Chapter 4

Lloyd and his friends climbed up the tower steps to Garmadon's private chamber. It was located in one of the castle towers, and though it currently belonged to Garmadon, it was handed down to him from a long line of other rulers. Before Garmadon was given ownership to the chamber, it belonged to his father, the previous king of Ninjago. Before him, it belonged to his father, Garmadon's grandfather. And so on. Lloyd remembered when he was a toddler, he used to come up to the tower and play. Lloyd's father would sit him upon his lap and show him what he was working on. Lloyd also remembered how he used to try to get into the various valuable trinkets and attempt to destroy them, as well as rip apart the fine parchment. Luckily, however, his dad would always keep a close watch on him, and prevent him from making a mess.

When the Ninja team finally reached the top of the tower, they saw a light brown, oak double door with golden dragon handlebars in front of them.

Lloyd opened the door and saw his father standing at the window, staring out onto the grounds. When Garmadon heard the Ninja enter the room, he stopped what he was doing and turned to face them.

"Hello there, Ninja. Hello, Son," he said.

"Father, what is it you want to tell us?" Lloyd asked.

"I have some urgent news about the S.o.G." Garmadon walked towards the fine wooden table in the middle of the room. "We might have some new evidence about them."

"What?" The Ninja spoke all at once.

"What is it, Father?" Lloyd asked nervously.

"Come over here." Garmadon gestured for the Ninja to come over to the table.

When the team came over to the table, they noticed that there were various books open, their illustrations displaying unique looking masks of three different colors: red, orange, and purple. Before the Ninja could ask about them, Garmadon spoke again.

"We managed to capture a member of the S.o.G," Garmadon said.

"WHAT?!" The Ninja shouted all at once, each one of them astonished.

"You managed to catch an S.o.G. member?!" Cole asked, dumbfounded.

"And you're not shocked by this?!" Nya said, stunned. Her eyes were wide with bewilderment and awe.

"Well, we caught one," Garmadon nodded. "A member by the name of Luke Cunningham. We questioned him a bit, but he wouldn't talk. We were going to question him even further with truth tea..."

"But?" Kai asked.

"But the royal guard who was asking him questions accidentally swapped the truth tea with regular tea, and then began to blabber the truth out himself." Garmadon sighed. "However, Luke did accidently mention one thing."

"And what was that?" Zane asked, curious.

"He mentioned something about three masks, called the Oni masks," Garmadon replied. "I dedicated a solid amount of time to researching these masks, and this is what I found." He gestured towards the books on the table.

Lloyd picked up one of the books and closely studied what was written in the fine ink on the pages.

"The Oni masks," Lloyd read out loud, "are three masks that possess enormous power. They were created by the Oni demons, the first ever evil in existence. Each mask holds its own individual power derived from the three Oni warlords, the creators of the Oni masks. The power of vengeance, the power of deception, and the power to hate." Lloyd paused for a moment, and his eyes scanned the illustrations on the page. He then continued to read, "When all three masks are united together, they are said to open a powerful vortex that will summon all evil to the intended target, possessing them to become a wicked and wrathful overlord." Lloyd stopped. A deep, unsettling feeling entered his stomach as soon as he finished reading. Lloyd stared at his father, distraught.

"I fear for all of your safety, Ninja," Garmadon spoke. "Especially yours, Son," he said to Lloyd. "These masks are not for the faint of heart. But fear not. When I told Misako about the masks, she immediately insisted that she would an lead an expedition to go look for them. They're already out looking for them now."

"What about us?" Nya asked, confused. "Shouldn't we be the ones looking for the Oni Masks?"

"This is an enemy unlike anything you've ever fought before. The S.o.G. are undoubtedly using those masks for more than just dragon-thieving," Garmadon replied. "This is something that we all need to work on together. We'll figure it out eventually, but for now, you need to train. There will come a day when you will all have to face the S.o.G. And that day will come sooner rather than later. Until that day comes though, you must be prepared." Garmadon finished his speech to the Ninja.

At first, no one said anything. The room was completely silent. Then, each Ninja slowly nodded their heads in understanding.

"We understand, Father," Lloyd said.

"We will definitely be prepared for the day the S.o.G. attack!" Kai exclaimed.

"Yeah!" The entire Ninja team agreed all at once.

Garmadon smiled, and then gave a small chuckle. "Good," he said with a self-assured smirk.

Ten Hours Later

Lloyd was once again back at the Dragon Stables with Emerald. The deep, amethyst colored sky was completely cloudless. The stars shined like a thousand fireflies lit up the night sky. But Lloyd was not paying any attention to that. Instead, he focused on the sparkling silver chain necklace in his hand. At the end of the chain was a graceful, golden rose pendant. He carefully examined it while sitting on a small pile of ash bedding that had been made for Emerald. The longer Lloyd stared at the piece of jewelry, the more guilty he felt about taking it. For he knew it did not belong to him, and that he should return it to its rightful owner.

Just then, Lloyd heard the flapping of wings overhead. He scurried out of the stable and immediately looked up. He saw Emerald, zooming through the evening sky straight towards the forest, and showing no signs of stopping

"Oh no," Lloyd thought out loud. "Not again, Emerald!" He rushed towards the forest as fast as he could, trying to catch up with his dragon.

Meanwhile

In the Dragon Chamber, Harumi watched as troops began to exit the territory. She could see members of the S.o.G. whispering both excitedly and nervously to each other as they exited the chamber. Harumi then heard a loud cackle from behind her. It was so distinctive, it could only belong to one person. She spun around to find Ultra Violet with a large, brown sack slung over her shoulder.

"Are you sure you can't come?" Ultra Violet asked, excitedly.

"Sorry," Harumi replied. "Someone's got to stay here and look after the remaining troops."

Ultra Violet's eyes turned serious. "Remember Harumi," she glared, "if we are unsuccessful on this mission, we will never go searching for the Oni masks ever again."

"I completely forgot that!" Harumi said sarcastically. "Thank you for reminding me, Ultra Violet."

Ultra Violet gave a slight smirk and rolled her eyes. Smiling wickedly, she then went of to join the troops.

As Harumi watched Ultra Violet walk away, she felt an itch on the back of her neck. While she began to give it a small scratch, she felt like something was missing, like something wasn't quite right. Suddenly, Harumi felt a swell of panic in her chest. Both of her hands immediately reached for her neck, and she frantically searched for the chain to the necklace she wore everyday. But she couldn't feel anything around her neck.

"I've must've dropped it when I ran from Lloyd." Harumi froze, and then began to shake nervously. She knew it was very late in the night, but that didn't matter to her. The necklace she lost was extremely precious to her. It was her most treasured and prized possession.

"I need to go search for it," Harumi thought urgently. Before she had any second thoughts, she rushed towards the back door, where no S.o.G. members were entering or exiting, determined to find her necklace...

And thats chapter 4! I'm so, SO sorry this took so long to get out! I meant to have this out earlier. But I got busy! Can't promise that the next chapter will be out soon. But I will try and get it out as soon as possible. :)

Mpsullivan: Yes, indeed we will always love Harumi. R.I.P. :(

AuroraRain18: I never really thought of it that way, but yeah! I guess Lloyd does have a thing for bad girls with colorful hair! :) I also hated it when Harumi DIED in ep 92! :( I was so upset! Life's so empty when your otp is not together! XC Oh well. We'll always have fanfiction I guess. Thanks for your review!

P.s. Congrats on DH getting 200 reviews! :)

EnergyBlastNinjaWriter: The last name Shimizu actually was the last name of a family in a video game called Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge. I really liked the name, and I thought it suited Harumi. Plus, it was the first name that came to mind when I was think of last names for Harumi. :) Thank you for your continued support! It is very much appreciated!

Well, that's all I got for now! See you next chapter everybody! ~legocameragirl