Chapter Text
The earth shook with a thunderous roar. Steel screamed out in pain as it started to give way to the unbearable weight. Concrete shattered on the road stories before, barely missing fleeing civilians as their shrieks of terror echoed through the alleyways. There was nothing to hold on to. Nowhere to go. The exits have collapsed. The fire escape crumpled like aluminum foil. The Colossus struggled to right itself as two forces raged in its head, each fighting for power to command its strength- the Master of Amber versus the Master of Destruction.
Both lost in their struggle that only two people noticed the building about to collapse beside Borg Tower. Harumi, trapped on the rooftop, her knees wobbling underneath each earthquake. Her life flashed before her eyes- her parents begging to save her life from the very fate she had cornered herself into, living in the rundown orphanage on the outskirts of the city, forced into an adopted family that she hated with every fiber of her being, being scolded daily by the Emperor and Empress about “being more Princess-like, rather than an uncultured little girl.” Finding an abandoned android, repairing him in the cover of night until he was able to work by himself, forming the Sons of Garmadon with Ultra Violet, Killow, and Mr. E. And…
Lloyd.
She could see his eyes pierce into her soul as he watched, helpless, several blocks away. Nya was busy trying to wake the Master of Amber from a stupor. But Lloyd… he was watching her final moments. Every mistake, every choice, every little decision led to this moment as the ground gave way under her. Harumi could hear him call out her name as the earth swallowed her whole. Lloyd, who opened his home to her. Who was open and vulnerable with her. Reminded her of what love and family felt like. The Ninja welcomed her with open arms. They joked with her, welcomed her, made her feel loved, reminded her of what she was forever missing.
Yet, what she gave in return… hatred. Pain. Heartbreak. Poison. Blinded by the agony in her heart, she threw away the only chance to have love in her heart once more. The floor vanished under her. Harumi began to plummet. Her hand reaching towards the sky.
You deserve this, her own voice said.
You caused your fate.
You caused so much pain.
Suffering.
Death.
Destruction.
No one can save you now.
Harumi’s body struck the rubble with a sickening crack.
Everything shot to black as the building crumbled around her.
Harumi opened her eyes to see nothing around her. Nothing but an empty void. Darkness surrounded her on every side. She frantically looked around, hoping to find a single shred of light, someone to explain what had happened. She felt weightless. Nothing below her, nothing above her, nothing around her.
“Hello?” Harumi called. Her voice echoed through the void, vanishing after a few moments. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
Carefully, after a few moments of struggling to balance herself, she started to shakily glide through the darkness. Harumi continued to call out for anyone, anything, the smallest flicker of a response. Desperation began to kick in. Was she completely alone? Where was she? Was this… was this the Cursed Realm? After all of her decisions, it would make sense that she doomed herself to an eternity of solitary, but part of her hoped that wasn’t the case. Harumi glided through the darkness, searching, desperately searching.
She looked.
She called.
She screamed.
She begged.
She sobbed.
She was all alone.
Then, a flicker of light. A small voice called to her. “Harumi…”
Harumi looked up through her tears. “Who’s there?”
In a blink, she found herself staring at her reflection; the child reflection of her stared at her with wide eyes, her head tilted slightly to the side. “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You killed people. So many people.” Behind the child, dozens of eyes stared at Harumi. Guards from the Jade Palace, their burned flesh slid off their faces, their exposed arms, landing on whatever ground beneath them with a sickening splat. Blood poured through deep wounds. Bone stuck out of broken skin and muscles. Several guards were missing limbs. A few others had rebar and steel rods sticking out of their chests as bits and pieces of muscle were embedded within the metal.
“You knew what you were doing.” Another version of her past, her within the first few days as a Princess, stood to the child’s left. Her blonde hair had yet to be bleached stark white. Her eyes were dull, emotionless, full of pent-up grief unable to be expressed. “How many people we left behind, stabbed in the back, abandoned, left to die for our path to righteous anger?” Silhouettes appeared behind her, souls of the abandoned Sons of Garmadon members who didn’t survive Killow’s test, the Teeth. Innocent civilians who crossed paths with the bikers at the wrong time. The Emperor and Empress looked down upon her; the Empress looked away, her face full of sorrow. The Emperor puffed out his chest and hardened his eyes.
“There were people who loved you, who sacrificed so much to give you a better life.” A reflection of herself, in her current attire, appeared to the child’s right. “And how did you repay them? You betrayed Hutchins. You betrayed your parents. They gave their very lives for you to live. They wanted you to grow and succeed, to find joy in life without them, to understand your grief and move on. What did you do? You spat in their faces-”
“Stop, please,” Harumi whispered, her voice trembling.
“You destroyed their legacy. You killed yourself! You killed yourself long before this-”
“Please!”
Her reflection slammed her fists against the barrier. “When your heart hardened, you killed yourself! This is all your fault! You have no one to blame but yourself!”
Harumi tried to cover her ears, tears pouring down her face.
Her reflections pounded on the barrier. “This is your fault! Blood is on your hands! Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!”
Harumi began to scream, her fingers digging into her scalp as her palms pressed flat against her ears. She screamed over the voices, yet their words pierced her head. Curling into a ball, pleading for the voices to cease.
Murderer!
Killer!
Betrayer!
Murderer!
Killer!
Betrayer!
Backstabber!
Murderer!
Killer!
Betrayer!
Murderer!
Killer!
Betrayer!
Backstabber!
Murderer!
Killer!
Betrayer!
Murderer! Killer!
Silence.
Silence.
If her heart was beating it would've been roaring in her ears. Her breath shook. Her body trembled. Her hands shook as she ever-so-carefully removed them from her ears. Her reflections were gone, as were the souls of the deceased. She was alone. Her sins echoed in her ears and resonated in her soul, filling every vein in her body with the weight of her crimes.
“Harumi.”
She jolted backward, eyes wide as she stared at the one person she never expected to see. “Lloyd…”
Lloyd took in a deep breath, his eyes searching for the right words to say; he reached out and placed a hand on the barrier. Harumi floated forward and pressed her hand above his. “You had my heart, did you know that? You were the first person I ever truly loved. I bore my soul to you, I let down my wall, I thought we truly understood one another-”
“Lloyd please-”
He looked up, his gaze hardening. “You tore my heart out. You destroyed it. You made me watch my family die, the people I love the most out in this cruel world. Crushed by your creation. Killed by the monster you resurrected.”
“I’m sorry-!”
Lloyd clenched his hand into a fist, tears pouring down his face as he snarled, “We opened our home to you! We treated you like family! You made me believe in love! That someone could love me, not for being the Green Ninja but for me. The real me.” He took a step back. “I see now that you just wanted me to be your puppet. A pawn in your cruel game. You could never be capable of love. How could anyone love a monster like you?”
“Lloyd please don't leave me!”
“You deserve whatever punishment comes your way. I will never forgive you for the pain you caused me. Goodbye Harumi.”
“No! Lloyd! Please don’t leave me!” Harumi wailed, frantically pounding on the barrier. “I’m so sorry! Please, Lloyd, don’t leave me! Lloyd! I’m sorry!” All she could do was watch him fade into the darkness, once again leaving her alone. All alone. She understood that she truly deserved this. All of the pain she caused, the pain to Lloyd… She understood the identity behind the mask, having to put on a show every time the mask is on; to be perfect, to be flawless, to be an idol, an icon, a false personality. They knew the unbearable pain of loss. The pain of watching their loved ones die in front of them, unable to do anything to prevent their deaths- and yet… Harumi made Lloyd experience it once more by her hand. She deserved to be alone. She did this. Harumi curled up into a ball and buried her face into her arms, ready to embrace an eternity of solitude. After all, she did this to herself.