Whilst Ari and Eleanor rushed through the palace's halls in search for the ninja, Hector made his own pursuit in the other direction. Guards could be heard yelling from every direction, also looking for the Empress; many of them ignored the fact that Hector was still roaming the palace.
He eventually saw him: Axel was briskly making his way down a hallway, giving orders to panicked guards and palace employees. He made eye-contact with the servant boy and his face immediately fell.
"Young man, I thought I had thrown you out!" Axel shouted as he approached Hector. "You've had enough second chances! Now I'm going to have to--"
But Hector wasn't listening - he grabbed Axel by the collar and violently shoved him against a wall. The boy glared furiously at the man, ignoring his threats.
"Let go of me, you savage! The Empress is in danger!" He choked.
"She's in danger because of YOU!" Hector fumed in return. Axel gave him a look of despair.
"You gave her that jewel without telling her what it does! Where did you really get it from? What is it doing to her!?" The boy shouted at him. The royal advisor struggled to free himself from Hector's angered grasp, but he wasn't releasing him until he got the truth.
"I--I don't know!" Axel stammered, sweat dripping from his forehead. "I don't know what it does! I just made it up to satisfy the community, to satisfy the Empress!"
Hector stared at him angrily, urging him to continue to explain.
"When Marcus and I ventured away from the Valley, We came across this woman-- she gave me the jewel. She told me that Azure Valley would prosper if I gave it to the rightful sovereign! I had no idea that it would do anything evil!"
The boy examined Axel's eyes closely. After a few seconds of desperation, Hector loosened his grip and lowered Axel. He exhaled deeply.
"So you didn't trick Jupiter...You were the one that was tricked...Now she's paying the price." Hector said quietly. "It really wasn't your fault - you genuinely didn't know?"
"I just wanted the best for my brother and I - the best for this sub-realm. The people here deserve so much more." Axel explained. Hector took a step back. All of the assumptions that were made were incorrect - Axel wasn't the enemy here.
"We have to find her, and take that necklace away from her, before anymore harm is made." The man asserted, so they both followed the sound of chaos in hope to stop the Empress and liberate her from the Sky Jewel's wicked enchantment.
YOU ARE READING
NINJAGO: Corrupted
Aventura[𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙙!] Join the six ninja, Kai, Cole, Zane, Nya, Jay and Lloyd in a quest to find their missing teammate Jupiter, whilst uncovering the secrets behind her power and what it all has to do with a mysterious jewel... Find out in this ill...
