Having walked for a good hour or so with no particular route in mind, they broke through the heavy forest to find their path abruptly blocked by a vertical face of rock. Harumi approached the smooth mountainside, looked up at its soaring face and placed her hand against it 'do you think there's a hidden entrance somewhere?' she joked, 'To a cave with untold secrets?'

Lloyd chuckled 'Secrets to what? Life the universe and everything?'

'Yes! All that... and the recipe for Puffy Pot Stickers too!'

Lloyd burst into laughter 'not you too? Dareth is obsessed with them'

'Dareth?' Harumi looked confused 'I'm not sure I know this team member. But whoever he is, he has good taste!'

'Uh, yeah well, you might not say that if you ever meet him!

'Oh? That sounds a little judgemental. Could the Green Ninja be a little less perfect than I originally thought?'

'I am many things Harumi, but perfect is not one of them...' Lloyd sighed 'I figured that out a while ago. Perfection is something forever strived for but never attained'

'That's very wise... Which book did you memorise that from?'

'No book, Harumi. I figured this one out for myself and felt a lot less pressure once I did'

'Pressure?'

'Sure!' Lloyd replied and took Harumi's hand, leading her to walk along the edge of the cliff face 'With every book and every scripture that I would trawl through and paw over, I would never come any closer to what I thought I should be achieving. So I would read faster and push harder, but still I would get nowhere, as if I were running down a long road that stretched away to the horizon, never getting closer to an ending... so I stopped... or at least, slowed. I stopped expecting enlightenment and chose to exist in the moment, just me and some words that some old wise person wrote about something or other' He laughed.

'I guess that old wise person was having a moment when they wrote them... so?' Harumi shrugged.

'Exactly!' Lloyd exclaimed 'How can you hope to truly understand what some old dude wrote in a moment of rapture? You can't'

'But you can respect it'

'You can. And perhaps this is the only way to find any form of true understanding? To feel what is behind the words, accept them as a moment from time, one persons vision to help you create your own.'

Harumi turned Lloyd to her and tapped his forehead 'So all those words are just bumping around in there waiting to inspire you to greatness, huh?'

'Maybe!' Lloyd laughed 'But I'm certainly not holding my breath'

The path continued but soon became a narrow ledge that wound it's way around the side of the mountain. The clouds drifted in and around them, obscuring the view of the Island, enclosing them in a suffocating world that consisted of the rock face to their side and the path just below their feet; seeing any further was impossible and as the path narrowed even more, Harumi's hand slipped from Lloyds and they fell into step, one behind the other 'You still with me?' Lloyd called back.

'Mmm hmm' came Harumi's reply and they kept moving, a silence falling with the icy grey of the cloud.

Time seemed to halt as they continued their ascent, each step on the rocky treadmill taking them nowhere, until in a swift swirling motion, the cloud suddenly lifted as if a great hand had wafted it aside and a dramatic view appeared below. Lloyd stopped in awe. The great jagged rocks of the beach far below showed them the distance they had climbed from where they had first stepped foot on the beach.

'Well at least the boat's still there!' Lloyd commented 'the way its been acting, I thought it might have gone for a little cruise' he chuckled, but gained no response from his follower. He turned, surprised by Harumi's silence and again found her gaze averted to the middle distance as if in a deep trance.

'You've been here before' she quietly mumbled as if in a dream.

'Rumi?' Harumi ignored the view and continued on, gliding past Lloyd to take the lead 'Well, yes I have' Lloyd said 'The Overlord and my Father managed to trap us here...' he replied, though she did not seem to hear him as she moved on, muttering as she went.

'The boat, is just a boat'

'What?'

'You were here' she increased her pace and climbed up over large boulders with just the flat grey sky beyond, heralding their imminent arrival at the summit.

'Well yes' Lloyd mumbled to himself, knowing that Harumi was either not listening or not hearing him 'well, maybe not exactly here, but here on the Island'. He felt on edge. After their jokes and easy banter during their walk, Harumi's lapse back into this strange hypnotic trance was unsettling. It wasn't until they had come close to the island that Harumi had started to display this behaviour and Lloyd wondered what it could herald? Was their route as random as he supposed or was the island directing them... or her?

Jumping from boulder to boulder, Lloyd followed Harumi, watching warily as she moved across the rocky terrain, her gaze unwavering from its course. She disappeared over a large boulder and Lloyd hurried after her, jumping down over it as she disappeared around another. He saw the flash of her hair, white against the grey sky as she appeared again. Lloyds' eyes followed her and as he climbed to the peak of another boulder, the imposing structure of the Celestial Clock rose up, looming high above and again he stood in awe of the sight 'yes' he said 'I have been here'

Light flashed off one of the pieces and a pulse rolled outwards from the summit. He caught a glimpse of Harumi, her hair blowing with the energy. The pulse hit him like a strong wind. He pushed forwards, leaning into the wind to stop from overbalancing on the curved rock, but as soon as it had found him, it retreated as if being sucked back. Lloyd leant back into it stopping himself from toppling forward but felt the energy as a draw, enticing him, whispering its secrets but whisking them away before they could be revealed. As the energy subsided, a shimmer ran over the large piece and shot around the other cogs and the Celestial Clock creaked into life.

Lloyd looked away from the spectacular artefact, snapping out of his own trance. Looking for a glimpse of white, he searched for Harumi 'shit' he rushed on, unable to see her anywhere. Leaping from rock to rock he scaled the final ascent to the summit. She could only be there. Where else would she have gone?

Pulling himself up to the level summit, he saw her stand amongst the workings of the great clock, the structure slowly rotating around her. The teeth of its cogs kept their grip on reality, biting hold, slotting neatly together while Lloyd felt realty slipping a little further away with every moment. Harumi raised her arm and pointed into a space within the arcing mechanism 'here' she said, then moved her finger again to another space 'here'.

'Harumi, what can you see?'

She turned to him and smiled 'You!' before an ashen look came over her as she gazed into the empty space between the clocks workings 'your father...'

'What? You see my father?' He walked up behind her and followed Harumi's gaze, but he could see nothing 'why can't I see?' he wondered aloud.  Harumi took his hand and lead him forward, placing it onto the large piece. Nothing happened 'Harumi?' Lloyd asked, unsure what he should do.

As Harumi continued to look at the scene playing out in front of her she spoke quietly 'don't search... don't look. See the story the clock holds. It's yours'

Lloyd closed his eyes, the imprint of the cogs stung them, burning their circular form into his memory and jolted his mind to a different time. He slowly opened them and while still atop the lonely summit, he felt transported. The air was thick with atmosphere and the shapes of familiar figures moved through the haze. Lloyd closed his eyes and on opening them again the figures solidified before him 'mum?' his mother Misako was sat leaning on her knees looking down at her baby son rolling on a blanket. She cooed and waved her hands above him. Mesmerised by the repetitive wiggling fingers the child held his tiny hands up to mirror hers. She grabbed them and gave them a tiny shake. On releasing them Misako gasped and pulled back, a look of fear and confusion on her face. The perfect fingers she played with had turned black. She picked him up, held him close and moved away, their forms disintegrating. The chair that remained disappeared and was replaced by a door. Lloyd looked at it and approached. He stood before it and waited. As he reached for the handle it flew open, startling him.

His father hung onto the frame of the door, his face hovering breathless before Lloyds. There was a sick pallor on Garmadon's' face, beads' of feverish sweat clung to his skin and his white hair stuck to his skin. Black veins grew on his cheeks and forehead and he rolled his eyes to stop them from closing. Raising his head he looked straight through Lloyd and focussed on something beyond 'give him to me, Misako' he demanded in a low growl.

Lloyd spun around. In an adjoining ring his mother backed away, holding her son tightly to her.

'NO!' Misako shouted 'stay away from us Garmadon. I can cure him. I'll find a cure!'

'There is no cure. He must be with his father. We are one and the same' Garmadon moved forward, the pain of his transforming body hindering his movement.

Lloyd moved out of the way mesmerised by this painful reunion and watched Garmadon approach Misako.

'Stay away, Garmadon' Misako spoke in a low calm tone. She backed up and grabbed hold of a fire iron, holding it out in front of her she turned her body to shelter the child from his father.

Lloyd looked between them 'No, no, what's happening?' he said in a panic and Garmadon charged. Lloyd threw himself instinctively towards the attack but like a ghost, Garmadon moved straight through Lloyd. Misako thrust with the fire iron, but her attempt to shelter her child left her unbalanced and Garmadon batted the weapon aside to thrust his arm forward to hold her back against the wall. Misako clawed at his face, scraped her feet against his shins, fought all she could, but with his hip pinned against her she could not manoeuvre and after ripping the screaming child from her arms, he threw her across the room.

'NO!' Lloyd screamed. As he moved to react they disappeared.

His heart beat fast, the shock of what he had witnessed delaying the realisation that his surroundings still were not as they should be. His mind flinched as his body defied the laws of physics and stood solidly on the surface of a calm misty sea. He looked around and saw the little boat some way in the distance and began to walk out to it. Lightning flashed in the sky, breaking the calm and a dark figure appeared in the boat. It could only be his father. Lloyd stopped when he heard the same cries from the beach earlier travel through the air. It was me in the boat he thought, but why had I been alone then, when my father is there with me now?

The lightning flashed again and spasmodic forks hit the sea between Lloyd and the boat. The still sea juddered and flashed before him and a gigantic bulbous boil grew in the water as something pushed up from below.

The corroded metal rings of the Celestial Clock cut through the surface, shedding a thousand waterfalls over its myriad surfaces as it rose up. Lloyd shielded himself as the great artefact revealed itself and the island beneath.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing at the top summit of the Dark Island once again and the celestial Clock slowly turned time, out of sync with reality. Harumi was nowhere to be seen, so Lloyd turned around watching and waiting for his ghosts to reappear.

It was clear that reality would remain altered until his story was told and it seemed to him that the summit existed it two plains of existence, one where the clock stood rusting in silence and one where it lived on indefinitely with every moment in time defining its existence. He looked at it now; its movement was smooth, the erosion gone. It had life and vigour coursing through it again, reliving a drama that it was happy to share; indeed Lloyd believed it wanted that, but he could only ask himself 'why?'

He heard the sound of a person approach and turned. Over the brow to the summit Garmadon climbed, with his son quiet in his arms. From what he could see his father had changed some more. The black veins had spread across his face leaving only partial white streaks. His arms were half pigmented, the darkness having spread upwards from his fingers, reaching his elbows like blotchy mould. Soon it would bleed all over his body and Lloyd knew the inevitable mutation would come next. Garmadon climbed into the working cogs of the clock and placed the child within it. Lloyd approached to watch, intrigued at this vision of himself as a baby. The discolouration on the child's fingers now covered his arms and legs and had begun the creep onto his face. While Lloyd had thought the baby asleep, he could now see he was in a stupor, the poison within him too powerful for his young body to accept.

His father knelt beside his son, and bent low, clawing the earth in despair. He rocked back and forth, pleading with the Celestial Clock to help him. It span slowly, listening to his plea 'save my son. This poison in me has spread and is changing me. I didn't know. I didn't know that this would happen, that it would take my soul, let alone my sons. Is there no fairness or justice? I would sacrifice myself a thousand times over to save him... HEAR ME! HELP ME! Please...' he sobbed quietly 'Why? Why did you bring me here, if you can do nothing?' The rings and cogs continued their orbits and began to flash and spark. They turned quicker, the metal slicing time and altering reality, warping creation to a new end. Garmadon saw the Clock respond, he sat back in awe and hope grew on his face.

Lloyd looked to the baby, this baby that was him from years before. The darkness that was threatening to consume the child began to rise from him. As if the clock had a gravitational pull of its own it drew the poison into its frenzied motions, stirring it into its glowing rotations until it had disappeared.

Garmadon leant over his son, the black tint of evil had gone and colour was returning to his skin. The baby opened his eyes and let out a long cry. Garmadon laughed. Tears of joy ran down his face. He picked the child up and ran from the summit while the Clock still turned.

Lloyd followed Garmadon to the summits edge and watched as he scrabbled over the large boulders to the path below. He turned back to the clock, it had started to slow and he could see the dark swirl of the extracted poison within. Intrigued he looked on as the glow subsided, the cogs slowed and the darkness was drawn into the centre of the main disc to ball up and morph into a new form. From the top of the mass of darkness, two tendrils grew, pushing out to form ornate arms and the solid black shape beneath warped, creating a hollow. Lloyd watched, realising that he was now a witness and was once a facilitator to the creation of the Helmet of Shadows.