Chapter Text
When Lloyd was only three years old, his mother left him at Darkley’s Orphanage. When he was five, the orphanage sent him to the boarding school under the same name.
Lloyd hated Darkley’s Boarding School for Bad Boys. Sure, his dad was Lord Garmadon, but no one believed him. All the other boys tease him about lying, and not being bad enough for the school, only having got in because of the orphanage.
He had already run away too many times to count within the last eight years, but he was always caught and brought back to the school. He remembered it was even another kid, once! He hated that kid, because that time was the closest Lloyd had ever gotten to escaping.
Lloyd stared at the ceiling, trying not to think of his situation. His face hurt and his hair was sticky and crusty, turning from platinum blond into a gross, reddish-brown color. His bright green eyes were starting to bruise, his lip was split. He grunted as he tried to sit up, falling back and groaning in pain as his head hit the floor again. He turned his head to look at the still locked door and felt tears forming in his eyes.
No one came to look for him.
No one was coming.
No one cared enough to, not for the “alleged” son of the Dark Lord.
All he could do was lay there, waiting until he felt okay enough to move again. He closed his eyes, trying to get at least some rest.
Lloyd woke up to a book hitting his face. He tried to sit up as fast as he could, to get out of the door, but the boys who had thrown the book were already snickering as they closed the door.
“Maybe that’ll teach him how to be evil!” He could barely hear the remark by the time he got to the door.
Lloyd sighed and glared at the book. He thought for a second before deciding to look at it.
The Serpentine War
A history book? About snakes? Lloyd scoffed as he opened the book. He read. And he read, and he read. He read until he had finished the book.
When he finished the book, he looked at the mirror- meant only to torture him- with a determined look in his eye. This time, when he ran away, he did it. He finally escaped. Because he had one thing he had never truly had before.
He had Hope.