They walked through the forest quietly. No conversations were started since Lloyd and Harumi last spoke to each other. Lloyd's brothers, Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane were happy that he and Harumi are better on terms than before. When Harumi first revealed herself, they were nothing more than former enemies, at least, now they were temporary allies. It was better than nothing and luckily, the boys accepted this. They're trying to be more civil with the former Quiet One. It'll save them from distracting themselves from the real current problem, the oni.

Going through the forest wasn't their problem. Getting to the Endless Sea was the problem. They were at the home stretch but there was a problem. A big problem. A few hours back, when Lloyd decided to save Harumi, he battled with the Omega and in that small battle, he lost the map. It was their only physical map. They had a digital version in Zane's gallery but that meant that only he could see it. Zane and PIXAL led the group, followed by the rest behind the two nindroids.

This forest doesn't have a name, unlike the other sites they've visited on their trip. It was a shame to know that they couldn't visit the Enchanting Hills again on this adventure. Another downer was the Destiny's Bounty. They crashed at the Ophidian Forest, and if the Enchanting Hills were already covered by the oni, whose to say that the oni haven't already gotten there. They've had to sacrifice plenty of things during their adventures, it was just one of the things that came with being a hero to Ninjago. They've gotten used to it but the pain that comes after it, they will never get used to it. Sacrificing never feels good, even if it's for the greater good.

Zane stopped and told them that this forest is coming to an end on the map, and afterwards, it would be smooth sailing from here to get to the Endless Sea. Everyone was glad that they didn't have to walk much further. It was getting really tiring. Zane put the virtual map away and everyone just started walking forward. It wouldn't be long until they find the shores. Everything was going well, that was until everyone heard a loud, piercing screech. They all had to cover their ears due to the loud cry. Once the screeching was over, everyone was frozen in place. Vania was the first to talk, "What was that?" She asked, her hands rested on top of Cole's shoulders.

Cole shook his head, "I don't know." He responded while placing one of his hands on top of Vania's.

"Whatever it is," Kai started and pulled Skylor closer to him, "I don't think we want to stick around to find out." He scowled in a protective manner, not wanting to see any of his friends get hurt.

Lloyd was the next to respond as he looked forward and pointed that way, "Everyone, run! Don't look back!" He yelled a command. Everyone complied since they did not want to figure out what or who made that ear-piercing screech. They just ran through the forest, not caring where they went as long as it resulted in them not running into the creator of the screech. They went in the opposite direction of the loud sound but somehow, no one knew how, they ended up running in the wrong direction.

The creature struck one of its claws down on the ground, making the Ninja stop in their tracks to avoid being crushed. The sudden halt made the girls behind the Ninja fall on top of the boys which resulted in all of them falling to the ground. Everyone panted quietly on the ground, hoping to not gain the creature's attention. They all looked in different directions, trying to spot if the creature was coming. None of them dared to move off of the ground. That was until the creature sprung out of the ground, that's when everyone jumped off the ground and scrammed in different directions, trying their best to avoid the creature's attacks. Harumi wasn't doing so well with her injured leg, thankfully, she was able to dodge all the attacks sent to her in time, but they were very sloppy. Every time she jumped, she landed on her hands and legs so that she wouldn't injure her already injured leg anymore.

The Ninja took out their weapons and started attacking the beast. Zane and PIXAL already did a scan and they could not find any matches in Ninjago's animal kingdom, so everyone assumed it was made by the oni. The creature was pure black, it could grow black tentacles out of its body, just like a normal oni. It had demonic purple eyes that glowed in the dark, it seemed as if it could pierce through anyone just by looking at them. The creature looked like a dragon but it was no dragon, it was a fake dragon. The oni who had created it definitely chose to make it look like a dragon, which it was not at all. The Ninja had to give props to them, it was terrifying.

Harumi dodged another attack and landed on her legs before her hands touched the ground. She yelped as she crumpled to the ground, still trying to get up. The dark creature saw her weak state and grinned. It decided to go for her. Before doing so, it had created a small army of mini, human-sized, dark dragon-looking creatures to distract the rest of the Ninja. Everyone was too busy to see Harumi being targeted. It seemed as if the mini creatures were mainly targeting Lloyd, but he paid no attention to that. He looked to the side and saw Harumi's collapsed state and the creature heading towards her. His eyes widened in panic.

"Harumi!" He screamed, running towards her.

He summoned his elemental powers and destroyed every mini dark creature that got in his way. When he finally made it out of the mob, he conjured a powerful beam to shoot at the creature, not caring how much energy it took from him. The creature noticed and turned its attention to Lloyd, completely forgetting about its previous target. It started producing its own powers from its mouth as if it was about to breathe fire, like a real dragon. They shot their powers at each other at the same time, fighting for the upper hand. Lloyd's hands glowed a powerful, blinding green light while he let out a loud cry. The creature roared at him while shooting dark purple energy at him from its mouth.

By this time, everyone stopped their fight and watched in astonishment, waiting for someone to get the upper hand. They could tell that both the magic users were getting tired, but Lloyd showed more fatigue than the creature. He fell to his knees and only one of his hands was powered up with elemental magic. He was losing.

Kai ran towards his honorary brother, "Lloyd!" He called out, lighting his hands on fire. Skylor let him run but saw that the small creatures were chasing him, ready to attack. She gasped and took her spear, swinging it at the human-sized creatures which brought their attention to her. Knowing that Lloyd needs all the elements of creation's help, she called out to the boys.

"Go!"

"What? No!" Cole protested, taking out his hammer, ready to fight.

Jay swung his nunchucks at an incoming creature, knocking it away, "Yeah. You'll need our help." Jay agreed before striking at another creature.

Skylor struck her spear at the creature before shaking her head, "No." She pointed to Lloyd, "He needs your help."

Vania took out her naginata and swung it at the enemies to defend herself, "We'll hold them off." She nodded at Cole assuringly whilst PIXAL took out her remaining katana.

The boys nodded and used spinjitzu to get past the mini creatures, "Ninja... Go!" They yelled before engulfing themselves in colorful tornadoes. They got past the smaller creatures and went to help Lloyd and Kai. The girls followed behind but stayed after the boys reached the bigger creature to fend off the smaller creatures from reaching the boys. One was about to hit PIXAL from behind with a sword, she turned around and gasped. She didn't have time to dodge it. Just as the sword was struck down, a katana blocked the attack. The katana user breaks away from the block and gave a perfect roundhouse kick at its abdomen, making it fall for now.

They turned their head around, it was Harumi. She fell to the ground to take a breather. PIXAL smiled gratefully at her, "Thank you." She said. Harumi nodded and stood up again. PIXAL then saw the katana she was using, "Is that... My katana?" She asked, pointing at the weapon.

Harumi looked at the weapon, "O-Oh! Yeah... It's the weapon I found back in the cloud." She gave a sheepish smile before reaching her hand out to give it to the female nindroid, "You can have it back if you want-"

PIXAL waved her hand, "Oh, no, no. It's fine. You can have it." She uttered before going back to the fight.

"Just until I find another weapon. Then I'll give it back." Harumi smiled, returning to fight the small beasts.

The boys all powered up their hands with their elements, each of them shouting out their elements before firing. Lloyd was starting to lose the strength in his attack, but he managed to keep going. He narrowed his eyes, keeping up the block.

Kai went to help first. His fists went aflame, "Fire!"

Next, Jay did a backflip before zapping his element, "Lightning!"

Cole shot his powers after Jay, "Earth!"

And lastly, Zane blasted his element after he did a front flip, "Ice!"

Lloyd saw them help and let out a sigh of relief. He suddenly found the strength to use his powers again with his friends' help. He took a deep breath, regaining his strength, before letting out a battle cry while giving his all into the blast. The creature got overwhelmed by all five powers and the elements exploded, knocking everyone off their feet. The creature disintegrated which caused its minions to disappear as well.

Harumi groaned, getting up to her feet, carefully to not injure her leg any further. Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong hands lift her up from behind, helping her to her feet. She looked behind her and was shocked to see Lloyd, he didn't make eye contact with her though. Instead, he looked at the others who were also starting to get up on their feet. Lloyd spoke up, still supporting Harumi.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked. Slowly, everyone nodded, one by one, which assured him.

Lloyd positioned Harumi's arm around his shoulder so that it would make it easier for them to move. She felt a light blush creeping up her face. All of them got up and were grabbing anything they dropped. It wasn't even five steps into walking when everyone heard the same loud, ear-piercing screech. The oni recreated the creature of destruction. They all wasted no time to think.

"Zane! Use the map!" Lloyd whisper-yelled. Zane nodded and pointed towards the right side of the sunset point. They nodded and followed as Zane ran in front of them, leading.

Harumi's leg was killing her. It hurt every time she stepped on it. She only let out heavy, shaky breaths, not wanting to show the Ninja that she was hurting. Zane had only wrapped it with a bandage. She didn't know if it was broken or not. Her shaky breaths soon turned into quiet wincing, which went unnoticed by the Ninja, with the exception of their green leader. He took a slight glimpse of her and saw her wincing and biting her lip while looking down. He followed her gaze to her sprained foot. He frowned.

"She didn't have to keep quiet if her feet still hurts. It'll only make it worse..." He thought.

He looked away from Harumi, thinking. He quietly groaned in annoyance at himself. "I'm gonna hate myself for this." He shook his head ever so slightly. Now, Harumi's wincing was slowly turning into small groans of pain. Lloyd bit his lip and repositioned his arm from her shoulder to her waist. Then he lifted her so that she wasn't using her foot. Harumi gasped, shocked by this, but the pain from her foot disappeared so she didn't want to complain. But Lloyd was just using his elemental powers so she was concerned if he was wasting his energy by side carrying her.

"This isn't necessary." She tried to slip out of his grasp but he kept a firm grip, which was surprising since he was just drained a few minutes ago. She then saw something that he tried to hide, "You don't seem too well. Are you okay?" She saw through his mask and saw that he was worn out, physically and mentally. Even if he didn't want to show it, she can see it clearly.

Lloyd grunted as he shifted her weight to make sure she didn't fall off, "I'm fine." He croaked out. He was straining himself.

She managed to pry his hand off of her and she fell on her feet. She let out a yelp when she landed on her bad foot. Lloyd came by her side and rubbed circles on her back before he decided to just carry her bridal style. She squeaked at the sudden gesture. Her right hand was dangling off the side, not having anywhere to rest on. Her blushed deepened further, turning into a dark crimson red.

Unbeknownst to Harumi, Lloyd was trying his best not to get flustered in front of her. He was doing a terrible job though. His blush was worse than hers, it was way darker than hers. He's lucky that she was too busy with her own embarrassment to even notice his. She didn't even think that he was embarrassed by this.

Sure, he carried her back in the cloud, but she was unconscious at the time. Now, she was awake and was fully aware of being carried, unlike back in the cloud. This flustered him to no end. But still, he felt wrong to feel this way about Harumi, especially after what she put him and his friends through, and what happened between them, and their little series of unexpected events. It was total chaos between them. Everything that happened was pure chaos. Nothing was in order, everything was crazy and out of order. Nothing between them ever ended smoothly. At least, none of the things that had happened in the past ended up smoothly, maybe in the future though?

He shook those thoughts out of his head. Thinking about what could happen between him and Harumi felt terrible. He couldn't get his hopes up in case all this is fake. He didn't want to get his heart broken again. It had hurt him with an unfamiliar pain he has never felt before until Harumi showed up and broke his heart. He's suffered through so much, why was it that when it was from Harumi it had hurt like no other? It shouldn't be any different than the pain he got from other villains, right? Harumi's betrayal to him felt even worse than the one from his dad. It was worse than anything ever.

"Physical pain can only hurt so much." Harumi pointed out in a deep voice that comes with wearing the Oni Masks, "I intend far worse." She taunted while circling him.

Lloyd picks up the broken dagger and holds it out at her, "Then what do you want?" He asked. The fear in his voice was crystal clear, and Harumi loved seeing him scared like this.

"I want you to feel the emptiness that I feel!" She screamed, pointing at her heart, "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!" Her hands curled up into fists out of anger.

"You're a monster!" He shouted, still holding out the dagger, "I'll never feel what you feel." He scowled at her.

Harumi started walking towards the exit, "We will see." She stated, doubting that Lloyd will not feel her emptiness.

He felt bad for calling her a monster. She was just hurting, with no one for her to lean on. She didn't have someone to guide her in the right direction. All her life, she had to survive on her own. Lloyd was lucky that the Ninja took him in, or who knows what he would've turned into.

Another memory played in his head.

Lloyd stood up, even with his bad leg, "If Sensei doesn't have a lesson, then I do." He started, "I used to be nothing but trouble, but then I met you guys. You took me in. Showed me the importance of being brave, the importance of being strong." He hit his fist to his chest a couple of times.

Lloyd sighed. Shouldn't he be showing this to Harumi?

Taking her in? Showing her the importance of being brave and strong?

He shook his head, letting the memory continue.

"And most importantly, being good." He placed pressure on his bad leg and winced before lifting it up again.

The memory ended. And the importance of being... Good.

Has he really changed that much? He did good and bad things in his life, but he feels as if now, he has terrible trusting issues. When he was young, he let others in easily. After doing the same to Harumi, she broke him, and that made him distrust new people. He grew up faster than he was supposed to. Because of her. She doesn't deserve his forgiveness. At least, not yet. If she can do something to prove that she really is good, he will forgive her without a doubt. Yes, she sacrificed herself already, a couple of times, but he still needs bigger proof. Just to be sure.

He stopped his train of thoughts and just focused on the road ahead. Zane just told them that they should arrive at the Endless Sea any time soon. Jay let out a heavy laugh of relief.

"Hah. Yes! Finally. Come on, guys. This is the home stretch!"

Jay ran towards the leaves, not before grabbing PIXAL's katana. Everyone shrugged at his behavior and followed behind. Jay cut through the first two leaves and let out a shrill scream. He backed up into the others and handed the katana back to PIXAL without looking. She took it and held it out, ready to defend herself. The others followed in pursuit, taking out their weapons.

The creature opened its eye and revealed the blood-red color. Harumi gasped. Lloyd looked at her and realized why. He also let out a gasp and started backing up. Due to him having to carry her, he couldn't take out his weapon.

"We need to go." He whispered at his friends.

Jay shrugged, "Why? We can just take it down..."

The creature stepped out into view and everyone backed up, slowly. It was a 20 foot tall, green reptile-looking creature. It bared its sharp teeth at them. This was even worse than the oni dragon-looking creature that they just fought. If it was that hard to defeat the destruction, they wouldn't stand a chance against this one.

Harumi quietly gave commands, "Slowly step backwards. If we get out of its way, maybe it won't hurt us..." She said barely over a whisper.

They were able to take 8 steps back and that was when the green creature roared at them. Lloyd dismissed the order. "Forget it! Run!" He shouted.

Everyone ran, following in pursuit. The creature ran after them. In the middle of the chase, Skylor asked, "What is that thing?" She cried out.

"I don't exactly know what it's called, but- Look out!" Harumi pointed at the razor-sharp claw coming at them. They all dodged and looked back. They all tripped and fell off of a cliff, screaming for their lives. They all accidentally let go of their weapons and now their weapons were also falling off the cliff with them. They couldn't even see what they were falling towards. It was too foggy.

Now they couldn't even see each other. Lloyd let go of Harumi in the fall by accident. Midway falling, Zane scanned the fog and gasped. Jay was irritated.

"Where is this fog even coming from?!" The Lightning Elemental asked in annoyance before going back to screaming.

Zane looked at him, wherever he was. They couldn't see each other, he just looked towards the voice, "This fog. It's coming from-" Zane couldn't finish his sentence and everyone's screamings stopped.

It was cold. It was dark. Were they dead?

...

It wasn't just cold and dark. It was also... Wet.

Zane opened his eyes. He didn't need a breathing device to breathe and he saw that they had fallen into a body of water. He saw his teammates falling deeper into the ocean. He felt a tap on his shoulder and swiftly turned around, "PIXAL!" He exclaimed, hugging her.

"Zane. We need to save them." She pointed at the Ninja, including Skylor, Vania, and Harumi. Zane nodded and the nindroid couple swam down, grabbing each of their friends one by one and bringing them up to the surface. They saw a beach and swam themselves and their friends there. Once they reached land, they let their bodies collapse on the warm sand.

Each of them started coughing out water that had gotten into their lungs. Soon enough, they regained control of their breathing and saw their surroundings. They were alive.

"We're alive!" Jay exclaimed, getting up to his feet and cheering.

Everyone started getting up as well. Lloyd looked around for Harumi and saw her still on the sand. He came to her and helped her up. She gave him a look that said 'Thank you'. He nodded in response. Jay stopped his cheering and kissed the ground. He then spits out the sand.

"Sand?! Why in Ninjago are we on sand?" He asked, gagging out sand from his tongue.

Zane came up to him, "I was going to say that the fog was coming from a body of water. Either from a lake or..." He trailed off, gaping at the sudden realization.

Jay, still spitting, asked, "Or what?" He spat out.

"A sea..." He breathed out, his blue eyes glowing.

Everyone gaped and looked towards the body of water. "We made it." Harumi gasped.

This was their final destination. After a very long, dangerous, and tiring journey, they finally made it. After spending a few days flying and the next few walking, they were here. After going through the Ophidian Forest, Weed Shores, the Enchanting Hills, and the unnamed forest, they have finally arrived at...

The Endless Sea.