Chapter 190: Child
Harumi awoke, alone in her bed, to the sound of shouts and moving dim lights outside. Just moments earlier, she had been in the clutches of a clawed and fanged shadow monster, dragging her down the cold stone hallways to her death. The fear in her dream had been too real for her to imagine; Harumi had truly felt like she wouldn't live beyond childhood.
Waiting for her eyes to adjust to the strange darkness, she thought silently. It was still dark...had she only been sleeping for a few minutes?!
She turned her body over, staring through the single un-paned window, directly across from her bed. The moon was partially covered by thick smoky clouds, but the noise outside made her curious. Hopping gently out of bed, Harumi went to the window, looking out on the grounds below.
What she saw both interested and frightened her. There was a multitude of moving lights, scattered throughout the several streets she could see from the height of the floor her room was on. Borg Tower proved to be a beautiful vantage point, and she stared at the little children, ranging from her age, to near teenagers, and even adults, as they moved in small clumps around the small shops and big neighborhoods. Clueless about the white sheets, dark makeup, and red and green lights, Harumi was confused, and a bit scared. Carefully unlocking her bedroom door, she made to find Garmadon.
After what felt like an eternity of wandering down identical gray corridors and testing out the elevator one too many times, Harumi finally found Garmadon's door. It was marked by crystals that had the color of and glittered like obsidian, still untouched from the last time he had tried ruling in Ninjago City, despite the people's many attempts to completely renovate the tower.
As she waited for him to open the door, Harumi was aware of the shouts and costumes outside once again; truth be told, they frightened her. Although, however unfamiliar they were, it was as if there wasn't any real danger down there...
The door opened, and Garmadon stared, blurry-eyed, down at Harumi, who stood clutching a small blanket.
"Oh..."
He sighed and picked her up easily, closing the door behind him and sitting her down in an armchair inside his room.
"You slept for more than a day, and it's almost dinner time...What happened?" he asked her.
She simply pointed at the window, and he instantly understood.
"They're not going to hurt you, especially when you're all the way up here," he explained. "Let me tell you about it.
"Today is Halloween," Garmadon took Harumi to his window, where they gazed together, down on the streets. "People celebrate when it gets dark, with costumes, and lights, and decorations, and...most of all, they go trick-or-treating."
"Trick or treating...?" Harumi asked, seeing the children go door to door, their parents tagging along behind them.
"Well, Halloween was originally intended as a day for people to scare and be scared," Garmadon explained. "But, for children like you, it's mostly just to get free candy. Practically the only day of the year you can get free candy, anyways."
Harumi silently contemplated, still not loving the idea of Halloween. Garmadon took her silence to be a sign that she was still scared, and took her away from the window.
"Do you...do you want to go back to your room?" he asked her.
Harumi shook her head violently, recalling the claws, blue orb, and sudden darkness two floors below. She sank farther back into the chair, wrapping herself in the blanket.
Then, Garmadon had an idea. Scooping Harumi up in his arms, he put her over his shoulder with one arm; walking out into the cold hallway, he went to the elevator, which was still on his floor from when she had used it less than half an hour ago. Stepping inside, he hit the button for Floor 100, and it glowed orange as they slowly ascended. The jolt and weightless feel alerted Harumi, who cautiously watched as they exited at Floor 100. She looked around the dark room with its ceiling-high windows, but Garmadon headed for the small staircase in the back, whose steps disappeared into a hole in the ceiling.
Placing Harumi down at the foot of the stairs, Garmadon watched her small hands grip the metal railings for balance as she went up and out of sight. He quickly followed.
When Harumi reached the roof of Borg Tower, she looked out over the vast city that had yet to give her a first taste of the most intense rage, pain, sadness, regret, and vengeance she would feel in her lifetime. And strangely enough, she...remembered.
The flashing pain in her small head, too young to understand, too young to feel that rage, made Harumi stumble. Garmadon pulled her back from the edge a little, but she shook off his hands, and he recoiled.
"I was almost hanged here."
What? How? How did she remember?
Garmadon rethought everything they had done together in the past week. How much did Harumi know? Was she deceiving him, even as a child?
"Twice."
With a cry that was not her own, Harumi fell unconscious.
When she awoke, very little time had passed; Harumi could feel it. She felt like she was missing something. The last thing she remembered was looking at Ninjago City from the top of the tower, and saying...
What had she said?
This was impossible. How could she just have blanked out completely right after that?
Confused, Harumi turned to Garmadon, who was seated on the bed next to her, back turned, and he faced the open window, which didn't have a view of the moon like hers.
Slowly, quietly, Harumi tried to say something, but the only sound she ended up making was a weak croak. Garmadon instinctively turned to her, and his eyes softened.
"What happened?" she whispered.
Silence.
"I...don't know," he admitted.
"What if...what if it happens again?" Harumi worried. It wasn't a pleasant thought, knowing you could pass out at any moment.
"It won't, I promise," Garmadon lied, and then tried switching topics. "How about...I tell you a story?"
"OK," the small voice consented, burrowing under the covers until only her head was poking out.
"Well, it starts with a little girl, just like you," he began, looking at her. "She lived in Ninjago City, too. She was a beautiful child, who had loving parents, and she was very happy with them. She was happy with her life. She had friends who would laugh with her every day, aunts and uncles who sent her sweets and gifts on Christmas...in short, her life was like a holiday. Her city was loved and protected by heroes who would never let it go to ruin, because they were the sworn and destined guardians of the realm. The emperor and empress respected them, and everyone loved them, including the little girl.
"But...one day, an evil man came and ruined everything. He tore apart the city, and by the time the heroes finally defeated him, the girl had lost her friends, her parents were gone, and she was very sad. She was sad that the heroes had let her down, and mad that they couldn't do their job. If they were the sworn protectors, how come they had let this happen?"
"Oh no," Harumi squeaked, starting to pick up, but the next part confused her.
"Oh no, indeed," Garmadon continued. "Eventually, the girl became a princess."
"Yay!" Harumi sighed. "Then the princess was happy?"
"You would think so," Garmadon's voice shook. "But becoming a princess couldn't bring back her happy days, before the attack. She was still angry at the heroes, and so, she vowed to get revenge on them for what they had done to her, and the rest of the city. She focused on her royal life and her secret plans both at once, so as to make her heart complete again."
"But...but it wasn't the heroes' fault," Harumi protested, and Garmadon's mind shook with the irony of her past and future self.
"The girl disagreed. By the time she got older, she had finished her plan for the heroes," he said, carefully avoiding the word 'ninja' so she didn't catch on. "The girl ended up hurting her adoptive parents to carry them out, and ended up wreaking havoc on both the city and the heroes."
"I thought the city was her home?" Harumi asked him.
"It's...complicated. Moving on," he said swiftly, "The heroes fought harder than ever to withstand the girl and the new villain she was working with, because to them, she was the villain now. The girl's plans were all going according to how she had thought them out...until she met one of the heroes."
"Ooh," Harumi smiled. "Did they become friends? Was he nice to her?"
"More than that," Garmadon smiled too. "They fell in love, and over time, he was able to show her a better way to face her dark past. The girl ended up joining the good guys, and most of it was fixed. With the help of their friends, of course."
"It's a happy ending!" Harumi cheered.
"Ah, well, it's not over yet...they would continue to grow closer and become soulmates, but many more dangerous obstacles stood between them. Down the road, the girl ended up making more enemies, but also more friends. They and their family faced dark creatures called the Oni, worked with dragons, fought spellcasters and witches, and it barely gave them a moment of peace before something went wrong again. They became warriors, together."
"Wooowww," Harumi breathed, her imagination coloring blank pictures in her mind. "That means they fight, right?"
"Indeed, but these warriors always fought against evil," Garmadon told her. "The girl went on to become one of the guardians of the city, and she developed her strength, her will, and her bond with the people she loved, to make sure that the path she took as a child never happened again. Eventually, the good won."
"Is this the happily ever after??" Harumi asked him, a little impatiently.
"Yes, yes, it is," Garmadon chuckled. "They finally lived in peace and left the problems for the next generation of warriors and got married and all the good things someone could ever...wish for..."
He trailed off, and Harumi, who was clueless of his sudden dip in mood, clapped quietly, looking out the window. Then, with a sudden effort, she rolled out of bed, landing with a thump on the carpet next to it. She picked herself up and went to the window, before suddenly sticking her arms out and swinging them over the sill, like a rag doll.
"Whoa, no, let's not do that," Garmadon quickly held her in place before any small mistakes happened.
Harumi's better mood hadn't showed up until this moment, and Garmadon would have been none the wiser, because suddenly, she said, "I wanna go trick-or-treating. Can we go trick-or-treating?"
What the--
"PLEEEEEASEEEE, can we?" she giggled.
First Spinjitzu Master, what is wrong with this child, Garmadon thought, his face frozen. One moment she's passing out, the next she's calmly in bed, and the THIRD she's swinging her arms off the window like a doll asking to go trick or treating when we have other priorities?!
"Sure."
An hour passed, and Harumi stared at her reflection in the mirror of Garmadon's room. Of course, his first choice had been cutting up a bed sheet and drawing holes to make a simple ghost costume, but second thoughts had forced him to give Harumi a better Halloween than that. So instead, Garmadon had set to work with his powers, using a combination of solid darkness that felt like metal, and soft, starry material to put together the perfect look.
Of course, the child was in complete awe of how it had all come together. It was a beautiful dress, with soft silk fabric; there were longsleeves attached to keep out the cold, but the ends by her wrists spiraled by her hands and wove into rings around her fingers. The dress itself sparkled like a black night sky, and its train was slightly translucent, and disappeared into the ground by the very ends.
Harumi loved it. She stared silently, mouth open, and for a moment, Garmadon was proud of himself. He loved seeing that rare smile on her face that would disappear more and more over the years.
"Do you like it?" he asked tentatively, fairly sure he knew the answer.
Suddenly, she jumped towards him, hugging his legs, unafraid. "Thank youuuuuu."
Garmadon smiled, patting her back.
As they strolled through the busy streets around Borg Tower, Garmadon was not attracting any unwanted attention. He supposed everyone was either too busy to pay attention to the pair, or they thought he was wearing an extremely good costume. Either way, he couldn't complain, and neither could Harumi.
As she timidly approached the first house, Harumi shied away and watched other kids do a round there first. As they knocked on the door, an elderly woman came forward and smiled sweetly at them; the kids were patient, and said "trick or treat!" as they all gathered around the door. When she had given them candy, the woman was about to close the door, when she noticed Harumi staring from a distance away.
The elder beckoned her to come closer, and Garmadon nudged her towards the house. Putting one foot up the stairs at a time, Harumi slowly approached the door, where the woman came to pat her shoulder.
"Her first time trick or treating?" she said knowingly. "We've had many kids grow to love it, don't worry! Here you are."
A few pieces of candy crunched in Harumi's hands, and she looked up, smiling at the lady gratefully. "Thank you. Happy Halloween!"
And from there, the night wouldn't end for Harumi. She was having the time of her life, going around with other kids. They admired her costume (and Garmadon's..) and soon enough, the small bag they had been able to scrounge up from the closet in Garmadon's room was full.
"Are you ready to go back yet??" Garmadon asked her for the fourth time, as Harumi giggled at the fake spider on the door.
"Noooooo," she whined. "Pleaaasee! One more."
"That's what you said half an hour ago!" Garmadon facepalmed.
"I promise." Harumi looked up at him with a calm face, and the other kids continued on without her, without realizing she had stopped.
"Oh, FINE. But only ONE," Garmadon grouched. "And if you don't stop after this, I'll carry you back!"
Harumi nodded, going a different direction than the rest of the crowd, choosing the last house she would visit. Eventually, one with white walls and beautiful fake pumpkins lined up on the steps. There was a scented wreath with acorns and orange leaves stuck to the door.
Harumi knocked, and the door was opened by another child.
"Oh...hi! Trick or treat!" she said brightly.
The little boy gave her a little smile, and dropped a single piece of candy in her hand. "Sorry, that was our last one; we just ran out."
"Oh. Did a lot of people come to you?" she asked him.
"Yeah, but I didn't get to go trick or treating because my mom's having someone over today and she didn't let me go," he said dully.
"Well...do you want some of my candy? I have a lot...like, a LOT," Harumi whispered the last part like it was a secret. The boy's eyes lit up, and they peeked inside the bag together. However, Garmadon's attention was somewhere else.
"Okay, bye!"
"Harumi..."
His tone snapped her to attention. She looked across the street to where Garmadon was looking. Only two people stood by the entrance to a dark alleyway, next to the beaten-up silver Honda parked by the curb, and one of them looked scarily familiar.
"No..." she gasped. "Is that...he's one of them!"
Harumi instantly hid behind Garmadon, who knew Matias was up to something. It was strange for him to appear out of nowhere in the middle of a civilian area, alone with...
A girl?
Matias was with...a girl?
Garmadon's thoughts were going two ways; he could either be unnaturally out of character and be real friends with her or be planning something bad. And he didn't think the first option was viable, so he crossed the street with Harumi trailing behind him, his first priority to get Matias away from the woman.
"Miss, get away from him! He's dangerous!" Garmadon shouted, before anything could happen. Matias and the girl turned to face Garmadon and Harumi glaring at them.
Matias could feel the blood drain from his face; he had to make a choice: defect now and have a chance with Macie, or kidnap her and return to Zephyr as her enemy.
(A/N: HI EVERYONEEEE Happy Belated Thanksgiving to anyone who celebrates it. I do apologize that this chapter is late, my intent was to finish it yesterday but I had Docs problems T-T. Anyways, I hope you're still enjoying the story! Props to Jade for coming up with Macie and Matias's connection, I had no idea! ~Ash)