(A/N: The End? As in, the end of the story? Is this the last chapter?
...Nah, it couldn't be.
...Right?)
A million thoughts raced through my head at once.
Cole? COLE?! What was Cole doing here? He was far, far too young to die, and he was the least likely of all the ninja to be bested in combat besides my son. I rubbed my eyes as if trying to clear my head from a bad Night of Flashback, but it did no good. The sight in front of me remained. And the more I looked, the more confusing and worrisome it became. The boy had a faint green glow about him, and was semi-transparent— both features that ghosts were known to adopt when venturing outside of their own realm, but that wasn't the case. Such marks of death weren't present in the land of the dead.
"What's happened to him?" Garmadon whispered in a hoarse voice, his eyes still fixed on Cole. I shook my head grimly, at a loss for words.
The Master of Earth didn't stir. His body lay perfectly still, not even breathing. His black hair was tousled as if he'd just come from a fight, and his green glow faintly grew and ebbed like a pulse.
"You there!"
A harsh voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I spun around to see a Departed Official standing right behind me with a suspicious look in his eye.
"What are you doing here? You aren't authorized personnel!"
"Please," Garmadon said as I stammered for words, "we know him. You have to let us closer."
"Unless you can explain exactly what's going on and how to fix it, I'm afraid that's not possible," the D.O. said in a less than sympathetic tone. "Chief Fantasma!"
A larger, much more intimidating man made his way over to us, glaring at us with such force I almost ducked behind Garmadon on instinct.
"Did you not hear the announcement?" he growled.
"A-announcement?" I asked meekly as the man shifted his gaze back and forth.
"Chief Fantasma, was it?" Garmadon asked, much quicker on the uptake than I was. "A pleasure to meet you. As I was trying to explain to your subordinate—"
"Leave and go back to the park," the burly man commanded. Then, narrowing his eyes, he added, "Scratch that, I don't trust you. Billy, escort these two to the park!"
"Billy," the smaller D.O., gave Garmadon a slight shove (which was completely unjustified). When he didn't move, he suddenly pulled out his water gun and aimed it at us both with a face that chilled me to the bone.
"Get going," he directed, "and don't try anything funny."
Garmadon looked like he wanted to have a few words with the man, and I didn't blame him, but we obeyed orders reluctantly as Billy walked behind us, pistol in hand. I'd be lying if I said I didn't look for an opportunity to run for it, but no such opportunity came, at least not one that didn't come with the risk of Garmadon or I getting shot— and that was an experience I'd prefer to avoid.
"Now don't cause any more trouble," our escort directed as he forced us through a line of his fellow D.O. surrounding the park, all of whom were looking on with surprise and curiosity. I nodded and Garmadon grunted, and then we were left on our own inside an impenetrable ring of guards.
"I suppose we'd better find Agamya and Owen if we're stuck here," Garmadon sighed with a frustrated scowl. Now that Billy was gone, he was definitely the most threatening person in the vicinity. I nodded wordlessly and followed close behind as we weaved in and out of large groups of people, all huddled together nervously, making our way back to the Central Willow.
Luckily, I was able to spot Agamya and make eye contact with her from a distance, waving her over. She managed to swim through the crowds like a fish through water, foregoing manners and the concept of "personal space" in favor of getting to us faster. Owen clung to her hand, doing a remarkable job of keeping up with her swift movements considering his much shorter stature. I numbly wondered how Agamya pulled off such fast movements without hurting anything.
"Did you see what all the fuss was about?" she asked worriedly as she slipped past the last group of people separating us. Garmadon nodded, but looked thoroughly frustrated.
"Yes, we saw— but we don't understand, and it sure doesn't seem like those police guys do, either."
Owen looked up at me with fear in his eyes and opened his mouth to ask a question, but before he could Agamya replied impatiently,
"Well, what is it?"
"Cole," Garmadon said gravely. "He's here. In the Departed Realm. As a ghost."
"We're all ghosts," she pointed out.
"I mean, he looks like a ghost. He's glowing and transparent, and he's not moving at all. And— besides that, it's Cole!"
"Who's Cole?" Agamya asked blankly.
Garmadon blinked. "Please tell me you're joking. Cole, the black ninja, the Master of Earth, one of the current GUARDIANS of Ninjago?"
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I suppose I didn't really pay attention to anything going on outside my town when I was alive. I know there's a team of elemental masters who fight evil, but I don't know how they work or who they are."
Garmadon shook his head in disdain as I suddenly noticed something.
"Where are your friends?" I asked. "Did you find them?"
"Yes… trying to sneak out," Agamya sighed. "They're currently being watched by too many Departed Officials for my comfort. They told me to wait for you and deliver anything you might've learned."
"Well, it looks like we're going to have to wait a while longer to understand anything we've seen," I sighed. "Have you learned anything further?"
"Oh— yes, I've heard some rumors, at least. Let's find someplace to sit and talk."
We did so, adjusting ourselves on the grass before continuing on. I had to lean on one of the poles holding up a DOTD banner, while Garmadon, Agamya, and Owen all seemed perfectly content to sit on the ground. At least Owen had the excuse of being young, but the other two slightly irritated me.
"So what were these rumors you mentioned?" Garmadon asked, frowning.
"I've heard several groups whispering about the Departed Lanterns," Agamya replied. "They say… that they've gotten stuck in transaction."
My eyes widened. "Lanterns getting stuck in transaction? That's definitely never happened in the five years I've been here. I thought that only happened to souls that were unconscious at their time of departing the first world."
"So did I," Agamya said with a grave face. Garmadon frowned.
"Um, what is 'getting stuck in—'"
"Docto' Jul'en!" Owen suddenly cried, tugging at my sleeve. I hadn't noticed him trying to get my attention. He looked up at me with a fear that chilled my bones. "Did you… did you go the'e?"
My face fell. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "There wasn't a chance to get away."
"Go where?" Garmadon asked gruffly. I looked at Owen and he shifted guiltily, averting his gaze. I sighed.
"Owen told me just before he left that Morro told him about tonight… some vague stuff about 'something big going down.'"
Garmadon's eyes narrowed and I suddenly realized why Owen had wanted to keep what he told me a secret.
"And then?" Garmadon prompted, a dangerous growl in his voice. Agamya looked at me with concern, but didn't say anything. I swallowed hard.
"He apparently said he was going to sneak into—"
All of the sudden, with cartoonishly perfect timing, the horrible, ongoing groaning (which had become white noise) went silent as a blaring noise like nails on a chalkboard rang through the sky. A small child somewhere in the crowd gasped and pointed upward, and everyone in the park turned slowly as the source of the sound was revealed. Looming at the far, far end of the Departed Realm, a massive… tear was starting to appear in the sky. Several screams rang out from the crowd.
"… the Cursed Sector."
Agamya's eyes widened in horror. She somehow seemed to know what she was looking at— and apparently, knowing that it was in the Cursed Sector made it worse. "Oh, no."
"What is it?" I whispered, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"It's an incredibly complicated separation of the bonding molecules that hold together the different fabrics of the Realms… but that wouldn't be possible without some sort of enchanted blade being used, and the only place I can think of where a that sort of thing could potentially exist without serious natural repercussions is Ninjago."
"In layman's terms, please," Garmadon said, his face wrought with both fury and concern. "Where, what, how, and why is that thing?"
"In the Cursed Sector, a rift between realms, created by a magic sharp thingy cutting through space, and I have no idea," Agamya replied without hesitation.
"And Morro knew about this?!" Garmadon exclaimed, leaping to his feet.
"Now, we can't jump to conclusions—" I started trying to say, but he cut me off.
"Can't jump to conclusions that Morro, a former criminal who was imprisoned in the Cursed Realm for years and has already cheated death once, who just so happens to know about a trans-Realm rift opening up, and who leaves the ceremonies on Day of the Departed, isn't trying to get out of here?!" Enraged, he pointed at the sky. "Look up there and tell me I can't jump to conclusions!"
To my horror, it was undeniable that a small mass of figures was starting to be pulled into the sky and sucked through the rift, chains dissolving as they hit the barrier. The horrible screeching noise faded out, but the screams of the park-goers rang through the air as the worst criminals in the Departed Realm jumped out the window of their not-so-metaphorical prison.
"Please," I pleaded, afraid of Garmadon's temper but more afraid of the thought that he might be right, "we don't know what's going on, we have to trust him—"
"TRUST him?! He tried to kill my SON! The only reason I gave him a chance was because he broke me out of the Cursed Sector, which, by the way, I was only in because of him in the first place! And now the reason he helped me is exceedingly clear!" His brown eyes looked as if they were turning red from anger, and he spat on the ground. "I should've known."
It barely registered that Agamya was looking at me with tremendous concern as I felt a hot sting in my eyes. Owen tugged at my sleeve, trembling.
"Mo'o wouldn'a to'd me if he didn't twust us! We have'ta twust him! …wight?" He looked up at me, his black eyes dilated and starting to tear up.
"I don't…" My words faded out as I lowered my head. "I don't know…"
I knew what Garmadon was thinking. His reasoning was perfectly understandable. But Morro wouldn't really be trying to escape, would he? He had no reason to anymore. The Cursed Realm was gone, and he wasn't even stuck in the Cursed Sector. He wasn't shackled by chains nor desire for revenge… right? And had he really tried to kill Lloyd? Any anger I'd had towards Garmadon's reluctance to accept Morro dissolved in an instant; I'd feel the same way about anyone who tried to harm a hair on Zane's head. But even if his anger was understandable, Morro had changed… Garmadon told me he was only redeemed moments before his death, but he was still redeemed in the end… he'd changed, I'd seen him changed…
But… what if it was all an act? I tried to reprimand myself, to banish the thought from my head, but it wouldn't go away. I wasn't the most perceptive person on the planet— Agamya was dead proof of that— but I didn't think of myself as the type who would easily be tricked. No, I couldn't lose faith in Morro; if I did, I was a disgrace to the forgiveness I'd been given. But then why would he run off to the Cursed Sector? A glimmer of hope suddenly suggested that maybe he'd run off to prevent this whole terrible rift, maybe he was trying to close it—
"It's closing," I heard a tense whisper next to me. Agamya was looking at the sky, but she was talking to me. Her hand was closed in a fist over her heart, in a way that seemed familiar somehow, and her wrinkles were more apparent as her eyebrows creased with concern.
And she was right. All the souls had already passed through, and the rift almost looked like it was being zipped up from the bottom, the sky around it returning to normal. For a moment I wondered if it was Morro's doing.
Then, a solitary green and black figure suddenly shot up into the sky, a huge, visible blast of wind propelling it upward. It slipped through the rift just before it vanished completely.
Garmadon turned around slowly, rage burning in his eyes. "He knew this was coming," he growled angrily. But behind the anger, there was an audible voice crack of sadness and betrayal. "He knew this was coming, and he played us all."
I stared at the now-normal sky as both relieved and concerned murmurs spread throughout the park. I didn't want to believe him. I wanted there to be some explanation, some reason why Morro would sneak off like he did. But he left before our eyes— I couldn't deny the facts. Although I'd only known him for less than a week, I thought I'd figured him out. But now…
I didn't know what I believed.
(A/N: Oh dear... it appears I've left you all on a cliffhanger. :)
Friendly reminder that reviews fuel my muse! Thank you so so much to everyone who's been leaving their thoughts and comments, I seriously can't express how much they mean to me! ^_^ And just for clarification, no, this is not the last chapter, but we're definitely coming up on the end. So if anyone has thoughts they haven't shared about this fic... yea, this is the time to do that. :'D)
(Oh, and next chapter I'm gonna fix/explain the thing that was bothering me in the previous chapter. So. Yea. Hopefully that keeps my anxiety at bay. l"D)