Harumi could feel herself returning to consciousness, slowly but surely. Not daring to open her eyes just yet, she continued to give off the impression that she was still out cold.
While they stayed shut, her ears listened carefully for any familiar voices, and she smelled a horrible smell, similar to sewer water. To her utter dismay, she recognized the floor she was sprawled on to be stone, but there were no restraints on her. And to make her feel even worse, she heard Zephyr's voice.
"...see that she's just about dead. And now your precious, wonderful heart of your family will be killed before your eyes and there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing," he spoke lightly with a smile, and Harumi could actually feel the rage radiating from nearby.
Slowly, she opened one eyelid. Zephyr's back was turned to her, and then she saw her friends.
Lloyd, Garmadon, Opal, Mistaké, and Mirage were chained together with vengestone, accompanied by a heavy matching padlock. Next to them, Lilla, Kaitlynn, and Jade were in rusted brown metal cages, and the last two contained Cloud and Nix, in matching golden barred crates.
Finally, the sinking feeling returned when Harumi realized that the figure crumpled on the ground Zephyr faced was none other than the Clone Harumi, who grimaced in pain.
Slowly, the Clone tried to stand up, but as soon as she reached full height, Zephyr sent a spell flying at her chest, and she fell over again.
Harumi's rage boiled over.
"Not today!" she yelled, sprinting towards him and preparing to aim a strong kick to his back, but halfway to Zephyr, she felt her arms pinned to her sides, her body screeching to a stop.
"Let me go!" she shouted, struggling to break free from the zombified Kai's iron grip. He visibly cringed at her volume, but it was no more than the kind of attitude given to an annoying mosquito.
"Ah, Harumi, just the person I was hoping for!" Zephyr's pure joy and breathy tone made Harumi want to rip him to pieces.
She scowled at him, and he wore an expression of surprise.
"Right down to business, I see," his tone became clipped. "Well, my dear, as you surely know, you're going to fail. I don't see the point in wasting your strength any more! So I offer you the option to quit now, and I'll spare your friends."
"Don't do it, Harumi!" Lloyd shouted hoarsely from his place kneeling on the ground next to Garmadon and Opal.
"She's not that dense," Opal told him stubbornly.
"Hopefully not."
Harumi looked from Lloyd's pleading but firm green eyes, and then to Zephyr, glaring at him in the face.
"Never," she spat.
She heard Lloyd's sigh of relief, and Zephyr's face dropped and hardened.
"Your friends are imprisoned. Your fault," he slowly strolled around her in circles. "Your ally is going to die. Also your fault. How many more times will you let others be your shield, Harumi?"
Her breathing was heavy, but she didn't give him the satisfaction of a response.
"You don't think it would be easier to stop putting your life on the line?" he asked, almost pityingly.
"Warriors don't consider themselves to be the first priority," Harumi said simply, and she heard a couple cheers from the mass of trapped Resistance members.
"Yeah, and don't you think it would be easier to stop wasting your breath bullying her?" Jade shouted, fired up.
Zephyr eyed her trapped in the cage.
"If she's a real warrior, words shouldn't hurt her," he smiled.
Harumi felt the fight draining out of her the more he talked. Even the loud protests erupting from all the Resistance---she might have even heard some mild swearing---they didn't affect the direction her mind was going in. It fell back into the old loop of self-blaming, and she fought to break out of it.
Her mind had slid out of focus, and Zephyr took advantage of it, aiming a strong kick to her stomach. Harumi doubled over, not paying attention to her tears, and she felt her body suffering under electric shocks from his spells, too.
Stars swam in her vision, and the pain was growing too much to bear.
Then, she heard a yell, and the loud sound of something crashing against metal. Both Harumi, Kai, and Zephyr whipped their heads to the cages, and Harumi's mind came alive again, too busy to self-doubt. Jade had broken out of the girls' cage, her bat still in hand, and was sprinting towards the pair of them.
Harumi felt the cold hands gripping her suddenly release, and she was ready to fight, but then Kai went over to the Clone instead, and she stared, horrified, as he held her dangerously close to the edge of the stone. The Clone nervously stared into the piranha-filled, greenish water below, and whimpered.
"Stand down or the girl gets it," Kai said to Jade, who stopped abruptly, his voice unfamiliarly rough.
Jade growled, torn on what to do.
"Leave her. It's me you want," Harumi said weakly, struggling to stand.
Zephyr smirked. "Whoever said it's just her?"
"NO!" Lloyd screamed from the other side, and Harumi closed her eyes as Kai dragged her over to the edge and felt the ropes binding her hands and the Clone's together.
Harumi looked away, unable to face the people who gave so much for her.
The Resistance erupted in shouts, screams, and hostile barks. Zephyr's smile gleamed evilly, reveling in their terror, and he gave a single nod to Kai.
No one but Harumi and the Clone saw it happen in slow motion, and her body didn't expect the sudden lurch that her heart didn't feel the drop from the ledge. She felt the Clone's heart beating rapidly, pressed against her back, and she didn't open her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I really did fail."
Jade sprinted forward to rush them out of the water, but she was blocked by Ava and Matias, who had their spellbooks flipped open by a gust of wind.
Harumi was too late to see Lloyd's head hanging down, defeated, tears leaking out of his eyes, though the muscles in his face didn't tense or tighten.
A single tear fell from Jade's eye, and at the same time it hit the ground, the Clone and Harumi plunged into the ice-cold waters below.
(A/N: Hi everyone :D This chapter was really fun to write. I hope it was just as good to read! ~Ash)