Onyx and the Possession

Devil's Train

"I left the gate open in hopes he'd return, but he never came back. I am saddened he was banished to the Cursed Realm. But what worries me more is that he escaped, and for what reason? To save Lloyd and return your powers, you must find the tomb before he does. Or else." Onyx's face was white as Wu finished his tale. She stared at him as the others talked. "Or else what?" Jay asked apprehensively. Wu shook his head. "Unspeakable power will curse us all," he murmured. Jay chuckled nervously. "Just another day in Ninjago, am I right?" He asked.

Onyx shook her head sharply. "No! No it's not! This time, Lloyd is at risk!" She said with a shiver. Cole rubbed his eyes. "But how can we compete against the Green Ninja? He's more powerful than all four of us combined," he asked. Zane frowned. "And that was before we lost our powers," he said. "But it's like Sensei said. Our real power doesn't come from our hands; it comes from inside here," Kai said, tapping his chest. "This is Lloyd we're talking about. This is one mission we cannot fail," he said, eyes narrowing seriously.

Onyx's own narrowed, though for a different reason. "You just... let Morro leave? When he was obviously not... right?" She said to Wu, barely able to hide the edge in her voice. Wu frowned, eyes flickering. "I wouldn't have been able to stop him if I tried," he said, not bothering to conceal the edge. "I don't believe that. You can easily stop us. Why not him? Why didn't you stop him? Or better yet, why didn't you address the problems before they started? He wanted to please you. He obviously had some sort of... approval complex, and you just... ignored that." Onyx let the razor edge slide into her voice now.

The others were watching with various expressions of confusion and concern. Wu's eyes narrowed further. "You think I'm proud of what happened?" He asked. "Well you don't seem very apologetic! At the very least, you should be more worried about Lloyd," she sniped, half-rising from her position on the log. Kai quickly got to his feet. "Woah, let's not fight, okay? Lloyd is in trouble, and this isn't helping," he said, trying to mediate. Onyx sucked in a sharp breath and gave a quick nod. "You're right. Sorry," she mumbled at Wu, who gave a sharp dip of the head to acknowledge the insincere apology.

"Onyx, are you okay?" Nya asked softly. Zane jumped in before any more questions could be asked. After analyzing her past behavior, he could see that Onyx was being extra snappy, even for the current circumstances. "I too, am worried about Lloyd. However, the past is past, and we can't do anything about that. I propose we spend the night here and set off to... somewhere in the morning," he said smoothly. Jay pointed at him, immediately pouncing on the idea. "Yeah, let's do that! That's better than fighting," he said quickly.

Kai and Cole nodded, frowning. They weren't sure what had just happened, but they weren't keen on seeing it again. Onyx took a steadying breath. "Yes. In the morning," she murmured, staring into the fire. The others were able to relax and get some sleep now that the situation was diffused, chalking it up to stress. Of course, the origins of that stress were more complicated than any of them could imagine.

Onyx, however, stayed awake, crossing over to Wu, who was staring down at the symbols he'd copied onto a sheet of papyrus. She took a seat next to him. "Any progress so far?" She asked softly, careful not to disturb the others. Wu shook his head. "None. These symbols could mean anything. I've sent the Falcon to fetch Misako, but she won't be here until near daybreak, if she gets the message at all," he said.

Onyx sighed and nodded. "The skull definitely represents the tomb... but how?" She murmured to herself. Wu shook his head. "Perhaps it's a clue to the location, perhaps it's nothing more than what it looks like, perhaps it's simply another thing to find. My father was incredibly cryptic when he wanted to be," he said. Onyx managed to give a dry laugh. "It's hereditary," she said. Wu's eyebrow lowered slightly. "You must be wary, Onyx. Morro won't hesitate to use your feelings towards both him and Lloyd against you," he said, giving her perhaps the most straightforward advice she'd ever heard from him.