A/N: I'm going to be completely honest, I straight up forgot to keep uploading to FFN. I usually focus on uploading to AO3 since that's where I have all the art and music and stuff for the fic. But well, I know there's a couple of you guys here! Sorry for the wait, I'll try to get the next few chapters up quickly!

Act 2

Where is the moon?

"What are you doing?!" Morro screeched.

"Making sure no more ghosts get to hurt my family!"

Two spikes erupted from the rumbling ground, interrupting Morro's attempt to escape Cole's grasp. He screamed as the spikes pierced his hands. A chunk of rock broke off from behind and slammed into Morro's back, sending them both towards the waterfall.

Kai felt the flames of the Underworld inside him, and yet he could barely stay upright as he ran towards Cole. "Cole!" He didn't let his broken leg stop him, though. He continued running.

"Cole! Cole! No! Stop that right now! This isn't funny!" Jay yelled, still hoping it was all just some trick.

Nya held her hand outstretched, all she could do was scream for the water to save Cole, and yet it barely heard her.

Zane couldn't speak, and could barely move, but that didn't stop him from running for his brother. He had to protect, he had to protect, he had to protect protect protect.

"No! Cole! Stop this! We'll find another way!" Lloyd wailed, because nothing Morro did to him could be worse than this.

"Stopping Morro is not worth your life! Cole! This is not your burden to bear!" And yet, Wu's pleas fell on deaf ears.

Cole looked up; they could see his eyes, wide and fearful yet glowing a brilliant orange. He held on.

"Are you insane?! You'll damn us both! You think she's going to let you get away with this?! You're throwing away your life!" Morro said in a frantic, fearful tone.

Cole's next words pierced them all like an arrow. "I don't have a life!" he told Morro. "And I won't throw away theirs!"

Morro grew desperate as the waterfall drew near. Nya at this point was clambering over her toppled suit, both arms outstretched as her hands flickered blue. Despite his broken leg, Kai was the closest, he was so close.

"You'll suffer! I'll get out eventually, but you'll suffer! You'll suffer for the rest of time!"

Cole held Morro, at the edge of the precipice, inches away from damnation.

"That's fine!" Cole's voice echoed out, a final nail in a coffin, reverberating through the Underworld.

The rock beneath Cole gave way. From where they were, they could see him mouth his final words:

"I'm so sorry."

The marigold light drained from his eyes as he and Morro fell over the ledge, into the water.

No, no, no no no no no!

It was all he could think. Because this couldn't be happening. It couldn't be happening.

It just couldn't be happening.

But it did. And he wasn't fast enough.

He reached the waterfall just in time to see it happen- Morro's scream got cut off, as both of them seemed to melt- dissolve- into the waterfall. Green mist exploded outward, as though it were trying to recoil from the water. It trailed upward and outward like smoke.

"NO! COLE!"

With a single burst of Spinjitzu, Kai launched himself into the waterfall- it pounded against him, slamming him down as he fell, but-

Cole wasn't there.

He felt weightless. He couldn't breathe.

Cole was gone. He felt something inside of him snap, harsh and violent and worse than any he's ever felt. This wasn't like when Zane died. This was worse. So much worse. So, so, impossibly worse.

"I don't have a life! And I won't throw away theirs!"

"You'll suffer! I'll get out eventually, but you'll suffer! You'll suffer for the rest of time!"

"That's fine!"

Cole had just thrown away his life- to stop Morro. With a voice that cried more in pain than anything Kai had ever heard.

He heard his own voice in his head.

"You hate yourself. You think you're worthless if you're not fighting. And when the problem can't be punched, you go off to find something to punch."

Over a day. Kai had been stuck in the Underworld with Cole for over a day.

Cole just sacrificed himself, believing that he didn't have a life.

I had no idea he felt that way.

He had tried to be a good brother to Nya when their parents went missing. To run the shop, sure, but mostly to make sure she lived a good life. He wasn't very good at that. She got kidnapped, and worse would have happened without Wu. And all that time, he had been too angry to listen to anyone.

He tried to live a life that Zane would be proud of, after he died. To carry on his legacy. Make sure nobody ever forgot him. The statue rusted while he battled in an underground fighting ring, hoping to find some problem to hit.

He tried to be what Lloyd needed after losing his father. And that went just swimmingly.

"And your solution to that is to act like all you can do is fight."

That had been what a wiser, better Kai had said, back in the tomb. A Kai that wasn't a failure. Wasn't a blind idiot that missed what was right in front of him.

And he tried to be there after getting Cole cursed in the temple. But no. Instead, he asked stupid questions, upset him, and caused him to nearly fall into the ocean. He put a bucket on the door that nearly melted him. He didn't notice how badly Cole was hurting because he was too busy thinking about Morro. In some cruel way, it had always been leading up to this, and he just hadn't noticed.

He couldn't breathe.

Cole had been there, right next to him, less than fifteen minutes earlier. Sitting quietly, staring outward.

Why hadn't he noticed the sadness in his eyes? It was so obvious.

"You know that distancing yourself is only going to make things worse. It's never worked out for you before."

And yet that's exactly what he did. He focused on Morro. On how badly he hated him. He didn't even notice. Cole was afraid that he had no place in their lives and Kai hadn't even noticed.

"I'm tired of my mistakes almost getting people killed."

That was what he had said at the time.

This was so, so much worse than that. There was no "almost."

When Kai had nearly jumped into the waterfall in a desperate bid to stop Morro, Cole stopped him. Cole calmed him down. Cole was there to ruffle his hair and lighten the mood as they waited for rescue.

Cole had just killed himself to keep them safe. And he died thinking that he didn't have a life.

"Sometimes, mistakes happen. Sometimes, evil is stronger. Sometimes, evil is just lucky. Always strive to learn and improve, but you must not destroy yourself. That is exactly what evil wants."

Evil won today. Evil won and Kai didn't notice until it was too late.

"Like iron sharpens iron, brother sharpens brother. Family is not a one-sided alliance. You strengthen them, and they, in turn, will sharpen you. A sword that only cuts is doomed to dull."

"And hey, just so it isn't a surprise, Cole's room is next, and it's in rough shape. He needs you, so look out for him."

Everything felt hot- impossibly so- so, so, suffocatingly hot. Like he was back in that angry volcano, with lava around him. So, so, so desperate to get that fang blade, to prove he could be the Green Ninja, to prove he could be special.

He could feel the weight of it in his hand. Cold and sharp and cruel. He had it, he had the stupid fang blade: Morro was gone.

At the cost of someone he loved. Of a brother he was supposed to be there for.

It felt like he had just plunged the knife into his own heart. It felt like the volcano had swallowed him whole. It felt like- It felt like hell.

Which was exactly where Cole was.

And I didn't do anything to save him.

It had to be a joke. Some sick, cruel, screwed up joke. Cole would be fine. He had to be. He couldn't be stuck in the Cursed Realm for the rest of time. He couldn't have just sacrificed everything, and apologized to them for it.

"I'm so sorry."

Those had been the words on his lips, weren't they? An apology.

I was the one that was supposed to apologize to you.

Something flashed in his memory. "You always were so worried about how others see you."

The world around him didn't feel real. A world without Cole was a world without the earth. It just couldn't be real. Simply couldn't exist. It made no sense.

Distantly, Jay felt a hand on his shoulder- he could barely keep himself from sparking. It was Zane, right next to him. His voice box was broken, and he looked like he was barely functional, but he managed to point at Kai.

It was like staring into the sun.

A large, blazing orb engulfed in white flames that radiated outward, just above the pit that had claimed Cole. Inside was Kai- flames rose from his eyes like tears, coalescing and spiraling around him like a whirlpool. The lava around them churned and swayed towards the master of fire.

Jay pushed off from Zane towards Kai; the world around him spun. It all felt so fake. But he couldn't- he couldn't not go after Kai. Even if all he could think about was Cole.

All I had to say was "Sorry." That's it! That's all I had to say!

The fire was so hot, and his back burned. He realized that the ice holding the blood in was melting. Whatever. That didn't matter.

First Spinjitzu Master, how could he be such an idiot? How could he have ever hated Cole? How could he let his jealousy push him so far? How could he have fought Cole on that island?

How could he have gone so long without apologizing?

With a strangled cry, he shot a bolt of lightning at Kai- feeble and weak and not quite able to connect as he tottered about. He could feel his skin burning just by being near the Master of Fire.

In a cold, awful moment, everything made sense. It was all a rollercoaster. That's what. They were all strapped into these awful, sabotaged rollercoasters that would eventually screw up and kill them. It was what they signed up for when they started fighting. Every time they went into battle, they fastened their seatbelts on the car and started climbing the first hill.

This time, it was Cole's that had been broken.

It wasn't even a secret.

His reflection had warned him. Told him to bring it up with Cole. To settle his dues.

Except, what had been his excuse? That Cole was "dealing with more important things right now." Something like that.

Bullshit. He just didn't want Cole to hate him. Didn't want to have the awkward conversation. He was fine to leave well enough alone, even if it meant neither of them really got closure.

He had seen it. Seen Cole's room. First Master, Jay had been so excited about his room. So excited about that stupid Yin medallion. Even then, Nya had been all he thought about.

Even as Cole had been essentially told that he had no future.

"I don't have a life! And I won't throw away theirs!"

And he believed it, too.

He couldn't see- his vision was all blurry, though he was pretty sure it was too hot to cry.

He realized a moment later that Nya was beside him, holding her hands out, desperately trying to quell the flames.

Was it worth it, Walker? Said an awful, awful voice inside him. You can have Nya all to yourself now.

No, no, no, God no. Of course it wasn't. And to think he had once been jealous enough that he fought Cole-

He felt electricity crackle inside him.

"You're still awkward with him. I don't know how Cole feels about you, but you need to work that out. That you from the rollercoaster, that is your true self. But you shouldn't be that just in death. Don't let fear hold you back from expressing your feelings and settling your grudges. Especially grudges against yourself."

That was exactly what he had done. Except it wasn't him on the rollercoaster, it was Cole. It was Cole that had lost his body. Cole that couldn't live a normal life. Cole that was riding the broken tracks towards a shattered future. And Jay had let him go, without so much as a word.

He screamed- of course his voice worked now that it was too late- and let a bolt of electricity fly from his hand. It hit Kai this time, who went stock-stiff. The flames around him dissipated, and Jay wondered if he had just used too much power and killed another friend.

It was Wu that caught Kai- he jumped over the waterfall edge in a golden cyclone and scooped up the smoldering master of fire. Even Kai's fireproof clothes seemed barely intact. And there was so much blood on his leg and face. His right eye had a cut from Cole's scythe that glowed green.

Everything fell so painfully silent. Even the waterfall was quiet compared to what was still echoing in Jay's head.

I'm sorry, Cole. I'm so, so, so sorry. For everything. For being jealous. For not working it out sooner. For letting myself hurt you. For not coming to you sooner. For being a coward.

It was just… Too little too late, wasn't it?

Even now, she wasn't good enough.

When Nya looked around, all she could see was red.

It was on all of them.

Kai was cradled in Wu's arms. He was unconscious. Jay's lightning didn't seem to do much more than stun him, but in his current condition- where his leg was twisted and mangled and there was so much blood- it was enough to render him unconscious.

A little cut on her face was nothing like what had just happened to Kai. Or Cole.

In the end, Nya couldn't save her brother. Couldn't stop either of them, really.

"You've always placed a large burden on yourself. However, it was never as immediately threatening as what the ninja faced, and you never failed a task in such a way that directly led to their harm. But you saw what happened when Zane died, and the thought of being in Jay or Kai or Cole or Lloyd's shoes there, where he's so close yet so far… that is what you're afraid of."

Well, here she was. Here she was getting up close and personal with the concept of utter failure. At a time when the price was simply too high.

"You're afraid of not being able to live up to the destiny of the Master of Water. The idea of failing is unbearable."

This was it.

This was that failure.

Emotionally, you're still resisting the idea that you are a capable Master of Water, just because you haven't mastered it yet."

What if she had done things differently? What if, instead of fixing Samurai X, she had trained just a little more? Maybe then, she could have averted all of this. Maybe she could have found her own True Potential and saved Cole.

Stopped him from…

It hit her all at once. She frantically wiped at her face, but that didn't stop the tears.

"You'll suffer! I'll get out eventually, but you'll suffer! You'll suffer for the rest of time!"

Cole was going to suffer for the rest of time because of her screwup. Because she, the Master of Water, couldn't move a little waterfall.

And all he'd said was that it was fine.

She saw him, jumping over those stones in the river, laughing and joking and being the one to encourage her when he was the one with the most unsure future.

First Master, what had she done to deserve someone as amazing as Cole?

And what had he done to deserve this?

She failed him.

Someone grasped her uninjured hand. It was Jay, staring at her with a fragile, desperate expression- his eyes were bloodshot and his face was charred and so very pale. He looked about ready to keel over.

"We'll find him. We have to."

Nya swallowed hard. All she felt was an awful void inside of her- before all this happened, she could never have even imagined things going like this.

"Even if we do…" she mumbled, her voice barely obeying. "What good will that do? I couldn't stop him, and the Preeminent-" her voice cracked, and she buried her head in Jay's shoulder. "She has him! What are they going to do to him? He's with- he's in the same place Morro is! Morro and Chen and who knows who else! People that hate us! While the Preeminent can control him."

She felt sick as her imagination ran wild- she saw Cole, huddled on the ground, beaten and shivering and hurt because Nya couldn't save him.

Jay gasped and recoiled, only to break into a hacking cough that threatened to knock him off his feet.

Shit, his broken ribs. How had she forgotten?

She grabbed him by the arm and slung it over her shoulder. Jay shuddered.

"We'll… we'll fix it… we have to."

She bit her lip.

It was a nice thought, but everything just felt too horrible.

Some Master of Water she was. She couldn't stop the rain, couldn't stop a waterfall, and now she couldn't even stop her own tears.

Zane couldn't speak. Even if his voice box weren't broken, he didn't know what he'd say.

Maybe his ice could have smothered Kai's flames, and yet he did nothing. Master Wu now held his unconscious form.

-You are injured, Zane. Grievously. Not to mention, you are covered in oil. As it stands, you are at a very real risk of catching fire- Pixal said slowly, though she knew that wasn't what was bothering him. But like him, she didn't know what to say.

It all happened so fast. It all went wrong so fast. Too fast.

Cole was in the Cursed Realm. He was in the Cursed Realm, and they didn't know of any way to reach him. Cole was at the mercy of the Cursed Realm.

They held a memorial for the last person they had lost to the Cursed Realm. Because getting sent to the Cursed Realm was synonymous to a death sentence.

He imagined the words of his reflection. They played in his mind, a memory turned bitter and sick.

"You don't want to be thanked, because you feel like you failed."

"You failed, because they still suffered greatly."

He had put his family through such anguish. Even if there had been no alternative, the knowledge that his absence caused such pain hurt.

Even worse, though, was the pain of failing to protect.

Physically, yes. Worse still was what Cole had said.

When Zane fought the Overlord, he did so because he was built to protect. That was his purpose. His reason for existing.

When Cole was fighting Morro, what was he doing?

"Making sure no more ghosts get to hurt my family!"

Zane couldn't imagine a worse hell. To die thinking your very design was only meant to cause pain and suffering. To be controlled, and forced into a purpose so utterly terrible entirely against one's will.

"I don't have a life!"

"I'm so sorry."

Zane's balance failed and he collapsed to his knees.

-Zane, this was not your fault- Pixal said, but even her voice was unsteady and shellshocked by what had just transpired.

I promised him, Pixal. I promised him that I would help him.

The memory replayed in his head.

"It is okay for you to be struggling. You are not weak for being in pain. However, you will not always feel like this. You will not feel like this for the rest of time."

"It is going to get better. I swear on my father's life, Cole."

This was it. This was the worst-case scenario he had been dreading.

What was this if not eternal damnation for Cole? Eternal damnation where he had never received the peace that Zane had promised.

How much pain was Cole in, at this very moment?

"It's a losing battle that you're fighting. Do you protect someone's body, or do you protect their heart? If one is lost, another must live with that hole in their heart. Especially for a family as tight-knit as yours."

And that was why Cole had apologized. Because in order to keep them safe, he had given up everything. Knowing full well it would hurt.

Zane clutched his chest. He was vaguely aware of Wu cradling Kai as they walked his way.

-Zane, you must calm down. You cannot afford to spark something right now. It could cause irreparable damage-

I have already sustained irreparable damage, he thought.

He saw several warnings appear in his vision- he could feel his falcon's distress in response to his own.

Zane thought he knew anger. He had felt it when his father's designs- his designs- had been stolen and bastardized to create pawns for the Overlord to hurt others with.

It went against everything he was. He was supposed to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

And yet, Cole had just experienced worse. There was no copy. No perversion of design. Just an awful, sick, twisted being forcing Cole to hurt them. Forcing Cole into a corner, where suicide was the only way to keep everyone safe.

How dare she? How dare she?!

Zane felt liquid running down his face- he had never cried in this body before.

Cole couldn't cry. There was no body left.

Not even anything to bury.

-Zane… Do not give up hope. Perhaps we can find another way to the Cursed Realm-

You know as well as I do that the odds of that are slim.

They had to try, though. They had to try. Of course they did.

But it really did seem hopeless. It hadn't worked for Garmadon, and he wasn't even a cursed ghost.

So this is what it felt like, he thought. This is what I did to all of you.

The cost of protecting people. The cost of facing the queen of all the monsters in a snowy forest. The cost of standing up to a great evil.

He never imagined that it could hurt so much to be protected. That grief could be this sharp. He never imagined that anything could hurt so much more than when the Golden Armor had overloaded his heart.

Zane's respiratory system was completely compromised. He couldn't even sob, but that did nothing to quell the deep sorrow that screamed inside him.

His heart was bleeding.

"It's much easier to be the sacrifice than the survivor."

That was all Lloyd could think, as he stared at where Cole had just been. He could only think of the First Master's Tomb.

Just moments ago, Cole had been there. Moments before that, he had been possessing Lloyd.

He should have- he should have done something.

He was so tired of being the survivor. Of being the one that was too special, too valuable.

I'm tired of people dying for me.

Lloyd keeled over. His chest hurt- it hurt so much.

Dad… Cole… I'm so sorry.

Cole was in the Cursed Realm, with his dad. One other ally that didn't belong there. But who else was there? Cole was in the Cursed Realm with Morro. Cole was in the Cursed realm with Chen. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if General Kozu were there, too. Maybe some of the Overlord's Nindroids too, why not?

Cole was trapped in the Cursed Realm with all of Lloyd's worst enemies. All people that should be his problem.

What the hell was he supposed to do with both of them in the Cursed Realm? Carry on, like usual, knowing that two people he loved were probably being tortured?

Without your family, you cannot fight. But without your family, you have nothing to fight for."

They… They had to get Cole back. And his dad back.

There just… there had to be a way. Cole couldn't be dead. Not to save him.

At least, not like this.

But he could hardly move. His burns were in agony and he couldn't move his bleeding right arm. His body just wouldn't listen to him- he was so tired of being used and forced to hurt his family.

First Master, he couldn't even imagine how Cole felt. Seeing his uncle prone in front of them, with the Sword of Sanctuary in hand-

It had been nothing short of horrifying. Morro's worst trick yet.

No wonder Cole jumped. Lloyd would have done the same thing, if it meant stopping Morro and keeping the others safe.

The worst part was that it should have been him, not Cole that was a ghost, damned to hell. All while shouting that he was fine with the suffering and that he was sorry for the trouble.

That idealized reflection of him flashed in his mind.

"You've lost a lot in your life. More than most kids your age could even comprehend. And bad things are going to keep happening."

"But so many good things are going to happen, too. You're not fighting for nothing."

"It's about more than that. You do more than fight. You're a hero to so many people."

Just once, could he be the hero to his family?

Evidently not.

He tried to dispel the thought. A ninja never quits, right? Never gives up hope?

He wasn't sure what else he would do if he did.

They'd… find a way to Cole. They had to… They had to…

For now, though? Everything faded to black.

Wu was holding an unconscious Kai when he saw his nephew behind them as his body finally gave out. Zane rushed to his side and scooped him up- blood and oil smeared together into an awful, reflective mess.

Zane looked like he wanted to say something, but ice was the only thing holding his shattered voicebox inside his body. Instead, he just cradled Lloyd tight with a tormented expression. Slowly, he bowed his head so that it was just barely touching Lloyd's.

Wu could still feel the cinders from the barely-extinguished flames. If he had a hunch, he'd say Kai had been fighting Morro using nothing but elemental energy.

Nothing but elemental energy to keep him going for over a day.

Kai had always been so strong. And his despair so loud and hot. He wouldn't die, not here, like this. The Elements of Creation rejected the idea of such a destructive end.

But… the earth…

Jay and Nya were currently leaning against each other. The Samurai X suit lay abandoned near the wall where it had toppled, and its owner appeared to have no interest in retrieving it.

And with all that came the screaming silence- the yawning absence that rang louder than anything else ever could.

First Garmadon, and now Cole.

Wu had wondered, of course. What it had been like for his father to see his two sons tear each other apart, hurt each other so deeply, fight so viciously.

This was what that felt like, then.

Did his father also carry a weight that told him he could have been different? Could have been better? Could have found some way to dispel the hatred that was poisoning his child's heart?

Except that Wu did not need to die in their fight. He had the Elemental Masters to help protect him. And in turn, he was supposed to protect them.

He thought of Lilly. She had been so excited to have a son. She had spoken of him constantly, before her powers left her and that chronic illness claimed her.

Wu had no doubt that she was as proud as she was devastated, right now. To defy the Preeminent was no small feat. It should have been impossible. And yet, Cole found a way.

Wu hugged Kai tight, because Cole had given up everything to keep them all safe, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to the ones that were left.

Except. Hadn't he said that when Zane had sacrificed himself?

How good was he, really? At shielding these children from the consequences of his mistakes?

Oh Lilly, I'm so, so sorry.

But he couldn't cry, not now.

He lifted his head- his pupils were staring at him with wide, devastated, terrified eyes that begged for something. Some sort of direction.

"Let… us leave this place. There is nothing more here for us."

Nobody moved for a long moment.

It was Jay that finally asked. His voice was small and feeble and so very scared. "Sensei… we can save Cole, can't we?"

He couldn't hide the hesitation in his voice. "I… I don't know. For now, we need to make sure Cole's sacrifice was not in vain, and see to treatment before something worse happens."

He could see them wither under the less-than-reassuring words, but he didn't know what he could say, when he was surrounded by his bloodied, hurting, grieving children.

It was as they walked that he became keenly aware of Kai's unconscious body in his arms-

And of how Cole left no body.

Perhaps that was the thought that hurt the most. How different it was from the first time they had done all of this.

Cole had been strong, absolutely. And as selfless as anyone could ever aspire to be. But it was so viscerally different from when Zane had sacrificed himself.

Zane hadn't died while screaming about how he had no life. Or of how it was okay to face an eternity of torment. Or of how he was sorry for the pain he caused. Zane had died in peace- the Nindroid had confirmed all that himself upon his return.

Cole had no such mercy.

And Lou wouldn't even have a body to bury. Nothing to lay to rest on this cold, moonless night.

Because ghosts did not sleep.