You had always thought when you died, it'd be peaceful, like waking up. You never imagined it to be sitting in a pool of your own blood as you bled out, trapped under debris.
Oh wait, you weren't dead yet? That was news to you.
Delirious, you tried pushing the rubble off, but groaned in pain, collapsing again. Danger.
"Well we'll.. what have we 'ere?"
You turned your head, watching as the Mechanic stepped on the rubble on top of you, pressing into your abdomen further. Hissing in pain, you tried your hardest to just stay calm and breathe, but your touch was going numb, and the Vengestone Warriors trailing the Mechanic slowly approached.
"Is it the little girl-ninja who ruined my plan? Who taught Unagami to be a selfish brat? Oh! I got it, your the replacement for Harumi." He laughed, his purple eye glistening with humor. "Your time is over. Crystalized her, boys!" He whistled the warriors encroaching evermore.
The Crystal Warriors continued, just inches away from you, when they all were blasted to bits. A bolt of lightning shot overhead, just missing the Mechanic. Jay had come to save you.
The Mechanic laughed, charging up his arm. "Now we're talking! A ninja who can actually fight!"
You shut your eyes, wincing as you heard the fighting. Jay needed to leave. You were going to die here anyways.
The mast on top of you shook, as Jay began heaving it up. "Slide out!"
"You need to leave!" You strained back. "I'm going to die anyways, just save yourself and leave!"
He shook his head, continuing to hold it up. "I just lost Nya, I'm not loosing anybody else. I'm getting you out of here, for both of yours, and Lloyd's sake... He'd kill me if I let you die."
Sighing, you slowly slid out from underneath. "..Alright."
Jay pulled you to your feet, acting as a human crutch as you hobbled to his vehicle. He put you in the back seat, sitting in the front. "Let's get you to safety."
You leaned back as he zoomed onwards, tensing every time the car bumped or tilted too far. "What- what about the others?"
"Even if we could find them, what difference would it make? We're outnumbered. We need help. Once they come, we can look for the others."
Wincing, you tilted your head. "Who's coming? And how did you even contact them?"
Jay smirked in the mirror, glancing back at you. "Electric pulses through the water. Hopefully Benthomaar can understand the message. I think Merlopians understand Morse code?"
The vehicle jerked to a stop , causing you to be thrown forward. You whimpered glancing back to see your blood drawn on the headrest.
"It's fine." Jay assured you. "Here, you can hide out here while I look for the others." He unlocked the cockpit, handing you a hefty emergency bag, and guiding you towards the sewer grate. "I can't- I don't want you to get more hurt, so just hide down here. I'll find you again once I find everyone else. Don't get any more hurt."
You winced climbing out a vehicle. "Right. I'm not planning on it. Do you have any bottled water?"
He handed it to you, pulling up the grate. "You need to get down-" he glanced up, the stomping of the warriors becoming more apparent. "Go!"
You hurried down, almost tripping on the small rungs of the shiny ladder. Flinching, you watched Jay cover the grate again. And you were put into a pitch black darkness.
Hesitantly placing your foot on the ground, you sighed, crumpling to the floor. In the emergency kit, you found a flare and quickly focused a bunch of oxygen to it, twisting it back and forth.
With all the energy from the molecules, the flare lit ablaze, allowing you to toss the fuse onto the floor.
Now being able to see, you dug through the bag, pulling out a bunch of gauze and unscrewed the water bottle. Soaking the gauze, you began to gingerly wipe the blood away from your scalp. Road rash was so annoying, especially when it's because you fell off of a flying ship. Once the gauze came pretty clean, you bit your cheek, holding a hand to your wound.
Touching the wound, you pulled platelets up, trying to get them to form a scab. Fuck it hurt.. But you had to be healed if you wanted to fight. Now the whole ribcage trying to shatter situation.
Gently trailing a hand along your rib cave, you identified 2 ribs that had cracked, and one that had snapped... Easy enough.. how would you even fix this?
Weave. Weave the bone together.
You had little experience in the medical field, but you could do this. For your life's sake.
Just needed to spend some time going through it in your head. You couldn't make any mistakes.
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Holding the edge of your first rib in between two fingers, you swirled the molecules back and forth, causing a 'stitch' between the sides of the crack. You held a whine in as your chest got tighter, and began to reform to it's usual shape. You quickly did the second the same way, fortunately a bit less painful.
Now the last one. You searched for the edge, slowly spinning it as you tried to find where it originally connected. Matching the ridges, you went to connect it, and the flare went out.
In shock, you moved your hand, causing the rib part to rotate freely once more, and it hurt. You yelped in pain, hunching over yourself. You wanted to die. You wanted to curl up and die.
Don't. Lloyd.
Right. Lloyd would kill you himself if you managed to do that. Biting your cheek again, you went to finding the edge again, ignoring how uncomfortable it was to be moving a bone inside your body. Lloyd. "I know.." you hissed to the voice, trying to not expand your lungs too far. Lloyd.
Why did the voice keep saying his name? You knew you had to live for him, but why-
"Y/n!"
You looked up, watching the blond of the hour run in your direction. His hand lit up so he could see. He slid to the floor, tackling you in a hug. "You're alive.."
Nodding, you pushed against him, trying to not move too much. "Yep. But dont- I'm busy.."
He frowned, watching you grab your rib again. "What- what happened?"
"Stupid beast cracked two ribs, and broke a third. Jay found me and led me here, to be safe, before driving off. I-" You hissed in pain, starting to stitch the bone back together. "-I needed to fix this quickly..."
Garmadon stepped up from behind Lloyd, crouching on the other side of you. "May I?"
You looked from him to your rib, before moving your hand away. Did you trust him?
He pressed a clawed hand into your abdomen, causing a ripple of pain to tense through your body.
"Stop it! You're hurting her!" Lloyd yelled grabbing his arm.
Shaking your head, you put a hand onto Lloyd's wrist. "It's okay.." Your chest tightened, as you began to feel your bones shaking against each other. Then they stopped.
Garmadon lifted his hand, giving you a look you couldn't quite figure out. "Oni trick of healing. Doesn't work on dragons, but it is just small enough as to not harm an Elemental Master."
You sighed, wobbling to your feet. "That- that actually worked. Thanks Garmadon."
"Of course you should be thanking me, I am the one who just saved your life. You should thank me too." He prodded at Lloyd.
Lloyd rolled his eyes, gently pulling you along. "You sure you're alright?"
Scoffing you shook your head. "I'm fine. Bit traumatized, but hey, it's in the job description at this point."
He sighed, glancing up. "Why is there- why is there a wooden door in the middle of the sewers?" Lloyd gave no thought to it before kicking the door open. Unnecessary, but what could you do?
"What is this?" Garmadon mumbled, walking up the steps.
Inside, shelves and shelves of books lined the wall. "A library." You muttered back. Crystals jutted out from every corner. Did they mean anything? Was the Overlord able to see through them or something? If so, then fuck.
Shaking his head. Garmadon groaned. "I can see that. I was moreso asking why anyone would build a library in the sewers."
Lloyds eyes lit up, gazing around. "We've made it into Serpentine territory! This is their library!" He ran around reading the sides of books and diagrams around the room in amazement.
"Has he always had a fascination with these snakes?" Garmadon whispered, looking grossed out.
You watched Lloyd run around like he had just won the lottery. "You have snakes as your only friends for who knows how long, you get intrigued by their culture. Let him be happy, is that so hard?"
"Very." Garmadon murmured, walking to the back of the library.
Pinching your nosebridge, you sighed, following after Garmadon. You didn't want him to make anything worse. Walking to the desk, you studied it, picking up the small index card. "Closed due to Overlord attack. Will reopen soon... I severely doubt it.. Lloyd! The Serpentine aren't here."
He frowned, walking to you. "What do you mean? We need their help with defeating this guy.. how can they not be here?"
"The Serpentine wouldn't have made a difference." Garmadon started, "The only thing that can destroy the Overlord is the power of the Oni. The Oni Form."
Lloyd ignored his father, searching the library for clues. "There has to be another way."
Shaking his head, Garmadon released a small wave of energy. "There isn't! Why do you persist on denying your heritage? Embrace your Oni side! Let your anger loose! Let it make you stronger!"
You ran after Lloyd as he continued walking. Was Garmadon right? Was this the only option?
"I can't. It might kill me." Lloyd simply responded.
"Why not? You are selfless, you would sacrifice yourself without worry. Why are you scared?"
He continued, wincing as he spoke to his father. "Because-... Because.."
"Because what?!"
Lloyd turned to face his father, yelling
"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE YOU! That- is my greatest fear. That I'll end up like you! Because you don't care about anything or anyone."
You bit your lip, glancing between the two of them. This wasn't going to end well.
Garmadon furred his brow, his hand beginning to glow darker and darker in the light. "That is not true! I do care-"
"Then tell me one thing you care about. Just one thing!"
Sighing, Garmadon reached under his armor, and pulled out a soda can with a sad, dying plant inside it.
Your blood was starting to boil. "A plant? The only thing you care about in this world is a dying fern?"
Lloyd laughed, running a hand through his hair. "Plants don't count! They don't have feelings! It doesn't care that you abandoned it, or that you never sent it a birthday card, or that you were never there when it had night terrors. Or- or.." He began to get choked up. "Whatever.. you'll- you'll never understand..."
"-This is Master Wu to all Ninja. Can anyone read this?"
You and Lloyd met eyes, and you gave him a reassuring smile. He smiled back, reaching up to his ear. "I can read you Master Wu! It's Lloyd. I have Y/n and Garmadon with me."
Garmadon leaned up to your ear, getting in your personal space. "Is that my brother? What is he saying?"
"Kai, Misako, Master Wu, and the-.. are at-.. at a place where the news never sleeps!" Cole added as well.
You gasped, looking at Lloyd. "The Newspaper Warehouse. They're with the paper kids!"
"We need all the help we can get." Wu continued.
Lloyd nodded, pressing into his ear again. "Agreed. We stumbled across Serpentine Territory, but we didn't have any luck finding any of them. They've all disappeared."
"Right. Good luck Ninja."
Garmadon basically pressed his ear to yours, trying to hear. "Seriously, is that my brother? Is he talking about me?"
You pushed him away, shushing him.
"We came all this way and started looking for the Serpentine to help battle the Overlord and there is literally no sign of them. I believe this is what is called a 'total bust.'"
Sighing, you followed after Lloyd, glancing back to Garmadon. "You don't need to rub it in."
Garmadon rolled his eyes, speaking more. "The good news is that they would've only gotten in the way. We're better off without them."
Shaking his hand, Lloyd shooed his power away, causing the room to dim. "We need allies! We can't do this alone!"
"That's the human part of you talking. If you were to embrace your Oni side, you would discover your full strength."
Lloyd yelled in frustration. "My humanity is not weak! Relying on allies and having friends and having compassion for people doesn't make you weak! Loving people!"
Furring his brow more, Garmadon blinked. "Having what now?"
You sighed, this was getting annoying. "It means caring, appreciating, loving- whatever the fuck you want to call it!"
"Of course you have no idea what it means!" Lloyd sneered, scrunching his nose. "You're incapable of compassion!"
He lit his hand up with purple flames, scrunching his nose the same way Lloyd did. "I know what caring means, and I am not incapable of it! I am learning how to have this- this.. Complassion!"
You felt the room shake. "Did- did you guys feel that?"
Lloyd bit his lip, shaking his head. "Feel what?"
"I don't know.. but we're gonna find out." You announced, walking out the library doors.
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You groaned, rolling your shoulder. "Okay, so maybe it was just some infected-zombie-serpenetine. How could I have known?"
"You're supposed to be the one who knows things." Lloyd teased, bumping your shoulder.
Smiling, a blush creeped on your face as you remembered some of your last moments on the Bounty. "You're a good kisser." You whispered, making sure Garmadon wasn't being nosy.
"I'd like to think so. You're not too bad yourself. Maybe we should work on our timing though.." Lloyd smirked, mindlessly wrapping his hand around yours.
Garmadon coughed, continuing to walk ahead. "You know, Oni have excellent hearing. We can hear a pin needle drop from across a gymnasium."
Lloyd's face heated up, now matching yours, and coughed into his hand again.
You frowned, titling your head. "Have you.. testing that? It seems oddly specific."
Garmadon frowned, not giving a witty response like before.
"What's wrong now?" Lloyd asked watching his father's movements. "What- what happened to your pet plant?"
"I got rid of it." He huffed, stopping.
You sagged your shoulders yeah you were all probably going to die, but Garmadon didn't have to be such a downer. "Why'd you do that?"
Garmadon scoffed. "Why not? I'm incapable of complassion after all."
Hanging his head, Lloyd's finger twitched. "Okay, I shouldn't have said what I said. I was.. I was wrong, okay?"
"You are most confusing." Garmadon sighed, "so.. you think it may be possible for an Oni to learn to care?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. You clearly care about that plant. I guess I was just feeling a little.. nevermind. Let's go get Christofern."
You watched Lloyd begin to walk the way you came. He was clearly stressing out, and it stressed you out to see how well he hid it.
"They're grey." Garmadon muttered.
Glancing up to him, you tried to figure out what he was talking about. "Huh?"
"Your father's eyes. Magnus had grey eyes."
With a small gasp, you studied his face for any sense of reason why he was telling you this. "Do.. you know anything else about him?"
Garmadon nodded, begining to walk behind Lloyd. "His favorite food was street corn, his favorite color was purple, his middle name was Hayden, and.. I think I was his only friend.. though Ray was friendly with him."
Nodding, you looked ahead at Lloyd. "So you knew him pretty well?"
"You could say that. I met your grandfather before, and then I was introduced to Magnus. I.. I don't want to talk about this any longer.." Garmadon murmured, turning his head away.
You took that as a cue, and sped up to reach Lloyd.
"-Ninja! Report in! Have you been able to contact anyone?"
Sighing, you pressed the button by your ear. "No, we did leave a message for the Serpentine, but we only found ones that were already infected."
"I sent another energy wave pattern to Merlopia, but I'm not sure it is able to make it in one piece with all these storms and rough waters." Jay's voice pipes up.
"Our mission was just as useless!" Cole yelled, ok obviously frustrated. "We recorded a message to Vania, but some of those stupid flying creatures showed up, and.. and I don't think the message transmitted. I'm sorry."
You could hear Wu sigh, before speaking again. "We may not be able to count on anyone to aid us then. We're going to have to find another way to save Ninjago."
Lloyd groaned, tilting his head up to the sky. "Right. Guess it's time to go back. Got your plant back yet, dad?"
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This chapter is so long because it's like 5 different episodes (why was Lloyd in the sewers for so long lmao)
Only two more chapters until the end :')
*Edit: I'm not posting on Christmas since I'm going to be in a different state and my family is a bit chaotic over Christmas.
I also won't be posting Saturday of that week since I counted wrong and want the last chapter to release on Monday
So only Wednesday next week !!