"Wow! So do all Eastern Ninjagans have these?" Ari asked, tapping at Lloyd's phone screen with wide eyes. She'd been asking Lloyd questions about Ninjago nonstop as they walked to her village. Her excitement was contagious, though his worrying over how he was going to get home kept him from getting too upbeat. Zeo was a grumpy storm cloud silently leading them through the wilderness.

"Pretty much, yeah," Lloyd nodded, hopping over a fallen log.

"And it doesn't use any magic?" Ari checked. She'd found the wallpaper settings and was cycling through all the default wallpapers. Zeo glanced back at them to side-eye the phone mistrustingly.

"Nope, just electricity and science," Lloyd told her. If it were powered by magic, it would probably still be able to make calls. There was no way the others hadn't noticed he was missing by now.

"That's definitely a lot more accessible than magic," Ari noted, not having any problem accepting how advanced science had become. Both her and her cousin were a lot less- barbaric? Was that the word?- than he'd been expecting when he'd realized what time they were from. Like, there was a lot they didn't know, but they weren't stupid. Ari turned to look at him. "Do you know how to make one of these?"

A phone? Images of all the little parts and the pages of nonsensical code flashed through his mind. He wouldn't even know how to start. "Er, no," he admitted. "They have professionals make them."

"It's too bad it doesn't work properly here," Ari lamented.

"Yeah," Lloyd sighed. It wouldn't have fixed the problem, but it would've lessened his family's freakout. Kai was literally going to chain him to his bed when he got back. They weren't going to leave him alone for even a second. Any semblance of privacy would be gone, poof, like the concept never existed.

"Is this what Ninjargon looks like now?" Ari asked, pointing to the digital keyboard she'd opened on the screen.

"Yep," Lloyd nodded. "That's the whole alphabet."

Ari squinted down at the letters. "Hmm, I can see the similarities, I guess. But I haven't been able to read any of the words on here. Like, some of them are almost words, but they aren't right and don't really make sense."

"That's how most people view ancient Ninjargon," Lloyd shrugged. Stuff where the letters seemed recognizable but weren't really. A sentence might look kinda like 'And pa pylveaf heorn aba don ar reoccum' but you couldn't even begin to guess what that might mean. The two languages were obviously related, but knowing one helped very little with understanding the other. Lloyd could read it better than most thanks to his mom, but he'd never really bothered to learn to speak it aloud. Why would he? It was a dead language (or it had been a dead language), being able to read it was enough. So he was very confused as to why they weren't having any problems talking to each other. Logically, they should be babbling gibberish at each other. He didn't think they were lying though.

Zeo suddenly lunged forward and stabbed something in a bush. There was an animalistic screech and Zeo's blade had a dark liquid on it when he sheathed it.

"So how dangerous is it around here?" Lloyd asked, concerned. "Are there monsters every few steps?" He'd known the island was dangerous, any would-be explorers of the Dark Island always gave up very quickly, but they'd made it sound like their village wasn't far. Were all these creatures right at their doorstep?

"You telling me Eastern Ninjago isn't the same?" Zeo groused.

"I mean, we have problem areas," Lloyd answered, shrugging one shoulder, "but we don't generally build our towns near them."

"People were trying to run," Zeo said dully, staring back down the trail. "Get to the forest to go through to the part of Ninjago wasn't about to sink. People weren't even sure they'd survive the sink. The First Master said anyone left behind wouldn't die, but people weren't inclined to believe him. Haven's Gate was created by the people who fled here only to discover there was no escape to be found here either. There was no point running after that, this was people's final hope."

As Zeo spoke, the guilt weighed down heavier and heavier on Lloyd's soul. He knew that it didn't make sense, all this had happened ages before he was born, but it still felt like he'd done something to cause these people's suffering. How could his grandfather have left these people behind like this? Had he been… unable to save them? His grandfather had always been a perfect being in Lloyd's mind, barely even human. He hadn't been human really.

But the First Master hadn't been able to defeat the Overlord.

He hadn't been able to heal the Devourer venom in his son either.

So he hadn't been perfect, but…

"So you guys were, like, alive when the First Master was?" Lloyd asked cautiously. He didn't want to offend them, but Wu and his dad had always seemed somewhat evasive when Lloyd asked about the First Master.

"Yeah, never saw him ourselves though," Ari shrugged. She was silent for a moment, then, "So he is dead now then. We'd assumed so, but we weren't sure."

"Yeah, he died long before I was born," Lloyd told them. These people had been waiting for such a long time…

"So who defeated the Overlord then?" Zeo demanded, spinning to pin Lloyd with piercing eyes.

Lloyd's heart sped up. "Zane, the master of ice," he answered truthfully. No need to bring up Lloyd's failed attempts.

Zeo came to a dead stop, Ari and Lloyd nearly crashing into him. The redhead's expression was one of utter disbelief. Lloyd rewound his words in his head but couldn't find anything that would cause such a reaction. "Who?" Zeo gaped. "Master of ice? What does that even mean?"

"Er, he's the elemental master of ice," Lloyd expanded. They must know about the elemental masters if they were so familiar with the First Master.

"What's an elemental master?" Ari asked, mystified. Or maybe they didn't, apparently.

"You guys don't know what elemental masters are?" Lloyd blinked. The cousins shook their heads. "Then who helped m- the First Master, fight the Overlord?"

"I mean, everyone tried to help," Zeo shrugged. "Only the First Master could square off with the Overlord himself though. And that still doesn't explain what an elemental master is." His grandfather had been fighting the Overlord by himself?

"Well," Lloyd started, trying to think of the simplest way to explain it. "Uh, the first Master gifted certain people power over an element so they could become protectors of Ninjago. So, like, fire powers, ice powers, water powers, etcetera. And then the powers pass down through bloodlines." Mostly. Zane was an exception; the previous master of ice had chosen Zane to receive his powers. Zane would eventually do the same thing, lacking real blood to pass down.

Zeo stared at Lloyd, processing this information. "So," he said slowly, anger building in his voice, "the Overlord, after all this time, lost to just- some guy?"

"Hey, Zane's awesome!" Lloyd protested, offended on Zane's behalf. Where did this guy get off calling the person who defeated the Overlord just 'some guy'? Who did he think he was? "And he isn't a rando, he's the master of ice, one of Ninjago's greatest protectors."

The hysterical laugh that burst out of Zeo's lips had Lloyd seriously questioning the guy's mental functioning. "What does ice do?!" Zeo exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "The First Master had ice powers. He could do a lot of crazy shit. Ice powers were not the thing missing from the equation." He stepped up to Lloyd aggressively. "Do you have any idea how many people died in the war against the Overlord? And you're telling me a guy with ice powers and ice powers alone, somehow managed to finally defeat the Overlord?" Okay, so out of context, Lloyd could understand why this news might be upsetting.

"I mean, other elemental masters helped," Lloyd amended. "Zane was the one to finish him off though." The familiar pit of trauma and guilt tore open in Lloyd at the memory. Zane shouldn't have had to die, or almost die, doing something meant to be Lloyd's job. Lloyd's supposed destiny.

Zeo still looked disbelieving, but Ari was looking at him curiously. "Are you an elemental master, Lloyd?" she asked shrewdly. Alarm bells rang out in Lloyd's head like a siren, and he just barely suppressed his reaction. What had tipped her off?! Had it seemed like he knew too much? Was it the way he'd said it?

"Er." Panic swelled up within him. Would admitting it be good or bad? These people didn't seem to like the First Master but that didn't necessarily mean they wouldn't like elemental masters. What if he walked into town and they ambushed him and tied him down and drained his powers dry? He would be literally doomed. His friends and family were thousands of miles away and they had no idea where he was. But these people had never heard of elemental masters before now, they wouldn't know stealing powers was a thing. They didn't really understand what elemental powers were.

Lloyd's heart was going a mile a minute. He was taking too long to answer, they were going to get suspicious. But he'd probably need these people's help to get home. He might even need to break out his powers on the way to town if they were attacked by monsters again. And if their reactions to his powers were bad, he'd know going into their town was off the table. Better to know now, right? Ugh, but it was so risky. But these people were fighting the Overlord monsters, they couldn't be evil, right? But what if it was an act? But they couldn't have known he was coming or who he was, could they? Also, they didn't even have to be evil to want his powers or to see his powers as a threat, they could just be scared and desperate. But what if they were just normal, good people? If they found out he'd blatantly lied to them… Maybe he could tell a half truth? "Yeah, I am."

"You are?" Zeo asked, eyes narrowing. "What's your element then?"

"Um, energy," Lloyd answered. That wasn't a lie.

"Energy?" Zeo said flatly. "That's not an element."

"Yeah, the word 'element' is used very loosely," Lloyd shrugged. "Speed, shadow, and form are elemental powers too. I guess they are more just things you find in nature. They don't need to be the building blocks of the world. I don't super get it either." Were mind and amber natural things? They weren't unnatural.

"That's stupid," Zeo griped, frustration boiling and looking very much like he wanted to reach out and throttle him. "What in the cursed realm does 'energy' mean? That's so vague. At least the other stuff are solid concepts. But energy? Technically, everything is energy." Was it?

"Um." How to explain it? Lloyd created a small green orb in his palm. "I don't know. It's this. Whatever this is. That's energy." He flicked the orb away. It hit a bush, breaking the branch before dissipating.

Zeo glanced between Lloyd and the spot where the orb had disappeared. "Why didn't you use that against the Root Chomper?" The way he said it, he thought Lloyd was an idiot.

"I mean, I was about to," Lloyd defended. "It caught me off guard. I was kinda distracted by being somewhere that looked nothing like the place I'd been just thirty seconds ago."

"So did you help fight the Overlord with the other elemental masters?" Ari asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, I helped," Lloyd confirmed, managing to sound like shame wasn't eating away at him. "I wasn't…" He'd made things worse. "The others did more."

"Wow!" Ari breathed. "That's incredible!" Her posture wilted. "I'm glad you were able to pull it off so fast. The Overlord was so focused on taking down eastern Ninjago when we came back, he didn't double back and actively come after us. I doubt we'd have lasted a day against his full forces."

"It didn't feel fast," Lloyd muttered.

"The Overlord and the First Master were at full war for over a hundred years," Zeo pointed out drily. "You somehow managed to take him out pretty damn fast."

"Did the Overlord being defeated not make things better over here?" Lloyd asked. Surely, they must have helped these people at least a little.

Zeo rolled his eyes. "Of course it did. That's how we knew when he was gone. It used to be way worse, but a lot of darkness still lingers. And many of the Overlord's followers are still around." He raised a finger. "His champions still taint the temples." Another finger. "the Jaakuuna haven't accepted he's gone." Well that semi-explained what the Jaakuuna were. And they must be human or capable of looking human if Zeo had suspected him of being one. Zeo ticked another finger. "Monsters and mutated wildlife are everywhere. Really only the stone army and the Overlord are gone. Though the monsters' numbers have lessened and they are less aggressive." They still felt pretty aggressive to Lloyd.

"I didn't even realize the Overlord had other followers," Lloyd confessed, a deep worry settling in his gut. The type of nervousness he only got when it was really, really bad.

"Well, the stone army were the most dangerous," Ari said. "Very few weapons exist that could hurt them." She glanced towards one of the more distant mountains. "The Infernals, the champions, are the second most powerful of the Overlord's minions, but they don't leave the temples at least."

Oh great, the second most powerful Overlord lackeys were still alive. Today was full of good news and happy circumstances. Maybe Emperor Garmadon would turn up here too. Lloyd's blood went cold at the thought. There was no way this was where his da- Garmadon was hiding. Biding his time.

Lloyd was very conflicted about how to deal with all this. Obviously, the ninja would have to take care of all the problems here, but Emperor Garmadon was still out there. The darkness on this island, there was no way Lloyd could uproot it by himself. He needed the others. If he could just get home quickly, they could- finish dealing with Garmadon, then come back here and clear out these Overlord leftovers together. These people had lasted this long and didn't seem to be in immediate, mortal danger, Emperor Garmadon seemed like the more pressing threat. Maybe Lloyd could at least help clear out the monsters near the town before he left though.

"They're doing plenty of damage from where they are anyways," Zeo sighed bitterly.

Lloyd wanted to ask 'like what?' but wasn't sure if now was a good time to really go into it. Especially now that they'd gotten to the top of this hill and could see Haven's Gate.

Or he assumed it was the town. He couldn't actually see any buildings; a massive stone wall was in the way. Towers lined the wall at equal distances, each one having a couple people in it. It looked kind of imposing, but also not as secure as he would like. Such a structure wouldn't have stopped the stone army for long.

"That's our village," Ari declared brightly, pointing at the structure. Lloyd really hoped the people inside were more like Ari than Zeo.