Chapter Text
Morro settles in Lloyd Garmadon's body and for the first time in decades takes a breath void of pain.
The night watchman he possessed must have been a smoker, with lungs covered in soot that even a ghost could feel. The old man had had a coughing problem too, his breath staining the air.
This body? It was healthy, perfectly fine. Probably the closest Morro would have to his own. He could feel the breath entering his vessel, could feel every relaxed muscle even as the boy tried to fight his possession.
Morro realizes something is wrong when his control of the wind slips and the ninja's ship manages to fly away. His borrowed body convulses and he is coughing again, hands bracing against the cold tiles as something makes its way up his throat.
Petals again. It's a familiar sight, though it's weird to see them stained with red rather than green. Blood, not ectoplasm.
A bunch of feelings not his own make themselves known, horror and confusion leaving him stunned for a moment before Morro regains his bearings. He summons a dragon not his and gives chase.
Ninja are fools to think they can escape him in the sky, the wind's domain.
Lloyd was thrown into a vengestone cage with little care for his bruised body. Those first moments he simply savored having control over his body, moving his fingers freely.
But eventually his fear won over. There is dried blood just a little below his mouth and a petal that got stuck in the folds of his clothes. It's hard to make out the color in the dim lights and it's not like Lloyd could identify it anyway. Brad Tudabone might have, he knew more about flowers than Lloyd.
God, he's thinking of his former classmates now.
Still, it's weird. Why is he so suddenly coughing up blood and flower petals? That's not normal, right?
The answer is clear when he shifts to get into a more comfortable position– as comfortable as he can in this tiny cage anyway – and thus has Morro in his field of vision.
The master of wind is not so different from other ghosts. Chains wrapped loosely on his shoulders, tattered cloak, eyesore-green skin and eyes that are pits of black with green sclera.
But no other ghost has vines in them.
There are plants, growing right inside Morro's chest. They're not wrapped around anything but the shape of the empty space is clearly that of lungs. There are blossoms slightly below his throat, not having bloomed yet.
It answers some of his questions and causes new ones.
It happens again at Blind Man's Eye. Morro is so close to the top, only a couple steps away from airjitsuing his way into the Cloud Kingdom when the darn flowers make themselves known.
He bends over as much as his position allows, grip on the snow covered stones loosening as coughs wreck his body. The white snow is stained crimson and the wind carries away the orange petals. Through half-lidded eyes he watches four colorful airjitsu tornadoes disappear into the sky and he wishes he could scream.
The Sword of Sanctuary clashed against the red ninja's blade, the one that must have been enchanted to be able to inflict harm on ghosts. Morro pushed the man away and grinned.
"I guess both our fates are being te–"
"Yo, what the fuck?"
...Huh?
"Why is there blood on your mouth?" The ninja questioned. His features twisted in rage. "What did you do with Lloyd?!" he shouted and Morro huffed. He does not give an answer.
"I know what my fate is," he said instead and did not think of blooming flowers. He fought off the fire master with ease and raised the sword over the now defenseless man. "And now I know how yours ends."
In the end Morro doubles over coughing petals and Lloyd uses the moment to regain control.
"This is not normal, right?" Kai asked as both Wu and Misako examined the orange petals. The corners had drops of dried red but Kai preferred not to think about that.
"You're sure these came from inside Morro?" Jay asked, eyeing the thing with disgust. "How would that even work?"
"First," Cole began, "gross. Second, that's what we're trying to figure out. It can't be good that Lloyd is throwing up this stuff."
It's not until they get Lloyd back that Misako's research finds an answer, at which point it doesn't really matter.
'When an elemental master has spent far too long without unlocking their true potential or otherwise remained stagnant, the elemental essence might wish to find a new master. To do so, it causes the demise of its current one. This phenomenon known as hanahaki is a way for elemental powers to instigate spiritual growth or succession.'
And all the symptoms matched too. The blood, the petals and ghosts were, indeed, stagnant by nature and it was the very reason water worked against them. Wu had hesitated to believe it, a disease so rare among elemental masters that even his father had thought it to be a myth, but if Morro really did suffer from it... surely it was not too late. A ghost would not die from suffocation and though there would be pain, surely there was hope for Morro?
Nya really hopes the nearly two weeks it has been since she first learned of her powers is not considered 'too long'.
Morro caught Lloyd sneaking around Stix. The boy dared to think he could defeat Morro? Well, Morro would make him pay for it. His naivete would cost him his breath as Morro would draw the air out of his lungs slowly and painfully, watching the light leave his eyes–
His entire being shook from the force of his coughing fit as buds traveled their way up his throat and dug their roots into his non-existent lungs.
It took longer than usual for his fit to pass or so it seemed but Morro did not spare it any thought. Instead he forced Lloyd down, where the boy belonged.
He was about to say something when he noticed where exactly the supposed green ninja was looking.
"My eyes are up here," he snapped and the boy jolted, looking away from the flower buds that Morro could neither hide nor get rid of.
He really should have noticed that the person under the mask had brown eyes, not red.
It's while they're falling through realms and fighting for the crystal that Lloyd tells him. He explains it mid-punches and swings and there is no malice in his voice nor satisfaction. Just pity.
It's disgusting and pathetic and insulting–
It means the wind is the one doing this, the one that planted the seeds that have been the cause of his suffering for all of his afterlife.
It should sting, the betrayal. That his one and only friend, his true companion that has not abandoned him even in death, that is a part of his very soul is the one doing this but Morro simply can't. For deep within he understands. He'd forced the wind to stay with him, took it to a realm that stood opposite to everything it was supposed to embody and still the wind loved him.
The wind wanted him to grow, to unlock his true potential and perhaps deep within Morro knew what needed to be done to get rid of the flowers...
But the hand inflicting harm had always been his own. He knew no other way.
"Please, Morro!" Wu begged and finally did his student take his hand, straining to pull himself up. The tentacle wrapped around his waist and thighs pulled stronger and so they were at standstill, two masters pulling him in different directions. Had Wu been paying attention, he might have noticed the buds trembling but he did not. Instead he saw Morro look down, however brief that was, and look back at Wu. He saw that familiar face even as it was stained green go through dawning horror and surprise and conflict and most terrifying of them all, acceptance, all in a matter of seconds.
Morro smiled. Not cruel, like before. Sad perhaps.
This time Wu did notice the buds. He noticed them pulling apart.
"You can only save those who want to be saved."
They were blooming.
"Goodbye, Sensei."
Marigolds and cyclamens drifted among the waves.