Ninjago City, Alex's Building, 9:40 pm
There's no way this is happening. This is a dream. It has to be. There's no way I would have... Lloyd was in denial. His thoughts tried to mask the truth of what had happened, only hurting him more. It was all because I closed my eyes. All because I'm not tough enough to want to witness the death of an enemy. What would Uncle Wu say to me about this!?
He dropped to his knees, his breath shaking as he tried to say something, but all that came out was a brief screaming of Karma's name, her actual name, and then a loud sob. Lloyd could feel a waterfall of tears stream down his face and dribbles of snot leak from his nose. He continued to tremble as he sobbed, clutching himself as though he were a pillow or a stuffed animal.
Alex's laughing ceased as he looked over the mourning boy and the dead girl, an earlier feeling of sadness faded. He didn't need to finish off Lloyd. The boy was already broken to pieces now. Alex had no need to break him physically. His job was done.
He slowly moved his hands in the motion that allowed him to teleport, his hands first forming two small circles with pinkies raised, then the pinkies joining their circles, then the circles forming one circle. He disappeared instantly, going off to search for Lloyd and Karma's other teammates, leaving the master of energy with the master of darkness.
Lloyd began to feel guilty about it all, and about letting Alex escape, his sobs beginning to cease little by little. In all those action movies I watched with Karma, the hero would go into rage mode when his companion was killed or severely injured. Was I supposed to do that? Was that how I'm supposed to be seen? Why couldn't I do that? Would it have made any difference?
Aside from the common bouts of atelophobia and the feelings after some of the stuff he reads about himself online, he felt that he was doing alright as a hero. The city seemed to respect him and his team, and they had gained a bit of popularity from "saving" Stiix and stopping Chen. Now, he was worried. What would the world think about this? What would my team think? If I did wake up Karma, what would she think!? Especially since I yelled her actual name...
Lloyd slowly got up and picked up her limp body, trying to hold back more tears. They all would hate me, wouldn't they? Even she would. I'm the one who killed her after all.
But is she really dead? he asked himself, denial returning bit my bit as he began to walk through the room. He looked down at her head, which was leaning against a part of his chest and shoulder, looking as though she were sleeping. Yeah...she's just sleeping. That's it. She can probably hear me.
"Hey, Seiko, I...um...I'm sorry for suddenly using your actual name. I just...really like it. It's pretty..." he spoke quietly as he walked out of the room, aiming to exit the building. But what if she can't hear me? he wondered, still believing that she was asleep instead of dead, Though, I guess it would just be easier for me if I just kept talking like she was.
"We almost got Alex...if only he didn't have those stupid teleporting powers. We could have ended this all, but I guess fate had other plans, huh?" he continued to talk, his voice no longer trembling, "No matter. At least we didn't fight some crazy clone of mine like Kai had. Geez, I wonder how Lilly even dealt with that clone."
He glanced at her face again as he walked down the hallway, the "sleeping" expression the same as before. He sighed.
"Just like how fate keeps preventing me from telling you how I feel when you're awake. Someone's always gotta butt in or something, right?" he looked up at the ceiling, "Always some kind of interruption. I wish you already knew though, so I didn't have to try to tell and you people didn't butt in. That'd be great."
"Though, you probably still view me as a kid and would probably reject me, it would be great to still have you as a best friend, too. You did remind me to cut loose every now and then, despite being a sensei. You did remind me that I could still be a kid, despite my current physical state. I'm just really glad to have you around, okay? So, don't..." his voice trailed off as the memories from earlier flooded into his mind, reminding him that she was indeed not asleep, and that he was the one who caused it all. Tears began streaming from his eyes again despite his efforts to try to hold them back. He couldn't deny it any longer. "...die."
He dropped his knees again, not letting her go. His body shook with sobs as it had earlier, and he hugged Karma as though she were hugging him back. It was enough that I was the one to send off my father to the Cursed Realm and leave him inside the Preeminent...now I've killed my best friend, the one that I...love.
How would I explain this? Would I just throw the blame on Alex? Or would I be truthful? Would I accept what's coming for me? I'm scared. I'm scared of the outcomes of both options. If I blame Alex we may go into an all out battle and more people will die, or if I tell them the truth I'll be dishonored and possibly even banished. With the banishment, people would view me like Uncle Wu viewed Morro: a great person who went rogue. Who wasn't who everyone thought they were. Who succumbed to darkness. I don't want to be seen that way. I'm in a bad enough state with myself already.
Lloyd snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a feminine voice down the hallway, asking if it was him. Tears blurred his vision, making the two people ahead look like fuzzy blobs. Though, the colors of the blobs helped him identify who they were. The purple and black was very familiar with him.
"Cass? Cole?" Lloyd wiped his eyes before looking up to see the master of wind and the master of earth approaching. A concerned look was on both of their faces. There's no hiding now. I have to tell the truth.
"Lloyd? Is everything alright? What-" Cass began to say, but her voice trailed off when her eyes fell upon Karma, a look of shock appearing on her face, "Oh..."
Cole floated next to Cass, the concerned look on his face still remaining. "Is she...?"
Lloyd nodded, holding back tears. He had to tell them. "I...W-We were fighting Alex...and..we almost got him..but I...I wanted to...drain Alex of his life energy...a-and I...I...I...I closed my eyes and a...accidentally d-drained her instead..." he struggled to tell them, before breaking out into a sob again, "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"
Cass rushed to his side, a look of concern returning to her face. "It's alright...you can bring her back, right? You're the who's still holding the life energy."
A small spark of hope flickered inside Lloyd for a moment, then faded. He was indeed able to transfer her life energy back and revive her, but he had to clear his mind, something he didn't believe he could do at that moment.
"I...can't," he struggled to say, bracing for the disbelief from his friends. Some hero I am. I cannot even manage a simple task with my powers. "My mind is too cluttered. I can't clear it. I've tried, Cass."
"Well, try harder! If you really want to save her, you wouldn't give up! Come on, Lloyd! I believe you can do this!" the female master of wind encouraged him, smiling in reassurance. Cole levitated over next to her, smiling as well.
"You can do it! You can do it!" he cheered, repeating the same phrase over and over. Lloyd looked over at his friends, then looked down at Karma. Seeing that a hand was already on her shoulder, he closed his eyes and tried desperately to clear his mind. His anxious thoughts fought back though, filling his mind with doubt and worry. He struggled to clear it, only to get frustrated and open his eyes.
Dammit, what would Uncle Wu say? Well, he'd probably say something about how I was able to clear my mind easily before. Why can't I do it now!? He closed his eyes again, trying his hardest to clear his mind. Tears of frustration began to fall from his tightly shut eyes as he starting gripping Karma's shoulder tighter. I gotta clear my mind! His anxious thoughts fought back though, causing him to open his eyes and sigh in frustration.
"Hey, you think it's maybe one of those Snow White type things where someone has to kiss the other to wake them up?" Cole asked Cass. Lloyd shook his head, a small blush growing on his face. That would have been easier and quite pleasant, but no.
"Unfortunately, no," the master of energy answered, "I just have to clear my mind, that's all."
He took a deep breath, and then closed his eyes again. Come on, do this for her! She'd be cheering you on if she were here! She can cheer you on again if you bring her back! His anxious thoughts were still fighting back, filling his head with doubt and even frustration. No, don't give up! You want to see her again, right? You don't want to let your friends down, you want to see her smile again, you want to confess. Giving up now eliminates your chances of any of those happening! Come on! He focused as much as he could, pushing all thoughts from his mind. Lloyd felt a sense of calmness wash over him, and the faint feeling of energy leaving his body. He had done it.
Unknown Place, Unknown Time
I opened my eyes to only see that I was surrounded by whiteness, as though I were in an empty room. How did I get here? The only thing I remembered was fighting Alex with Lloyd, and Lloyd accidentally catching my shoulder instead of Alex's, thanks to that dingus switching our places without warning. Though, how did I get from there to here? Was I dragged or carried?
I slowly rose from where I laid on the ground, looking around for my friends. I couldn't find anything, except the silhouette of someone to the south of me. Figuring they were one of my friends or perhaps a stranger that knows what's going on, I jogged towards them, waving my hand.
"Hey! Do you know what's going on!? Where am I!?" I called to the silhouette, still waving my hand. I could see color beginning to appear on the silhouette. Red, my skin color, dark blue, and orange began to show as the silhouette turned to acknowledge me, revealing black, wavy hair and sparkling brown eyes. I gasped and stopped dead in my tracks immediately, realizing who this silhouette was. It had nearly exact same face as me.
"L...Luo!" I shouted as I ran up to her, wrapping her in hug. Unlike my dreams, I could actually feel her somehow. I could actually feel the fabric of her shirt and she didn't seem twisted like my dreams portrayed her. Is she actually here, alive?
"Seiko? You're..." her voice was soft, igniting memories of previous years within my mind, bringing a smile to my face. Though, when I looked up, Luo didn't smile. She was only shocked. Is something wrong? "No...no no no...you can't be here already!"
What? I looked at my sister, bewildered. What does she mean? "What? I don't understand what you mean."
"Seiko...you are aware that you are dead...right?" she asked, causing me to freeze in place. No...that touch from Lloyd couldn't have been fatal...it couldn't have! I'm sure I'm fine. Maybe this is truly a dream. It has to be. It must be.
"Prove it then. Show me that I'm dead," I requested. My sister sighed, and then looked at me.
"You knew Lloyd was aiming to drain Alex of his life energy. Lloyd had his eyes closed when Alex threw you into his place, and Lloyd didn't have enough time to stop his powers," she explained, "Besides, if this was a dream, you wouldn't be able to touch me and I would have said nothing about this. I would have most likely said something related to my death or I would have said something from one of your memories with me."
She had a point. A point that had convinced me well enough. I am dead, and Lloyd & Alex may be the only ones who know. Tears prickled in my eyes at the thought of my friends' reactions to my death. At Lloyd's reaction to my death. Does he blame himself? Is he crying?
"Right now, you're in the realm between reincarnation and the abyss. The realm where souls stay until they choose to depart to where they are supposed to go. You can't see them, but there are many people around us right now. All of them are souls like me who are either waiting for family or just not ready," Luo went on, looking around at the blankness of this room, "Though, if they stay too long and have a reasonable link to the mortal realm, they can return to the mortal realm through the Cursed Realm as a ghost."
That must be how Morro became a ghost, I thought to myself. What's Cole's case then? Did he go through that whole process within a second?
"As for you, Lloyd either needs to restore your life energy, or I have to find some way to take you back to the mortal realm. Your time was not up. You still have many more lives to change before it's your time," she continued, smiling at me. I was confused. I have a time limit? How does Luo know all this? And what does she mean I have lives to change?
"Wait...how do you know all this?" I asked her.
"You learn a thing or two when conversing with people, and I'm allowed to watch over my family while a soul. I pretty much know Mom, Dad, and your little secrets now," she smiled, before bending down to whisper in my ear "Just confess to that guy already! It'll be so much easier on you! You two are basically big dorks anyway!"
I blushed slightly, sighing. "I'll do that when I get to it, sis...but what do you mean I have lives to change?"
"Your existence has a certain impact on every person you meet's lives, whether it be small or big. Either way, your existence is vital to the shaping of everyone you meet's lives, even if it was just that you picked up a dropped item for them. You exist somewhere in their life whether it be good or bad," Luo explained, "You still have many more lives to impact. You cannot die just yet. I don't care what the Cloud Kingdom decided."
I could feel myself smiling. I impact others' lives? Does that mean I impact my friends' lives majorly?
"How will I get back?" I asked my sister. She closed her eyes and took a breath, then kneeled down in front of me.
"You will not have to worry about that. All I have left to say is, be good to strangers and leave a good impact on the lives of most strangers you meet...and please, call Mom every chance you get. I love you, please take care," she smiled as I slowly felt myself fading away.
"Wait! I have so many more que-" I never got to finish my sentence. I blacked out before I could even see Luo's reaction, remembering nothing else after that.