This chapter was written by: RumiVoid
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"Welcome to the royal palace. " The master of armes introduced. Nya huffed looking around. "Too much gold in my opinion. " she whispered quietly. Lloyd heard that and nudged her on the arm. "Nya." he lowered his eyebrows. She chuckled and walked off. "Fine, I think it looks gorgeous. " she commented sarcastically.The green ninja rolled his eyes before hearing his other teammates comments on how the decor of the place swept them away. "It looks beautiful! " Cole smiled, observing the exquisite pillars and how symmetric they look inside the current room they were in. Jay nodded in satisfaction. "I agree. The royal family are so lucky to be living in a place like this. " he added. As for the black ninja's response, he only said one thing: "I already feel royal when I'm here. " which annoyed Nya quite a bit.

Mr. Hutchins led them in front of what seems to be more doors. They were so large that someone could mistake them as part of the wall. "I may now present to you the royal family. " he pushed one hand on the ominous well decorated door. Just with that one little push, the whole throne room was exposed. More gold and jade rested by the thrones. The ninja went inside of the room and on instinct, put their hands together and lowered their heads in motion of a bow. "Thank you for protecting myself and my family. " the emperor smiled. Since Lloyd was the leader of the band of heroes, he was obviously the first one to speak. "It was our duty, after all, we're ninja. Our number 1 priority is to protect you and anyone involved with you. " Lloyd replied.

Hutchins coughed. "You've already met the emperor and empress, but did you meet the princess?" he asked. The green ninja shrugged. He didn't really know if the little conversation he had with the princess counted as: "meeting". However, he found it quite pleasant that she loved what he does for this city. Ofcourse, he's not as ungrateful as Kai for her not being a Fangirl of them. The jade princess gave a small smile and wave at Lloyd. In which he responded with a small blush. She walked over to Kai. "Kai, the fire ninja, the hothead who's flame matches his fierce personality." She moved to Cole. "Cole, the black ninja, the solid and responsible rock of the group. " she moved to Jay. "Jay, the blue ninja, whose mouth can move as fast lightning. " she added a small joke to let the master of lightning enjoy. She then walked over to Zane. "Zane, the white ninja, the brains of the group and sole android. " she said But was immediately cut off by the white ninja correcting her. He pressed on a button and his bright yellow skin was replaced by hard metal. "Actually, I prefer the term 'nindroid." He smiled despite her mistake. She lowered her head in apology and moved to the water ninja. "And Nya, the girl." The water ninja was about to bow in respect until she heard the last part of her sentence.

She gave off an angered look, seeming not to appreciate the title the princess gave her. Princess Harumi saw her angry look and chuckled mentally. "The grey ninja, which was always the girl I wanted to be every since I heard about her." she finished, leaving Nya to smile in satisfaction and bow down in respect. "I like her. " she said simply. Once Harumi's black spacious eyes with Lloyd's. she pursed her lips. "Finally, Lloyd the green ninja. The chosen one and saviour of all the lands of Ninjago, determined to find his partner, the light green ninja. " she sighed, looking down. The green ninja nodded sadly. "Indeed, I need to find the child of destruction. " he said softly. She raised a hand in the air. "I grant you luck that the light green ninja will make their way to you." She told him before going back to her throne.

"I know it's hard to lose your parents. Hence I lost mine. " she mentioned. Lloyd was surprised at first on how she knew that his family was pretty much separated at the moment but yet again, he was the green ninja, there's TV reports about him all day every day. Before he could say something, Jay gave an uneasy look, his eyes turning to the emperor and empress. Were they ghosts? He was pretty sure that they were living in the flesh. The empress noticed his troubled look and giggled. "We adopted Harumi. Her parents unfortunately passed away." She explained briefly. Jay and Cole looked at Harumi. "We're sorry to hear that..." they apologized however let out a chuckle of glee.

"It's no big deal! " the facepaint mask hid her real pain. She was still devastated over her parents's deaths. Heck, for her young age, she can't get over it just yet. "I'm perfectly happy with my new family. " she smiled brightly. Someone could easily mistake it for a happy and healthy smile but the princess was anything but healthy at the moment. She was nothing but broken. All her life ever since it happened. She relives nightmares of the scene and how she could have helped them. It was like a game for the young child. Choices were made in her mind and each night, a new ending is created. There's even one night where she recalled her family's warm smiles and how they told her: "our precious daughter, we're alright. Don't cry. ". She would imagine herself in their arms and how they would caress her stained cheeks. The princess looked up at the sky and gave a sad look.

"I wish it were different, mom...dad."
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"I'll now introduce you to the royal buffet. Here we have exotic fruits, exotic vegetables. Ah Ofcourse there's the irresistible and frosting filled cake. "Hutchins finished off. The ninja observed their surroundings even more unyielding Cole broke the silence, smiling confidently. "Uh yes, thank you. But after the disappearance of our master. My body's a temple." He explained without detail to Hutchins. In which he didn't seem to understand that term whatever it was. "Your body is a what? " the master of armes inquired again. Passing down another hallway, one that seemed to contain bookshelves. Definitely a library. Cole blushed, not expecting him to actually ask. He could hear the chuckles of his teammates from behind him.

"Well you see sir. It simply means that I don't go mental to sweets anymore. " he tried not to go in detail. However, to his surprise, he nodded, seeming to understand. "You know, you remind me of the princess. She doesn't go crazy for sweets either. Saying that it's important to keep in shape."he repeated what she told him the day he caught her starving herself in the early days of her reign. The green ninja, unexpectedly pushed forward. He was interested. Which surprised the ninja the most. "Important to keep in shape?" His tone changed, curiosity took over. It also seemed like he wasn't following from that part. Hutchins chuckled and turned his gaze to the ceiling. The bright lights getting in his left eye slightly. "The princess does some sort of special training. She trains with some unknown individuals that she meets by the subway every night. Which led to her escaping often. " he sighed in disappointment.

Lloyd's eyes widened, reeled in. "Aren't the emperor nor empress concerned that their daughter has been escaping? " the leader of the ninjas have interrogated. Sadly, Hutchins shook his head. "They are concerned about it, yes. But they have no power over the situation. Harumi tends to always find a way out of the palace whatever room she's condemned in. " he answered his question. "Maybe I can make sure she doesn't escape?" Lloyd suggested. Well more like offered and Hutchins actually seemed pleased with that idea. "If the princess trusts you then I guess I coude too. But I tell you, if you fail at this job, you're losing my trust for good." He glared Lloyd before walking off to another direction.
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As the ninja passed through deeper into the corridor, they spotted a mysterious orange artifact sitting perfectly still on the small poll beneath concrete glass. "Hey what's that?" Kai got close to the object and took a good glance at it before turning to the nindroid who was ready to speak. As fast as anyone could count to 10, Zane's eyes illuminated, contacting with glass on the object. "This is the oni mask of deception. Causing it's user to evoke four arms. "He informed his team. It was always useful to have a nindroid even though no one admitted it. "Only mask? " Jay butted in, confused.
Nya chuckled at his confusion. "No, not only, O-N-I. " she corrected her boyfriend lovingly.

"Oh I see. Thanks Nya! " Jay thanked. Lloyd turned circles around it. "This must be the thing we're protecting. " he narrowed his eyebrows at the weird looking occult mask. All jaws of the ninja were dropped. "So you're telling me we didn't came here to celebrate? " Jay was the first to react. The green ninja bit his lip and saw the expressions of his team.
"Lloyd." They groaned angrily. He chuckled, amused. "Sorry! I wanted it to be a surprise. " he apologized and told them the real reason of their arrival. "Really? We're on duty even though it's green ninja prophecy day?" The lightning wasn't able to chill despite Lloyd's apology.

"I use to think Cole was the party pooper but now it's proven its you. " Jay facepalmed and Nya wrapped her arm around him to try and cheer him up. "Don't worry,we'll have a real party after this protection duty." The water ninja told him. In which he just gave a sad smile and leaned his head on Nya's shoulder. Resting there. Zane butted in, a bit confused.
"Party pooper?" He questioned the lightning ninja. Cole decided to answer, noticing Jay was enjoying his moment with Nya. "let's just say, it's someone who ruins a party. " he said shortly, not bothering to go into detail. Zane was a nindroid, he could have easily searched through his database for the rightful definition of the word.
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To be continued...
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Bea: that is RumiVoid's part for this Monday! I think that she aced the introduction to the palace and the whole overall task of protecting the mask of deception. Also, that cute little Jaya moment she added in her part of the chapter. When I first read through her chapter, my heart literally warmed. I mean, Lloyrumi is my major OTP but Jaya too! And this was what was needed. If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote and tell us what you think in the comments below! 💜

RumiVoid: Hello guys! Chapter 2 is out and when I was reading the events happening in this chapter, I was really excited for some reason? The events aren't really as excitable to write than the other chapters I'm gonna be writing in the future. Anyways, I'm excited to declare that the first song of this musical novel will be coming out next chapter! Lucky Bea gets to write the song. Well, if you're curious enough, you'll have to see what song we chose for next Monday! if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a vote and comment down below your predictions and thoughts for next chapter! 💚