Disclaimer: Guys, we should know at this point what I have ownership over. If not, too bad there's no time to explain at a time like this! It's the Finale and the ending of the first book, soon the beginning of the second book! Sure its late, but it's here and it'll be worth it! (; Also, there's major updates on my profile about characters, read at your own risk.

Now, for one final time, let me say…

LET'S

KICK

IT!

"There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man." Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

Chapter 46: Second Strike Part 2- All Hail The King

The beast relentlessly ripped through the thick material of Maria's gi, but managed to graze her as she let out a yelp. Pulling back from the fight, Zane quickly shot a stream of ice around them, covering them in an ice dome. The demons on the outside pounded, shaking their cover with every strike. "It won't hold for long, there's too many," he warned.

The Green Ninja turned and grabbed his sister's arm before she could react. Her sleeve had a large cut in it, making way for two parallel scratches to bleed freely. While pressing down on the wound to stop it from bleeding, he scolded her, "I can't believe you did that. That thing could've eaten you."

"I was trying to divert its attention away from you guys," she protested. "No one was doing anything, besides, Goryō wants me. He's testing me, I gotta show him I'm not weak."

"No, he's messing with you. You have to show him you're not alone."

"Kid, you're stuck with us," Cole added. "We didn't almost die multiple times just for you to try and ditch us."

"You're a Ninja," Nya said while washing Maria's wound clean. "When someone messes with one of us, they mess with all of us."

Sighing, she nodded her head. "Ok, I get it. No acting out or going alone."

"And under no circumstances are you to use your powers for any reason," Lloyd finished.

Jay let out a nervous laugh. "I'm not sure if you've heard the crazy demon, Lloyd, but her powers are the only thing that can get us out of here. If she doesn't use them…we're doomed!"

"What about your gems?" The four gem bearers exchanged uncertain looks while Maria groaned. "Come on, guys. I know it's been a while and we haven't had time for you to practice with them since they went inactive, but can't you try?"

"Well, my armor would be the best bet if I could get it working. But we're running short on time for me to try and channel it," Kai explained. "Maybe we could just blast through with my fire to scare those things out there."

"That could work," the young Ninja mused. "I saw a dozen hihi out there, one of which bit me so yes, they are carnivores. Then there was three or four kotengu, nasty little beasts if I do say so myself. And lastly…yeah, you guys are lost, aren't you?"

Their faces went blank when she went on explaining. They lowered their head and murmured. "Yeah."

"Backing up," she sighed, "let's start with the hihi. Giant carnivores that resemble baboons and named after the laughing sound they make, which makes their lip flaps pull back and showcase their fangs. Kotengu, despite their humanoid bird appearance, can't understand us, but they love to torture humans in the cruelest of ways just for fun, including eating them. Lastly, I didn't see the nue which is good."

"Well, isn't this nice? The nue isn't here, so that leaves us up for grabs by over a dozen other demons that can all eat us!" Jay shouted. "How are we getting out of here?"

"Charging through is our best choice," Zane replied. "We'd have a higher chance of survival, but we have to execute this exactly as I say to. Kai must melt the dome with his spinjitzu and continue using fire to get through the crowd, confusing them while we stay close behind. In case, Jay," he faced the Blue Ninja, "you must shoot bursts of lightning at beasts that come within five feet of our group to stun them. The rest of us must offer support by pushing them back and getting rid of obstacles in our path."

"Sounds good to me." Lloyd picked up the unconscious Jorōgumo and carried her in his arms. "I'll keep watch over her, so I can't offer much until she wakes up. Everything else is settled, we just gotta time this right at the right moment."

CRACK!

The ice dome began cracking, the outer layer growing thin and weaker. "I'm pretty sure it's the right moment now," Kai said as he got into position. The rest of the group tucked close behind as he lit his fists on fire. "We're going in five…" The dome shattered in pieces, the hihi being the first to charge at them. "ONE!"

The Fire Ninja ripped through the horde, burning the wooden floor with the flames of his spinjitzu. The fire spread and drove the beasts back as the other Ninja quickly followed after him as he ran down a hall, Jay in the back to cover them. Screeches and roars of anger followed after them, along with the furious flapping of wings and rushing claws scratching against the rough floor.

One kotengu broke through the crowd, flying full speed as its crazed eyes fixated on the Ninja. It came close to tasting them as its blue tongue sprung out from its mouth when Jay shot a blot of lightening at it. The bird demon was stunned and trampled by the oncoming stampede, continuously pursuing them. "Guys, I'm pretty sure I see a new room ahead," Kai called to them. "I think it's safe to say we need to lose these guys now if we're gonna get any further."

"Leave that to me," Cole acknowledged. He stopped and let the others pass by him as he sent an earth punch on the floorboards, the strength sending off a quake that broke the wooden ground beneath the starving demons. They fell below deck with a cacophony of howls echoing from the hole just as Zane quickly blocked it off with a thick layer of ice. "Too easy, I barely got a scratch on me."

"Speak for yourself," Maria grumbled. "So where to next?"

Right there." Kai pointed towards a large steel door only a few steps from where they were. "We just go through there and we might have your mother back before you know it."

"What if it's a trap?" his sister asked. "Goryō's crazier than anyone we've met. It's his style to pull something like this."

Walking down to the door with no fear, he set his hand on the cold knob and twisted it. Looking back, Kai said to them, "Then we'll be ready." He flung the door open and they all quickly stepped back, weapons drawn. Cautiously, the Red Ninja lit his fist and moved it around in the dark room to spot any dangers.

He slowly crept in, signaling the others to carefully enter. Their steps creaked under the aging wood, despite their efforts to remind quiet and not alarm any enemies. For now, the room was bare and very dark due to its lack of windows. A cool wind blew, chilling them from cold rather than fear.

"Anyone else just wanna get this over with and have something pop out at them?" Jay whispered. "I can feel it, something's off about this place. There's nothing here, so why guard it with the heavy duty door?"

"Perhaps it is an illusion, a trap," Zane suggested. "Then again, that would mean Goryō would put something in here to distract us from what he's really hiding. In any case, we should proceed with caution." Assisting with lighting up the room with his eyes, Zane observed the floor and found pools of water scattered around them.

"Strange, I don't feel any water dripping down on us," Cole commented.

"Ewwww!" They focused their attention on the source of the sound, Nya, as she was drenched with a glop of "water." She shook it off and shuddered in disgust. "Gross! It's so thick and warm! When was the last time he fixed his pipes?!"

"I didn't expect a ship this ancient to have working pipes," Lloyd pondered. He gently set down Jorōgumo and shined a beam of energy towards the ceiling as another puddle of the water like substance dropped down near his feet. Focusing on where the puddle came from, he shone his energy's light on the now giant face of the nue. "Run, it's a trap!" he shouted while scooping up the unconscious demon once more.

The seven of them stumbled towards the door, their freedom within their grasp gone as a giant tiger paw slammed the door shut. Shining their lights on it, they watched it creep slowly towards them, smacking its lips in pleasure. It had grown significantly in size as their height was now equivalent to one of its paws, a perfect size for a snack. Its fur gained volume and had red veins in its wicked eyes.

"What is he feeding this thing?" Jay asked, backing up as it approached. "We can't beat it like this."

"Yes, we can. We just need a little light!" Kai summoned a large ball of fire and threw it into the air, with fireballs raining down on the nue. The wooden walls caught fire and lit up the dark room in shades of red and orange. "Ok, that worked a little too well."

Startled by the fire, the nue ran back and forth from the walls in an attempt to put them out. It lashed its tongue out at the Ninja, trying to catch one as a snack. Fortunately, as they jumped out of the way, it latched onto a piece of burning wood and howled as it tried to put it out.

"This thing is out of control," Nya said as they watched the horrible scene play out. "I get that they're supposed to be dangerous and reckless, but this is just plain insanity. And how'd it get so big?"

"Goryō…" Jorōgumo's weak voice cracked as she woke up from her tired state. She stood with a wobble as she continued. "Goryō devised a separate plan when he was in the guard; a plan to capture essences of other beasts to strengthen our armies. I suspected he did just that with this nue, but he overfed it.

"It's body and mind can't take the sudden surge of power bestowed upon it. This creature has lost its senses and thought. It may just be torn apart by its own doing."

"Then we should stay back and let it work this out," Cole suggested. "If this thing lost its sanity, maybe it'll just go overboard and leave us alone."

CRASH!

Confirming their suspicions, the nue had destroyed the wall of the room with a powerful body slam and exposed the open night sky. In a moment of confusion, it ran back and forth across, slowly making its way towards the newly made hole. The weight of the beast was unbearable for the crumbling wood, in turn, the nue lost its footing and fell almost completely through. Hanging by only paw, the ship became unbalanced under its weight and tipped over, having everything, including the Ninja, slide down the side.

They quickly lodged their weapons, webbing for Jorōgumo, into the lumber and held on tightly, lest they fell into the nue's mouth. With its meal in its sights, the nue lashed its tongue out wildly, trying to reach them by their dangling ankles. "Hey, Lloyd," Cole shouted to the leader, "this thing doesn't seem like it's going down on an empty stomach, I know I wouldn't. I was thinking, well, if we don't wanna end up as Ninja chips in this monster's stomach, Maria could-"

"No," he denied him. "She can't use her powers, it's what Goryō wants. The nue can't hold on forever and it can't reach us. It's all gonna be fine."

Just then, the nue managed to pull itself up for a split second. In that brief time window, its slimy, sleek tongue slithered around Kai, Jay, and Lloyd's ankles, pulling them down closer to its mouth. Something flashed in their eyes as they were pulled down and past their friends' gazes. Something came across the remaining the Ninja's minds too as the watched their friends get pulled down to the demon's dark, slimy mouth.

Cole and Zane reached out for them, as though they could still reach them as they were right there. Nya screamed in horror at the sight; Jorōgumo mimicked her but had tears flow from all three of her eyes. Maria reacted differently to the situation, completely different. As the ivory fangs were about to clamp down and pile the three Ninja into the nue's mouth, she reached out and instinctively shot a orb of spirit energy down its throat. The monster finally lost its grip and released the ship, falling with its meal in tow.

With the weight released from its side, the ship became upright again. The flames had died out, leaving the four remaining Ninja in shock. They stood in cool moonlight from the hole, slightly hopeful that their friends had made it out somehow. The youngest Ninja fell to her knees, eyes wide with disbelief. True, she had used her powers when she wasn't supposed to, but it was just a little. Even a little should've helped them…it should've saved them.

"Could someone pull us up, please?" A voice brought them back to reality, compelling them to run over to the hole and look over the side. Hanging by a burnt rope like substance that tangled them slightly, their friends looked back up at them. "Seriously, could you guys pull us up already?" Jay asked.

Quickly acting, they carefully pulled Kai, Jay and Lloyd up and onto the deck. "How?!" Nya blurted out. "How did you survive that?"

"And where'd you get this rope from?" Cole asked as he untangled them.

"Crazy story, the nue swallowed that orb Pinky shot down its throat before it tried to gobble us up. Then POOF! It turned black all over and blew up into ashes before we were eaten alive."

"That doesn't answer my question though." The Earth Ninja held the rope up to their faces and shook it. "Seriously, where'd you get this rope that just happened to save your lives?"

With a disgusted look on his face, Kai pushed his hand down. "That is not a rope. That is its tongue." Repulsed, Cole dropped it and furiously wiped his hands clean on his pant leg. The tongue, in turn, turned to ash as it fell to the ground. "We're lucky it stayed solid enough for us to hang on to the ship."

"And we're grateful for you did," Lloyd said as he turned to the Pink Ninja. "You saved us, even though I told you not to use your powers, you made the right choice."

"Lloyd…" she quivered. "I feel bad."

"Don't be, bud. I told you, you made the right choice between letting us get eaten or saving us at the risk of your powers. Be proud," he assured.

"No, I mean…" She clenched her stomach as her face went pale white. Shaking, the young Ninja staggered towards him. "It's just that…I don't feel so good." With no strength in her body, she fell into his arms.

Lloyd, in slight shock, carefully rested her on the ground as she clung to him. She shook furiously and began sobbing, her tear-filled eyes gleaming pink with the spirit symbol in them. The others gathered at the frightening sight of their friend.

"What's happening to her?" Nya asked Jorōgumo.

"He's coming…Onryō's coming," she replied. "The girl has unlocked her powers, she's reaching her full power once again. That only can mean-"

"I don't want him to come," Maria squeaked. "I'm sorry, I tried not use my powers. Big brother, please" she buried her face into his chest and pulled at his gi, "please, don't let him come out. I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry, maybe I can remove the energy from you." The Green Ninja carefully grabbed her hand to begin the process and immediately recoiled. "She shocked me!" he exclaimed. "But this didn't happen the last time I drained energy from her, why now?"

"It's too much for you to handle as a human," Jorōgumo explained. "The intensity of this much raw power is shaping her body so it can settle in this-this human structured form. If it goes well, she won't be harmed, if it doesn't…that outcome doesn't need to be described."

"You said as a human the energy couldn't be drained from her since it would be too much to handle," Zane inquired. "Could a being that is a demon or spirit handle it?"

"Don't be a fool, this power…" She let out a soft gasp as her face. "The others are with Onryō."

"Why are you upset? That's great news, right?" Jay asked as he trembled anxiously. "Please, just give us some good news that things will get better! And what do you mean it needs to settle in?! Is she gonna blow up?!"

With a swift flick of her hand, Jorōgumo smacked him on the head and ended his panicking. "For one to hold a gem representing courage, you get scared quite easily. Back to the problem at hand, as I was saying, my comrades can solve this. They are with Onryō, who will shortly show signs of being released, prompting them to take action and prevent him from being freed. There's just one issue…Onryō is more violent when he acts up."

"Can they…handle it?" Nya asked.

"When the times grow dark and things are falling out of place, they know how to stand tall and be mature."

In the Dying Kingdom…

"Do it," Harionago pressured the fox as he gave a disapproving look in return. Kitsune turned to give her a firm glare just before he reluctantly shape shifted into a mirror. The reflection was empty at first until the nonexistent shine came to, Harionago's twin staring back at her. "Perfect," she sighed, "now give me long flowing hair, rosy cheeks and lips, and full lashes with a gown and jewels to match."

"That's too much work! I'm already trying to hold form after the last few times you made me do this!" Kitsune barked, the mirror breaking apart and resembling a giant version of his mouth as he spoke. "I'm sick of this! My muscles are aching from this routine and I can't itch myself when I'm forced to play this game with you! Gashadokuro, tell her to stop!"

The giant red skeleton was resting against Onryō's prison bars, attempting to sleep had it not been for the two young demons constant squabbling. He let out a yawn that bounced off the cavern walls around them. Rubbing the sleep from his nonexistent eyes, he gave the fox a firm stare. "Just get on with it and leave me out of this game unless you want to become my pillow."

Groaning in defeat, Kitsune manipulated Harionago's reflection as she commanded. Her hair was a soft golden cloud gently pulled up halfway with pearls into a neat braid. Pink flooded back into her cheeks and lips, her eyes regained a youthful, warm spark as the ice melted away. An elegant yellow dress with frills and lace fitted her perfect figure, her neck sparkled as it was adorned with a string of blue jewels that seemed to float. Sighing, Harionago admired herself as though this version of her was here now, fully believing in this illusion before her.

"Aren't I the most beautiful thing you've seen?" she mused to herself.

"Yeah, you aren't," Kitsune sneered before laughing his head off at his joke. Fuming with anger, Harionago sent a swift punch at her reflection, shattering it to pieces. In turn, the fox transformed into his original self, except with a mouth full of broken teeth now a part of his appearance. "Wha wa tha fwor?!" he shouted as he held his muzzle in pain.

"I thought I told you two to behave with your silly games!" Gashadokuro shot up from his relaxed position, tired of his failed attempts to relax and turning his frustration onto the lower captains. "One moment, just one moment to sleep and rest my bones is all I ask. But no, who needs sleep when I can listen to you squabble! Great way to spend my life!"

"This isn't living!" Harionago cried out. "How many times must we go over that? We're just…not dying." She hugged herself tightly as she began to tremble. "We're stuck like this, as monsters and demons that terrify others without even trying."

"Since when do you care how others see us?" he replied. "We've barely gone out unless ordered by King Onryō. Also we're not exactly 'social' or 'outgoing' like people are. We have our reasons for staying in the Dying Kingdom for a majority of the time, remember?"

The young demon stood tall and stomped her foot on the ground like a child. With a shrill voice, she screamed, "Well, I'm sick of staying here!" Harionagocontinued to stomp while shouting out her frustrations. "I'm sick of being a demon! I'm sick of how I look! I'm sick of being Harionago!"

BOOM!

The cavern walls shook furiously and the ground beneath the frightened demons split apart into a chasm. They clung to the wall and each other for shelter as a dark shadow matter seeped from Onryō's cage. It gave off a dark purple smoke as it oozed into tendrils that crawled up the sides of the throne room like an insect. The trio inched away from the oncoming substance and towards the exit of the room. Once they reached the outside hallways, they released their breath and fell to their knees.

"I didn't do it!" Harionago quickly defended herself. "Something must be wrong with the king! Someone please agree with me!"

"No, you're right," Gashadokuro panted, "but that's the bad news. Jorōgumo hasn't returned with any news about Goryō's capture. I fear this is a sign…one we've all been expecting for a long time. Onryō's breaking free while Goryō is still on the loose."

"We have to stop it then!" Kitsune exclaimed. "He can't be freed like this! If he just had enough energy taken from him, he'd be weak enough to stay dormant and give Jorōgumo and the humans more time. But how?"

Harionago's face lit up as an idea crossed her mind. "That machine I stole, the one that we've been using to extract essences, I still have it! Perhaps it can withstand some of the king's energy. But where would I put the excess?"

"Figure that out later!" the demons shouted at her. Snapping out of her thoughts, she whistled a high note, manifesting a black portal to her side. She stretched her thorn hair in and searched around until she felt the strange machine's cold exterior, grasped it tight, and pulled it through to her the grip of her own hands.

"Guess it's up to me to try and help save the day, huh?" she sighed. "I'm not sure a simple device like this can withstand his power, it could cause backlash that might…harm me. If that happens, I want you two to know-"

"Don't get all melodramatic with us!" Gashadokuro interrupted her. "You'll be fine. Just get in there!" With a sweep of his giant hand, he lead her to her terrible fate. She stood completely still at the sight of her king before her.

His entire body was illuminated with glowing yellow veins, outlining his monstrous form. Onryō flung out his arms, mere inches away from crushing Harionago, and clawed at the cracked earth with his blood red claws. He breathed heavily, sending dust particles and pebbles floating away on his hot, tired breath. Faintly, his pearl white teeth glistened in the shadows as his mouth dripped with the dark matter that had engulfed the caverns almost completely. His eyes remained shut, but twitched as did his emerging body.

With a gulp and a small step, Harionago slowly made her way to him. She quietly crept, careful not to make a sound lest Onryō snapping awake. Her tense fingers cracked softly as she tried to relax them enough to move them over the machine's trigger. Reaching the very front of the bars that separated her and Onryō, she raised her arms steadily and aimed carefully at the center of his forehead. Overwhelmed with fear, she took a deep breath in to relax herself as she began to apply pressure to the trigger.

At the echoing click of the trigger, Onryō quickly snapped to life and grabbed her in his giant hand, high above the ground.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, his luminous, yellow eyes staring deep into her. "Answer me! Is this your idea of a tasteless joke?!"

"N-no…King Onryō," she squeaked out as most of her breath was forced out of her by his powerful grip. She felt around for the device in his giant hand, trying to complete her task as her death was imminent. "I'm only trying to help. I know it seems foolish, but really, I'm only trying to-"

"Trying to harm me! Is that it now?" He crushed her harder in his palm, getting a sudden yelp out of her. His stare on her went firm as he said, "First Goryō, now you turn on me, of all of my remaining captains! What have you to say in your defense?"

"My…My King, please…" With what little strength she had, Harionago reached for what felt like the smooth exterior of the device. She felt a piece of it move as she pulled it back with her fingers. "…don't hold this against me."

A bright light shone from the gaps of Onryō's clenched fingers, piercing through the darkened throne room. His fist began to shake as his veins lost their luminosity, causing him to drop the young demon as she kept a steady aim at his palm before moving the stream of light over to his forehead. The sharp point of his claws became dull and rounded as did his teeth. The matter he exuded moments before had come crawling back from every crack and crevice of the cave, forcibly making its way back into his body. The device's canister was on the verge of being overfilled just as Onryō was almost rendered weak once more.

In a blind rage, the Demon King grabbed ahold of his prison bars and shook them furiously in an attempt to break free. They barely moved with what power he had left in his body, having his frustration grow drastically. His entire giant body shook as he continued into his last moments. "I refuse to spend another moment in this cursed prison!" he bellowed with all his might before pounding on the ground, sending the Dying Kingdom in a monstrous quake.

"Let me out! Let me out of this wretched cage! LET ME AT HER! Let me get my hands on Seraphina!"

BOOM!

With his last scream echoing throughout his stone kingdom, he fell back in defeat and in slumber. His body stopped glowing with power and curled up behind the bars to keep warm. The throne room was restored to its original cave design, clean of the dark matter that had tainted it. Onryō was once again a weak, tired shadow being that hid away in the darkness.

Harionago fell back as well in relief. "It's safe now," she called out to Kitsune and Gashadokuro. As their footsteps approached her, she detached the glass container from the device and examined the contents inside that filled it to the brim. "We should put this somewhere safe and far away where no one can even touch it. Even us."

"I know how to hide it," Kitsune said while snatching it with his paw. "If you want something hidden well, give it to an idiot. They can surprise you at times with a sudden moment of brilliance. Catch, Gashadokuro!" he smirked while tossing it to the giant skeleton.

"Very funny," he replied unamused. "You know if Jorōgumo were here, she'd glue this container to your face with her web and say, 'Stop fooling around then and impress me, you imbecile.'"

"Alright, I'll stop joking…wait a minute." Kitsune nearly turned paler than Harionago as a thought crossed his mind. "What happened to Jorōgumo and the humans?!"

Maria kept twitching and whimpering at the intensity of the pain occurring in her body. The other Ninja kept watch over her and whispered reassuring words to her that it would be alright. Lloyd, especially, comforted her; he cradled her gently in his arms to ease her worries and discomfort. All the while, Jorōgumo stared distantly at the hole in the wall and the endless sea of clouds and stardust under the pale moon.

"Treating her like a baby isn't going to help," she said over her shoulder. "No wonder it took this long for her to reach full power, you barely let her do things on her own."

"Is this really the time?" Nya asked, her head popping out from the group. "Our friend's in pain and you're criticizing her? You're one to talk, you're not doing anything to help."

"I'm keeping watch. My allies are trying to soothe King Onryō, I can feel his power struggling to break free. Until then, I'm watching for any signs of his return."

"Ok…" Cole said. "But how do you know if he's coming back?"

Jorōgumo faced the outside view once more. "The sky shall turn dark and begin echoing with the thunderclap of storms. The oceans will part for his coming and he will rise up in his primitive form, ready to claim his place as ruler of this world."

"I'm sorry, but did you just say 'primitive form?'" Jay asked, panic creeping into his voice. "That's sounds really bad, she didn't say that, right? Please tell me she didn't just say that!"

Before he was answered, Maria's cries of pain died down. The pink glow of the spirit symbol faded away as did her crying. Her breathing became steady and clear as she looked at her surroundings. "G-guys…I see a-a bright light."

"Oh no, she's dying!" Jay cried out. "Don't go to the light, follow the sound of my voice!"

"Not that light." She pushed him away and sat up, rubbing her eyes dry. "I saw a pink one flash for a moment. I guess it was just my powers acting up."

"So, how do you feel?" Kai asked. "You good now?"

"I think so."

"She's right," the spider demon added on as she walked towards them. "My King is at rest once again; I don't feel his aura emerging as it was before. We're safe now."

The Ninja breathed a sigh of relief as they stood up. "I presume we should continue our search for your mother." Zane suggested. "Perhaps there's an easier way to find her now that things have died down. I could use my falcon to scour the outside perimeter and find her."

"Do that, and I'll shoot it down and strip it of its meat to feed my army," Goryō's voice sneered from above, startling the Ninja. "I really must applaud you for your efforts in keeping the King and girl in check."

The Ninja looked around for the source of his voice while showing they were unafraid. "You better give up, Goryō," Lloyd shouted back. "We're going to find Elise and stop you from carrying out your crazy plan.

"Yeah, and Zane's bird is mechanical anyway," the Blue Ninja taunted. "There's no meat on it, stupid! So, ha!"

"Jay, don't make him angry," Cole scolded.

"He's just a voice, what's he gonna do?"

In response, a trail of blue green flames lit up the room and continued on in a trail leading back out into the hallway. "I can make things easier and lead you to what you seek. I don't blame you if you have doubts, but I employ to follow the path I've set for you. Like you, I'm curious to see how things turn out. Farewell."

It went silent as the group was left with the decision to either to take this chance or not. The sudden turn events was unprecedented, as Goryō said, how things would turn out was hard to determine. With no one saying anything about their situation, the Pink Ninja began walking out and following the flames.

The others quickly followed and caught up with her. "What do you think you're doing?" Lloyd asked. "This could be another trap and you're walking right into it."

"My mother's at stake, I think that's pretty self explanatory," she replied, her eyes locked on the path ahead. "If he pulls anything, I swear, I won't use my powers at all. I'll run away, I'm pretty good at that."

"She's not wrong," Jorōgumo said, while taking a protective hold of Maria's arm. "Her powers are dormant; they'll stay like that so long as nothing 'sparks' them."

"Uh, I'm sorry, 'sparks?'" Kai asked as he arched an eyebrow. "What, like spark a fire?"

"Of course not, it's completely different," she spat. "Everyone has one in them, you should know at least that. Something that ignites a certain emotion and/or action in someone."

"I literally have no idea what you're talking about, it just sounds ridiculous if I'm being honest." Murmurs of agreement rang out from the Ninja at Kai's statement.

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Clearly, you humans aren't as observant and intelligent as you make yourselves out to be. No matter, I assure you that whatever sparks this girl's powers won't if Goryō does pull a trick. I'll see to it myself."

"How noble," Goryō said to himself. It was an amusing sight seeing Jorōgumo take the role of a leader and brave her way through. "At least she'll perish with some dignity."

Even though he knew of the future and what was to undeniably happen, he did have his doubts. The child was quick to use her powers after he tilted the ship to have a few of the humans fall into the nue's mouth, but she recovered quickly. It was almost admirable seeing her hold off that much power she had yet to utilize.

He set down the Oracle Orb and walked over to the steering wheel, turning it to the right and southwards towards the ocean. The King would undeniably be freed tonight, the Orb assured him that. Goryō was determined to see that glorious sight of King Onryō rising up and breaking free from his cage once more. It would all fall into place…yet a little push couldn't hurt.

The demon walked towards the back of the ship's bridge to his armoire. He parted the aged wooden doors, the glass bottles of miscellaneous essences and liquids clinking from the small tremor. Giving the nue the agility and flexibility of a water demon probably wasn't the smartest choice if they were using fire. Reaching out, he grabbed a small fluted bottle filled with a thick yellow liquid.

"Perfect," he purred. "A few drops of this and my next pet will be much stronger. Then again…why settle for just 'much stronger!'"

"Ok, try it one more time. I know I have it down, I swear," Jay pleaded.

"Fine," Cole groaned. He pulled a spare coin from his pocket and hid his hands behind his back. The others rolled their eyes as they knew how this scenario would play out…again. "Ok, which hand is it in?" he asked while holding out his clenched fists.

Jay stared hard and focused intensely, hoping his gem's powers would activate and help him. He finally settled on Cole's left hand and pointed confidently, "It's in that hand."

"Nope." The Earth Ninja opened up his fists and indeed, the coin was in his right. "You're wrong, just like the last 20 times."

"One more time!"

"Jay, please, you'll fall behind and get lost if you keep playing that game," Maria called from the head the group. They had yet to reach their destination, leaving Jay in boredom.

The Blue Ninja sputtered in disbelief. "Wha-you! This isn't a game! It's a highly complicated test to sharpen my skills and activate my gem's power so I can use it again!"

"You're trying to find a coin," Kai deadpanned.

"Are all humans like this when things get uneventful nowadays?" Jorōgumo asked. "If so, I feel sincerely sorry for your generation."

"Hey, I'm trying to make the most of our situation!" Jay ran ahead to catch up with the spider demon. "I mean, Kai would destroy the place if he tried to use his, Lloyd needs absolute concentration, I don't even know what Zane's does! I'm the only one who can try to activate it quickly and be useful!"

The Red Ninja spun on his heels and got in his face. "Excuse me? I saved our lives back there, not to mention mine's the most powerful when it comes to combat. Even if you can see the future, your reaction time is slow. You panic instead of attacking or defending."

"Well, I helped in keeping a majority of those demons away. Also, I don't need to throw a temper tantrum to activate my powers."

"Tantrum?!"

"Will you two shut it!" Lloyd's sudden outburst had the group frozen in place. Embarrassed by his behavior he looked away. "Look, sorry for yelling, but we're a team. That's what's going to help us get through this, so stop taking out your frustrations and fears on each other, ok?"

"Fine," Kai and Jay sincerely said before shaking hands.

"Honestly though," the Green Ninja thought aloud as they continued on, "I'm younger than the both of you, yet I'm the one that acts mature most of the time." Not looking where he was going, he bumped into a still Jorōgumo. "Oh, sorry."

"What did you say?" she whispered.

"Pardon?"

She turned around and took ahold of his hand, her eyes wide and locked on him. They had him in a trance as she stared deeply into his soul. "What you just said to them…what was it?"

"Hey, guys!" Nya called to them, snapping them out of their moment. They had fallen behind, abandoned by the others just as they were about to head down a flight of steps. "We found where Elise is! You ok up there?"

"Fine, we're fine," the Green Ninja called back, releasing himself from the spider woman's grip. "We're coming." He turned to Jorōgumo and asked, "You alright?"

"Yes…I don't know what came over me. I apologize," she said, not meeting his eyes. "Let's just free the human." She walked down with Lloyd on her heels. They met up with the others as they stopped before a wooden door, blue green flames burning around the frame. "I'll get the human, the rest of you stay here."

"Hey, she's my mom," Maria protested. "I should go get her."

"But you need to get away if there's a trap." She gripped the brass doorknob, twisted it and prepared to push it open. "I swear to you, no matter what may come after me, I'll get your mother to safety as soon as possible and come back for you."

CREAAAKKK!

The flames disappeared as she opened the door gently, the group carefully stepping inside as to not trigger any possible traps. The room was clearly lit, with a silver cage hanging from the ceiling. Inside, Elise had been laying down and shot up at the sound of creaking wood. "Maria!"

"Mom!" Maria yelled back, though she was quickly shushed. "Mom, listen to me," she said in quieter tone. "Jorōgumo will get you out of there, I have to stay here for safety reasons. She'll teleport you back to the temple, then it's up to you to just go home and be careful, ok?" Her mother nodded in reply.

"Stand back," the spider demon ordered before summoning her four spider limbs from her back. She crept low before sending herself flying with a powerful leap towards the ceiling. She stuck her legs into the hardwood and crawled over to the chain of the cage, her body dangling as she prepared to grab ahold of it. When Jorōgumo reached the cage, she latched on with her own hands and slid down, gently landing on the top of the cage.

With her fang, she bit and ripped a hole through the top. She reached in and pulled Elise out from the hole as a dark mist emerged from underneath her. "I might be a minute or so before I come back since the ship is in motion," Jorōgumo called to them. "Just stay there and you'll be safe." Just like that, she and Elise sunk into the shadows and had disappeared.

"Well…this is boring," Cole commented, getting murmurs of agreement from the Ninja. "Are we really supposed to stay here and wait for her to get back?"

"We could talk to pass the time," Jay suggested. "I had the craziest dream last night, or nightmare now that I think about it, and I gotta get it off my chest. We were all there, then there was this giant clock and light that changed colors and we fell down-"

Lloyd froze in place after hearing just that much; it was similar to the nightmare he had, but he never told anyone the details yet. "Hold on, Jay. Was there also a tall stone pillar with a lot of steps that we climbed up?"

"Yeah, I was getting there to explaining that. How'd you know?"

"I…I think I had the same nightmare," Nya spoke up. "I don't remember much, but now that I think back, I had a rough time sleeping last night. There was a clock-no, that glass clock from the museum- that ticked seven times before-"

"-everything went dark and we fell on half of that stone pillar after it split apart," Kai finished. By now everyone's faces had gone pale and began to sweat at the unusual coincidence of having a similar nightmare shared by four people.

"While we are confessing," Zane said, "I believe I shared this nightmare, as well. I recall us having all seven gems gathered. Afterwards, I heard a voice, one I've never heard before that somehow sounded strangely familiar, reciting a poem. A prophecy, dare I say."

"But we lost Maria on the other half of the pillar." Cole gulped nervously before continuing on. "We couldn't move and neither could she. We were both stuck and then we fell. We fell and watched her-"

"-break apart into a million shards that rained down on us," Lloyd finished. Everyone stared at the Pink Ninja as her face had gone blank. "Well, you had the dream, too, right?"

She fiddled with her hands nervously before saying, "Actually, no. I dreamed I went to school naked." Maria received looks of confusion, to which she quickly defended herself, "Hey, dreams like that happen! Moving on, how come you guys had a possible prophetic dream and I didn't when I was clearly suffering in it?"

"Let's figure that out later," the Green Ninja replied. "I don't feel comfortable talking about stuff like this when Jorōgumo is helping us and when we're in a demon's base. This place really rubs me the wrong way just standing here."

"Speaking of which, anyone else think this was too easy?" Nya asked. "I mean, Goryō led us here and decided to just hand over Elise after saying he would have her as a queen when he became king? Something's off."

"Maybe he's decided she's not his type after all," Jay said. "I don't blame him. She's more reserved, kind, and calm, he wants to rule the world and kill us by any means necessary. Maybe he-" the Blue Ninja stopped as a drop of water fell onto his face, trickling down his cheek. He wiped it off only for another to take its place, then another and another…

"Guys, let's go back," Lloyd calmly said while pushing Maria towards the stairway. "Let's go back to the deck where's it far away from here."

The Pink Ninja resisted him and protested, "But Jorōgumo said to stay here. We can't just leave and have her wonder where we went. Maybe it's nothing."

SWOOSH!

Water suddenly came rushing in from the ceiling, rapidly filling the room up. Realizing the threat, the Ninja quickly ran up the stairs and back into the hallway as it flooded the room. They scrambled into the upper level, nearly falling on the other just as the water level had risen completely to the first step. It stopped and sloshed gently with the rocking of the flying ship, spreading its sea salty smell into the air.

"Well that was anticlimactic," Kai said, breaking the silence. "Was he really going to drown us out?"

"Not us, Jorōgumo," Zane realized. "She may have a hard time accurately teleporting, but if she did by the time she came back to us, she could drown. Perhaps he's trying to separate us."

"I'm not swimming down there, what if this isn't even water?" Jay asked. "Or maybe there's something in the water that's waiting for us to swim down and BAM! We're fish food."

"That's a possibility," Maria agreed. "There's a number of aquatic demons he could have under his control, but only a few would be able to fit in the size of the room. So that would eliminate whales, a few octopus and squid based demons, which would leave us with-"

Out of nowhere, Maria was dragged under water by a long barb in the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of air bubbles behind. The Ninja were in shock until Lloyd broke from the group and dove under into the dark, murky waters. Summoning an energy orb, he managed to light up his view at an arms length distance as he continued his search for his sister. The water was cold and made him tense up if he stopped swimming for a split second, even so he didn't until he saw a trace of her.

Everything was eerily calm as though there was nothing in the room but him. His lungs began to feel as though they would burst and shrivel up if he didn't breathe soon. With no choice but to swim up for air he began his ascension only to somehow descend instead. Confused and desperate, Lloyd furiously swam harder, only stopping after he felt a sharp pain prick his ankle. Focusing an energy orb on the direction of the pain, Lloyd found himself face to face with a giant shark.

It's tough skin, lined with thorn barbs, blended perfectly with the dark blue waters it swam in. The shark's black dot eyes stared intensely as it calmly latched it's pectoral fin into his pants leg and tried shoveling him into its mouth. Lloyd quickly pulled out his sword and slashed it in its eye, allowing the beast to release him.

He swam back and noticed another figure wriggling around, one that stuck out from the beast's camouflaged colors. Quickly swimming over he recognized it to Maria, her armor lodged on the barbed dorsal fin of the shark. She noticed him and waved him over to help, as he did, he saw her face sporting shades of blue in her cheeks and spreading. With what little breathe he had left, he sawed at it with his sword with all his might to free her from the barb's tight hold, his body ready to give out from the lack of oxygen.

The shark had began to take notice of the two and twisted its head back towards them, it's surprisingly long tongue gently trying to reel them in. They swatted it away as they kept pulling away from it until Maria had slowly gone limp. With no choice left, he sheathed his weapon and blasted a beam of energy at the sharp quill, only making it fall off from the fin halfway. Using his last breath, he held onto her tightly and gnawed away at the weakened spine, releasing them from the beast's grip. The two floated aimlessly away as his body felt heavy and cold inside. His heavy eyelids fell down, yet he refused to let go of Maria as he slipped into darkness.

"…Lloyd. …Lloyd. NOT LIKE THIS, MAN! NOT LIKE THIS!"

The Green Ninja woke up, his body being shaken furiously as everything had gone upside down. His throat suddenly felt rough and warm as he coughed up a large amount of water. He panted as he regained full consciousness, only to be dropped on his head. Lloyd sat up and rubbed it in pain as he took notice of his surroundings. Nya stood at the center holding her arms in an upward position as they floated in what looked to be a huge bubble. Kai kept his fist lit with a small flame, providing them with light. Jay and Zane stood by, looks of relief on their faces while Cole had an unconscious, upside down Maria by her ankles and shook her.

"What are you doing?!" he demanded. "Put her down now!"

"I'm getting the water out of her," the Earth Ninja explained, ignoring his request. "None of us were willing to do CPR, this was the only other way. It worked for you, it's gonna work for her."

Right on cue, Maria began gagging up water as she was set gently down on the floor of the bubble. She held her throat as she looked up and locked eyes with Lloyd. "L-Lloyd? What happened? Where are we?"

Overwhelmed, he knelt down and hugged her tightly. "That thing dragged you under and we both drowned, but we're ok now. You're ok now…and I honestly have no idea how we're down here in this bubble. Or why it's so muggy," he groaned as he pulled back felt his sweaty hair stuck to his face.

"We can explain," the nindroid said. "After you jumped in after Maria, we knew we had to plan out how we would reach you without getting trapped down here. Nya had the idea of forming this air bubble to keep us from drowning, while Kai provided us with light since it was too dark, even with my own lights."

"But we ran into some problems," Jay nervously chuckled. "We saved you guys and I reached out to you by calling your name, but we got cornered by that shark thing before you guys woke up. Now it's blocking the exit when it's not stalking us and Kai's fire is making this place a sauna, but hey, it's doing wonders for the pores!"

"You mean we're going to suffocate in here?"

"If I could try gathering air bubbles from the surface and bring them to our bubble," Nya suggested. "It would buy us time to figure out a way to escape that shark."

"It's called an isonade," Maria explained as she stood up. "Unlike real sharks, they're eerily calm, even when they catch their prey with their barbed fins. They live to sink ships and are one of the stealthiest creatures in existence. It could be anywhere now and gently swim by us and pop our bubble without us realizing it until it's too late."

"Not if we could see where it's next attack will be," Jay said. "I could predict its movements and we could counter them and get out of here."

Kai scoffed, "Yeah, if we could get these stupid gems to work, we'd all be ok. But have we had the time to focus on reconnecting with them? A bit, but it hasn't worked."

"Will you stop being so negative?" the Pink Ninja snapped at him. "Look at us now, we've faced worst than this and here we are now." She paused for a moment before exhaling a nervous breath. "I'm scared…I've been this way ever since we started this, and I relied on you guys to tell me what to do. But that's ok.

"I know you guys will stand by me, because maybe there is something greater that's keeping us together. Or maybe it's just that, in the end, we're keeping ourselves together and making each other stronger."

"Oh, Maria," Kai sighed, "that's such a sweet sentiment…that won't help us out of this situation!"

"Well, Kai, sorry for me being one of the few not ready to give up," she shot back. "At this point we should just try anything to get us out of here."

"I agree with Pinky," Jay spoke up as he slung an arm around her shoulder. "I think we can do this, we just need to focus."

She smiled before touching his hand and saying, "Thank you, Jay." The moment was cut short as he pulled his hand back and held his right wrist in pain. "What happened? Are you ok?"

"My wrist feels really hot!" The gem on the Blue Ninja's wrist began to glow dimly for the first time in a while. "Guys, I think I know what this is. Also you should get back!"

"Get back where?" Cole asked. "We're in a bubble!"

"No, no, no, you're not being overcome," Lloyd calmly told him. He pointed at the blue gem's dying glow and said, "See that? It's going away, it's not like when I was overcome. Or maybe it's just different for you."

Jay suddenly froze and snapped his head to the side. "Nya, move us to the left."

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Now, Nya! Move us to the left!" he shouted desperately. The Water Ninja complied and moved their bubble far left just as the isonade came swimming by, locking eyes with the Ninja as it passed. As it swam off into the distance, sparks of electricity ran around its body before disappearing. "Oh, that was close," he exhaled.

"I didn't even pick that up on my sensors," Zane exclaimed in awe. "You're powers…are they back?"

"They can't be. Sure, I felt something was coming our way, but my powers couldn't have just come back. Not out of the blue like that."

"But Maria touched your gem, could that have something to do with their sudden reappearance?"

Kai grabbed Maria by her shoulder and held his gem in her face. "Touch my gem."

"No, I'm not going to touch your gem!" she spat while pushing him away. "I'm not touching anyone's gem. We've got bigger problems; that isonade was generating electricity, they can't do that naturally."

"Goryō must've done something to it," Lloyd thought, "and it's acting calm like you said they typically do, so it must be more stable compared to the nue. Nya," he turned to her, "can you get us to the surface before our air runs out?"

"Of course," she nodded, "I can tell where you're headed with this. If Jay and I work together, we can get by it without a fight. But we gotta hurry," Nya said as she wiped her dripping forehead, "we're almost out of time."

"Not for long," Jay assured, focusing his energy on his gem. "Start moving forward." Nya complied and followed his directions as soon as he gave them. "Ok, move a little to the left and then right. Then keep going forward."

Slowly, the Ninja slumped over, panting as they struggled to breathe in the dense, humid air. Even Zane's systems began to overheat from the rising temperature. "We're at 113º F and rising…w-w-we need fresh air."

"Nya, we should be reaching the surface," Jay said over his shoulder to her. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need you to pop the bubble. We'll swim the rest of the way there, trust me."

"Jay, that's the stupidest idea you've ever had," Cole said. "What if that thing comes swimming by and you can't tell us to watch out?"

"We'll hold hands and swim together. Lloyd, back me up here!"

All eyes turned to the young leader as he struggled to stand upright. He began joining hands with Kai and Maria and looked back at the others. "What're you waiting for? Hold hands, we're getting out of this place!"

Without a word,they linked hands with the exception of Nya using her free hand to hold the bubble. They took in one last breath before the Water Ninja lowered her hand and popped their cover, sinking momentarily in the cold, yet refreshing waters. Jay took the lead in guiding the Ninja as they swam in sync, a light shimmering on the glassy surface as they came closer. As they reached the top, they surfaced from the aquatic trap and took a long, well deserved breath in. Nearly bumping their heads on the ceiling, they scanned the area until they saw that same light peeking out from the submerged stairway hall.

"There's our way out," Lloyd pointed out. "Just a quick swim over and a dive, and we're home free."

"I can do you one better," Nya smiled. With the wave of her hand, a current pushed them towards the exit at speeds faster than they could've swam themselves. Just before they reached the stairs, she stopped them and asked, "Maybe we should check if the isonade is nearby?"

"It's not, I know," Jay answered. "Just go." He was the first to dive under before they each submerged once again, one by one while still holding onto each other.

They swam up the slippery steps, eventually walking up as it opened up into the hallway. Finally free, they shook themselves dry and relaxed. "That was torture," Cole said as he twisted the water out of his hood. "I just want the day to be over and go home."

"You're telling me," Maria agreed, "this takes the cake of being one my wackiest birthdays ever."

A voice hissed down her neck. "I wished you would've told me that earlier, Princess."

Without having time to react, the Ninja watched in horror as Goryō grabbed her by the throat. Only Lloyd was quick to snap out of his fear filled state and charge at the demon. "Get away from her!"

Though she was within reach, she was whisked away, leaving the Green Ninja to fall and scrape himself on the hardwood floor. Anger boiled in him as he clenched only his fists, the rest of his body laying deathly still. His teammates didn't dare to even inch towards him in fear of what he was to do next. He felt hot tears welling up in his eyes and run down his face, mixing in with the blood dripping from his forehead. In an instant, he sat up and pounded his fists on the ground, screaming at the top of his lungs with his sore throat inflaming with frustration.

"MARIA!"

The Pink Ninja was thrusted onto the soft ground, confused as to what had happened. She sat up and observed her oddly refined surroundings. Plush, silken carpets lined the floors, sparkling from the golden light brought by a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Red velvet cur tens covered every inch of the walls, making it impossible for any outside light to peek through. An old, dusty armoire with golden designs was at the back of the room, nearly covered by a regal throne that sat in the center of the room. Together, the design and decorations had given off a feeling of being in an upper class house or throne room of a castle.

"You should've told me today was your birthday," a familiar voice crooned. Maria whipped around to see her captor, Goryō, leaning against a steering wheel to the ship He smiled as he approached her. "I would've shown you a better time, after all, you're the birthday girl."

She glared instantly at him. "What's your deal, you creep? You torture me and my friends, kidnap my mother and just let her go, now this! You're…you're a nut!"

Feigning he was hurt by her words, he held a hand over his heart and gasped. "Why, I never! Calling me an insane and disorganized person, or as you said in your own words…'nut.' I plan things out carefully with purpose; for example, your mother's kidnapping was to bait you here. That one is fairly obvious.

"Then there's the 'torturing' of you and your friends that you accuse me of. I only meant to push you to be greater than you are, your friends got in the way and made a mess of things. You know fully well you could've defeated that nue and isonade with your bare hands, but they messed it all up and-"

"Just stop," Maria interrupted. "You're just trying to get me to free Onryō and you know it. You're playing with me and trying to mess with my head, that's what you do. Well, tough, because I know you know he's on the verge of being released and that never going to happen. I will not use my elemental powers, no matter what you do, so suck it!"

Goryō grinned before turning his back to her. "You're quite spirited when you want to be. I admire that. Truly, a fine quality in a young lady." He snapped his fingers, putting out the chandelier's light and opening the curtains before him. The demon stared out to the night and sighed. "Such a beautiful sight I would've loved to share with your mother…but the problem is she loves someone else. What was the name…Christopher?"

A gasp escaped from Maria before she could stop it. Hearing it, Goryō chuckled, "Of course, how could I forget? He's your father; he must be since she kept declaring her love for him and mentioned he was her husband. By the way, have I ever told you what happens when me and my teammates are in rest while Onryō is inactive?"

"Just shut up already," she warned him. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say." Though she was getting annoyed, a chill crept over her as she could feel this was going to end badly.

"We are stuck in the in between since we've never been completely defeated by Seraphina, you should know that if you were able to remember anything about your past. We are neither dead or alive, we are merely frozen, sometimes we have the pleasure of watching other souls die and pass through the Dying Kingdom, no matter their final destination. Truth be told, we see this when we're active through certain methods, but it's interesting when we're inactive."

Maria shot up from the ground and shouted at him. "Goryō, shut up right now! I don't want to hear anthing you have to say!"

"Oh, but you'll like this next part," he said while turning to face her. "You see, we can hear their passing thoughts and get a sense of how they died, what they regret, what they'll miss. It gets boring, but there was a soul that stuck out to me. A soul who believed he was dying a hero's death, yet he was quite sad that he would never see his wife or unborn child or that they would suffer without him…he was pathetic."

With every once of being, the young Ninja held back her powers, ready to strike him. Yet her tears began to overflow from her eyes. She muttered under her breath, "Shut up."

Goryō continued on, ignoring her physical pain he was causing her."I couldn't believe this man. Believing he died honorably when how he really died was pathetic."

"Shut up…"

"I mean, he went out when he was sick and fought, took a bullet to the chest for his dearest and oldest friend…"

"Shut up, Goryō…" Her fists clenched up tightly as she reached behind her.

"…then he holds on to what little life he has left, promising himself that he has to try for his future. But in the end, he dies and assures himself he died a hero when he really died as what I saw to be a pathetic, whimpering, crying shell of a man!"

"Shut up, you godforsaken demon!"

Maria plunged her neko-te into his horn and threw him across the room. He crashed into his throne and reduce it splinters with the impact of his body being thrown full force. The Pink Ninja looked down at her hand and noticed his left horn had been torn off from her attack, lodged on the claws of her weapon. She looked back up as she heard him scrambling to get up from the wreckage.

He held his head in pain, his eyes glowing with fury. "That wasn't very nice."

"Lloyd, slow down," Kai called after him. He and the other Ninja struggled to keep up with him as he darted down from hallway to hallway, trying to find a way to the upper level. "Running around like a maniac isn't going to help us find her any sooner."

"That mad man has her, who knows what he's doing to her," he shouted back.

"But running around instead of putting our heads together won't solve anything."

Finally, the Green Ninja stopped and let his teammates catch up to him. He relaxed down a bit before addressing them. "Ok, I'm calm. Now how are we going to find her in time before Goryō does anything to her?"

"Goryō has the girl?" an annoyed voice cried out from around the corner. Jorōgumo shuffled to them, soaked to the bone and shivering, as she glared at them. "I teleport back to where I told you to stay and find myself being dragged underwater by a smelly fish that shocks me. Now I hear that Goryō has her captive!"

The Ninja backed up as they felt her fuming with anger. "So you escaped the isonade?" Kai asked. "How?"

"I don't want to talk about that. AT ALL." The spider turned her attention towards Lloyd. "You mentioned the girl was taken by Goryō. How did it happen?"

"He popped out of nowhere and disappeared into thin air with her," he explained. "I tried to stop him but he was too fast. We don't know where she is."

She groaned frustratedly before summoning a dark, misty portal on the ground. "Must I do everything for you? This will lead one of you near the ship's bridge, where he most likely took her."

"Why can it only take one of us?" Cole asked.

Jorōgumo focused all three of her eyes on him, as though she would strike him down right then and there. "Because I used most of my power to swim away from a shark, I'm freezing and exhausted, and I'm tired of you humans disobeying my orders! This is as good as its going to get!"

"…ok."

Lloyd stepped forward towards the portal. "I'll go," he said. "She's my responsibility and my sister. If anyone is going to save her, it has to be me."

Jorōgumo grabbed his hand and lead him into the portal. Before releasing him, she gave him a saddened look."Good luck then," she solemnly said, "and please, be careful." Finally, she let go and let him fall in, the portal swallowing him up before vanishing itself.

"What about us?" Nya asked. "How do we get up to the bridge?"

"The hallway to it is actually a few levels above us," the spider replied. "Goryō won't sense you coming if he's preoccupied with the girl and your leader; just blast your way through with brute force and you'll reach it. I'll go another route to try and surprise him. If all goes well, the reincarnate won't use her powers and hold on until we reach her."

She turned away and began running back near where she came from. As she prepared to turn at the corner, she gave them a final wave goodbye and left. The remaining Ninja prepared to take off when Zane interrupted. "Does anyone else wonder what she meant earlier by saying 'sparks?'"

"Zane, buddy," Jay sighed, "we all do. But now's not the time to discuss it, lives are at stake!"

"But listen for a moment," he begged, having the others groan impatiently. "She said that we all have one; something that compels us to do something or activate powers in Maria's case. I think Maria might have found hers but none of us realize it yet."

The others silently agreed that it was a valid point and thought about the possibilities. Kai was the first to speak up about the subject. "That would mean she would get stronger when her spark happened. The only time I can remember is when she was possessed and we all talked her out of falling under Oiwa's control."

"But before that she learned spinjitzu when the demons attacked the Hybrid Village," Nya added on. "It must've happened then, too."

"Oh, there was also the nue that happened not long ago." Cole thought. "She used her powers to protect her mom and you guys when it tried to eat you."

Zane froze in place as a thought came across his mind. "What if family is what compels her to use her powers, regardless of the consequences?"

The Ninja went pale at the realization. In all the scenarios they mentioned, they were a key part in them. She did spinjitzu perfectly to ward off the attack back at the village, despite being told to stay away in hiding. Maria blew the tail off the nue with power she had never used when her mother was being attacked. Then did it again but destroyed the whole beast after it had tried to eat them as they fell. They were the spark that ignited Maria's powers.

"Wait a minute," Jay shouted, "it can't be all of us. It still doesn't make sense."

"Jay, there's no other explanation," Kai told him. "We've been the reason she uses her powers and acts out."

"But what if there's one person that's more important to her any of us, one person that she will always fight for?"

"…It's Lloyd!"

"That wasn't very nice," Goryō growled, his fist igniting with blue green flames. "You lack the grace of your former self!" He chucked a ball of fire at Maria, spiraling rapidly at her face. She quickly rolled out of the way of the attack and stayed on the defensive side.

She rebuked him from her positions across the room. "Say all you want about me, what you said about my father was the last straw!" In a mocking manner, she held his broken horn up and examined it. "I'm not even trying and I broke off your horn after I chucked you across the room. All without using my powers."

Goryō lowered his head and charged at her full force, ready to tackle her down. At the last second, she front flipped over him and landed perfectly, watching him run himself into the wall. As he struggled to free himself, Maria quickly turned to the exit. Before she could even take a few steps, a thorny vine bursted from the ground and wrapped her up in its tight grasp. She could barely breathe but didn't waste any time in trying to break free.

"That won't work," Goryō said, freed from his earlier failed attacked. "At least not by brute strength alone. If you used your powers, then you would have a fighting chance."

"Dream on, wannabe king!" the Pink Ninja shouted.

By merely raising and lowering his hand, the vine held her high above the ground before slamming her down. She had no time to recuperate as a hunk of dark ice appeared above her and fell, shattering into pieces as it crashed onto her back. Pain erupted through her body as she let out a scream, despite that, Maria forced herself up to face her foe. "It doesn't hurt, I'm only pitying you!"

Goryō narrowed his eyes on her as he summoned the vine again, this time around her injured arm. He twisted it until she fell back to her knees and tried to claw it off. "Does it hurt yet?" he hissed.

She bravely shook her head no, prompting him to walk over to her. He stared her down before grabbing her by her hair and pinned her against the wall. She bit his hand and kicked at him wildly, but it didn't phase him in the slightest. With a snap of his fingers, a silver sword appeared in his hand, pointed at her quivering throat. "This is your last chance. You can get out of this if you just use your powers."

"You can forget it," Maria whispered, "I know you won't actually kill me. Even if you did intended to, I'd rather that then let Onryō out into the world again by falling for one of your cheap tricks!"

A glint passed through his eyes as he raised his sword up high. "So be it."

Maria closed her eyes as she felt the air rush from his weapon, waiting for the blow to be dealt. This was how it was going to end and she had accepted it. Whatever needed to be done to keep Onryō locked away was what mattered; that was her purpose and she was ready to fulfill it. Tears came running to her eyes yet she didn't feel ashamed to show this weakness before her enemy in her last moments.

'I'm sorry, mama,' she thought, 'but this is the only way you'll be safe. I'm sorry, dad, but I have to think about my home and friends. I'm sorry, Lloyd…for everything.'

The cold blade plunged at her neck…and tilted her head up. Confused as to why she still felt life in her, she opened her eyes to find her staring at the ceiling. Frantically looking around, Maria managed to look down and see Goryō in shock as he stared at her neck. "What're you looking at, you weirdo? What are you-?"

He raised a finger to her chin, his sharp nail poking her as he held it there. "This scar…where did…? No, it can't be!" Goryō cracked a crazed smile as he threw his head back and laughed maniacally. "Of all the times-! Now of all times-!"

"What're you talking about?"

"Stop playing innocent!" He regained his serious demeanor and grabbed her by the throat, nearly choking her to death. "It's hopeless to hide now," the demon said as he leaned in. He whispered in her ear, "Also, between the two of us…"his grip tightened as she felt limp, "…you should've stayed dead that day."

"Let her go!" A beam of energy shot into Goryō's side, separating the two as they tumbled on the ground. Maria wheezed and gagged as she tried to regain her breathe. A pair of arms wrapped around her and helped her up...it was Lloyd. "Are you ok? What did he do to you?"

CRACK!

The floorboards split apart, light shining through before Jay's head popped up from the gap. His face fell as he examined the situation. "Hey, guys," he called down the hole, "good news and bad news! Good news: we found Lloyd and Maria. Bad news: we did make a wrong turn."

"Jay? What're you doing?" the Pink Ninja asked.

The Blue Ninja extended an arm to them. "No time to explain, we gotta get you two out of here now!"

"No one leaves!" Goryō quickly recovered and pounded his fist on the ground. At that moment, a large dark crystal emerged from where Jay was. It rose and broke the floorboards, with the other Ninja trapped helplessly in its grasp. They struggled to break free but had no success. "We're all going to witness the reappearance of King Onryō!"

"Lloyd, that's your cue to leave!" Kai shouted. "Just go!"

"I said no one leaves!" A vine wrapped around Lloyd and pulled him back to Goryō's side, his sword now pointed at his head. "He's coming…Onryō is near!"

"Goryō, leave him alone," Maria pleaded. "Lloyd's got nothing to do with this and you know it! It's me you want!"

A crazed look grew in his eye as he pressed the blade against the Green Ninja's skull. "I think not; it's all becoming clear to me, how you work, how your powers work. It's all coming to fruition, we're all waiting for you now to play your part."

"Kid, don't listen to him," Cole ordered her. "He's trying to trick you to use your powers!"

She couldn't hear anything her friends had to say, she was too focused on Lloyd's safety and the pressure of the situation. "Please, Goryō," she wept, "please let him go."

Goryō merely chuckled at her pleas. "You think that's going to work, asking nicely?" He moved the sword down to Lloyd's throat and begun to raise it up to strike. "Say goodbye!"

Everything slowed down for Maria in that moment as she watched in horror the events before her unfold. The intimidating glint of the blade gaining on her brother made a lump in throat appear. Her hands shook as Goryō had a smile of pure enjoyment grow as the sword was a few mere inches from its target. But what was the worst was Lloyd's eyes, full of so many emotions that overwhelmed her. He was scared at what would happen but he also had understanding; he understood that it would be best for her to stay back…he accepted his fate as she did not long ago.

He was ready to die.

'Why?' she wondered. 'Why are you accepting this? I'm the one with the curse of being connected to Onryō. Why are you like the others, ready to give it all up for my sake? For once, just listen to what I want…'

"Lloyd!" she bawled in a raspy voice as she ran towards him, "I want to save you! I want to be by your side forever! You promised me!"

In the midst of her sorrow, she latched onto Goryō's arm and pulled it away. Immediately, he pulled it away from her grasp and held it up for all to see…smoke emerging from a newly formed wound. The vine withered up and died as she ripped it away from Lloyd. The second he was freed, she latched onto him and hugged him, ignoring the excruciating pain that stirred within her. Maria sobbed like never before as Lloyd tried to calm her down.

"Hey, Maria," he calmly said to her, "thank you."

She pulled back and faced him, wiping away as much tears as she could from her eyes as they glowed pink with the spirit symbol. "You were going to be killed, how could you give in like that? Did you forget we promised to stay together? If anyone was to die it should be me! I'm the one that got you into this mess!"

He shushed her before answering, "It's all going to be ok. Everything is fine now."

"Everything is more than fine," Goryō whispered. "It's so much more than that now!" He snapped his fingers, allowing a skylight to open in the ceiling above them.

A sudden chill had crept into the air as everything became dark. The moon and stars that shone above them grew dark as a blood red hue filled the sky. Maria finally succumbed to the pain and held herself as it grew. "It's happening," she whimpered, "and we can't stop it this time."

"Of course you can't, the whole thing was inevitably going to happen." Goryō walked over and kicked Lloyd away from her. Not wasting a moment, he grabbed Maria and jumped through the skylight, quickly covering it with black ice. "Perfect, now no one can interrupt this moment."

Maria picked herself up from the roof of the bridge's outer surface and stared out at the churning waters of the ocean far from her. The night air felt sinister as it blew through her hair and across her skin. "He's really coming? Onryō?"

"Forgot about him," Goryō said while kneeling down. "Let's talk about us for a moment." He showed her the wound she gave him, now a dark gray mark that stuck out from his lighter skin tone. "I've never received an injury like this before from Seraphina. She would send me back to that cursed state with my former allies before I could ever receive a wound.

"The only other time something like this happened was a long time ago." He pulled back his beard and revealed a similar looking wound on his chest, larger and darker in appearance. "I normally use most of my power to cover it up because it would never heal or fade, but you can take a good look at it."

"I'm not interested in where you're going with this," Maria hissed as she groaned. She watched as the waters parted and rose up, allowing a dark patch of earth to be revealed. A black hole opened up, making way for a giant shadow hand to crawl out, followed by another and two protruding twisted horns. The winds picked up speed and whirled around them, almost like a hurricane.

"You should remember this," Goryō continued, ignoring the forces around them. "It was an eye for an eye, or in our case, a scar for a scar. I merely nicked your chin before you threw a fuss and gave me this scar. It was the day everyone that worshiped you wept because you died, even the Great Elders. The day you died was the day everything changed and now it's changing again." He threw his head back and yelled to the heavens, "Isn't it changing, Seraphina!"

"Will you shut up with that!" Maria watched as a dark body covered in glowing yellow veins emerged from the hole, roaring wildly as she felt his evil presence. "I'm sick of it," she spat out. "He's here and you're still going with that! For the last time. I. AM NOT. SERAPHINA!"

The demon smirked as he forced her to face him. "I know you're not Seraphina. I know that now." He picked her up by her neck and held her to his ugly face.

"…you're her baby girl."

Everything went blank as the stunned Maria was forced to watch Onryō emerge from his prison in a hideous, monstrous form. He locked eyes with her from the distance as Goryō whispered in her ear.

"All hail the King."

Everyone, thank you. Thats all I can say at this point. That and keep an eye out on my tumblr and profile for art, release dates and more! Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

Next time...Ninjago: Legend Undone!

Edit: OCTOBER 22ND...once and for all...we're back

Until then, God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.