Another chapter I wrote while in Germany - btw, I haven't seen the new episodes (apart from the first one) yet but will try to catch up over the weekend.

The Messenger

Lloyd slowly opened his eyes, wondering where in Ninjago (or any other Realm) he was going to find himself this time.

He blinked as a bright light blinded him, concluding that he was not inside the Temple anymore. Also, he could feel a light breeze, further suggesting that he was somewhere outside and he took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air.

The ground beneath his aching body felt sandy, but it was not like the one in the desert in the First Realm. It was much finer and not as red.

It was more like...

Lloyd finally realised that he was back at the beach of the Dark Island. The very place where he had first fought – and failed to defeat – his father.

"Welcome back." PIXAL smiled at him when he had finally managed to fully open his eyes. The Nindroid had been sitting next to the young Master, watching him wake up. "How are you feeling?"

"Ugh..." He groaned, trying to sit up.

"Here." PIXAL offered to help him and this time, Lloyd was happy to accept the female Samurai's assistance.

"Thank you." Lloyd flashed her a grateful smile. "I-I'm alright... at least I think I am."

When they saw their teammate awake, the two other girls, who had been sitting by the water, a little bit away from the other pair, jumped up and came rushing towards them.

"How did we get back down here?" Lloyd wanted to know.

"PIXAL has carried you all the way down the mountain." Skylor explained. "She was amazing."

"Oh, it was nothing." PIXAL stated, slightly embarrassed. "But after the light beam had collapsed, the Temple's structure appeared to be rather unstable." She explained. "It would not have been reasonable to remain up there any longer. And the three of us had gotten quite a good rest, for you were out for a couple of hours. What happened?"

Yes, what had happened? Wracking his brain, memories started to slowly come back to Lloyd... the Oni, the First Spinjitzu Master and...

"It is really great to have a Nindroid on the team." Nya gave her friend a side hug. "And not only because of her skills."

"Thank you." PIXAL smiled. "I am glad to be part of this team." But the sad look on her face suggested that she would rather be part of a team with five more members.

The rest of our team... Lloyd's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered.

"Yes." He jumped up, only to feel dizzy.

"And... you know, what you've said up there gave us some extra strength." Nya said, firmly grabbing his arm and helping him sit down again.

"Well, some of us." Skylor added. Lloyd could feel some tension between the close friends.

"Lloyd." The Water Ninja locker her eyes with his. "What did you mean when you said 'They're alive.'?" She asked. "Please, I-we need to know."

"The guys." He told them. "And Wu. I-I saw them."

"You mean you've seen a vision of them?" Skylor piped up.

"No." Lloyd carefully shook his sore head. "I was there. Well, my mind was."

"At the Departed Realm?" The Master of Amber questioned.

"Was it there that you received this attire?" PIXAL's suggestion made him realised that he was again wearing his father's Sensei robes.

"No, they did not die." Lloyd firmly stated. "They are at the First Realm. The Realm of the Oni and the Dragon that is. And that's where I saw them."

He could see Nya's eyes welling with tears of happiness, yet Skylor was not convinced. "And how did they get there?"

"Traveller's Tea." Lloyd replied. "Mystake gave them some special leaves when we were there."

"The Tea To Go." Nya exclaimed. "So that's what it was." She smiled. "And all this time we thought that we were the ones that got away."

"Are you sure?" Skylor raised an eyebrow. "You could have just imagined it."

"No. It was real." Lloyd recounted his reunion with their friends.

"The only ones who knew about the sister realms were Jay and myself." Nya remarked when he had finished. "Lloyd couldn't have come up with this by himself."

"Nya, I know you want to believe that your brother and boyfriend are alive." Skylor told the Grey Ninja. "I want the same, but I am afraid we'll just get our hopes crushed again..."

"I believe you, Lloyd." PIXAL chimed in. "The Sons of Garmadon have started this crazy manhunt for us and our allies. Yet, they have never shown or even mentioned that the Ninja are dead. And the most plausible explanation is simply that they have never found their bodies to prove it."

"You see?" Nya turned to her best friend. "Even the Nindroid believes it."

"But if they're not dead, how could you use their powers?" The orange Ninja asked. "We saw it."

"The Temple of Light is a portal between the two Realms. When I tried to summon their elements, the guys could feel it. It was them who let me access their powers, thereby calling my mind to them."

"Great, that means we've come here in vain and you are still powerless?" Skylor concluded.

"No." Lloyd grinned. "I got this."

He stretched out his hands, creating a silver glowing energy ball between the palms of his hands and shooting it up in the sky where the orb exploded into hundreds of sparkling stars.

"Wow." Nya gasped.

"I've never lost my powers. They were just locked inside me. Remember when you and the guys had to unlock your true potential? I've discovered what was holding me back."

"All this time, I've wanted to be like my father." Lloyd continued. "He even was the reason why I wanted to become a Sensei. But when Harumi resurrected him and I found out about us being part Oni, I suddenly was scared of becoming like him. And I even refused to accept this Lord Garmadon as my father. But the point is - he is my father, and I am part Oni. And I am not afraid of this anymore, because I know that deep inside I am still the same person that I was before. I am still myself. And I believe that his good side is still somewhere inside him as well, we will just have to find and unlock it."

"But why silver?" Nya enquired. "Everyone knows you as the Green Ninja."

"Yes, but the Golden Weapons who once chose me as the Green Ninja have been gone for quite some time now." Lloyd shrugged. "Also, I gave up my Golden Powers, but I am still the Master of Energy, and this here is my own True Potential. And I honestly don't mind this change." He blushed. "I am not too fond of the colour green right now."

"I admit, it does all match up." Skylor sighed. "I guess I have no choice but to accept what you've said for now."

"Good." Lloyd smiled. "Because it is true."

"And we will get them back." Nya embraced them.

"But first, we will have to return to Ninjago and fight." PIXAL joined in. "Not just for us or Ninjago. But also to support our loved ones in the First Realm so that they can restore the balance there and come home."

"You are right." Lloyd smiled. "But before all that, I first have some messages for you from the guys. Also for their parents and my mum."

"Our parents." Nya exclaimed. "We have to tell them."

"We have promised to see them at the swamp after our return to Ninjago." PIXAL reminded her. "This makes keeping our word a very pleasant duty."

"It will." Nya beamed at her. "And I am sure they will want to help us get the guys back."

Lloyd looked at Skylor. "Sky. They are all very proud of what you've done – trying to help the people at the noodle shop and then joining us in fighting the Sons of Garmadon. They – we – hope that you will stay with us once they're back." Nya and PIXAL nodded in agreement.

"Especially Kai." The former Green Ninja continued. "He's asked me to tell you that he's looking forward to getting home and fighting by your side once again. And I don't really understand this last bit, but maybe you will - he's promising not to play tourist and to actually succeed in getting back to the good guys this time."

Skylor swallowed. "That was something Kai and I talked about before we got caught on my father's island." She explained. "You really did speak to him then..." She smiled. "Thanks, Lloyd."

"You're welcome. I am glad you believe me now." He then addressed the Samurai. "PIX. I hope I've remembered in correctly, but I think Zane said 'chapter 9, page 80, 5th paragraph, 3rd sentence – or was it 3rd paragraph, 5th sentence..."

The female Nindroid broke into a huge smile. "I believe it was the latter, although even the first one would be nice. Thank you very much, Lloyd."

Nya and Skylor curiously turned to their friend. "What does it say?" – "Which book was he talking about?" They wanted to know.

But the silver-haired girl only smirked at them. "A girl has to have her secrets." She stated.

"Nya, Kai send you all his love, and he wants you to kick some evil biker butts for him." Lloyd told the Water Ninja.

"I will." Nya promised. "And what about..."

"Jay was going to give me a very long message for you because apparently he has written you a letter each day, but I couldn't take them, so he just asked me to tell you that he loves you very much and that he can't wait to... but then Kai shot him a glare... and Jay only said he can't wait to see you again and he's gonna tell you everything else in person when they're back and he doesn't have to worry about Kai burning a hole in his only pair of pants – which by the way are purple because little Wu has messed up their laundry."

"I wonder where he got that from?" She laughed.

Lloyd blushed. "Yeah, me too..." He mumbled.