CW: blood/gore

My arm fell limply to my side as I watched him disappear into the crowd, my voice having left me. I dropped back behind the bushes even if there was no use in hiding anymore; maybe I just wanted someone to shake me awake, to tell me that this wasn't actually happening. Heart beating in my throat, I looked around wildly as if the surroundings would fade into the forest clearing I was so accustomed to seeing, only to find Skylor staring at the golden-orange fire dancing between her fingers, hypnotized.

I searched the others' faces for a sign. They were blank.

No, this can't be happening.

"Skylor," Zane whispered, regaining his calm faster than the rest of us, "Do the other powers work?"

The fire flickered out and was replaced by a spark of lightning.

"Then... THEN HE WAS THAT SHADOW RIDER!" Jay shouted, and Lloyd looked like he was about to shush him before realizing there was no point in being quiet.

"How long has he been under their―AHHH!" Lloyd shrieked as he barely dodged a flying dagger when it flew inches away from his ear.

"We do not have time to discuss," Zane said, grabbing two pairs of shurikens while avoiding being hit, "Rumi, you must go follow Morro, take the Crystal Blade, and destroy the source. We will hold the rest of them back."

I tried to protest, but couldn't get a sound out.

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Nya said, pulling out a katana, "But we're also pretty outnumbered..."

"I believe the tower is narrow enough inside so that you should have no trouble fending them off on your own," Zane said to me.

My head was spinning.

"I'll go with you just in case," Skylor volunteered, uttering the first words she'd spoken since that morning.

"Uh, you do remember they can fly, right?" Jay asked as Skylor knocked the Shadow Riders back with a gust of energy mixed with lightning or something, "So unless someone has an extra pair of wings or something I can borrow, WE'RE GONNA DIEEE!"

"Jay... let's not think about that, okay?" Nya said with a strained smile that looked more like a grimace, "We'll figure something out... Rumi?"

Everyone nodded except me, who remained frozen.

Less than a second later Skylor had jumped out and blasted a giant ball of orange fire at the oncoming attackers. In a daze, my legs sent my body stumbling after her as I stared forward into blank space, the sounds around me fading into a muddled blur.

Morro had to have been under the Shadow Knight's control for at least a while now, but... how was he stupid enough to... though now that I thought about it, the Shadow Knight could've kissed any of us at any time while we were sleeping in our cells or simply chain whoever he wanted up and forced them into it.

The butt of a spear jabbed into my side, sending me crashing to the floor. I scrambled to my feet before anyone else could hit me and ran after Skylor, summoning the golden sword to arm myself. Black figures surrounded me on all sides, but luckily, due to my height I was able to slide between them and soon caught up to the red-haired girl.

Apparently having not yet noticed my presence, she swiped her arms, lighting the surrounding Shadow Riders ablaze, and would've set me on fire too if I hadn't ducked in time.

The flames singed the ends of my hair black.

For the most part, getting to the tower wasn't hard, as the Shadow Riders eventually decided that avoiding Skylor and her lethal balls of fire would be a better idea. In our previous battles the others had only sought to defend themselves or at most injure, but she didn't seem to care who she hurt. Her face remained expressionless and she herself was silent, only making the way she sharply flicked her wrist and flung her golden-orange flames at anyone daring to come within her vicinity even more terrifying. She'd also clearly had plenty of practice with the element, making her all the more dangerous, and a part of me feared for my life even though she was careful not to strike me.

Around us, the Shadow Riders were screaming, and suddenly I found Skylor to be much more intimidating than Nya had ever been. I, on the other hand, remained practically useless as I hid from our attackers behind her nearly impenetrable ring of fire. While some Shadow Riders did attempt to jut swords and spears through, Skylor's shield seemed to also have a mix of energy in it, making them unable to touch us.

I noticed her body shaking slightly as she pressed forward, but other than that, she showed no signs of weakness. Her bright red hair danced in front of me with each movement, almost like a fire itself.

I thought of Kai.

My stomach twisted at the reminder that it was me, again, that had torn them apart. Even being dead wasn't enough to stop me from adding more tally marks to my number of crimes. Perhaps, I hoped, after this was all over, I'd get whatever punishment I deserved.

We, or more accurately, Skylor made it to the entrance of the tower with ease, with me trotting a few steps behind her. As expected, there were Shadow Riders waiting for us inside, but after a few minutes, they ultimately decided that avoiding her would be the better choice.

Anticlimactically, we soon reached the trapdoor flap without much trouble.

I grabbed the hatch, about to push it open, then stopped.

Skylor just blankly stared at me, the flames in her hand providing the only source of light we had other than the thin streams seeping through the cracks of the door.

"I'm sorry," I croaked, trying my best to sound genuine.

Her jaw hardened and she averted her gaze for a split second, then slightly jerked her head upwards.

"Right, sword," I breathed, suddenly finding it hard to form words.

Dreading the moment when I'd have to face Morro and possibly fight him, I pushed the trapdoor open as quietly as I could, but it was of no use since it still creaked loudly.

"Ah, it's nice to see you again, sister."

Almost jumping at the familiar voice, I spun around to see none other than Ruby standing amidst a swarm of Shadow Riders, her arms folded across her chest and a smirk on her face. Right beside her was Morro, who was busying himself by fingering the hilt of the Crystal Blade.

A pit formed in my stomach.

"You're working for them."

I didn't even have it in me to say it like a question before dust clogged my throat and I began coughing badly as Ruby merely rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't work for them, I command them. I can't believe it took you guys so long to realize this. You're not the only princess to play games, Rumi."

I continued to cough, my heart racing in my chest. Ruby was the Shadow Knight? I racked my brain for any clues from previous events, and looking back, that must've been why the Shadow Riders always knew where we were... why she was able to break herself and Lloyd out of prison... why she seemed so infatuated with Morro at the beginning... why she didn't hear the prophecy... why she kept disappearing... and that must've been how she managed to escape the initial attack on the palace when so many others failed...

She was the darkness I was supposed to keep Morro away from...

I had completely forgotten.

The signs were there all along. How could I have been so stupid?

I turned to him, but his eyes were on the sword.

"Ooh, looks like the Master of Amber's here, too," she cooed, jerking me back into reality, "Sad to hear about your little boyfriend."

Before I could even react, Skylor shoved past me and jumped out of the trapdoor, her entire body seemingly ablaze, only for black tendrils to catch her midair and smack her onto the ground. She scrunched up her face in pain and thrashed, biting down so hard on her bottom lip that it began to bleed. I jerked my head away from her and back to the girl I used to call my sister, whose face looked all the more foreign the longer I stared. Her eyes were a shade of brilliant green, and when she noticed me watching, she met my gaze, making goosebumps rise up all over my arms. A grin tugged at her lips, and I had never wanted to punch someone so badly.

It was her. It was all her.

"Let her go," Morro said calmly, still not looking at me, "We only need Harumi."

Ruby broke eye contact with me and frowned at him. "But she's so fun."

"We can play with her later. I would suggest throwing her over for now to save time," he turned his attention onto the Shadow Riders, "As for the rest of you, scram."

"We... we can't fly without our cloaks..." one of the Shadow Riders squeaked, holding up the burnt cloth.

"Then go through the trapdoor," Morro replied curtly, his green eyes looking cold and soulless as he finally turned his attention to me, "Come on out, Harumi, I wouldn't want them to hurt you while they rush past."

As much as I wanted to shrink back in, I clambered out because they ultimately still had the Crystal Blade, and almost immediately, the Shadow Riders whose cloaks had burned ran through. The black tendrils tossed Skylor off the tower as if she weighed nothing and I let out a soundless yelp, hurrying to the edge. She was fine, though, as she quickly managed to catch herself by using fire to propel her body upwards before striking the ground. I couldn't help but notice that clouds had gathered in the sky, making everything look gray, and I could've sworn it was blue only a minutes ago.

My nails dug into my shirt as I watched the girl seemingly burst into flames.

A slamming sound behind me turned my attention back to the current situation. Morro had kicked the trapdoor shut and against my will, I met his eyes, those dark green eyes that I had fangirled over for weeks. He slowly walked over to me as I inched backwards towards one of the supporting stone columns, unable to bring myself to move.

What was I doing? I should be up and fighting, even if the odds were against me, but somehow my entire body was frozen in place as Morro only got closer.

"You can't do this... you know she's mind controlling you!" I said weakly, pointing a finger at Ruby.

Morro frowned as if considering my words, then broke into a grin. A grin that looked so sincere I almost forgot where we were. And when I looked into those eyes, I half-expected him to lean in and whisper that it was all an act, that he was still on our side and there was no need to worry. That he would be there for me like he promised.

Until he pulled out a knife and tossed it into the air, letting it spin several times before catching it in his hand again and handing the Crystal Blade to the Shadow Knight.

And suddenly I saw Lloyd's eyes instead, his hurt, my betrayal, the terror.

Wasn't this what I'd done to him?

"Any last words, Harumi?" Morro asked soothingly, jerking me back into this terrible reality.

"You're gonna kill me."

"What else would I do with you?" he asked, his smile vanishing in an instant.

Chills ran down my spine.

Behind him, I could just see Ruby, the evil witch, watching us as if this was the most entertaining movie she'd ever seen.

"I won't join you," I said, not even knowing why this was the first thing to come out of my mouth.

Morro squatted down so that we were at eye level, and I'd never seen his face so empty, so devoid of life.

"The offer expired long ago."

I looked down to see the knife pointed directly at my heart.

"Wait," I whispered, closing my eyes, unable to face him, "What about... Wu? I thought you cared for him?"

He blinked, his face emotionless. "Don't try sweet-talking me. It's not gonna work here, little princess."

Somehow, that was the line that finally brought me back to my senses.

In one swift movement, I kicked him backwards and dove sideways off the platform. They wanted my blood, didn't they? The number of people down there should be enough to cushion my fall, and though I'd probably get injured, anywhere was better than here.

Except I found myself hovering in midair.

"Nice try, Harumi, but it seems that you've forgotten I still have command over the wind."

I struggled against his grasp but my attempts were futile.

"Well," I shouted, unable to prevent my voice from cracking, "Even if I die, have fun trying to destroy the Crystal Blade! Someone will defeat you!"

Instead of frowning, Morro and Ruby both laughed, the former's sounding empty, and the latter's was more like a cackle.

"Aww, you don't even know yet," the Shadow Knight giggled, making me want to vomit, "Aportus, who you know as the Crystal Blade, is actually what I'll use to get to Ninjago. Thanks, by the way."

What.

I stared at her, wondering if my ears were deceiving me. Then saw the way she caressed that sword.

No.

This whole journey... Kai and Cole dying... was all so the Shadow Knight could go destroy my home...

I began feeling lightheaded as Morro lifted me upwards and set me back down on the platform, more gently than I expected, especially after how he'd spoken to me.

"It's okay, Harumi, I'll show you some mercy and make it quick," he said, and with a flick of his wrist, shot it straight at my heart.

Seeing it coming, I ducked towards the left. Yet because we were so close in proximity, it still ended up sinking into the right side of my chest. It didn't hurt yet; it just felt like something was pressing onto my ribs, which was slightly uncomfortable.

And as stupid as it was, I found myself more self-conscious about the bare skin showing beneath the ripped clothing.

Morro groaned. "It could've been an instant death, you know, but you just had to do that, didn't you?"

"Hurry up and make it quick," Ruby said from beside him and began moving her hands in a circular fashion, forming some sort of black fog, out from which came more cloudy black tendrils that began surrounding us.

I frowned, wondering what she was doing, and seeing that I was distracted, Morro yanked the knife out of my chest, the sudden pain shooting through my entire body, making me gasp, and plunged it towards my heart. Then he wrenched it back out, and I screamed as blood gushed from the wound.

Ruby, seeing her chance, walked over and wiped her sword on my bleeding chest, getting a fair amount of blood on the blade. Satisfied, she left.

Something flashed in Morro's eyes and after twitching a bit, he collapsed onto the ground in front of me.

I wanted to say something, then began choking on blood and doubling down into a cough before I could get the words out. Dizziness took over and I felt faint, desperately needing to lean on the column for support as the thick black fog began absorbing increasing amounts of light. I could barely make out his crouching silhouette before me, and the Shadow Knight's figure had already blended into the background. The searing pain from my chest started to blind my eyes, and my head throbbed as the ringing in my ears grew louder. I began losing feeling in my arms, and vaguely noticed the blood steadily flowing down my chest...

"H-Harumi..." a shaky voice I barely recognized as Morro's whispered, pulling me out of my temporary trance, "The... p-pearl... save... yourself..."

I'd forgotten that that existed.

Almost immediately I felt a small, smooth sphere slide into the palm of my hand and popped it into my mouth without a second thought. The only thing I could really say about it was that it was hard to swallow and I had to muster up what little was left of my strength to accomplish this task, because after that, a bright, multicolored light suddenly penetrated the darkness, making me temporarily forget what was happening. I could only hear a distant screech, the black clouds seemingly absorbing most of the sound.

If that was Morro's cry, then... I wanted to tell myself that he deserved it, but some part of him deep down still cared for me, enough that he would save up energy just to struggle against the corruption in order to remind me that I could survive... And... I had to admit I still harbored feelings for him.

He was still in there somewhere.

I heard a faint but desperate "I can't get in―AHHH!" along with clashes of metal and a loud thud coming from somewhere to the left. The voice resembled Nya's, and I wondered if I was hallucinating. Probably, since they were supposed to be on the ground.

Either way, I wouldn't be able to deal with whatever was going on outside, so I began crawling towards the direction of the light instead as quietly as possible, ready to summon the sword at any given moment. It was such a shame that the pearl had to be used up in such a stupid way, but I could beat myself up over it later. My hand reached up towards my chest and somehow the flesh had already healed. There was still the issue of the gaping holes that were now in my shirt and the wet blood, but those should be the least of my worries.

Soon I could see Morro hovering several inches above the platform and the Shadow Knight holding up that sword, whatever its name was, and seemed to be using it to suck out the Elemental Powers within him. Thinking quickly, I pulled my sword out of thin air and threw it at the Crystal Blade.

There was a faint clang sound and Morro crumpled to the floor. I expected Ruby to roar in frustration, but instead she gave a high-pitched shriek of laughter somewhere behind the fog that made the hairs on my arm stand on end. My breath temporarily hitched in my throat and I began to rush to Morro's side then stopped. At this point he was probably still under Ruby's control, so if I came into sight he'd either attack me or tell her where I was. I scrambled backwards and silently told the sword to disappear while making a mental note of Morro's general location.

"Oh you poor, ignorant thing," the Shadow Knight's mocking voice boomed through the thickening darkness, through which my vision range was now only about two feet, "Thanks to his Wind, I do actually have enough energy to power the portal now. I just need one last ingredient. But first, Morro, I thought you were supposed to deliver a second fatal blow? Be a dear and do that, will you?"

I heard his shuffling and began to panic. If I escaped, which I still might be able to, he didn't have control over the wind anymore, so the Shadow Knight would be able to kill him then and there and escape to Ninjago. It was my job to defeat her (or him? I had no idea what pronouns to use, but since I was so used to seeing the Shadow Knight as Ruby, I guess I would go with she/her...?), and I couldn't fail everyone now, now that Kai and Cole had both sacrificed themselves for... this pointless mission.

And I still owed Lloyd, though he'd probably rather forget me than have me repay this debt.

I needed to stay.

I began inching away from where the Shadow Knight was on all fours, using my hands to feel for the edge of the platform, and once I did, I crawled alongside it and found a column to back up against. Desperately trying to calm my rapid breathing so that I could think clearly, I racked my brain for anything I could do. If I fought him with the sword, Ruby would certainly get bored and just stab me herself, and there was no way I'd be able to hold up against them both. There had to be something I was missing...

I had the sword, the pearl, which I'd used, and... the vial. But would it work?

There was only one way to find out, and with the current circumstances, I wouldn't need it later on.

A small weight on my left palm told me that the small bottle had landed. I tightly closed my fist on it, feeling the sharp vertices of the glass digging into my hand.

The sounds of Morro approaching grew louder and I took a deep breath, preparing myself to face the worst.

He soon broke through the fog and I could just barely make out his blank and emotionless face. Unblinking, he pulled out the dagger from earlier, which still had my blood smeared all over it, and prepared to strike. Just as I readied myself for the attack with my sword in one hand and vial in the other, his shaking fist twisted itself around and plunged it into his own chest.

As if it was just a regular, everyday thing, he immediately yanked it out, his face still expressionless.

"Done," Morro shouted, his voice quivering as he threw the knife to his left, so that it fell over the side of the tower.

I clamped my hands over my mouth to stop myself from screaming as his body began to twitch. Something flashed behind his widening eyes and I continued to stare, motionless, at the blood gushing out of his open wound. In what seemed like slow motion, he wavered, then fell towards one side, but not before I got back to my senses and rushed forward to catch him, my head pounding a million times a minute.

I then took this opportunity to quickly open the vial, jerk back his head, and dump the contents of it into his mouth.

Screw the corruption, please let it have healing powers...

Instead of blinking and jumping up asking "what happened" or something, Morro was still at first, then began coughing so hard I almost thought the liquid had turned into some sort of solid and was choking him. Then thick, slimy black stuff began oozing out of his mouth.

His head turned to the side as he continued to choke up the stuff, and I cradled his head in my arm so that it was still elevated above his heart. Truth to be told, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, but hopefully my panicked guess would be close enough. As much as I didn't want to look at it, I continually shot fearful glances at the gaping red-black hole in his chest, out of which blood continued to flow out, not unlike the way mine had only minutes before. Hopefully it would... clot soon?

Deep down though, part of me knew that that was just wishful thinking.

"Harumi..." Morro whispered, continuing to cough up blood mixed with whatever Ruby had put in him, "I... I'm so... sorry..."

"It'll be okay," I replied through rapid breaths as he reached a trembling hand upwards. I took it in mine and gave him a squeeze as reassuring as I could, feeling the slime slide down my other arm.

Morro titled his head away from me as more slime poured out, and instinctively, I pulled him closer, wishing he'd turn in my direction. I didn't care that that would mean the black stuff would get all over me. Even now I shamelessly wondered how it would feel to intertwine his fingers in mine.

"This is..."―Morro coughed up more stuff―"all my fault..."

"It's okay, it's okay," I said, rubbing his palm.

The hole in his chest wasn't shrinking, but nevertheless I managed to convince myself that he would be back to normal in a few minutes, and we could then face the Shadow Knight together. He had to be.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Morro nodded, coughing again while his torso gave a fervent shake, and I hugged his body closer to mine, uncomfortably aware of how cold his hand was turning. My arm began feeling sore as he seemed to get heavier, a feeling which I ignored. A pool of blood had formed on the ground below him, making the air smell like iron.

Suddenly a sharp pain exploded in my head, making me gasp and almost drop him, and Morro's eyes widened for a split second before he flinched and more of the stuff came out of them. It was gone and replaced by a numbing feeling only about a second later, which I once again decided to neglect for now.

"You... you okay?" he gasped, his voice becoming increasingly faint.

"Yes, but are you?"

"S-same," Morro answered unconvincingly, but it seemed the flow of the black stuff was finally slowing down. He no longer coughed as much, and within the next ten seconds, it stopped, and now there was a puddle of the slime beside his blood.

My heart began to pick up speed as I stared at his face, which was paling by the minute. "Is... it gone?"

"I... think so..."

"Okay, um..." I found myself frantically looking around in search of something, but of course I saw nothing except the cloud, "Okay, I think you'll be okay."

"I'm really... sorry..." he said again, then coughed up some blood.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, don't worry," I assured him, my thumb tracing circles on his palm.

"Thank you... Harumi..."

"You can... you can call me Rumi, you know?" I forced out, my face beginning to burn.

It felt as if my heart jumped into my throat and was cutting off my air supply, making it hard to breathe.

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, and I let go of his hand for a quick second to shakily wipe the area around his mouth, probably blushing way too hard the whole time and looking like a fool, especially when I accidentally brushed my thumb against his bloodied lip.

As ridiculous as it sounded, I had never wanted to kiss him more badly, regardless of how bloodstained we both were. The only thing really holding me back was the knowledge that he didn't feel the same way.

"Thanks... Ru―"

"Ah, Morro, spoiling my plans again, aren't you?" Ruby's piercing voice cut him off as she emerged from the clouds, the interruption making me angrier than it probably should've. "I would've gotten rid of you long ago if I had my way; could've saved me so much time."

Not knowing what else to do, I pulled Morro even closer to myself and glared at her, almost as if daring her to step forward.

"I thought... I thought you were at least fond of him, even if not romantically," I stammered.

She snorted. "Nah, you think too highly of this wretched mess."

Then, without a warning, a black tendril ripped his body out of my grasp and dragged him to the floor. Morro winced, and the sudden movement only caused the wound to widen. I dove after him and took one of his now ice-cold hands in mine, trying my best to block out any unwelcoming thoughts.

"Morro?"

His eyes were closed but his eyelids twitched.

Ruby raised an eyebrow and shook her head as if I was a kindergartener who put the scissors in the wrong bin. "Silly Rumi, trying to get him to talk when he's choking on his own blood. Here, let me help."

"NO!" I shouted, pulling out my sword as Ruby stomped down on his chest, right on top of the stab wound. Morro spat out more blood, gasping for air.

Feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I jumped forward, ready to throw myself at her. But before I could, she kicked his body off the platform in one fell swoop, and the last thing I heard was the sound of my sword hitting the floor.

A/N: I think this might be the longest chapter? Also definitely one of my favorites if not favorite because of the angst haha (anyway pls don't kill me)

What did you guys think :eyes: any thoughts/predictions about the ending now???

Two chapters left then the epilogue! Thanks so much for sticking around and supporting this! 

I love you all!