Chapter by: LillaSmolBean
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A sigh escaped a pair of dry lips,

Tired eyes blinked as she was forced to turn her head in the direction of the opening door by the corner of the room.

A muffled cough rang in her ears.

She shifts in her chair, wincing subtly as she feels the cold metal cuffs brush against the skin of her wrists.

Her hands were cold.

She was defenceless and most importantly, tired about all of this.

"I believe you know why you're here." A man clad in a black uniform addressed her. He took a step forward and sat down across from her.

She clenches her fists in frustration, the chains rattle.

Raising a brow, the man scoffed quietly. "Had a bad day?" He attempts at small talk.

She looks away hesitantly, not knowing if she should be shooting such regards to a man of high authority. "Maybe." She stubbornly responds.

The fuming vexation in this man's face,

the tranquility in this room,

The disagreeing pair, staring down at each other from less than a metre.

Yet, everything was still all so busy.

"The people in the city had worser days," he says with a hoarse tone, that of an old man. "Especially on that day where you temporarily caused havoc to the city and attacked the palace."

City lights, happy townspeople.

Dashing cars, organized crime. The earth still spun around the finger of a God.

She leans back on her chair, hinting at her decision to resist. "It's not me. I'd never do that to my city again." She spat.

As one word was uttered out into the thin space, two men had opened the door and came inside.

The man and the girl turned around to face them, the former encouraging the newcomers to take a seat beside him.

A sharp gulp went down her throat as her confidence scatters, leaving her to realize that in terms of witnesses, she was outnumbered.

A scorching light was flashed in her eyes, the minor bites her tongue in surprise and almost screeches out in discomfort.

"If it really wasn't you, what was your alibi?" Pushing the stand of the lamp closer to her face, one of the other policemen around interrogated.

She crosses her legs and squints her eyes, trying so desperately to fade away from the light in her eyes.

The men questioning her kept a straight face, as they had even more malicious intentions behind that lamp stand.

"I didn't do it." She protests for the second time today. "You've all been tricked by a talented spell caster." She fought for her innocence much more in the last two days.

But, giving her the cold shoulder,

"Impossible. Can't be!"

They never believed such a story.

She stares at the ceiling, not even realizing a drained groan was heard from her.

Her eyes shut to blink.

"Come on, your protectors are elemental masters. How could you not believe that?" She jabs out, her patience on the outside compared to little droplets falling off a bamboo stick.

On the inside however, she feels weightless, being carried by a thousand balloons. At each rebuttal, one pops and she is left to falter in a limitless sky.

It was disheartening.

Even the slightest sign of belief and pity.

'Please.'

"Oh don't be silly, sure Ninjago's been through a lot but no spell-caster would ever." Instead of soft coaxes for her to leave the room, her ears was filled with laughs, mocking ones.

Ah, she tugs on her restraints even more.

'You're screwing with me right now, huh?'

Blowing white strands away from her beady eyes, she attempts to slide her way out of this mess—even for a few seconds.

The police officers glared at the guilty in confusion.

"May I request a phone call, please?" She inquires without any bitter feelings residing in her heart. A small smile formed on her lips as she asked so.

All facades, something she mastered in the last few years of being an unplanned orphan.

She stands at the affirmative gesture given by the head of the police department.

"You have five minutes."

Finally having a chance to leave this room, after being inside of it for a good half an hour now, she couldn't care less if she was escorted by two men that disagreed with her.

Sitting down on the chair, she hesitantly grabs the phone—almost scolding herself for being this anxious in the first place. The device swings out and wiggles against the twisting wires.

Her fingers were placed on top of a set of numbers.

The question remains on who to call.

The white haired girl begins to dial a number.

The sound correlates with her pace.

She places it by her ear, the phone rings.

'I don't want to bother you.'

She remembers her beloved green ninja, his warm summer smile and the way he'd call her name, it all made her feel a certain way.

'No, you don't deserve to be burdened by me.'

The phone continues to ring, Harumi sighs as the idea of just hanging up came mind.

But she doesn't,

She knew these officers were still watching her and imagining the embarrassment she'd go through when telling them her call was unsuccessful.

All the pity would be taken away. Not like they had any in the first place.

"Hello, who is this?"

Harumi almost jumps, the beeping had blurred her mind, she was caught off guard when an actual voice was registered on the other line.

"I may need your help, Garmadon."
~~~~~~~~~~~~

A set of twenty minutes pass,

The clock continues to tick, the men awaiting an answer as she gleamed at them with the usual response of hers: "It's really not me!"

They had noticed her rather frustrated behaviour altered greatly, she now faced the table with a bright smile, eager as if something extraordinary were to happen.

It confused the head of the police department even more.

"Well then," Harumi pursued her lips, not liking this waiting game. "shall we move on?"

A set of raised brows were directed at her.

"Eh, what do you mean?" The police questioned.

The front door busted open, despite being made perfectly clear that no one should come in during an interrogation. What stood between the doorframe was a terrible sight.

Bloodied eyes towered the frightened expressions of these middle-aged men, he watched as they all cowarded on sight, pushing their chair backs and reaching for the tasers attached to their belts.

"Took you long enough," Harumi sighed, standing up from the chair.

The Oni shook his head at her before turning to the authorities, his arms crossed, showing his clear disagreement with keeping her detained like this.

"What's going on here?" He asked. Even if it was a neutral-sent inquiry, his voice seemed filtered, as if his mother tongue was tainted by cavern dragons. Even the softest of tones could come off as a roar, there, he stood easily on top.

It was a surprise for the men to find the Oni lord of Ninjago city to drop by to visit the station. Well, it wasn't like this was completely unsuspecting. They have seen the Oni before and knew that he was associated with the adventurous Resistance. But usually, people like Lloyd or Nya would come in to check on her....not him.

The monster that could easily devour a beast.

He had constantly alarming red eyes that only meant trouble, a grim look always resting on his face whether he was laughing or not. His teeth were sharp as a stone and his tongue was shaped like a fork, able to pierce through his prey.

The silence had to be broken.

The atmosphere was too stiff, the look he gave was like a vacuum, it sucked all the oxygen in the room, leaving the men to tremble down and attempt to breathe.

"Is this why my son and that water girl often left the bounty during the afternoon?" He asked again, not content with the sheer silence obviously.

Her fingers tapped on the wall behind her. She too, waited for an answer from these police men. It was a little funny to see them reduced to a panicking but silent mess.

"I'm telling you, for the hundredth time, I didn't do it." Harumi sighed quietly, in case the response they thought of was: "It doesn't change anything."

Well, something of that sort.

The commissioner turned over to both Garmadon and Harumi. "She will be held here for further investigation..she never carried any proof with her." He says.

Letting out a little growl out of irritation,
"Was my testimony not enough?!" The white haired girl jabbed. Garmadon shakes his head, as a sign for her to leave things to him.

The oni lord steps closer towards the table and brushing his hand against his hip, he pulls out a certain device. He slams it on the table, causing the room to resonate with a loud beeping noise.

Harumi and the police all stared down at the device—it was a tracker.

"This is all the proof you need. As you can see by this dot, the last registered location is Strangler's Path. She was there for the entire duration of the coronation." He explains, then points at Harumi's arm. "I took it out of her before we left the jungle, therefore this further confirms that this was her alibi the entire time."

This was the final straw, the last needed explanation that would prove Harumi's innocence.

The police understood that all too well.

"Well...we'll keep this to really confirm that this is not a fake." The commissioner insists, snatching the blinking device from the table and away from Garmadon.

"This really means she's free right?" Garmadon asks. The commissioner nods unwillingly. As much as he wanted to keep someone restrained  today—to find someone responsible, it would be delusional if he would really fake his accusations and keep Harumi here furthermore.

Even if he knew, in his heart, that Harumi was in fact innocent after seeing the tracker.

"I guess so. You're free to leave." The commissioner sighs and gestures the two towards the door.

Harumi glances a smile at the oni lord.
~~~~~~~~~
Exiting the police department, Harumi leans against Garmadon's arm, a little exhausted from having being questioned for a  good hour or two. She stared at the sky for a moment before grinning.

"Hey, thanks for that." She thanked the oni lord.

Surprised that he was actually getting thanked for one small favour, he shrugs.

"Don't mention it. You're lucky whoever is behind this left a little present behind." Garmadon comments tiredly as well.

They both walk out onto the street and waited by the edge of the sidewalk, the stoplights flashed a vibrant red.

"I still wonder who would do this...anyone comes to mind?" She prompts another conversation topic.

Garmadon thinks.

The stoplights glow green.

"No one comes to mind, no." He replies.

They both walk across, stopping near a park where they spotted a blonde boy accompanied with two puppies. Harumi gave a little smile as they both approached him.

"Lloyd, hello." She waves out to him.

Hearing her voice, the green ninja gestures the Husky and the Pomeranian to follow him. He stretches his arm out and hugs her, glad that she was finally out for the day.

"How did it go?" He questioned light-heartedly. Even if the response may be disappointing, he was just way too happy to see her all well and safe to even ponder about Harumi being kept for far longer.

The white haired girl giggled and hugged him back, extremely happy to be receiving this sort of affection so early in the afternoon. She was happy that Lloyd was supporting her all the way through all of this.

"Thanks to Garmadon, everything is sorted out." She replied a little timidly in all honesty.
She lets go of him and backs away slightly.

There were still so many things on her mind, but she mustn't utter a word about it to him. He already had so much on his chances and so did she...but, she didn't wanna dump everything on him here.

She still needed to figure out who was really after her and her city.

No, she cannot tell him everything just yet. She gives a side glance at Garmadon, begging him with fragile eyes not to reveal anything to the curious green ninja.

Lloyd gives an appreciative smile towards his father, not directly thanking him but he was glad that he had helped Harumi out of this. He hadn't caught on yet either that Harumi was conflicted about all of this. To try and lighten the mood, he suggested they go to a nearby ice cream parlour.

The two had agreed upon seeing how excited Cloud was to try the ice cream there, hinted that the frozen treats are quite creamy.

The entire walk there was mainly quiet, though Lloyd attempted so greatly to form a conversation. He asked many questions, wondered how Harumi was, all to receive a bland response as:

"It's okay."
~~~~~~~~~~~

Exiting out of the ice cream parlour with ice cream cones in their hands, Lloyd had caramel-flavoured chocolate, Harumi had strawberry with a cherry on top and Garmadon tried out vanilla after a long time. Nix and Cloud shared a Kaimaki back when they were still inside and managed to finish way before everyone else.

Now, they sat at the park. The pups ran free and chased each other meanwhile the three adults all sat by the benches. Harumi loosened up and managed to forget her thoughts for awhile, she participated in conversation with Lloyd and enjoyed being around him all and all.

Running away from Nix after he playfully bit her tail, Cloud laughs and abruptly stops near a willow tree as she spotted a group of three dogs in the distance. Her tail wags and she sticks her tongue out, showing mild interest and eagerness. There were other dogs there and that meant mew friends.

"Nix, Nix, look look." She tries to catch his attention. She certainly had grown fond of this dog, she was never seen without him. "Look, there's other dogs there, should we go and say hi?" She suggested. She sees from the side of her blackened pupils the Husky squint his eyes.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He retorts, shaking his head and looking back at her worriedly. Cloud pouts.

Even after being told that it wasn't a good idea to get closer to those dogs, she still walks off away from him and walks down the hill, making her way towards the other dogs.
"Oh you're just being a scaredy-cat." She laughs. They were supposed to be fearless dogs here, she didn't know why Nix was so against it.

Catching the other dogs' attention, Cloud had seen that there was a Pitbull, a Doberman and another Husky. Respectively, their names are: Warden, Chase and Lucky. Nix gulps, even if he was considerably taller than Cloud, he still stayed behind the puffy dog. "Hi guys..." Nix muttered. He seems to have recognized who these other dogs were.

Warden chuckled, taking a good look at the two new dogs. "Well well well, if it isn't Nix. What brings you back here? Would you like to rejoin the pack?" He taunts, the two other dogs behind him laugh at his jab. Nix growls slightly. "I was already in the pack, you were the ones who threw me out, left me to die!" He retorts with a steady bark.

"Do you guys know eachother?" Cloud butts in, turning her eyes to the skies in confusion.

Warden shakes his head. "It's because you are so frail and stubborn, you never listened to what we wanted, Nix." He completely ignored Cloud's question just to get at Nix a little more. The Pitball continued walking closer to the Husky, who clearly backed away. "You're a loser Nix, a coward to everything." He spat.

He clenched his paws and looked away from Warden, "I...I'm not a loser, I'm not scared...I-just watch..!" He denies, though these words were mostly used to comfort himself from just breaking loose here and giving Cloud such an unsightly sight. He takes a deep breath to try and calm herself.

"Hey, you've got a bone to pick?" Cloud growls, stepping forward—which greatly surprised both Nix and the three other puppies. Ah, so that's why he liked her so much, why he found her strong at times where he wasn't. She still defended him, even when not knowing what the threat was. "You leave Nix alone." She raised a paw, intending to jab away Warden's face from them.

The three dogs whimpered are Cloud's threat. But even the Pomeranian didn't easily believe their lowered ears and whines. They seemed...way too frightened just for one phrase. So why? Why did they begin to back away from her even when she stopped at one spot?

"Haha, I'm that scary?" Cloud bluffed, raising a brow.

That's until Cloud thought of the rational option instead of mocking the retreating puppies. She and Nix turned around gulped at who they saw standing there.

"Ah," Cloud took a deep breath.

"Point taken." Nix replied, slightly unimpressed.

Garmadon stood there with crossed arms.

The two puppies jumped and growled at Garmadon, he had scared them. "What? It seems that you had gotten into a fight with street dogs." The Oni lord explained. It surprised the two dogs when they were told that Garmadon simply wanted to defend them.

Either way, "You're still super terrifying, geez!" Cloud barked at the man loudly, not letting it slide that he had scared her as well. Garmadon lazily dodged her sharp canines.

Sitting from the benches, Harumi chuckled and stood up. She grabbed Cloud leash and slid Nix's over to Lloyd. "He really does act a little strange, don't you think?" She commented about the oni lord, watching as he attempted to calm an angry Cloud down.

Lloyd nods, standing up as well. "He's always been strange." He chuckled as well. He recognizes the kindness of his father in that man. However, it was still shrouded in mystery whether the oni that was bent down and caressing the white furred puppy was really his father. He hopes.

The two owners make their way over to the two puppies and attached the leashes on their collars. Cloud and Nix barked in content.

"I think it's about time we head back." Harumi smiles warmly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harumi, would you like some more salad?"

Staring dully at the distance, a hand pierced through the salad leaves with a fork.

There was a tiny silence, everyone around the dinner table waited for a response. Misako had just asked the white haired girl if she wanted some more salad.

But there was no answer. Harumi only turned her head down to the salad, having something else to look at aside from the wall. The food had no importance to her at the moment.

A cough was heard from the other side of the table. The bounty rocked.

The silence continued.

.....

.....

Then,

"Harumi!" Nya yelled at the top of her lungs.

The noise startled the empress of Ninjago, she gasped and dropped her fork on the table.

She sighed and pushed her chair back, leaving a plate full of salad and mashed potatoes sitting there. "I'm sorry, I'm not really hungry tonight." She apologized to her friends.

After being heard, she moved away from the dinner table and exited out of the kitchen, heading towards her own room, opening the door and just collapsing on her bed.

She groaned, so many issues up in her mind.

No resolution just yet. She had to find one soon, she didn't wanna ignore her family like that.

She tilts her head, a notebook catching her eyes. Lifting her head up from the pillow, she tests her patience and grabs the book from the drawer. She flips past a few pages and brushed her palm against the blank sheet of paper below her very eyes.

She didn't know what to draw today, no inspiration surfed her mind. Then why did her hand reach for this notebook?

She shrugs, stares at the ceiling for several seconds before sighing and giving in. Her hand grabs hold of the pencil and she begins to falter, the tip of the pen repeating the same pattern—a squiggled line circling itself, her petty attempt at a perfect circle.

She didn't get too far in her drawing. There was a knock at her bedroom door. She places her pencil down, shuts the notebook softly and answers with a call: "Come in!"

Lloyd was the one who stood behind the now opened door. He tilts his head, noticing her void-like eyes staring deep into his the minute he walked inside.

"You didn't finish your food." He reminds.

Her eyes narrows, "I'm not hungry." She protests.

Lloyd rolls his eyes and doesn't say a word, only looked at her, wondering what ever could be so wrong that she refused to finish at least one of the items on her plate.

Salad, untouched. Mashed potatoes, still piled on top of each other. The only thing that was left was a few fork marks on the meal.

Harumi looks away, her fingers on top of the cover page of her notebook, debating whether she should open it back up to ignore her lover's presence. It didn't work.

He came inside of the room.

She recognized that booming voice all so suddenly, how he called her, how he demanded her to listen to him this instant. How did he have this effect on her of all people? How did it become like this?

"Everyone's worried about you, why aren't you eating?" Garmadon asked, his voice becoming ever so slightly stricter everyday. He was simply correcting her wrongdoings.

She kind of just rolls her eyes, refusing to directly tell him what's the matter with her.
No, she should be dealing with her doppelgänger herself. It's a 'her' problem.

Growing impatient, Garmadon shoots a growl in Lloyd's direction. "Do you have something on your mind? Tell us if something's bothering you, Rumi-" he was cut off short by the jade empress.

She smiles at the both of them. "I'm fine, don't worry about it. I'll eat my food tomorrow, I promise." She promises them both.

There was a light silence.

The two men seemed genuinely surprised with her change of tone, judging by the way she reacted earlier with that eye roll.

It was unknown to them that her fears were forming like an unplanned storm.

'I just wanna protect this city and this family of mine.'

In no time, light rain would spread down her cheeks.

No, she holds herself. She just remain strong.

'Is that too much to ask?'

She grows desperate to be left alone.

Garmadon shakes his head. He doesn't buy it, he never does. Who does he think he is, her actual father? No, that man died in a hell fire ages ago, this guy...he was just trying too hard.

Harumi notices how she doesn't discard him out of the way immediately. Instead, she revolts.

"I'm sick of it. Don't ask me questions, just leave me alone!" She exists the room, nodding her head to herself—to sustain her foreign  powers. She makes her way onto the deck and hissed at any sight of a Resistance member.

The two remaining individuals glanced at each other, not quite catching up to the train of words Harumi ran them over by.

She never wanted to be left alone, she was rarely angry....so what happened?

Lloyd sighs and follows after her out the door at a slow speed. "She didn't talk, didn't she?" He makes a sad conclusion.

Guess they'd need to give up for the day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her feet hanged from a skyscraper-high building. Hissed in green and a broke down look placed on her lips, she ponders when she'll see the blue skies again.

She sits beneath a reddish-looking sky, hints of a fading purple way below her.  Her feet kicks against another, her boots crinkle up.

Below her, everything was in bloom. The trees' wafted through the soft winds of this magnificent city, she saw children, hand in hand. That's what she wanted to protect.

Whistling. Birds soared through, travelling from place to place without a care of any mild set-backs. This was a city of freedom.

Humming, cheering, smiling.

Laughing.

Very silent laughing.

Her eyes shot open at the jests of claps behind her. They were coming ever so closer to her, chills travelled down her spine as it just felt so real. She pauses.

Of course this was real, what was she talking about?

A figure, tall as a scarecrow and mysterious as a crow, gleamed down on her. Bandaged hands
and a cut out smile spreading across his face.
He continued to clap.

"Bravo bravo."

The prudent girl growls, standing up from the ledge of the foolish spot she chose. She brushed the debris off her skirt for presenting herself so improperly was unlady-like. She faces the stranger with a glare.

"What do you want?" She asks.

Two pair of eyes stared into one another's. A taint mixture of reddened and eminence-lighted orbs ready to partake into the spacious void the white haired girl emitted.

"I want what's mine." The figure responds, taking a step forward.

Harumi mirrors her rival. "What is it that you want?" She counters.

A teenager with black hair lifts down his cloak, revealing the insane-struck look he had been hiding through the shadows for so long.

"This is my world now, give it to me!"

A balloon popped, it symbolizes his composure.

It symbolizes the final life of this city, infinity, it goes in cycles, it always get destroyed at some point.

And Harumi didn't keep her promise of protecting it. Her people, her reign, she failed them all.

Lloyd....

Her heart hurt.

It sank in an acidic waste, watching such a piteous thing melt away. Her begs not to give up sinking further into nothingness.

The beautiful lands below her she saw a while ago was reduced to a barren wasteland. Cliffs filled the gaps and imprisoned her people—crushing them in crypts.

The skies dawned on her.

No stars to keep her going.

She lets out a mutter.

"I lose again?"

The enemy lifts a hand—a light purple boom shoots out of his hand. His most prized spell in his book.

"And you're gone!"

He giggles ever so childishly.

The beam crosses the gap between them very quickly. Borg Tower trembled at the momentum then it struck.

An undying pain—a sharp blow to the neck.

It tore her up shreds, even worse.

More skulls for the skull throne.

More blood for the blood god.

Rain droplets. They belonged to hers.

She was blown away from existence, tears shred on her cheeks—begging whoever was in charge to give her a second chance at life.

But she knew that couldn't be possible. She carried a basket of sins.

She cheated death so many times.

For what cost?

Life blinked away. She never returned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her consciousness falls right back down to her. Harumi gasps loudly as her eyes snap open. Her head spun and her stomach felt uneasy. But she knew it was because she was hungry. Even if it was the morning already, she still didn't find any energy to consume something.

Her chest had abruptly rose, a feeling someone would get whenever they fell from the dreamworld—or rather, the nightmare realm.
She breathes heavily.

Turning her head towards her bedroom window, a faint smile brightens her mind when she spots the sun beginning to rise from the distance. She was forever thankful for this view, it reminded her of home.

She slips out of bed, throwing away the blankets around her and sneaks out. She makes her way onto the deck, hoping to get a clearer view of the rising sun.

On her way there, she already spots a guest, leaned against the railings and seeming to have the same plans as her this morning.

Harumi hesitantly joins the oni lord, her hands wrapping against the railings for balance. She watches how he doesn't utter a word out to her, not wanting to break the silence and the calls of flying seagulls this moment.

Instead, he points at the sun, not wanting her to miss its rise.

And so she turned her head, attentive and happy.
~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hello and welcome to another episode of "Lilla's writing style is inconsistent AF". I was planning for this chapter to have shorter paragraphs and show a deeper meaning to each word but I guess it just kinda slipped when I returned to my regular writing towards the middle. Thing is, my writing is so incredibly inconsistent because I write the chapters on different days.

For example, I wrote the whole police questioning scene when I was reading "Heatwaves"(The DNF fic, yes.) and wanted to attempt and mimic the author's style, in which I failed miserably at.

Anyways, it seems things are becoming more and more unclear as we delve deeper into this new arc. Hope you enjoy the new story we have planned for you guys! ^0^