Half Moon Run
••• Trust •••

it's not a riddle, it's a stepping stone
on a slippery slope, it'll drag you down
never seen you like this before

•••••

TW: mentions of vomit, dubcon kiss/advances, assault

Jay and I screamed, and it echoed in the darkness that quickly consumed us. I was pretty sure that if I held his hand any tighter, I'd shatter it.

As we tumbled through the air I seriously reconsidered how much I trusted the team, though it was a tad bit late for that kind of clarity. I waited for the impact and hoped my death was swift.

And then the walls around us curved until we were caught, and our momentum sent us hurtling down a massive flute of ice. My screams tapered out in confusion. Jay began to laugh.

"An ice slide!" he cheered over the wind of our speed. "Lloyd's granddad was the coolest!"

"Are you telling me I risked my life seventeen times in that cavern for a slide?" I was in disbelief. I had a panic attack over a slide?!

Jay's hand slipped from mine as he spun circles on the ice while giggling maniacally. I stared at the rocky ceiling above us and contemplated throttling Uchū in the afterlife.

"Hey-hey!" Jay's spinning form called out to Nya and Kai, who we were starting to catch up to. They were sliding on a different track and brightened when they saw us.

"You made it!" Nya exclaimed in delight. She yelped when her track suddenly dipped out of sight. Jay and Kai collided in a tangle of limbs and spat curses.

"I don't think the health and safety of this ride is up to standard!" Kai shouted.

"Probably was a gazillion years ago," Jay chuckled. He pointed at an incoming loop-de-loop. "Look out!"

We were going fast enough that we didn't fall from the height of the arc, but I certainly felt myself grow sick. I held my hands over my mouth and grimaced. I hoped this ride would end soon, because I didn't want to think about what might happen if it went on for much longer.

Cole and Zane appeared, zipping into our path with yells of both elation and terror. Nya somehow appeared from overhead and landed just shy of Zane with a squeal.

"Owww," she complained, and drifted along the ice until she was shooting down it backwards. "This slide sucks!"

My stomach rolled again. I was inclined to agree.

After another few twists and turns and bruised limbs, we finally crashed through a thin sheet of ice and landed in a tangled heap within a snow pile. We recovered our bearings with groans and mutters, and stood to assess our injuries. My temple throbbed from when I'd involuntarily head-butted the wall.

"Is everyone okay?" Zane asked as he rolled his shoulder. It clicked strangely. We mumbled half-hearted replies and looked about where we'd ended up.

We found ourselves inside a monstrous cavern made entirely of ice. It was three times the size of the other rooms combined and filled with tall walls at random. Sharp icicles dotted the floor. The entire thing was a sheen of glowing blue.

"What did we get ourselves into?" Kai asked in awe. He almost slipped over and had to flap his arms to stay upright.

Jay leapt up the small mountain of snow and looked out to appraise our situation. He beamed. "It's a maze!" he announced cheerfully. "I'm great at mazes!"

"Oh, great," I sighed. "A maze. Just what we need." I was a fan of riddles, not mazes.

"This is going to take forever. We don't have time for this!" Nya agreed with a groan.

"What kind of all-powerful god puts a maze in his tomb, anyway?" Cole asked as we started off at a slightly walk. "Seems a bit pedestrian."

"I guess he ran out of dragons," Jay snickered.

"Knowing Lloyd and his dad, putting a maze in his tomb seems like the natural thing to do," I murmured. Under different circumstances, I reckon they both would've found this hilarious.

"I guess." Kai raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the wall of the hallway we were walking down. "But even still..." A strange look crossed his face, and then he came to an abrupt stop.

Nya bumped into him. "Hey!"

Kai ignored her. He stared at his reflection with wide eyes. "... did I hit my head too hard?" he asked.

"You were born like that." At his non-reply, Nya's disgruntlement turned into confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Look at your reflections," he said.

We don't have time to look at reflections. Morro could be at the Crystal right now. Lloyd's safety could be teetering on mere seconds.

"Is that- me?"

Zane's wondrous query stole my focus, and I looked over to see him with a look of deep fascination as he stared at his reflection. My confusion grew. He looked normal to me.

"I look older, but my attire is... different," he continued. "The ice seems to contain a glimpse of our future selves."

"No way," Nya gushed as she stepped toward the wall closest to her. "I take back what I said about this maze..." She trailed off with a soft gasp. Intrigued, Jay and Cole turned to walls closest to them.

I hesitated, torn between my curiosity and not wanting to know. What if I looked into my future and Lloyd wasn't there? What if it showed what would happen if we failed to save him? There were too many bad possibilities I didn't want to see.

"Misako said to move forward, don't look ahead. Is that what it means?" Cole asked as he approached his reflection. He froze. "... oh. That's... unexpected."

"What is it?" Kai asked.

Cole jumped. "Nothing. I just- uh... I get a beard." He quickly looked back to his reflection with a bewildered look.

"I didn't realise facial hair was that surprising," Kai teased. Cole's shoulders hunched, and his amusement grew. "Fine. Keep your secrets."

"Hey guys!" Jay called, and Cole sighed with relief at the attention turning from him. "Guess what? I get an awesome eyepatch!"

"Is that all?" Nya shot him an amused glare.

Jay shrugged with bright pink cheeks. "I wasn't sure if you wanted everyone to know that we'll get married."

Nya smiled sweetly at his consideration. Kai, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction.

"You're gonna what?" he spluttered.

"Come on, Kai, we all know it's gonna happen," Nya said dryly. "You really think I'd ever get rid of this guy?"

Jay's face lit up like Christmas lights. Kai seemed to continue struggling to come to terms with the impending marriage of his little sister. Zane turned his blue eyes to me curiously.

"What about you, Y/n?" he asked. "Do you see Lloyd in your future?"

"Oh, yeah!" Jay chirped. "Do we save him?"

My hesitation must've been obvious, because Cole sent me a sad smile.

"It's okay. You don't have to check."

But even with their best attempts to hide it, I could see the want to know on their faces. How could I blame them? I would be the same.

I inhaled deeply. I turned to the wall beside me.

My reflection stared back, and it was normal for a split second before blurring and morphing. I watched as my face grew a little sharper, my eyes a little wiser, and it was fascinating to see me age into an adult in real time - but I kept staring at the empty spot beside me.

Please. Please. My throat grew tight at his prolonged absence. Future me smiled sympathetically, like she knew exactly what part of her past this was from and recalled how much hurt I felt.

My chest caved. My heart deflated until it was limp and nothing. This was a tragedy I could never, ever recover from.

But then future me glanced over her shoulder and at the ground, and a small figure knocked into the skirt of her kimono at speed. My despair turned into surprise at the little girl with brown hair, and then I was overcome with relief when she looked up with Lloyd's red eyes.

She was pale and faintly-freckled like him, but had the shape of my face when I was her age, and it was so strange to see her that I almost forgot to be sad. She wore the very dragon pendant I had around my neck and, to my half-hearted, distracted amusement, a Batman shirt. She stared up at me with the same awe as I watched her with.

She's mine. She's ours. She wore a Batman shirt, so she was a little traitor, but I was sure I could get past that.

The surface behind future-me and future-toddler rippled. The faint colour of green was what first arrived, and my body involuntarily tensed as I thought Morro had approached from behind me. But Lloyd's eyes focused first, and then his smiling face, and I almost collapsed with the enormity of my gratefulness. Maybe I wouldn't throttle Uchū after all.

We must've only barely been a decade older, but the age looked good on him. Lloyd wore the green and golden robes of a Sensei, and he had the beginnings of faint smile lines and stubble. He was stockier, more filled out. He looked wisened, like he'd been through multiple rough journeys, but content with the turns his life had taken. He loved being a dad.

That was such a relief. It was such a relief to see him happy - to see all three of us happy.

It'd only been a second since I looked into my reflection but it felt like an eternity. My stupor was broken by Jay leaning against my arm with wide, worried eyes.

"Do you see him?" he hesitantly asked.

"Yeah," I answered with weepy happiness. "I see him."

Jay brightened and squeezed me into a sudden hug of joy. A sense of relief swept over the team, and things, for just a moment, didn't seem so grim. I felt drunk with it.

I turned back to my reflection, to relish in this happy future that I so dearly wished I was standing in now. My fingers were stained with ink, and my hair was slightly unruly in that way my favourite history professors were. Lloyd had a scar from his cheek down to his jaw, but it only highlighted his handsomeness. His eyes, which I'd thought were just green before, were also ringed with dark red. They looked even more beautiful that way.

We looked strong together. I even looked capable and confident, which I never thought to achieve in my wildest dreams. I looked like I belonged at the Green Ninja's side, and he was delighted to have me there.

But the girl. My focus kept dropping to her, because it was both unnerving and fascinating to see someone who was made of both Lloyd and I. I'd forced myself to forget the prophecy Ronin had mentioned about her, but I knew I could never forget her face.

The nameless little girl tugged on Lloyd's long robes and stretched her arms to the sky. He picked her up with ease and the softest look I'd ever seen on him. He gestured something to her, and then our future daughter made a heart with her hands and beamed encouragingly for me, her tear-stained mother from the past.

I almost broke down into sobs. I think I just fell in love with her. I think I just fell in love with Lloyd all over again.

I was getting him back even if it killed me.

Future-Lloyd read my emotions easy, because he was probably fluent in them by then. He grinned, squinting his eyes with mirth. He knew I was going to get him back, too.

"Come on, Y/n." Nya nudged for me to move. "We can stay here forever looking at our futures, or we can go save Lloyd."

My eyes lingered on his face as I was pulled away. "... right." 

I'd just turned away from our reflections when Cole made a shout of warning. The wall of ice before him shattered at the swipe of a gleaming sword, and Morro came barreling through the gap he'd created like a truck.

We scattered with yelps of shock, but it was hard to get traction to flee when the floor was made of ice. Jay slipped over with a cry and winced when the Sword of Sanctuary was shoved towards his throat. The rest of us stilled, half-hiding amongst the frozen rubble of his sudden attack.

"All you ninja do is talk!" Morro spat. Jay stared up at him with wide eyes. "I'll stop you from talking."

"Jay-!" Nya cried, but was held back by Zane. She struggled against his grip.

Kai lobed a chunk of ice at Morro's head and, while he was distracted by avoiding it, Jay swept out his legs and sent him crashing to the ground. He fled the next second, feet slipping against the floor in his bid for escape.

"He's attacking an unarmed man!" Jay cried before darting around the corner frantically.

Morro yelled in frustration and stormed towards Zane and Nya, but they both escaped with speed before he could reach them. His ire grew.

"Come out and face me!" he spat.

I caught Cole's gaze. 'Run,' he mouthed.

I wasn't too keen on running. What if one of us found the Tomb but the rest were scattered across the maze? What if Morro cornered one of us? Morro might not have been able to figure out how to use Lloyd's powers,  but he was still just as strong.

But this wasn't the time to argue. Morro was stalking for his next victim, and the ninja had a plan spoken in hands that I couldn't make sense of. When Kai, Zane and Cole leapt to attack Morro, I bolted in the opposite direction.

My shoes struggled to keep traction against the ice, and half of my steps were only slips. Still, the ninja kept him occupied for long enough. I didn't stop running until I was five turns deep.

I leant against a cold wall and caught my breath. Sure, Morro might be attacking us, but at least we were sure that he hadn't won just yet.

His body, however...

I closed my eyes in agony. Lloyd looked so thin and sick, worked to the bone nonstop for the past few days.

  I wish I had my sword.

To do what? To fight him? Possessed or not, he was still the Green Ninja, a demigod, the literal grandson of the guy who'd created the world. He was fate's soldier and a full-time ninja for the past four years. I'd been training for, what, eight hours combined? Lloyd could break me like a stick.

I was so impatient for that future where I was strong. Maybe by then I knew how to use my powers, too. Maybe I was an asset instead of a liability, and I could hold my own on the battlefield. Until then, I had to run and hide.

Morro came crashing through another wall just a few paths down, and I flinched at the cacophony of shattering ice. The sound of fighting continued, but what weapons did the ninja even have? A few stars, at best.

We were so close. We couldn't give up-

"I can hear you, pet."

My blood ran still at Morro's coo from beyond the ice behind me.

"Where did he go?!" Zane's shout echoed throughout the chamber. I inhaled to call out our location.

"Ah-ah-ah," Morro continued. I stood up from the wall I leant upon when he turned the corner, and even with Lloyd in the state he was in, he looked intimidating enough to make me take a step back. "I wouldn't do that."

I reluctantly closed my mouth and gritted my teeth. Morro's dark expression lifted with a smirk.

"All alone? How unfortunate."

My brain fumbled for an escape. I couldn't outrun him. I couldn't overpower him. He was already avoiding looking at the future vision in his sword, so I couldn't pull that trick again. What to do, what to do?

"You have been a thorn in my side since the beginning," he seethed, and swept the sword with such sharp expertise that I heard it slice through the air. My heart flinched. "My patience grows thin. I'm too close to my goal to be distracted."

My feet slid on the ice as I edged backwards. It seemed that Lloyd's emotions were losing their hold over Morro, and my luck was slipping through my fingers. He'd always want to takeover Ninjago more than he'd want to have me.

But I could still utilise it. Nya said I'd done it before, so I could do it again. Just to stall, to get some time to think of a plan or for the ninja to arrive.

"Don't worry," Morro said as he raised his sword. His arm wavered and struggled against him, and he grunted with effort through his cold smile. "Being a ghost isn't so bad."

"Wait!" I raised my palms. I could hear my pulse racing in my ears. "Wait."

Morro's struggles ceased. His eyes narrowed at me suspiciously.

"You saw your future, didn't you?" I asked, and I tried to steel my shaking voice. "Morro, you're not gonna win. If you let this go, then maybe we can work together-"

I was cut off by his sharp scoff. He shook his head and ran his tongue across his fang, his I'd told him a lame joke.

"Futures aren't set in stone, little lamb," Morro said. "Those visions are as fragile as the ice they lay within."

"Then let Lloyd go," I pled. I was struck with a stupid, stupid idea. "... take me, instead."

His expression dropped with sincere surprise. His arm dropped an inch, and it took a beat for my bargain to settle in. He masked his shock with a coy smile.

"I'm a bit bound by a deal I have with a friend of mine." Morro tilted his head. "Someone wants his head on a silver platter."

A cold feeling trickled through me. Axon.

"Deals have been broken before," I responded defiantly. "You said it yourself - I'm a waste of potential. I'm unambitious. I don't want my powers."

He began to slowly walk towards me, footing sure even on the ice. I forced myself to remain still.

"I don't want your powers either, pet," he muttered.

"Then what do you want?"

Morro grabbed my chin and pulled me toward him. "You," he hissed.

My breath hitched. I was terrified, but I was more scared of losing Lloyd. I'd do this. I'd do anything to get him back - and then once he was better, once he was strong again, maybe then he'd be able to save me.

"Then take me."

Morro dipped his head closer, and for a moment, he almost seemed to be considering it. He huffed with a snarl.

"You don't want that," he said.

"I want Lloyd to be safe," I whispered. "If that means giving myself up, then I'll do it."

Morro's ears darkened. His composure was slipping, and I felt both vindicated and uneasy by how quickly he'd began to falter. When did it stop being Lloyd's emotions and start being his own? I didn't want to know.

Morro's laugh was cold and sharp. "You really do love that pathetic boy, don't you?"

I didn't answer. We both knew that I did, and I was uncertain if hearing such an admission spoken out loud would flame his anger.

But he was slipping away again. I could see his walls building back up, because it was still Lloyd and their walls looked the same. I lifted my hand to press it over his.

"Just leave Lloyd alone," I murmured slowly. "And I'm yours."

He tsk'd. "You wouldn't-"

"Wouldn't I?"

Morro faltered. He turned back to my unwavering, determined gaze and couldn't see any hesitation there. He swallowed. His gaze was struggling between the fight for control, and I was certain that Lloyd was trying his best to tell me to stop, but I couldn't.

Morro was still unsure. I needed more ammunition. I needed to seal his resolve.

I lifted myself onto my toes and kissed him.

He felt like Lloyd - physically, that is. He had the same lips, though chapped and dry, and my body knew his but also not quite. He was familiar but also a stranger. The hand on my chin had the same callouses, his touch felt like Lloyd's.

Inside, though, I just felt cold.

Morro was frozen for a second, gone still with shock, but that didn't last for long. The grip on my jaw softened, and then his walls fell like water, and he was kissing me back. I held his arms (they still felt so much like Lloyd's) and he melted into my touch.

Nya was right. I was good at utilising my advantages.

I grabbed his wrists with an iron grip and twisted them around until he was in an arm lock. I was surprised, and then relieved. Thank god - I still knew how to do that from last summer.

Morro's haze was quick to snap. He craned his head to me with a red-faced scowl - and truly, I'd never seen him so furious. Still, I smiled.

"Rule number one; don't let your opponent distract you," I said with a stupefied chuckle at myself. "I learnt that from Lloyd."

I felt his muscles bunch in preparation to escape my grip, and then my knee met his crotch with swift succession. His yelp was so sharp and thin that it was almost comical if I was in the mood to find anything funny. I released his wrists as he crumpled to the ice with a breathy whine.

"And I learnt that one from my mother," I continued, before pausing, because he really did look like Lloyd when he was in pain. I bit my lip apologetically and bent down to push his black fringe from his glaring eyes. "Sorry, hero. I'll make it up to you."

"I- I'm gonna... kill you," Morro wheezed.

I grabbed the sword and backed away while he struggled to his knees. "Will you, though?" And then I bolted as fast as the slippery ice would allow me to.

Twice, now, I'd tricked him and ended up with the sword. I was even proud of myself - I wasn't a good fighter yet, but at least I was cunning enough to make up for it. My parents would be so proud.

I rounded the corner and slid into Kai. He steadied me with a gasp before the both of us could go tumbling to the floor. His amber eyes widened in disbelief at the sword in my grasp.

"What are you?!" he exclaimed.

I held the sword out for him to take and shrugged. "Smart."

Kai grabbed the hilt with a shake of his head. "More like insane." He glanced down at the sword and huffed, before recovering his composure and turning back to me. "Where's Morro? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head and gestured behind me. "He's back there. I kneed him in the balls."

Kai stared at me for a second. "You... kneed him..?"

"In the balls."

"... in the balls," he finished slowly. He heaved a sigh and stared at the ceiling of the cavern for a brief second. "You're evil." He dropped his gaze back to me with an amused grin. "Well, it's not conventional, but it worked."

"I feel like that's how things have been generally going for me." I frowned seriously and peeked behind us. "It won't slow him for long, though. We have to find the others."

"I know," Kai muttered. "But sound travels so weird in this stupid maze."

I hated to admit it but Morro was right. The ninja were loud. By with the way their voices bounced around the cavern, it felt like they could've been anywhere. We picked a random direction to follow and walked.

"There they are!" Cole exclaimed. Kai and I looked down the corridor we were passing and found the rest of the team slip-sliding at speed towards us.

"You have the sword!" Nya exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's great - but how do we get out of here?" Jay asked, and swiftly brought us to our next problem; the maze. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life stuck in here with an angry ghost."

"To move forward, don't look ahead," Cole repeated. He exhaled and groaned with deep exasperation. We were all tired. "But that doesn't even make any sense! Zane, Y/n, any ideas?"

But we were stumped. It was a maze, what did Uchū want us to do, walk backwards? I was losing my patience and starting to hate these riddles - and I usually loved riddles.

Jay pouted while we all brainstormed. "Don't look ahead. Look up?" He swivelled his head to the ceiling. "Nope! Behind?" He turned around. "Been there."

"Jay, please," Kai said, annoyed. "We're trying to think."

Jay ignored him. "Below-? Below!" He dropped to his knees and peered through a crack in the icy floor. "Don't look ahead, look below!"

We turned our attention to the crack in the floor Jay was peeking through and, sure enough, a slither of white light was creeping from below.

"I cannot believe I am about to say this, but you might be a genius," Zane noted. Jay's excited smile turned smug.

"Watch out." Nya pushed us aside and concentrated a blast of water at the crack. It wore down quickly, and once the hole was big enough, we shimmied through it.

The drop was short but the landing wasn't soft, and my knees protested at the impact of the stone beneath my feet when it was my turn to enter the next cave. Ground shock sent shivers up my nerves. I winced for a moment, but then I forgot all about it when I looked up at our surroundings.

The cavern was as gorgeous as it was eerie - it was dark and gloomy, cut through the centre by an underground river illuminated by the soft glow of the rocks below. The water tumbled from a large breach in the cavern wall above us, creating the soothing backdrop of a waterfall.

A path led downwards, where the cave floor opened out into a large platform. In the middle of it was large, round rock, perfectly smooth save for the multiple semi-circles of glowing blue stone. They all seemed to bloom from the centre, where the remains of Lloyd's all-powerful grandfather laid.

I released a shaky breath. We'd made it.

Driven silent by awe, we made our way down the path toward the resting site of the ancient god. I almost asked Zane to pinch me, because surely this was a dream. After all this effort, pain and heartbreak, to finally be here?

I couldn't tear my eyes from the skeleton. If it weren't for the doom and gloom that still hung over us like storm clouds, I could've pretended that this was an archeological mission, and that we'd just made an incredible change to history that'd be written down into the important kind of books I'd always devoured. These were the very bones that had seen the start of the world.

We stopped before the remains with not a dare to breathe. In his skeletal grasp was a large, perfectly shaped crystal whose innards glimmered like a tiny, wispy universe. It laid against his chest like a precious heart.

"It's him," Kai said quietly. "The First Spinjitsu Master."

Lloyd's grandfather. I just kneed his possessed grandson in the balls in his own tomb.

I paled, and desperately hoped that he wouldn't see it as a grave offence from the afterlife. Maybe he'd been the one throttling me, after all. I'm so sorry, sir. I swear it was done out of love.

Zane knelt first and bowed his head with deep respect, and the rest of us quickly followed suit. It still felt surreal, like I'd wake up from a dream at any moment.

"The Realm Crystal," Zane said with a hushed voice. He stood, taking a few tentative steps towards the skeleton, before grabbing the crystal with exceeding care. He held it aloft and admired the way the light bounced from its murky centre.

Kai frowned. "How does it work?"

"How it works is that you'll hand over the crystal or say goodbye to Lloyd."

We startled at the booming echo of Morro's threat, and whipped around to find him standing at the tall ledge where we had entered ourselves. The cliff he was standing on stretched higher than I thought it had, and the side was sharply cut, dropping to the rearing river below.

  Morro looked down at us with a wicked gleam in his eyes - and it was his eyes, not Lloyd's. The greenish transparency of him was unfamiliar and frightening; my hair stood on end. His

And dangling at the edge of the cliff, in the mercy of his grip, was Lloyd.

Lloyd. It'd been so long since I'd seen him before me without the hateful cruelty of Morro marring him. His hair - blond once more - hung limp across his forehead. He clawed at Morro's grip, but each attempt was merely weaker than the last. He kept shivering, and his skin crackled with electricity.

The dullness of his eyes scared me.

"... I'm sorry." Lloyd's voice was so brittle and quiet that I could barely make out his words. "I- I couldn't stop him."

He clenched his teeth with a shudder, and the cavern shook with a small earthquake. The rock around him began to crack and tumble into the water.

"What's happening to him?" I cried.

"It's his powers," Cole said gravely. "He hasn't used them enough, and now they're all pent up. He'll bring this entire place down on us!"

Morro was the only one who didn't have a problem with that - but it wasn't as if he could die twice. It'd probably be easier for him to have us all dealt with at once. There was a glint of psychotic accomplishment in his glare. His gaze turned to me and darkened.

He thrusted out Lloyd a little closer to the edge, and his feet scrambled at the crumbling edge. My heart leapt into my throat.

"What'll it be?" Morro pressed.

Zane, whom I'd never seen look so furious before, turned his glare from the ghost to us. The Realm Crystal in his grasp almost seemed to grow more grey and murky in the wake of his scowl.

"If we hand him the Crystal, he will usher the reign of his master, cursing Ninjago and every realm," he said firmly.

"But if we don't, when has he never made good on a threat?" Cole pointed out. He glanced at the duo towering above us. "Look at Lloyd. He's too weak to protect himself.

What does the sword say?" I asked. My hands wrung - my panic was starting to exude from me like Lloyd's powers.

Zane shook his head. "The Sword only shows future visions of things that directly impact the weilder. Lloyd's safety is not considered."

"What if Nya uses her powers?" I nervously suggested. I kept peeking over my shoulder at Lloyd, and my stomach turned when our eyes met. "Morro's in ghost form. He's weak."

"Just because he's in ghost form doesn't mean he's weak," Nya disagreed. I reluctantly turned my focus back to her. "He'll just throw him right into the water, or possess him again."

"Either option totally stinks!" Jay spat. "What do you think, Kai? What do we do?"

Kai frowned before grabbing the Crystal from Zane. He glared at it, burning holes into it with his amber eyes. I knew he was conflicted. On one hand; do his duty and save Ninjago. On the other; save Lloyd, his brother. Either way, Morro would win.

Another shake of the earth had dust and pebbles raining from the cavern's ceiling. We were running out of time.

"Looks like the decision is up to you, Kai," Morro said callously. "So choose."

Kai let out a noise of frustration and gripped the Crystal tightly, as if it would give him the answer. I glanced up at Lloyd again. His eyes were closed, and with it, he looked no better than a corpse. I felt so useless.

Come on, powers! You worked when he was in danger before. Why can't you work now?

"Stop stalling!" Morro spat, shoving Lloyd closer to the drop. He was practically dangling over the river. "Give me the Realm Crystal or else!"

"We're not stalling!" Kai fired back furiously. "We're thinking!"

Kai gestured us in with a wave of his hand. We huddled closer.

"He's totally right, I'm stalling," Kai whispered. "What are we gonna do?"

"We need to get Lloyd!" I pled. We were so close. I had a horrible feeling that he wouldn't be able to take much more of any of this. My chest ached as if it'd just been bulldozed.

"We know," Zane reassured. He took my hand and squeezed it in camaraderie. "We will. First, we must think of a plan."

Cole groaned, sending Morro a glare out the side of his eyes. "I swear, when this is all over..." he smashed his fist into his palm. A couple of tiny stones rose around his feet.

"Our powers," Kai whispered hopefully. He outstretched his palm and grinned when tiny flicker of flame burst into life. "Now that Morro's out of Lloyd's body, they're starting to come back."

Jay held out his fingers and grunted. A small flicker of lightning bolted between his index and thumb, but it was nothing more than a fizzle. He sent us a defeated look.

"Yeah, but like Lloyd, they're weak," he said with a frown. "We can't fight back like this."

Kai's furrowed expression brightened. He set us all with a determined look.

"Leave that to me," he said firmly. "Be ready."

For what? I was going to ask, but Morro's patience ran out before I could.

"Times up!" he howled. "You leave me no choice-"

"Wait!" Kai yelled with his back turned to Morro. I watched as he held the Crystal with both hands and summoned his fire power to heat it up. It began to turn a shade of orange. I clicked onto his plan moments too late. "We'll give you the Realm Crystal."

Morro's face split into a triumphant smirk just as Kai turned on his heel and lobed the Realm Crystal at him. He reached up to catch the precious jewel with a cackle.

And I wasn't an expert on ghosts or anything, but I'd never heard of a ghost being able to get burnt. Nevertheless, as soon as the blazing hot Realm Crystal made contact with his fingers, he yelped and recoiled from the pain.

The Crystal dropped to the ledge before rolling over the cliff edge and dropping into the river. It slipped beneath the surface of the water with a finalising plop. Morro stared after it in horror.

"The Realm Crystal!" Morro screamed. He turned to us with a truly haunting expression of fury. "What have you done?!"

Before anybody could react, Lloyd mustered up what remaining strength he had and kicked himself out of Morro's grip. The ghost went stumbling back with a surprised grunt. The cavern began to shake more violently than before, with worrying cracks in the rock spiderwebbing their way to the ceiling.

"Go!" Lloyd turned to us. He staggered beneath his own weight as bolts of lightning lashed the air around him. His body began to steam. "Get out of here!"

In his effort to warn us, he didn't see Morro's swift recovery.

"Lloyd!" I shrieked, and someone else shouted, too. We began to bolt toward him, but it was in vain. We were too far apart.

Morro roared in outrage and shoved him back with a violent gust. Staggering back, Lloyd tried to keep himself from the ledge, but it was already compromised from the earthquakes, and he was so weak. The edge crumbled. His foot slipped.

It was like the world had stopped. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd toppled over the side of the cliff, just as the Realm Crystal had done before him, and fell to the freezing river below.