Revisiting her childhood wasn't something that Harumi Jade planned but sometimes, the clock just moves on, forgetting the requests she made. The child wakes up from a nap, with spilled tears dripping from her eyes. She had seen a building, with a happy family of three living inside of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ninjago bridge is falling down, falling down,"
The blonde haired child lifted her beloved figurines up, One was glad in red and the other had a green attire. She chimed and rolled on the ground. "Ninja never quit!" almost in a roar, she began throwing the two figurines at eachother, like a fight between them was about to occur.
"Ninjago bridge is falling down,"
Something had shook the building and the two individuals in the apartment realized. Because the building had violent shaken, Harumi was thrown to the wall right beside the living room. "Ouch!" She grunted and saw on the corner of her eyes a man with a beard lift her up and caress her soft hair. "Mommy, what's going on?" Young Harumi addressed her mother and father, who were now opening the TV to watch the news.
"My fair lady,"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The toddler snapped out of her nightmare and stumbled out of bed. Her mind was fuzzy and tears swelled up as soon as she left that unforgettable past behind again for the day. There was no doubt that she'll start to remember the events more clearly. But this tea's side effect has really gotten to her, she only remembers the beginning. What happened next?
"P-Pa..." she started to call for her father. But she was halted in her tracks as soon as she had a chance to glance down to look at her hands. There were long green sleeves. "H-Huh?" She let those same hands trail upwards to touch her hair, they were near braids. However, braids wasn't the only thing that was there, she felt something metallic keeping those braids composed, a golden headdress. Harumi's breath hitched and she soon came to the realization.
"I-I..." but she needed confirmation.
And a mirror she had found in the room with her.
"What?!" Harumi had seen her reflection, she was dressed when she was back in the Jade palace. When she was greeted by the emperor and empress for the first time. A long green robe with golden prints along with Ninjago's headdress atop her head. Tears and cries were heard after seeing her reflection in the mirror. "Papa! Please help!" She begged, running to the door and scratching against it. The begging went on for a few more minutes before the door was slammed open, causing Harumi to stumble back.
"Baby! What's wrong?!" It was Garmadon, of course it was. Harumi wiped her tears and opened her arms for a hug. "It was a scary nightmare, papa!" She started to explain, a bit sloppily. The oni lord happily accepts her hug and raises her to the ceiling to raise her to the same level as him. The baby was quite short and small compared to him, so he didn't want to accidentally crush her. "What's wrong?" He asked again.
In his arms, Harumi sniffled and she was about to continue her story before her eyes walked off to glance at the same mirror she looked into minutes ago. She was back in her pyjamas. She sighed and lowered her head to his shoulder.
"I just had a bad dream..." she kept her nightmare very brief. It's like she didn't want to talk about it anymore after seeing that she might have entered a state of delusion for a second.
'Oh must be an illusion, then.'
Garmadon bounced her, cooing at her casually when she met his eyes from the skies. "Don't worry, you'll be okay. You're okay now. I'm here to help you." He reassured her but the baby didn't seem too convinced yet. She pouted at him or restarted to sniffle once more which raised red flags in the father's mind.
"Hey look over here," he started, letting one of his four arms roam free to grab a giraffe plushie from the room's desk. Harumi giggled a bit as the big goofy smile on the toy was seen. "Even Mr. Yellow wants you to smile!" He chimed, bringing the plush close to her face.
"Mr. Yellow!" She giggles and grabbed the plush with one hand. She brought the toy close to her face and cuddled it close to her cheeks. A few tears still ran down her face but what was important for Garmadon was to hear her laugh. Just a bit, it would be fine. "Are you feeling better now?" He inquired softly while caressing her soft baby cheeks with a finger. Harumi yawned and hugged the plushie tightly.
She nodded sleepily and Garmadon brought her down to the ground.
The girl was extremely tired but still managed to stay on her feet and not doze off. Garmadon smiled at her, grinned at her a few times before he was reminded of something. "Hey, do you still feel sick?" He wondered. Of course, he didn't know whether the baby would be able to answer with a detailed response but as long as she would be fine, he'd accept any response. The baby shrugged and the man decided to check for himself. He placed a hand over her forehead and noticed with immediate results that she was feeling warm. He bit his lips.
Harumi had caught that look of his and looked at him, looking a bit perplexed.
"Huh? What's wrong papa?" She wondered, like a small curious child she was. Garmadon shook his head, he stood up from bending down and paced back and forth around the small room. "It's nothing, you're just a big warm. I believe you're still sick. Aren't you sleepy?" He asked. It was about 10PM, close to 11PM now and he had to comfort the toddler from her nightmare. But his eyes went wide when he saw that she shook her head. "No, I'm not tired!" She chuckled.
Garmadon was about to nod in understanding before she caught Harumi in another yawn. He giggled and lifted her off the ground again to put her in bed.
"You're lying! You are tired!" He teased. Harumi laughed a bit too as she brought down into her bed. She pulled the blankets up to her chin big she refused to close her eyes to sleep. It confused Garmadon a bit, so therefore, he thought that he'd hear her out. "Well Rumi, do you wanna say anything?" He questioned, settling down by setting himself down on the ground, right beside her bed.
The girl took a deep breath before she glanced down at Cloud, who was still sleeping peacefully in her doggy bed.
She glanced at the window to her side prior to starting to speak. Garmadon was all ears and she was half relieved to see that. "Slowly and I mean really slowly, I'm gaining back my memories. I don't wanna sleep anymore because otherwise, Fishtank would try to kidnap me again.." she confessed her fears to the boss of the tower as quietly as possible. It's not like Fishtank was preparing his nightly round to kidnap baby Harumi again.
Garmadon was a bit in shock when he had heard that an SOG member, who claimed all loyalty to him, tried to kidnap his child. Then again, he told off Fishtank and those other guards standing around to never mess with him nor the white haired princess ever again. He has to admit though that he's a bit sad that Harumi is regaining her memories again, that makes her remember more about the resistance and he needs to return to square 1. "You don't need to worry about Fishtank anymore nor his friends. They won't try to kidnap you again. I promise." He patted the head of the small child in bed in reassurance.
Harumi nodded but didn't seem too convinced. She didn't like being trapped in a bag and then throw down a flight of stairs only to shiver down below. "But what are you saying? It's impossible not to sleep, all kids need to. Don't you wanna grow?" He asked the small kid. The princess nodded and with hesitation, she smiled at Garmadon. "Yeah I do wanna grow, super super tall so that I can seem to touch the skies!" She claimed with a huge list of ambition already forming. Garmadon nodded back and muttered: "That's the spirit."
The Oni lord stands back up and brings the blanket closer to her chin, as he tucks her in for bed. He placed a kiss at the top of her head. "Alright sleep well now, sweet dreams, Rumi." He greeted her farewell before exiting the room and lightly shutting the door. Harumi sighed and stood up from the bed. Something was different.
A minute ago, the ceiling had been way higher than that, but now, using the bed's height as a stepping stone, she could almost for the shelves against the walls. She glanced down at her hands and realized that her nails grew longer as well.
She gulped, not too sure what was happening now, why was she like this? She then looked at the clock, her eyes widening as she could understand everything written on it, where the arrows pointed and such. It was now 11PM and Harumi was aged 7.
"Wow, I can read the time now." She exclaimed with such pride in herself and surprise. Could be an advantage. She slipped out of bed and began walking around, she was perfectly stable now. She didn't stumble from time to time nor felt exhausted when walking like when she first learned. Aged 7, Harumi had many opportunities. She ventured around her room, picking a few tools that might be useful for her. She let go of the colouring pencils she so loved before comforting the biggest tool of all.
"Cloud, hey wake up." She nudged the dog to wake up. It was her friend and companion, the only person in whom she'll never look at in dark light. Cloud had sticked with her till the end of time and here she was, grinning slightly when the puppy woke up and she noticed that they were about the same height. The puppy whimpered, waking up from its slumber and looked semi-confused when Harumi formed a malicious smile on her face.
"Follow me." She gestured the dog to follow her.
Cloud barked quietly and the two individuals soon opened the bedroom door and snuck out for the night, to who knows where.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was now the next morning, breakfast time. Garmadon knew exactly what time he had to wake up before the kid would whine over to his room and complain that she was hungry. He hummed to himself as he set the kid down on the dining chair.
He was rather surprised that little Rumi was growing up so fast, did the aging tea fool with him? He was surprised that she memorized the path from her room to his room, for most kids, just looking at Borg tower's first floor is a maze. The four armed man didn't bother though.
He walked over to the fridge and took out some strawberry yogurt, it'll be a good start as he begins on the eggs. He dropped a spoon in the fresh tub of yogurt and handed it to the little girl. His initial reaction would to sit beside her and hear her compliment the flavours of the healthy snack but what she said next genuinely shocked him. "Feed me." Harumi requested.
Garmadon raised a brow at that and chuckled softly. "Remind me how old you are, princess?" He asked sweetly. Well, honestly, it was a question he wanted to know as well. He didn't exactly keep track of the aging tea so he wasn't sure exactly how old Harumi was at the moment. The girl put aside the yogurt on the table and crossed her arms. Her black eyes shut and she glanced away from Garmadon in a sassy manner. "I'm seven years old."
He didn't expect his face to betray him in terms of cold expressions, for Harumi chuckled out loud at his dropped jaw.
"What? Why are you so surprised?" She mocked him, the small girl shook in her seat. Garmadon sighed and just shrugged himself. "Sorry, I just realized why you didn't want to be put in the baby chair." It was a partial lie. True, he had always wondered why the girl didn't want to be put on her high chair when eating now but an alarm of panic rose as he realized Harumi was getting older.
"I'm not a baby anymore." Harumi repeater his exact thoughts, it made Garmadon heart ache a bit, if he had to be honest with himself. He loved caring for babies and this experience with Harumi, made him remember how much....he missed caring for his baby boy.....Lloyd.
He sighed, alright fine, guess that if Harumi would continue growing rapidly, he'd have to enjoy her youth as much as she does. The four-armed lord grabbed the spoon, swirled some yogourt off of it, and scooped it into her mouth. "Say aah."
The girl obeyed, rather giddily honestly. She opened her mouth with joy as the strawberry aroma was slid onto her mouth. "Hehe! Thank you!" She nodded as appreciation to Garmadon, in whom the latter smiled and he continued feeding her. Harumi wasn't really stubborn anymore after the fourth scoop and Garmadon had a great time feeding the child. It wasn't until the aging tea came back in mind. He put the spoon down and pushed his chair back. The child tilted her head in confusion before she tried sliding her chair back too. "Huh, papa, where are you going?" She tried to pursue him.
Garmadon shook his head and pushed the chair back near the table. "Papa is going nowhere, just sit there and finish your yogurt." He waved at her and dashed to the door. He tried leaving the room to head to his office to take another glance at the aging tea however he was stopped by the child's voice. "What, yes you are! You're leaving! Where are you going?" Harumi whined sassily. The Oni lord sighed and clenched his fists. Well, it couldn't be helped, he had a curious little daughter. "I'm just going to my office for a few minutes, I'll be back." With that, he left for real and Harumi nodded patiently.
The man reached his office in no time, judging that it was on the same floor was they were on right now. He scurried inside, shut the door and rushed to his desk. He opened all file cabinets and finally found what he was looking for. He took out a glass bottle in which was labeled in bold letters: "Aging tea". He nodded to himself and began turning the bottle for any instructions or side effects, even. Not much was written, just a mild description of what the tea does and long does the effects last. Garmadon knew about it all too well. Until his eyes crossed on a single bold phrase:
"Aging happens rather quickly, The user will not remain the same age for more than 2 hours. Beware."
Yet Garmadon knew that Harumi was seven years old, found out a few hours ago when he first woke her up. Ecstatic, the girl chimed with happy eyes that she could finally read time and Garmadon was happy for her. But knew that knowing how to read time would turn out to be a disadvantage for him. Harumi would try to escape again. Ah well, he threw the bottle back inside of the cabinet and left his office to join Harumi back in the kitchen.
"W-Woah....really dizzy!" He heard a voice stutter out as he walked through the hallways. It came from the kitchen and only a rose of panic appeared in his mind.
"Harumi?" He called as he sped up. He had to make a left turn before walking straight into the kitchen. It was a small room but was quite large in terms of Harumi's mind. He continued his walk and finally when he entered,
"D-Dying...! Seriously totally dying...."
'What?'
Garmadon walked in to see the yogurt spilled on the table mat and a passed out Harumi in a prone position on the ground. The chair was still stood up but it seemed that only the baby was the one in danger. Garmadon lifted her off the ground and cradled her in his arms. "Oh FSM, was the yogurt bad for you or something? Can seven years olds even eat yogurt?" He panicked. There was no response to his question which made the man stress even more. Had he just killed the destined princess of Ninjago.....by feeding her yogurt...?
"Hey Harumi, wake up. You're alright, right?" He poked her small soft cheeks with his fingers. Harumi flinched slightly but still didn't say a word. Garmadon sighed and seemed honestly disappointed with himself. "Now what am I supposed to do? I killed a baby." He began to mutter out. But imagine it in a droopy sloppy way, like a clown was devastated after being fired. Harumi couldn't resist but chuckle.
Hearing this, Garmadon changed his hold on her and he was now holding her by the waist. He bounced her up in the air and Harumi laughed. "I'm not dead yet!" She raised her hands and began to claw them down on Garmadon's shoulders like a monster. "Roar! Peek-a-boo! I'm alive!" She roared.
Though for once, Garmadon was quite pleased. "Oh you silly little child, you are so funny." He bounced her in the air again.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was now the afternoon and Garmadon was sitting peacefully in his office. He was looking at a sheet of paper, it was report written rather messily by an SOG member, Monica, was it? But if he remembered correctly, that member didn't seem to care about anything she did for the organization. He chuckled to himself, an image of a seven-year old Harumi popped up in his mind. "That girl is the SOG's leader, how ironic is that?" He hummed.
The reports wasn't saying much either, just about a three paragraph report on how there was this honey chicken vendor that was seen passing the streets of Ninjago. It was written that her, in which he knew was Monica, and her teammates Lester and Kelulu scolded that man for travelling around the city so openly and carelessly. They threatened that they'd throw him in Borg tower's dungeons.
Garmadon was pretty disappointed when he visited the cells the other day and didn't find a man that sold the honey chicken, he thought that the fools would be cruel enough to capture someone, guess not.
Garmadon lazily read the rest of the report by Monica, not caring too much about what she wrote after the failure of a capture. Reports on more fallen buildings around the "Noodle berry" Avenue, yeah right. Not like he saw thousands of crashed buildings everywhere around. He grabbed his pen and scribbled a few things at the end of the report. Words of disappointment, he could say. He put aside that report and moved on to the next one. He grumbles, by the same person again.
"Oops sorry, I made a typo on the last one I sent in. I assure you this one is the real one."
No.
Garmadon just didn't even bother, he grabs the second paper, the one in which was claimed as "the correct one with no mistakes" and proceeded to rip it to shreds. He dumped the rest in the trash can under his desk. He slid his notebook next to his arm and with his pen, he wrote for Monica's section: "Very dull and boring today. Do better or else you're gonna end up like that honey chicken seller."
He was about to wrap up with his commentary but wanted to write more, just to let his anger out. He nodded to himself and began writing: "Deluded, lazy, sassy and entitled. Doesn't deserve to be a guard, should be a makeup or nail polish artist instead-" he refrained from writing more since there was scratching at his door, then followed with barks. Garmadon groaned and knew exactly who it was. It was that pesky Cloud dog who tagged along with Harumi. He got off his chair and opened the door. Cloud was scratching against the door and when he opened the door, the doggy's paws reached his knees.
"Cloud! Why you-" he was interrupted by loud barks. Garmadon snarled and pushed Cloud off his knees. "Go away noisy pup, play with Harumi." He demanded and turned away back to his desk. Cloud stopped barking for a second, glared at Garmadon prior to running off and continued to bark. Garmadon knew he couldn't work in an environment like this. "Cloud, stop!" He yelled through the halls as he started to follow the dog's tracks. She didn't go really far.
The white pup stopped in front of the SOG guards' lounging room. Cloud barked at a figure whose back was arched up since they had just picked up something. When Garmadon arrived, he stopped in place completely. It was Harumi, who was now 4'1 tall and she wore a straw hat and some summer shades. Her child pyjamas were in her hands, presuming ou dropping when the aging happened and Garmadon arrived after she picked them up from the ground. Harumi was dressed in a sleeveless green shirt and a small skirt.
The Oni lord crosses his arms and chuckled. "Were you playing dress-up?"
Harumi, who was now thirteen years, stork back straight upon seeing her father and giggled. "Yeah,I was!" One hand held the oversized straw hat and the other was waving the ridiculously small baby pyjamas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Garmadon and Harumi spent a lot of time this afternoon, he decided to skip paperwork and report-reading and decided in his will to teach Harumi a few things he knew that his own brother could teach her. "Alright, now try again." He clapped his hands, standing aside near the rooftop's exit. Yes, they were on the tower's rooftop, but luckily, it was so large that not many would be able to reach the edge. Garmadon took in the strong breeze and he felt relaxed.
Harumi, was practically out of breath now, groaned as she stood back up. They were learning Spinjitzu. "Ah this is impossible! I'm not like the ninja and I never will be!" She insisted. Garmadon shook his head and smiled a bit at her retort. Sure, he heard many of those lines from Lloyd before, when he was still roaming the streets as a bad boy.
"I'm not powerful enough to stop the ninja, father. Can you help me grow stronger so that way, I can steal all the candy I want in the world?"
Garmadon shut his eyes and focused on the white haired girl, who attempted to spin again. Only to fail and fall back down on the ground. "See? Only ninja can clearly do it." She pouted. Garmadon walked over to her and addressed her: "The ninja are humans. You're human too, what's the difference?" He inquired which only made Harumi look at him with disappointed eyes. "It's obvious! They have elemental powers and I don't! You even have powers and you can do everything! I can't, because I'm a human, father." She had dropped the habit of calling him "papa", Garmadon frowned slightly.
She was his little girl, who never ceased to grow even under the effects of an aging tea. Garmadon glanced to the side and said to her: "Powers don't matter, it's the determination that counts. Everyone is special in their own ways." He raised a clenched fist subtly. Harumi shrugged and sighed in frustration. "Yeah I guess-" she was stooped when Garmadon's fist went charging in to assault her. Harumi shrieked and ducked, trying to avoid getting hit. Garmadon's arm, not hitting his target, proceeded to swing to the sides and hopefully capture her cheeks in a punch.
Harumi saw what was coming and rolled on the ground to be behind him. As Garmadon turned around to jab at her, Harumi grabbed Garmadon's free hand and used it as a distraction. The fact that his other hand was raised, it confused Garmadon on what he was supposed to do. Instead, he just let his reflexes loose and the clenched fist resulted in him punching his own face. He stumbled behind himself and Harumi caught him by the back. "Are you alright?" She asked her father. Garmadon nodded and stood back up. "Yeah I'm fine, guess you defeated me. Do you remember what it was called?" He inquired.
Harumi stared at the blank skies in wonder as she begged the clouds for the answer. "Wasn't it like the iron fist or something?" She answered hesitantly. Garmadon shook his head and patted her shoulder. He had just thought her this lesson and was surprised that she forgot what the name was. But of course, he was more glad that she didn't forget the moves when he assigned her to practicing Spinjitzu. "Art of the silence Fist." He told her.
Harumi went back to training for Spinjitzu shortly and spouted a she fell back down again. She was about to speak but Garmadon interrupted him. He walked over to Harumi and patted her shoulder as reassurance. "Now believe in yourself, take the fact that you successfully learned the 'Art of the silent' fist into account. You can do anything." He encounter her quietly before pulling away to the side. He didn't wanna be hit with a Spinjitzu tornado. Harumi took a deep breath and she spun around in the exact same spot. If didn't work, she whined for a bit and stood back up.
"Have courage in yourself."
She fell back down. "Alright! One more try!"
"Not one more, tries are Infinite, just keep believing in yourself."
She fell back down and urged Garmadon that she was leaving.
"You need to trust yourself."
Harumi nodded and tried again, third time's the charm, eh? Well no, that saying didn't convene with the superhuman training she agreed giddily to.
"Make yourself a goal and keep it in mind whenever you do Spinjitzu. Care about the ones you love."
Harumi growled, too aggravated and discouraged to continue at this point. She stormed over to Garmadon with angry eyes. "No that's enough, I don't wanna do it anymore!" As she began to sprint, her leg sprained and she was enveloped into
an unwilling forced spin. "Yuow-!" She screeched as the pain swelled up inside of her mind, her brain reacted immediately and her world turned into a silver-white.
"Huh? What's happening?" She cried out.
As a tiny silver-grey tornado caused a violent breeze to break out on the rooftop, Garmadon smiled proudly at the masterpiece created by the white haired girl. "Hey, you just did Spinjitzu for the first time." He called out from her and spontaneously, the tornado ceased and out was thrown a teenaged girl. Her back slammed against the flooring and she chuckled to herself, her eyes now facing the sky. "A-Ahah..." she panted, practically out of breath.
"I-I really did it...did I?"
There was a bit of silence between them before Garmadon nodded and walked over to her. "Get up and wash up, it's getting late. You should head to bed soon." He warned her as he sensed the skies turning into a faint orange. Sunset was happening soon. He was a bit puzzled on why he didn't receive an answer when the person he was speaking to was right under him, laid down on the rooftop ground. But as he glanced down to call for her, "Harumi, are you listening?"
He had seen that the girl's eyes were closed and she was peacefully starting to nap. Garmadon clicked his tongue and tried to call for her again. "Seriously? Taking a nap out in the cold? I just told you to wash up and prepare for bed." He lectured her. However, Harumi groaned as noise had just entered the zone. "Give me five minutes, I'm just kind of exhausted...you know?"
"Alright, just for a bit now. I don't want you getting sick again."
"Haha, very funny. I know you kind of do because you want to take care of me again."
".....Harumi, it's been five minutes, go wash up."
"Liar. You just want me off the ground."
And a sigh escaped her lips as the teenaged girl lifted herself off the ground and lazily exited the rooftop and stayed in her room.
She cleaned up for the night, sure. Washed her hair from the dirt that might have gotten in her hair when she laid down for a small rest or when she did Spinjitzu for the first time. When she was cleaning, she thought that these new taught moves wouldn't be useful to her much but later did she realized that as she aged even older, her brain acknowledged the skill and mastered it in no time.
"I'll be with you shortly. I just need to deal with a few guards and their reports." Garmadon knocked at the bathroom door as Harumi was still in the shower. "Yup that's fine!" She called back out and heard his faint footsteps as he left from where he was. Her hand reached out to turn the handle to stop the shower. She dried her hair and put on some cleaned clothes that were more her teenaged style. It was a tank top with laces along with long wool pants. Previously, Garmadon chose long sleeved shirts and pants that had unicorn prints on them.
When she was all cleaned, she met up with Cloud and smiled as she grabbed a small pink bow from her desk. "Heya Cloud, how do you like this?" She showed the accessory to the overjoyed puppy. Harumi was aged fifteen now and Cloud soon recognized her more and more as her permanent owner. Cloud barked happily and Harumi gladly put the accessory atop her head. The girl chuckled as she found the accessory really cute. Then, she had thought of an idea. "Hey Cloud, let's play!" She suggested.
The puppy looked at her with wide eyes and silence filled the room before Cloud barked loudly and ran circles around her loveable owner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Garmadon hums freely as he wonders what age has his little girl turned into. Possibly about age 15? He wasn't too sure. He walked through the hallways, a big smile fixed on his face as he finally reached the door's handle. As he twisted it to open the door, he chirped:
"Harumi~! Wake up, it's morning!" He expected to see a small teenager bounce out of bed and greet her father joyfully.
"I'm back."
Was the response he got instead, from a mature-looking girl, whose blonde locks fell into their usual cloud colour. Her eyes were narrowed down and she growled at Garmadon as she was standing in the centre of the room. "You're not my baby..." Garmadon concluded, backing away immediately as Harumi only stepped forward, her companion puppy behind her as always. "I thought I could have been your child, but I was wrong."
The two individuals stared at one another, Harumi had a look of hatred whilst the latter didn't want to hurt her. Had he not been attached with those childhood memories and he wouldn't be afraid to hurt Harumi like always. Like always...huh? He laughed to himself, that just makes him a terrible person. "Well that means that all of this was for nothing. I tried making things right again and clearly, you don't want to give me a second chance." His blood red eyes flared with fury.
Harumi noticed and nodded, he was absolutely correct. "With all the harm you've done? I will never give you a second chance! You're....you're a monster!" She cried out. "Monster, monster, Monster!" The taunts got the Oni lord good otherwise he wouldn't be standing in place, clenching his fists in anger. He knew he was a monster on the outside, but deep down, he certainly didn't want to be called one by someone he cared about. It already hurt enough when Lloyd has repeated it. How did he cope though? Darkness that never stopped rising.
"You know what.."
"You'll regret that."
Harumi's eyes widened as she felt a sharp pain affect her leg the next instances. She hissed and fell over due to the imbalance, she glared down and discovered the source of the problem. Garmadon had kicked in the leg, causing him to tower her small form. "You're a monster! I wish...I wish I never summoned you! You could have left Lloyd and my family alone!" She scolded, now attempting to slide away from the Oni lord. But he just kept coming closer. He had gripped her small wrist tightly and began to drag her down the stairs like a ragged doll everyone saw her as. Harumi shed a few tears.
"Why can't you just leave us alone..? Why do you have to be the villain?..."
Garmadon sighed and ignored her hopeless, meaningless, pitiful questions.
'I didn't want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice.'
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a long trip even though it was only 15 minutes. Harumi sighed, struggle to have her hand free but she'll the Oni lord was rather strong, he kept her bound to his nails like a large brick. She sighed and kind of hissed as she was getting tired of just being dragged away like a mop. Her hand started to hurt and she knew that the pain won't cease until she reached the dungeons. "I don't understand why you keep turning me into a baby. So that you can get along with me, or try to? Is it some sort of joke?" She inquired.
Garmadon unlocked the dungeons' doors and groaned at the question. It was the fifth time she tried to make conversation with him the entire trip. "Just shut your mouth." He demanded and the cold air blew in their faces. Harumi's eyes opened and she met with the black void down those dreadful stairs. "You wouldn't dare put me back in there. You jerk!" She kicked her legs, hoping that she'd have a way to break free. Though it was not avail,
He shook his head and tossed her down the stairs and folklore afterwards, kicking her body even deeper into the dungeons until they reached the cells. Harumi spat out dirt that got in her mouth while was being kicked and hissed at Garmadon. "Well you are a jerk!" She confirmed, looking more than angry, her blood was boiling. "Congratulations to me, I guess. What's my prize?" He asked sarcastically as he bent down next to the teenager.
Harumi attempted to stand back up and realized in surprise that Garmadon wasn't going to go after her if she tried moving her legs. "Y-You deserve none! Stop being sarcastic with me!" She retorted. Garmadon stood back up as well and groaned, he shrugged afterwards. "Well, I tried. But I have a brought a prize for you and some friends of yours." He grinned only to have Harumi quickly but sharply respond: "And what may that be?"
'If it's a bomb to kill everyone here, I'll be ready. I'm not scared of what he's gonna show me!' Harumi thought.
He opened the final door of the dungeons and Harumi's eyes swelled with tears as she recognized a familiar sight. There was a team dressed in many different colours but when they saw her, their faces immediately lit up. "It's Harumi!" Kai called out as he tried to wake everyone up.
Harumi nodded and ran up to her friends.
"Guys! Oh FSM, I thought he killed you all!" She cried out, her hands trembling as they gripped the metallic bars.
Kai nodded, he nodded and nodded. Nothing to say but just smile, man oh man was he glad to see his little sister again.
Since it had been a day, Jay, Nya and Zane had the chance to recover from the last encounter with Garmadon. Nya was the one who woke up first and rubbed her eyes. She saw Harumi and just stood there puzzled. "Am I dreaming or is that Harumi?" She asked Kai. They were interrupted by a small bark.
Harumi, Kai and Nya spotted a small happy dog, who curiously followed her master around to see where she was going. The princess laughed and wiped away a few tears before bending down to meet Cloud. "Hey Cloud, what are you doing here? It's very dangerous here. Why'd you follow me?" She asked the pup.
The white Pomeranian didn't answer, only barked, it was to show that no matter where Harumi went, she'd always follow.
Harumi was glad that she had such a trustworthy and loyal companion.
"Hey, it's the dog that saved us earlier." Zane stood up from the ground and his icy blue eyes analyzed the puppy who was now in Harumi's hands. Harumi nodded happily and grabbed Cloud's small paws in order to recreate a small shake. "Yes, this is Cloud, my puppy." She introduced.
The resistance all nodded in understanding as they finally knew where the dog came from and who it belonged to. There weren't gonna be more comments until Jay said: "Well we owe the dog a lot for saving our lives." He chuckled.
Harumi sighed and entered the cell beside the resistance, she kept the door open and just sat on the bench. "I'll explain more about her though and how we found you guys. First of all, let me just say that I'm so happy to finally be with you guys again. I can't wait to return on the Bounty..." she ended in a whisper. Cole and Zane nodded to one another and even exchanged responses along the lines of: "I wonder if the Bounty is still alright.."
Kai walked over to where Harumi's cell was, since it was the cell right beside, they could travel to each other's cells due to a small tunnel in between them. He sat next to her on the bench and patted her back. "Hey, dont worry, we will go home. It's just...taking longer than expected, you know?" After patting her bag, he moved on to wrab his arm around her shoulder.
The two noticed that Garmadon was not with them, when had he returned back to the first floor? Oh well, it was better for her that the lord wasn't present when she was getting all emotional.
She smiled at Kai and appreciated his attempts to cheer her up. "I wish that the day that we go home was soon. Maybe like right now, we defeat Garmadon because united, we are strong enough. We have Lloyd's blessings and....I know we can do it!" She encouraged. The red clad ninja nodded and replied quietly: "Sounds like a plan."
The resistance were all lively for the time being, Harumi got to talk to them and felt more reassured to be around her family.
That's until Garmadon returned with a bag in hand. "What sounds like a plan?" He returned at the worst time if you asked Kai and Harumi themselves.
Both gulped and watched as Garmadon effortlessly dropped the bag on the floor. He smiled at the audience in front of him, like little circus animals all trapped up.
"Now this is the prize." He grinned. Nya and Harumi exchanged uninterested glares before the water ninja spoke: "You got yourself a large prize of value? How thoughtful." Her words practically dripped with venom and a careless state of mind.
Garmadon nodded and began to open the bag, watching in the corner of his eye to when the resistance would react.
"Now watch very closely, you may not be interested now but this-"
And specks of blonde hair was seen.
Then a pair of pale ears.
Afterwards two shut eyes, losing the green essence to them.
A button nose.
And finally, a dead smile.
Harumi burst into a fit of anger as the "prize" revealed to them all,
was nothing but the person they all longed to relieve memories with once more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You monster! Why- Why would you do this?!" Misako was the first to scream her words out to her husband-No, she couldn't consider him a husband anymore. Garmadon only laughed and played around with his dead boy's hair, he even pressed his cheek against his long-gone cheeks. "Is someone home?" He addressed to the dead body, clearly taunting to spite all of them, but Harumi and Misako the most. But Harumi felt sick to the core.
He didn't know if Garmadon came here to not only spite them but to spite himself too however, she just couldn't take it anymore.
"I hate everything about you! You're a delusional nightmare! I want to wake up, return to my world where YOU don't exist!" She begged. He was just a blackhole to her now, am empty, lonely but sadistic blackhole. It followed her everywhere just to get her attention and force her down the rabbit hole.
Garmadon laughed and left the body there to rot. Kai was furious, Jay was terrified, Zane was angry but collected and calm about it, Cole could have prepared to sacrifice himself in order to stop Garmadon for eternity and Nya was devastated. "Well what are you going to do now? Cry all day?"
"No, I'm not scared of you. But you have crossed the line. You never mattered to me." Harumi stood up from the bench, helping Cloud get down as well.
Garmadon's eyes widened. It seemed like they were alone in the room right now, just the two of them.
But ouch, FSM that hurts.
"I never enjoyed the times when we bonded. I hated them, desired for YOU to get lost with those MEMORIES!"
Garmadon clenched his fists to control his anger. He could crush her for talking terrible things about their bonding. But.He.Couldn't.
She stood up and noticed his silence. She clenched her own palms and twitched. "Colouring as father and child? What a joke, I would have drawn a drawing of me smiling at your disappearance." She spat, exiting her cell. She walked up to Garmadon and with now glassy teary eyes, she said: "And Lloyd didn't deserve any of this at all. But my oh my would I wonder how things would change if you took his place." That was it, the tears have fallen.
She slapped him hard on the cheek and Garmadon felt the cold wind slapped charging on his skin.
She quickly ran out of the dungeons, now a sobbing mess.
And as Garmadon just stood there, a hand grasping his injured cheek,
"Harumi!"
"Please come back!"
He even heard barks from Cloud.
But he didn't stop the resistance from breaking out of their cells along with Cloud to chase the crying princes up the stairs.
What has he done?
~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hey! LillaSmolBean here and thank you for reading my final chapter of the Hunted Arc part2! I hope you all enjoyed and feel free to comment down below any feedback! Looks like Harumi has just snapped and...so did Garmadon! Who wins, do you think? And let me mention that the resistance is officially back together! I wish I can write more but I'm quite exhausted! It's 2AM as I finish writing this and all I can say is, Thank you for reading Reconciled Hearts and everyone please stay safe from the virus! Cya!