Hey y'all! Back again! (For my Rising Legends readers: See? I told you I was working on this! To be fair though, I've been putting off posting this sooo...yep...)

Just wanted to thank everyone who's thus far (did I use that right?) reviewed, followed, and faved (definitely did not use that right...oh well) this fanfic. It means a lot to me! Welp...hope you enjoy this chapter! Oh, and it's a Lloyd POV... so yeah...

I think the oddest thing is that, as normal as days can be in the Monastery of Spinjitzu, this is the normal-est day so far. We argue, someone's out helping Ninjago City by putting some criminals behind bars, Zane's working on the case behind P.I.X.A.L.'s back (no wonder she told him to stay out of the bet…detective Zane is just…weird), and Master Wu is reading his scrolls. It's like…nothing happened. Like the little time of peace after we had defeated the Oni, before we learned about Aspheera's Pyramid and went to explore it as part of a quest to hone our Ninja skills…maybe that's what's odd about normal. Because there isn't a normal, not anymore.

Not since we accidentally released that snake. Not since we found those scrolls. Not since Zane was banished to the Never-Realm and became the Ice Emperor and we had to save him. Not since Prime Empire or Shintaro. Not since Nya merged with the sea. Not since I accepted my Oni Form…

And yet…why are we acting like it's normal? Why are we acting like it's perfectly normal for your friend to wake up covered in fur or have horns spouting out of their head or with vampire-like fangs?

I guess I'm part of the problem…how I instantly clam up whenever someone mentions Oni, how I go along with my siblings' craziness, how I smile and pretend everything is fine, even when sometimes it's a little less than fine. Maybe that's what the others do, too. Maybe Kai's not the only one who gets nightmares about what happened a few months ago, maybe the others are actually horrified by my morning-monster appearances, maybe their smiles aren't as real as they could be. Maybe, most likely.

But still, we pretend it's normal.

And sometimes, it's hard to tell if it's just a pretense or if everything really is normal. It just seems so…so…better.

I like it.

At least, until I get to my room, rubbing my head from where I had bumped it from wrestling with Jay. Unlike the others, he hasn't been treating me like a china doll, something I'm thankful for. But then…if he'd been like the others, he wouldn't have even put up a fight and I would have been able to actually get to play, like the liar had promised when he suggested a competition to see who could get further without dying a single time in Milton Dyer's newest video game.

Then I notice it's missing.

Greenie.

That's what I call my favorite hoodie. Greenie. Just thinking about the name of it makes me smile, a distant memory always tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"You're naming it? A hoodie?" an incredulous voice asks.

"Greenie." Nine-year-old me is obstinate, displaying the hoodie like a prize.

But then, it seems to grow foggier each time I remember it. Now I can't even remember who I'd told it to.

That doesn't matter, anyway.

Greenie's missing.

It's missing!

The realization seems to finally sink in fully. I need to find it. That's my favorite hoodie, the only one that seems like I can just disappear in, though I've grown into it by now. Maybe it's just because I used to hide in it when I was younger, when I first got it. Maybe it just reminds me of better times. Either way, it's missing. I need to find Greenie!

And who took it? Greenie was in here! Someone must have taken it and when I find them…–

No, I tell myself, thinking back to Master Wu's lessons, the ones where he teaches me about my heritage and how to manage it. Not control it. I can't control something so powerful, but I can manage it. The best way to do that is to keep my emotions under control. But…whoever hid Greenie…they're going to have to watch where they step for the next few days – once I find them.

A wicked smile crosses my face as I think of all the pranks I could pull on the thief. Though I don't know who it is, I say aloud, "You're going to regret taking Greenie."

"Oh, yeah? Whatcha going to do about it?" I can hear them say, a smirk on their face as I try to figure it. Oddly, but not surprisingly, the voice sounds a lot like Jay….

Great, I'm losing to my not-real-friends, I think bitterly, but smile anyway, knowing it wouldn't happen in real life. Besides, like I'll ever tell them. Then they'd see it coming.

I shake my head, clearing all other thought. What I need to do first is find some clues, who stole Greenie, where Greenie might be, anything.

And I doubt very much that they would leave anything in my room. So, I step out into the hall and right in Kai's way.

"Oof!" we both grunt, stumbling away from each other.

Kai's about to yell at me to look where I'm going, but as soon as he realizes that it's me, he closes his mouth, clears his throat, and asks, "Sorry…are you OK?"

If I hadn't broken my arm, he would have yelled at me or at least glared at me. Anything to make me feel like I'm in the wrong, but…ever since I broke my arm, he's been a lot more careful around me. He's the one that takes the whole "Lloyd's a china doll" thing to the next level, acting as if words could shatter me just as easily of physical force. And what he doesn't realize (and will never know) is that I actually broke my arm twice. It was just healed with a magic tea that first time (and I will never drink that tea again if I can help it).

"Where are you going?" I ask, ignoring his question (because, really, my arm has long since healed and he needs to get over it), and narrowing my eyes. Greenie went missing and now Kai's acting super jittery? Like he's hiding something? Nuh-uh. Not a coincidence.

"Just…just wanted to show Zane something," he says, waving his hand, in which he grips his phone.

I snort at the sight of the red rhinestone case his phone is in. It's a gift Nya "gave" him a week or so ago, in retaliation for Kai (I'm just glad she didn't notice me behind Kai) making fun of some of her more "girly" stuff. And…the case always seems to go right back on whenever Kai tries to take it off, so by now, he doesn't even try to pry the case off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kai rolls his eyes, instantly catching on to what I was thinking about, and shakes his head. "See you, kiddo."

As he turns to continue to go find Zane, I spot a flash of purple. He's too far away now to hear my breath catch.

Purple…

crystals and secrets and eyes of hatred and anger

and dark power pushed down down down

the color of power…

sickening if you look at it too long

because power,

when there's too much,

s.

I shake my head, as if I could jumble it all together in one big knot that can fall out out out of my head. I would rather it that way….

I take a deep breath and then exhale, trying to push it out of my body.

In.

Out.

Then, I force myself to walk away, imagining that I'm leaving that thought behind.

Greenie. That's what I came out to do. No picture that I'm not even sure has the same color as those…crystals. Focus on what's good. That's all.

Well, that and finding Greenie.

I look all over the Monastery, in the TV room, in the others' rooms, the bathroom, even the kitchen. All the while, I run into my friends, each doing their own thing. Jay seems to have roped P.I.X.A.L. into playing that game with him and I notice that he gives her the controller when his avatar dies. Great to see that he doesn't mind taking turns with other people. I find Cole just arriving back from his patrol, which we take turns at, trying to track down some robbers. And Nya is messing around and trying to fix the oven, which someone (meaning Kai and Jay while fighting) had broken. "Surprisingly," they have no idea where Greenie is.

So…there is only one place I haven't checked yet: the Hangar Bay.

Since they aren't anywhere else (and it seems kind of suspicious) I assume that Zane and Kai are there.

Oh, that's it! There is no way this was the work of one person! Someone at least helped the thief! And when I find out who…well, they are guilty, even if all one (or however many minus the thief themselves) just pointed the thief in the direction of the hiding place…well, they're in trouble.

I burst into the Hangar Bay, looking around for the speck of bright green among the parts of the Hangar Bay that we can reach. The Hangar Bay is still undergoing reconstruction from Harumi's little…surprise. It's slow progress, since some parts are still closed down and covered in rubble and unstable debris; it's unlikely that the thief put Greenie in those parts.

In about few seconds, I've rejected about half the Hangar Bay as Greenie-hiding-places. Then, I see Kai and Zane talking.

"Have either of you seen Greenie?" I shout as I sprint to them, checking for Greenie all the way.

Then I pause. Look at the computer screen, just catching a glimpse of darker colors, too fast for me to tell which ones. What I can see is a graph filled with data I can't read, and if I could, data that I wouldn't care to read.

But, it quickly disproves my theory that Kai had helped the thief. He'd been helping Zane, and Zane had been too busy with…whatever that is. What did he say when Jay and I had burst in fighting maybe half an hour ago? He was using light to do…something? Is that what those results are for?

That's when I realize how childish the Greenie-thing is, my cheeks burning like that marshmallow the one time Jay had kissed Nya on the cheek in front of Kai when we went camping.

"R-right, you probably have more important things to talk about than Greenie," I mutter, rubbing the back of my head.

"We do," Zane says, shifting around and looking at me regretfully. "Can you gather the others?" he asks before I can begin to wonder at his reaction.

Besides, the Greenie-thing is childish. I'll look for it later…after whatever Zane has us do. It's clear that it's serious. I mean, Kai is sitting there looking as grim as a graveyard. He isn't like that when it's not serious. Like…ever.

I nod and sprint off, ignoring Kai's shouts to be careful.

I am not a china doll! I'm fine! One of these days, I'll tell him that. One of these days.

Not today. But…I still make a mental note to tell him the next time he does that.

A few minutes later, we are all in the Hangar Bay, Cole and Jay joking around, oblivious to the fact that Kai is not joining them like he usually does. It's serious. He always joins them, even if he doesn't think too highly of Jay or doesn't actually say anything. Nya is sitting on the edge of the the main monitor keyboard frame, frowning at Kai and Zane.

I get the feeling that I'm missing something. Something that Kai, Nya, and Zane know about. I can't be the only one who doesn't know, can I? Jay and Cole are acting normal, but one real glance at them quickly dispells that. Cole's acting normal, but he looks a little strained, like he's trying to hide his nervousness but at the same time is trying to to laugh it away. And Jay isn't oblivious, I can tell now that I'm looking for it, that he knows something is off. That's why he's pulling out all the stops to make Cole laugh.

Meanwhile, Zane searches through his files, bringing up image after image on the monitor. Most are random screenshots of news articles about us (I wonder who screenshot those…), but one occasionally sends someone snickering. Like a blurry image of a bad dance move Jay had come up with, his face perpetually stuck in the most embarrassing position.

A few snickers, half-hearted but still enough to make Jay redden at the "injustice," ring throughout the Hangar Bay, but quickly die away as Zane continues to flick through the images.

And then he stops on it.

It's purple…

The shade that can make you sick if you look at it too long.

My chest tightens and I battle against the thoughts. I defeated the Overlord…he's gone – for now. No crystals. We're fine we're fine we're fine, I force myself to think. Can't break down in front of the others. I'm fine. Just take a few breaths and I'll be fine. All I have to do.

"Lloyd, are you OK?" Nya asks, wandering over to me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

I slip it off and nod, giving her an unconvincing smile.

I'm not a china doll, and I need to start acting like it. Maybe that's why the others still think I'll break at the slightest of rough touches. I'm fine.

And this time, it's true.

That's when I notice my friends are all staring at me, waiting for my reaction, my seemingly inevitable breakdown.

"So…what's this for Zane?" I ask, trying to get their attention back to whatever we need to do.

Zane pauses, freezing for the briefest of seconds, before explaining, "There…has been a development. Crystals, at least, replicas of the crystals used by the Overlord, have been appearing all over Ninjago City. Not particularly like the Overlord's crystals, as they are being bought, but I fear that they may not be simple, harmless replicas. They may be leftover from the Overlord's attack several months ago, discovered during the reconstruction of a remote village. If this is the case, they may have dormant powers. I have attempted to see if these replicas are one in the same, but after all, I can only do some much with pictures."

"So you need us to get a sample?" Cole presses.

Zane nods. "It should not be too difficult. After all, these crystals are exceedingly popular in Ninjago."

Kai sucks in a breath, glancing down at his phone. "Yeesh, popular, but they're expensive."

"Probably from the demand," Nya says, shrugging.

"Guess we'll have to hunt some down," Cole replies.

"So, what? We split up?" Jay suggests.

I notice that Jay seems to scoot closer to Nya, like he's hoping she'll team up with him. And it makes sense. They had lost a year together. Even though it's been months since they were reunited, they're still trying to make up for lost time.

"Right, uh, Jay and I will take central Ninjago City," Nya says, apparently noticing it, and slipping her hand into Jay's. I'm almost tempted to gag at the sappy look they give each other.

"I'm with Lloyd!" Cole announces, sidling up to me.

I grin at him, the act starting out genuine until I notice a spark of –what is it? Guilt? Fear? – in his eyes. I cover the fading grin by plastering seriousness all over my face. We should get to work, I try to convey to both myself and Cole. Thankfully, he immediately picks up on it and nods, starting out to the vehicles. I follow him, but I'm not far enough to hear that Kai and Zane are taking the docks. Guess that leaves downtown Ninjago for me and Cole.

Well, let's find these crystals and make sure they aren't evil.

Greenie! OK...in all fairness, I wanted that occasional ridiculousness in Ninjago to help with the depressing nature of this fic...hopefully it's not TOO ridiculous. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts and thanks for reading! Have a nice day and until next time! (Oh, and you might want to be paying attention to the crystals...just saying! OK...going to zip my lips before I reveal that: _) :)