Chapter Text
Long before time had a name the first spinjitzu master created the kingdom in the sky. He and his people lived there in harmony, until the overlord attacked and a war began. The overlord wanted to rule the kingdom in the sky along with an untouched place called earth. To defend the kingdom in the sky against the war the first spinjitzu master used all his strength to bless his citizens with powers beyond their wildest dreams and create a council run by himself, but the overlord took the power from the first spinjitzu masters people for his own gain. The powerless humans were cast down to a place called ‘earth’ due to their failure. The council high council struck a deal with the overlord giving him a realm of his own where he could command the dead. Once the war ended the first spinjitzu master sadly passed and his role of leader of the council landed onto his two sons, Garmadon god of destruction and Wu god of creation, they ran the council with order and harmony until the council was combatted with an undesirable force…
The powerless Humans or ‘humans’ as the powerful humans, now gods liked to call them. As Earth developed, humans created great things: cities, buildings, technology, travel and life. The humans all put their resources together to create a main city called ‘Ninjago city’ , a big bustling city where everyone could belong! Though the humans were happy the gods, aka the powerful elemental masters and the council didn’t like that so they sent hell upon the humans, storms raged, crops wilted, plans failed, buildings collapsed, disharmony among the humans rose and people were getting worried, and it stayed like that for decades, till a woman named Misako Montgomery took charge and came up with an idea; to use one of the islands off of the mainland of Ninjago city and dedicate it to the gods by building temples and sending them offerings, thankfully this worked and the gods calmed down. Although the humans did so much the gods still had spite over the humans even after they got given gifts.
Misako Montgomery dedicated a day in the Ninjago calendar to celebrate the gods and stop them from destroying the world again, it was dubbed “Cultus deorum” but as they were celebrating any other cultus deorum Misako disappeared without a trace, nobody knows where she went… And nobody will ever know…
After her unfortunate disappearance everything settled and cultus deorum became like any other holiday. As the years passed a new council took over and they switched up the temples and altars to match the new gods.
This year's cultus deorum was going to be like any other…
Sora and Arin were just kids when their mom and dad Barry and Jenny died, soon after the funeral they were forced into an orphanage together and the two lived there till Sora turned 17, the age where the orphanage kicked kids out. Arin who was still 16 and not willing to let Sora leave alone snuck away with her successfully. When they got away from the orphanage Sora managed to get a job at a paper company as an intern with a forged ID saying she was 19 instead of 17 and Arin got a job at the local bakery. In a matter of days the two siblings managed to scrape enough money to get an apartment and pay rent but their apartment wasn’t the best, it was a two bedroom, one bathroom and one main area apartment with a kitchen and sitting room. The paint peeled at the edges of the walls and the lights were crappy but Sora and Arin were happy to call someplace home.
It was like any other evening at the Nived residence, Sora sat on the couch reading a new book she had bought while her brother Arin cooked the two some chicken curry at the stove “hey Ari I feel like we are forgetting something…” Sora blurted out flicking to the next page of her book Arin looked up from the curry he was stirring “oh my gods, cultus deorum is today…” Sora jumped up from the couch “THATS TODAY!? DO WE HAVE ANYTHING!?” Arin flicked off the stove and began frantically looking in the cupboards, his eyes lit up as he opened the last cupboard. “we have… the eight leftover pies from the bakery; they are a day old, do you think the gods would mind???” Sora shrugged and scrambled into her room she quickly came out of her bedroom in her best jeans and pink jumper with a tote bag that read “I heart cats” on the front “no probably not— CMON WE NEED TO GO BEFORE THE FERRY LEAVES” she said as she put the boxed pies into the tote bag and then she put on her shoes by the door and ran out, Arin quickly followed behind.
The two made it to the port in record time; they boarded the ferry along with other passengers who were all holding gifts like desserts, candles, jewellery, plushies, art pieces and other items. The two settled down on a bench by the edge of the boat's barriers, Sora rested her tote bag on her lap and looked at her fellow passengers walking around and chatting with each other while Arin dissociated.
The sea was calm and the night sky was clear stars danced overhead and the two watched as birds flew by all going to the same destination they were going
A speaker crackled making Sora and Arin look up at the source “Ladies and gentlemen we are now almost at the island and on behalf of me, your captain and all off the boat staff have a wonderful cultus deorum” announced the captain's voice from the speaker making everyone begin to cheer
Arin and Sora quickly got up from their seats and ran to the foredeck in the distance mist covering a large area subsided and an island came into view Sora and Arin gasped as their eyes landed onto the gods island it was a luxurious tropical island temples dotted the surface along with lush greenery and pathways leading to each, a set of medium sized mountains stood at the far edge of the island, stairs led up to a massive green and gold temple which was dedicated to the god Kapitis the leader of the god council and descendant from the first spinjitzu master.
“Woah… every time I see this place I forget how beautiful it is” Arin muttered making Sora chuckle “you say that every year” she mocked making him sigh and playfully punch her in the arm.
As the boat pulled into port the passengers began to cheer again when the ship came to a stop everyone piled off the boat and scrambled towards the different temples Sora and Arin breathed a sigh of relief when they finally got on land again
“Where too first Arin?” Sora asked adjusting the tote bag hanging on her shoulder “well we don’t have enough pies for each god— well nobody really goes to every god like the god of ducks Anatina or the god of— I’m getting ahead of myself but you get what I mean, maybe Kapitis first since we have to climb all those stairs?” Sora shook her head “no too busy, maybeeeee, Maris goddess of water first? she seems like the best one to go first since nobody is at her temple and it’s closest to us?” Arin nodded and the two wandered towards the beachside.
The water temple sat at the beach it was a medium sized temple with blue detailing, light ocean waves crashed against the front of the temple, Sora and Arin quickly scrambled in while the tide was low enough to walk up the steps, inside the temple an altar sat surrounded by gifts and flowers, a marble statue sat behind the altar of Maris standing proudly in a blue and white gown, on the sides of the temple sat four paintings one of the goddess Maris and her lover Fulminis god of lightning, one of the previous god of water Mare, one self portrait of the goddess in black and white since humans don’t really know what the goddess looks like because there are many depictions of her and lastly one of the bright blue lively ocean sparkling and shimmering in a thunderstorm.
Arin pulled out a box of pie from the tote bag and placed it down in an empty space. The two looked up at the statue of Maris “hey Sora sometimes I think about how do we know if the gods are even still around— or real even!?” Sora stared at Arin like he just kicked a kitten “what…” she muttered “well we’ve never seen a god and the offerings we give just stay? Well mainly the food disappears probably because there are WILD ANIMALS— heck there’s a wolf right there!?” He said while pointing at a random wild grey wolf having a nap in a corner “true… but the legends? The myths? Remember that guy that swore they saw the earth god!?” Arin shrugged “well what if we… catch one in the act?” Sora’s eyes widened “are you insane!? We could get smited!?” She hissed “well maybe they’ll be merciful? We could just take a photo for proof! Maybe we could just go to a minor god so we don't, you know, die” Sora facepalmed and looked down at the floor “who? Take your pick” Arin wandered out of the temple and looked in the distance “that one right there!” He said while pointing at a smaller temple belonging to the dragon and flame god Anguigena Sora sighed “I don’t even know how we are related” she muttered.
After the two siblings delivered the pies to the main gods they wandered into Anguigena’s temple. It was small like any other minor gods with paintings and a statue behind the altar and of course the altar was surrounded by gifts and candles “okay Sora hide behind this pillar and then we wait…” Arin said as the two ducked behind a pillar close to a door in case things went south
Hours later…
A Wolf howled in the distance signaling that the gift giving part of cultus deorum was over and people should leave to the mainland party in the square, Arin's eyes lit up and he squealed “Sora its time” he whispered to her somehow she had fallen asleep but she quickly shot up at the sound of his voice “what’s happening?” She groaned “it’s time!” Arin said as he peered out from the pillar.
The candles resting on the altar extinguished in a gust of wind, the lanterns resting on the pillars burnt out and the doors slammed close with a loud thud “Arin this was a bad idea…” Sora whispered “don’t worry we just need proof and then we will sneak out of here…”
Harsh flames rose up from the ground in front of the altar blinding the two as the fire settled a woman stepped out of the flames, her hair was as red as fire, her nails sharp like talons, a set of small red dragon wings sprouted from her back and she wore rustic armour that looked like dragon scales with black leather boots and matching under armour.
The lights illuminated again and she eagerly stepped towards the altar “Oh wow look at this!!!” The goddess squealed as she picked up a small dragon plushie.
Arin pulled out his phone and pointed it at the goddess “our proof” Sora peered at the goddess as well curiously.
“BOO!” She said turning to Arin and Sora before they could duck away, Sora in panic stepped forward before Arin could grab her arm, she kneeled before the goddess “uhm— hello Anguigena goddess of flames and dragons please don’t smite us, my brother and I were just curious, please don’t smite us…” the goddess tilted her head in confusion “what are you talking about? I thought you two wanted to become my friends?” Arin stepped out of his hiding spot timidly and pulled Sora onto her feet “YES! OF COURSE WE ARE HERE TO BECOME YOUR FRIENDS!!! My sister is just socially isolated!” Sora shot him a glare
The goddess clapped her hands together and jumped up and down excitedly “YAY— wait I better introduce myself! I’m wyldfyre, what are your names?”
“Sora” she said flatly, “Arin” he said optimistically smiling back at her, Wyldfyre pulled the two into a tight hug “so nice to meet you two! I’ve never had human friends. My dad says humans are bad news but you two seem so nice!” Arin nodded and smiled at Wyldfyre awkwardly “well me and my sister better get going home…” he said as he pulled himself and his sister out of Wyldfyre’s embrace “can I come with you?” She asked optimistically, Arin and Sora made eye contact Arin looked back at Wyldfyre then back at his sister, he nodded she didn’t “we should bring her” he mouthed “are you crazy she’s a goddess and the daughter of Ardor, the fire god, HE’D TOTALLY SMITE US FOR TAKING HIS CHILD” she mouthed back.
“If you can’t teleport there I can do it for you?” She offered, cutting into Sora and Arin’s conversation “of course you can come with us! But first you need to hide those wings of yours— Sora give Wyldfyre your jumper, now” Sora groaned and pulled off her pink jumper and passed it to Wyldfyre, she then slipped on the jumper over her closed wings “LETS GO!” She shouted before pulling Sora and Arin into another hug.
A bright fire-like flash covered their views and as the fire faded the three realised that they’d been teleported to the Ninjago city docks, the three pulled away from each other, Arin's eyes widened and he hugged Wyldfyre again “THAT WAS AWESOME!!!” Wyldfyre pulled away from him and put her hands on her hips proudly “it was nothin’ I’ve always wanted to check out beyond the island and the kingdom in the sky this place is so cool! Are they having a party in the city!!! I LOVE PARTYING!!!!” She said before taking off towards the empty road leading to the town square.
“ARIN AFTER THAT ROGUE GOD” Sora shouted before chasing after her “WYLDFYRE— GODDESS ANGUIGENA COME BACK ITS NOT SAFE” he shouted trailing Sora.