The Book Of Forbidden One Shots | SLOW UPDATES

The Quiet One

Day 3: The Pain You Give (Part 2)

The silence was all she ever knew, all she ever had in her life. It was there when she asked questions or when she called for her parents. And yet, in her final moments, all Harumi could wish for was a little bit of quiet.

"Go! I'll find another way." She called out to the family on the other side of the emergency exit. Where an open doorway should be standing, Harumi was greeted with a stack of debris blocking her only way out.

The building she stood in was on the verge of collapsing, it was only a matter of time before she would go down with it too. The mother nodded but all Harumi could feel was fear. She had to get out, she needed to get out.

Her survival instinct kicked in and she was running around the building, desperate to find a place she can escape through. Garmadon had managed to take it too far and was now under the premise of proving himself to be more powerful than his son—as if taking over the city wasn't enough.

Harumi was right to leave his side before things grew out of her control.

Locked. She thought as she shook the handle to one of the doors she had found. To think that the people still had the time to lock their doors during a life-threatening situation baffled her. Then again, when you live in Ninjago City, every day has the potential to be life-threatening.

From outside the building, all she could hear were the streets filling up with chaos and screams of the victims she had created. Garmadon's shouting could be heard from the top of Borg Tower and she could hear the echo of his words in his head. The Colossus struck another building, causing another tremor in the ground. It was all too loud.

Harumi wondered if she could ever find peace.

All her life, Harumi was forced to remain quiet. She could never talk about her feelings, tell people about her opinions, or even voice out her own consent on matters.

"Princesses are meant to be seen, not heard." The Empress stated, pacing back and forth in front of the small child. "You are a figurehead, it is expected that the people give you respect."

"But shouldn't respect be earned, Empress?" The seven year-old Harumi asked, her feet kicking forwards and backwards as she sat on a table. There was a scroll rolled out in front of her, a quill and a jar of ink on her right.

It was right after the Royal Family adopted Harumi did she realize that how much of everything they did was meant to please the public. From a young age she was thought to keep her mouth shut on such matters. But they didn't realize that through all that silence, Harumi learned to observe.

Being quiet meant she wasn't expected to talk about certain issues, but it also meant she knew how to keep secrets. It didn't take long before Harumi used that power to her advantage.

Keeping her mouth shut was easy, the quiet gave her time to get a good look of her surroundings, take in every detail. She had learned to notice the tiniest of things that no one even bothered to look at. It even gave her the abilities to be such a good listener.

No one ever heard her eavesdropping on certain conversations.

Now she realized that skill has proven itself useless. Because no matter where she looked or how she listened, the only thing that echoed through her mind was the taunting voice of guilt. Her own subconscious turned against her. She hated how loud it was starting to grow.

I told you it wouldn't be worth it. The thought of regret entered her mind. There have been many times she thought about putting her plans to a halt, leaving the ninja alone, and even accepting her responsibility as Ninjago City's Princess.