(I know this is late, but I really wanted to do a Halloween chapter - don't judge me.)

No One's POV
It had been about a week since Jin had claimed his weapons, and he was a quick learner. Under PIXAL's careful supervision, he'd learned to concentrate and shape the wind, as well as adapt his fighting style to accommodate his whips. He was able to grab things from afar with the weapons, physically maim a person, and cut something up with the spikes. PIXAL also taught him how to arc his arms to guide the wind during his attacks and further thwart his opponents.

As well as threaten Naoki to make him blueberry pies on in a daily basis.

Everyday Jin showed up to the Monastery beaming more than his teammates, ready to learn more about his Element and his whips. That day was no different, though the boys had been asked to come at a later time; Jin arrived ahead of the others with a toothy smile on his face and a bright sparkle in his normally tired eyes. His whips were looped in a belt around his midsection; PIXAL had given him the belt to help him carry his whips and Night had begrudgingly allowed him to take his whips home.

"Alright, PIXAL - what are we doing today?" He asked brightly.

But his bright look was replaced by one of confusion. Instead of her training outfit or even her armor, PIXAL was waiting for them dressed in her purple kimono. Everyone at first thought that they were going back to Ninjago, but PIXAL's knapsack was nowhere to be found. Valt could be found sulking behind her on the porch steps - a definite red flag. He was normally bouncing off of the walls of the Monastery.

Besides the later starting time, what was different about today?

"Uhhh..." Yugo stuttered, staring at the scene apprehensively. "What's happening?"

Valt glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. "Instead of training today, she wants us to learn," He grumbled loudly. "Like, history."

"Oh, stop it, Valt," PIXAL told him over her shoulder. "You always like my history lessons."

"Yeah, because they're always over quickly and then we get to actual training!" Valt whined, throwing his head back dramatically. "Today we're not doing anything afterwards, which sucks!"

"Okay, if we're doing nothing but listen to you drone on and on all day," Lui grumbled; he turned back to the gates of the Monastery. "I'm out." Others mumbled their agreement and started to follow him.

PIXAL rolled her eyes and waved her hand at the gates; they closed at her electronic command, locking the boys in. "No, no, come on," She told them, waving them back to her. "It's a part of the history of Ninjago, which is good for you all to know, and it's important for you to exercise your minds as well as your bodies."

Honcho groaned, flinging his pack against the stone wall. "But exercising our bodies is so much more fun!" He whined.

"Not everything essential to your learning has to be fun, Honcho," PIXAL explained to him. She turned and made her way up the steps, bending down and shaking Valt's crossed arms as she made her way past him. "Come - to the library, all of you."

"We have a library?" Xander questioned.

"Seriously, dude?" Ren Wu asked him, rolling his eyes up at the redhead.

None of the boys had ever been in the Monastery library before - besides Valt, but he had been there the longest. It was a circular room deep within the Monastery lined floor to ceiling nearly all around the room, with small breaks for the door and a large window, with mahogany cubbies and shelves that housed scrolls and books from every era in Ninjago's history. The same shade of red lined the ceiling and floor with details of flying dragons. There were two desks in the room - a large circular desk in the center with a smaller desk beneath the window.

"Definitely a library," Free remarked in the threshold. He waited a few seconds, then spun back around. "And I'm out."

Quon and Boa immediately put their arms up to stop him. "If we've gotta suffer through this, so do you," Boa hissed.

One by one, the boys filed into the room and crowded around the center desk. "Man, I wanted to learn more about using my whips today," Jin grumbled, pouting as he fingered the spikes of his weapons.

"And I wanted to do actual training today," Valt agreed, sighing as he rested his forearms on the desk. Both of their boyfriends patted their shoulders in an attempt to comfort them, though Naoki was secretly relieved that Jin wouldn't be directing his whips at him that day.

"We can do those things tomorrow," PIXAL assured them from the outskirts of the room. She examined the cubbies, trailing her fingers over the wood that separated the different scrolls. Letting out a sound of satisfaction, she pulled an old and faded scroll from its resting place; she turned around and pushed through the boys until she reached the center desk. "Do any of you know what day it is?"

"Sure we do," Daigo spoke up. "It's Halloween. I'm staying at home just so I can take Ryota trick-or-treating later."

"Very good, Daigo," PIXAL commended, nodding in his direction. "But what else is today?"

"Día de los Muertos," Boa provided. "Day of the Dead."

"Excellent, Boa," PIXAL applauded him as well. "Anyone else?"

No one else spoke up. Even Valt was at a loss. PIXAL sighed loudly. "It's Day of the Departed! Geez, have I failed as your teacher or what?"

The boys around her all averted their eyes and scratched the backs of their necks. "Wait, wait-" Cuza stammered. "Day of the Departed? That's a Ninjago holiday, isn't it?"

PIXAL nodded in confirmation. "That's what today's lesson is about. Day of the Departed is basically a combination of your Halloween and Day of the Dead. Children and teenagers alike are welcome to dress in costumes and go door to door asking for sweets, like your typical Halloween. Then they go home and place some of the candy on the altars of their loved ones, like the Mexican Day of the Dead. What makes Day of the Departed is the story behind it."

She unrolled the scroll and placed it in the center of the desk. "In the early days of Ninjago, spirits couldn't move between the world of the living and that of the dead; the days were cold and the homes of those left behind were even colder." She tapped the image of people dressed in peasant clothing crouched in fetal positions, looks of anguish on their faces while chilly looking clouds surrounded them, inked in gloomy gray. "The people begged the First Spinjitzu Master to create a way for the spirits of their loved ones to come back and bring warmth to their homes." Her finger moved to outline a picture of the same gray people surrounding a man in a straw hat, inked in strong gold. "Now, he had the power of Creation, but he had no power over the world of the dead. The most he could do was make a doorway between the two worlds that would open for one night each year." Next was an image of the golden man holding his hands between the Ninjago symbols for life and death.

"But the event couldn't happen on its own; the spirits needed strength and guidance on their way home. So the First Spinjitzu Master advised the people to light lanterns to guide the spirits home, and provide strong foods - mainly sweets - upon their arrival to provide them with the strength to stay the entire night. Under the light of the moon and stars, the people were happy as the spirits of their loved ones warmed their homes." Lastly, she traced the image of the gray people, now dyed a peaceful slate and wearing blissful expressions, dancing as lanterns twirled at their feet and clouds of joyful orange swirled around them; human faces were detailed in their edges.

For a moment, the boys were quiet at the end of the story, basking in the peace the words had created.

"So, uhhh...where do the costumes come in?" Xander asked.

The peace shattered, PIXAL started to explain, "Back then, some people couldn't afford the sweets that would strengthen the spirits of their loved ones. So they put on disguises to steal candy from those who could afford them. As the years passed, money became easier to come by; therefore the candy was more affordable, but the thievery had become traditional by that point. To satisfy those who liked the tradition, people started to dress in costumes and hand out candy for free."

A collective ohhh went up from the boys. "Wait - does it matter what kind of candy, or is it just the candy that's highest in sugar?" Naoki piped up.

Those around him groaned and shoved him slightly. "It's a beautiful legend, Naoki - you can't spoil it with technical questions," PIXAL explained to him. She gazed down at the images on the scroll and sighed, thinking of all the times she had unrolled it and told the story. Then in the blink of an eye, she'd rolled it back up. "Alright - that's it for the day!"

The boys did a double take. "Wait, what?" Valt asked, slightly shocked. "That's it?"

"Yeah," Shu added. "We weren't here for ten minutes."

"Well, I don't want you boys to miss out on the night's festivities - you might want get a head start on trick-or-treating before all the good candy is gone!" PIXAL told them jauntily.

"Trick-or-treating?" Wakiya asked, wrinkling his nose. "Don't you think we're a little too old for that?"

"You can never be too old for trick-or-treating," PIXAL replied.

"She's got a point," Jin spoke up. "Trick-or-treaters have a saying: the early bird gets the worm. If we don't start moving out now, we're going to miss all the good stuff." His yellow eyes grew distant. "Trust me, I speak from experience!"

The confirmative nods and murmurs filled the room as the boys started filing towards the door. "Well, you guys have fun," Valt said dejectedly, staying at PIXAL's side. "I'll see you guys next time."

The white Nindroid smirked and patted the top of his head. "Go on - you can join them, Valt," She told him warmly.

The blue haired blader whipped his head up to gawk at her. "I-I can?!" He stuttered. "B-but what about the military?"

"You've been off the grid for nearly seven months, Valt," PIXAL informed him. "Even if the military is still looking for you, you're probably not very high on their list. Besides, you'll be in costume, in a neighborhood, and you'll be surrounded by your closest friends, who will be there to protect you if you happen to get in a jam." She sent a pointed look to the others. "Right, boys?"

"Right," They said definitely - some more definite than others.

"I-I don't know, Pix-" Valt started to stammer, but she cut him off.

"Valt, you have been holed up in this Monastery for the past seven months, going nowhere except to Steeper Wisdom, and to say goodbye to your friends on that little excursion you had three months ago. It's about time that you go out into the world you were born in and have some real fun."

"B-but-"

"GO!!" She exclaimed ecstatically, pushing him into his crowd of friends. They caught him and started talking excitedly, discussing their costumes and just where and how some of them would get them so last minute.

"Hold up a minute," Boa spoke up, looking back at PIXAL. "What are you going to do while we're trick-or-treating?"

Her white face stretched into a mysterious smile. "I'm going to celebrate my own way," She replied slyly.

The boys stared at her. "Okay..." Ukyo said slowly.

So the boys left, chattering amongst themselves on how they would spend their holiday. They filed into the courtyard and collectively pressed their teleportation devices, zapping them back to their respective places. PIXAL watched from the porch as they all vanished into the atmosphere before she finally let her smile drop.

She couldn't let it show in front of her boys, but that day was hard on her in more ways than she would ever admit. Day of the Departed was a day of remembrance, and she had lost so many people in her lifetime. She'd lost her father, her lover, and many of her friends. People she had loved and respected. So many, too many that it was better if she celebrated their memories on her own time.

Alone.

Well, almost alone.

A welcome CAW called from behind her and the feeling of metal claws graced her shoulder. "Hello, old friend," She greeted Zane's falcon sadly, bringing her hand up to stroke its metallic feathers. Like her, the falcon had also lost many in its lifetime. It had lost its creator, its brother, and many more afterwards.

She couldn't have asked for a better companion on this day.

Her purple kimono slid silently over the wooden floors as she strode back into the Monastery and made her way to the secret elevator. While her students preferred to simply walk over to the hidden control panel, push aside the target and press the button, PIXAL preferred to do it the old-fashioned way - with three throwing stars to push aside the target and another to press the button. She honestly didn't understand why the boys would make it so difficult for themselves when they could easily open the elevator from afar. Her silver head shook about it even now as she entered the now revealed elevator.

Normally the falcon rode in the smaller elevator next to the larger one, but that day was a special occasion. It stayed on PIXAL's shoulder as she pressed the button and the elevator started to descend. The whole way down, the two said nothing as they basked in the silence of their memories.

On the basement main floor, the duo quickly made their way to one of the branching hallways - a hallway the boys had never seen the end of before, but one PIXAL did see every year on the Day of the Departed. It wasn't a place lined with vengestone, but it was made for tears all the same.

The Room for Ancestors.

The boys needed to unlock the doors throughout the basement, but PIXAL simply needed to send a message to the doors that she was approaching, and they opened automatically. She did so, and the door at the very end of the hall slowly swung open, revealing the dark expanse beyond. As soon as she entered, she sent another message to close the door behind her, sealing her in the shadows.

Though her vision was slightly impaired, PIXAL felt as the tip of her finger flipped open and her embedded lighter blazed to life. The tiny flame had the strength to illuminate the large space enough to reveal the beginnings of a icosagon room; it was lined floor to ceiling with canvases carefully hand painted with the likeliness of people long past.

PIXAL gave the ones she could see easily a longing look, then knelt down to the bottom of one of the walls, where a brigade of lanterns had been placed long ago and never been taken away. One by one, she lit the lanterns, watching as the faces on the canvases came into clearer focus. Once they'd all been lit, she moved on to the lanterns beneath the next wall, and the next, until all the lanterns were lit and the whole room was bathed in warm light.

Next, PIXAL moved back towards the door, where a large canister of sugar was kept. Like the lanterns, it had also been put in the room long ago and had never been taken out since; an airtight lid kept the grains of sugar inside from going bad. She used both hands to unscrew the lid, then both were used again to scoop out a large handful of the white powder. For a second, she inhaled the sweet scent of the sugar, then tossed it over the expanse of the room, watching as the dusty cloud settled over the canvases and lanterns; the falcon left her shoulder for a second to stir together enough air to assist the cloud in reaching every inch of the room.

As the sugar came to a rest, PIXAL inhaled deeply as her green eyes roamed the canvases and the faces painted on them. Each wall was a different line of Elemental Masters - all were Masters she had taught, or at least known; so many on such tall walls that the ones at the very top were still in shadow.

People she would honor the memories of on such a holiday.

The falcon returned to her shoulder as she knelt in the center of the room. They both cast one last longing look at the people on the canvases.

"Alright," PIXAL whispered to the ancestors of her students. "You can come now - I'm ready for you." She dropped her head and closed her head while folding her hands in her lap. On her shoulder, Zane's falcon respectively bowed its head as well.

They were ready for a night of memories.

—————

PIXAL wasn't aware of the time passing, but she was suddenly startled out of her memorial reverie by an alarm going off in her head - someone had tripped the silent alarm on the stairs. As she attempted to calm the falcon, who had started cawing like crazy at the noise, she checked her internal clock. She wasn't surprised at all to discover that nearly six hours had gone past, but she was surprised that someone would dare visit the Monastery at such an hour.

When she checked the security cameras, though, it all made sense.

Choosing to keep the lanterns lit, she left the Room for Ancestors with the falcon still perched on her shoulder and once again made her way towards the elevator. Once she was on the main floor, she strode into the courtyard and quickly moved to the doors. She allowed a small smile to grace her lips as the sound of knocking came from the other side, followed quickly by her default recording, "Unknown entry attempt. Enter password to properly proceed." Laughing slightly, she put her hands on the handles and opened the doors.

A barrage of pumpkin bins immediately swarmed her vision. "TRICK OR TREAT!!" Called the owners of the bins - that of which looked like a squadron of knights and a purple dragon.

PIXAL blinked for a second, then chuckled deeply, the falcon on her shoulder also looked amused. "Oh my! Have my knights come to rescue me from the big bad dragon?" She joked, bringing a chrome hand dramatically up to her forehead.

"Hey!" Wakiya protested, lowering his pumpkin bin slightly. "I'm not some children's story, you know!" He sniffed haughtily. "I happen to think my costume is quite daring, considering I had to put it together so fast."

"Oh, stop your whining, Blondie," Said one of the knights, making a defensive stance in the dragon's direction; he sounded suspiciously like Honcho. "At least you had materials to make a costume - the rest of us had to pull a favor for ours!"

Wakiya wasn't wrong - his costume was breathtaking. Though it was slapdash at the least, it was stylish; he wore a ripped black vest over a short sleeved purple t shirt, with equally ripped black jeans and high boots clothing his lower half. A spiked collar hung around his neck, that had a chain dripping almost teasingly down the front of his shirt; matching bracelets with matching chains hung on his wrists, which made his fingerless gloves look even edgier. Violet cloth wings hung on a harness around his midsection, and someone had taken great care to detail indigo scales on his cheeks and forehead.

"If you think your costume was put together too quick, Wakiya, I'd love to see what you can come up with if you have more time," PIXAL commended him. She peered at the other attendants' knights costumes. Unlike Wakiya's, theirs looked nearly perfect - engraved flowers and swords graced every seam, and magnificent plumages swooped gracefully from the tops of their helmets. "And that goes for the rest of you - how did you come up with those suits?"

One of the knights reached up and flipped up its visor, revealing Daigo with a sheepish smile. "Oh, AS Gallus has a storage room full of suits like these. I asked if I could borrow a couple for me and Ryota to use as costumes before leaving for home - under the pretense that I bring them back in mint condition, of course." He said this with a pointed look towards the others.

"That explains why you have a suit, but not why the others have them."

"I may have taken a few more suits than I needed to," Daigo admitted, fingering the bottom of his helmet. "What can I say? I like the Middle Ages."

The others flipped up their visors, revealing Valt, Shu, Honcho, and Ken. "Wow - you should have been there, Pix!" Valt exclaimed, jostling his bin excitedly. "Shu decided it was best to stick to our old stomping grounds, so we went with Daigo and Ryota. We hit the streets before anyone else and got first pick of everything - we got such a load!" He tipped his bin towards the Nindroid to show her his stash.

"A load that they got while they were pretending to slay me!" Wakiya broke in, sounding hurt. "Daigo's little brother even hit me in the Nether regions!"

"Hey, he said he was sorry!" Daigo said defensively.

"Oh, I'm sorry...was that before or after you guys burst out laughing?" Wakiya asked snidely.

"Definitely after," Honcho muttered, laughing under his breath.

PIXAL smiled down at Valt's bin, which was filled to the top with candy. "You six sure had quite the night," She remarked. Then she felt the need to add, "Forgive me for asking, but why are you back here?"

Valt tilted his head, looking confused. "Well, for one, I sort of live here now," He reminded her. "For another thing, it's also the Day of the Departed! We all have people we want to remember tonight, and there's no better place to do so than with the person who taught us about it!"

PIXAL was slightly surprised that they wanted to spend the rest of their Halloween with her, but pleased all the same. "Here," She said, pushing the doors open further to allow them entrance. "Gather around the dragon statue with your candy bins - I'll get us some lanterns."

They did as she said, sitting on and around the dragon statue with their bins between their knees; Zane's falcon joined them by perching at the very top of the statue. PIXAL got a box of lanterns out of storage, lit them, and distributed them amongst herself and the boys. She encouraged them to tell stories of the people they were honoring - that was the best way to remember them. She started them off by telling them a story about Honcho's great grandfather, in which he'd once solved the Case of the Missing Shuriken in ten seconds flat.

"I guess natural detective skills run in the family," Honcho boasted proudly, turning up his nose at the others.

"Except for when it comes to finding your homework!" Valt reminded him.

"ONE TIME!!" Honcho fired back furiously. He then went on to tell them a story about his grandfather and how he'd solved the Case of the Missing Cookie - both he and his younger Ranjiro had split it.

The boys were still swapping family stories when the others arrived. The Sword Flames + Ren Wu came first; they all came as undead versions of their favorite style of martial artist, with splotchy skin and ripped armor - Yugo even stuck his arm in his shirt to give the appearance that he had lost a limb in battle. Free and Lui showed up next in eerily similar dragon costumes; Lui claimed that Free had somehow figured out what he was going to be and copied him; no one could deny that logic. Kit and Cuza were next: the acrobat went as an undead version of his profession while Kit went as the squid alien he'd played in the Joshua Burns movie. When asked why he went with his costume, Kit shrugged and replied that he just really liked its design.

Next to arrive was Boa, dressed as the Mexican god of snakes, Quetzalcóatl; no one was really surprised with that costume choice. After him was Jin and Naoki: Jin was dressed as a spirit while Naoki was dressed as a haggard traveler; everyone had to admit that it suited their relationship very well. Last but not least, little Fubuki and Orochi showed up at the doors: Orochi was dressed as Beethoven while Fubuki was dressed as a small Kraken. Honcho and Lui tease Orochi by playing with his wig while Kit and Fubuki compare the sizes of their tentacles.

The whole time, PIXAL was beaming so much, she feared her face would crack. Each story made her warmer, made her laugh louder. It was the first time in a long time that she truly felt warm on the Day of the Departed; that she truly felt surrounded by those who cared about her.

"The ancestors are truly here," She thought. "They are truly here, and they are happy with their descendants."

Oh, First Spinjitzu Master, may this happiness never end.

—————

4327 words.

Again, I'm sorry this Halloween chapter came SUPER late, but I really wanted to do the spooky holiday with these goobers.

Also, the boys' costumes came from a conversation with OrigamiLantern11 . Thanks for giving me the idea!

I'll get started on your art requests right away!