"Lloyd I swear to god you little shit!" Leon yelled from Lloyd's headset. The ninja let out a laugh.

"Eat my ass Leon," Lloyd called back as his character on the screen shot Leon's out of the sky.

"Lloyd!" Kai yelled from the hall, "Watch your language!"

Leon let out a laugh. "Looks like baby Lloyd's in trouble."

"Don't make me kill you again." Lloyd sat back as he waited for the rest of his online team on screen to choose characters.

"Can we be on the same team this time? You're like stupid good."

Lloyd let out a chuckle at his friend's words. "Stop playing Phara then."

"Why don't you stop playing Tracer?" Leon bit back.

Lloyd was about to reply when a ding sounded, alerting him a new person had entered the call.

"Sup sluts," Kelly greeted.

"Playing Overwatch and Lloyd is cheating again." Leon recapped their current activities. Kelly let out a laugh at that.

"I am not, Leon just sucks." The game began and Lloyd instantly moved around the virtual world in search of Leon's character. He loved playing with his online friends. The other ninja were fun to play games with sure but it was nice to have friends his age. Even if his body was older than his true age that didn't change he was still a child. More like a tween if anything. He was ready to take the flag for his team when Kai walked past the game room. A basket of clothes in his arms.

"Lloyd, someone's at the door can you go get it for me?" Lloyd nodded and paused his game. He ran out towards the door and opened it without a second thought.

Before him was an older man. Not just any older man. It was his father, Garmadon. The older man gave a calm smile. Lloyd couldn't move. His mouth was agape and he just stood there. His eyes flicked up and down Garmadon's form as if he was trying to see if it was a clone or something. His eyes noticed movement behind Garmadon and looked to see a tall ghost. Morro. Lloyd's heart stopped at that very moment. His foot stepped back as his hands shook. Fear and confusion coursing through him all at once. What was going on?

"Lloyd? Who is it?" Kai's voice came from behind. The older ninja walked up and stopped at the sight before him. Instantly Kai took a fighting stance. "Morro?! What are you doing here?" He hissed out angrily.

"Calm down Kai, he's with me." Garmadon gave a reassuring smile at the fire ninja. Kai's stance eased up a bit.

Lloyd looked from Kai to Garmadon and Morro. One look at Morro showed that his skin was badly burned and scared. He wondered what on Ninjago happened to him. At the same time he was too in shock and fear to ask.

When the other ninja came home Garmadon told their story while Morro hid in his new room and healed himself.

Lloyd sat at the edge of the ship and watched as the sun slowly rose into the sky. He wondered what his parents and Wu would think when they woke up to everyone gone. The rest of the ninja were on the deck too. Except for Nya who was steering the ship, and Morro who was off practicing his magic in solitude. They were all sitting around while Jay and Zane messed with the on deck training system. They hadn't used it in so long.

"I can't help but think about what happened last time we were there," Cole said, breaking the silence. Lloyd didn't actually know what happened in the caves when he was possessed by the very ghost they were helping. However the others made sure to recap most of it.

"Yeah didn't his bones get melted or some shit?" Kai asked. Lloyd could have laughed. As much as Kai gets on Lloyd about cursing he cusses the most in the whole team.

"Actually his bones are most likely intact. At the most they would have only been eroded some because of the chemicals," Zane began to explain to the group, "however the cavern did collapse in on itself. And there is probably a good amount of soot and ash from the explosion."

"Do you think," Jay started, "That he's gonna be like uh Jack the Pumpkin King?"

Lloyd rose a brow in question at that.

"Ya know like Samukai! All bones and stuff!" Jay waved his hands around as he spoke.

"I'm not sure," Zane admitted, "Garmadon said the spell he was going to use was extremely powerful so I can only assume it would have greater results than that."

"That's another thing!" Kai started, "Has anyone else noticed how buddy buddy Garmadon and Morro have gotten lately?" He lowered his voice some.

Lloyd looked up at Kai. The other was right. Garmadon and Morro had been strangely close and this dark magic thing made Lloyd even more uncomfortable.

"Maybe something like happened?" Cole shrugged, "When they were in the Preeminent I mean."

"I guess being hated by a wanna-be eldritch god is great bonding material," Jay joked. The rest of the ninja looked as confused and tired as Lloyd felt. So much had happened in the past few months. Lloyd wished he has talked to his dad more before they left. It wasn't like they didn't plan on coming back alive. But Lloyd and Garmadon hadn't spoken much since the older came back from the Cursed Realm. That was partly Lloyd's fault. He just didn't know what to say to the other. He was just really coming to terms with the fact that his father was basically dead. Now he's just back. Out of nowhere. Garmadon had explained that it would be okay. In all technicalities Chen, Clouse and their little army had been the equivalent exchange for the anacondrai. However Morro was a different story. He was still a ghost for two reasons. For one his soul was still cursed. Lloyd wasn't exactly sure he knew what that meant but he could only assume that it wasn't a good thing. Secondly, there was no equivalent exchange for Morro to leave the Cursed Realm. Lloyd had a feeling the Laws of Nature officially are not ninja fans. Seeing as how often they do their best to fuck the natural being of things up for their benefit. Well, more or less the benefit of Ninjago.

It took them a day and a half to get to the Caves of Despair. Lloyd was so happy to be on ground again. Specifically not stuck on a boat with Morro and his new little bird friend that seemed to hate anyone that wasn't Morro. That little fucker was creepy and all the ninja could agree on that.
When the Bounty landed before the caves the ninja and Morro all disembarked and started towards where the geyser was located. The cave was almost completely collapsed on itself. They couldn't even see exactly where the geyser was under all the rock and dirt. Morro let out a hiss of annoyance at the sight.

"I can scan to see if I can find the bones," Zane spoke up. He walked over to the pile and started to look on the ground. He climbed the hill of collapsed cave and the others followed. They helped look but without the same scanner Zane was using they were useless. Zane's forehead wrinkled in what looked like confusion.

"What's wrong?" Jay asked, noticing the same thing Lloyd did.

"I don't understand. They should be right here," Zane pointed to the ground. "The geyser is here," he pointed to a foot away. "But I can't locate them."

"Maybe they did burn up?" Kai shrugged.
"What?" Morro snapped.

"No, human bones are much more durable than that." Zane put a hand to his chin and tapped it a few times in thought. "They just… aren't here."

As if by instinct Lloyd looked over to where Morro was. The ghost was clenching his fists in anger.

"This can't happen," Morro hissed out. He raised his hand and Lloyd was expecting to see wind shoot from it but he was wrong. Instead dark magic formed around his hand and he slammed his hand down. The magic pointed like a drill and slammed into the floor. The ground beneath them shook with fear from the impact. Lloyd saw the small familiar on Morro's shoulder. It's eyes seemed to glow every time Morro struck the ground.

"Morro stop it!" Nya hissed at him. "That's not going to help anything!"

"We can find another way," Jay added in a calmer voice.

Morro stopped and let the magic dispel. He turned and went back to the ship without another word.

Lloyd looked back at the others who all looked at each other. None of them seemed to know what to do now. It seemed like their big idea was a bust.

Jay walked down the hall and gave a gentle knock on the door to the room he knew Morro had been using this trip. It was originally Wu's room back when they all lived on the ship together.

The door opened to Morro and his little pet that seemed to hate everyone. Jay didn't know who freaked him out more.

"What?" Morro bit out.

Jay was about to snap back but remembered that the other was probably just upset. "I just wanted to come tell you that Zane made dinner."

"Ghosts don't eat," Morro had less bite in his voice that time.

"They might not have to but that doesn't mean they can't." Jay was trying not to get awkward but it was hard. Sure Morro was his brother but things were still weird between them. "Look," Jay started back up. "I'm sure there's another way. There always is." Jay gave a smile.

Morro looked at him with a sigh. He sat down on the bed in the room. Jay sat beside him. "The way Yang made it seem, this might be the only way."

"There has to be another way that doesn't involve dark magic," Jay's brow furrowed as the thought about it. "Garmadon came back from the Cursed Realm alive and okay."

"That's because he never really died," Morro replied. "I died and my soul was cursed because of my transgressions. That's why I am bound to the Cursed Realm."

Jay looked down at his hands in his lap. He didn't know what to say to that. Instead he decided to say the other thing that had been nagging mind for so long. "What was mom like?"

Morro looked at him and thought about it for a moment. "Almost exactly like you."

Jay looked up at him. "Really?"

Morro gave a nod. "She was easily excitable and almost always was doing something or talking about something. She couldn't sit still for a minute without fidgeting."

Jay smiled down at his hands. "You remember her well?"

"Not really," Morro admitted. "I was pretty young when she left. But I remember some things."

Jay nodded. He then stood up and started to the door. "The offer of dinner is still open by the way," he said with a gentle smile.

Morro gave a sad smile in return. "No offence but I think I will stay here and rest. Plus I don't think your friends would want me to ruin their meal."

Jay frowned at that. He felt bad and wanted to reassure the other that the ninja wouldn't mind but he would be lying. Jay just gave a nod and left, closing the door behind him.