Lloyd's POV

"I found this map in Pythor's lab where he and Darkstorm are planning to attack Ninjago City from." I pulled out the map from my gi and laid it on the table, pointing to the little red sticker that was stuck onto it.

"Borg Tower?" Nya questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"That would appear to be the most logical choice. Using Aeria's stolen wind abilities combined with the Overlord's power in Darkstorm's form, they could create a massive storm that would destroy the city in one fatal blow." Xia announced to everyone in a grave tone.

"That... doesn't sound too good." Kai grimaced.

"It sounds too easy, that's what it sounds like..." Everyone turned to see Aeria leaning against the doorway with sweat beading on her forehead as she held her stomach in pain with one arm and the other was being used to brush her bangs away from her previously infected eye, that now looked empty and gray, before bracing herself against the doorway.

"Aeria!" I ran over to her as she fell to her knees, breathing shallow, and I helped her back onto her feet as she walked over to the table.

"You need to rest, your body still has not recovered from having your powers drained." Zane told her, but Aeria seemed bent on staying in the room as she straightened up in her seat, still holding her stomach.

"Come on, doesn't this plan seem a little too easy, a little too out in the open? Pythor is a literal snake, his plans have plans." Aeria banged her fist on the map on the table, making us all jump in surprise, "He's manipulating you all to keep you out of his way so he and Darkstorm can destroy you all!"

Aeria slumped down over the table, huffing quietly, clearly exhausted by her shouting and I put a hand on her arm to keep her from yelling anymore.

"You need to get some rest." I told her, trying to lift her up to lead her back to her room.

"No, what you need to do is... find... a new angle..." Aeria collapsed to the ground, unmoving and silent.

"Aeria!" I kneeled down next to her and tried to grab her arm again, but I was shocked with a bolt of purple energy.

"What the heck is happening?!" Jay exclaimed before diving behind a chair as some more purple sparks came off of her.

"It seems the Dark Matter has bonded with her more deeply than previously expected." Xia backed away from us in Zane's arms as she held her head in pain.

"So she's going through some kind of withdrawal since it was the Dark Matter that bonded to her and not the reverse?" Nya elaborated on Xia's statement.

"Well, we have to do something, she's burning up, literally." Cole pointed to the fizzling sparks that set off small fires on the wooden floor that Zane quickly iced out with one hand as the other hand was holding Xia in a half-hug.

"Mom, can't you use that gemstone you found that could contain the Overlord's powers in a person?" I asked her as she knelt down across from me along with Master Wu.

"No, I'm afraid we cannot. If we attempt to use it on her while only a small part of his power is still inside of her, we have no idea what kind of effects there would be on her, mentally and physically."

"Or maybe we can..." Master Wu muttered out loud as he stroked his beard.

"We can what?" Nya asked worriedly.

"We may be able to neutralize the Dark Matter inside of her for a short amount of time if Lloyd draws out the Golden Power inside the gemstone and puts its energy inside of her, hence the prophecy." Wu added the last bit of his sentence after a small pause.

"What do you mean 'hence the prophecy', there was nothing in there about this?!" Jay exclaimed poking his head out from under the table where he had dove down.

"The last few lines of the prophecy? I thought you said you had read it." Wu turned to me with an eyebrow raised.

"We did, but the last few lines were torn off from the scroll, so we didn't know what the rest of it said."

"I thought I put the rest back on after it got torn..." Wu muttered to himself before continuing with, "The rest of that prophecy stated-

And if to the removed darkness they had not succumbed

Then bound by light to the Golden one they loved

Would save their heart from the darkest blood

And protect ones cared for from the eclipsed bud. The 'Golden one they loved' refers to Lloyd as I am now realizing." Wu grinned a little and the blush on my face intensified by a hundred.

"Oh come on, I keep telling you guys she's not my girlfriend."

"Maybe not yet, but maybe in time..." Wu told me sagely.

"But, then, what do the other lines of the prophecy mean?" Kai questioned as he scratched his head thoughtfully.

"The 'darkest blood' would have to be the Dark Matter that is still inside of her, connecting her to Darkstorm." Xia started and Nya continued with,

"I'm willing to bet that the 'eclipsed bud' is Darkstorm since she's a manifestation of the Overlord and his powers."

"Please hand me the stone already so I can do this before the ship goes down in flames." I interrupted urgently while holding out my hand for the gemstone. My mom stood up, went over to Cole who handed her the satchel that contained the stone and she handed it to me, whispering in my ear,

"You don't have to be ashamed, just go with what your heart feels." She referred to my earlier embarrassment and smiled at the end of her sentence. I looked down in thought before I cupped my hands around the stone and concentrated on its Golden Energy.

When I did, I felt a warmth around me as the Golden Energy came out in small, thin wisps of light that I directed with one hand to Aeria's forehead. When it hit her forehead, I saw wisps of light spread out as some Dark Matter arose and spread out in the form of cracks of purple and black that dissipated as soon as the light touched them. When the dark cracks had almost fully faded, I stopped pulling out Golden Energy and watched Aeria to see if she would come to.

"W-what happened?" She asked groggily and turned to me with worry in her eyes, her previously infected one less dark than usual, looking semi-normal, and not so empty anymore.

"You are still connected to the Dark Matter that infected you," Wu answered as he stepped forward, slurping away at a cup of tea before continuing, "However, we may be able to use this to our advantage."

"What the heck is he talking about and, better question, who are those two?" Aeria directed to me again motioning with her head to Master Wu and my mom.

"This is our Master Wu and Lloyd's mom Misako." Kai answered for me when I hesitated to do so myself.

"And I believe what Wu means to say is that if you're still connected to the Dark Matter that Darkstorm is fueled by, there is a chance that you can take back control over her and stop whatever Pythor has planned." My mom told Aeria as I helped her back onto her feet.

"That is... if you're up to it." Wu added in a gravelly tone.

"The good news is, once you take back control of her, we have a way to contain her and her powers with this." I told Aeria as I held out the gemstone in my hand, "It's how we're preventing another Dark Matter withdrawal in you right now."

"Ok, I'm gonna be honest when I say I only understood a few things out of all that, but I think I get the general gist of it." Aeria told us with uncertainty clear on her face.

"Before you passed out you told us that we need to find a 'new angle' involving Pythor's plan, what did you mean by that?" Nya asked Aeria.

"I was feeling kind of out of it after that draining process, but, right as I was waking up from whatever that snake device put in me when it bit me, I heard him and Darkstorm discussing how to 'throw those color-coded fools off of the primary target'." Aeria mimicked Pythor's voice, making all of us giggle for a few seconds before getting serious again.

"That does sound like something Pythor would do." Cole admitted as he phased out from the wall where he had been hiding.

"Yeah, and your impersonation of him was on point." Jay made a pinching motion with his hand.

"Were you able to find out a location?" Zane queried.

"No, he was about to spill the new location when Darkstorm sensed that I was awake and stopped him from saying anything else, I'm sorry guys..." Aeria trailed off with remorse.

"It'll be ok," I assured Aeria as I put my hand on her shoulder, "For now, we should get to Ninjago City as soon as possible and, when we get there, we'll figure out what to do next."

"Alright..." Aeria whispered as she smiled softly and looked me in the eyes and I smiled back when,

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Jay exclaimed, ruining the moment between me and Aeria, " We need to get this ship moving!"

"I'm on it." Xia announced as she went to the main computer to plot the course to Ninjago City and to activate the boosters.

"We're coming for you, Pythor, Darkstorm..." I hear Aeria mutter to herself as the ship sped off toward the city.

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