Flames of the Past #2: Beginning of Chaos (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

After emerging from the secret tunnel, the six ninja joined the others in the banquet hall. The kings and queens from the other kingdoms were inside, along with some of their people and people from Shillvaron's own town.

Lloyd found Garmadon amongst them and fumbled over to him. He tried to ignore the ache in his wrist, but his entire arm was throbbing and he found it difficult to move.

"Where have you been?" Garmadon asked as his son reached him.

"Um..." Lloyd's forehead crinkled. "W-we were in Kai's room. We weren't really... doing anything."

Garmadon smiled. "Well, everything's fine here," he said. "The palace gates have been opened for the wedding. The wedding, actually, is supposed to be today, which we were not informed on but—are you okay?"

Lloyd was wincing, his stance wavering a bit. He gave a nod, but it was unsteady. "Mhmm."

Garmadon looked up as Kai walked over. The red ninja placed an arm around Lloyd and the green ninja leaned closer to him, rasping slightly. "It's his marking," Kai told the sensei. "We found something, and it messed him up." He had tried to explain the marking situation to the other ninja in the tunnel, but he knew they didn't fully understand. Unfortunately, Lloyd had been too senseless to explain what Kai couldn't.

"Found something?" Garmadon echoed expectantly.

Kai nodded. "There was a secret passageway behind the mirror in my room," he began in a hushed tone. "It looked like one of the Sons of Darkness' tunnels, only it was inside the palace. But the crazy part is—we ran into Clouse down there! He had some kind of book."

"It—it was like a spell book," Lloyd broke in shakily.

"Yeah, exactly," Kai agreed. "We followed him to this purple orb thing and he started chanting. It was pretty creepy..." His voice trailed off as he saw the confused look on Garmadon's face.

"Clouse?" the sensei repeated. "The... advisor?"

Kai blinked, slightly confused himself. "Yeah."

"Why would the advisor be in this tunnel?"

"I'm not completely sure," Kai admitted. "It looked like he was doing some sort of spell on the orb. It must've been his dark magic."

Garmadon tilted his head. "Hold on," he stammered. "Dark magic?"

"Yeah," Kai said again.

The puzzlement on Garmadon's face only strengthened. "I don't see any reason to blame Clouse for dark magic," he laughed faintly.

Kai stared at him, eyebrows furrowing. What was he talking about? "Are you okay, Dad?"

Garmadon laughed again. "I'm fine," he assured him.

"You told us Clouse brought dark magic into the gang," Kai reminded him.

Garmadon scratched his head. "Sorry, my mind feels a bit fuzzy," he breathed.

Suspicion suddenly grew inside of Kai. He exchanged a glance with Lloyd, knowing the green ninja felt the same. "Oh... that's okay," the red ninja mumbled, dropping the subject.

Lloyd stiffened and nudged his brother. "There he is," he hissed.

The three turned as Clouse entered the room. He didn't turn their way and instead walked over to Skylor and Chester, beginning a conversation with them.

"I admit he's a bit strange," Garmadon said, "but I don't think he'd be lurking around secret tunnels."

Kai exchanged another look with Lloyd. What's gotten into him?