A/N: Before you continue on with this chapter, please know that Artemis goes by they/them pronouns and Dawn goes by she/her pronouns, as they will be talked about in this chapter. Please respect that. I just wanna say this, just in case you guys assume both of their pronouns in the comments. Thank you, and enjoy this chapter.

A pair of eyes slowly open as a soft pained, tired groan escapes her lips. Katarina puts a hand to her head as she sits up in a bed.

She tries to get a better view of her surroundings. She was in a room with white, pristine walls, and there was a window on the far right side of her with a silky white curtain covering it. The stuff neatly on its shelves and study table, and the soft plush carpet next to her bed looked familiar.

In fact, this whole room she was in was familiar. She's been in here before, but the question was when.

"Starlight, didn't you hear me? I've called for you to get up five minutes ago."

She stopped rubbing her head, and snapped her eyes fully open. That voice.

"I'm coming, Artie!" She calls out to her sibling. She could sense the smile on her sibling Artemis' face. She quickly gets off her bed, and rushes to the mirror standing in a corner of her room by the door. Her eyes widened when she finally saw herself.

Her bangs were longer and her hair was very long, no longer in that half-up, half-down hairdo she had grown accustomed to. She was wearing a different set of pajamas as well. When she looked up at the top of her long vanity mirror, there was a white and violet qixiong ruqun with a standing collar. Accompanying the collar was a yin-yang pendant.

She knew how long she wore that pendant for, but she'd forgotten why.

She put her qixiong ruqun on, and walked out of her room. She wasn't in Ninjago City anymore, she was in a large house. Its walls and floors were white, with the occasional gold here and there.

At least she knew why the Jade Palace reminded her of this.

When she gets to what seems like the dining table, she was greeted immediately by Dawn's disapproving glare.

"Katarina Morningstar, your hair is an absolute mess. You didn't even have the decency to put your makeup on." Dawn says disapprovingly.

"Dawn, it's fine-" Artemis sighs.

Dawn apparently didn't listen to her sibling, because she forcefully sat Katarina down in a chair and twisted her hair into a braid. Once she was done, she puts the braid on the right side of Katarina's shoulder and puts Katarina's makeup on her face.

Dawn holds the mirror inches in front of her sister's face. "There, now doesn't that look a lot better?"

Katarina was now wearing violet eyeshadow that appeared to be a lighter shade than her violet skirt, and her lashes looked a lot nicer. There was a tinge of blush on her cheeks and nose.

She knits her eyebrows together, not liking how she was looking right now.

"Yeah."

"What is this place?" Lloyd asks Skylor after she hops out of the vehicle and leans back a little to crack her back. He looks around what appears to be a warehouse, except it has a lot of discarded junk with large space here and there.

Pixal lands her mech inside, and hops down. Misako, Dareth, and Nya climb out of the back of the garbage truck with Karlof, Turner and Shade. "It appears to be a garbage depot."

"I call it the rest of the Resistance." Skylor says proudly. "First things first. Intros. You've already met Karlof, Turner, and Shade. And that's Neuro, Master of the Mind. And Tox, Master of Poison."

Neuro and Tox gave the newcomers a wave. Neuro's hair was more white, with less gray. He looked slightly older than he did when he participated in the Tournament of Elements with him, the Ninja, and the rest of the Elemental Masters.

Tox gives Dareth a look that says who the absolute hell is this guy?, as she raises an eyebrow at the Ninja wannabe. "Just what are you supposed to be?"

Dareth turns around to face her. "I'm Dareth, master of, uh...uh, Brown."

She puts her hands on her hips. "Brown?"

"You'll witness my power."

Skylor groans at this.

"And you're Skylor. Daughter of Chen. Master of Amber, with the ability to absorb others' powers," Lloyd says to Skylor. "I feel rude to ask, but...are they back?"

She smiles kindly, but only turns around to see Turner and Karlof laughing. She shakes her head before turning back around. "Yes. My powers have returned. Just as I believe you will find yours again."

Karlof walks up to her and Lloyd. "Don't forget Mr. Pale. He's around here somewhere."

As if on cue, Mr. Pale, the Master of Light, suddenly appears right behind Dareth, who screams. After a few seconds, he stops. "Oh, there you are."

"I have a habit of sneaking up on people. Apologies." Mr. Pale says to Dareth.

"Don't. I love your work." Dareth glances at the inside of the depot. "So, you Elemental Masters call this dump your home?"

Karlof shakes his head. "Nu-uh. Not dump. Depot."

"We've found it to be a perfect cover. It allows us to go wherever we want in the city while keeping an eye on things." Skylor explains.

"Sorry about your friends, groovy lady. When we saw what happened to them, we knew we had to help." Turner says to Misako in a sympathetic tone.

" It's alright. We just found reason to believe they're okay."

"But my sister, Katarina, who I'm sure most of you probably don't remember-" Lloyd began, but Turner stopped him.

"Of course we remember her! Me and Neuro hang out with the gal whenever the three of us are free."

"You mean when she's free, Turner. She's a Ninja." Neuro corrects him.

"What about her?" Tox asks.

"She was with the Bounty when it got destroyed. I ran into her, only it wasn't her. It was someone else, who goes by the name Keres. They shapeshifted into her, almost as if..."

"They have the power of Form?" Skylor guesses. Lloyd nods.

"Well, whoever Keres is, they're with the S.O.G. and working for Lord Garmadon." Shade says.

"Wherever Katarina is, I'm sure she's okay. She'll come to us, and when she does, she'll help us stop this." Turner reassures Lloyd.

"Did you see all that scrap metal outside?" Nya says, looking out a window and eyeing the metal. "We can build machines! Armor! Whatever we need!"

"What we need is an army." Tox says.

"That's enough, Tox." Skylor warns her.

"Did you see the size of that thing? We're like ants!"

"But this is a start. A fresh start." Skylor turns to Nya. "What we don't have, you can build. Use what you want, Nya. It's yours."

"I love to build! Haha!" Karlof exclaims excitedly. "Eh, sorry. I get excited by metal."

"Thank you, Skylor. You saved us, but—but how did you know where to find us? How did you know we were in trouble?" Lloyd says.

"A little birdie told me." Skylor winks. 

Mystake walks up to the workbench, and lifts her head. She smiles at the newcomers. "Hello again, young Garmadon."

"Mystake?"

"What are you doing here?"

Mystake smiles. "I'm sure you have many questions about where your friends and sister are. And I have answers."

Harumi slowly stepped forward, a slight look of fear on her face. "You asked to see us, Emperor."

"Who failed to capture my son?"

Harumi steps back a little. She glances quickly at Ultra Violet, Mr. E and Killow, who were standing nearby. She bows her head, more fear on her face.

Lord Garmadon frowns. He turns his attention to the generals. Ultra Violet and Killow startled and slightly back away.

Mr. E, however, doesn't.

He was one who steps forward to the Emperor. He takes his place in front of Harumi.

"Mr. E did everything he could. We did not anticipate the Elemental Masters helping the Green Ninja-" Harumi explains, but a voice stops him.

"You don't need to explain yourself for the Vengeful Nindroid, Quiet One," The figure steps from her place behind the throne. For a second, Harumi could've sworn she saw the figure in shadow, with purple eyes only giving her away.

When she fully steps out into the light, she has her arms placed behind her back as she takes her place besides the throne. "I've already told him about your failure to capture the Green Ninja."

Harumi opens her mouth to say more, when Keres summons her magic. Harumi and the other generals could see its purple color was darker than Katarina's. With one outstretched hand, she lifts Mr. E up into the air.

Harumi turns her head to Lord Garmadon, as she and the others helplessly watch Mr. E's get levitated into the air. "Please, my Lord of Destruction. He's just a machine. Built to follow orders."

"My orders are not to fail." Lord Garmadon spits out. Keres spreads her hand out a little more. Sparks of electricity dance all over Mr. E. "A fine machine. But fine isn't good enough. The whole is not more than the sum of its parts."

With a turn of her hand, Mr. E's body rips apart. Wires and sparks flew and went astray, while the parts necessary to create him levitate in the air. She lets go of her hold on the Nindroid, letting parts of him fall onto the ground.

Killow places a comforting hand on Ultra Violet's shoulder. Ultra Violet looks away from the damage done to her friend.

"Bring me my son. Or next, I will tear you to pieces."

Harumi bows before her Emperor. Just as she does, there was a look of pure fear on her face. 

"So my friends, they're alive?"

Lloyd and Mystake are in a room where the two could have their talk in private. They sat across from each other. Mystake pours some tea into a cup as Lloyd asks his question.

She perks her head up. "Hm? Oh, yes, yes. Though they have passed beyond my ability to see. My Traveler's Tea sent them to a realm that has existed long before time had a name. The land of your ancestor."

Lloyd gasps. "The First Realm. The Realm of Oni and Dragon. How do we bring them back?"

"You can't."

He shakes his head. "There has to be a way."

"In this case...the only way for them to return is to find a way back from the other side." She hands him a cup of tea that she had poured along with hers. "Drink."

"What does it do?" He asks curiously.

"It's Earl Grey. Clears the mind." She says, and proceeds to sip on her cup of tea. She sighs with content.

"I don't need a clear mind. I need a way to help my friends!"

"Ooh, such impatience. Did Master Wu teach you nothing at all?" Lloyd sighs and picks up his cup slowly.

"What about my sister? You said you know where she is, too."

Mystake sets her cup down. "When I first laid my eyes on Katarina, I sensed something in her. Something alive and of pure evil. She has an inner demon within her."

Lloyd furrows his eyebrows at this.

"There is such a thing as gaining immortality naturally. There is also a thing as gaining immortality...unnaturally. Your sister has gained immortality unnaturally, and is now dealing with the consequences. Inner demons feed off their host's emotions, or their deepest, truest, or perhaps, their darkest desires."

"So...where is Katarina, exactly?"

"She is trapped in her mind. In order to escape from the depths of her mind, she must do the same thing your friends must do; Find a way to the other side."

"So, she's trapped. And I can't help her."

"Yes, you can. The way you can help your friends and sister the most is to endure."

"Endure?"

"Like the hare pursued by the fox. Or the fox pursued by the hound. You are the hunted, and must live long enough to see their return. You must endure."

"Who are you?"

Mystake looks out the window, and sighs. "Just an old woman who has made a great many mistakes." She softly laughs. "That's how I got my name. Mystake."

"I have a hard time believing that your wisdom rivals Master Wu's."

"Wisdom comes from many places, but comes in spades with mistakes. We make them, and if fortunate, we learn from them. That is all wisdom is: being wise enough not to make the same mistakes twice."

"Left. Nice and easy now. A little more. Okay, okay, okay, too far! Bring it down." Nya, Skylor and Neuro appeared to be building something, and Nya was guiding the crane that was holding a piece of metal and directing where it should be placed.

"Your father has a destructive power I have never seen."

Lloyd has a worried expression on his face. "Will my power return?"

Mystake smiles, as she continues to watch what was going on outside. "Hmm. True power is never lost, only given away when you think you have none. You have good friends. Lead them. And endure."

There was fire everywhere, so much fire in one room. And she seemed to be the only one to not be consumed by the flames. 

"Oh, Katarina....you aren't the only one left to be consumed by the flames."

Memories started to glitch in her head. Katarina clutches her head while she slowly gets up. Her outfit with ruined with slight burns, and so was her makeup and her hair.

Katarina looks around. When her eyes laid on what she was looking for, she gasps. "Artemis!" She runs up to her sibling and gasps. There was burns all over their body, some of which were bad to the point it was ripping past the flesh. 

"Artemis, can you hear me?!" She was about to put her hands on them, but something blasted them out of the way. She landed near the flames. 

"What have you done?!" Dawn shouts at her. She lifts her head up to look at her furious sister. 

"I just wanted to help!" Katarina reasons with her. 

"You helping them almost got them killed!" 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear-!"

Dawn picks her up by the collar. "Artemis is going to die and it's all your fault! That was a dangerous spell, Katarina! They would still be okay if it weren't for you! Maybe things would be better if you never existed in the first place!"

Yellow magic summons in Dawn's free hand. Katarina's eyes widened in fear. 

"DAWN, PLEASE!"

Something hit her

Her body went through the window. 

Next thing she knew, she hit the ground. Hard.