Chapter 13: Lloyd's POV
Zane, Angel (who was holding Dexter) and I all found a small cave to hide in. Once we got to rest, we just started to cry over Dexter again. The little boy didn't even make it into his teens and he was already gone, that just wasn't fair. We could sit there and cry an entire ocean, but we had to stay alert, we had to find the others even though we were in pain.
I got to my feet and peeked outside of the cave. There was no sign of any spirits. "Guys, stay here with Dexter, I'm gonna' go look for the others."
They nodded and I ran off. As I ran, I thought about everything so far. This was all my fault, it had to be. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for me finding Marceline. I wouldn't have met my sister if Scarlet hadn't lost her memory. And Scarlet wouldn't have lost her memory if she didn't try to save me…But, it had to be worth it. If we could get her memory back…But it wouldn't be worth the death of my nephew and the missing of half my team. "God, the things I do because of love…" I mumbled to myself.
Scarlet's POV
I sat alone in my hospital room, trying my hardest to remember everything about Lloyd and the others. My head hurt like hell all day, but I became immune to the constant pain. I managed to collect bits and pieces which I wrote down on a notepad a nurse gave me;
'1. I wrote a song for someone.
2. I kissed one of the ninja; I suspect it was Cole and Lloyd got angry.
3. I dyed my hair black, but then back to caramel for some reason.
4. Someone killed a spider for me once.
5. Lloyd and I had a favorite song; something by Avril Lavigne, even though he hated to admit she's his favorite singer.'
That was all I could muster, after that the pain would get way too intense. I laid back onto my pillow and shut my eyes, using all my energy to force a vision of my past.
Lloyd and I stood in a royal blue room. One of his arms looped around my back while one of mine rested on his shoulder, our right hands were joined and we spun slowly around the room. "Okay, this is stupid." He growled when our feet twisted together and we nearly stumbled. A slow song played in the background while we danced. ("Heaven" by Dj Sammy).
"You just gotta' get used to it, dancing can be fun."
"Only complete sissy guys dance, Scarlet."
I smirked. "So then I guess Cole's a sissy?"
"Probably," he chuckled. "Why are we even doing this? When am I ever gonna' have to dance my way out of a fight?"
I rolled my eyes. "Lloyd, not everything is about fighting; dancing is just a skill you need to have."
"Uh, you wanna' tell me why?" he sighed.
"Well, there are a lot of situations where you need to learn how to dance…"
"Name some then." He scoffed.
"Remember my sister's wedding? You didn't dance with me, so I had to dance with my brother. And someday we'll dance at our wedding."
His face turned a light pink color. "Okay, I guess so…" his hands moved down to grab both my hands. "Can I ask you something since we're talking about weddings anyway?"
I raised a brow and stopped dancing. "What is it?"
Lloyd took a deep breath and used a free hand to reach into his pocket. "Scarlet-" he was cut off by a sharp alarm going off. He sighed. "I'll ask you another time."
I let out a tired breath as the vision ended. What was Lloyd about to ask me? It looked like… "Ow!" I screamed, sitting up. Another vision was coming…
I walked into a room holding a ukulele. Lloyd was playing on a small game console. "Uh, do you wanna' hear a song I wrote…For you?"
He looked up from his video game. He smiled, but raised a brow. "You wrote a song about me?" he looked like he was about to laugh. "Put a sock in it and just listen, 'k?" I sat down next to him and held the ukulele in my hands. "If you laugh, I'll murder you." I warned before I started to play. ("Perfect Two" by Auburn).
"Oh whoa…Yay-yeah…You can be the peanut butter to my jelly, you can be the butterflies I feel in my belly, you can be the captain and I can be your first mate, you can be the chills that I feel on our first date, you can be the hero and I can be your sidekick, you can be the tear that I'd cry if we ever split, you can be the rain from the cloud when a storm hits and you can be the sun that shines in the mornin'. Don't know if I could ever be, without you 'cause boy you complete me and in time I know that we'll both see that we're all we need…"
He chuckled as I sang and smiled.
"'Cause you're the apple to my pie, you're the straw to my berry, you're the smoke to my high and you're the one I wanna' marry. 'Cause you're the one for me-for me, and I'm the one for you-for you, you take the both of us-of us and we're the perfect two. Yay…We're the perfect two. We're the perfect two. Baby, me and you. We're the perfect two…"
He sang with me a bit.
"You can be the prince and I can be the princess, you can be the sweet tooth, I can be the dentist, you can be the shoes and I can be the laces, you can be the heart that I spill on the pages. You can be the vodka and I can be the chaser, you can be the pencil and I can be the paper, you can be as cold as the winter weather, but I don't care as long as we're together."
"Don't know if I could ever be, without you 'cause boy you complete me and in time I know that we'll both see that we're all we need…'Cause you're the apple to my pie, you're the straw to my berry, you're the smoke to my high and you're the one I wanna' marry. 'Cause you're the one for me-for me, and I'm the one for you-for you, you take the both of us-of us and we're the perfect two. Yay…We're the perfect two. We're the perfect two. Baby, me and you. We're the perfect two…You know that I'll never doubt ya' and you know that I'll think about ya' and you know that I can't live without ya', in maybe just a while, I can see me walk down the aisle…Whoa…
'Cause you're the apple to my pie, you're the straw to my berry, you're the smoke to my high and you're the one I wanna' marry. 'Cause you're the one for me-for me, and I'm the one for you-for you, you take the both of us-of us and we're the perfect two. Yay…We're the perfect two. We're the perfect two. Baby, me and you. We're the perfect two…"
As soon as I finished, Lloyd kissed my lips. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. "Huh, I'm the one you wanna' marry?" he whispered in my ear. I just rolled my eyes, blushing. "I kinda' have something to ask you so I guess I can do it now…" He reached into his pocket and just when he was about to pull something out…A loud ear piercing alarm set off. Lloyd frowned and sighed. "C'mon," he ran out of the room and I followed him.
The vision ended and my pain disappeared, but I realized both visions were a little similar…Was Lloyd about to…? I realized something that I didn't know before. I was in love with Lloyd.
Marceline's POV
I fought off my mom, trying to get past her so I could get Tony. She used a sword to cut the fabric of my ninja suit around my stomach area. A little bit of blood poured, but I remained on my feet. I jumped back when she aimed for my neck. I glanced upwards at the collection of spirits circling around us, preparing to open the entrance to a doorway between the upper world and the lower one. The spell was called "Dark Hearts" it was casted onto the Spirit Forest by my dad when he caught me sneaking into the forest to see my mom. The spell would make every good spirit evil as anything, even if they appeared to be sweet as sugar. If the spell was even mentioned, it'd make it stronger than it was before.
The spell would make the spirits do anything evil, it also could affect humans too which was why my mom was being so evil. Back when I lived in the temple with my mom, I was the only one not affected by the spell because I never thought about it so much, so I was the only able to stop it. I ended up doing a reverse spell but something must've went wrong, maybe I didn't cast it correctly four years ago, maybe it was interrupted, or maybe someone cast Dark Hearts again…There was only one person who do that…Dad…
"Mom, stop it!" I yelled when she tried to slash me with her sword once again.
"Beg for your life all you want, Marceline." She growled, managing to get me in the arm with her blade. Blood poured out of that cut and I nearly fell. I was losing too much blood already…I tore off a piece of cloth from my other sleeve and wrapped it around my cut quickly. The green fabric soaked red with my blood, but it still controlled the bleeding slightly.
Lloyd's POV
I dodged the trees and leaves as I ran past. Everyone had to be somewhere; all the spirits were all gathered in one spot so they had to have left the others somewhere…But where? I ran in random directions, not even sure where I was going. All I knew was I had to keep moving, if I stopped there might've been a chance of a spirit sensing my presence and catching me. I couldn't keep running forever though…I was running out of breath quickly.
Soon, my feet refused to carry my body any further. "Oh hell…" I panted, coming to a stop. I leaned against a tree and took a few breaths so I could continue. "U-Uncle Lloyd…?" a shaky voice called me.
I glanced over and saw Justice in her pink dress and sneakers. There were spots of dirt on them and mud was smudged on her cheek like she had been lying on the ground, her normally straight hair was frizzed out too. "Justice, I've been looking for you." I knelt down in front of her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay but Dexter…Someone took me away before I could figure out what to do next, they flew away and dropped me on the ground…"
I tried to hide my grim expression for the little android girl. How could I tell her that her brother was shut down permanently? "Come with me." Was all I could come up with. She climbed onto my back and I ran with her back to the cave where her parents were.
…
Angel leaned on Zane, completely limp, but conscious while the nindroid looked through his son's wires and circuits. There had to be a way to save the kid, he couldn't die at the age of seven, that wasn't fair. "Dexter," Justice jumped down from my back and ran over to her permanently shut down brother. Tears ran down her face when she saw the broken power switch, permanently stuck on off. I felt myself start to cry too. Hearing a little girl scream and cry for her brother to come back was way too much, even for the toughest person.
Eventually I left the cave again to go find the others.
Marceline's POV
I didn't want to hurt the woman that made me, but if she kept fighting me, I pretty much had no choice, even if she was under a spell. The spirits were getting close to finishing their ritual and that couldn't happen. If the upper world and underworld were both unleashed, nobody in all of Ninjago would be safe, not even the spirits who were already dead. I noticed the cut Tony had on his chest was losing more and more blood…
"Tony, hold on please!" I told him as I fought my mom.
His now empty blue eyes looked up at me and he gave a weak nod. I knew he was close to the end. I couldn't let that happen…I'd be the most miserable person ever. I brought my attention back to my fight. I couldn't beat her, she was just stalling me…I'd have to perform the Save Spell during our fight. I jumped back at focused my energy on the flying spirits. "Break the evil…" I blocked one of my mother's punches. I still continued. "Bring the good…" I dodged my mom's sword blade from cutting into my shoulder. "Repair the evil, broken hearts. Let the good, golden hearts return…All is good, all is-" I was cut off by my mom's blade slicing into my leg. I screamed in pain and fell over.
Jayleene's POV
When I woke up again, I realized I was lying on the ground. I stood and rubbed my neck in pain. Where was the woman that knocked me out? I searched all around and spotted Kai lying not too far away. I ran over to him. "Kai…?" I shook him lightly.
"Unh…What…?" his chocolate brown eyes fluttered open. He sat up and when he saw me, I got a tight hug. "I didn't mean what I said, I swear. I was just afraid of being a bad dad; I think it'd be great to have kids. I'm sorry, I really am…" he blurted out.
I remained silent for a minute. "It's okay, but if you hug me any tighter, I might have a miscarriage." I joked.
Kai loosened his grip and nodded. "Right, sorry."
"Guys?" we both spotted Lloyd heading our way.
"Lloyd." We both sighed with relief. "Where are the others?" I asked.
Lloyd looked down and sighed. "Angel, Zane and Justice are in a nearby cave but Dexter…" he stopped for a minute. "Something punctured his power switch so…He's shut down permanently…"
Kai and I exchanged grim, sad glances before nodding. "Where's the cave?" Kai asked.
"I'll show you."
Lloyd's POV
After dropping Kai and Jayleene off and I went to go find the others again. Cole and April were sitting by a tree so I took them back. Nya and Jay were sleeping only a few feet away from one another so I showed them the way and finally my uncle had already found his way into a cave.
We were all together, but now we had to wait for Marceline…
Marceline's POV
I couldn't do it…It was all too much, I was losing blood, my mother was still fighting me, Tony was close to dying and spirits were close to putting the entire world in danger…I needed help…
Tony's POV
I listened to the spell Marceline was saying…I had read it in The History of Ninjago Spells Volume 2. I could remember it, but I didn't have the mental training to perform it, plus I was pretty close to dying. But, whatever was going on obviously wasn't good and the spell of Golden Hearts was only used to turn the wicked good again. She had to be using it on the spirits…
Maybe I could try… "Break the evil…" I started weakly. "Bring the good…Repair evil, broken hearts. Let the good, golden hearts return…All is good, all is sublime…All is blissful and…h-happy…" I coughed up a little blood. "I cast Golden Hearts to break…D-dark hearts. The day of good…Shall destroy the day of death…" I blacked out after reciting the spell.
Marceline's POV
Tony was reciting the spell…He had recited the entire spell…How did he know it…?
I realized that even though he hid it, he liked to read. He could've found out about the spell through his reading…I smiled as I watched the spirits float down, stopping their ritual. My mother stopped fighting me and she dropped her weapons. The sun came out, the mist in the forest faded away, the rain stopped and I saw a faint rainbow in the sky…I noticed Tony's wounds closed and he regained consciousness.
Lloyd's POV
I noticed that the bad weather came to a stop and that the mist in the forest faded away. "Look at Dexter!" Justice pointed to her brother. I looked over and saw him waking up. His dark purple eyes opened, the color in his skin returned and his broken switch, the crack going through it completely repaired and somehow flipped back to on. Talk about miracle!
"DEXTER!" everyone yelled happily, hugging the boy. He closed his chest door. "Mommy, daddy!" he hugged his two parents. "I went to a really scary place; there was this really bright light, but I was afraid to go through it."
I smiled lightly. Suddenly three people walked into the cave. "'Sup, yo?" Marceline giggled. Tony had his arm around her and a woman identical to Marceline and I walked behind them. "Lloyd, this is our mom, Liana."
"Mom" walked towards me, smiling. "Hi, son," She hugged me gently.
I hesitated slightly, but then I hugged back. "Mom…" I felt happy to be with my mother, but now it felt weird to ask her to help regain Scarlet's memory. "Mom, we need your help on something." Marceline said for me. "One of our teammates lost her memory."
"Then let's go; I can just use my powers to get her memory back like that." She snapped her fingers.
"Seriously, it's that easy?" I asked.
"Yes it is, Marceline has those kinds of powers too, but she can't use them because her feelings are always going haywire."
Marceline rolled her eyes. "Whatever mom…"
Mom walked out of the cave and we all followed her swiftly. "Oh, your ship is broken…" she said as we approached the remains of the Bounty. "I can fix that…Unless you want to do the honors, Marceline."
My twin shrugged. "'K," she stretched her arms out and shut her eyes. Nothing happened for a minute, but then there was a huge flash of light. The next thing I knew, The Bounty was repaired, right in front of us like it never really crashed. Everyone, even my uncle's jaws dropped. "Let's go." She winked, climbing onto the ship.