Mamoritai 3 - A Llorumi story

18. Mind wanderer

Notes: Content warning! A part of this chapter is horror-ish. It contains blood and dead bodies, so proceed with caution! But this chapter is still one of my favorites, so enjoy!

Words: 1612

I blinked and I was standing on... A Gondola! In fucking air! Lloyd was in front of me, kneeling. But he had his back against me. I realized that I was wearing... a mask. "I won't let it do to me what it did to you. This isn't the end, Harumi!" Lloyd said as he got up to face me. His face was red and puffy, from crying. "This is just the beginning! Without my powers, without my friends, I'm gonna fight you! I'm gonna fight on! Because a Ninja never quits!" He yelled at me. No... I-I can't... "Well, then... Goodbye, Lloyd!" I said, pulling out my dagger. No, stop! "Before I go, just answer me this: You said the greatest villain is the one that got away. Then what am I?" Lloyd asked with a mischievous smile. I charged at him, but he dodged and jumped off. I blinked. Now I was standing before... G-garmadon? What the fuck is happening! "The city is too quiet. I feel the presence of my son." Garmadon said with his back against me. I need to get out. "He would be foolish to show his face." I answered. "Do I look like a fool?" Garmadon asked. Blinking clearly isn't the way out. I need to come up with something else. "I will handle the security of the tower myself. I will not fail you." I said and walked off. What if I try to take over my body? I blinked again. Now I was at the destroyed temple of Ninjago.

"You said I can't reach my true potential until I destroy my son." Garmadon said. "And you will!" I responded. C'mon take over! I tried with all my might to move my fingers. C'mon Rumi, you got this! "How?" Garmadon asked. C'mon Rumi, do it! "To be truly free of who you were, you must forego your feelings. Because who needs to care for a son when you already have a-a... a daughter." I said as I kneeled. What the fuck! That's fucking disgusting! Then I felt it. My fingers moved! I did that! Me! Not this weird fucked up nightmare version of me! C'mon, now more! Then I blinked. Now I was standing on top of Borg Tower, beside Garmadon. And we were staring as the... stone giant climbed closer and closer to us. "We must leave! It's not safe here anymore!" I explained to Garmadon. "I do not flee. I control!" He answered as he tried to gain control of the giant. C'mon Rumi, take over the body! I ran off. I ran down the Borg Tower. I found a wire and decided to use it as my escape way. I slid on it to an apartment roof. Now's my chance! Take over, take over! Then I felt myself move my fingers again. C'mon. Take. Over. Then I moved my arm. Don't stop! Other arm. C'mon move your legs. Yes! C'mon I can do it! I'm. In. Control! Fuck yes! I was in control! I was moving my body! Fuck yeah! I did some celebratory jumps, but then everything went dark.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was standing in a dark corridor. The floor was covered in water, but it didn't wet me, it didn't even feel like water. It felt thicker. I looked around and saw that the corridor continued forward. I got up and started walking in the thick water. I walked for what felt like half an hour. Then I saw light. It was at the end of this corridor. I started running. But after a while, it got harder. It was like I was stepping on something all the time. Something was under my feet, and it was not a floor. But I couldn't see anything, so I didn't care. The light started to get bigger and I noticed that there was something else at the end too. It was like a... chair? I ran more until I could finally make out what the thing was. It was a throne. A black throne. And there was someone sitting on it. I ran more and more, when I finally got to a distance, where I could make out the person. It was... me? The person sitting on the throne had facial features that looked identical to me, but she had long white hair with thick bangs. She also had red makeup that covered everything from her nose up. She was wearing a black motorbike outfit with long boots. She was sitting on the throne, playing with a dagger. It was the same dagger I tried to hit Lloyd with earlier in my dream. Now that I could see something, I saw that I was in fact not walking in water. I was walking in blood. And those weird things that slowed me down. Bones. Human bones. I gagged as the realization dawned on me. I was horrified. Then I heard chuckling in front of me.

"Good job, you made it this far!" The weird version of me said. "Shut up. How do I get out?" I asked her sternly. "Ohh, well aren't you direct. The simple answer is, you have to fight your demons. But I thought you could use some help, ssooo..." She answered, looking around the blood and bodies. "You forgot one." I said to her, looking her dead in the eyes. "Oh, me? Right, well I had to leave something for you. Don't worry, I always save the best for last." She answered me. "Oh, so where's my mother?" I said to her. "Ohh, you thought she was your worst demon? I beg to differ. Yes, you are most afraid of your mother. But not because she killed your dad, or because she betrayed your trust. Because you don't want to end up like her. Newsflash, I'm that part of you." She teased. "You're no part of me. You are a fucked up version of me, who wasn't strong enough to handle her mommy's and daddy's death. You are the version of me, who grew bitter and began to despise everything good. You are the 'bad' version of me. The scraps, the leftovers. You are not part of me." I teased her back. I saw that she was growing more and more angry with every word I spoke. She grunted angrily and charged at me. I dodged and tried to search my surroundings for a weapon. I touched the floor, but flinched when I touched an arm. Void Harumi turned around and tried to charge at me again.

This time she managed to pin me against the wall. She was choking me. Fuck, fuck! I tried to search for something I could do. "Oh, but I am a part of you. I'm that feeling you get when you looked at your mom. I'm that feeling that made you almost kill your mom. I'm that part of you, that's a killer. I'm the leader, the decision maker in you! I make the hard decisions, your little fragile mind can't handle!" She teased me back. I got so angry, it filled every inch of my body. I kicked her in her stomach with my knee. She let go of me and backed down in pain. I fell down to my knees and quickly tried to feel the ground for a weapon, and I felt a sharp edge beneath my fingers. I searched for the handle and pulled the weapon out. It was a sword, but not any sword... It was Lloyd's. As I stared at it, I heard Harumi get up and charge at me. I quickly blocked her strike with the sword and stroke her down. She fell into the puddle of blood and her dagger flew out of her hand. I sat onto her and grabbed her hair to pull her head out of the blood. I was going to slice her throat open, but then something in me clicked. I don't know, maybe it was all of Wu's words, or Sorla's encouragement. But something in me shifted and I realized who the real demon was. "You know what? You are right. You are a part of me. And I can't change that. So I have to learn to accept you. You will always be a possible outcome for my future, but acknowledging that reduces the possibility of that greatly. It was never about me actually fighting my demons. I just had to come to terms with them." I explained. "C'mon, kill me, you coward! Kill me like a true soldier!" She tried to provoke me. But it didn't matter anymore. "Answer me this. If you are the villain that got away, then what am I?" I quoted Lloyd, as I stabbed the sword through my stomach.

I was gaining consciousness. I heard an engine whirr and someone talking. I also felt weight on me. As I listened more closely, I realized it was Cole's voice. I also realized I was under a blanket. "Watch and learn!" Cole chuckled. I blinked my eyes open. I woke up to bright lights. "No! You gotta wait till I lose! It's my turn!" I heard Cole argue, which was followed by grunting noises. "Rumi, you're alive!" I heard Kai celebrate. Cole stopped talking and I heard a door open. "W-where, am I?" I asked. "Rumi! We thought you were gone!" I heard Cole's voice. "And to answer your question, on the Land Bounty." Nya answered. What?