'Wait until the reaper takes my life, never gonna get me out alive. I will live a thousand million lives... My patience is waning. Is this entertaining? Our patience is waning. Is this entertaining?'
~Bones, Imagine Dragons~
Eight years ago
"Where is that stupid child?" I wiped my sweaty palms on my tunic.
"I don't know, Master. Perhaps the girl is hiding. You know what she's like."
"Oh, Clousie-Clouse, she may be her mother's daughter but I am her father. The wretched thing wouldn't dare leave this island. Especially without her sister."
"If you aren't careful, they'll find out and leave."
"That's why I had Skylor pledge her loyalty to me so early," my father admitted and I bit back a gasp. So she had done it? And she hadn't even told me?
Clouse made a noise in thought. I thought I saw his eyes flicker over in my direction so I jerked away from the peepholes.
With every breath I took, there was more silence and I could feel my heart hammering in my throat. If I got caught for spying... well, I'd either be praised or...
Punished.
A shiver ran down my spine.
"She is here," Clouse whispered, and I sucked in a breath.
"Spying on her own father?"
"Yes, Master."
He giggled like a naughty little kid who'd been caught stealing a guard's sword. "Perhaps I have taught her well."
"Sire-"
"Where is the brat? I'd like her to meet someone."
"In the secret passages-"
I ran.
I ran as fast as my little legs could.
My breath wheezed as I navigated the path back to my room in the dark, and my chest felt so heavy every time it expanded.
There was a reason I was forbidden to see my sister's pledge.
I'd never find out why.
I climbed out from behind a painting and returned it back to its original position. When I turned around, I was met with five pairs of eyes glaring down at me.
Oh frick.
I went to bed that night with a bandaged shoulder and a scar.
"You're the Quiet One."
"How could you say that?" she asked, her gaze glancing between the two of us.
"It all makes sense now. 'The greatest villain is the one you never knew was there in the first place.' You said that."
"Oh, yes. I'm the criminal mastermind. How could I have done this?" She turned to me, and I looked away. I couldn't bear to see her face. "Surely you trust me. I'm your sister!"
Luna was right all along, and I didn't listen to her. The note and everything. She knew what she'd been up to.
I had been wrong.
Too quick to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Don't you realise how silly you're both sounding?"
I'm so sorry Luna... This is all my fault...
My head snapped back to Harumi. "I- I trusted you!"
She opened her mouth to respond, carefully choosing her next move before smirking and her demeanour growing cold,
"Well, I wouldn't have done that if I were you."
Lloyd stepped away from her. "You only wanted me to get the mask you couldn't find."
"I didn't need you to find the mask. It would've already been mine had your idiot friends not stolen Wu from us." She grinned as I gasped. Lloyd took another step back, staring at her in disbelief.
"The baby is Master Wu?"
"Oh, that's right. You didn't know." She approached Lloyd, her grin widening with every step. "I knew to keep you close. Not everything goes to plan." Harumi threw me a glare and my stomach churned.
"And the Emperor and Empress?" I challenged, anger bubbling underneath my veins.
"They were never my parents!"
"And yet you killed them... you killed them all. The Empress, Emperor... Hutchins! Laura and Luna! Everyone who lived in the palace! You killed them all!"
"I did what I had to do!" she growled and turned back to Lloyd. "Give me the mask, and you'll leave this cave alive."
Lloyd backed away further. "No."
"Give me the mask!"
"No. I can't let you do this."
"Fine."
She spun around and kicked him, sending the mask up into the air, past a hole in the roof, and Lloyd tumbling to the ground. I raced after the mask. Harumi growled and something wizzed passed my ear. Panic spiked in my chest as I looked back, a dagger lodged in a pillar where my head would've been. The mask landed beside me.
Lloyd groaned, blood spilling from the side of his head. I could only assume that was Harumi.
Oh shit.
"Lloyd!"
As I was distracted by the gash on Lloyd's head, Harumi shoved me against the wall. I tried twisting out her grasp but her body weight had me sandwiched between her and the wall.
"You move and I'll send it into your throat," she whispered, holding the dagger dangerously close to my throat.
"So you're going to kill me?" I spat and Harumi pressed her arm against my throat. I choked, fighting for air.
"Not quite." She released some of the pressure on my neck and I glared at her. "I have another idea."
My eyes followed the dagger as she lifted higher and higher, teasingly tracing my neck before-
I screamed.
Get it out, get it out, get it out...
I tried prying at her arms but my body wouldn't respond. I could hear myself sobbing, begging for it to stop, but the blade continued to pierce my temple.
"Harumi, please! Stop! Please!"
She only grinned, dragging it down the side of my face.
Tears slid down my cheeks.
My face was on fire.
When will it stop?
Make it stop-
Please.
Harumi wiped the tears from my face and I looked down at her. All I could feel was terror, and she knew it too.
"You murdered them all... They're gone, all because of you. How could you?" She dug the dagger deeper into my skin and I let out a strangled cry. I wheezed, the tightness at my throat forcing my vision to waver. I could feel the way it cut through my cheek, slicing the skin into two.
"Everything was taken from me; my parents, my life, my home, my future. I was satisfied - until you showed up! You took my future away so I'm going to take everything you've ever loved away from you!" Blood seeped into my eye and blurred my vision as it mingled with tears.
"How? How did I do that? How could I have ruined your life?"
"I would've been satisfied with my title, and family, but instead, they made you the priority. They favoured you!"
"That wasn't my fault!" Sobs racked my body and Harumi's lips curved upward into a smirk. She pulled the tip of the dagger out at my lips, her thumb shooting out to wipe a drop of blood from my jaw. My face was blazing, burning like it was on fire. My tears made it worse and she might as well have doused the wound in salt.
"Not your fault," she tutted and pressed her forearm further against my throat. "Everything adds up over time. The Great Devourer destroying my home and parents when I was a child tore my heart out. Being adopted and sent into royalty had given it... let's say, a poor revival. Then the media went wild with your rise to fame. The group interviews, the individuals, photos, guest appearances: Taylor Chen? Missing Princess? Could it be true?
"We ignored them... things almost returned to normal until your stupid sister got that letter!" She jabbed the dagger into the wall right next to my head, her eyes ablaze. It took her a second to regain her composure and return her breathing back to normal. Then she smiled. "That's when I craved more. I wasn't going to be Empress anymore... so I needed something else to fill the void in my chest.
"Bringing Garmadon back out of spite for Lloyd was genius thanks to the insight I got from none other than the Master of Animals herself. Killing precious little Taylor Chen's family," she gasped mockingly and her lips brushed against my ear like a ghost dancing in the wind. I whimpered. "-was bloody beautiful. I have to thank Laura for that."
"What?"
"Oh, you think that all of that running around and secret phone calls and leaving the castle unnoticed, was all me?" She dragged a finger under my chin, forcing me to look her in the eye. "Dear, sweet... sweet Tay, even I wouldn't put myself on such a high pedestal."
"You killed her too," I rasped.
"Oh, I did too. Whoops. I had to get rid of the evidence somehow." Harumi shrugged innocently and traced a finger down the right side of my face to my chin. She let out a breathy sigh, "There, that pretty face, so pale and distraught. Blood looks good on you, big sister."
I closed my eyes, tears leaking out of them. Please, Lloyd, get up.
"I- I..." I choked.
"Use your words, Princess. Or should I say, heir to the Ooritsu Throne?" I choked on my words and Harumi mocked surprise as she glanced down at her arm. "Oh, whoopsie." She then pressed it up against my chest and I drew in a breath as if it would be my last,
"I loved you! You were my sister... I cared about you!"
"Well, I wouldn't have done that if I were you. Should've trusted Luna. Oh, wait! She's dead. Such a shame. Luna knew something was up. You dismissed it. So many times."
I'm so sorry, Luna.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Even if I didn't make it out of this cave alive, I could feel Lloyd's life force trying to pull himself together. Maybe he'd be able to make it out of here. Maybe I could use this to my advantage so he can have more information.
"So? What's next? Destroy Ninjago? And then what? What, the city falls into pieces by your hands and then you'll be all sad and miserable again?"
"Close. Garmadon comes first. I was thinking about your father but, he's too much of an incompetent fool and Clouse did most of the work for him anyway.
"After Lloyd's Daddy Dearest, Lloyd gets to watch his precious city crumble. Plus the rest of you die so, win, win."
"To me, that sounds like a win-lose kind of situation." Harumi whipped herself around, growling at the sight of Lloyd pulling himself up onto his feet and holding the mask.
"Pesky Ninja!" She lunged back at Lloyd, taking the dagger with her and I slumped to the ground, drowsiness becoming overbearing.
Their words blurred into muffled sounds and all I could feel was my brain holding onto consciousness as if it was dangling from a cliff. My lungs were burning. There was pain but everywhere throbbed. I could taste the blood as it seeped into my lips. The smell gave me a piercing headache and stars swarmed my vision.
I wanted to die. It was too much. Too much to handle. I felt so weak. Vulnerable. All I wanted to do was die.
How could anyone feel so many emotions at one time?
Grief.
Anger.
Betrayal.
Hurt.
Pain.
Despair.
Fear.
And yet, I could feel all of them as I doubled over, clutching my stomach.
Was this really going to be the end of me? My own si- Harumi letting me bleed out until I die?
This was pathetic.
"Give me one reason not to say goodbye to it right now." Lloyd's voice broke through the fuzz in my brain and I looked up. Harumi's blurry form came up behind him, and the green of his energy faltered.
"I'll give you two. You want to see your father again, and you love her." Who? There was a sinister pause and I tried blinking the fuzziness from my eyes. "Ah, your emotions. You can't get rid of them. It's hard to think, isn't it? You thought you could get over her. But instead, you hurt her even more." Then I saw it clearly. She smiled kindly at Lloyd, whose eye was twitching the more she spoke, gesturing to me. "One throw of this dagger and I can end her life." A shine from a reflection caught my eye and-
"Lloyd! Watch out!" But my voice wouldn't work.
Harumi swung the dagger at him and he ducked, his gaze darting around the space.
"Don't you dare touch her!"
She laughed, "It would be a pity. That mask... One throw and I could break every bone in her body, watch your heart shatter and then your father will kill you too. Your friends will be in the hands of my followers soon-"
"So you helped put the bug on the ship. You caused the crash."
"It was a calculated risk. Your friends were so close to the truth. I couldn't let them stop me." She shrugged merely.
"Feeding the poor, acting scared? It was all an act?"
Everything was a lie.
Just like my father.
I stood up, my body aching and my face caked in my own blood. I felt every emotion slip away from under my feet. Except...
For anger.
"This whole time... you were pretending. Pretending to care," I whispered and she stopped her advances.
"What? You thought I cared about you?"
I felt my brain pause.
My breath shuddered.
I wanted to rip her apart... take her life for the ones she took.
Something bubbled in my veins. Something different. Something I'd felt before... A pull inside myself.
The only thing I could feel was rage.
"I guess," I started, my lips drawing into a straight line, "I was wrong. I was wrong about everything.
"About everything we did together, the time we spent with each other. Teaching me to bake? Every time I stuck up for you when you disappeared, every time you fucking messed up... it was all a lie," I spat out, venom dripping from my words. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt. She's my sister, surely she wouldn't kill them, surely she's just having an off day.
"Surely... you weren't a monster. "
Every word felt like it was ripping my skin further and tearing my throat apart.
"A monster," she echoed, prowling around the pedestal like a lion on a hunt. "Believe whatever you want, I did what I had to do to make my plan work. To protect Ninjago, I had to repress those feelings. I had to wear a mask until the time came for me to take control. I had to be smarter, stronger."
Lloyd curled his fingers into fists. "You were never protecting Ninjago. You were only after revenge!"
"Tell me, Lloyd, how many times has Ninjago almost fallen on your watch? How many times have you ninja failed and let others pay the price? You're not our protectors. You're just a bunch of little kids playing dress-up. Ninjago is my home too. And with your father by my side, we can return it to glory. Give it the leader it truly des—" She darted for the mask but I got there first, swiping it from to the floor. "Ninjago should be ruled by true power."
"My father sacrificed himself to keep peace in Ninjago and you want to undo that? Revoke his last wishes?"
Harumi laughed. Your father did that. Lord Garmadon didn't."
"Then... I guess you'll just have to join him." I threw the mask across the cave and off the cliff, and Harumi screamed, launching herself in pursuit.
"Are you okay? Where's the blood coming from?"
I choked back a sob and twisted my head away from him. I could feel the metallic taste of the blood on my lips and my stomach twisted itself into knots.
His hand grabbed my chin and he turned my face to the side, his eyes cold as he examined how bad it looked.
"I don't want to know," I whispered hoarsely and he glanced down at me, eyes softening. He nodded. "Your... your head."
He brushed the gash on his temple with his fingers.
Suddenly there was a thud and a deep laugh boomed through the cave, and it sent a wave of panic down my spine. My eyes darted around the cave.
"Okay, so that didn't go as planned."
Lloyd straightened up, stepping in front of me. I winced at a wave of sharp pain.
"Look at the two of you," she sneered, putting her hands on her rocky hips. The purple mask was morphed into her skin, fangs poking out from her taunting grin. "So naive. So quick to trust people. I would say that one day it'll be your biggest downfall but... here we are. It's already happening.
"However, this isn't going to be a fair fight."
She threw the dagger to the floor.
"What did the mask do to you?" he gasped, horrified.
"The Mask of Hatred. A taste of invincibility. Too bad for you."
Harumi moved and Lloyd rushed forward to pick up the dagger, dodging her attack. He sent a ball of energy toward her, making her stumble back slightly.
"Catch!" he called and threw the weapon at me.
"Catch?!? What do you mean catch!?" I caught it, barely grabbing the handle and peered down its bloodstained blade.
That was my blood.
The thought made my legs feel like jelly and my head pounded.
"Hurt me all you want, but I'm never gonna let you get away with this." He kicked her back and she grinned, fangs bared.
"Physical pain can only hurt so much. I intend far worse." She pulled him into a headlock.
Do something! Why am I not moving?
"Then what do you want?"
Harumi threw him to the ground as the dagger broke, shattering against her rocky armour. I glanced down at my empty hands.
Did I just throw that?
She laughed, deep and booming, and a purple energy pulsed in her hands. She sent a ball my way and I barely dodged it, hitting a pillar instead.
I gaped at the hole.
Lloyd stood up and Harumi turned back to him.
"I want you to feel the emptiness that I feel! When your father is reborn, he won't be the man you recognize! His soul will be gone and I want his cold hands to destroy you! Rip you apart, limb by limb."
He pushed her away from him. "You're a monster! I'll never feel what you feel."
"We will see," she said, walking away, a shrill laugh escaping her lips.
"Fight me. Let's end it here."
"I'm already two steps ahead." Harumi disappeared out of the cave.
Fuck. "Harumi!" I bolted after her.
But I was too late. She had smashed through the wall with the symbol and the streams of water began to flood the cave.
"Where did she go?" Lloyd asked frantically as the water rose rapidly.
"I don't know, but we're trapped in here."
"Where's Nya when you need her?"
Wait...
"Follow me, we don't have much time."