Chapter by: LillaSmolBean
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun has just set when a man clad in black stepped towards the entrance of the Borg Tower. Narrowed eyes, an oni stared off in the distance, stopping when he hid behind a nearby tree.

An oni's senses were sharp, so it was no question that he was able to hear faint mutters from far away. The man growled and clenched his fists. These were the people who worked with Omega and the prince of darkness, the ones who harmed Harumi.

He was ready to attack, to tear down the army that stood in his way.

Feeling the conflict and determination wash him over, he summoned two daggers, finding it convenient for two commoners like him. He began to sneak out of his hiding place, his eyes on the feast.

"Hold on."

He heard a voice call from behind, Garmadon halted. He heard footsteps—not one, but from two people, approach him. He shut his eyes and let out a breathy sigh until he reopened them and found himself face-down to the  ground. He had been apprehended, so quickly too.

Holding his arms back and setting a foot on his back, a woman with glowing red eyes glared down at him. In the cold of the night, her lips didn't tremble one single bit. She didn't tremble either, just pronounced: "Where is Harumi, that white haired girl?"

Garmadon, struggling to get back up, was more preoccupied on figuring out the identity of the woman rather than answer the question peacefully. "I don't know..I don't know!" He growled, clenching his fists even tighter.

He found his wrists being let go and the woman stepping away from him. That's when Garmadon got off from the ground and found himself staring at two women, no, one was merely a girl. Possibly aged sixteen or eighteen, he couldn't tell. A girl with flowing dark brown pigtails and entrancing violet eyes.

"Do you sense that?" Mirage inquired, not keeping her eyes off of Garmadon not single bit. The other woman nodded along with Garmadon.

"Harumi.."

Somewhere, in Borg tower, another blood-curling scream was heard from one of the rooms. Particularly the one where the real Harumi was staying for the past few days.

She whimpered and panted, glaring at Zackery, prince of darkness with narrowed eyes. She couldn't believe it. She's been tortured again, she's lost track of how many times her body ached from these shocks, these cuts.

"Take care of her." Zackery insisted to the three oni in the room with him as he twisted the knob to step out. The onis nodded, as his loyal guards, they didn't insist to let their prince down.

"Where's Garmadon? The prince asked you earlier and you gave him difficulties!" One guard increased the voltage, watching with a smirk as she struggled to escape. She hated these new ropes, she hated that she became so weak for the past few days. Harumi groaned and refused to answer, only whimpering out.

The oni guard raised a brow and stepped closer, his nails brushing his back to summon a long-edged purple blade. He aimed it at her neck and pressed it down. "How's that?" He carved a little cut on her pale neck, Harumi let out a horrified scream and panicked. She cried and shook the machine, over and over again.

Watching from the window in the room, Garmadon couldn't control his anger. He spotted the Harumi clone he has heard about sitting in the corner. It was a little creepy, how she stared at the guards like that, one was carving out an entire artwork onto her blank skin while the other held the lever to the machine.

"Please contain your anger, I have a plan." Mirage whispered over to Garmadon before glancing at the woman who was by their left side. She frowned and gave a signalling nod.

But Garmadon had hard time controlling his anger like Mirage had asked. Just the sight of seeing Harumi so powerless and strapped to a machine like that was unbearable.

When the time was right, Mirage signalled both the woman with them and Garmadon to crash their little party. She kicked the window, sending shards in Rumi and the onis' directions before rolling onto the ground. It gave room for Garmadon and Opal to land and summon their own weapons.

"No...it can't be.." muttered one of the guards as he stepped back. The woman grinned and pressured him to close the gap between them.
"You're...you're.." all sound became inaudible.

Swords crashed against one another and grunts were heard. Garmadon, Opal and Mirage all fought the two guards in the room, who without a doubt gave their very bests.
As for Harumi, her eyes became droopy. She stared at the ground and took in the musky air.

No, she was still definitely there, no, for awhile longer, not forever. She was pretty roughed up after refusing to answer one little question from the guards. She let out a sigh and her head began to lower out in defeat. There was something else on her mind.

"Zackery....why would you lie to me?" She whispered, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. The pain truthfully hurt.

Not only did she learn more about the prince of the oni but as well as his family members and their importance in his life. These people in the room with her right now are...

"My first friend, I trusted you...!"

She fell unconscious.

"Why didn't you tell me you were Collin? That you were an oni and that my suffering was your plot all along..?"
~~~~~~
The sunlight got in her eyes, at least, that's what she believed.

She flinched as she felt the surface below her become very jiggly all of a sudden. She understood that she was being held.

"Huh? That's odd."

"What's wrong?"

She heard voices, two women that she didn't recognize. Or maybe they were her friends? She wasn't quite awake, she couldn't make out their voices.

"I'll leave Garmadon some time with Harumi."

"Let me come with you."

"Thank you both."

Respectively, voices belonged from Opal, Mirage then Garmadon.

She opened her eyes briefly, shuddering at the faint light and saw two women retreating out of the room. As well as a concerned and angry oni lord looking down on her.

"Hello Garmadon.." she whispered.

The man stroked her cheek, reassuring her that everything is alright now, now that she's been saved by all three of them. Still, even if she knew that she was safe now, she still couldn't help but feel a little scared.

"Where are we?" She wondered, her eyes already hurting just by looking around the place. All she knew was that they were in a warm-temperatured room. It felt cozy and she was all for falling back to sleep.

Garmadon shook his head and moved a little towards the pillows of the bed and pressed his back on the wall. "The bounty, don't worry, we're back home." He muttered to the girl softly. He knew that the oni wouldn't go too far as to raid this place down. This was the safest he could go.

Harumi hesitantly nodded, yeah, they'll be alright. As she tried to shut her eyes to go back to sleep, she soon found out that she couldn't quite do so. Not with the commission she heard from the other room. A few confused mutters as well as footsteps rushing back inside of her bedroom.

Then, with her heart jumping out of her chest.
"Sorry sorry, so this is the bounty, right? Lloyd suggested I come here in the past but I never did so I'm kinda lost and..." Mirage apologized to both Harumi and Garmadon. She stared down at the semi-asleep white haired girl then looked back up at Garmadon for guidance.
The old man sighed and just pointed at the door again.

Noticing that Harumi was still awake, he's gotten an idea. "Surely you saw the kitchen at the end of the hallway, right? Mind returning there and giving me a glass of warm water?"

"Warm water? Oh, you know oni don't..." she paused to remember Harumi was still awake.
She instantly nodded and proceeded to step back out of the room. "Right right, it's not for you." She semi-whispered, mainly to herself. A silly individual, she was.

Harumi pouted and poked the man on the cheek. Ah, it seemed that he remembered that warm water would get her to sleep. It wasn't like he'd forget about it in the first place. He was a father of a young boy and if things like these were effective, how could he forget them?

Without much thought and conversation between the two, the front door reopened revealing a much older woman.

"Who's she?" Harumi questioned, raising her brows at the oni lord who was holding onto her. The man only sighed, not really wanting to respond in the first place. But he knew how many questions had been on Harumi's mind after all of this has happened to her.

The woman's eyes sparkled at the sound of her name.

"Opal, former Queen of the oni." Garmadon informed the confused white haired child. Yes, the Queen of all onis, he lived under her reign once, he remembered it all too well. She was a valiant ruler who often opposed the ideals of her husband but she was still Omega's Queen.

Harumi blinked and didn't seem to understand the idea right away. She asked away a few questions, "Former? Wait so you're Coll-no, you're prince Zackery and princess Mirage's mother?" She inquired.

Opal only nodded and advanced from Harumi to Garmadon. The oni lord didn't have much time to react for he heard the former Queen whisper a little something in his ear before smiling and walking away. Harumi, who was lower down, didn't have a chance to even hear the first few words. A real mystery it was, what would the Queen would have wanted from the man?

Appearing in place of the Queen was a younger girl. Now her, Harumi recognized. Dark brown pigtails, rebellious-looking clothes and those eminent eyes. She held the glass of water in her hands for a second and looked around the room before falling them down on the white haired girl's awakened face.

"Princess-" she changed formalities at the sight
of the brown haired girl looking down on her.
Mirage stopped her there, she shook her head.

"Huh? Oh no, you don't need to use that title around me anymore. I abandoned it just like I abandoned the whole 'princess of the onis' thing." Mirage chuckled nervously before handing the glass of warm water to Garmadon.

"Thank you Mirage." He thanked the young oni before he sent her a little nod that it was alright if she left the room. The brown haired girl nodded as well and waved at Harumi before retreating out of the room.

In Harumi's mind, she wished she's had more time to speak to both Opal and Mirage. They seemed like great people unlike Zackery and Omega. Guess there were always two sides in everything. Maybe, she would have learned the true motives as to why certain people have done questionable things.

Harumi yawned and glared at the glass in disgust. She didn't want to drink it, not when she was awake and curious about things. She wanted to slip out of his hold and interrogate the former Queen. It was if, she was suddenly in for the knowledge about these vengeful demons. If Opal and Mirage were royalty though, why didn't they look like heartless beings?

"You'll need to drink this if you want to go back to sleep," Garmadon began to tell her as his fingers glid through the warm-temperatured glass. His nails tapped it gently, creating little ominous sounds hoping to calm her agitated form. Harumi pouted once more and shook her head as he held her a little tighter than usual.
"Nope, don't wanna." She muttered in response.

So this was how it's gonna be, huh? Garmadon raises a brow and gives her a challenging look.

"Harumi, you've got to drink this." He beckoned, sighing a little as to her response of him gently asking her such a question. She shook her head and tried to get out of his hold once more before she heard the man mutter a few words: "Right, I remember."

He did read that diary of hers so long ago and he knew what she liked and disliked. He remembered one certain thing though. The man got an idea. He set the glass and Harumi down on the bed and brought one of his hands down to her leg. He remembered very well that she was quite ticklish. His fingers slid down her sock while another free hand of his aimed at her stomach.

Harumi paled, instantly knowing what he was plotting against her. She whimpered and instantly turned her head to try and find ways to dash out of the room without getting tickled once. Her desperation obviously failed on her.
"N-Nooooo! No no no!" She cackled, immediately shrinking into a little ball to protect her stomach when she felt that ridiculous feeling on her foot. It only got worse when she felt his fingers tickle her stomach. She couldn't stop laughing.

Seeing giggles spill out of her mouth, the man was able to pour the water down her throat. It did get on the bedsheets but the man was careful not to make too much of a mess. With laughing too much and the water taking effect, he saw Harumi's eyes begin to droop. She panted and chuckled over in Garmadon's direction.

"You're mean.." she huffed, regaining her breath before lowering her head down onto his shoulder to fall back asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She blinked once, then twice. She recognized the room was she in, the very same one she was in last hour. Except this time, the oni lord wasn't holding her, she was laying down in her own bed. She could feel how comfy the pillows were too.

Raising her head to try and stand up from the bed, she looked around. She was confused about all of this though. Did...what happened earlier even real? Or was it only a dream? No way could Garmadon have possibly rescued her  and so did the former princess and Queen of onis. There's just no way. Harumi pulled onto the bedsheets and whimpered, wanting a clear answer to all of this.

An oni's hearing is quite sensitive. So it was no surprise to find Garmadon entering the room she was resting in seconds after she woke up.
"Ah, Harumi, you're finally awake and yourself again. Now, I can finally ask you," he approached the girl with a kind smile and sat down beside her on the bed. The white haired girl nodded and waited for him to begin speaking.

What she expected was not at all what she received. The man growled at her and there, she heard a series of complaints. Garmadon brought a hand to pat her shoulder, distress all over his face. "I told you not to go to that tower to save Collin, I told you but you did anyways!" He scolded and stopped himself, tears were forming and he needed to hide them.

"Collin? I didn't save him at all. They captured me and kept me there ever since." Harumi blinked at him again, her pupils only showing confusion. That's when he knew...his stories weren't lining up with hers and she  really did look genuinely confused. Garmadon thought for a second.

'What...?' He mouthed to himself, his inner voices were the one doing all of the speaking. Again, all remained inaudible.

He looked at her, his angry eyes shifting into actual worry as he grabbed onto both of her shoulders and stared at her. "You're not actually Harumi, then? The real Harumi wouldn't..." he paused to let go of the fake and stand back up from the bed. Two of his arms stretched themselves to grasp at the wall,
"Augh! I rescued the wrong one, I rescued...dammit!!" He growled, refraining yo curse out any more for he knew the FSM was watching them.

Why...why?! Why couldn't he just be able to protect this girl from these evil demons?!

He pulled on his helmet and glanced away from the Harumi clone, now standing back up from the bed. Really, she was confused about all of this and Garmadon's behaviour in general. She recoiled and whimpered out at the man, scared he was going to harm her in any sort. "Please don't hurt me, I-" she tried to whisper only to be stopped with a growl.

One that wasn't coming from the oni but from her stomach, the clone's face flushed.

Garmadon sighed, stopping himself and his angers. He retreated from the wall and walked out of the small room. "Opal made some soup, I'll get you some, I'll be right back." He told the girl softly, as if returning into his unusually kind state, then headed out.

As Harumi only watched him leave her alone, she couldn't help but come to a realization that even if she wasn't really Harumi herself, Garmadon's gotten a soft spot for her. He believed her so easily just because she looked like the Jade princess. She sighed.

Appearances doesn't generally make you a person. It's the experiences you've gone through and the personality you've made for yourself.
~~~~~~~~~
"It's tomato soup."

"So that's what it is, thank you."

The white haired girl responded as she had been staring at the red substance for quite sometime. She grabbed the spoon, as Garmadon watched her from the wall, and took a sip.

There was silence that had gone by between the two, Harumi continued to eat the soup. She was a little fascinated with the Queen's cooking if she had to be honest, she didn't know the lady could be so motherly. Then again, she missed out on the times where the Queen and her daughter were in the same room together.
She continued to eat the soup to cure her famine.

Garmadon raised a brow after another full minute had gone by. He heard the girl speak as she placed the spoon back down on the broth.
"I don't get it...why is all of this happening.." she set aside the soup and looked down to her already shaking hands. Ah, the tears were coming on her end, even if she was just a clone.
A rather intelligent one, how did the oni manage to pull that one off?

"What was the reason? Why would they need me?"

Garmadon only shrugged before narrowing his eyes. Well, he did have one motive in mind but he knew how sensitive the topic was. He knew he had to be direct with her though...it'll be no problem anyways! It's not like she is the real Harumi in the first place. Really, he was hurting no one of importance's feelings!

....right? Still, even if she is a clone of Harumi, he could still see the girl being in that cold husk. She may look exactly like her but their memories both diverged from a certain point.
He did end up asking about her night with Collin...but subtlety.

"He really did it, didn't he? The prince of the idiots himself." Garmadon gave a bitter laugh as he noticed Harumi tense up. "He really hurt you and robbed you off the most important thing for your age." He spat.

Again, she was only a clone. Harumi looked at Garmadon confused before he stood up and shook his head. This was all so pointless. He really needed to pretend that he was talking to the real Harumi or else—

The door opened and in came three people,
Opal, Mirage and...Garmadon's eyes widened.
He left the clone with the soup and made his way over to the bruised-up white haired girl who held onto Opal and Mirage.

"Harumi..? But...but how?" He whispered, taking the girl from the two other onis. He noticed that she was on the verge of passing out but he was still so confused, this was really...no, truly, a surprise.

Mirage winked at the oni lord and brought two hands in the air to do a shrugging gesture.
"Eh, what can I say? Fought oni for years, I know what they're weak for."

Garmadon sighed and brought one of his hands to hit his forehead lightly. "What you did was reckless, I'll admit. You went to Borg Tower all by yourselves and...you didn't tell me?" He questioned his supposed comrades.
Mirage and Opal, instead of giving guilty looks, only nodded at his question.

"So what? May I remind you that I'm stronger than you. Plus, we rescued Rumi, now didn't we?" Mirage spat back, leaning against the wall and glanced from Harumi to the clone.

"But..you didn't reveal yourself to them, did you?" The man pursued, for once, interacting with the other oni on a natural tone. It was if he cared for their safety.

"Nah, I didn't, mother didn't either. We fought as human explorers." Mirage shot in response, she was a rather chill teenager now that Garmadon notices it. Very laid-back and definitely more of a rebel than princess.

"Did you see Omega?"

"FSM no, besides, I don't know if I really wanted to see him in the first place." The former Queen responded with a hint of disgust.
She crossed her arms and likens away, ashamed that Garmadon could even ask a question.

"I don't know what my brother's been up to but when we found Harumi, she's..." She didn't want to continue on with her phrase, already aware that Garmadon knew what she meant.

Garmadon clenched his teeth and held Harumi into a lught embrace. His fangs almost touched her ear as he whispered a few words:

"He really did hurt you that night, I'll kill him. I'll kill him for this, I swear." He vowed.

Mirage peered over at the clone who was still sitting on the bed. She whistled and gave an uneasy grin. "Well, that's awkward." She chuckled and took a step forward towards the machine. She stretched a hand out.

"Yo, so you're like made by my brother and father, right?" Mirage poked fun at the girl. Silk hair, glass eyes, pretty tiny lips and a body resembling one to a human. Everything was on point! Mirage was very impressed. Stars could've formed in her eyes if possible.

"I don't think I understand." Harumi blinked at the question. Of course, she wouldn't. She's a clone.

"Leave the clone alone, Mirage." Garmadon dismissed simply.

"Fum....fineeee." Like a child, she didn't toy around with the clone any longer and allowed it to finish her soup. "But what do you suggest we do with it? It's gonna be freaking awkward to have Harumi and Clonerumi here with us." She pointed out one very precise detail.

Garmadon and Opal exchanged glances at the brown haired girl's point. Hmm, it was true, they couldn't exactly get rid of the clone since it might return to Borg Tower and snitch their plans to either Zackery or Omega. They couldn't afford that, not when there was still a large group of people they needed to save.

"Well, we can get creative!" Opal told Garmadon on a brighter note.

"I'll get the closet key." Mirage joined in.
~~~~~~~~~~
Trapping a stubborn clone into a closet wasn't ideal at all. In Garmadon's eyes, he felt like he wasted another day in trying to accomplish something so unimportant. He was glad though to have the real Rumi back with him. He smiled to himself as he lay in his room.

Mirage and Opal were staying by the guest rooms but he heard the former princess walking out of her room a few minutes ago to go onto the deck. As for the real Harumi, she was resting in her own room. Garmadon figured she needed the rest.

He shut his eyes and began resting himself. So many thoughts ran wild in his mind, but he couldn't help but notice a pattern among them. A certain person appearing in these worries of his, Garmadon didn't understand why.

Lloyd....

The green ninja appeared in every single one of them, his son, his beloved boy. He recalled those happy times whenever he "invited" him over to the Tower, when he still had control over everything...

Things have been so rough between them but by caring for Harumi, he realized how much he neglected his own son.

The man reopened his eyes and met with the bland ceiling.

Ah, maybe the green ninja did have every right to be angry at him...no, the both of them. They neglected him, didn't they? They left him when they had thought he died for real. But that's the thing, Harumi never stopped believing so why was she receiving all of the affection?

No, he loved them both dearly, his precious children. He knew that Harumi and Lloyd enjoyed spending so much time together and...did he happen to break that?

Garmadon continued to sleep as he tried to put his thoughts to a rest.

By another room, Harumi tossed and turned but she was definitely asleep. She slept soundly and didn't have any nightmares for once. Then again, sleeping back in her own room in her own home was better than passing out on foreign grounds. Especially when the dungeon tiles have been all bloody with her own suffering. These oni didn't care.

What she didn't notice though, was a pair of two creatures entering her her window. She failed to notice them creeping in, their bloodshot eyes staring at her cryptically.
A man and a woman, commoners, it seems. Again, they were oni, no surprise at this point. But for the white haired girl, it certainly will be.

Twisted horns hovering her head wasn't the only thing Harumi had the delight to find when she opened her eyes to stand up and get some water from the kitchen. She yawned and her forehead almost collided with a dagger pointed at the top of her head. She pushed out a scream and held onto her bedsheets.

"W-Who are you?! W-What do you want?" She's been taken off-guard and due to her state, she's been quite jumpy lately. If she was still with her friends, she would've merely raised a brow and uttered; "I've been expecting you." As a response to all of those times she's been kidnapped or attacked by oni.

But this time, she was absolutely terrified. Defenceless, unarmed and still in recovery, her eyes were fixed on the two onis in front of her. They really wanted to kill her, no...maybe hurt her? She tightly shut her eyes and tried not to think about it. She didn't want to return back to that tower, no, she didn't want to...

"Please.."

The onis in front of her shifted into their human forms. A woman with rich grey hair and white facepaint stepped away, her heels clattered against the floorboard and she almost stepped on her delicate kimono fabric.

As for the man, he was...

Harumi yelled out another scream, she wanted to scream and scream and scream... she couldn't believe this. These people were...

"T-This can't be happening!!!"

The door to her bedroom broke down. Armed with four shadow daggers, Garmadon was the first to investigate the scene. His eyes widened as he saw the two people that Harumi mentioned a lot in her diary.

"What is going on?" He inquired calmly, despite the rage trying not to break out at the sight of the dagger pointed right above his dear girl's head. "Are you trying to kill her too?"

"Not necessarily kill. We have orders to bring her back to Prince Zackery and King Omega." The empress responded.

"Break a leg while doing that, that's not gonna happen." Mirage walked in, her attention looming over to the terrified Harumi for a second.

"What is a mere human girl like you going to do about it?" The emperor mocked.

"Hah! Commoners, always so arrogant when in reality," she paused to glare at the emperor and empress in front of her, her violet eyes going red in rage. "They don't know when to shut up when authorities are here." Horns spiralled at the top of her head. She was a little oni compared to Opal and Garmadon but it didn't stop her from being deadly.

She summoned two shadow blades, duel-wielding was her style anyways compared to the others.

"Princess Mirage Leviathan, fancy to see you here on a ship. Thought you abandoned your reign millennia ago." The emperor lifted a brow, that same smirk on his lips not fading one bit. It was if he was actually relieved to see the princess here of all things. It just made the fight more interesting.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves for speaking so low about a noble princess only sixteen years of age." The former princess of onis growled, readying her swords.

Garmadon shook his head and focused back to the emperor and empress in the room. "Don't let your mouth run you by, Mirage. You aren't the princess anymore, now aren't you?" He paused to exhale then narrowed his eyes.
"If you harm her, we will-"

But no one listened, the emperor shook his head back at Garmadon and without another doubt, maimed the dagger at the white haired girl's chest and stabbed. So close to the heart, she pushed out a violent scream. Garmadon felt his world becoming uneven for a second, his breathing accelerated and he threw a dagger in direction of the emperor.

"Why you!!!!"

A fight broke out between the three and the two onis working under Zackery and Omega.
Blades clashed and oni blood filled the room, its scent was quite particular actually. Not many could stand it. But since they were all oni here including a half, it was no problem.

Harumi hissed and cried, her small hands tugging her wound as she glanced from Opal to her adoptive mother. Their blades clashed and skin was cut.

So much...violence.

"Hey.."

"I can't see..." she tried to call out for her father.

"Papa..."

They continued to fight, she was spectating like a poltergeist at this point.

"I don't wanna die.."

Bleeding out from the hole in her chest, she fell unconscious.
~~~~~~~~
It was another day. An entire two days to be exact ever since the three onis stayed here.
Nothing changed, aside from the aftermath of a battle. The sun shone through her half-blinded windows, signalling that it was morning.

She yawned and with messy hair, tried to get out of bed. The first thing she was met with was a cleaned up room. She blinked and stretched a hand out to presumingly touch the
walls to feel for any blood but realized that a sharp pain went down her stomach.

Harumi whimpered and flung them bedsheets away to reveal a set of changed clothes, comfier clothes like a kimono and bandages covering the wound. She growled to herself and laid back down for a second. Ah, more injuries to add to her collection, absolutely wonderful..

"I should really stop getting hurt, huh?" She laughed to herself and placed a hand over her eyes to try and fall back asleep. There was a bit of silence before she was hit with a realization.
"But maybe...that's what makes me so weak. Maybe...What if I just.." she stood back up from her bed and headed out of her room.

Even with the pain pulling on her skin, she still pushed ahead. 'Pain only weighs you down' she told herself as she scratched the walls as motivation to walk forward. If a sting was causing her to mope all day, she was not ready to fight the oni, at all. She couldn't allow that, she needed to save her friends and bring justice to this strange young world.

She made her way towards the training room, determined to beat down a few dummies while still in recovery of a massive bloody wound.

A few rooms away was the exhausted oni lord.
Garmadon fought down the emperor and empress with much effort. Opal refused to transform in front of them that night so he mostly backed her up whenever she used a staff to strike the two down. For Mirage, he was impressed in the girl for being able to fight so valiantly, if he needed to be honest, her fighting spirit was definitely passed down onto her by Omega.

He slept lightly, hoping to get in as much sleep as he could after one massive fight. Of course, the fact that the two got away injured was what kept him semi-awake, he should have finished them off. But he didn't, when he moved to cut their stomachs, they threw themselves out the window. Garmadon opened his eyes, stopping his train of thoughts.

He heard a dummy being punched as well as some grunting from another room. He sighed to himself and figured he should go and have a look.

The training room wasn't too far away from his own so the journey wasn't long at all. When he opened the door, he found the white haired girl training. A poker face was set as he stood there, watching her. Really though, he wanted to scold her for training when she was still healing. However, he didn't give that impression at all when he walked inside of the room, catching her off-guard.

"I know what you're thinking, you need to get stronger so you can save Cloud and everyone else in the resistance. But this isn't your fault, you should be resting." He gave her an entirely different tone and message from what he originally wanted to say. Harumi looked at him in a bit of shock.

She moved away from the dummy and huffed at the man. "Oh but I do! I wanna hurry up and save them. Who cares if I'm still injured, at least I can get up in the morning." She growled, not really appreciating that she was told to rest.
"It's like my whole life I've been condemned to rest, I'm bored, I want a chance, Garmadon!"

He shook his head and sighed, she didn't get it.
Watching her stroll back to the dummy, he grabbed her by the hand, stopping her dead in her tracks. Harumi hissed and tried to struggle her way out of his hold. But he kept her fixated in one spot as he continued to speak.

"No, that's not the way. You won't get stronger if you keep pushing—no, abusing yourself like this."

"What do you know? If I'm not gonna abuse myself to continue training then...then..." she blanked out, tears beginning to ruin her vision. Garmadon tilted his head in confusion as to why the tears were there in the first place. He tried to open his mouth to comfort her: "Rumi—" But was interrupted too early.

Garmadon let go of her hand and Harumi immediately stormed out of the room, placing her hands over her ears as if not wanting comfort at the moment. "Then Collin wouldn't have take advantage of me like that, I would've still...I would've...this is my fault, it's because I'm so weak! I let this all happen!" She cried, walking through the corridors with Garmadon following behind her.

"Collin?" Garmadon questioned, not quickening his pace at all. He eyed her down with worried eyes.

"Collin was my friend, but he just pretended to be...and he..." she continued, ignoring him entirely.

Huh? There was no such thing as Collin. That's the friend she tried to save but Zackery, the prince was the one who ruined it for her. Not-

Putting two and two together, the puzzle was completed. Ah, they're the same person. Collin was a deceitful demon the entire time.

"Harumi—"

The door shut in his face and just behind it, he could hear a raged: "No!" Then proceeded with springs from a bed and immense sobbing.

The man frowned, not trying to open the door. But figured he should give her some space to calm herself down. But Collin, that guy. He'll kill him, he really will. Who cares if he was just a regular oni meanwhile he's the prince? He's got his sister, surely she knows his weaknesses as well as his own mother.

He walked away from her bedroom door in utter silence, only Harumi's sobs were considered as the only sound on this ship.

"If I could, I'd be sitting right here and I'd be watching the stars. They calm me down." Harumi muttered to herself. Curiously, she sat down in bed and glanced out the window, the sunny skies being her muse for today. But in her mind, it wasn't morning at all. It was night, in fact, she imagined so many stars in the sky..

"I'm coming to save you, Lloyd. I promise. Just wait for me and count the stars."
~~~~~~~~
Eventually becoming night by Borg Tower, a certain blonde was kept awake. The rest of his team were sleeping all around the cage and not even Nix nor Cloud got urge him to sleep. His green eyes was rather fascinated by the amount of stars in the skies tonight.

"There sure are a lot of them..." he chuckled to himself as he stayed there, sat down with his knees to his chest. He gave a soft smile and curiously began counting them. Too many to count but really, he'd rather do that than go to sleep to a dull dreamworld where the white haired girl nor father was in.

"I have a feeling that this is your doing, Rumi."
~~~~~
A/N: Fun fact: "Zenith" is the name of an imaginary point that's right above your head, most would use a star as example ^0^

Yeah uh, you can clearly tell that the past few chapters have been sorta "rushed" but I've been trying a new writing style if you guys haven't already noticed! I see it a lot in Japanese novels, one example is the "Evillious Chronicles" by Mothy-P! I seriously love that story and I'm looking forward to finishing it!