Morro's POV

     Mistake's grin quickly turned into a frown. "Are you in shock or did you really mean it when you said, 'we'll go together?'" Her gaze trailed down my arms to my hand. The hand that was still interlocked with Harumi's. A blush spread across my face as I let go. My heart was ricocheting around my chest with a thousand different emotions: surprise, sorrow, disbelief, yet I still had the nerve to blush. I wasn't even exactly sure if it was embarrassment or... something else.

     "We're coming," I said quickly, my heavy heart getting in the way of a clear voice. I pushed myself off my knees to walk towards her. Harumi followed me, her eyes darkened.

     Mistake said nothing when we reached her, she just leaped off the roof onto another building. I would have thought such abilities were beyond an old woman, but then I remembered she wasn't just any ordinary old woman. I heard the building we were on start to moan as the Departed City shook from the punishments down in the chasm. Harumi and I followed her without a second thought. It was mostly Harumi doing the work in getting us to the next building, however. I barely had the strength to walk. I barely had any strength, whether it be mental or physical.

     The heat was crazy this close to the chasm. We had always close to the center of the city, where the heat wasn't as intense. I felt smothered by the suffocating warmth which came from the eternal fires. The screaming and wailing pounded through my ears; a constant reminder of what I'd just lost. The last of my friends gave themselves up for me. I had one duty as their leader, and I failed them.

     I had even failed Harumi, but Mistake saved us. I glanced at the white-haired girl next to me, as she practically carried me forward. She was breathing heavily from the exertion, coughing frequently from the thickness of the smoke in the air. She followed Mistake with her head down, her jaw set in a hard line.

     I was confused, relieved, and scared at the same time, and it was terribly hard for me to even think through the pain of grief. For one, I failed my friends. I had promised them safety, I had promised them a way to avoid the chasm, and I let them die. I had failed. Two, Harumi had refused my offer to save her and decided to stick by me. I was so happy that she finally decided to take one step towards good, even if she didn't believe in herself. Three, Mistake, the woman who told us she would not help us, came and saved our skins. She saved the last person I had left even when I couldn't. Why would she do such a thing? Harumi had barely changed at all. Along with the chaotic thoughts swirling around in my mind, my frantic heart beat wildly. Instead of Mistake saving us, instead of nearly being captured, instead of failure, all I could think about is her.

      Harumi.

     She took my hand. She promised to stick by me. She's all I have left now.

     Let her be the one you were able to save.

     I couldn't save her then, but maybe I could save her now. I had lost friends before, so many times. I had to let my failure drive me. I couldn't stop protecting her because of my own weaknesses.

     Mistake didn't jump across rooftops, she rather climbed down the rusty set of stairs to get to the street. Harumi and I limped behind her steady pace, each of us wondering who would be the first to address the elephant in the room. We were several buildings away from the edge of the chasm when Mistake decided to enter a rather dreary looking apartment. It was the same as all the ones around it, but it still looked like it held doom inside.

     "The tea's effects will take a while to wear off." Mistake said, breaking the silence. "But I still suggest getting your emotions under control. I've never tested it on spirits before."

     "If that was tea, how could it touch us?" Harumi asked, her voice audibly weak but still suspicious. She didn't believe that Mistake would help us at all; yet instead of threatening the woman, she was asking very smart questions. Since we died bad, food and water were nonexistent to us. Therefore, in theory, we shouldn't be here right now. Maybe Harumi's suspicion was right, and 'Mistake' was actually a demon trying to torture us with illusions. Maybe I was closer to my friends than I had originally believed.

     "Food is still here," Mistake tried to explain. "You may not be able to see or touch it but, it still exists. That's why you can smell it. I think. I'm no expert on this place." She opened the front door for us, apparently oblivious to the very loud screeching sound the hinges made. "I was taking a pretty big risk with that tea. I wasn't sure if it would work."

     Harumi guided me in and helped me sit down. Her touch was gentle, almost caring. It was as if she actually thought of me in a higher light than the most irritating, overbearing, and insufferable person she'd ever met. The room inside was dark. Everything was gray. Ash coated the floor in a layer that went as deep as an inch. It was like every other room in the Departed City. Harumi sat down beside me, crossing her legs. Despite the overwhelming heat outside, I was actually quite cold sitting in the dark. Mistake let the door slam shut behind her, as she awkwardly got into a sitting position.

     "Why did you save us?" Harumi blurted out.

     Mistake narrowed her thin eyes as she got comfortable on the cold floor. I saw them flash violet. "You were loyal."

     Harumi tensed at the word.

     Mistake continued. "You could have easily left Morro to the demons. They were looking for him after all. Instead of leaving him, you told him you would not leave. Unless you went together, you would not go."

     Harumi stared at her hands, looking like she was in turmoil. Her expression stated she wasn't sure why she did it, but I knew she knew why. She might think she didn't know how to change, but there on the rooftop she made her first step towards being a better person. There were many steps to go, but if Mistake gave her a chance, I was sure Harumi could continue to try.

     "That is a sign you have truly changed."

     Harumi looked as if she wanted to argue.

     "Quiet One," Mistake sensed it too, "if Killow or Ultra Violet were about to be captured by the enemy would you have stood by them? Would you have turned yourself over too?"

     "I would trust they would not let the enemy know my secrets," Harumi replied frostily.

     "So, you would have left them to be captured," Mistake countered, tilting her head slightly to the side.

     Harumi was silent.

     I glanced at the silent white-haired girl, then at the stout grey-haired woman. "You can get us out of here?" I guessed. Why else would she save us? It couldn't all be because of Harumi. It just put Mistake in danger to take us in. She literally just stated the obvious: the demons were after me since I messed with their system.

     Mistake sighed. "Yes, I know how to open a portal. I was planning to do it soon, but I thought I'd check on your progress first."

     Hope blossomed inside my chest, sparking a ray of light inside the tornado of emotions. I could actually help Harumi escape. I could at least fulfill my role as leader in one way. We were going to escape. We were going to be—

     "Before you get your hopes up, I can't pour tea on the ground and just walk out of the Departed Realm."

     Hope died as Harumi snorted.

     "It's never easy," she grumbled, playing with the ashes on the ground.

     Mistake held up something we couldn't see. It was small, since she was only using two fingers to wave it in our faces. The room began to have the faint smell of tea leaves. "This tea can open a portal. It can only do so with a great amount of energy powering it."

     "There is no electricity here." Harumi said, her voice darkening as she realized the situation.

     Mistake glared at Harumi for a split second before continuing to talk. "Even if we do get the right amount of energy, the tea comes with two side effects."

     "Oh great," I mumbled. I was already basically losing my elemental powers. How much worse could side effects be?

     "The first one is that we cannot control where we are going." Mistake said. "That means the tea could take us to any of the remaining fourteen realms. Second, we will be stuck in time."

     She paused. Harumi and I waited for her to elaborate. Mistake swallowed. "It means that while the tea is taking us to our destination, time will pass without us. How much time? I don't know."

     Harumi and I exchanged glances.

     "Do you still want to leave?" Mistake asked.

     Harumi and I nodded.

     "Then we find a great energy source."

      I opened my mouth to talk.

     "Great, Morro! You go do lookout duty first. Quiet One and I will discuss the energy source." Mistake cut me off and stood up.

     I stared at her. I guess I should have expected lookout duty to come up, so we weren't ambushed again, but I thought for sure Mistake would absolutely hate the idea of spending any time with Harumi.

     "Morro doesn't have the strength right now. He won't be able to defend us anymore." Harumi came to my defense, but for a reason completely different than I'd hoped.

     "He knows how to handle his emotions. Besides, he has a lot to think about, so this will be good for him. Come, Quiet One." With those words she led Harumi over to a counter on the far wall. I assumed the counter was supposed to have some sort of purpose, but it had no chairs to go with it, and no other furniture to clue us into its role in the house. I watched them go, not knowing whether to be angry or relieved that I had some time to myself.

     I climbed up to the roof. I could feel strength slowly making its way back into my arms, but I was still breathing heavily by the time I made it to the top. My senses were alert. I was afraid to be caught again, though my fear was mostly for Harumi's sake. Taking some deep breaths, I gained control over my emotions. I would not be discovered. My mind whirled as I got situated on the flat roof and watched the mega-demon destroy a building a few blocks away. It was about four blocks in front of us, and there were only two blocks behind us. Before long, there wouldn't be any more buildings to flee to. We were running out of time.

     I didn't know how long I sat there. It was just me, my thoughts, and the horrific sight passing the time. Once I had let the shock from recent events fuel my calm, it was hard to not think about it. Every time we had lost someone in the past, I had quickly learned grief would get even more people caught. I had bottled up the loss inside the notion that I had to keep trying to protect them. I let the loss fuel my desire to keep them all safe.

     It was hard to let go of that thought process, especially since I had been doing it for so long a time.

     Bansha, Ghoultar, Wrayth, and Soul Archer. My most loyal followers. My most loyal supporters, even when everything seemed hopeless. Even when the rest of the ghosts doubted me, they stood by my side. They made me believe I could save them. And I failed them.

     Let her be the one you were able to save.

     They sacrificed themselves so Harumi and I could escape. They gave up everything for our freedom. If I wanted to honor them, I had to keep my grief under control. I had to get Harumi out of this realm. No matter the cost.

     I could faintly hear Mistake and Harumi discussing something floors below. It was probably the energy source. I heard talking and pauses. It sounded like they weren't sure what to do. I wasn't sure either. To distract myself from strong emotions, I had started brainstorming how to come across a great energy source. I could try to activate the tea with a great blast of wind, but that would probably kill me, if that was possible here. I'd probably pass out and not wake up, since I was already dead. My mind whirled through the possibilities of finding a blast of energy other than one of my own creation. I was paying too much attention to the murmurs below and my thoughts. That was why I jumped when I heard the voice.

    "You. I have been looking for you."

     Shaking, I turned around. The voice sounded rustic, depleted, but it had something to it that made me want to listen. It made me even more nervous to see no one there.

     "Mistake? Harumi?" I breathed, hoping one of them had decided to be cruel. I turned back around, only to see a black demon materialize right in front of me.

     Before I could even squeak in surprise, it slammed me backwards onto the stone. It leaned forward, scrutinizing my face. "The universe was in perfect balance, and you messed it all up."

     It was studying my face. Demons couldn't see, and demons certainly couldn't talk. I grappled for words as well as breath, finally wheezing out, "I thought demons couldn't see us."

     "Idiot," it hissed, pushing my chest down harder. "How did you figure everything out? No one has ever escaped the fate I have called them to. I created the rules of this realm, and I stated that no one would ever figure out how to escape. How were you able to avoid us?"

     It disappeared, quickly reappearing feet away, zooming back and forth in front of me. I gasped for breath, trying to summon wind as I got to my feet. This demon could hear me as well. It was no ordinary one.

     "I called you to the dark. And you followed me here. It isn't possible that you could outrun my fate. So how are you able to? How can you break the rules of the realm?" It flew up close to me again, startling me into dropping my hold on the few strands of wind I had been able to create. "What in the infernal state of all sixteen realms is stopping the magic of the Departed Realm from working?"

     It disappeared again.

     It materialized a few feet away again, one of its claws against its chin. I began to notice while at first glance it looked like a normal black demon, there were details about it stood out as noticeably different. Its eyes, instead of the usual blood red, were a lemon yellow, almost catlike in appearance. Its forehead was littered with black gems; its horns stood pointed out instead of being pointed in.

     "She messed with timeline!" It roared, swiveling towards me. "No one alters the timeline; no one alters the scrolls. One does not just simply alter what was written. Why isn't she being tortured at this very second?! She's breaking the rules of the universe! She's destroying the balance!"

     I was too startled to talk.

     "It's her fault the magic of this realm doesn't work for you." It growled, looking ready to tackle me again. I squared myself, but it never lunged forward. "And I can't alter the events because they have been set in stone."

     The demon quieted, lost in thought. I took a step back, only to feel its gaze on me once more. There was no way I could run from this one.

     "Who are you?" I asked.

     "I am the Keeper of the Underworld. I am Lux. I make the rules and under no circumstance will your plan ever succeed on my watch. I do not care what has been written. They do not control me."

    "Who are you talking about?" Curiosity burned in my chest, more potent than the fear for the people below me. Perhaps if I stalled this demon long enough, Harumi and Mistake would be able to recognize what was going on and get to safety.

     "Your plan will never work. I have made it so only you hear me."

     "You control this realm?" I tried to quiet my thoughts, since this demon seemed to be able to read my mind.

     "I may not be able to capture you now but, let me emphasize this, Master of Wind: you will not be able to outrun us forever. I make the rules of what happens to souls like you. I bind the magic that keeps this place in order, so your soul is bound to what I say. Let me emphasize this: nothing you will do will allow you to figure out what you need to power the tea. I make the rules. And I have made it impossible for you to escape."

     "How do I know you aren't lying to me and trying to goad us into giving up?" I challenged, sick of this demon telling me what was what.

     "Your companions have been down there for a while, trying to figure it out. They haven't even gotten close. I do not care how much she alters the timeline. You will not figure it out."

     "What if..." I scrambled for words. "What if I hand myself over and you let the other two escape?"

     "You really are dumb." Lux replied. "I just said I have made it impossible for you to escape. Nothing you can do will change that."

     "She changed the timeline." I said, throwing his words back in his face. I had no idea who 'she' was, but it seemed to tick him off. "And I've been able to avoid you all for this long. Who's to say the 'timeline' hasn't been altered enough for me to figure it out alone? In fact, I know exactly how I'm going to do it."

     "I have no idea how you survived this long with that type of attitude." Lux grumbled, turning away from me. "Trying to sacrifice yourself at every turn. You really care about her, don't you? It's unbecoming of my souls to care about each other."

      I stood my ground, not sure where this was going.

      "Very well. I will offer you a deal." Lux floated out on the air, black ashes sprinkling off of him like pepper. "You and the Princess will come with me at the time of your activation of the tea. I will make you my demons, and you will do as I say."

     "Leave Harumi out of this!"

     "If you refuse, I will not lift the veil and you will not find your energy source. If you accept, I will give you the answer so the Oni can escape. Those are my terms."

     I glanced back at the roof hatch. Mistake and Harumi were still below, trying as hard as they could to figure a way out. During my wait on the roof, I made it my mission to follow Bansha's final request. I wanted to save Harumi, even if it meant giving up myself. I had to not fail someone. Yet, every time it came down the crucial moments, I seemed to fail my friends over and over. I continued to lose them.

     This might be my only chance to save Harumi from the fate I had failed to protect everyone else from. I would figure out a way to get her out. I would save her. I turned back to face Lux; jaw set in determination. "I accept. Now tell me the energy source."

     "The mega-demon, as you call him, uses energy to power his disintegrating blasts. That should be more than enough to power the tea."

     I clenched my fists, the acid burn of regret tearing through my chest.

     "The deal has been made." Lux said. He paused, "You are already trying to find ways out of this. It will not work. I will see you soon, Master of Wind."

     My mind stopped whirling as he disappeared from my view. The crushing regret and humiliation bit at my soul, filling my mind with unimaginable turmoil. I was exhausted from my powers, I was filled to the brim with grief, and now... and now everything just got so much worse. I could barely fathom what had just passed. Somehow, every time I tried to figure a way out of the stupidity I had just committed, my mind became clouded with a fog of confusion.

     I had failed.

     Nothing I did would stop that failure. I wouldn't be able to save her after all.

     I'm sorry, Harumi. I'm so so sorry...

>(<>)<

Mistake's POV

     "I can tell you and I won't be friends, Quiet One," I said, leading the white-haired villain to the kitchen's island. The cabinets behind the island were simple yet pretty, whitened wood with golden highlights. They were lined with different silverware, the standard applications for comfort. I had heard some souls delightfully discussing that the silverware would often do their cooking for them, so they could spend their time lounging around in their mansions, laughing and amusing themselves. I never let my silverware do the work for me. The first time it attempted to do so, I threw all the moving bits out the window. They didn't break; they didn't even get dirty, because the ground here was so polished and clean. I got no thrill or rush from throwing those utensils. All I felt the disappointment when they uselessly clattered against the ground.

     "How is that?" Quiet One's voice was low. She was feeling many things at the moment, probably an emotional turmoil that came with her recent act of goodness. She also didn't like me.

     "We seem to see things the same." I answered, leaving her to figure out what that meant.

     I stepped behind the island to open one of the cabinets. They had been lined with glass in the front to give us a clear view of what was inside. I pulled out a teacup and found myself a teapot. I set the special packet of tea aside, fishing through my pockets to find a simple packet of Earl Grey.

     My 'teashop' had once looked similar. It was much larger than this building, with polished dark wood furniture and delicate painting giving the room a gentle aesthetic. Within minutes of exploring my new residence, I had torn down most of the goody-goody stuff and tossed it outside, since there was no need for trashcans in this realm. Nothing was wasted, nothing would cause discomfort. There were no chores, nor were there any need for them. I had lived alone for so many years. Chores were what passed the time. To live in a place where I was expected to just relax was nothing more than torture.

     "We need a great amount of energy to power the portal." I said, turning on the stove. "As you pointed out, there is no electricity here."

     "I was thinking about that," Quiet One cut in, leaning against the counter. Her stance was rigid, cautious. She brushed her greasy bangs out of her eyes. "Wind can be converted into energy. Morro can power it."

     She puts so much faith in Morro and she doesn't even realize how much he cares about her well-being.

     I laughed darkly at her ignorance. "You really want to try that? Haven't you noticed how much using his powers strains him? The longer he spends here, the more his powers deplete. That much wind would either take his powers away forever or exhaust him to the point where he couldn't get back up. If either of those things happen, he will not be able to escape the chasm any longer."

     "Could we harness the fire that comes out of the chasm then?" Quiet One suggested weakly.

     "Impossible," I said, "To convert the flames into energy, we'd either have to have a piece of machinery to blast it back out or throw the tea into the chasm itself. Neither of those would work, simply because this stupid realm doesn't like making us work for things, I can't go to the chasm, and if you go you'll never be able to leave."

     "Yeah," Quiet One sighed. She had relaxed slightly; I assumed she understood we were going to be temporary allies now, and that I wasn't out to 'kill' her. "Maybe we could make friction energy or something."

     I noticed that was more of a comment. I filled the teapot with water and stuck it on stove's flames. The water here was always the perfect temperature, whether you longed for ice cold or boiling hot. The water coming out of the faucet was already quite hot, so that it wouldn't take a lot of time to boil. Quiet One fidgeted across the room, her gaze flitting upwards every now and then.

     She was desperate to figure something out. I understood, I wanted to leave just about as badly as she did. I was stripped from my life before I was ready. I wanted to return to the land I loved, among the tea and companionship of the mountains and sky. I wanted to be among his creation, the creation I had fallen in love with so many years ago. When I figured out how to get back to Ninjago, I would leave the city to be among the wilderness. I would live my last few years in peace, even if those years would be bitter and lonely.

     "Energy," I whispered, trying to think as I poured the boiling water into my ready teacup. "Where do we find energy?"

     Quiet One's face drooped a surprising amount at those words. She pressed her elbows against the counter, her jaw set in a grim line. Her voice was soft, almost like she was speaking to herself instead of me. "Why is it always hopeless?"

     "Words are often hard to interpret, and puzzles take time to be solved," I said dropping my packet of Earl Grey into the water. The tea's steady scent filled the air. "We will find our energy, Quiet One, you'll see."

     The silence that followed was bearable. I was thinking, she was thinking, the only sound was the destruction going on outside. I don't know how long we stood there. I waited for my tea to stop brewing, since the packets of tea knew how to brew for the perfect amount of time. Once they filled the water with flavor, they would disappear, leaving nothing to throw away. Stupid tea, stupid tea bags, stupid realm that tried to hand me everything on a silver platter. Quiet One murmured something inaudible.

     "Speak up," I snapped, watching the Earl Grey leaves disappear inside the tea.

     "I said, why aren't the ninja with you?" Quiet One couldn't seem to meet my eyes. "Have they already gone to the clouds of light?"

     "What do you mean?" I played dumb. "Last time I checked, Lloyd and Nya were alive. Unless you killed them after I died, of course. Then again, if Lloyd were here, you'd probably be trailing him like a lovesick puppy and not finding some replacement companion to do your bidding."

     Quiet One's eyes flashed with anger. I enjoyed aggravating her, pushing her to her limits; it was my subtle revenge for her getting me killed.

     "The ninja!" Her voice rose. "Kai, Jay, Zane, Cole! Even Emperor Garmadon's brother Wu. They died not long before I did. The Colossus crushed them."

     I kept my face placid, refusing to drop my gaze. I sipped my tea slowly, leaving her in whatever  internal agony she was going through. "The Colossus crushed their ship. He never crushed them."

     "I never saw them escape."

     "They escaped with Traveler's Tea. If I hadn't given it to them earlier, they would be dead." I said. "Dead because of you. It's almost funny how you caused so much death, but it's because of a twist of my fate that they still survived."

     Quiet One's whole body shook at my words.

     I slurped at the tea, not sure anymore why I was purposely trying to get her to snap. "Why did you turn to him? Of all people in the world, you turned to him."

     Quiet One's tone had gone dangerously still, as if she was doing everything in her power to keep herself from strangling me. "Who?"

     "Garmadon."

     She looked away, clenching her fists. "I thought he would redeem what happened to my parents. I thought he would fill that empty hole in my heart. I thought he could be a father figure. He was the hero who avenged my parents' death. Why wouldn't he be a good substitute in their place?"

     "Is he a father figure to you now?" I carefully worded my question.

     "No," Quiet One whispered. "He was never my father. He never will be. Nothing will ever fill the hole my parents' death left behind."

     I set the tea down on the counter. "Then, you have changed."

     She didn't reply.

>(<>)<

Harumi's POV

     Morro was unsettled; I could tell. He kept twitching, wringing his hands together while his gaze flitted around the room. Something was wrong, but I couldn't tell what. Perhaps this was his way of grieving over his friends. His strength had obviously returned, as he was no longer breathing heavily or slouching against the wall like there was no life left in him. I was glad to see him looking better, but I wasn't sure if that was because I genuinely cared about his well-being or if that was because I was glad he could be useful again.

     I felt selfish watching his pale face clench and unclench its jaw, like it wanted to do anything other than stay silent. When I thought upon Bansha, Ghoultar, Wrayth, and Soul Archer's act of goodness, their last act of supreme loyalty, I could feel only a spark of emotion in myself. Somewhere beneath the ashes of a heart that had stopped caring long ago, I was grateful for them. Somewhere inside of me I was sad that they were gone. But I was never close to any of them, so that's all what should have been grief that remained. A tiny spark in my heart, the spot that was touched instead of devastated. I felt worse than selfish when I dwelled on my own emotions. I felt like an unfeeling monster.

     You're a monster! I'll never feel what you feel.

     Maybe that was a good thing.

     Mistake was humming in front of us. She was beginning to brew the special tea, which she called 'Transmitea.' She only had one bag of it left, so our plan was going to have to go into action soon.

     Morro had come down from lookout after a few hours of brainstorming, claiming he knew how we were going to get our energy. We followed him back up to the top of the building, where he pointed to the beam coming from the mega-demon's head.

     "That looks like enough energy to me," He said.

     Mistake had thought over the specifics and informed us of the rough plan. We would find out where the beam hit by watching the mega-demon do its work, then we would jump onto a building to pour the tea there. All we had to do was keep our emotions calm so the demons wouldn't notice us. The beam would open the tea's portal, we would jump out, and we would be free from this realm.

     I preferred not to spend time with the crazy lady who decided her life's mission was to make me irate, so I spent a lot of time on the roof with Morro as we watched the mega-demon get closer and closer. We didn't talk to each other; I could tell he didn't want conversation. His eyes were always fixed on impending doom, every now and then glancing in my direction. Morro seemed way too eerily calm to be grieving, but I had to remind myself that he had lost souls to the demons before. It was probably one of the biggest struggles in his life, trying to keep calm while your whole world shattered. That was why I turned to silence when all the chaos in my life went down. It was easier to pretend away the truth by keeping silent than facing it with the words of other people who might have cared.

     I wondered if I had opened up to anyone then if I would have been able to feel grief now.

     When the mega-demon got scarily close, we returned to Mistake, who had instantly started brewing the Transmitea. She rehashed the plan with an eager façade, her analytical and threatening demeanor being replaced with a childlike excitement.

     Morro and I nodded along with her words, having heard this before. Morro looked extremely guilty about it though. He was probably imagining what this situation would have been like if his friends had somehow made it to this point.

     "If you feel nervous, best to throw up now. This is going to be a bumpy ride, and I don't need either of you slowing us down."

     I unhooked one of the chains around my waist. They were just decoration I had put there when I designed my Quiet One outfit. I had no use for looking menacing now. I used the chain to wrap my hair into a sloppy bun, to tie the greasy bangs out of my eyes.

     Morro started taking deep breaths; closing his eyes as his face paled. I knew the right thing to do was to ask how he was doing, but I wasn't really good at the comforting type of thing. Not in this form. Not with this mask on. Only the false princess was good at that. And she was a lie.

     I decided to try to be encouraging. "You've got your powers to protect you if anything goes wrong."

     Morro groaned, tilting his head towards the ceiling. "I'm stressed, okay? My best friends just died and we're about to execute a plan that might end in the chasm. So, can I have two minutes to just be in an emotional mess before I go back into a calmer state? Oh, that's right, I've always had to go into a calmer state and pretend I don't care so we don't get caught. I forgot I don't have that type of liberty."

     His words stung so much I felt a flare of indignation. "If you miss your friends so much, then why don't you jump in the chasm with them?!"

     "I tried, but you wouldn't let me. You only need me for my powers!"

     "I question why I ever chose to stay with you and your arrogance—"

     "You think it's easy, keeping calm, don't you? You have no idea how much I've sacrificed to keep you all safe. You have absolutely no idea."

     "There you go again, 'look at me I'm so great and wonderful. You should all appreciate me because I'm tall and have this little green stripe in my hair.'"

     "I should have left you to the demons."

     "I could say the same thing."

     "WOULD YOU TWO STOP ARGUING FOR THREE SECONDS." Mistake boomed from the corner of the room. We both swiveled on her, our faces flushed with both embarrassment and irritation. "I get that right now everything is stressful, but could you not take it out on each other please? My disguising tea will wear off soon and I don't need you two getting caught because of your misplaced anger."

     She held up the teapot and waved it next to her face. "You don't want the tea getting cold, do you?"

      Morro and I were still glaring at each other.

      "I'm not going to make you apologize to each other, because frankly I'm still not a giant fan of either of you. But I did agree to let you tag along, so if you want to escape this realm then we have to go. Now."

     Morro broke away first, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "Very well."

     I shrugged, refusing to feel any guilt.

     Mistake studied us for a few seconds; our rigid posture, clenched fists, and heated gazes, before starting up the ladder.

     "Buckle up, my acquaintances," Mistake said. "This ride is about to get crazy."