Ninjago - Heart of Stone

Chapter Ten: Leviathan

And by peering into this world, this realm he had never before seen or heard of, one he did not wish to remember, he saw, for a split second, his own face reflected there. He saw his destiny, his future, his predicted, unwelcoming fate. His own demise.

Did the absence of pride have the same effect as pride itself? Garmadon refused to allow his thoughts to dwell on this question. He had to follow Overlord. He had to do as he said.

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The ninja were seated around Julian's kitchen table, drinking bland, homemade wine and eating stale bread. Zane was seated directly next to his father, watching him with great interest. Kai was perched like a hawk stalking a mouse directly next to Zane, obviously waiting for Julian to say or do something condemning. Nya and Jay was comfortably close to one another, their arms around each other's shoulders as they struggled to keep their eyes open. Lloyd, Misako, and Wu were sitting in a neat little row, like a proper family, and Lexi had excluded herself from the group by placing herself as far from them as possible-- although, unfortunately, this placed her extremely close to Cole.

"How long have you been here?" Misako asked, her tone indicating that it was only to fill the silence. Everyone, including Julian, had seemed to be waiting on Zane to say something, but Zane had simply sat there, observing his father in silence.

Julian sighed heavily, waving a hand and the lighthouse around them. It was in shambles; the windows were cracked and smeared with some unknown substance, the floorboards creaked and groaned like a tree in a thunderstorm whenever they were stepped on, and bits of the ceiling kept fluttering down and landing on the table. "Years," he said tiredly, "I stopped counting the days after a month. It seemed pointless."

"How'd you get here?" Lloyd asked next, sounding genuinely curious. Julian sighed bitterly, glancing out the window into the dark night. He seemed lost in his memories, staring at the inky waves and listening to them pound against the rocky shore.

"How much as Zane told you?" He asked after a small pause. The ninja glanced at Zane, who remained silent, then to each other.

"Not too much," Kai finally said, "he explained how you made him, and that you left him in some village before you... uh... before you got carried off by a wave."

"A wave," Julian said, smiling slightly, "ah, yes... but he wouldn't have known what had truly happened. No one did."

He settled back in his chair, taking a long sip of his wine and closing his eyes. "I was being hunted," Julian said, "I was a wanted man. I was, you see, an elemental master."

"What?" Wu jerked forwards, staring at him incredulously. "But... the master of ice died! He left no one behind!"

"Yes, that is what he made it look like," Julian said fondly, "my father was a clever man, but not a very honest one. He fought alongside the first masters, and loved what he did, but he didn't want to drag his own children into it-- so when he married, he kept it a secret. When he and my mother had me, he said nothing. And when he died fighting, he took his secret to his grave-- but he had passed his element down to me.

"At first, I wanted to be a warrior, like my father, but I knew my mother was afraid for my life. I remembered how much it had pained her when my father passed, and I couldn't do the same thing to her-- so I gave up on that dream, and I moved on. I forgot about my powers and acted like everyone else. Growing up, no one would have been able to tell that I was different.

"Even from a young age, I was fascinated by the idea of life. I wanted to know how it was made, how it ended, why it mattered-- and, above all, how to harness it. I studied for decades to gain the knowledge, and the tech, that I needed for Zane-- and then, when I was ready, I built him.

"I was unmarried, had no one I loved, or who loved me romantically, and I intended to remain that way. But I built Zane to be like a son to me-- he gave him an aging process, I gave him feelings and a heart of his own. I tried to be as good a father as I could. But Zane was built with a purpose; to be a warrior. I'd made him to be the man I never could, to make my own father proud. And for a while, things worked-- I transferred my powers into Zane, using his power core, and he and I were like family.

"But of course, in Ninjago, nothing stays as it is for long. As I said before, I was a wanted man. I'd been foolish enough to run afoul of witch-- don't ask me how. I'll say this, however-- when you travel to a remote island to find magical crystals, it's important to make sure there isn't a witch who already owns the place." Julian sighed. "She threatened to kill me, but I escaped the island unscathed. I should have known I wouldn't escape her so easily.

"Finally, the time came when I knew I couldn't run forever. I also knew that I couldn't drag Zane into my mess-- so I left him in the village, where I knew he'd be happy. I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye, and I couldn't bear to break his heart and tell him I wasn't coming back. I knew people would think I was dead, and I wanted him to think I'd gone suddenly, quickly-- I didn't want him to be angry or try to seek revenge.

"The wave carried me out to sea, and I thought I was dead. However, I wasn't-- I awoke on this island, on the steps of this lighthouse, to find the witch waiting for me. She told me I was to stay here for the rest of my life, living on bread and water, guarded by Leviathan. I knew--"

"Wow, wow, wait a second," Kai interrupted, "Leviathan, you said? Like, the legendary creature of the Oni, destroyer of cities, bloodthirsty sea monster, Leviathan?"

"Yes," Julian said stoutly, "that Leviathan. She left him chained up outside the lighthouse, to prevent me from ever leaving."

"Hang on," Jay said nervously, "our ship is docked right outside... it won't... we're not stuck here, are we?"

"The Leviathan sleeps most of the time," Julian said, "I believe it only knows when I attempt to leave-- if you get away before it wakes up, you should be safe."

"We're not leaving," Zane said suddenly, speaking for the first time in minutes, "I refuse to let you stay here."

"Zane," Julian said gently, "I know you've always been a hero, but--"

"No," Zane said firmly, rising to his feet, "we can't leave you here. You've done your time, and you don't deserve this." He looked around at the other ninja, who were providing mixed reactions. "We're all heroes," he said strongly, "and it is our solemn duty to protect and safe anyone-- even if they had run afoul of a witch."

"Zane's right," Kai said reluctantly, "we have to help Julian." Though his expression betrayed his desire to simply continue with their mission, he rose and stood beside his friend. Julian smiled, his blue eyes shimmering with tears. Lexi marveled at how in his eyes, it looked beautiful, but when her own mother did that--

Don't do that, she scolded herself, this is about Zane.

"We'll all help you," she said, "Zane's right. It is our job."

She, Zane, and Kai looked at each other in satisfaction, and Julian blinked rapidly, trying to bat the tears away. There was a moment of proud silence, as the ninja wallowed in their own glory, before it was broken by Jay, the sole voice of reason.

"Great... so how exactly will we defeat Leviathan?"