moral of the story | a ninjago highschool fanfiction

[27] multiverse shenanigans (jk)

lloyd

Lloyd and Misako moved into the Smith's house earlier than anticipated, Tuesday afternoon after school. Not that there was much to move into the borderline mansion house, but Lloyd was eager to get it done and over with so they could discuss the many issues that had been coming up. Monday afternoon was taken up with homework, studying, packing and getting ready. The Archive of Energy laid untouched at the bottom of his school bag until he'd been nagged by his mother into sorting through it Tuesday night.

His room in his old house was about the size of his bathroom here. And it was en suite. Sure, he'd visited the Smith's plenty over the years but he'd never really gotten used to the thousands of rooms that seemed to spring up every way you looked. Like all the other bedrooms, his was on the second floor, second down the hallway between Nya and Kai's.

Even though he definitely felt like the younger sibling (honestly, the amount of hair ruffling was insane), Lloyd was quite enjoying his new life. School wasn't that far away, only a five minute walk, ten if Kai was fixing his hair on the go, Magda was very nice to him and made really good dinners when Misako was out, and having Kai and Nya and Ryu to keep him company was cool.

Speaking of the devilish dog, his small size did not put a damper on his shoe-chewing abilities which was a time-driven endeavour because his tiny teeth had to work through the shoe as fast as possible, which wasn't that fast at all. Not to mention Ryu was a bit...dumb. They all had to be ready to pick him up and redirect him in another direction like one of those robot vacuum cleaners so he wouldn't bash into furniture.

He had his bowl topped up three times a day for his meals, fresh water always on hand because although he looked like a tiny runt, Ray was sure he'd grow way bigger. Lloyd thought otherwise, maybe taller but from pictures he'd seen, not as...wide? Ryu hadn't been in the big, wide world yet, only traipsing around the backyard in safety. Potty training was another activity, one that Lloyd wasn't all that excited to help with.

Now it was Wednesday afternoon and Lloyd was sitting at the kitchen counter with Kai and Nya eating bowls of ice cream heavily topped with all kinds of lollies and chocolate syrup in amicable silence. His was sprinkled liberally with gummy bears, sprinkles and other candies all mixed into the mush. With no other adults around, except for Magda, who didn't really count (Ray and Maya had left earlier that morning for their work and Misako was at work) so they were free to go wild.

"So...have any of you given thought to the Archive thingies?"

"Whast?" Kai said through a mouthful of ice cream. He swallowed, burped, then answered. "Oh. Them."

Nya straightened a bit on her bar stool. "I have, actually. The Water Archive is very...interesting."

"Not to mention dad's in the book of Fire." Kai snorted.

Lloyd glanced at his school bag where he knew the Energy journal was hidden. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he took the book out, sliding it into the middle of the counter.

"I haven't actually opened mine yet." he said carefully, watching the two Smith's interest pique.

"Well go on, do you want me to grow a beard while we wait?" Kai ordered impatiently, still shovelling in ice cream.

With a sigh, Lloyd's fingers tapped against the cover in anticipation before finally flipping open to the first page. The personalisation lines were empty. He frowned, then flipped to the next page. Empty. And the next. Empty. Ten pages after that, all empty.

"What the hell," he breathed, partially to himself but loud enough for Kai and Nya to hear. "Your books aren't empty, right?"

Nya shook her head, bringing the Water book out to open the first few pages. "Look, here, the first Master of Water. Evian."