The Bounty sails towards the Kingdom of Shintaro.
"See? I told ya. Amazing!" Jay talks fast in excitement
"I'll admit, I wasn't sure it could live up to the legend, but... it's even more beautiful" Nya agrees in amazement
"The Ivory City of Shintaro. Incredible" Wu says
The Winged Guards of Shintaro land the Destiny's Bounty safely on the Kingdom of Shintaro. The ninja, Aria, and Wu are led by Hailmar to be welcomed to Shintaro by King Vangelis.
Hailmar bows before him "It is with great honor, King Vangelis, that I present the famed ninja of Ninjago and their beautiful Empress, Aria"
"Welcome, welcome! I'm most pleased you were able to accept our invitation. It is an honor" King Vangelis bows humbly
"The honor is ours" Wu responds as he and the ninja bow as well "Shintaro is beyond anything we imagined"
"And I am honored to finally meet you Empress Aria, I have heard many great things about you." King Vangelis smiles to her "The rumors of you inheriting your mother's beauty is true, I'm glad my old friend has a piece of her left in this realm."
"I too have heard many great things about you." Aria bows slightly "My mother told me stories of the Ivory City of Shintaro long ago, your reputation as a mighty king succeeds you."
"You're too kind, I am only a mere figurehead. The citizens of our proud city are the heart of Shintaro" King Vangelis says
The Princess runs in looking excited "Oh, they're here!"
"And please, meet my heart. Her Royal Princess Vania" King Vangelis introduces
"I am such a fan!" Princess Vania shouts excitedly, looking at all the ninja "I've read all about your adventures. It was my idea to invite you to my birthday"
"It's an honor to be here, Princess" Cole responds
"So, is it true you've been to Hiroshi's Labyrinth?" Princess Vania asks
"Affirmative" Zane confirms
"Competed in the Tournament of Elements?" Princess Vania asks
"Oh ho, do we have stories for you" Kai says
Vania gasps "I need to hear them all"
Vangelis and Hailmar land between Vania and the ninja. "You can begin by following me. Tomorrow will be a very busy day for all of us"
Vania looks around them "Cole, the Earth Elemental. What is it like to command the very earth? Is it as fun as it sounds?"
"Yeah, pretty much" Cole responds
"Huh. Weird" Jay comments "The Princess seems to like Cole" he looks at Aria "I mean, he's my best friend and all, but Cole?"
"And why are you looking at me?" Aria asks
"Well you're his cousin aren't you? Shouldn't you be interested?" Jay questions
"No," Aria replies "I can't go into specifics, but it's just weird how the Princess is interested in Cole"
"Yeah. Weird" Lloyd agrees suspiciously
The ninja are brought to their rooms as Aria stays to speak with the king alone.
"So, is there any leads to where the Empress Dowager is?" King Vangelis asks "Surely she didn't perish in the fire."
"I'm afraid not your majesty" Aria replies "We're still looking, as long as a body hasn't been found I have yet to believe she is dead."
"Such a shame, I hope you find her soon." King Vangelis smiles "I look forward to seeing an old friend again."
-
Aria sat at her mirror brushing her hair when her reflection seemed to smile at her. Startled, she stood up.
"Hello dearest." It spoke
"Uh.. mom?" Aria looked confused
"Yes dear." It smiles "how do you like my magic?"
"Very strange.." Aria shook her head "Where are you mom? Me and Zero have been looking for you."
"I am here." She laughs "Will you come to find me?"
"Of course" Aria puts her hand on the mirror "I don't understand, are you trapped?!"
"No of course not." Her mother reaches out of the mirror and hands her a dagger "Your father sends his wishes, our little star."
"Mom-"
Lloyd enters the room and Aria faces the door hiding the dagger behind her.
"Hey-" Lloyd yawns "Cole wants to see us."
"Uh.. yeah.." Aria looks back to her mirror to see it back to normal
Aria hides the dagger in her dress pocket and follows Lloyd out to the other ninja and Wu.
Jay yawns "So let me get this straight. You pulled me out of the most luxurious bed ever -"
"It felt like a cloud of warm contentment" Nya interrupts
"-because you saw a creature in your bedroom?" Jay questions
"Yes! I told you, it tried to attack me, and when I fought back, it ran off somewhere! It disappeared. But get this, the weirdest part is that the creature was wearing my mother's necklace!" Cole explains
"Cole, um, are you sure this really happened, like, in reality?" Lloyd questions concerned
"What do you mean?" Cole asks
"I believe he is implying that you were dreaming" Zane explains
"It wasn't a dream! I recognized it right away! It had a picture of my parents inside it!" Cole insisted
"So, where is it?" Nya asks
"Well, I don't have it on me. The creature grabbed it back before he vanished" Cole replies
Kai yawns "Cole, buddy, go back to bed"
"It must have been a dream, Cole. Because I do not recall your mother ever having a locket" Wu says
"She did! I've seen pictures of it. We have to tell King Vangelis!" Cole insists
Lloyd pats his shoulder "Whoa, slow down. It's not that we don't believe you-"
"I don't believe him" Jay says
"We're guests here. We can't wake up the King in the middle of the night." Lloyd says
Cole looks around "But-"
The ninja walk away.
"Cole, go to sleep. We can discuss all of this in the morning, okay?" Wu says before returning to his own room
Cole sighs before facing Aria "you believe me don't you?"
"Of course." Aria walks over to him "why don't we go find this thing?"
"Really?" Cole looks surprised
"Mhm." Aria turns and starts walking "I got your back in this one Cuz."
Cole smiles before following after her. Cole is brought of his thoughts when he notices a shadow following them and he tackles them.
"Cole!" Aria looks surprised
"Ha! Got you now, you little purple-" Cole sees that it was Princess Vania "Oh, Princess Vania? Oh wow, sorry! I thought you were someone else, I swear!"
Cole helps her up as Aria rushes over.
"It's ok" Vania says with a smile "I heard what you said back there. About the little purple creature"
"Oh, great. Another person thinks I'm imagining things" Cole looks down
"Oh, I don't think that at all" Vania says
"You don't?" Cole and Aria question confused
"When I was a child, I thought I had an imaginary friend. A little purple creature who used to follow me around. Now, I'm starting to wonder if my imaginary friend was a real friend. Follow me. This way!" Vania quickly runs away
Aria and Cole look at each other before following her to the palace gardens.
"Here. This is where Mr. Sparkles and I used to play. Hmm, that's what I called him. All the adults insisted I dreamed him up in my head, but I swear, he used to come right up out of there" Vania points to a small opening "There used to be some mines under the city, but my father ordered them all covered up for the public's safety."
"Mines?" Cole looks at her
"Shintaro has mines?" Aria questions
"Long ago, before my people settled here, there was an older city run by the super evil sorcerer, who built tunnels, and mines, and dungeons deep in the mountain. He's gone now, but the dungeons are still there, so my father forbade anyone from entering them. It's too dangerous" Vania explains
"Look, Princess. Forbidden or not, I have to find out how my mom's necklace ended up with that purple dude" Cole says
"Okay, I'm in" Vania pulls out two torches
"Uh, what?" Aria questions
Cole looks confused "Are those- where did you-"
"Always onward, the adventurer's motto" Vania says excitedly
Cole looks around "If the King finds out-"
"I'm not some small child anymore. I'm old enough to decide things on my own" Vania defends
"Well, in that case..." Cole uses his Earth Punch to remove the bars of the opening, and they enter "Always onward and into the mines of an evil sorcerer"
"I don't think this is a good idea anymore." Aria says following behind the two "We're outsiders in Shintaro, endangering me back in Ninjago, the worst that can happen is pissing off Kaname. Here, we can start a war endangering the princess."
"Oh come on, it's fine." Vania insists
They begin walking.
"I remember so many incredible stories about the evil sorcerer told by candlelight" Vania says "He was called Hazza D'ur. Isn't that creepy? People had weird names back then, I guess. And he had all these evil powers and - oh look! Train tracks. I wonder where those go"
Vania runs to the tracks.
"Cole," Aria grabs his shoulder "The Sorcerer Hazza D'ur was a Commander of my mother and father. This goes deeper then we might think."
"It doesn't hurt to investigate." Cole shrugs and follows after Vania
"You're such an idiot sometimes" Aria sighs
They follow the tracks and arrive at a dead end.
"Uh, let's take the other tunnel" Cole turns around
"So anyway" Vania continues "A long, long, long time ago, the evil sorcerer was vanquished, and they say his bones are still down here in this mountain somewhere. Maybe we'll see them. Wouldn't that be great?"
"Uh, yeah. Great" Cole says unsure
They come upon an active mine where they watched some creatures mining, supervised by Re-Awakened.
"Oh, my. Look at all these creatures! Those look just like Mr. Sparkles!" Vania points out
"Yeah. And just like the one that was in my room. But who are those guys?" Cole questions
"I don't know. But they don't look happy. They're all chained up" Vania says
A Munce spills some minerals, making a Mino break a carriage and cause a loud noise. The Skull Sorcerer appears from behind a lava waterfall.
"Who dares? Who dares to disturb the work?" The Skull Sorcerer demands "I warned you, all of you! The work must not stop or there would be punishment!"
Skull of Hazza D'ur: Punish them! Punish!
The Skull Sorcerer fires blasts at the Geckles and Munce.
"That head" Aria points out
"I don't know what's going on here, but I know a bad guy when I see one, and that is a bad guy" Cole says "Get back and tell your dad what's going on. Tell him to bring his guards and wake up my friends"
"What about you?" Vania asks
"I'm the Elemental Master of Earth, and I'm surrounded by earth. I'm gonna do what I do best" Cole replies
"No, we have to go back too." Aria insists "you have no idea-"
"Aria you think everything's a bad idea." Cole says "I got this."
Vania smiles and leaves.
The Skull Sorcerer growls "The next to defy me shall feel-"
"Hey, buddy!" Cole jumps up "Hey there. Name's Cole. Ninja. Uh, I heard there was some jerk down here, chaining people up, making them work. You seen any jerks around?"
"Cole no." Aria grabs him
"It's fine, come help." Cole says before jumping down
"Get him!"
The Awakened Warriors charge at Cole. He tries to use his Earth Punch, but it won't work.
"What the? Oh, come on!" Cole complains
"They're mining Vengestone you idiot!" Aria stands up from her spot "Why don't you ever let me finish talking?!"
Cole defeats all the Warriors without his Elemental powers.
"Alright, now, how about you give me the keys to all these chains before I really get angry?" Cole smirks
Skull Sorcerer really looks mad now "You have meddled in the wrong place. Now, you will witness my true wrath! The wrath of the Skull Sorcerer!"
He revives the Warriors with a spell.
"Hey what? No fair! Uh-oh!" Cole tries to escape but the Warriors defeat him.
"The wrath of the Skull Sorcerer!" The Skull Sorcerer laughs.
"Shit." Aria curses before running away "Why can't they listen to me, I'm the Empress damn it!"