Wow THREE reviews already, gee you fans sure know how to make a newbie feel welcome. Just for that here's chapter three!
"Sensei!" All three young warriors gasped and where at the fallen elders side in an instant.
Cole lifted him onto his lap as Zane checked for a pulse.
Kai felt terror spread through him, unfortunately he usually covered that immobilizing feeling with anger.
He turned toward Misako, "What the heck?! What was that!" He yelled forgetting his respect for the elderly woman.
Misako had turned pale, a bright green eyes flickered with uncertainty, "Oh, Wu... I didn't mean it..."
Kai was boiling over, "What are you talking about!"
"Calm yourself Kai, Sensei's alright, he just had a bad shock." Zane assured them.
"Yah, but I'd like to know what made him flip out in the first place," Cole furrowed his thick brows togeather as he rocked the elderly man gently.
Misako sighed, "It's a long story, but the Eye of Neero is-"
"EYE OF NEERO!" A voice boomed startling them all.
They all turned to see a sturdy aged man with wrinkles on his face, yet he still had a youthful look in his eyes and his mess of silver hair. Next to him stood what looked like a spitting image of him except much younger and his hair was a bright blond.
"Garmadon please I-"
"What are you saying?" Garmadon moved closer, "What happened to it?" He seemed to be forcefully controlling his voice.
"Dad? What- Uncle?!" The young boy gapped not understanding and suddenly panicking.
"It's ok Lloyd, he's ok." Cole assured the young ninja as he placed their sensei on the couch.
"Misako, explain." Garmadon crossed his arms as he stared at his wife daring her to tell him the horrible truth.
She sighed, "It's true, I went to visit old Koru and... somebody has taken the Eye of Neero from him. He doesn't know who it was but it must have been a trained warrior because-"
"Impossible! Nobody could take it from him... unless they..." Garmadon's eyes glazed over with fear, he didn't dare finish that thought.
Lloyd began to become extremely irritated by not understanding, "Ok, with all due respect, What the HECK IS GOING ON!" He yelled frantically.
Misako looked at her son sadly, "Your father will tell you the legend, He knows it better then Wu and I."
All the Ninja looked towards the former dark lord.
He sighed a sigh that seemed to weigh a thousand worlds.
"Come, I will explain."
"Explain what?" Jay asked as he sauntered in the room instantly realizing something was horribly wrong. He stopped suddenly making Nya bump into him as they both stared at their unconscious Sensei.
They looked at the others with questioning eyes.
All remain silent.
"Follow me." Garmadon spoke solemnly, "And I will tell you the tale of The Eye of Neero."
Goosebumps spread through every arm of every occupant in the room, even though they didn't understand... not yet.
The Ninja followed Garmadon into a smaller room, it was where Sensei Wu and he spent most of their time. It held many secrets and legends that the ninja's didn't really concern over until it was absolutely necessary. The room was dusty and held many old relics that didn't seem all to extraordinary, though, the ninja had learned from previous experiences that looks were deceiving.
"Now pay attention," Garmadon glared and wacked Jay, who had begun to daydream, on the head, "Now that I have ALL your attention." He eyed Jay disapprovingly as the blue wearing ninja whimpered while rubbing his head.
Lloyd watched entranced as his father reached up into an old cabinet and brought down a huge, dusty looking candle. It would have looked like any old candle, but this one had a piece of metals spiraling around it and bending over like a claw. The wax was of a strange gold color mixed with red. He watched as his father lit up the candle, suddenly all went dark as if the candles sucked out all sources of light, it let out a puff of colored smoke into the ninja's intently watching faces. They all coughed and tried to swipe the smoke away to no avail.
Garmadon didn't seem bothered by it at all as he looked down into the candles unusual red flickering flame.
"Look into the smoke," He said slowly, "And you will understand."
They all leaned forwards, intently, wordlessly, staring into the rising smoke as it began to take shape of Garmadon's words.
"A long tome ago, before Ninjago was more then twenty years old," Garmadon began his story...
They felt themselves be pulled into the story, into Ninjago, when it was still young and mostly innocent. Into a world that was strange yet familiar, the smoke twisted and tuned them into a calm contry side as Garmadon began to speak.
'There was a time before troubles had becaome daily in our world... Two friends, the best of friends, grown together like brothers yet so much closer then blood. One was name Soto, the other, a powerful man, Neero.
They both were young and brave souls. Neither felt any malice to anyone and if anything needed help they would be there. One day on a simple walk Neero was separated from his friend thanks to a call from a hurt creature.
Unsuspecting, he searched for the distressed animal. What he didn't know was that he had caught the attention of the then queen of the underworld. She was a strange sort, loved mischief and hurting other for personal enjoyment. But when she found out about Neero, she was awed by his strength, nobility, and kind heart. With a little bit of twisted magic... she could have him for her own.
Neero found the creature, a beautiful sparkling white doe, seemingly unharmed. Confused he crawled closer, in an instant the creature morphed into a beautiful, yet deadly looking woman. She had long silver hair and eyes glowed an abnormal color.
He felt hypnotized, but his noble heart knew that beautiful things where usually a trap.
She told him her desire for him to come and rule the dark dismal underworld with her. Neero refused, like the hero he was, he couldn't go with her, she was darkness and stood for everything he stood against, this caused her to lash out in anger. She was not used to being refused.
With ill sought rage she put a powerful curse on the poor young man, turning him into an evil creature that only sought out the blood of those he tried to protect. Neero couldn't control himself and the queen left him to his fate. By this time Soto had found him and was nearly destroyed by his best friend. Neero's will power fought, powerful enough to only keep the evil at bay for a short time. Only to warn his friend to stay away... he was an uncontrollable monster now.
When Soto refused to leave his friend alone, Neero ran away, he scaled the highest mountain in Ninjago in his powerful inhuman form, there he hid, pained, yet keeping everyone safe from himself.
It was there that the master of spinjitzu found him, after hearing his story in the village. A quivering mass of uncontrolled and vial power.
Neero was surprised when he didn't have the urge to ripe the Master to shreds. The Master told him, that he could not undo what the demoness had done, but, there was a way to keep everyone safe from this power.
Neero begged for the answer, no matter what it cost.
The Master told him that he had a powerful jewel, stolen from the former king of the Underworld, it would banish him to the Underworld and save Ninjago from his formidable power. Neero agreed. Unfortunatly the jewel could only be used by the closest person to Neero's human form.
Soto...
When Neero returned to Soto, he begged him to banish the monster he had become. But Soto couldn't do it. He just couldn't banish his most true friend in the world. It was then that Neero's struggle broke and the monstrous beast attacked, mindless, dangerous, it had more power then perhaps even the Master himself.
Soto was forced to use the jewel and stop his friend from destroying all on Ninjago... He banished his best friend.
Neero was gone, Soto was heart broken, but he swore the jewel would never fall into the wrong hands, his duty to Neero's wishes meant it all.
Thus came the Eye of Neero, a powerful relic that if used in the wrong way, could bring mass destruction, it also served as a reminder to the family of Soto, passed on from generation to generation, with it the story of a lost friend and a promise. Each bearer of the jewel had to swear to never leave the stone until death, and it had been successfully kept until...
Someone has stolen it from the last heir, Koru, who it is we don't know, but I fear the curse of Neero will return if this person plans to use it that way. And what's more, the fear that takes hold more is that only descendent of the Underworld can lay their hands on it without being detected by the holder..."
The smoke cleared and all the ninja's snapped out of their deep trances, coming back to reality.
The silence was thick as Garmadon fell in a deep contemplative silence. The Ninja looked at eac other letting the info sink. Cole was the first one to break the silence.
"Wow..." He breathed, "Poor guy, all he wanted was to do right, even if that meant getting rid of himself." He shook his head, sincere sorrow entering his silver eyes.
Zane nodded, "A true hero of Ninjago history."
Jay shook his head as if to clear it, "I suddenly don't think I'm worthy of the title 'hero'," He frowned for once serious.
Kia said nothing, he didn't verbalize well when it came to overwhelming emotions.
"So... question is, what do WE do father?" Lloyd asked his father snapping him out of his trace.
Before Garmadon could answer a weak voice replied from behind, they all turned to see.
"You, you must find the one who took it..." Master Wu stood there weakly supporting himself on his cane, "Before all of Ninjago is destroyed..."
The air was suffocating...