Lego Ninjago: The Elemental Master of Magic (Under Editing) (Re-Write)

Chapter Six: Two Lies, One Truth

Shades of sapphire, violet, magenta, amber, and gold shimmered and shined, like a giant rainbow had blanketed the sky and stretched out over the land. It was early morning, but the night stars continued to shine. Despite the lightness of the dawning sky, the stars were so bright and clear like distant diamonds sparkling in the morning sky. While the faint outline of the moon was in a pale circle of silver, glowing faintly in the dawning sky. As the sun started to rise, it had caught the colors of a blazing, aflame ember as it started to rise.
With the rise of the sun, members of the Resistance had awoken as well. Those of them who had slept anyways, some of them were still recovering from what happened yesterday. But knowing that they all needed rest in order to perform well on the battlefield, Lloyd admittedly, hadn't gotten much sleep. Lack of sleep was not a new problem to the Green Ninja though, it happened more often than not for the son of Garmadon on a regular basis. In this case, Lloyd didn't mind it all that much either, it allowed him to keep a close eye on a bedridden Diana while the other Elemental Masters got some much needed rest. Once everyone was awake, some patrols had been run, and a decent meal had been scrounged up and eaten, it was time for the work to begin.
The long wooden table that was set up against the back wall of the warehouse, had been cleaned up of all the dishes and cutlery used for the previous meal. Now with a clean surface, and everyone gathered, it was time for Mystake to keep her promise from the night before. She had told Lloyd, and everyone else that had been in the room with the two of them, that she would finally explain herself. She had managed to turn into a rat, and then back human right in front of their eyes. Lloyd had wracked his brain for an explanation throughout the night, but had given up after an hour or two had passed. He had thought that maybe it had been the tea she had been drinking during their conversation, but the green clad boy had a feeling that it was something more than that.
After all, why would Mystake make such a big deal out of telling them who she really was?
"Alright," Lloyd began as he looked to his right at the elderly tea shop owner. As he spoke, all the idle chatter at the table stopped, leaving the warehouse quiet apart from the Green Ninja's voice. "We've all had our fill. Now, are you going to tell us how you turned into a rat?"
With his question, most everyone's expressions changed to ones of shock. They hadn't heard the news of their resident old lady turning into a rodent before now.
"Wait— She what??" Diana asked in disbelief as she, and the rest of the Resistance, turned their attention to the gray-haired woman sitting at the head of the table.
As everyone stared at the tea shop owner in anticipation, Mystake took her sweet time in answering the Green Ninja's question. Not seeming the least bit concerned as she first took a very long, and very loud swig from her morning cup of tea. After about ten agonizing seconds of loud slurping, Mystake finally set her tea cup on the table as she smacked her lips, and let out an exhale of satisfaction.
"A rat is easy," Mystake finally spoke as she turned her attention to the Green Ninja. "But how about this?" Mystake gave them a smirk tugged at the corners of her lips.
Her attentive audience then watched as she hung her head low, her sedge hat blocking their view of her face as she waved her hands in front of herself. After another second or two, Mystake looked back up at them all, and everyone in the Resistance gasped in alarm. Mystake was no longer Mystake. She looked just like Master Wu! Long white beard and everything!
"What the Nin-blooey???" The Master of Speed exclaimed.
"Not too shabby for an old woman, huh?" Mystake teased. Despite her appearance, she still sounded like herself. Then, with another wave of one of her hands in front of her face, she returned back to normal.
"Well, that's wasn't surprising at all," said Diana, her voice dripping with sarcasm and didn't seem shocked as the others.
As Mystake giggled in amusement, Lloyd finally put the pieces together. It wasn't the tea, Mystake really was a mystic. Not just because of her knowledge of the herbal drinks though, it was because she wasn't human. There was a reason that she had mentioned knowing what true deception looked like!
"You're an Oni," Pixal stated first, causing most of the table to gasp in surprise again, Dareth being one among them.
"But we were told that Oni are dangerous! That all they want to do is destroy..." The man added, traces of fear and worry evident in his tone.
"We are. You don't want me on your bad side," Mystake confirmed, lowering her voice and narrowing her eyes at the middle aged man as she warned him, causing Dareth to make an audible gulping sound before laughing nervously.
"How did you get here? When did you get here??" Nya asked in confusion as she looked over at the elderly woman.
"During the time of legend.." Diana answered, a look of shock still present on her face as she looked at the Green Ninja sitting next to her.
"That's right, the legend that was depicted on the cave walls of the Oni Temple!" Lloyd turned his attention from the Jade Princess back over to Mystake. "You crossed over during the pursuit of the First Spinjitzu Master! When he fled the realm of Oni and Dragon."
"Hmm... you listen well, young Garmadon," Mystake complimented as a small smile of delight dawned onto her expression. "Since your grandfather was born of both worlds, our mission was to follow him into this realm, and turn him to our side! Or destroy him... but he wouldn't turn. Then, over time, I fell in love with this world he created. My fellow Oni wanted to complete our mission though, so I turned on them! Ever since then, I have helped the First Spinjitzu Master, and his descendants. Didn't any of you ever wonder how Master Wu and Garmadon have lived for so long? It is our Oni blood." The old woman took another sip from her tea cup.
"How have you kept this secret for so long?" Skylor asked curiously.
"Transformation is a powerful ability," Mystake answered simply as she set her tea cup down once more.
"But if I'm part Oni, why can't I do that..?" Lloyd asked, he furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Transform?" Mystake inquired in turn, before an amused smile painted itself across her face. "You've been doing it all your life! From a bratty child, to the destined Green Ninja, and now to our great Leader of the Resistance! To endure your father though, you must transform again..." The old woman trailed off cryptically.
"Into what—?" The green clad boy inquired quizzically.
"There is but one final step for you, young Master," The tea shop owner stated as she stood up from the table. "Have faith. You will figure it out in time." Mystake showed the young Ninja a soft and knowing smile.
With that, Mystake made her leave up the stairs, and back to the office overlook where she was known for spending most of her time. Everyone stayed quiet as the elder left, and even after hearing the door to her room close, the warehouse remained silent for a few more moments.
"So, the old lady who lives in our 'attic,' is actually a millenia old demon with the ability to rain down darkness and destruction at any time she pleases..." The Master of Poison finally spoke up, ending the silence.
"Yes, it seems so." Shade crossed his arms over his chest.
"Even I couldn't see that she had been hiding a secret of that magnitude," Neuro chimed in next.
"Wait a second." Ash turned to look at Diana. "Diana, did you know that about her?"
"I did." Diana nodded. "A Dragon or a descendant of one could always sense when an Oni is nearby."
"Why didn't tell us?" Lloyd asked, a little hurt of her secrecy.
"It was her secret to tell, not mine." Diana grabbed his hand and ran her thumb over the back of it in slow circles to keep him grounded.
"So, what do we do now?" Griffin asked, catching everyone's attention. "I mean, having a descendant of a dragon and a demon on our side has to change something. Right?"
"It does." Lloyd nodded as he stood up and moved to stand where Mystake have been previously. "We'll continue making work on a plan of attack. We've all done enough running from Garmadon. If we want to keep up momentum, we have to do something that counts. There are more of us now, and we have more cards up our sleeve. It's time to go on the offensive."
"We're all behind you Lloyd," Skylor spoke up, catching the Green Ninja's attention as she showed him a nod of respect.
"Skylor's right," Nya added with a look of confidence. "Just tell us what you need from us, and we'll do whatever we can to make it happen."
Lloyd shot his Ninja Sister a smile of thanks, and after a moment of consideration, he looked over to where Diana was seated to his right.
"Diana," Lloyd began, catching the attention of the blonde-haired girl. "I need to know the tools you have found at your disposal."
Diana seemed hesitant, but after a second, the Purple Ninja nodded her head understandingly. It was time to come up with a plan to face Lord Garmadon...

As Lloyd climbed up onto the roof of the new warehouse, it didn't take him longer than a few seconds to finally spot the person he had been looking for. Diana. She had disappeared about an hour ago after the meeting had ended, and as soon as Dareth had pointed out her absence, he and the others had been searching for her.
In all honesty, the Green Ninja had been scared, worried that she had gotten captured and that one of the SOG threatened her to tell them about the base of operations for the Resistance. It seemed Lloyd's fears were proved wrong though, and from the looks of things, Diana was once again lost somewhere in the company of a distant train of thought. As Lloyd walked across the metal roof, and over to the Ninja Sister, he couldn't help, but feel a brief sensation of peace wash over him. It was nice up here, nice to be able to get away from the stir-craziness of leading the Resistance, even if it was just for a few minutes.
"Diana?" Lloyd noticed the slight jump Diana did at the unexpected sound of his voice, and caught a glimpse of the blonde-haired girl hurriedly tucking away something on the far side of her, just out of his line of sight.
"Oh, hi Lloyd." Diana's voice was quiet after looking over, and taking note that her uninvited guest was none other than the Green Ninja.
Lloyd tried not to let the comment get to him, but he would have been lying if he said he wasn't slightly offended or hurt by Diana's words. Her greeting wasn't exactly the kindest, but then again, he remembered how wary she was towards him after they both met.
"May I..?" The Green Ninja gestured to the empty spot next to Diana. The girl simply shrugged in response. Lloyd then sat down beside the blonde-haired girl, and said nothing as he waited to see if she would speak first.
After a moment passed though, and Diana still had yet to say anything, Lloyd finally chose to start the conversation first. "So... Do you wanna talk about what's going on with you?" He looked over to the girl on his left.
She knew that she had convinced Sensei Garmadon not to tell anyone about her past after she told him. But they actually want to help, and she actually wanted to return the favor. "Well... Okay." She let out a sigh to calm down her nerves. "It was an average, normal day when a this giant serpent had came into the city and started revoking chaos everywhere. I was in an apartment building when it happened. My parents weren't able to get into the elevator in time and my older brother was accidentally separated from us during the chaos. I tried to find him, but no such luck. He could be anywhere by now." Diana let out a weary sigh. "As I had lived on the streets of Kaihin, I fought more than once against a group of gangsters. Especially the Sons of Garmadon."
Lloyd flinched back, his bright green eyes held a guilty and regretful look. "You and your family were also victims to the Great Devourer too."
The blue in Diana's eyes seemed grow softer, like that light haze of blue the clear sky. "I don't hold you responsible for what happened. It's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's Pythor. It was his stupid idea to release that good for nothing serpent in first place. You were just looking for a friend and found it in Pythor. But it backfired on you." Diana smiled softly as she gazed warmly at Lloyd. "And I thank you for teaching me the ways of the Ninja and how to perform Spinjitzu."
Lloyd smiled softly at Diana, his expression softening as he admired her. "Anytime. And, thank you too. For trusting me."
The two stared at each other for a moment, and once it passed, Lloyd turned his attention back to the ladder. As the top of the Green Ninja's head disappeared out of sight, Diana couldn't help the soft smile that went over her expression. Maybe though, perhaps one day when this was all over, there would be a chance of a future with the two of them in it.