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Morro's week was a series of events never meant to happen.
Involving the Spectral lands with the other realms? Nope. The afterlife was not for the living and the living world was not for the dead. The Underworld may be an exception to that, but the Spectral lands were born from Preeminent's ashes and the Departed realm. Messing with the lines between life and death never ended well.
Him of all people representing a realm? There was a joke to be said about how his questionable at best morals made him a perfect politician. He wished he'd convinced some of the old generals to stay. Bansha would have been better for this job.
That is not to say he was terrible. No, he had been Preeminent's second in command once. Leadership was easy. The matter of fact was that as a general he dealt with battle tactics and ensuring as many ghosts as possible could slip into other realms to haunt for souls to feed his queen. And that terrible instance with the Realm crystal of course.
This delegate business? Putting up with the Skulkin queen's arrogant attitude, pretending the last djinn was not eyeing him with suspicion for being cursed, sitting there reading stupid papers like he was not itching to stab the master writer of the Cloud Kingdom.
And they put a water bottle on his part of the table. Admittedly, they put them for all the delegates and water no longer burned through ghosts with the same painful ferocity it used to before Stix, but Morro felt like he was being threatened nonetheless.
And then there was a whole thing with Imperium's little uncontained civil war interrupting the summit. Morro would have been fine because those bug-helmets did not account for ghosts but there had been no chance he could have saved the day alone...which was when the ninja interfered.
The new ones. He did not know how to feel about the lack of familiar faces except the guy in orange. And he did not know how to feel about the new master of wind apparently being from the Cloud Kingdom and also a ninja. Some part of him is unsurprised. Both of his parents were writers of Destiny, it made sense that once he freed the Wind, it returned to the realm its masters were born in.
And then...well and then he had to stay around longer to redo the summit. While he had absolute faith in Egalt's ability to guide souls, he would have taken any excuse to get out of here faster. And sitting there listening to other delegates discuss trade and economics and stuff. You know, actual politics. While all he could say was that Spectral lands had nothing to offer and then explain why over and over again. He did not mention the healing elixir because he could already imagine the trouble to regulate that mess and he did not want it. Clearly the living could not be trusted with such a powerful thing and Morro did not want to deal with any more soul-devouring dragons and what-not. If they wanted liquids of healing properties, they could figure out trade with Mysterium for potions or brew special tea as was intended. The living would not step foot into his home again and the sooner he managed to convince the rest of the delegates of that, the sooner he could go back.
At which point Lloyd Garmadon ruined his life. Again.
The green ninja was dead. The news must have traveled the Merged realms twice over by now.
And Morro stayed for the funeral. The memorial. Whatever.
And then the Imperium kid, Percival, asked him to give a final speech as the delegate of Spectral lands before the award ceremony for the ninja.
The boy was lucky Morro did not have any weapons near. Not that anyone needed to know that little detail.
The wolf-woman from Never Kingdoms had spoken before him. She apparently had known Lloyd because of course Lloyd saved her and her entire realm.
Morro agreed through gritted teeth. He did not know why he did it either.
One would perhaps expect him to have changed his mind in the years following his defeat. After all, he had changed. He had matured and seen the error of his ways.
And to some extent he had. He still could not believe his arrogance in thinking he could be the green ninja. Him, a street rat Wu took pity on that just happened to yield the power over the wind? Over the First Master's own flesh and blood and rightful heir? How foolish had he been.
And to dare question Destiny, to think he could destroy realms over his issues. Truly, what had he been thinking?
But at the end of the day Morro Wu still hated Lloyd Garmadon.
"I knew Lloyd Garmadon as an enemy."
Destiny's golden child, Wu's prized pupil, a boy that was everything Morro was meant to be. A standard he could never live up to, even in death. The purifying light to Morro's all-encompasing darkness, burning to ash all that stood against him.
"Back then he was the villain of my story. An enemy I would defeat to prove my own superiority."
He could feel the glares coming from the ninja behind him. At least it wasn't a fireball.
"And in that short time I knew him, he was a person always surrounded by people. Allies, friends, family."
All that, which Morro never had and never would for he was not worthy.
He could have had it all. If only he cherished what was given.
"At the time I thought him pathetic. Weak, for needing others, for surrounding himself with those that would surely stab him in the back and steal the powers he did not deserve."
Percival looked a little panicked. The other boy, Roby, cringed. Morro could not fathom why.
"And now, standing before you all and seeing all the hearts the green ninja has touched, I see how wrong I had been. I see I had been the true villain of our shared story, a past I wish to leave behind."
Except Morro had always known he was the villain. He had been a cursed soul. A twisted thing shaped by the deepest and darkest pits of hell. The moment he swore fealty to his queen, he had known his role and he had accepted it. Viewed it as penance for the injustice he suffered from, a price for Destiny to pay.
He wanted that part of him to stay dead and gone, to never see the light of day again.
"For Lloyd Garmadon's strength came from those around him." A bitter truth he had not realized. A bitter truth that lead to his downfall.
"And he was a good person," Morro said and it was all true. He hated that it was true. "So it is no surprise to me, that someone like him would sacrifice himself for the world." Because of course that idiot died such way. A bleeding heart that never knew when to close itself.
"And as the guardian of the Spectral lands, I had made a promise to protect all souls in their continued journey. A duty I had chosen to atone for the sins I once committed against him."
Bullshit. His promise was to atone for failing Wu. For betraying what he had been taught. Lloyd Garmadon was nothing to him. Not more important than the man Morro had actually wronged.
Lloyd Garmadon was the reason Morro burned alive and was devoured by the waves. Lloyd Garmadon was the reason Morro had to exist with the memories of ocean currents ripping him apart as his essence hissed as though it was acid he was drowning in and not water.
He knew it was not fair nor Lloyd's fault. He found it hard to care for that little fact.
"And now it seems the time has come for me to guide his soul as well." He turned around. He did not look at the ninja, not even his successor. He looked at the face of that statue the best masters in the Merged lands had made for the man.
Morro did not even have a grave to his name.
"I can only hope he will accept my service."
Lloyd Garmadon better have moved on under Egalt's guidance. If he will still be there when Morro's back, he won't bother putting up this mask of respect and sorrow and all those falsities Morro did not actually feel.
At least they depicted him with his eyes closed and as he looked now. Morro would not have kept his composure if he were to look at the same fifteen year-old face forever etched in stone and those damn green eyes that made something ugly twist inside him. He is sure those master craftsmen would have managed to make them look as ethereal and divine as they did on the real thing.
"Stories about you shall live on for generations to come," Morro said and could no longer contain the bitterness. It crawled out of him like a snake, poisoning his insides and spitting venom wherever it went.
Morro would never be remembered as such for he never was one. The best he could hope for was a villain. The best he could hope for was to have been cruel and twisted enough that he would not be a mere footnote in the long long tale of Lloyd Garmadon but a whole chapter. He could not hope for someone to remember him as more because the only man who would was the one Morro had actually wronged and betrayed and hurt.
I hope you died scared and alone. Who am I kidding, you're never alone. I hope it hurt. I hope you experienced even a fraction of the pain I did and I hope you suffered. I know you did not deserved that or any of the things I had done and still I hate you.
"Rest in peace for you were a hero, green ninja."