Sorry 'bout the delay with this chapter. Migraine sucks (and also apologies for the language, but there's simply no other way to put it 🤕).

And I just cannot seem to write fight scenes, so this part is relatively short and anti-climatic...

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Chapter 6 (1818)

When Ronin and Jay reappear from the basement, they are each carrying a stash of strangely shaped dark weapons which slightly resemble three-sided shurikens – just larger and not as flat. The Aeroblades are circular and have three talon-shaped (and just as sharp) points, but due to their dark grey colour, they look rather dull.

When we sold the Four Weapons, Kai and I tried to keep as many documents – drawings, designs, notes, etc. – from the blacksmith shop, so I know that these blades are made from Deepstone, a rare material only found in the Endless Sea.

Ronin passes me one of the weapons. "If Wu's correct, then this one should be the one for you, Nya." He states. As soon as I touch it, the blade starts to glow in a bright light blue colour, and a Phoenix symbol appears on the centre. 

"Whoa." Jay first looks at the blade, then at me, amazed.

"Not bad, huh?" Ronin smirks at him. "Here. Try this one."

Jay's blade glows in the same shade of sapphire as his [yes, I know that he had a golden one in the show], and in place of the phoenix, it shows an octopus-like symbol.

While Jay and I are curiously inspecting our new weapons, the blacksmith turns to his wife. "I'm going with them." He tells Lillian. "Take good care of your father and the boy." Ronin places a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead, then he kisses Lillian. "I love you, Lily."

"I love you too." She replies. "Be careful."

"Ah, you know me, sweetheart." He smirks confidently. Even though there must be around eight generations between them, I can see so much of Kai in him – well, it's more like the other way round.

Lillian sighs. "That's the problem..." She protectively hugs her baby as she walks with us outside.

"Let's go, kids." Ronin says. He has put the remaining blades into a large bag that he is carrying over his shoulder.

"Uhm, I just forgot something..." I mumble and quickly rush back inside. As I talk to Wu, I can see Ronin and Jay impatiently waiting for me through the open door.

But this is cannot wait.

"Everything alright?" Jay asks when I return. "What did you talk about?"

"J-just asked him for some advice." I blush, taking his hand into mine as we walk at a brisk, back to the brightly illuminated town. Above us, we can see the full moon starting to glow in an eerie green light - the beginning of the eclipse.

"So, if this is one way to fight the ghosts..." Jay wonders, holding firmly onto his Aeroblade. "What's the second one?"

"Oh, that." Ronin laughs. "It's water."

"I knew it was something simple." Jay shoots him a glare. "You just want to make money of these."

My ancestor shrugs. "One has to make a living. And it's not like these are selling too well anyway." He says. "Also, water may be cheaper, but you will need a lot of it, whereas these babies here are reusable."

He is right. And I know that speaking the truth, as unbelievable as it is, has eventually ruined our family's reputation and business. At least in the other timeline... I'm kind of wondering what will happen if we succeed.

When we arrive at the palace, we avoid the crowd as Jay again leads us to the secret back entrance to the cellar. While the guards may be distracted by the festivities, the ghosts in disguise are probably not.

As we make our way through the dark corridor, memories of my last visit come back.

"This way leads to the Treasure Chamber." Jay pointed at one of the corridors. "But you didn't hear that from me, okay?"

And what was it that Misako told us during the school visit to the museum?

"The fire first started in the Treasure Chamber, so all valuables kept in there were destroyed."

And if you put this together with my father's story...

"In the end, the only way to stop the ghosts from cursing all of Ninjago was to destroy the Realm Crystal – and it was the resulting explosion that set fire to the palace, which then also spread to and destroyed many other town buildings of Ignacia."

"Guys, wait." I exclaim. "We need to make sure the ghosts won't get to the Treasure Chamber, that's where the Realm Crystal is."

"Are you sure?" Jay asks.

"Well, that is where they keep their most valuable items." Ronin remarks.

"And that's where the explosion happened." I explain it to them.

"Alright, I'll take care of this job." Ronin offers. "You too are needed upstairs."

I give him a quick hug. "Whatever happens, they can't get their hands on the crystal before the eclipse is over." Even if it means we'll get the same outcome again.

"I'll make sure of that, sweetheart." He promises me while handing the bag to Jay. "Now, go."

Jay and I run up the stairs that once again lead us to the Drawing Room, which is empty this time. We remove our coats here before we slowly – and as elegantly and confidently as we possibly can – enter the Grand Ball Room next to it. In one corner, I see Cole talking to his wife and a few other guests. When spots us, he happily waves at us, inviting us to join them.

"Which one is Sensei Yang?" I whisper to Jay as I take a glass of water from a tray.

"He's the man with the long black beard and the straw hat next to Cole." Jay replies, trying to hide his Aeroblade behind his back as we approach the group.

When Yang's green glowing eyes fall on me, I feel a sudden surge of energy pulsing through my blade. I tighten my grip on both the weapon and the glass. And from the corner of my eyes, I see Jay giving me an encouraging smile.

This is it. The point of no return - but I was never going to back down anyway.

I take a deep breath and, just as Cole is about to greet us, I throw the water into the tutor's face.

Not the best way to make new friends, that's for sure. And for a brief moment, everyone stares at me, their eyes wide open in disbelief, until their expression changes to pure horror when a green translucent figure leaves the tutor's body. As the elderly man collapses onto the ground, the ghost looks me in the eyes.

"Who are you?" He demands, running his hand through his ghostly hair that must have been black with a green streak.

"My name is Nya." I reply, struggling to keep my voice steady - but I cannot show any weakness now. "I am the daughter of Ray and Maya, the blacksmiths." I emphasise the last part, even if nobody in this room, except for myself and Jay, know about the prophecy.

"Nya, the blacksmiths' daughter." The ghost hisses. "You will regret this. All I wanted was to get the Realm Crystal, but now I'm going to destroy this building and kill you all."

"You would have done that anyway. Because you've already done it." I state firmly. "But not this time."

I don't look away as I slice the blade through him and his ghostly figure dissipates into the air.

At this moment, all hell breaks loose, for an army of ghosts appears - some leaving their hosts, others just loosing their, admittedly convincing, disguise - and they start attacking the remaining guests.

"What's going on here?" Cole grabs my arms and pulls us into a corner behind a marble pillar.

"We'll explain later." Jay says, tossing an orange glowing Aeroblade with a rock symbol to his friend. "Now, let's choppy-sock this lemonade stand."

"What have you done to him?" The Duke's son gives me a confused look.

"Given him a reason to fight." I reply. "And you have more than enough reasons as well. Where is you son – congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you, and he is sleeping in our quarters." He smiles fondly. "Sel, you..."
"I'm not going to hide away, Cole." She interrupts him harshly. "I'm a warrior."

"I know." Her husband says softly. "And that's one of the many reasons why I love you. And why you're the only one I trust with his safety."

"I understand." She sighs, taking a silver-grey shimmering weapon from Jay, before she turns to her husband to kiss him. "Be safe." She tells him.

"You too."

While Cole and I are fighting back-to-back, Jay distributes the remaining blades among the guards and noblemen. Despite having received some lessons from his friend, my boyfriend is not the strongest fighter, but he is fast and agile, thus he manages to easily dodge the ghosts' attacks on him.

Yet, despite our efforts, the number of ghosts just doesn't seem to go down. For each we defeat, more materialise. But all we have to do is keep them in check – and inside this room – until the eclipse is over.

From outside, we suddenly hear the crowd gasp in amazement as a bright turquoise light falls through the window.

"The Eclipse." Jay concludes. "It must be at its peak." I can see on his face how much he would love to see the Yin-Yang symbol projected onto the moon. As would I, but we need to stay.

"We only have to hold on for a bit longer." I shout to the others as the ghosts are starting to fade. "It's almost over."

Jay's eyes widen. "But... that means it must be almost midnight." He takes my hand and squeezes it. "Nya, you need to go now."

Cole raises his bushy eyebrow. "Why's that?" He asks, slicing another ghost. "Are you Cinderella?"

"Something like that..." I blush. "Just without the glass slippers."

I am wearing sneakers under my long dress, I've never been able to even walk, much less run or fight, in heels.

"I can't leave to go with you, will you find the way to the back exit?" Jay hugs me. "Where's your backpack?"

I shrug. "I left it at the Four Weapons."

"There's not gonna be enough time to get it." Jay says. "I'll bring it next year."

"No." I shake my head.

"Nya, forget about the backpack, you will never make it there and to Haunted Hill on time." He gives me a pleading look. "If you don't hurry up and go now, you won't be able to get home for another year. Go."

But I don't move. "No." I repeat.

"Nya..."

"I'm not staying here for another year." I tell him. "I'm staying for good."

-----

Wu smiles at me as I re-enter the blacksmith shop.

"I haven't." He says before I even get to ask the question that's been burning on my mind since hearing his story.

"H-how d-do y-you know?" I stammer as I take off my backpack and place it on one of the empty chairs.

"I can see it in your eyes." He states. "And I have never regretted my decision to stay in this time. Not for a single moment."

"Thank you." I flash him a brief smile before I join Jay, Ronin and Lillian outside. "I guess I'll see you around then."

-----

At midnight, I look up as the fireworks illuminating the starless sky over Ignacia. We may have missed a 1 in 3721 opportunity to see the Yin Yang Eclipse, but we have achieved something much bigger.

"It's over." Jay wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my cheek. "You did it."

"No. We did it." I turn around in his embrace. "And this is just the beginning."

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Almost done, just an epilogue still to come on the weekend.