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Hardly a week after the emperor's death, Master Chen stepped into the newly-opened position as ruler of the human empire. A temporary role, he claimed. He traded with both humans and serpentine, so who better to navigate the complexity of ending the war?

Soon after, several Serpentine generals were called to the human capital, a representative from each clan. "I heard General Tezrus represents the Constrictai," Arcturus commented as Aura helped him prepare for the journey. "I wonder, has he found a new candidate to hold the Fangblade?"

Aura clicked her tongue. "I'm still mad at him for that."

"No, no, he had the right." Arcturus wrapped up a package of mealworms and placed it in the cart. "Though no one has been in contact with me, so I must assume the Fangblade remains where I kept it."

Krux still didn't know what a Fangblade was, but he refrained from asking. He got the impression it was some sort of sacred item in Serpentine culture, so he tamped down his curiosity and filled another canteen of water.

"That should be enough," Arcturus said, taking it from him. "Apart from Tezrus… the Fangpyre representative is one of ours, but the Venomari general Chen wanted as the representative wasn't chosen, and the Hypnobrai clan as a whole refused to ally with him. It will be a tense conversation, to say the least."

"It will be," said Aura. "Please be safe, Father."

"I will, I swear it." Arcturus placed the canteen on the cart and turned to hug his daughter. "I may not trust Chen, but if he truly creates a world where humans and serpentine can live in harmony, I will be indebted to him. That is all I ever wanted for you."

Aura squeezed her eyes shut, a faint smile on her lips even as tears formed. "I know."

They released each other. Arcturus hugged Krux next, which he hadn't expected. He went stiff at first, then forced himself to relax and put one arm around him.

"I trust you will stay out of trouble," Arcturus said, pulling away. "I don't expect any outside forces to attack this camp, but you have enough to deal with in Clouse."

Krux managed a small smile. "Being attacked would be easier."

"Don't say that. You'll bring it upon you." Arcturus shook his head. "Keep each other safe while I'm gone."

"We will."

"Good. I will see you when I return."

Aura hugged her father again, and walked with him to the edge of camp. There stood a strange metal contraption on four enormous wheels. Krux regarded it with suspicion. "What is that?" he asked.

Arcturus flicked his tongue in and out. "I have seen them before, but do not know the name."

A door on the machine opened and Ryou climbed out. "A recent invention," he said to Arcturus. "Master Chen acquired it from a trade with Metalonia. It will make the travel easier." His eyes landed on Krux. "Good to see you, Master of Time."

Krux stiffened. He hadn't spoken to Ryou since the mission to the capital. Surely the former elemental master would have heard of his and Aura's relation. "Master of Earth," he responded. "Are you going to the capital as well?"

"Yes. I have some testimony to give about my imaginary niece." Ryou laughed. "I'm not worried. Master Chen has already made sure I won't be convicted–I just need to pretend I'm being honest. How is your sister, Krux?"

Caught off guard, Krux couldn't answer right away. Aura spoke instead. "You could ask me yourself," she said. "How is your daughter, Ryou?"

"Oh, she's furious, but at least I'll get to see her!" He shook his head with a grin. "I even found out her husbands name, finally–Lou. He's a singer, which, well, at least Lilly's enough warrior for the both of them. Ha!"

"Ryou," Arcturus said, "we'd ought to be going."

"Right, right."

Arcturus hugged Aura one last time and climbed into the contraption. When his tail disappeared inside and Ryou shut the door, the machine came to life. A low rumble grew deep within it. Krux instinctively took a step back. Aura, on the other hand, appeared entranced by it, staring at it with wide eyes.

The wheels slowly began to move, then picked up speed. Soon it was moving faster than any cart could. Anxiety made Krux's chest tight. It didn't release when the contraption disappeared into the forest.

"Are they're sure that thing's safe?" he wondered aloud.

"Of course!" said Aura. "Metalonia has made such incredible advancements with their inventions. I wish I could go there and see them."

Krux glanced at her. "You can't? I thought Metalonia was on good terms with Ninjago."

"With the human empire, yes. I'm not certain what they think of the Serpentine clans." She shrugged. "I could go alone, but..."

"Aw, you wouldn't take me?"

Primus shocked them both, slithering up behind them and putting his arm around Aura. She jerked away and spun around, one hand raised, but relaxed when she saw who it was.

"Don't do that!" she said. "I could have hit you!"

"I can take a few hits," Primus said with an amused hiss.

"You're insufferable." Aura laughed. "Do you need something?"

He put his arm over her shoulders again, and this time, she let him. "You've been away for weeks on this mission, and the war is almost over! Can't we have some time to ourselves?"

He leaned close to Aura's face and flicked his tongue against her cheek. She pushed his face away. "Primus!"

"What, are you embarrassed?"

Aura shoved him and ducked out of reach. "You act like a child. I'm not one of your chicks, Primus."

Primus hissed again, clearly enjoying himself. "This is true! Chicks come from eggs."

"Oh, that's it!"

Aura grabbed the anacondrai and put him in a headlock. Primus made a show out of struggling, but Aura held tight, and they were both laughing. Krux had no idea what was going on.

He coughed. The two of them stopped laughing. Aura released Primus and took a step back. "I should go," she said. "I should, uh…"

Primus rolled his eyes. "This isn't like you, Aura. Are you really embarrassed?"

"I'm not," Aura said unconvincingly. Her eyes flicked to Krux and back to Primus.

"Ah," said Krux. "I can go, if my presence is bothering you."

"You're not bothering me!" Aura protested.

"He's bothering me," Primus offered. "You can spend time with your twin later. For now–" He brought his tail up to curl loosely around her waist. "–let's catch up."

Aura glanced at Krux again. Krux just smiled. "I'll see you later, Aura," he said, and let the two of them be.

---

It wasn't that he was surprised that Aura had romantic interests. He shouldn't be; she was a grown adult, same as him, and while Krux himself had never sought out a partner in his near-forty years of life, he was aware that was not the norm. It just… hadn't crossed his mind.

He found an unoccupied bench and wondered what to do. No chores to occupy him for the next few hours, Arcturus had left for the time being, along with most of the humans, and Krux wasn't yet close enough to any of the serpentine to initiate a conversation. He tapped his fingers on the wood and sighed.

Just as boredom began to settle in, a commotion arose on the edge of camp. Eager for something to do, Krux got up and went to investigate the noise.

He stopped in alarm when he recognized Garmadon. His brown hair was a mess, his eyes were wild with fury, and he was gesturing with a knife while shouting at one of the serpentine. Krux backed away–but too late to avoid being seen.

"You!" Garmadon yelled. "Master of Time!"

Krux swore under his breath and said, "What do you want?"

Garmadon advanced towards him. Krux's hand fizzled with red energy as he prepared his elemental power.

The other man noticed this and stopped a safe distance away. "What are you doing here?" Garmadon said. "Has Master Chen taken you in as well?"

"You were the one who told me he could help me," Krux snapped. "Were you not training under Chen yourself?"

Garmadon scowled and moved closer. "I was never taken in by his lies. What did he tell you?"

"That he could help me find my twin." Krux took another step back. "And he was right."

"Good for you!" he hissed. "So you've finally found your brother, did you?"

"In a sense." Krux glanced behind him. Aura wasn't in sight, but surely she and Primus would have noticed something was happening. "Why are you here?"

Garmadon pointed his knife at him. "I want to speak to Clouse, and for some unfathomable reason, I am not allowed in the camp."

"Fine. Do you want me to fetch him for you?"

"Oh, sure," Garmadon said. "So I'll just wait here, surrounded by enemy Serpentine?"

Krux bristled. "And you trust me more than them?"

Garmadon glared. "Fair point," he said, and lowered the knife. "If any of them come close–"

One of the serpentine, a Constrictai, snorted. "Don't give us a reason to," she said.

Garmadon glared at her. Krux decided the best thing to do was to fetch Clouse as fast as he could.

Aura and Primus spotted him on his way to the hut. "Krux?" Aura called. "What's going on?"

He slowed down enough to let the two catch up and keep pace beside him. "Garmadon's here," he said. "I'm getting Clouse."

"Ah," Primus said. "Draykon isn't there, is she?"

"Who's Draykon?"

"The Constrictai?"

He reached the hut. Krux paused at the door. "Which one?"

"There's only one Constrictai in the camp."

"Ah. Yes, she is."

"Well, shit," said Primus. "Excuse me."

He slithered back where Krux had just come from. Krux exchanged glances with Aura, then knocked on the door.

Clouse opened it and glared at them. "What is it now?"

"Garmadon's here," Krux said.

"Tell him to leave."

Krux grit his teeth. "He's threatening us. Tell him yourself."

"Surely you can handle one elemental master," Clouse said. "Aren't you two both the Masters of Time?"

"I was never given that title," said Aura.

Clouse was unmoved. "Deal with him. That's an order."

"Deal with him?" Krux exclaimed. "Do you expect us to kill him?"

"No, idiot. I don't want you to fight him, either–I know damn well you'll lose. Just get him to leave."

He slammed the door in their faces. Krux' face grew hot. "The hell is that supposed to mean?" he shouted. "Get out here!"

"Leave him," Aura said. "We can deal with Garmadon ourselves."

She walked away. Krux hissed air through his teeth and followed Aura to the camp entrance.

Primus spoke to Garmadon from a safe distance, having put himself between the human and the constrictai. Krux couldn't hear what the two were saying, only that Garmadon was loud and aggressive, while Primus kept his voice steady.

Garmadon looked up and saw Aura. "You!" he shouted.

He marched past Primus' attempts to stop him. Krux tensed and put a hand on Aura's shoulder. She shrugged him off.

Before he reached them, Garmadon stopped in his tracks. He looked from Aura's face to Krux's and back again. "You've got to be joking," he said. "This is your damned twin?"

Aura huffed. "Weren't you the one who told him to come here?"

"I was hoping–" Garmadon cut himself off with a hiss. "Clearly I wasn't thinking straight!"

"You were hoping what?" Krux demanded.

"None of your business."

"It certainly sounds like my business!"

"Why are you here?" Aura snapped. "Master Chen isn't here, and Clouse doesn't want to see you."

"Too bad for Clouse," Garmadon said. "Let me see him."

"You're not allowed here after the stunt you pulled!"

Garmadon jabbed his knife in her direction. "You stabbed my brother!"

"That was me, actually," Primus said from behind him. He leaned back away from Garmadon's wild swing and added, "I can give you a matching scar if you desire."

"I ought to gut you, you damn–"

"I'm surprised you care so deeply about Wu," Krux said, "considering you poisoned him."

Garmadon spun around, his face twisted in rage. "That was for his own good!" he screamed.

Krux didn't flinch. "Really?"

"Do you have any idea what Chen would have done to him otherwise?!"

Aura stepped forward. "Master Chen doesn't care about your brother," she said. "He was only injured because he insisted on interfering, and now that we've accomplished our goals, it doesn't matter if you break your end of the deal. Go home, Garmadon."

"I don't believe it," Garmadon said in disgust. "You actually trust him, don't you?"

"You are not in a state to be judging–"

Garmadon lunged at her.

Krux's hands immediately flared with the red energy of his time power, but Primus moved first, grabbing Garmadon and pulling him backwards. Garmadon broke free and swung his knife at Primus' side. The blade connected.

"Primus!" Aura shouted.

He moved for another swing–and froze, surrounded by a red glow. Krux grabbed the knife out of Garmadon's hand and put it to his throat before time resumed.

Garmadon glared at him. "You wouldn't," he said.

"I've already helped kill the emperor," Krux said. "What's an elemental master on top of that?"

"I am no typical elemental master."

"Let him go, Krux," Primus said. Krux glanced back to see his hand hovering over his side, but the skin underneath was unbroken. The serpentine saw him looking and flashed a fanged smile. "It takes more than that to hurt an anacondrai," he says. "He goes now, and maybe we won't tell Chen about this."

Garmadon shoved Krux hard and took a few rapid steps back. "Fine," he said, "but remember what side you're on, Master of Time. You were not raised by serpentine."

"True," said Krux, "but they've been more of a family to me than anyone in the capital."

"More than Maya and Ray?"

Krux hesitated.

Garmadon shook his head. "I can't stop you from returning to the monastery now that I've left," he said. "The two brats have certainly been missing you. You have one more chance, Krux."

"One more chance for what?"

Garmadon snatched his knife right out of Krux's hands and marched towards the camp exit. The other serpentine let him go. Krux was too shocked to react.

"Come on," Aura said, snapping him out of his daze. "We need to treat Primus."

"I'm fine," Primus said, standing up straight and tall on his tail. "It'll bruise, that's all."

Aura snorted. "I didn't think you'd object to a pretty chick doting on you."

Primus let out a breathy laugh. "I thought we established you weren't one of my chicks."

"So I can leave you for someone else to clean up?"

"No," Primus said, and he brushed her leg with his tail. "You'll do just fine."

Krux averted his eyes. "Do you need me at all?" he asked. "If not, I'll inform Clouse we got rid of the intruder."

Aura nodded. "Thank you, Krux."

She and Primus went to the medical tent. Krux pulled himself away and headed back to the center of camp.