Chapter 6-Blast Zone

Harumi felt the bones in her fingers creak as she gripped the blanket hard enough to bleach her knuckles chalk white.

Lloyd and Pixal -the Nindroid from the resistance, Samurai X- were talking, talking about her. But she couldn’t hear any of it, it was like she was underwater, everything was muffled. 

She gripped the blanket impossibly tighter, her skin felt hot, her heart was hammering behind her ribs (which were starting to hurt), her empty stomach rolled.

Pixal stood stock still in front of them, her posture perfect, her expression utterly unreadable as she let Lloyd plead their case. She hadn’t been kidding when she said they had five minutes to explain themselves.

Three minutes had passed since then.

Harumi continued to sit there, she probably should have been contributing to the conversation, trying to plead her case, but her jaw was clamped shut, the enamel of her teeth creaking like old flooring. She was putting so much of her energy into keeping herself from freaking out that her entire body had locked up.

Lloyd was gesticulating wildly with his arms, grabbing one of the sheets of paper and passing it over to the nindroid.

Four minutes.

She took it from him and read it over, her face betraying no emotion. Harumi hated it, normally she could read people like a book, her ability to recognise and manipulate the emotions of others is half the reason she had been able to build her cult in the first place (the other half being all that gold the Emperor and Empress were sitting on like a pair of greedy dragons). But Pixal? Pixal was an impenetrable brick wall- no, steel- no, tungsten, she was a tungsten wall and Harumi was getting nothing from her, it would’ve been easier to squeeze blood from a stone.

But there were no stones to be found here, and she doubted having even more blood on her hands would help the matter.

Pixal set down the paper, her eyes narrowed.

Five minutes had passed, their time was up.

Lloyd’s hand found hers on the blanket, gripping her palm tightly. She managed to release her death grip on the blanket to thread their fingers together and dig her fingers into the meat of his hand and squeeze, too terrified to deny the comfort.

This was it, Pixal would alert the others and Harumi would go in a tiny tiny cell with heavy chains and no windows and she would never see sunlight or feel the breeze ever again and she would sit there and wait for them to come kill her and-

Lloyd squeezed her hand in return, not as hard, but the weight of it was enough to knock Harumi out of her spiral, for now anyway.

And then Pixal spoke.

“I am not happy about this” Her tone left no room for debate.

Lloyd looked down at his lap, like a child being scolded. “I know.”

“You lied to me.”

“Yes.”

“You lied to the others.”

“Yes.”

“You brought someone who you know is incredibly dangerous into our home, knowing that she could attack us at any moment.”

“...Yes.” 

Pixal's frown deepened, somehow. “And yet… She has not.”

“Ye- huh?” Lloyd looked up, Harumi simply stared at the Nindroid, unable (and perhaps unwilling) to ignore her.

“All my data suggests that by now she would have made some kind of move against us, even while injured, yet she has not. That is… strange. I would like to understand this shift in behaviour.”

“What?” Lloyd asks.

But Pixal isn’t looking at Lloyd any more, she’s looking at her.

“What motivates you now, Harumi? Why abandon the cause you dedicated your life to?” Pixal’s eyes were trained on her with unnatural stillness, like security cameras, probably because they were security cameras, unflinching machines capturing every minute detail with perfect clarity, all in the name of asking, why?

And that's the million dollar question, isn’t it? Why was she doing this? Letting Lloyd nurse her back to health and fleeing into the night was one thing, but this was different, she was going out of her way to help him. She could have said no, simply looked away and gone to sleep, Lloyd wouldn’t have minded, he certainly wouldn't have stopped helping her heal, he was too tender-hearted for that. 

She was getting involved with this, and she had a gut feeling that this would go far beyond simple scripture, and now this steel arbiter of justice was standing in front of her asking her why.

Luckily for her, Harumi already knew the answer. Her grip relaxed, her eyes met the Nindroids openly, making no attempt to hide herself behind a mask, lying and bluster wouldn’t help her here, no, this required something far harder.

Genuine honesty. 

“Because there's nothing left for me there any more” And with that Harumi dashed any chance of making a clean exit once this was all over, she had jumped the shark, this was a commitment now, and commitment meant attachment, and attachment made things messy.

Pixal said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

“I know you’ve seen the news, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, I’m worm food” Lloyd made a concerned sounding whine next to her.

“And who would want me back anyway? The Sons certainly wouldn’t, not after I fucked them over by failing, the royal family is dead, and so is the only adult who actually gave half a shit about me since my parents died”

“Hutchins is gone, Mr.E is gone, and Garmadon turned out to be a bust. I have no allies, no money and no plan, what would I do? Run off and team up with The Mechanic? Or maybe I could track down Pythor and see if he’s up for a collab? I have nothing, and I would have been dead if Lloyd hadn’t decided to be stupid-”

“Hey!”

“Stupid and dig me out, so I guess… that makes us square.”

Pixal blinked at her. “Square? I fail to see what a four-sided shape has to do with this.”

Harumi sighed. “It’s an expression, it’s short for ‘squaring away your debt’. It’s what you say to someone when they don’t owe you anything any more.”

“... That implies that Lloyd did owe you for something at some point” Pixal narrowed her eyes at her accusingly.

“Well, yeah, the Great Devourer ate my parents,” Harumi replied bluntly. “It’s kind of the entire reason I hated him? You weren’t around yet, so I'm not sure if you knew. I’d say I deserved some reparations for that.”

Pixal looked like she wanted to argue, Lloyd just looked away.

“But like I said, Lloyd saved my life, so the debt’s repaid, We’re good now. There's no more reason for any bad blood between us, at least, not on my end.”

Lloyd chose this moment to speak up. “Pixal, please, she can help us! There's no-one else we can go to, not even my mother would be able to decipher this. I- I know you're mad at me for hiding her, you have every right to be but.” He looked at her imploringly, his eyes glossy with unshed tears. “Please, trust me on this, she’s on our side” 

Pixal grimaced, wrinkled her nose up, and stared at them both for an uncomfortable amount of time, long enough for Harumi to consider breaking the window and trying to crawl her way down the mountain to freedom, or failing that, dashing her head on the nearest rock.

And then Pixal pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a deep, world-weary sigh.

“Alright, I will keep your secret.” 

Lloyd perked up. “Really?”

“Yes, BUT!” Pixal placed her hands on her hips. “I have conditions.”

“Like what?” Harumi asked casually, hiding the way her heart hammered in her chest from sheer relief.

“First” Pixal held up a finger. “I will accompany you both to Domu, to provide assistance, and necessary back up if anything untoward happens.”

‘If Harumi tries anything.’ Went unsaid, but everyone in the room knew it was implied.

“Second, I would like both of you to wear some kind of tracker, none of us have been to Domu before, and I would like to be able to locate you both quickly should you be lost or taken.”

‘Especially if Harumi tries to flee.’

“Thirdly, once we are on board, I would like to give Harumi a full body medical exam using the Bounty’s med-bay”

“Why?” Lloyd asked.

“Because while your new healing ability seems decently powerful, we do not know if it is capable of missing things like infections, or minor fractures, and I would also like to double check to make sure nothing healed in the incorrect position.”

“How did you know I could heal?”

“Lloyd, I was standing in the doorway for several minutes, I heard your entire conversation” Pixal replied. “You are not nearly as stealthy as you think you are.”

Harumi chuckled, Lloyd, buried his head in his shoulders and looked away, cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

“And finally, once we return from Domu, you will inform the others of Harumi’s presence.”

“What!” Lloyd baulked.

“Do not fret, if Harumi does prove herself to be a trustworthy ally during our mission, I will vouch for her.”

Lloyd swallowed. “But-”

“We’ll do it,” Harumi interrupted. “Your demands are reasonable enough.”

“Bu-” Lloyd tried again.

“Besides, it’s not like you're giving us much of a choice here, Pixie” Harumi smirked as Pixal registered the nickname, her browns furrowing in annoyance, Harumi stuck her hand out. 

“Shake on it?”

Pixal wordlessly grasped her hand, giving it a firm shake. 

Harumi turned to her right. “Any objections, Lloyd?”

Lloyd pouted and shrugged. “I guess not.” He extended his hand out for Pixal to shake as well, securing their agreement.

“Very well” Pixal stepped back towards the door. “I will let you both rest now, good night” The magnetic lick clicked shut as she left, leaving the two in silence.

Somewhere outside, crickets chirped.

~🩸~

It couldn’t have been any less than half an hour before either of them could talk again, both still reeling from the unexpected confrontation.

“... Are you ok-ACK!” Lloyd yelped as he was repeatedly beaten over the head with a pillow.

“Harumi!-” Lloyd choked on a loose feather (did he mention all his pillows were filled with eiderdown?^[1] His uncle gets them from some guy in the mountains that he plays Mah-jong with from time to time) As Harumi continued her merciless assault, her rage-filled blows were so powerful they were ripping the pillowcase apart at the seams.

“Wait-” 

The pillow exploded, feathers drifted through the air like snowflakes. Harumi just grabbed another off the pile. And another when that one tore, then another, then another.

By the end of the onslaught, the inside of Lloyd’s room looked like it was coated in a layer of fresh snow. Lloyd tentatively moved his arms from where he had been using them to shield his face, Harumi panted beside him, her energy spent.

“... Feel better?” Lloyd questioned.

“... Yeah” Harumi sighed, breathless.

The silence around them seemed to hum, anxious, restless, expectant.

“Did you mean it?” Lloyd asks.

“Mean what?”

“That you don’t hate me any more?”

Harumi averted her gaze. “Well.. yeah, I guess.”

“Oh… Uh-Ok, cool.” Lloyd’s eyes darted away, a faint blush on his cheeks.

The room went silent again.

“... We should clean this up” Lloyd looked around the room, taking in the sight of the feathers and scraps of fabric that coated the floor, it was like a feathered bomb had gone off. As he thought of getting out of bed though, it was like gravity had tripled in force, the exhaustion he felt making moving seem impossible.

“Tomorrow” Harumi stated flatly.

“... Yeah, tomorrow” Lloyd agreed, pulling the quilt up to his chin, which caused him to notice the pillow wall that had divided the bed had partially collapsed, he wondered if Harumi had noticed it as well.

They both turned to face opposite sides of the room.

“For the record” Lloyd’s voice was quiet. “I never hated you”

“... Not even when I was trying to kill you?”

“No”

“Really, not even a liiiiittle bit?” She sing-songed.

“No, never. And I never will either”

“... that's a bold claim Lloyd”

“I know, but I also know that I mean it”

“... Goodnight, Lloyd”

Harumi pulled the blankets up again, ending the conversation.

And although neither of them could see, it had also caused the wall between the two to finally topple.

Lloyd smiled. “Goodnight, Harumi”

And outside, the crickets chirped on.

~🩸~

Harumi squirmed as she reached back to pull out a feather that had ended up under her shirt. 

It was early morning, Lloyd had just left for training, saying something about cleaning up this afternoon when he got back from patrol. Harumi bristled as she felt the quill of another feather pickle the back of her neck. She scratched at the offending area furiously.

Seriously, who the hell has this many genuine eiderdown pillows!? Yeah she had some back at the palace, but she was a Princess! It was normal for her to have ludicrous things like that, but Lloyd had dozens! Where the hell did he even get these? All the ones in the palace were custom ordered! Lloyd didn’t have the kind of money to get this many!

… Didn’t he?

… Where does Lloyd’s money even come from, anyway? Does he get paid for his ninja work? Is ‘ninja’ a legal job title someone can hold? Wouldn’t that mean he has to pay taxes?

Harumi mused on the thought of Lloyd trying to file his taxes for all of one second, before bursting out laughing.

Her real laugh was a different laugh than the fake one the Empress had her put on for years to the point where she even used it as the Quiet One, smooth and dark like velvet. Her real laugh was like an old dented kettle coming to a sputtering boil, a real witches cackle that would always descend into snorting giggles as Harumi regained her breath. The Empress hated it, like she seemed to hate everything about Harumi before she became adept at wielding the mask of the perfect princess.

It felt good to laugh normally again.

As if the gods themselves decided to punish her for the crime of having fun, the tablet next to her pinged with an alert, Harumi craned her neck to read it.

Pixal: [There is something I would like to discuss with you in private, I will be arriving at Lloyds room shortly and am sending you this message in advance so you would not be alarmed, please do not scream.]

And only a few seconds later the door snapped open and the female nindroid stepped inside, closing the door behind her as she went.

Harumi blinked hard. “Uh, hey” Her tongue felt like lead in her mouth.

If Pixal was bothered by the messy state of the room, she didn’t show it. She methodically strode her way over to Harumi’s side.

“Hello, Harumi,” she said coolly.

“So you wanted to talk”

“Yes, it will only take a moment of your time”

Can I ask why you want to talk without Lloyd here?”

“Because he is not relevant to the topic at hand”

“Which is?”

“It is my understanding that the sons of Garmadon had a nindroid like myself in their ranks, one by the name of ‘Mr.E’?”

Harumi’s throat went tight. “That's… correct” She swallowed.

“And you worked closely with Mr.E?”

“He was my lieutenant” 

“Is it correct to assume the two of you were close, then?”

“... Where are you going with this?”

“While my father and I were repairing Borg tower, we found the scrapped remains of a nindroid matching Mr.E’s description, with scans indicating he was torn apart instead of properly dismantled”

“Again, your point?”

Pixal didn’t smile, but her face softened, just slightly. “My point being that despite the damage, I was able to recover both his personality drive and memory disk fully intact” She pulled out something that looked almost like a game cartridge, and a tiny compact disk.

Harumi choked. She reached out.

Pixal pulled her hands away from her.

“I meant what I said when I agreed to harbor you,” Pixal stated. “But that does not mean I trust you, as both Samurai-X and as Lloyd’s friend, it is my responsibility to ensure you don’t stab us in the back”

Harumi gawked at her as the pieces clicked into place. “You're holding him hostage?!”

“It is a necessary precaution,” Pixal replied smoothly. “Lloyd may see the best in you, but I do not. I see that you are clever, dangerous, and determined. It would be foolish to allow you access to a potential co-conspirator” She paused. “And please keep your voice at a reasonable volume, these walls are only mostly soundproof”

Harumi glowered at her. 

Pixal continued on. “The conditions are simple. Provide adequate assistance during our investigation in Domu, and I will re-house Mr.E in a body and allow him to join us, and give both of you full support with the other ninja”

Harumi’s scowl deepened. “And if I'm not 'adequate' enough for you?"

“Then Mr.E will still be restored to a body. And immediately turned over to the authorities”

Harumi’s eyes flicked down to the cartridge, Mr.E’s consciousness housed safely inside. 

“Can he hear us?” She asked quietly.

Pixal followed her eyes to the personality drive. Her gaze turned to understanding. “No, his drive is currently unconnected to any input and therefore inert, in human terms, he is sleeping”

“Oh…”

The room was silent as Harumi stared at what remained of Mr.E, who was for all intents and purposes, the closest thing she ever had to a ‘best friend’. She had recruited him for the Sons initially, yes. But they bonded over their similar traumas, the way the people who were meant to care for them merely used them both, the fact that they were totally isolated from anyone who could help them escape it, the resentment it caused. Killow and Ultraviolet saw her, but Mr.E was the first person she felt truly understood her.

She watched the way the light bounced off the little compact disk that had his memories recorded inside, tiny rainbows painting the picture of his life.

The lump in her throat shrunk just a little.

“He’ll get his body back, even if I fail? You won’t just shove him into a box in a storage closet forever?”

Pixal nodded. “Yes, Regardless of the outcome of this mission, Mr.E will have his autonomy and memories restored”

“Why? He’s dangerous, right? Wouldn’t it be ‘safer’ to shove him into a laptop or something?” Harumi growled.

The nindroid stiffened suddenly, her face growing tense, Harumi feared that she just struck a nerve she wasn’t meaning to hit.

“No” Pixal’s voice was as unyielding as the steel that made up her body. “He will have a body again, regardless of what happens” 

“... You promise?” Harumi asked meekly, not wanting to upset the nindroid further.

“You have my word, as Samurai-X and the heiress of Borgtech”

The statement lingered on the air as the two of them held eye contact, sharp jade and bright emerald locked onto the other, searching for weakness.

Harumi yielded first.

“Thank you, Pixal” She didn’t smile at her, but she made no effort to mask the gratitude in her voice.

Pixal merely stowed the components away and turned to leave, saying nothing until she stopped in front of the doorway, looking at Harumi over her shoulder, her expression neutral to the point of being uncanny.

“I will send one of my MiniPix over to clean the room, you do not need to worry about the door, they are perfectly capable of navigating the ventilation systems”

And then, after a breath of silence.

“Good night, Harumi”

And she was gone.

Harumi sat there, thoughts churning in her mind, plans forming and unravelling, sparks of hope kindling and dying and being relit, over and over again. Until she was finally able to latch on to a single thought.

“What the hell is a MiniPix?”

End notes