Chapter 2: Mysterious Break-In
Panting could be heard as the mysterious hooded figure ran away from two police officers. He or she ran across the hallway of the Royal Palace while holding a paper scroll in their hand.
"You!" One of the officers' yelled, making the figure look back for a second while still running, "Stop right there!"
The figure could be seen shaking his or her head 'no', making the officers think that the person doesn't want to reveal their gender by talking. They kept running around the palace hallways until the figure turned into a room.
"Finally..." One of the officers' panted, thinking that they finally got the culprit surrounded since they turned into a room. One of the officers took out handcuffs, while the other took out their baton and smacked it on his hand a couple of times as they both slowly walked towards the room.
"We got you surrounded, come out now with your hands behind your head." No response, "I said come out with your hands behind your head!" No response, "Fine. If you're not coming out, we're coming in."
They walked inside the room, expecting to see the person but instead, the person was gone. No one was inside the room. It was empty. They looked left and right. Up and down. Front and behind. But nothing. It was empty.
"But they were right here..." One of them said, scratching the back of their head in confusion.
The officer, that was holding the baton, placed the weapon back to its place and added, "Where did they go?"
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"And that's what happened. The person just disappeared." The officer explained.
"Yeah," The other officer agreed, "Just poof! He or she was gone."
"You're sure that the person turned into the room, officers?" Lloyd asked skeptically.
They both nodded their heads, "Positive!"
"Mhm. We saw it with our own eyes..." The other officer confirmed.
Lloyd stroked his chin, "Hmm... I'll check the place out. I'll try to see if there's any sort of clue to who the culprit was and where they might've went." A thought then struck his head, "Do you even know if this person has any past criminal activity?"
"We didn't see their face or hear their voice so, no. We don't know anything about them." They confirmed.
Lloyd nodded, "Alright. If I find this person, we'll interrogate them first. And if they turn out to be innocent, we'll let them go." The police nodded their head in agreement. Lloyd smiled and positioned his mask over his face as he started climbing into the palace.
He made it to the top of the roof of the palace and saw an open window. He climbed inside and quietly landed on his feet. He walked out of the room he landed in and he started walking in the shadows of the hallways. He had his guard up in case he heard, saw, or felt anything near him.
He kept walking through the hallways as he looked left and right for any pointers as to where the mysterious person might be. He walked for another few minutes when he stumbled upon a curtain that fell out of its velvet rope holder. He got suspicious because all the other curtains were still in place except for one of them.
He looked behind the curtain when he accidentally placed pressure on the rope hook with his hand. He retracted himself once he felt the hook moving backward. And when he did, a secret door opened up behind the curtain right beside the switch. "That must've been how the culprit escaped from the room." He mumbled to himself.
He looked inside the passage ever so slightly and once he did, he felt a presence behind him. He swiftly turned around and he grabbed the culprit's wrists as the mysterious person gasped at the sudden reflex. One of their hands was holding a scroll.
"Who are you?" Lloyd asked the person. He didn't know why he felt like this but for some strange reason, this person, who he doesn't even know, gave him this sense of deja-vu, like this has happened before.
The culprit stayed silent at his question as he or she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but Lloyd was too strong as he kept his grip firm. Lloyd roughly pulled the culprit towards him again, "I'm not gonna ask you this again. Who are you?" He asked with a bit of annoyance and anger hinted in his voice.
He stared at the person with daggers in his eyes. And he didn't notice the person slightly shaking in fear until he felt something shaking in his hands. His sight softened and he let go of the culprit's wrists.
The person looked slightly confused on why he let them go. It looked like they were about to say something before Lloyd sighed and asked one more time, "Who are you? What's your name?"
The person didn't answer and stayed quiet again. Lloyd was about to say something when he saw the person touching their hood. It looked like they were about to take off their hood, so he stayed silent. His thoughts were confirmed to being correct as the person lifted their hood up and he gasped at the sight.
The culprit was revealed to be a girl in golden-blond hair. She had her hair up in a ponytail. She was wearing all black, to hide in the shadows while sneaking inside the palace. She looked a little intimidated and shy by the ninja as she was holding her own hand while she looked down.
Lloyd snapped out of his small trance and shook his head, "Have we met before?"
"No, I don't think we have." She replied in a shy voice, but her mouth was starting to curve into a small shy smile. "Maybe we have? But I haven't been in Ninjago for about a year or two..."
"Really? Well, my name's-" Lloyd started introducing himself, but she cut him off.
"Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon." She slightly shrunk back shyly at her sudden voice, "I know. I've been here before and you are famous." Lloyd smiled bashfully as she continued, "The last time I was here was when Lord Garmadon took over."
Lloyd slightly frowned at the mention of his father, "That was about two years ago. I'm guessing you fled when he took over?"
She looks slightly uncomfortable at the topic as she frowned, "Y-Yes. You can say that. It was... complicated." She sounded like she forced herself to say that.
Lloyd noticed that she looked uncomfortable, so he decided to ask, "Why did you break into the palace? Was it for crime's sake or..."
Her head jolted up when he mentioned that, "Oh! No, no, no. I wasn't here to steal. I mean no harm..."
Lloyd cocked a brow in confusion, "Then why did you come here?"
"I was looking for a scroll..." She admitted as she showed him the scroll in her hand, but she didn't open it.
"Were you close with the royal family?" He asked, getting slightly curious.
"Yes. Yes, I was." She answered.
He decided to ask this question, "Did you know Princess Harumi?"
She slightly tensed at the name, "You could say we were close..." She scratched the back of her head nervously, "I was very ashamed that she turned her back against Ninjago..." She admitted.
"You and me both." Lloyd mumbled, but she heard it, "But still, she didn't deserve to die." The girl looked like she mumbled something, "Did you say something?" She shook her head 'no', he sighed, "I'm pretty confident that I could've helped her..."
She looked at him, "What do you think of her?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" He didn't understand the question.
"I mean that, what do you think of her? Of Harumi? Before she, you know..." She explained.
Lloyd was slightly taken aback by the question, "Oh. Harumi and I? We had a good relationship before I found out that she was The Quiet One. I really liked her, if not love her... I still do. But that can't happen since she's gone." He sighed, "I still feel guilty because I always feel that I could've done something to save her from that building, instead of just watching her die."
The girl looked away in guilt, "I'm sorry for your loss, Lloyd."
"It wasn't your fault, nor was it hers. She was just misguided by grief, she never meant any of this." He stated, "I know that she betrayed me, but I still see the good in her. Maybe we could've been something if she was still alive, but she's not so, I gotta let go of her someday. But right now, I'm still holding onto her..."
The girl nodded, "You don't have to let go of her right now if you can't but... Someday you'll have to, you'll find someone else one day." Lloyd chuckled, making the girl ask, "What is it?"
"Sorry. It's just that, my friend, Jay, said the exact same thing earlier before I came here." Lloyd said, making her giggle, "You know, I never got your name."
They both stood up and started walking, "Oh, my name? It's Quin."
"Quin?" He asked, and she nodded, "That's a nice name." He smiled, "Do you have a home here, Quin?"
Quin shook her head, "No, I don't."
"Do you wanna come with me to the Monastery?" He asked bashfully, "There's lots of room and the more there are the merrier."
"If it's okay with you, then sure." She blushed.
"I'm okay with it!" He said a bit too fast, making him blush, "I mean," He cleared his throat, "I'm okay with it, and I'm sure my friends will be too."
They started leaning towards each other, but Quin retracted herself and played with her hair in embarrassment while looking away. Lloyd also looked away, and before they knew it. They reached the front door.
The two police officers raced towards them, one of them holding handcuffs. They were about to arrest Quin, but Lloyd stopped them, "It's okay guys. She's innocent. I already talked to her."
The officers looked at each other in uncertainty, "Are you sure?"
"She did break into the Royal Palace." The other officer added.
"Yes, she fine." Lloyd confirmed.
The officers looked at each other again and nodded, "Okay, but does she have a place to stay?"
Lloyd shook his head, "No, but she's coming to the Monastery with me, so if she does anything, me and the other ninja will instantly bring her to you." The officers smiled and nodded before leaving.
"Are they letting me off the hook?" Quin asked unsurely.
Lloyd nodded, "Yes." He answered, making her smile, "Now, come on. I'll show you to the Monastery."
She nodded, "Are your friends home?"
"They should be by now. I can introduce you to them. I'm sure they'll be happy to have another friend staying with us." Lloyd explained, making Quin's smile even bigger.
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