Chapter by: LillaSmolBean
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If there were a fire being set off by the kitchenette's stove, the oni lord wouldn't have noticed. He was once again taking the time to meditate like he always did whenever he felt the need to just loosen up a little. Despite becoming an oni, that's a habit he didn't lose.

His father had taught him and his younger brother that meditation was essential for everyone, it gives them time to hide away in a world with no conflict. They didn't have to ponder all the time at cruel life choices. So that's why he was doing it now, so much had gone by and the man felt like he needed a small break.

At least, that's what he believed until he reached the one hour mark. He continued to breathe in and breathe out, enjoying the silence.

What he did not expect was for the door to go flying. His eyes shot open as two figures, noticeably women, walked inside.

He gave an annoyed groan but didn't stand up from his sitting position.

"This is urgent, you need to hear this!" Opal was the first to speak. She dashed away from the door to allow the second girl, who was accompanying her, to enter.

"Yeah! Mother's right, Garmadon, please hear us out!" Mirage begged, having entered the room at her turn.

Garmadon didn't flinch, not even after their voices toppled over eachother's. Relentless whines, that's what they were. Like a honking mallard you'd find in Ninjago's viewing parks.

"It's unusual, so strange!"

"They've got her!"

"We need to help her!"

"We can't just stay here!"

Like a flock of sheeps all huddled together in the pen, Garmadon had a hard time navigating his way through their words. "Okay okay, one at a time—" he started, in an almost hushed tone.

But Mirage and Opal kept talking, it would require much more effort if the oni lord wanted them to stop. He gave a discouraged sigh and stood up from the ground.

"Garmadon, finally!"

"Like we were saying-"

He interrupted them both by crossing his arms.
"Slow down, tell me what happened and first of all, why are all panicking?" He questioned, still a little tired from earlier. It can't be helped, hopefully this just turns out into a big misunderstanding and it's just the two of them not knowing how to use house appliances.

Perhaps they left the stove on or, they don't know where the broom is. Could it be that the deck was already dirty? He could have sworn thag Jay cleaned it last Tuesday. He glanced over to Opal to continue speaking.

The former Oni queen didn't hesitate one single bit. She opened her mouth and a sprout of what was nonsense for Garmadon at first, came out into concerning words.

"It's Harumi! We wanted to give her some tomato to soup for supper but she wasn't there! We checked her room and under the bed, no nothing!" She alerted in an afraid tone. She looked pretty scared and concerned for the girl as well.

Garmadon raised a brow, he didn't believe it one single bit. But he was skeptical of one thing and he wanted to ask about it. Though, the mentions of the words 'her room' made him stops for a second. Ah, he wanted to make sure anyways.

"Aren't you sure it's the clone that went missing?" He interrogated them and led the two onis out of his bedroom.

Mirage was the one who answered this time, she shook his head at the older man. "No, it wasn't." She gave a pout then followed him out. "The minute we saw Harumi went missing, we immediately checked the closet and saw fake Rumi sitting there with the brooms and mops." She explained.

Garmadon cursed under his breath. Dammit, damn it all.

"This can't be good, where could she have gone?" Opal joined in with a haloo.

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

Where could she be?

Garmadon was busy at thought, thinking of all the possibilities and keeping track of the motive after each time she disappeared in the past. He concluded that she was often kidnapped or because she was out looking for her friends.

His eyes widened at the realization. What if she continued to look for her family—the resistance? He clenched his fists and glared over to Opal and Mirage.

"I think I may know where she is." Garmadon whispered.

"Really, where?" Mirage huffed, clearly in the mood to try and find the white haired girl as well.

The oni lord brought them onto the deck and stopped there. He glanced from left to right, making sure there weren't any horned eavesdroppers from the sides and continued to walk. He was more focused as to finding their way off the boat then responding.

As Garmadon was about to take another step forward, he felt the cold rush of a fist colliding with the back of his head. This once, he was too slow to react, his helmet was knocked to the ground.

He growled and lowered himself to his knees, clearly taken aback by the unplanned attack and he was about to shoot a sharp glare at Mirage and Opal for attacking him like that but he stopped at the sound of a gentle voice.

"Oh whoops! Sorry, Garmadon."

It was Harumi, standing there, with an apologetic look.

He took a breath, he felt relieved that she was there, safe and sound.

She helped him up and he couldn't help but remain silent. All this just now...what even happened? Was she really alright?

"Harumi, there you are!" But Mirage beat him to it and he didn't mind it.

Harumi blinked curiously, as if resembling the lousy clone that fooled them all a few nights back. "What do you mean? I've been always here." She replied, a little—no, more than confused.

Mirage shook his head. "No no, see, we thought you left the bounty again to go after Lloyd and the others." She clarified their concerns just now.

Harumi giggled and shook her head, moving away from them all—though, not appreciating that Garmadon was following her like she was some rare dog breed. "Me? I've been in the old sleeping quarters. You know, the ones at the lowest levels of the bounty." She corrected.

"Why were you there in the first place, don't you have your room?" The brown-haired oni inquired. She didn't fully understand the reason for her disappearance just yet.

She crossed the corridor, now more than annoyed that Garmadon kept following her without contributing to the conversation.
"It's fun to explore places and plus, new change of scenery." She giggled to Mirage, being particularly nice to her then glared at the oni lord.

She arrived to the front of her room and that's when she growled at Garmadon. "Would you cut it out? I get it that you were so incredibly worried about me." She rolled her eyes as his puppy eyes only got bigger. He shook his head and stepped closer.

"If something really did happen to you, I'd never forgive myself. You really worried me, no, all of us. Please, never do that again. Tell us next time!" He begged the white haired girl.

"Why can't I do what I want? It's my home too, you're making it seem like I'm a princess under watch again. Ugh, leave me alone!" She scolded, using her raw strength to twist the knob open and step inside of her room.

Garmadon tried to enter with her before receiving the wooden door slammed to his face. She clearly didn't want him here.

"Stay out, I said!" She reminded.
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It was his luck when he heard her door click to be unlocked in the next twenty five minutes to when she previously shut herself in that small room. Garmadon was passing the halls to return to his room for the night till he got curious and wanted to check if she was alright.

Maybe they can sort things out and get to know why she was so upset in the first place? He knew how much she hated being treated like a perfect little girl, that needed body guards because she's so frail and cryptic.

He calmly made his way over to her door.

He stopped at the words that he heard from the other side.

"Éla Edó...Koko ni kitte...."

He let out a silent gasp as he recognized those words. Of course he would, he was fluent in that language. So were Opal, Mistaké, Omega and Mirage. The languages formed for ugly creatures like them. The devil's tongue.

Bursting through the door, he gave an unintelligible shout. His undead heart felt like it was alive again and sweat instantly ran down his face.

"HARUMI!!"

But what he saw what was even more dreadful than he imagined it.

The princess standing on the frame of her window, a big smile on her face. Her hair wafted through the wind as she stared at the night blue sky.

The stars acted like makeshift wings for a fallen grace like her. But these wings were broken down like always, someone like her couldn't fly. She was tainted by sin already.

"Harumi...H-Harumi, get down from there. I-It's a trap..." he began to hyperventilate, not knowing what to do as he edged even closer to the window frame. If only this was a mortal matter, he could resolve this without panic but seeing an oni spell was brought into this...

The white haired girl turned around to face him, her eyes were blackened out and instead purple pupils replaced them. She gave a blank smile. This was unusual, why purple? Why not red like the rest of the onis? What did this all mean?

"What trap?" She played off innocently.

Garmadon shook, he didn't know what to do, she was under a spell, a trance!

He ran a hand through his helmet, pushing it back slightly before taking a deep breath to try and calm down. He needed to save her, snap her out of this.

"You're going....t-to fall. Please get down, I-I don't want to watch y-you get hurt.." he begged emptily. This was all so useless.

He could already see her turning away from him and bringing her foot to the edge of the window.

She fell.

"He's waiting for me.." she whispered to him as she dove down head first.

He gasped. It was almost instinct for him to dive down after her. He needed to save her, he couldn't afford to lose her. He ran to the edge and jumped out of the window as well, stretching a hand out for her.

Harumi....Harumi...!

"Who's waiting for you?" He asked.

The oni lord caught her and held her tightly as they both fell down through a silent night.

"Him." She replied.

A few buildings away, one that had a perfect view of the flying ship, stood a rather tall figure who watched the two fall from the skies.
He grinned and snapped his fingers, breaking the spell he casted on the white haired girl just now. Prince Zackery Leviathan.
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Three figures were now inside of the tower's lift. A man was carrying an exhausted girl while his companions, who were irritated with him, leaned on the railings.

The silence that had been going on between them all for a good minute or two had been cut short when a brown haired girl huffed rather loudly.

"You should have been more subtle, you know?" Mirage complained in a low tone. She didn't dare face Garmadon, only kept her eyes peeled on the window as the lift continued to go up.

Garmadon gave a confused look but didn't say a word in response to that complaint immediately. He stared out the window at his turn and sighed. He figured he should say at least something.

"Look, I'm sorry that I called you all to come with me to the tower. But surely, you heard an oni casting a spell. It was strong magic." He pointed out, hoping to find answers.

Right, an oni's aura always impacted other onis when at a close range. It wasn't exactly dangerous among demons but for mortals like Harumi, she was easily persuaded to fall into such a trance.

The man looked down at the white haired girl for a second before looking away, he didn't want to stare. But he couldn't help but feel guilty for not coming sooner...for not seeing who casted the spell, then maybe...they'd still be on the Bounty having a good night.

"Mm." Mirage shrugged then stood up to properly face the oni lord. "Yeah I sensed it alright, I was already coming over with my mother but oni got in the way." Her purple pupils glared back to the ground.

Garmadon couldn't help but gulp at the mention. While he was busy rescuing Harumi, a few oni got in, leaving them to be handled by the former Queen and princess. Now that he had time to think about it, the oni sent were no more than distractions. He thinks that whoever casted the spell didn't want Opal not Mirage getting involved.

That's because their blood was tainted with a royal lineage, they have very strong and effective auras and magic. Their magic could rival others for days then that left with only one possible candidate. Garmadon would have thought that it could be the royal spell-caster but a word from Opal got him to think otherwise.

"Oh dear heavens, Zackery is such an ambitious boy, isn't he, now?" Opal placed a hand on her forehead and gently ran it through her hair.

Mirage rolled her eyes, she's heard that one before and really, it annoyed her. Zackery was so much more talented than she was and often, the two Leviathan siblings would break out into long-lasting rivalries.

"Certainly, mother." She replied dryly. She still deeply cared for him, though. He was her oldest brother after all, they grew up together and during her youth, she recognized kindness blossoming in him. Until he got caught up with matters of affairs to become the next heir.

It was their father that put the image inside of their head: "You just find someone, son." and Zackery sought out to do that, leaving Mirage all alone to attend to herself in the playrooms.

"Please big brother Zackery, the maid is running late again, please fix the frills on my dress." She'd ask only for him to give her the cold shoulder and walk out of the fitting room.
Such nostalgic times.

"It can't possibly be prince Zackery, can it?"
Garmadon interrogated the two girls, seeming to have reached a breakthrough when they mentioned him.

Mirage and Opal glanced at each other before sighing. The doors to the lift opened and they all stepped out. They were on the ninth floor, one floor right under the rooftop throne room.
They walked quietly, not wanting to attract the attention of the many guards swarming the place.

"Oh no, it's him alright. He did all of this." Opal replied to Garmadon's earlier question. Honestly, the man was rather surprised she sold off her own son like that, he is the prince's mother and she seemed not in the least regretful or humiliated that he did such a thing.

As if reading his amused expression, Opal shrugged and shook her head. "I know what you're thinking and no, he is no son of mine. He changed." She stated firmly, continuing to walk at a rather slow pace.

"Besides, he did call out a gang of oni to attack me and Mirage. That's uncalled for, if he really cared, he would have called the whole party off." She huffed. As much as Garmadon wanted to invest in his own feelings and betrayal towards his own son, he didn't say a word. He only acknowledged that she had a point, that's it.

"I still can't believe he betrayed you like that.." Harumi, who was awake the entire time even since the lift, finally contributed to the conversation. She did stay in Garmadon's arms though since he insisted that he carried her all the way through.

"I mean, because of me, look what happened to all of you, you got attacked by Oni." The white haired girl whimpered apologetically as the bruises and cuts processed through her mind.
She gave a good inspection at their injuries.

Mirage was the first to speak up, she shook her head and held a thumbs up. "Nah! What are you talking about? Those oni are no match for us." She chimed, keeping up a happy smile.

Harumi was unsure with that, she glanced down at Mirage's arms where she found two bandaged cuffs wrapped around her forearm and her wrists then a bandage on her cheek.
That must be one heated battle. She sighed and gave whiny eyes, "Still..."

They eventually arrived onto the rooftop where they spotted an incredible sight.
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A group of people were out of cages and they all turned to face the newcomers as they arrived on spot. How generous, to have them all here in one place. A reunited team, all over again.

But the reunion didn't go that easily. Garmadon had to take a step back when he noticed a certain blonde glaring at him.

He turned around and fixed his sleeves, checking his hands if they were dry from holding onto those metal bars for too long.
He noticed Garmadon and instantly froze.
"You..." he mouthed, not pronouncing something right off the bat.

The red ninja nervously chuckles and instantly makes his way over to the green ninja. He placed a hand on his shoulder and kind of uses his fingers to cling onto his gi to prevent him from getting any closer to Garmadon.

"Now now Lloyd—" he started.

"So we finally see each other again, Garmadon." The green ninja spat, ignoring his friend completely.

Playing along, the man set down Harumi and the white haired girl gave a concerned flash of an expression in Lloyd's direction. She didn't say a word, instead, she tried to look around for someone else. But she did kept her ears open in case an argument will break out between them.

"I know what you did!" He started, preventing from sniffling so early on. But he knew, through so much thought and thinking, he finally knew. He approached the oni lord and stretched a hand out—mainly as jab to try and punch him—harm him at least.

But he was held back by Kai. He hated it, it was if he was too weak to try and break free to punch this man. He struggled.

"Woah Woah!" Kai was so close to releasing his never heard before high-pitched screams.

"You lied to me! Harumi never did anything wrong—no, she wasn't even a traitor! There was no traitor in the first place, you...you made everything up!!" He raged, the tears finally setting loose. They ran down his cheeks and shook off when he tried to jab at Garmadon, obviously being stopped by the fire ninja who restrained his arms.

"You liar! I thought I was gonna have my real dad back! But I-I thought wrong, he's never coming back. EVER!"

Harumi was mortified hearing all of this.

She gave a weak whimper and looked up at Garmadon, looking for advice. All this time, she has been...living under a lie? No one really hated her—no one had a reason to...it was just...

She blinked. No, Garmadon...lied? For what? Wherest?

Panicked, she looked up at Garmadon again for help, she wanted to comfort Lloyd—badly. But if she tried to move, he'd only say a few words and have her right back by his side. Why did...no, she always fell for it, why?

"Father, you are my father and it hurts to just call you 'Garmadon'! Did you...did you suddenly forget that I was your son?" He sharply inhaled, finally surrendering and surprised Kai, of all people, when he lowered himself to the ground and formed a ball.

He curled and cried, hiding his face from all humanity. He didn't want to see anyone, believe anyone. He was in his own little world of self-loathing and pain.

"Lloyd." Harumi called.

"No no, I-I'm sorry, okay?" He recognized that voice, of course he did. How could he forget the voice of the one he loved the most?

Harumi stayed silent but wanted to hear him through. Garmadon kept a close eye on the both of them, his....no no, not his children. Only Harumi was worthy of being a daughter of his....right?

"I wrongly accused you, I shouldn't have...I should have b-believed you...because I-I...I still love you b-but I didn't!" He sobbed, desperately bringing his hands up to wipe his tears away—too many were escaping him. He couldn't catch them all at once.

Watching the scene unfold before her, Cloud rolls her eyes and barks over to get Lloyd's attention. She stepped up and glanced from Harumi to Garmadon. The excitement of seeing her owner again can wait, for now, there was someone else she needed to defend.

"Don't think for a second that I forgot what you did," growled Cloud, standing up for Lloyd. Now that she was able to speak out her opinions, this made it way easier for her to become a threat to the oni lord. If she was him, she'd start listening right about now.

Garmadon raised a brow, "You can speak now?" He questioned, a little impressed and stunned that this was truly happening.

She nodded but kept her hostile eyes. "Of course I can! Thanks to some special tea that spilled on me, must have gotten some in my mouth." She muttered, looking away for a second.

"You made Harumi cry by spreading lies, that's atrocious! You told her that she was alone and abandoned. You lied to her that the resistance and Lloyd would never come for her!" She argued. She'd never stand up for Lloyd but seeing that he was beginning to realize his mistake for wrongly accusing Harumi, she figured she could begin to show her kind side.

Garmadon continued to listen, as well as Harumi. This speech of hers had no effect on the oni lord. He was just that heartless. Not even his own son could snap him out of his ideals and current mindset.

Cloud wasn't finished. "You showed her Lloyd's fake corpse twice, didn't you feel remorse showing some...cheap scarecrow you probably made in your free time..you freak!" She jabbed, accompanying barks as she continued to walk closer to Garmadon.

Garmadon growled, but still, chose not to say anything. However, Harumi began becoming a little tense about this situation. She didn't know what—who, to believe anymore.

"Is this all...true?" Her voice quaked as she slowly figured it was best that she shouldn't hide behind such a cruel...fath—individual.

Cloud nodded frantically. "'Course it's all true, Rumi! Ever wondered why you became a baby so many times, where did he even get all those potions in the first place?!" She spat, bringing in the real questions right about now.

It was all true though, why did she have to become a child for so long? She never wanted it...but he did, didn't he?

Harumi glared at Garmadon, beginning to trust her puppy and blonde haired boy over the man who sheltered her for the past few days.
She reluctantly sat down beside the still trembling Lloyd and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Quickering lips as fragile as glass whispered:
"I'm sorry.." delicate words that are the most sincere.

The atmosphere was the bane of claustrophobia. Everything felt so tense and secluded.

Now it was relentless barking, obnoxious yells as the other party didn't stop the white pup.
He just listened.

"You blamed Harumi for all your lies. The reason why Lloyd was so heartbroken was because of you, you used Rumi as the meat shield!"

She paused to approach Harumi and Lloyd.

"Look at your own son, foolish man! You've charred him to ashes. You've replaced your true flesh and blood with a girl that isn't related to you whatsoever!"

No silence in a vast throne room like this.

The darkened skies with no stars out tonight.

Hearts pumping in and out of their chests signifying their will to continue living.

No, everything was just absolutely crushed. Just like a glass bottle falling from a high shelf, shattering into a million pieces.

Then, thinking that it would never occur, Lloyd uncurled himself from his ball and glared at Garmadon, tears still streaming down his face.

Harumi frowned and edged herself closer to the boy, both of her arms now wrapping themselves around his shoulders as a sign of affection and her undying love for him. Never did she truly doubt he stopped loving her.

"Lloyd.." she whispered, whimpering at the scary look on his face. But even such a ninja could make a face like that, she knew exactly why his eyes were full of hatred for the oni lord he once called his father.

"I'm fine Rumi." He reassured her, sniffling ever so slightly and getting up from the ground. It caused him to break hold of Harumi and he almost wanted to plunge back into her reassurance and warmth again. But he knew he needed to settle this once and for all.

"Garmadon, I will never forgive you. Ever." He breathed.

Cloud narrowed her eyes before spotting something that interested her in the distance. It was too far up and she couldn't reach.
"Dammit," she snarled and looked around for a possible stepping tool.

Her eyes locked with Nix and she trotted over to the husky while Lloyd and Garmadon interacted among each other with the distressed damsel watching by their sides.

"Hey Nix, can you give me a boost?" She requested.

The husky tilted his head at her.

"What for?"

"Just do it, geez."

So he hoisted her up.
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A/N: The oni language used in this chapter is a mixture of Japanese and Greek! I find those two languages very fascinating so I figured why not!

Hey guys, Lilla here and thank you for reading chapter 109! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing the ending, so much angst, I love it!! The end is coming soon and things are getting wrapped up! We get to learn more about the Oni lineage and Garmadon finally confesses his lies! So much is happening all at once!!!