Waking up to sense movement above him, Lloyd immediately jerked himself sideways off his bed. Without giving himself time to fully wake up, he snatched That Sword from beside his bed and struck it forward, meeting Joseph's arm. The Top smirked as blood splashed to the ground and he lowered his arm, formerly protecting his face. "Not bad," he commented.
Huffing, Lloyd slipped his sword into its case. "Are you ever gonna stop trying to kill me in my sleep?" he muttered.
"Maybe. I mean, you didn't die this time, and that's what we were trying to achieve here."
Shaking his head, Lloyd pushed past him. For the past couple of weeks, Joseph had been obsessed with preparing him for anyone who might attack him while he was asleep. He had "died" every time, but now he thought he was getting the hang of it, since now he learned not to hesitate.
"Anyways, the Overlord's looking for you," Joseph told him. "Again," he added in a grumble. Lloyd didn't think he'd meant for him to hear.
Frustration swelled inside the green ninja. He had a lot on his mind and didn't feel like talking to anyone, but he didn't have much choice. This had better be good, he thought as he headed out of the apartment building.
"At last," the Overlord rasped as the green ninja entered the Main Base. "It's about time we get back to business."
Lloyd slumped onto a chair and crossed his arms, waiting for the Overlord to continue.
"We have three elemental weapons out of four," he went on. "It's time we go for the last one."
Lloyd blinked, lost.
The Overlord raised an eyebrow. "The sword?"
Lloyd looked up in surprise. "Kai's sword?" he breathed, half to himself.
The Overlord began pacing the floor. "I'd like it soon," he muttered. "Tonight, maybe?"
Lloyd shifted his feet uneasily. "Don't you think it's a little too soon?" he murmured. "We only recently got the shurikens."
"Then why wait?" the Overlord pressed. "We're so close, and there's nothing holding us back."
Lloyd went silent as he took everything in. The last weapon is the sword, he thought. Kai's sword. Uneasiness swarmed through him. He didn't want to hurt Kai more than he already did. "W-well, Ariana isn't fully recovered yet," he stammered, trying to make up an excuse.
The Overlord halted. "And?"
"Shouldn't we wait until she's at her full strength?" Lloyd pressed. "What good will it be to have to constantly look after a weak teammate?"
The Overlord rubbed his chin. "I suppose so," he growled. "But it better not take long."
Lloyd rose to his feet. "Yeah, well, tell that to nature," he huffed. Then he turned and walked out of the room.
As he closed the door behind him, he turned and jolted in alarm to see Ariana behind him. She crossed her arms and stared at him.
"You think I'm weak?" she snapped.
Lloyd tensed. "Uh... n-no," he protested.
Ariana raised an eyebrow. "That's not what I heard," she muttered.
"Y-you're not weak," Lloyd stammered. "Just... lacking full strength."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ariana stated.
Lloyd sighed. "I lied, okay?" he confessed. "I had to think of something!"
"Why?" Ariana demanded.
"Because I knew the Overlord wouldn't be persuaded with the truth!" Lloyd blurted out.
Ariana stared at him. "And what is the truth?"
Lloyd shifted his feet. "W-well I... I..."
"You what?" Ariana inquired.
Lloyd couldn't meet her gaze and he looked at the ground. "I-I just... don't want you to get hurt again," he murmured, embarrassed.
His confession was followed by silence.
Lloyd didn't dare look at Ariana as he cleared his throat. "Excuse me," he breathed as he swept past her and headed down the hall, head low.
Ariana watched him go, completely shocked. No one had ever said something like that to her before. Does Lloyd... care about me? She remembered the battle a few weeks ago when the green ninja had attacked his own father just to save her.
Heart pounding in her chest, Ariana felt her throat tighten as dark memories crept up on her. The shrieks of pain... the wails of grief... the sacrifice that only led to death. Lloyd can't love me... he just can't.
* * *
Lloyd sighed as he sank onto his bed. Why would I say something like that? he thought. She must think I'm crazy. One thing he had learned ever since he left the ninja was that everyone was on their own out here. Emotions were kept to yourself, you didn't grow close to anyone, and whatever problems you had you dealt with alone. How could I have been so stupid? he scolded himself. All these feelings slow you down. And now that I had to blurt everything out, Ariana must think I'm the weak one.
"Lloyd."
Lloyd's head shot up in surprise and he gasped to find himself out in the forest. He turned around. "Kai?"
The red ninja only grinned.
Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief. "Kai!" he exclaimed with joy. He was about to rush forward when his feet froze to the ground. He desperately wanted to relive the days before all this happened, but now he knew too much had happened between them that they could never be close again.
Lloyd looked at the ground, feeling ashamed in knowing that he was planning to steal Kai's weapon next.
Kai frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Last time I saw you you hid your feelings from me."
"Well, a lot has happened since then," Lloyd muttered. "How do you know I had these feelings then anyway?"
"I've known you for a long time, Lloyd," Kai said. "I don't need my scars to tell me when you're feeling down."
Lloyd tensed as he felt Kai's hand rest on his shoulder. It had been forever since he felt the comforting touch of a brother. Feeling uncomfortable, he inched away from Kai and his hand. "You shouldn't be talking to me," the green ninja murmured. "You know you can't trust me."
Kai sighed. "You're right," he agreed. "I can't trust you, and you can't trust me. We're on different sides now."
Lloyd looked back up in surprise. He took a deep breath. "So that's how it is now?" His voice trembled. "We'll never be brothers again."
"I want to trust you, Lloyd," Kai went on. "And I want you to trust me. But we can't do that right now—not when our thoughts are all over the place."
Lloyd looked at his feet again, grief filling his heart. He couldn't stop his voice from shaking as he went on. "This is all my fault," he sighed. "I don't know what's gotten into me."
Sympathy glittered in Kai's gaze. "I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone," he breathed. "You're just... confused."
Lloyd's eyes flashed as he stared at Kai again. "That's not what I meant," he scoffed.
"Then what did you mean?" Kai asked, puzzled.
"I'm sorry that I hurt you," Lloyd admitted. Then his eyebrows furrowed. "But the others deserved it!"
Kai's eyes widened, then he gave a helpless sigh. "And here I am thinking you've changed," he murmured.
Lloyd crossed his arms. "What, loving you isn't enough?" he spat. He turned his head away. "Maybe you are just like the others—selfish and always wanting more."
This is going to be harder than I thought, Kai thought. He struggled to steady his breathing. "I want to help you, Lloyd." His voice cracked.
"Help me what?" Lloyd flashed back.
"Help lead you back to the light," Kai blurted out before he could stop himself.
Lloyd stiffened, eyes glittering. "Because I'm a villain," he stated.
Kai resisted a facepalm. "That's not what I meant!" he protested.
"No, that's exactly what you meant!" Lloyd growled. "Because you and the ninja already consider me your enemy." He turned his back on Kai. "Well, I've got news for you." He paused to draw in a shaky breath. "You're right."
* * *
Cole sat beside Kai, looking over his friend worriedly. The red ninja shifted in his sleep, but not once opened his eyes. It was no doubt he must still be having visions whilst unconscious.
Cole sighed, fearing if Kai would ever wake up again. If he's still having visions, how long will it take for the pain to fade? Staring at Kai, Cole suddenly felt a bolt shot through him. He gritted his teeth as the world began to spin. Not again!
He came to an abrupt halt in the middle of a fire. Eyes widening, he staggered away from the flames licking at his feet and managed to find a clearing. He glanced around wildly, breath quickening by the minute.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a horse's neigh behind him.
He whipped around to see the shadow of a horse racing toward him. Ducking as it leaped over him, he saw the thin black shape suddenly disperse into dust. His gaze followed where it would've landed and he saw two shadows of people. He watched them intently as another shadow-person joined them. The three stared at each other for a moment, then the third suddenly attacked the second.
Heart pounding, Cole was about to intervene when the two tackling shadows disappeared. He skidded to a halt as the first shadow turned toward him and locked its eyes on him. Then it, too, faded into dust.
Cole's eyes widened. He'd seen those eyes before. They were the eyes he had seen that night he had been almost killed—but they weren't Lloyd's. Ariana?
Cole gasped as he was jerked around. As the world stopped spinning again, he found himself back in the hospital room. Breathing heavily, he groaned in pain and clutched his stomach. He struggled not to topple off his chair as sharp pangs of pain rolled at him and his vision clouded.
He stared at Kai, teeth gritted. "You were right," he hissed out. "It is getting worse."
Panting as at last the pain faded, Cole shook his head to clear his thoughts. He took a deep breath and steadied himself again. Well, that was fun, he thought sarcastically.
He scanned the room and saw Wu and Nya heading over to him and Kai.
"How is he?" Nya asked as they reached them.
Cole shrugged. "Still hasn't woken up yet."
Nya sat beside her brother. "And we still haven't figured out what's wrong?"
Wu sighed. "Nothing makes sense," he murmured.
Cole looked at the ground and shifted his feet. I know what's wrong, he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't. No one would believe me anyway.
Wu eyed the uneasy black ninja suspiciously. "Do you know something?" he asked.
Cole's head shot up in alarm. "K-know something?" he chuckled nervously. "I-I don't know anything!"
Wu raised an eyebrow. "If you know something about Kai, you should tell us," he went on. "This is Kai's life we're talking about."
Cole gazed down at his stomach. And then mine, he thought to himself. "E-even if I did know something—which I don't—, I doubt there would be anything we could do to help him," he stammered.
"And why do you think that?" Wu inquired. "Because you know something?"
Cole looked at the ground again and didn't reply.
Nya gazed at the black ninja, observing him. She noticed his hair was ruffled and his breathing was quicker than usual. His eyes were deep with fear and pain and she frowned. "Is everything okay, Cole?" she asked with concern.
Cole nodded unsteadily. "Y-yeah," he breathed, although he sounded uncertain. "Everything's fine." Before anyone could reply, he rose to his feet. "I'm gonna check on Sensei Garmadon," he put in hastily before heading across the room.
Garmadon was sitting up and once again staring out the window.
"Sensei?" Cole began.
But Garmadon didn't answer.
Cole frowned. The sensei had been like this ever since he had woken up. Never said a word, never noticed when people were around him, never nothing. The thing was, Pixal had assured them that Garmadon was fine. The sensei didn't talk simply because he didn't want to.
"Look, I know you don't want to talk to me," Cole started, "but I have to talk to someone! Kai's no good, so the only person left is you!"
Garmadon said nothing.
Cole sighed and sat on a chair nearby. "These visions are just confusing me," he went on, lowering his voice. "They're getting deeper a-and more powerful! I've never dealt with something like this before, and I don't know what to do. Now that both you and Kai are... how do I put this... unavailable, my thoughts are all over the place!" His heart pounded as he remembered his vision. "Is there going to be another fire? Because I've been seeing a lot of fire! Do you think that's what all this means?"
He gasped as a thought struck him. "Maybe the Overlord is planning to set our monastery on fire! I saw Ariana in my vision, could that be why? Oh! Maybe the other two shadows were the Overlord and Lloyd! Do you think they'll all attack us? Wait! They attacked each other! Does that mean their team is going to split up? That's a good thing—right? Then maybe Lloyd will come back!" He grinned. "Yes, of course! That makes perfect sense! This is all good news! Good things are to come!" He gazed at Garmadon. "Thank you! Thank you for your help!"
Not taking his eyes off the window, Garmadon only gave a soft shrug.
Breath quickened in excitement, Cole turned and raced out of the room. It's all coming together, he thought with relief. Lloyd will leave the Overlord and come back home! At last! Our troubles will soon be over!
But what Cole didn't realize was that the Overlord's shadow hadn't been the only one to disappear.