"No."
"Listen-"
"Nope. If the OG earths aren't gonna listen, what makes you thinks the others will?"
"Instinct."
Lacey jolts up, breathing heavily as she looked around wildy. She pants, seeing the familiar setting of her room on the Bounty. She let's out a sigh of relief.
"Meow,"
Her blue eyes snap towards Emerald, who was lounging about on the bed, her ears down.
Lacey sighs. "You got the same feeling, didn't you?" She was all sweaty and sticky from the bad dream.
The black cat stayed silent.
"Come on, let's go see what the others are doing."
Emerald's bright green eyes watched as Lacey stood up but immediately started a coughing fit.
The Sorceress pulls her hand back to see splotches of blood, causing her to panic slightly.
This seriously wasn't supposed to be happening.
What the hell was wrong with her?
She meets Emerald's serious gaze.
The cat tilts her head.
°•♡•°
At Steep Wisdom, right outside the Bounty, the guys are creating a defense system against Ghosts. Or well, trying too.
Zane was putting up a sign. "There. That should keep customers away. 'Closed for renovations.' " He smiles, putting his hands on his hips.
Kai scoffs, setting up a bucket of water on top of the door. "More like fortifications. If Morro and his ghouls show up here looking to steal the Sword of Sanctuary, they won't know what hit them." He smirks, clapping his hands together.
Cole exits the shop and the bucket of water almost lands on him. "Aah!" He yelps, a scowl growing on his face. "Careful, you know not all of us are immune to water. And I for one would like to stick around long enough for Misako and Sensei to figure out the last clue." He says jumping away.
Jay walks over, listing everything over. "We got Cyclon-Do, we got the sword, now they just have to figure out where the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master is." He nods. They were almost done.
Kai sighs. "Let's hope they figure it out soon. I don't know how long we'll be able to hold out." He rubs the back of his neck nervously.
Inside Steep Wisdom, Wu and Misako are figuring out the last clue. "We know the skull represents his tomb." He states.
Misako nods, however the frustration also grew in her eyes. "But from everything that was ever written about it, there's nothing in Ninjago that matches it's description. Where is it? The clues are all right here, but what are we missing?" She mutters to herself.
Wu sighs. "We mustn't give up. If Morro finds it first and takes the Realm Crystal, I'd hate to think what would happen next."
Meanwhile, someone steps on a tripline and sets off the bell.
Misako looks towards the door. "The early-detection warning system." She states, looking at the Ninja.
"Intruder!" Kai yells, running outside.
"Let him have it. Pull!" Jay commands loudly.
Everyone catapults water balloons, but it was actually the Postman.
The Postman sighs. "No wonder you're going out of business." He scoffs, drenching wet. He hands Kai a letter and begins leaving.
Jay scoffs. "No, you're the one going out of business. Heh, who sends letters anymore?" He laughs awkwardly.
Kai frowns, looking at the letter. "Guys, he's right. It says he's gonna shut us down unless we drum up some business." He sighs.
Cole looks around before looking back at him. "Well, don't tell Ronin. If this place is worthless, he won't stick around and we need all the help we can get. Come on, we're gonna need more water balloons."
Meanwhile, Ronin whistles while he cleans R.E.X. while Nya tries to control Water.
"Come on, Nya. Become the water, reverse the flow." The water droplets won't go up. Nya sighs. "Ugh!"
Ronin chuckles. "Giving up already?" He asks, grabbing a sponge so he can clean his dear ship.
Nya smiles sarcastically. "Course not." She sighs. "Sensei thinks if I get over my fear of failure, I'll be able to control the water. Sure, I made it rain when I wasn't even paying attention, but here I can't seem to stop a single drop. Ugh."
Ronin shrugs. "Wanna know about failure, should've asked me. Heck, I made a career out of it. Word of advice: don't try so hard. You can't fail if you don't care."
Nya furrows her eyebrows. "Don't try? What sort of backwards advice is that? Of course I'm gonna try hard. That's how one excels and—"
Ronin smirks. "Speaking of backwards..." He points behind her, where the droplets are flowing backwards.
Nya's eyes widen as she stares at at the droplets. "Oh my gosh! I'm doing it. I'm really doing it!"
Ronin chuckles. "Like I said, don't care so much. Usually when someone wants something too badly, they'll trip over their own feet." He grabs the sponge.
Nya smiles. "Wow!"
Ronin pauses. "Huh?"
Bansha is sending a message to Ronin
Morro walks towards her. "Can he hear you?"
Bansha smirks. "Oh, he can hear me."
Morro nods. "Tell him it's time to pay his debt. Tell him to bring me the sword." He states.
Ronin tries to look for the sword around the shop, but can't find it anywhere.
"Thanks for gathering on short notice."
Lacey looks up as Misako speaks up.
Kai glances at the criminal. "Looking for something?" He raised an eyebrow.
Ronin chuckles nervously. "Ha, just making sure the tea blends are in alphabetical order. Yup, A to Z, heh."
Lacey frowns at him, eyeing him. She quickly looks away when she feels the urge to cough, she pulls her hand back to see small droplets of blood. She quickly hides it from the others.
Jay turns to the old woman. "So you figured out where the tomb is?" He asks.
Misako shakes her head. "Not yet, but we think we know how to locate it."
Ronin tries to sneak away, but Wu comes inside. "Oh! Hey, hehehe."
"Zane?" Misako turns to him.
His Falcon projects the skull image, and Wu turns off the lights. "To bring you up to date, the skull symbol refers to the tomb's entrance."
Wu walks closer to them. "We also know my father's resting site, where the Realm Crystal resides, is protected by three deadly tests designed to keep anyone unworthy away, and only the Sword of Sanctuary can see past its riddles."
Cole looks at them. "Yeah, but where is it?" He questions.
"We started to wonder if the scroll and sword combined held a secret. That's when Kai reminded us there was a map on the back of the scroll a—" Misako starts, looking towards the ninja of fire.
Kai nods. "And if you use the sword on the map, the blade's reflection will reveal the tomb's location."
Misako smiles. "Exactly."
Cole sighs. "Which means we'll have to get our hands on that map."
Ronin sneaks away and heads into a shed. "Aah." When he opens the sword's case, it was gone. He frowns, his hands ghosting over the empty case.
Nya, who was sitting down on a crate with her legs crossed, spoke up "Something about what you said stuck with me." She points the sword at him, staring hard at him.
Ronin slowly turns to her, eying her. "Oh, yeah. And what's that?" He asks, his tone strained.
Nya smiled, almost sarcastically. "That you don't care. If you don't, why are you here? Sure, this tea shop could potentially help you pay off your debt in time. Or, you could speed things up by just giving them the sword in return for your cursed soul."
Ronin stares at her. "So, where does that leave us?"
"I don't need the sword to tell me where this is going." Nya glares at him.
Ronin scoffs. He starts attacking her. "I need that sword. I don't wanna have to hurt you." He warns her.
Nya scoffs. "You know, I was thinking the same thing." She looks at the sword to find Ronin was going to kiss her. "Ugh!" She kicks him back, looking disgusted.
Ronin yelps. "Aah! What did I do to deserve that?"
Nya glares at him. "You know what you were about to do." Ronin trips her with a garden hoe. She grunts.
"Like I said, try too hard and you'll trip over yourself."
"He's getting away with the sword!" Nya screams.
Ronin turns as the ninja approach him.
"Huh? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The ninja activate their own water traps. "Haha! That was way too easy!"
Jay yelps as Zane lands on him. "Ow!" He groans.
"We're not gonna let you get away!" Misako snaps.
They fight each other, but Ronin slices a few herbs, creating a dust cloud. "Oh, now that's a nice blend. We should fight more often."He whistles to summon R.E.X.
Kai uses Airjitzu, but fails to go high enough to catch him. "Aah! He's getting away. To the Bounty!" He ordered.
Wu smiles. "Are we sure that's the wisest choice?" He then summons his dragon. "Care for a ride?" He asks, turning to his sister-in-law.
Misako chuckles. "I thought you'd never ask." She jumps up, sitting next to him before they take off.
"He's fast." Wu notes.
Misako smiles. "You're faster."
Wu then snaps the reins. "Let's get him, boy! Hyah!" They eventually catch up to R.E.X., but find it empty.
Misako blinkes, frowning. "He's not aboard the ship."
"It's a trick!" Wu snaps.
Lacey stood next to the others on the Bounty. "Then where did Ronin go?" She asks, looking worried.
.....
Nya is at a river looking at her reflection. She turns to leave, but hears Ronin whistling on a small boat.
She gasp running after him. "Stop!" She snaps.
Ronin scoffs. "Yeah, right." He rows away on the small boat.
Nya frowns. "Why are you doing this?"
Ronin glanced back at her. "You know why. Giving Morro the sword is the only thing that'll save me."
Nya shakes her head. "He'll never hold up his end of the bargain. You can't trust him."
Ronin looks away. "I have to. It's my only shot." He states.
"Become the water. Become the water. Become the water." She mutters to herself." The water starts to go backwards. "Reverse the flow, Nya."
Ronin blinks, looking down. "You got to be kidding me." He shifts his sail so that the wind can carry him forward. "Face it, Nya. You're not strong enough. You care too much. I'm sorry, Nya. I wish it never had to come to this." He sighs, looking guilty, almost.
Nya pounds the ground in rage.
.......
The team are back at Steep Wisdom.
Jay scoffs, crossing his arms. "Well, obviously he's taken the sword to Morro."
"But where's Morro? He could be anywhere." Zane says, looking at all of them.
Cole looks at the newly trained Water Ninja. " Look, Nya, I know you're not a ninja yet, but if you're gonna be one of us—"
Nya sighs. "I'm sorry. I should've told you when I first suspected Ronin would steal it."
Wu stands up. "Enough! We all knew the path to save Lloyd was never going to be a straight line. We were all fooled by Ronin, but that doesn't make us fools. At a time like this, we mustn't butt heads, but put our heads together."
Lacey looks down. She was also slightly hurt by Ronin's betrayal. For some reason, she felt a special brotherly connection with him.
Jay snickers. "I'm sorry. You said 'butt heads.' " He laughs.
The Falcon squawks and projects a message from Ronin.
"I can't talk loud, but I wanted to let you know, Nya, you were right. Morro didn't hold his end of the bargain. And Misako was right too. The scroll and sword did reveal the tomb. I know where it's located. I know you don't have the sword, but I know you can beat them to the tomb." He gasps. "They're coming."
Jay furrows his eyebrows. "Where is it? Where's the tomb?"
"The Caves of Despair! The tomb is in Caves of Despair!" The message cuts off.
Wu looks confused. "Caves of Despair? We've been there. I don't remember seeing any tomb." He shakes his head.
"But there are still miles of unexplored mines. It could be there." Misako states.
Nya scoffs. "But why should we believe him? It could be a trap."
"We don't have the scroll and we don't have the sword. With Lloyd's life at stake, what other choice do we have?" Kai says, looking at her.
Cole nods. "We're in."
Nya shakes her head. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. What good will it do us if it's all just a setup?" She asks.
Wu sighs. "The ninja are right. Even a misstep could be a step in the right direction. We cannot afford to do nothing. The ninja will go. As for Nya, you're still not ready." He says, looking at her.
Nya groans.
..........
"The Caves of Despair." Kai states when they arrive. He stares at the structure, remembering back when all of this began.
Cole chuckles fondly. "This is where we first came for the Golden Weapons. It's like everything has come full circle."
Jay frowns, shaking his head. "Don't say that. Full circle means it's coming to an end, and I don't want to hear that before I go into the Caves of Despair, one of my least favorite words. How do we even know the tomb's in there?" He asks, looking at the others.
"Searching for clues." Pixal finds a crudely-carved skull.
Kai blinks, moving closer. He eyes the skull. "The third symbol." He whispers.
Jay shrugs. "Good enough for me. Let's go."
At a distance Ghoultar is carving another skull with his scythe. He laughs maniacally.
"There's another symbol." Jay points out.
"Huh." Cole mumbles. "Looks like it only gets darker the deeper in we go."
Kai sees four lanterns. "Then it's a good thing we have a little light."
"Wait!" Cole snaps. "What if this is one of the tests?"
Jay sasps. "Yeah, Sensei said the tomb was gonna be protected by three deadly tests. Maybe if we pick the wrong lantern..."
Kai carefully grabs one, but nothing happens. "Ha! Nope, just a lantern."
Zane and Cole each grab one, but Jay hesitates before reluctantly taking the last. "Like I thought, just another lantern. Wait!" He calls to the others, running behind them when they go ahead.
Kai looks around. "Looks like there was a cave-in."
Jay sniffs. "Ugh! What's that smell?"
"My sense pick up traces of Kethanol, a highly flammable gas released from deep well mining." Zane states.
Cole nods. "Sure. Bet that's what all Nindroids say." He mutters.
Zane frowns, looking offended. "If you're implying that smell came from me—"
Kai interrupts them. "Look! Some of these rocks appear to have been recently moved. Maybe Morro's already been through here. Ash. Everything here has been burned. Perhaps one of the traps?" He asks, looking back at them.
"The Kethanol geyser. We cannot stay long. It might ignite again at any moment." Zane says, eyeing the rocks.
"Look." Cole points up ahead.
Jay jumps. "Whoa." They see a skeleton. "Ew! You think it's him?"
Kai scoffs. "The First Spinjitzu Master. Uh, but where's the Realm Crystal?"
Zane shakes his head. "That is not the First Spinjitzu Master. It's the Master of Wind. These are the remains of Morro's mortal body."
Jay turns to glance around. "Well, Sensei told us he never came back from looking for the tomb. So if he's here, that means..."
"It is trap!" Ghoultar appers. "Now you suffer same fate!" He uses his scythe to trap them.
"There's no way out." Kai realized. "If this was a test, I think we certainly failed it."
Jay coughs. "And all this gas is making me a little lightheaded." He clutches his head.
Cole looks around, trying to find a way out. "This cavern is a virtual oven. If those geysers decide to ignite, we'll be cooked."
"P.I.X.A.L. has located an opening. The cave-in must have created a gap." Zane orders, grabbing the side of his head.
Jay immediately starts panicking, like he does all the time. "Oh, but a gap to where? For all we know, it could be a dead end and for the record, that's another one of my least favorite words. 'Dead end'." He looks around wildly.
Cole's eyes widen."Too late!" He grabs a boulder and blocks the geyser.
Zane shakes his head. "Cole, no!" He sighs, why were all of them so dumb?
Cole laughs slightly, dusting his hands off. "Ha, solved that problem." He says smugly.
Zane frowns. "Correction, you made it worse. Now the pressure will compact the explosion, multiplying the damage tenfold." He explains.
Jay furrows his eyebrows, moving closer. "Oh, what are you trying to say?"
"When that rock goes, every cave in a 10-mile radius will be filled with a wall of fire so hot, it'll incinerate everything in its path."
"Guess we better get hot on our heels." Kai said.
"Cyclon-do!" Jay exclaims as they Airjitzus their way out of the gap.
"Hurry!" Zane calls out.
"Go, go, go!" Kai urges as they hop into a mine cart.
Jay huffs. "Great, now what? How do we stop this thing?" He asks.
The boys screams as the cart speeds up.
"Obstacle." Pixal informs, highly amused and worried for their safety.
The ninja scream as the cart is moving faster. Meanwhile, poor Jay is running and trying to catch up to the cart.
"Almost got you." Kai says.
"Watch it." Zane frowns.
Jay sees Ghoultar and uses his Aeroblade on him. "Haha, I caught it, guys! I caught it!" He laughs happily.
"Looks like we're coming to a dead end!" Cole calls out.
"Oh, there's that word again. Never say that word!" Jay exclaims fearfully. "Aah! What do I do? What do I do?"
"Use the Aeroblade for brakes." Zand calls out.
"It almost feels like we're going faster!" Jay snaps.
"Whoa! Aaah!" They all scream.
Suddenly, R.E.X. arrives and unravels a ladder.
Cole immediately laughs. "Haha! I could kiss Ronin! After I clobber him for getting us into this mess." He scowls, grabbing the ladder.
They climb inside, but Ronin's not there.
"Oh, oh, oh. Autopilot! Course he's too scared to show his face." Jay scoffs, looking around the airship.
"Hey, ninja. If you're getting this message, I'm sure you have some choice words for me."
Cole scoffs, moving closer. "Haha! You've got that right!"
"But I want to tell you, that wasn't me who sent you to this trap. I was under the control of Morro. I know you think I'm a crook by taking the sword, and I wanna make things right by offering my airship, R.E.X., as a peace offering. I know it's not what you had in mind, but I've remotely entered the location of the tomb. The real one this time." He shows them a map of the Endless Sea.
Kai blinks, staring at the map. He moves closer. "Look at that. The reason Misako never found the tomb in Ninjago was because it was never there in the first place. It's under the ocean."
"Morro has a head start, but R.E.X. should get you straight there in a jiff. And if it's any consolation, this'll be the last you see of me. If Nya and Lacey want to know a reason, tell them it's because I care. Okay. Good luck. And go make things right."
"Looks like we're headed to the tomb. Time to buckle up." Kai tells them, a smile growing on his face.
..........
Lacey lurches over the sink, coughing loudly as Emerald watched her, eying her with her beady green eyes.
When the Sorceress was done and she pulled away, her eyes widened when she saw that she had coughed up blood.
The blue eyed girl stared at the sink in horror, wiping her mouth from the blood at the corner of her lips. Her heart races with fear and trepidation.
"Ahh...fuck."
There was a knock on the door. "Lace? You okay?" Nya's voice rang out. "You've been in the bathroom quite a long time."
"Yeah! I'm fine!" She answered, staring at the blood.
She meets Emerald's gaze.
The Black Cat only stares her down.
..............................
Sorry for the late updates! I've been listing motivation for this book for some reason. I've been focusing more on Dusk Till Dawn. But I got this done.
Athena ⚜️