Chapter Text
Kai woke up, feeling lightheaded.
He blinked, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Where was he? As his vision came back to him, Kai was surprised to see that there was nothing.
No, that wasn’t right. There was something - if space could be counted as such. Kai remembered when he and the Ninja had traveled in a rocketship. Back then, they’d been preoccupied with retrieving the Golden Weapons, and getting back to Ninjago. It wasn’t the time to be appreciating the beauty of outer space.
But now, Kai had all the time in the world.
He laid there, mesmerized by the sight of twinkling stars and traveling comets. Kai didn’t know if he was dead, or alive. If this was the Departed Realm, or some other dimension. But he was grateful for the opportunity to just rest.
There was no sense of time. Not a sun that rises and sets, nor a moon that changes with each passing day. Only Kai, and a beautiful, shifting universe.
As he continued gazing at the celestial cosmos, Kai noticed a single comet. This wouldn’t have been strange - if the comet wasn’t hurtling right towards him.
Kai scrambled up onto his feet, distancing himself from the crash site.
While he had seen plenty of odd things as a Ninja, this was something else entirely. What Kai thought was a comet, was actually a large ball of fire. Despite himself, he drew nearer.
The flames weren’t hot, like regular fire. They felt pleasant, inviting, beckoning him to come closer. This strange sense of familiarity made him pause.
An ache in Kai’s heart continued pulling him forward. Wrestling with the decision of whether or not to keep going, Kai decided to venture forth. He hoped that he made the right choice.
Kai stared up at the flaming orb. Its size and radiance made him think of a small sun. He raised a hand, cautiously anticipating it to be burned. Instead, the fire embraced him. He closed his eyes, basking in the warmth. When Kai opened them, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
Shining plumage in shades of red, yellow, black, white, and blue. A regal presence that inspired awe and wonder within its viewers.
But the most striking detail of all, were the ethereal flames that drifted off its body.
Kai knew who this was. “You’re…” A legend. A myth. A bedtime story that he and Nya grew up listening to. “... The Phoenix!”
A bird that appeared in stories, but never in real life. He’d met dragons, Serpentine, uncovered lost ruins and their inhabitants - but this experience surely topped all of them.
Kai was still in shock, when the sudden appearance of a voice in his head startled him.
“Welcome, Master of Fire.” Although the Phoenix hadn’t opened its mouth, Kai understood from the incline of its head that it was them who was talking. Its gaze was focused intently on Kai, assessing his reaction.
He hurried to bow, beads of anxious sweat gathering on his forehead. Kai looked up when he heard soft laughter, the Phoenix covering its beak with a wing.
“Please, no bowing. We are both equals here.” The Phoenix lowered its appendage, to resume gazing at Kai.
Despite the reassurance from the being before him, Kai was nervous. He straightened his back, trying not to stutter, “But how can we be equals? You’re the legendary fire bird! And I’m - I’m just a human.”
The Phoenix tilted its head. “Are you not Kai, Master of Fire? Re-forger of the Golden Weapons? And protector of the Green Ninja?”
With every word the Phoenix spoke, Kai felt clarity. The haze he’d fallen under, when awakening in this dimension, was broken.
Kai clenched his fists, glaring down at his feet. He remembered now.
“Was it you? The reason why I didn’t freak out when I first woke up?” Kai lifted his head to look at the Phoenix. Whatever anxiety he felt before was gone. The only thing he could feel now was anger.
“Indeed.” The Phoenix lowered itself, so that it could be face to face with Kai. “Are you displeased? I thought it prudent to let you adjust first, without the burden of your death overwhelming you.”
Kai shook his head, forcing himself to relax. “No, no I’m not. At least, not at you anyway. I’m mad at myself.” He paused. “Please don’t make me forget. I need those memories. I need to know that I failed.”
When Jay was turned into a crystal zombie protecting Nya, that left the three of them to deal with the Overlord alone. They’d unlocked their Dragon forms, but it was no use. Without lightning, there could be no Elements of Creation.
But Kai’s greatest failure was - “Lloyd! I couldn’t save him from the Overlord!” He crouched, gripping his shoulders. “Why?! Why did any of this have to happen?!”
Even with his eyes closed, Kai noticed the shadow that fell over him. If earlier the flames invited him closer, the Phoenix’s embrace reminded Kai of his family, his friends, and all that he had now lost. What began as a few droplets on his cheeks, soon turned into a downpour.
Kai cried, without anyone to stop him. The Phoenix continued hugging Kai, shielding him within its wings. Eventually, he wiped his eyes and stood up, exhausted.
“Thank you, for letting me cry.” Kai felt his face heat up in embarrassment, realizing he’d just unloaded his emotional baggage on an ancient being.
“It is only natural to feel such. You did the best that you could, given your circumstances.” The Phoenix nuzzled Kai, and he laughed, running his hands through the soft feathers.
“Did I? I sacrificed myself to give the others time…” He winced, remembering the pain of overloading his elemental power. Kai could still hear the Overlord’s screams. “But who will be the new Master of Fire? And without Jay…”
The Phoenix drew itself up to its original height, gazing down at Kai again. “What would you do if you could change it all?”
“Huh?” Kai blinked, not understanding.
The Phoenix gestured at the space around them. “This is my domain. From here, I have laid dormant, observing the Realms. The struggles of beings within them, their love and anger, stagnation and growth…” The Phoenix turned, its back facing Kai. “I have seen it all, without intervening. For this is the universe I have created.”
Kai was astonished by what he heard. “You created the Realms?” He didn’t remember that in the bedtime stories.
The Phoenix returned to its previous position, nodding. “In the beginning, there was nothing. Then, I came into existence, and from me, the first Realm. Thereafter, I chose to seal myself away. I knew that change could not be possible without the freedom to grow.”
He tried to make sense of it all, analyzing the bits and pieces of information he was given. Kai focused on one thing in particular. “The Realm of Oni and Dragons? That was you? But why would you create the Oni?!”
How could such a wise and eminent being, create monsters like the Oni?
Kai felt the weight of the Phoenix’s wing, ruffling his hair. The Phoenix shook its head, and Kai imagined it was reproaching him.
“Master of Fire, did I say that? I merely created the Realm, and the Dragons and Oni came after. I had no hand in their creation, although they inherited my powers of Creation and Destruction. Even the Oni are beings with the freedom to choose. Have you forgotten?”
With that reminder, Kai recalled the people in his life. Lloyd, who despite his origins, became a hero. Garmadon, who even after his revival, loved his son. The First Spinjitzu Master. And Mystake, a pureblooded Oni, who chose to betray her own kind.
Kai was ashamed of his quick judgment. But - “Why are you telling me this?”
The Phoenix prompted Kai to look up, and he followed its instructions. As they admired the stars, Kai received an answer. “See this, Kai. See how light can exist even within darkness. They are not separate. There is no Balance, because it does not exist.”
Was this real? Was what he learned as a Ninja wrong? Kai held his head in his hands, frustrated.
“Balance between light and dark does not exist. This assumes they must be separate from each other, white and black. Why not gray instead?” Kai dropped his hands, listening to the Phoenix as it continued.
“Another way to put this is that nobody can do good, until someone does something bad. But this brings up an interesting point. It means that nobody is choosing anything – we are all controlled by the previous actions that have already been done. You can only do what the universe is out of balance about... And if that is the case, then once we reach a state of equilibrium, then nothing is ever chosen again.”
While Kai was still confused, he gradually understood what the Phoenix was saying. The Overlord was pure evil, and supposedly, a part of the Balance. Because of this, he could never truly be destroyed, only lying dormant, until the next time he arose. But why should this be so?
“I think I get it…” Kai slowly verbalized his thoughts. “... You kept referring to light and dark, but not good and evil. Well, you did mention good and bad choices, but not good and evil.”
“You are starting to understand, Master of Fire.” Kai had the feeling that the Phoenix was proud of him. “Light and dark are not inherently good or evil.”
Throughout this speech, Kai felt the stirrings of hope within his heart. “So the Overlord can be destroyed? Once and for all?”
“Indeed. The Overlord was never a part of the Balance at all. He was a result of the First Spinjitzu Master creating the land of Ninjago. And who balances the Overlord? The First Spinjitzu Master? Even he was a flawed being.”
Kai wanted to object, but the Phoenix told him the story of a girl named Nineko. Of how the First Spinjitzu Master had accused her of stealing from him. Of how he drove her onto the path of vengeance, after abandoning her.
Master Wu had never told the Ninja this story. Then again, Master Wu didn’t tell them a lot of things.
Kai felt troubled, trying to reconcile the image of Ninjago’s legendary creator, with the flawed man he actually was.
“It is not wrong to believe in the First Spinjitzu Master. Without him, Ninjago wouldn’t have existed. Without Ninjago, you, and all of your friends, would not have existed. But neither is it wrong to question some of his actions.”
He nodded, agreeing with this line of thought.
The Phoenix lowered its head, peering into Kai’s eyes. “Will you help me, Master of Fire? To change the past, for a better future?”
Kai felt the flames in his heart grow stronger. Still, he hesitated, uncertain. “Why me?”
“It has to be you, Kai. I was born in heat and fire, and fire is the element I will return to. You are the Master of Fire, and the only one worthy of being my emissary.”
A lifetime ago, he would have been ecstatic to be the “chosen one”. But now, forged through battles and loss, Kai knew the weight of responsibility.
“What will happen if I accept your offer?” Garmadon, Krux, and Acronix had shown Kai the dangers of messing with time.
“Although you will not exist alongside another version of yourself, traveling back to the past still has consequences. There will be ripples I can not account for.”
Kai was worried after hearing this last message. “Can’t we get help from the past version of you?”
“I am everything that was, is, and will be. There is no past version of me, for I exist alone.”
He took a deep breath in, then let it out. Kai knew what choice he’d make.
“Ninja never quit, right?”