Ninjago: Crystalized

Episode 30-Against Time

A private boat with elegant design slowly slid across the ocean surface, towards the Endless Sea.

Alone in the middle of the sea, Harumi quietly steered her way beyond Ninjago Island. It had only been more or less a month after her return. Although her resurrection was not as dramatic as Garmadon's, there was no doubt in feeling almost existential from returning from the dead.

But,

Was this the life she wanted?

She had already pledged her allegiance to the Crystal King. And after restoring the Oni Temple to its former glory, she was now given another Crystal seed to plant. To plant it into the Celestial Clock, so that the countdown of the Final Battle could be revived.

She gazed upon the infinite horizons, the line between the seas and the skies, reminding her of what she originally wanted for Ninjago. Her obsession to destroy the ninja, the reason was to reform the world in her image, where Garmadon's absolute power could give absolute protection for Ninjago, instead of placing Ninjago's trust in a teenage rag tag team. But at the very end, in the depths of her mind, behind all of her motives, she knew very well that the main reason that had pushed her to do all this, was purely for revenge.

But look what that had brought her into. A dictator of absolute power would only pose absolute imprisonment towards all of Ninjago, where even she herself was subjugated to fear. And since Garmadon's reign, she had been caged within fear and control, no longer the Quiet One, more like a slave to power.

She knew that very well, staring at the seas as it reminded her the time she saved Echo Zane. It was her obsession of destroying the ninja which led her to discover the abandoned lighthouse, not only did she learn about Zane's artificial origins, but also gained a trusty companion. The E from Mr.E was from Echo, a new codename for an abandoned Nindroid. Echo Zane had long been dead. Groomed by the vengeance and bitter hatred he had grown for his father and brother, Mr.E had been born.

He was just like her, which was why she formed a rather close relationship with the mute Nindroid, ever since she had found him.

She remembered the shattered gears and dismantled pistons of her partner, crushed into rusted scrap by Emperor Garmadon. "I'll fix you one day. I promise." She told herself, before setting the boat on autopilot and going into the restroom.

She hadn't seen her true face in a while, a face where the red makeup was gone. She stared at herself in the mirror, almost as if she was looking at another person. But that person was her, the real her.

She reached for a bottle of liquid, composed of a red dye stain. It was a ritual of the old ages, when Samurai painted their upper faces red before going to war. Opponents would see their red skin from the exposed eye slits when they had their helmets on. The false blood was symbolism for their determination for victory, to do what must be done, no matter the cost.

It wasn't revenge that drove her to fight, not anymore. It was the fear of death. The fear that the Overlord would reap her life away had she not comply.

The world rejected her. And moreover, she rejected the world. Under the Overlord's complete oppression, the devil will recreate a world where she would live in her own way. She will give up her own freedom in exchange for her life.

She slowly swiped the blood red onto her face, glaring at her own eyes in the mirror. Yes, she knew that this path was immoral. But she had already gone too far. The shore was far beyond her reach to return. The moment she agreed to be resurrected by the Overlord, she was already a slave without authority against the Overlord.

If there was no way back, then walking towards hell was her only choice, all of this driven by her cowardly fear of death.

—