the minute you walked through the door. No exceptions."

"We don't talk to him," Cole said. "Especially not me. He thinks I'm dead, and I'd prefer to keep it that way." He paused. "And why are you in contact with him, anyway?"

Cyrus' sigh was long and tired. "Overlord must have been expecting you today... He picked up the signal rather quickly." Cyrus pushed himself away from the desk as the screen focused on a torchlit stone room.

Overlord walked into the screen's view, hands hanging relaxed at his sides. His eyes seemed to glow as he stared through the screen at his callers. "Jay," he said, voice smooth. "Yes. And Kai. I thought you'd call me today."

"How would you have known?" said Kai. "We hardly knew ourselves that we'd be coming to Borg today."

"It takes a week to travel between the islands," Overlord said. "Then you spent the night at Lord Kaytake's estate. Then you spent a day journeying north by carriage. And here you are, per Cyrus' instructions, to listen to what I have to say."

...Creepy.

"Why should we listen to you?" Cole said.

Overlord saw Cole, who was standing behind Varasach, and his eyebrows went up. "Dark Knight," he said, voice betraying no emotion. "Color me intrigued. The White Knight's Blade worked after all..."

"You could say that," Kai said.

"Hmm." Overlord clasped his hands behind his back. "I'm sorry, Sanguine. It looks like you will be stuck with my insane Dark Knight for a while longer."

"I'm not insane," Cole said. "I'm better now. You see? Killing my sister didn't work like you planned."

Overlord tsked. "You see what you have to put up with? Let me tell you something. Dark Knight doesn't have a-"

"Yes, I do," Cole said, forcing each syllable through his bared teeth. "Stop lying to me."

"There once was a boy," Overlord said, "who stuck his nose in business he shouldn't have. So I forced him to pay his debts by serving me for a year as a mercenary. I broke him. Shattered his mind, his ability to distinguish reality from fantasy."

"Stop," Cole said, fear showing through the mask of anger.

"He was lonely," Overlord said. "He wanted company. Desperately. So much so that his mind created a-"

"Stop!"

"-a friend. Someone who would stay with him, even when he was being burned and waterboarded and whipped and branded. His new 'friend' was none other than-"

"She's real!" Cole screamed. "Viola was real, you monster! I'm not...I-I'm not..." He panted, eyes crazed as he paced the room. "I'm...not crazy..."

"You see this?" Overlord nodded to Cole. "He's a dangerous lunatic. He pretends to be fine. He acts like an ordinary man- a stern leader- but in reality, he's nothing but a-"

"No!" Cole lunged at the screen. "Stop lying to me, Overlord! Via...you killed her!"

As Jay and Kai held Cole back, Overlord stood calm and vainglorious.

"I never killed his sister," Overlord said. "I killed his mother, yes. After that, my Dark Knight believed that he no longer deserved his imaginary sister. So he killed her himself. With fire and chains."

Cole shut his teary eyes and stopped fighting against his restraints. "Just...answer my question," he said. "Why should we listen to you, liar?"

Overlord continued as though Cole had not spoken. "What do you suppose happened to Hagar?"

Cole growled deep in his chest. "You tell me."

"Oh...so you miss her, then?" Overlord smiled. "How noble for a lunatic to-"

"Answer the question!"

Overlord dug into a pocket and pulled out a silver cylinder. "This," he said, "is why you should listen to me."

In that instant, Jay forgot how to breathe.

"The maps," he said. "You...how did you get our maps?"

"During the battle, when you attacked me," Overlord said. He grinned cruelly. "You could say...you had a blind spot."

...What?

Jay tried to make sure that his mouth wasn't open too wide.

"What are your terms?" Kai asked.

Overlord's smile grew a tad wider. "Let's think for a moment. These Blades are the only thing that can destroy me. So why should I give them up? Why shouldn't I keep them?"

Everyone was silent.

"That's what I thought," Overlord said, smug. "But I am willing to negotiate." He nodded to Jay. "I want your Blade."

Jay's hand went to his pocket on instinct.

"Are you kidding?" Kai scoffed. "No. We'll find another way to get the maps."

"Ah. I thought you wouldn't like my proposition. So here's another object for the table." He waved a hand, indicating to someone outside of the screen to come forward. "I get the Blue Knight's Blade in exchange for these maps...and this hostage."

A young woman shuffled forward, arms stiff at her sides as she stared into the camera. Her round eyes found Jay, and she stared at him, lip quivering.

Jay leaned toward the screen, eyes narrowed. This woman was covered in ugly pink scars like a scrap quilt. Compared to even the other slaves, this woman was skinny. Jay was sure that he could wrap his hands around her waist as easily as he could a slender tree branch.

"Who is she?" he asked. "Why do you think I'd be willing to trade my Blade for this stranger?"

These words made the woman shrink back a few steps.

"Besai's older sister," Cole said, voice soft. His face was neutral, showing neither anger nor fear. All signs of his emotional breakdown had vanished. "Merv."

The word was slow in forming on Jay's tongue. "...Hrymerv. She...her sister's name was Sarnai, not Besai."

"Overlord changed her name," Cole said. "Sarnai, which means 'rose', was too good for a slave. So he changed it to Besai, which means 'dirty' and 'despising'."

"Merv," Jay said again. "I..." His hand trembled as he reached out to touch the screen. He could see it if he tried hard enough. Her nose, which turned up just a little bit, her tiny puckered lips, and her round cheekbones. This was indeed his best friend.

"You left her to die," Overlord said, "and the flames consumed her. Thankfully, I was able to save her before the damage was too severe." He nudged Merv's shoulder. "Go on, my love. Say something to him. The one who left you to die."

Merv scooted closer to the camera, unable to take her eyes away from Jay. "...I," she said. "Yoo...weel not leave me heer?"

Jay wanted to reach through the screen and hug her. Tell her everything would be okay. That he was here, and that she was safe and-

"No," he said. "No, Merv. I won't...I'm sorry. I didn't know. Yes, I'm coming to get you."

"Jay!" Cole said. "You can't do that. He won't play fair. Once you reach the island, he'll kill you. Then we'll only have one Blade. You-"

"You don't control me."

"So you accept?" Overlord said.

"Yes."

"No!"

The two voices rang out at once. One Jay's, another Cole's.

There were tears in Jay's eyes as he turned to Merv. "I'm coming, okay?"

Merv choked on a soft sob, then managed a smile and nodded. "Yes," she said. "I weel wait."

"Eight days," Overlord said. "That's all you have, John Keith. Midnight of the eighth day, she'll be executed. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good. Do we have anything else to discuss?" He looked at Kai. "Oh, yes. I almost forgot." He showed Kai a perfect set of white teeth. "How is Besai doing?"

Kai glanced at Besai's corner. "Fine," he lied.

"Fine? Oh, that's good. I would hate to hear that my favorite toy had perhaps been...poisoned."

"What?"

"That's right. You do remember that injection I gave you right before the sensory deprivation?"

The syringe Besai had injected into his arm.

Kai cursed under his breath. "What was it?"

"I won't bother you with details because it doesn't matter. Besides, Cyrus could take a blood test and figure it out himself. Let's just say that it's a harmless little drug. But when mixed with the other drug that I injected into Besai's body...bad. She's been poisoned since the first kiss, Sanguine."

"Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I am tired of Cyrus' incompetence," Overlord said. "He isn't getting the job done. So I was going to bring you and Besai to Ninjago and start an epidemic. But you seem to have done that just fine on your own."

"Hold on," Jay said. "If it's contagious, why is Besai the only one who's contracted it? What about Kai?"

"He has the antidote in his system," Overlord said. "He cannot contract Besai's virus. Yet. But everyone else is at risk." He laughed. "Prepare yourself, Cyrus. I'm done playing games. You've prepared your fortress for an army of stone men. But what about bioterrorism?"

"I'll find an antidote," Cyrus said. "I'll take a sample of Kai's blood and use it to-"

"No use. As long as the poison runs through him, the antidote is useless."

"I-I'll think of something," Cyrus said. He adjusted his glasses. "This wasn't part of the deal."

"Deal?" Overlord snorted. "Poisoning the King wasn't ever part of the deal either. Nor was bringing Kaytake into this."

"I thought he could help-"

"No." Overlord reached for something below his camera. "We are beyond any sort of truce, Cyrus. But take heart; I'll give you your prize if you cooperate."

The screen went blank.

Cyrus' hands shook on his lap. He balled them into fists. "Go, Jay," he said. "Bring Merv and the maps back. And do it fast. We can't let him win."

"No, Jay," Cole said. "Please. It isn't safe-"

"Look at my face," Jay said. "Does it look like I care what you think is safe? Merv is out there, as well as the maps that I lost. Don't you understand? I messed up." He ran to the door and punched in the code. "And this is my chance to make it up to you guys."

"Jay," Kai said, "just think this through, okay? Don't play into his hands like I did. We can-"

Jay harnessed the power of his Blade and shot down the hall at a blinding speed. Through every hall, past every guard, then up the trapdoor to the house.

Before the old lady sitting on the couch could even call out his name, he had his knapsack filled with provisions. He flew through the door, up high into the sky.

"Stormstrider," he said, "do we have enough power to make it across the ocean?"

There was no reply. The Blade was probably still seething over when he'd been thrown into the snow.

"Be that way, then," Jay snapped. "But if we drop into the ocean, my last words won't exactly be praising your name."

After a deep, calming breath- and a glance at the town far below him- he concentrated Stormstrider's energy into propelling him west.

I'm coming, Merv. And this time, I won't fail.

Overlord flicked the switch on his communicator, then turned to Merv. His smile faded. "You and Besai will both die before the turn of the season." He stroked her cheek with a cold hand. "What a shame. I enjoyed your company."

Mer turned her face with a quick jerk. "No," she said. "John weel chom."

"Believe what you will," Overlord said. "Go to your quarters, and don't leave until I call for you."

Merv bowed and ran from the room.

Once the door was shut, Overlord sank into chair and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumbs. Dark Knight was alive. This complicated things.

But then...he had the cards he needed in his hand. Cole thought Hagar was dead. Which could only mean one thing.

She hadn't escaped with them.

And that meant that she was hiding here somewhere.

He stood, his smile returning as he fingered the sword at his belt. What do you think, Morningbloom? he asked. What's our next plan of attack?

The purple gem glowed at his soft touch. Find her, Morningbloom said, thrumming with pleasure. Kill her. Make the Dark Knight watch. If that doesn't make him do it, nothing will.