Finding My Second Wind

prologue: survivors of the same kind

Hey guys, so I've decided to post this 'prologue' chapter here, since it does relate to the rest of the story.

Summary:
A twelve year old Harumi searches through the Palace of Secrets, determined to find a way to thank the one person responsible for saving Ninjago City from the Great Devourer.  But the person she ends up summoning wasn't exactly who she was looking for.

** this chapter was posted here on Feb 20 2022, but it can also be found in my 'Ninjago One-shots' book on my account. **

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Harumi gumbled as she pushed a stack of books to the side and rubbed her face with her hands. She had been searching non-stop for ways to build a Temple of Resurrection and where to find the Oni masks. Her desire to make the Green Ninja pay for what he had done had grown stronger over the years, and at the same time, she also wanted to say a thank you to the person who saved the city from the Great Devourer, Lord Garmadon.

Based on her research, she knew that Garmadon was a descendant of the First Spinjitzu Master, which would make him half Oni and half Dragon. She also knew that using the Oni masks can resurrect someone of Oni blood, but it will only resurrect the Oni part of that person.

To any other person, going to such a far extent just to make one person suffer was way too much, but it still wasn't enough for her. She had lost the people she loved the most in the Great Devourer disaster, and it was all because those so-called "saviours" of Ninjago couldn't destroy the snake in time.

When she figures out how to create the Temple of Resurrection and reclaim the Oni masks, she is going to make sure that the Ninja paid for the suffering and sorrow she endured over the years.

Harumi looked at the pile of books and considered reading through them again, but decided against it. She had read through them several times and already wrote down anything worth remembering. She decided to explore the large library in the Palace and see if she could find anything else.

After nearly three hours of searching in the library, she picked out a large stack of books to read in her room. She was the most excited to read a book on the different realms and how to get there.

Harumi made sure that everyone in the Palace of Secrets was asleep before she started reading. She couldn't have anyone knowing of her plans. Not yet, anyways.

The book on the realms was interesting, and there was a particular spell that caught her eye. It allowed the caster to be able to communicate with a being from the realm of their choice for a few minutes.

"Just think of the realm you want to open, and chant the spell thrice." she read. "If casted successfully, you will be able to communicate with someone from the realm you've just accessed."

"This seems like good practice for when I actually have to do the summoning spell." she mused to herself. "Wo hū huàn ni, wo kāi yí ge mén, ràng ní hàn wo dùi huà." She chanted the spell three times and then realized that she didn't think of a realm while chanting. She flipped through the book, deciding that whichever realm is on the next pages she flipped will be the one she tries to open.

"The Cursed Realm." Harumi read, looking at an image of a gloomy looking terrain with many spikes and wisps of fog. "Well, why not?"

"Wo hū huàn ni, wo kāi yí ge mén, ràng ní hàn wo dùi huà." As she chanted, Harumi kept the Cursed Realm in her mind, visualizing the almost ghostly looking setting as clearly as she could in her mind.

After chanting the spell three times, Harumi waited for something to happen. Nothing did for the longest time. She glared at the book and contemplated throwing it out the window. However, before she could do that, a raspy voice cut through her thoughts.

"wHo arE yOu?"

She let out a scream, turning around and seeing a slightly transparent, green figure of a boy standing before her.

"This isn't the Cursed Realm." he remarked, his voice sounding completely different from the raspy voice from earlier. "How did you do this?"

"I just used this spell." she answered, showing the boy the book and the spell. "Who are you?"

"Answer me first and I'll tell you." he said, crossing his arms.

"Fine," Harumi sighed. "I got nothing else to do, anyways. I'm Princess Harumi, but you can call me Harumi. No princess or any title like that."

"Pleasure to meet you, Princess." he said in an almost mocking voice. "I'm Morro."

Harumi wasn't sure what to make of the ghost boy; she just stared as he floated around her room, looking at everything.

"What's this?" he asked, pointing to a picture of her and her birth parents.

"My parents." Harumi hissed through gritted teeth.

"The emperor and empress?" he asked, half joking.

"No." Harumi said. "The emperor and empress are my adopted parents."

"What happened to them? Your birth parents?"

"They were killed, because they couldn't escape the building in time during the attack of the Great Devourer." she mumbled. "All because that blasted Green Ninja and his buddies couldn't stop the snake in time."

"THE GReeN nInjA?" Morro screeched. "Who is it? Who took MY deStinY?"

"Lloyd Garmadon." Harumi said bitterly. "And to think, I once idolized him."

"Lloyd, Lloyd..." Morro muttered. "He's a Garmadon, you say?" The ghost crossed his legs in the lotus position and floated in mid-air as he processed this information. "He wouldn't happen to be related to Wu, wouldn't he?"

"Lloyd is Wu's nephew, and Garmadon is--"

"Wu's brother." Morro nodded. "Yes, yes, I remember Wu saying something about his brother, Garmadon going to train with some crazy person to learn dark magic."

Harumi was silent, but suddenly thought of something. "What do you have against the Green Ninja? You said something about destiny?"

Morro scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I had to work hard for everything I got. And one day," his voice started to become strained. "One day, Wu told me I was the prophesized Green saviour. ME." He laughed, but it sounded more like he was trying to not scream. "And then...then, he told me he was wrong. The Weapons didn't react for me. I wasn't the green ninja." Morro suddenly turned and looked at Harumi with an expression that she recognized; one that she herself wore many times before masking it with a smile. Morro was pained. And he wanted revenge.

"HE MADe me believe." Morro growled, sounding like he was hyperventilating. "And that child just shows up, and he gets handed a title he doesn't even need to work for?" He looked at Harumi. "Kind of like you, actually. You got handed the title of princess."

"Except, I never asked to have my parents killed." Harumi retorted. "I could care less if I was the princess or if I was the poorest person in Ninjago. I would be happy if I had my parents!" She let out a shaky breath. "Except, I don't, because they're dead, because of Lloyd's inability to actually SAVE people from their demise. He probably thought no one got hurt that day."

Morro looked like he wanted to say something, but his form suddenly flickered. "I have to return to the Cursed Realm now, my master is calling. It was nice to meet you, Princess."

Then Morro disappeared in a flash of green. As he did so, a soft gust of wind blew through Harumi's room, ruffling her hair slightly before it died down.