Warning: none I guess, unless cursing counts

The Ninja have their first advantage over Morro in a long while: they reached Cloud Kingdom before the ghosts could. Unbeknownst to them, Bansha was able to open a weaker, secondary portal.

Both groups race to the Sword of Sanctuary, each one hoping to get it before the other.

But like Master Chen has always said, only one can remain. The question is: who will it be?

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"Those fucking Ninja," Morro cursed as he watched four glowing tornadoes disappear inside of Blind Man's Eye. "How dare they."

The whirling cyclone spun away, just out of reach. He knew that even with his wind powers, Airjitzu, and the samurai mech, they would not be able to cross the portal into Cloud Kingdom.

He had been just a minute too late. Kai had managed to knock him back just enough to use Airjitzu to get out of reach. And when he had regained his footing, Blind Man's Eye was already moving away.

"NO!" he screamed as the clouds faded to wispy white tendrils and the winds died down. In a desperate, last attempt, he threw out his hands, using his powers to try and bring the cyclone back to the mountain peak. He failed.

"GET BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE YET!"

He continued to scream and the winds picked up again. He turned to Bansha, determination shining in his eyes.

"Can you sing a pretty song and get the portal to come back?" he practically begged.

"My songs don't work like that," she said, crossing her arms. "I don't even know what they do. The avalanche was a stroke of luck, I guess."

"UGH!"

"Morro, look on the bright side," Wrayth suggested.

"I fail to see the bright side in this situation," Morro snapped. "The portal is gone, the Ninja SOMEHOW learned Airjitzu, they are in Cloud Kingdom, and we are not." His voice rose, rising in pitch until it could almost rival Bansha's. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SEE THE BRIGHT SIDE IN THIS, WRAYTH?"

To his credit, Wrayth only nodded along instead of explaining why because that would've pissed Morro off even more.

The other ghosts were hovering around the samurai mech, bored. If they were to wait for Blind Man's Eye to pass over again, they'd be stuck on the mountain for another few hours. And Morro didn't want that.

He wasn't going to waste his energy trying to reverse the flow of nature and force the cyclone to return. Though with his powers, enhanced slightly thanks to being the Preeminent's top general, could make it happen.

But your Sensei said to let destiny decide.

He barely reacted to the voice this time. Sensei Wu could say whatever he wants because he'd just continue with being all mysterious and stuff. Until something he hadn't told the people in question suddenly became relevant for some inexplicable reason. Then he'd be all "Students, there's something I haven't told you", which usually served to be more inconvenient than productive.

Like how the Golden Weapons only react to those with Golden Power? The voice sounded so smug that he wanted to slap that non-existent smirk off its non-existent face. That's why they didn't react to you.

Morro blinked. Excuse me, what?

Oooh, you don't know! Then the voice fell silent.

Storing that information to the back of his mind for further use, he turned to the generals. He spotted Bansha waving her arms around in a methodic pattern with her eyes closed. The scarf over the lower half of her face was shifting as she mumbled what he assumed to be lyrics to another one of her songs.

"Bansha, what are you doing?" he asked but received no reply. He decided to ask the other ghosts. "What is she doing?"

"She claims that she can open a back door to the Cloud Kingdom," Soul Archer said as he restrung his bow several times. He checked his quiver, face falling when he saw that there were only a few arrows left. "Wait, can we even open the back doors? Because we can just open one to Ninjago and the Preeminent will be here--"

"The Preeminent didn't ask us to open any back doors," Morro said. He continued to watch Bansha, who was definitely singing, the song seeming to make the air around them ripple. "She sent us here to get the Realm Crystal, and until we get that, we're not opening any back doors."

"Except now," Ghoultar said. He had somehow managed to find a bag of almonds and was throwing handfuls into his mouth.

"Why are we opening the back door?" Morro asked.

"Do you want to wait another five hours?" Archer asked.

"No."

"Then let Bansha open the back doors."

It was silent save for the occasional crunch of Ghoultar eating his almonds and the soft melody of Bansha's singing.

"Ghoultar, eat those a bit more quietly," Morro snapped. His patience was probably dwindling down until it was as thin as a strand of hair.

Just then, Bansha's voice rose until she hit the last note again. This time, it wasn't a shrill or pitched note, it was simply a higher note. A glowing circle appeared in front of them, bright blue tendrils of light and energy flying from the outer perimeter. If one looked close enough, they could see the faint, blurred out image of a tall temple built on a floating island.

Then the view was obstructed by a figure. They waved an arm and the image cleared.

"Welcome to Cloud Kingdom," the man said in a smooth, calm voice. "I am Fenwick." He watched as the ghosts as they stepped through the portal.

Morro stepped through last and Fenwick paused.

"So you are Morro," he said.

"Who are you?" Morro asked even though the man had just introduced himself. He brushed past and stared out at the floating island. "And where is the Sword of Sanctuary?"

"It is on the uppermost floor of the temple," Fenwick said. He looked uncomfortable, especially as Soul Archer casually fitted an arrow to his bowstring and Wrayth kept a hand resting on the handle of his chain blade. "And I'm sure that the Preeminent would spare me--"

"Of course she will," Bansha said in the 'it most definitely won't happen' voice.

"Give me the Sword of Sanctuary first!" Morro demanded. From the corner of his eye, he spotted four colour-coded figures making their way around the kingdom. His panic and anxiety skyrocketed. "AND HURRY!"

"Yes, of course." Fenwick led them to the front entrance of the temple and gestured to the doors. "The Sanctuary is on the top floors. The Sword should be there too."

"Should?" Bansha muttered under her breath.

"It will be there," Fenwick quickly corrected.

"Good."

Fenwick pushed the doors to the temple open and the ghosts couldn't stop themselves from gazing around with awe.

The inside of the Cloud Kingdom temple was beautiful. There were no other ways to describe it other than that. It was similar to the interior of the Library of Domu, leading Morro to believe that one drew inspiration from the other.

There were at least twenty scribes, each one writing on a different scroll. This wasn't something that he'd learned in his lessons.

"What are they doing?" he asked out of genuine curiosity.

"They're the Writers of Destiny," Fenwick explained, even as he spotted a glint in Morro's eyes. "They decide what would happen across the Sixteen Realms."

There was another burning question in Morro's mind. Who decided that he wasn't the Green Ninja? Who decided his fate?

He looked away and started up the stairs, taking them two at a time to get away from the room.

"Morro, slow down!" Wrayth called. He managed to catch up to the Wind Master. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"One of them thought I wasn't worthy," Morro said quietly.

"But you are!"

"The Preeminent thought I was," he said. "You guys think I am..." Even my friends think I am, but it's not enough.

He climbed another few floors, faintly hearing his generals talk quietly thanks to his powers. They were worried about him, he realized. Then anger flared up inside and he clenched his teeth. He didn't need their pity, he didn't need them coddling him and making sure he's safe. He was going to succeed in this mission and he was going to finally make someone proud.

***

The room at the uppermost floor was empty save for a singular stand in the middle. If Morro was alive, he would probably be rendered breathless. Or at the very least, he would forget how to breathe for a few minutes.

The Sword of Sanctuary glinted softly in the candlelight and he was suddenly hit with a moment of déja vu.

====

He was seventeen.

The walls around him weren't made of panelled glass and dark oak, but rather a light yellow birch. Instead of the room being empty, there were other things: a cabinet in the far corner, a candle stand with a few candles already lit, the raised pedestal in the middle of the room... the glimmering weapons that sat upon those stands.

"So, I just walk over?" a younger, teenaged Morro asked, eyeing the weapons as if they might explode into golden light any moment.

"Yes," Wu said.

And he had walked over. The weapons were supposed to glow. They were supposed to float around him, joined by a thread of bright green that flowed from the weapons into his body. They were supposed to bless him with unspeakable power and he would be treated as a hero.

He was supposed to be the Green Ninja: the Saviour of Ninjago.

====

Morro shook his head and the vision faded away.

He calmed himself. He wasn't back at the monastery, he wasn't about to see if the Golden Weapons would react for him, and he wasn't about to have immense disappointment thrown in his face.

He walked slowly to the sword, his past experiences with walking to weapons leaving him slightly wary.

He could hear the other ghosts file into the room and he swiveled around sharply, glaring at them with anger that he had not felt in a long time.

"Go outside and make sure those Ninja aren't getting into this room," he hissed. Then his face softened for a fraction of a second and he said in a more deflated voice, "Go find something, a boat or whatever they use for transportation around here."

They didn't argue.

He returned his focus to the sword. It was still glinting softly, except this time, he could see the Ninja jumping in through the windows and crashing down in front of him from the ceiling.

"What in the name of the Cursed Realm...?" he muttered to himself. Then he remembered what the sword could do. "Oh, right." Taking the sword off the stand, he strode to the open doorway.

He was met with a shuriken flying through his face.

***

Wrayth was worried for his friend, and he knew that worry was an emotion the Preeminent exhibited on a daily basis. That, along with anger and paranoia.

He could almost see Morro, standing over the Sword of Sanctuary with a thoughtful look on his face. He was almost positive that this was what he was doing right now.

He could see that the other ghosts were worried for Morro as well.

The Wind Master's reaction to seeing the Ninja walk around Cloud Kingdom was concerning. Especially since before, all Morro really did when he saw the Ninja was to say, "stall them" or something along those lines.

Screaming and demanding the Sword of Sanctuary be handed over was different yet similar to some of Morro's other reactions.

He supposed that spending nearly fifty years in the Cursed Realm did things to Morro, but the Cursed Realm messed with everyone's head.

It certainly messed with his head. Unlike Morro or Soul Archer, who's desire to prove themselves grew within the Cursed Realm, Wrayth became more cautious.

When he had arrived in the Preeminent's palace, it was because of a magic trick gone wrong. He had bought a chemical, one that supposedly could protect him from fire. He should've known that, based on the shady-looking salesman he had bought it from, the chemical wasn't going to work.

The trick had been inspired by the recently ended battle between the Elemental Alliance and the Anacondrai Warriors. He had always been interested in the elementals and he came up with the trick. He claimed he could set himself on fire and escape unscathed.

The news had spread like wildfire (no pun intended) and his little hand-built house had been full for the very first time since he started performing.

It had all gone well, until the showstopper. He took a match, lighting it. It caught the attention of the audience immediately. His clothes had been soaked in that chemical he'd bought and he knew without a doubt that he was going to make history.

Then the match fell and he burst into flames. He hadn't been able to hear anything except a pained scream. He couldn't feel anything except something burning along his body.

Showstopper, indeed.

He'd woken up in the Cursed Realm only minutes after the match fell. And he realized that the burns had been the worst on his face. Then he'd learned that the chemical wasn't some special elixir or potion at all. It was a mixture of acetone and bleach.

:I can't have you causing this kind of damage to my warriors: the Preeminent had told him when he arrived, when he explained how he died. :Pity, because you have the potential for greatness:

Later, he found out that the Preeminent said the same thing to every ghost who passed through her palace.

Now, the most he could do was change people into ghosts with his chain, thanks to a chemical mixture he cooked up. At least, his weapon was supposed to be able to do that. It wasn't a special ability by any means. Soul Archer could do that as well.

"We should probably find that boat," he murmured, letting his voice break through the murky cloud in his mind.

"That's easy." Ghoultar jumped off the building, landing on a skiff with a tall mast and a triangular sail. A few scribes screamed and scrambled to jump into other skiffs passing by. "Ghoultar found one!" he shouted, though his voice was quiet due to the distance.

"Let's go." Soul Archer was about to float off the building as well, but a scream of surprise from inside stopped them. "Or maybe not."

"YOU NINJA NEVER QUIT!" Morro screamed angrily. "THIS IS MY SWORD, I EARNED IT!"

"Earned it?" Kai could be heard laughing. "More like you stole it."

Wrayth didn't hesitate to phase through the ceiling, lashing out with his chain and letting it wrap around the closest ninja: the black ninja. He gripped the sickle blade tightly, never saying another word, but keeping the sharpened edge near the ninja's throat. A silent warning for the others.

"COLE!" the blue ninja shouted, throwing his hands out. Sparkling, blue electricity shot out, arcing over the fighting Ninja and Morro, shooting toward Wrayth. "Oh, where's the water when we need it?"

Kai fired back a "Nya is training with Sensei!" and blocked a strike from Morro.

Ignoring the stab of guilt at the mention of water, Wrayth merely flexed his chain, the metal links flying up to touch the electricity. Then he let go of the weapon, letting it spark for a few minutes before the light faded. The black ninja shouted with pain as the electricity meant for the ghost coursed through his veins. Then he screamed in pure agony as a green glow emitting from Wrayth's weapon handle touched his skin, spreading along his body.

He watched with interest. It was the first time he witnessed the weapon's ability in action. The black ninja's entire body shook, then collapsed to the smooth wooden floor, now glowing softly with the same light as Morro and himself.

Cole had become a ghost.

"The Preeminent will be pleased that your weapon works," Morro said from beside him. "But let's go!" The Sword of Sanctuary, now sheathed, was slung across his back.

Wrayth felt a stab of guilt as Morro dragged him through the walls. He could hear the ninja's cries of anguish at the thought of their friend becoming a ghost prematurely. He had been defending himself because they attacked him. Maybe it was a bad idea to alter his chain--

:You did good, Wrayth: the Preeminent suddenly said in his mind. He quickly blocked all thoughts of guilt and regret. :I might even forgive you for revealing our weakness:

Thank you, my queen, Wrayth said in a monotonous voice that he'd practiced and perfected over the years.

He could feel the Preeminent's presence withdrawing from his mind. Then his worn leather boots touched the bottom of Ghoultar's skiff and he finally allowed himself to relax.

***

The Preeminent was rendered speechless for what felt like the hundredth time that week.

First Bansha, now Wrayth.

Bansha's singing, she understood. The female ghost had that ability in her past life, but Wrayth?

That half burnt ghost had a sickle blade attached to a chain and he had died because he tried to set himself on fire.

The Preeminent closed the window, leaning back on her throne. Maybe there was something she was missing. There had to be.

The image of the black-clad ninja screaming with agony as his body succumbed to whatever was on Wrayth's weapon played in her mind.

Wrayth's chain weapon couldn't turn other humans into ghosts, last time she checked. He must've done something to it.

***

The wooden skiff was slowly swirling around the perimeter of Cloud Kingdom. Its sail shifted in the non-existent wind and changed directions on its own.

Morro was calm. Calmer than he had even been on this mission. And he was happy, for once.

He had the Sword of Sanctuary, he had Airjitzu. He only needed to figure out the last clue and then he'd set the Preeminent free. He'd finally be worthy.

But that could wait. He decided to address the events from a few minutes prior.

"Wrayth," he said, seemingly breaking the Chain Master out of whatever trance he was in. "What was with the Earth Ninja?"

"He got hit with my chain," Wrayth said.

"Yes, but that glowing thing, the green," Morro racked his brain, trying to remember what else had happened. "How did you turn the Earth Ninja into a ghost?"

"It's a mixture of sulphuric acid--"

Soul Archer, Bansha, and Morro gaped and stared at him.

"--with a bit of..." Wrayth's face scrunched up. "Something I found in the Cursed Palace. I call it the weird, green stone that can be found in the pillars."

"Spiritstone?" Soul Archer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, that."

"Why would you think sulphuric acid is a good idea--"

"Bansha, I know my chemicals okay?" Wrayth snapped. "And why I chose to use sulphuric acid is something I'd rather not say."

Except Morro knew why because the day Wrayth had finished his first prototype of the chain weapon, he'd explained.

"I want them to suffer like I did," Wrayth had said in the softest and most intimidating voice that Morro had ever heard.

Now the Chain Master was looking at him with warning eyes. Don't you dare tell, he seemed to say. It was like he wanted to keep his reputation of being a more passive ghost intact.

Morro was about to say something when he was interrupted.

"THERE!" Kai's voice managed to carry across the entire Kingdom, and there was no mistaking the anger in his tone.

"Time to go!" Ghoultar clapped his hands together with excitement, treating this whole mission more like a fun field trip rather than... a mission.

A gust of wind propelled the skiff forward, shooting past scribes and buildings and floating islands. The boat spiralled toward the Blind Man's Eye, which had been circulating around at the center of Cloud Kingdom the entire time.

"Don't let them escape!" The ninja sounded closer now, and when Morro looked back, he spotted Kai glaring at him, one hand clutching a fireball, the other holding onto the mast.

"Too slow, Ninja!" Morro shouted, letting the wind carry and amplify his voice. He looked to Bansha, who sensed what he wanted her to do and smiled gleefully. "Bansha, sing them a farewell song."

He braced himself for another haunting song of sorrow, similar to what she had sung on the Wailing Alps. Instead, it was a song of rage from the start and carried an underlying sense of urgency. Instead of sounding natural, the last note was definitely angry, and it sounded forced. Bansha was breathing almost heavily by the time she finished singing (even though she was a ghost).

Instead of making him want to curl up and cry himself to sleep, this song made him want to jump from his skiff onto the Ninja's and then use the Sword of Sanctuary to--

He blinked, the spell breaking when he spotted a shower of jade tiles falling onto the Ninja's skiff. It wasn't enough to break their boat, but it was enough to slow them down. He had no idea how Bansha managed to rip roof tiles off the buildings with her voice but chose to ask about it later.

The ghosts' skiff crossed through Blind Man's Eye, the magic of floating boats in Cloud Kingdom wearing off as soon as they were back in Ninjago.

The boats - by now, the Ninja had also entered Ninjago - sped down the side of the mountain at a neck-breaking speed.

The Ninja seemed to have decided that this opportunity would be a good one to try and rile up Morro's anxiety even more, for they continued to glide down the mountain alongside his boat. Even as their own had shattered to pieces against a tree, they still found ways to use the spare pieces to keep going.

"Hello!" the silver one called. His voice sounded playful despite the determination in his eyes.

Ghoultar waved back, only for something to knock him clear off the side of the skiff.

"Ghoultar!" Wrayth shouted, reaching out too late as the skeletal ghost tumbled down the side of the mountain. A snowball of green and white rolled down, bumping into rocks and boulders until it all but exploded on the deck of Destiny's Bounty.

"Leave him!" Morro called. He bit back a shout of surprise when Kai suddenly jumped onto his boat.

"Give me the sword!" Kai demanded, not unlike the way Morro had done in Cloud Kingdom.

"Earn it," he said. "You accuse me of stealing the sword, but you don't prove that you're worthy of wielding it?"

"Yeah?" Kai scoffed and got into a defensive position. "I bet you didn't earn it either. I bet it wasn't you who deciphered the clues--"

That hit a sore spot and Morro lashed out with the Sword of Sanctuary.

***

Kai fought with all the energy he had. Every stab, every slash that Morro sent his way, he did his best to parry or evade. He paid little attention to the other ghosts, who were taking on his friends. He could hear their screeches of pain as their Aeroblades cut into their non-corporeal skin.

In his mind he started to visualize Sensei Wu's training course. He thought about how many times he'd tried the course, how he had failed so many times, before he managed to complete it. Then there was fighting the skeletons in the Caves of Despair on his mission to save Nya.

Jay had told him to just go through the motions because they already knew how to do Spinjitzu. So why not treat this situation the same?

"Over the planks," he muttered, somersaulting over a sweep from Morro's sword. The blade cut into the mast and stuck there.

With an enraged shout, Morro wrenched the blade free and swung it at Kai's head.

"Dodge the swords," Kai narrowed his eyes in concentration, lifting his own blade to parry Morro's.

His lips lifted in a smirk as he met Morro's eyes. "Here comes the dummy."

He spun, letting his fire consume him, letting it whirl around him as he called upon his Spinjitzu. In a flurry of metal and fists, Kai managed to back Morro into the broken mast. Now realizing he was on the defensive, Morro looked around wildly, trying to find a way out of the corner he was stuck in. In a desperate last attempt, the wind around them roared, but Kai refused to let himself give in. He was so close to getting the sword.

"I'd say I earned the sword," Kai said, ripping it from Morro's grasp. The ghost was too shocked and confused to try and stop him. "Thanks."

His eyes darted to the side, noticing the fast-approaching cliff. "Oh, by the way," Kai's Airjitzu shield formed around him. "Watch out."

Only then did Morro lunge forward, trying to get the Sword of Sanctuary. The skiff plummeted off the cliff at the same time, leaving Kai hovering above the chasm with an expression of glee on his face.

Even as he flew back onto the Bounty, the Sword of Sanctuary in hand, Kai could still hear Morro's enraged scream echoing across the mountains.

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Ok, so I have inspiration.

And I'm writing this, and I'm thinking: wow, Bansha's powers are so cool, why doesn't the other ghosts have similar abilities? So I thought: Yes, I will give the other generals some abilities and skills that are purely "their thing". So Bansha has her singing, Soul Archer...his is going to be revealed in a future chapter, but for now he has his bow and arrows, etc.

But today, the chapter give a bit of background for Wrayth. I think his character is the least developed of all the ghosts bc he dies so early on in the season, so there was definitely a lot of room for me to explore what his backstory could've been.

Hc that Wrayth is a chem geek and something went wrong, resulting in the burns on his face. He's also a part time magician who regularly draws inspiration from the elementals

ALSO: the preeminent is getting a little bit sus of her generals' newfound abilities

AND: the voice in Morro's head is questioning something I've been questioning since I saw Ghost Story. THE SWORD OF FIRE ISN'T EVEN THE SWORD OF FIRE IT'S A KATANA, NOT THE ACTUAL SWORD, I-- (that's basically part of the inspiration for the story. if the actual sword of fire was there, what would've happened?)

something i've discussed w/ my friend: the golden weapons were made by the FSM and therefore can only react to people with golden power, aka, the FSM's family, aka, lloyd. SO, it makes sense that the weapons, IF THEY WERE ALL THERE, wouldn't have reacted to Morro

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