Back at the Bounty, chaos was beginning to reign. The Resistance had all dubbed the different versions of Harumi with different names, so as to identify them, and it was safe to say they were becoming a problem.
Child Harumi was nowhere to be found, as the last time someone had seen her was running into the closet. The Princess was composedly sitting at the dining table alone, a book in one hand and jasmine tea in the other. Casual Harumi was also alone, leaning over the edge of the deck, staring out over Ninjago City, just as she had done years ago on the day she met Lloyd. Behind her was the Warrior, endlessly training without a break to fight an invisible enemy. Curled up in the corner of the deck was Oni Harumi, already exhausted from her powers, attempting to recharge. Yet, her breathing was quick and inconsistent, as if she were still aware of her surroundings, even during sleep.
The real problem was happening in the halls below deck: Lloyd was constantly being chased by the Quiet One, and Revenge was chasing the Quiet One...?! It was an odd scenario, and he was running out of hiding spots to catch his breath.
In essence, everyone was distracted. Fighting Zephyr had changed to their second priority, and figuring out how to get Harumi back in one piece was now the first.
Meanwhile, Garmadon was getting a bit fed up. As much as he used to love disorder and most bad things, it was starting to bother him. As he walked through the halls, he made it a goal to avoid crashing into Lloyd, the Quiet One, or Revenge as they sprinted through the Bounty.
Eventually, he entered the control room---there was no one. His mind instantly calmed, but only for a few moments, until there were shouts nearing the room. Lloyd ran into the control room, stopping short before his father, with the other two not far behind. Jade also came in, and soon, everyone else followed after hearing the commotion.
At last, he couldn't take it anymore. "Oh, just SHUT UP!" he shouted into the crowd, and silence fell instantly. As the Quiet One and Revenge ran into the room as well, Lloyd backed away, but Garmadon caught them both firmly by the collar, dragging them to a standstill. He just couldn't believe how far the situation had gone! Just yesterday, they had been searching for Harumi, and now he felt like doing nothing less than getting the versions out of the Bounty.
"This...is a mess," he growled finally. "Everyone is going out of their way to do something about these pieces of Harumi, and we need to find out how to get her back in one piece, because we don't have the time to watch over them like babysitters forever! Zephyr is still at large, and it's our job to take care of the jerk, but instead we're here!"
"We can't do it without Harumi," Lilla told him loudly, over the noise of Revenge and the Quiet One yelling at each other. "She's at the core of this, and we need to fix it." "Well, we know that it has something to do with Zephyr's crystal, right?" Lloyd thought aloud. "Maybe it has the power to reverse the effect as well.""Or if it's not the same crystal, maybe there's, like, a counter-crystal or something," Jade put in."Like twins that can reverse the effects of each other?" Lilla said offhandedly, while stroking the hair of Child Harumi, hiding behind her legs.
"Maybe," Garmadon quietly brought it all back. He was looking at the child. Slowly, he was absorbed by his mind, too much to even acknowledge that Jade was quite busy with Greta, swinging left and right as the two versions of Harumi continued to fight.
Many things were running through his mind at the moment. He knew that, in truth, he was the reason such a side of fear existed in Harumi. He always knew that he was to blame for many things wrong in her life.
The sight of a piece of the only person he'd ever considered close to a daughter, as a small, trembling blonde child in rags, disturbed him. He felt the urge to do something, to stop the uneasy feeling.
That disturbed him even more. Usually, humans were the ones who depended on consistency and a feeling of security, not an Oni. If this was his move towards becoming better, it was hard.
He slowly stepped towards the child, who cowered back even more. He tried reaching his hand out, but she recoiled sharply and ran from the scene.
He pulled back at last, and everyone looked at him, unsure of what to say. He forced his features to be blank and stony, as always, but it bothered him.
"But for now, we all need some rest tonight," Mystaké finally spoke after what seemed like an eternity.
"Uh...how are we going to do that, since we have seven Harumis instead of one?" Lilla asked.
Lloyd facepalmed, and everyone else's minds came to a sharp stop. She made a valid point---they didn't know how they would split this up.
"DICE ROLL!" Jade whipped out a single cube dice from her satchel. Kaitlynn peered inside, interestedly. "What else you got in there..."
Many, many turns later, the arrangements were set. After all, it had been a fair roll in the center of the room, and they had to work with it anyways.
Garmadon was by his bed, already in his pajamas; Child Harumi was far away from him, on the other side of the room, trying to get into one of Lloyd's old t-shirts he'd outgrown years ago. The black and gray accents on the symbol gave her a scary semblance to her future self, and it reminded him a lot of Harumi's Quiet One outfit for when she was loyal to him. Seeing her struggle with the shirt, he moved towards her, but her face showed she was close to tears, probably still on edge from the incident earlier.
"I won't hurt you, it's okay," he tried to sound kind, but his voice sounded more snappy.
Without hesitating, she ran out on him again, into the empty hall.
Garmadon sighed, slowly exiting, but then he heard a crash that echoed through the ship. Then, he rushed. When he went down the hall, he saw Child Harumi, lying unconscious on the wood floor, with Zephyr towering over her, a deadly, knife-sharp glint in his red eyes.
(A/N: Love yourself ~ Ash)