The Imperial Battle II: The Emperor of Ninjago

Chapter 25. The Water of Visions

"I'm very sorry, but... Quanish is dead."

Lloyd stared at the monk, speechless.

After months of waiting. After all that traveling. After the long climb up the mountain. After everything, the man they had come to find was dead. They'd come all the way to the Sky Monastery and done months of searching for nothing at all.

"So, if Quanish is dead, that means that you don't have information about the Mask of Vengeance?" Wu asked.

"The Mask of Vengeance?" Cheng questioned, surprised.

"Yes. Quanish apparently knew where the mask was hidden," Wu explained and showed the monk the piece of paper they'd found. "We found this from the library at the Jade Falls Manor."

Cheng blinked at the little note. "Yes, Quanish had a lot of information about ancient relics and powers, including information about the Mask of Vengeance. The First Emperor had him hide that knowledge. He didn't exactly leave it for anyone to access—"

Lloyd groaned in frustration and wanted to hear nothing more. He turned around and walked out of the monastery, feeling like burning the whole place down. He felt so frustrated and angry. It was a terrible feeling. He'd been so hopeful for nothing, once again. And now the anger and feeling of failure were boiling his mind.

Lloyd stood close to the edge of the mountain and clumsily sat down with his injured leg struggling to hold his weight any longer. He leaned his forehead against his hands, trying his best to keep his breathing calm. The hopelessness and despair were getting to him.

"Lloyd."

Lloyd didn't need to turn around to know Kai was approaching. It only infuriated him further—or at least so he told himself. He drew his knees close to his chest and turned to face the opposite direction from where Kai sat down.

"Lloyd," Kai repeated. He reached his hand towards the prince, but he drew himself further to avoid him.

"Go away," Lloyd mumbled.

As expected, Kai did not obey. Instead, he reached out to brush a strand of Lloyd's messy hair out of his face. The gesture was surprisingly loving and gentle given how just hours ago they'd been screaming their heads off at each other. Apparently the disappointment and Lloyd's distress lessened the anger in Kai. 

Either way, Lloyd sighed deeply, burying his face in his folded arms. "We're back to the starting point. We literally came all the way here for nothing!" He shouted.

"Lloyd, we can still find something—" 

"How, Kai, how?!" 

Kai couldn't answer. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Lloyd, pulled him closer and kissed his cheek empathetically. It worked like a shower of water to the flames of frustration inside Lloyd. His anger made way to guilt and a feeling of regret.

"I'm sorry for following you and all… and being so mean afterwards," Lloyd apologized quietly.

"Mm," Kai hummed. "I'm sorry too. I was being stupid and wasn't considering how hard all this was for you. It wasn't smart to follow us, but… I think I get why you did."

The prince turned to face him, his eyes studying him carefully. "What about when you said—"

"I didn't mean it," Kai said hastily, slightly tightening his hold on him. There was a look of genuinity in his eyes. "I mean, if you mean when I said… that it was better when we were separated. I didn't mean it."

Lloyd gave him a doubting look.

"Really, I didn't," Kai insisted. "I didn't mean it— I was angry. I was..." he looked like he was about to say something more, but backed out on it at the last second. "...I was just really angry and worried."