Chapter Text
Lloyd wakes up with a pounding headache, his eyes burning and his throat sore. When did he fall asleep? He probably ended up crying himself to sleep.
While… hugging a pillow.
His puffy eyes flutter open slowly, trying to blink away the sting so he can see clearly. It’s probably 12 already, the light shining through the curtains and lighting up the room.
He wishes he didn’t wake up. He wants to stay asleep…
Lloyd sits up with a groan, rubbing at the dried tears on his warm cheeks. Everything he did last night feels so dramatic now. What is wrong with him?
…
Huh. Weird. Was kind of expecting Enemy Lloyd to say something there.
Not that he’s complaining. He likes it when he shuts up for once.
Lloyd looks down at the pillow he was hugging, seeing the wet spots on it. He sighs and puts it back in place, then scoots off the bed, standing up slowly.
He feels sluggish, like always. Tired, lazy. He wants to stay in bed all day, but that’s not an option for the Green Ninja.
He doesn’t want to see Kai today, or anyone. The embarrassment is killing him, what if he cried too loudly? What if the entire Monastery heard him?
He’s a quiet crier, but you never know. The walls are pretty thin.
His first instinct is to go to the mirror, but then he remembers the blanket he draped over it yesterday.
Nevermind, guess he’ll get ready blind.
He’s pretty sure he looks like a mess once he changes and fixes his hair to the best of his ability, considering he can’t see himself at all right now, but he couldn’t care less. He’ll fix it later.
Before going out of the room to go to the bathroom, he pauses, the medicine bottle in the corner of his eyes. He remembers what he almost did last night.
He’s had thoughts before, but he felt closer this time.
Can he trust himself anymore?
He grabs the bottle from the nightstand to stuff it in his pocket, then finally leaves. He’ll give it back to Zane later.
As he walks down the Monastery halls, he’s cautiously listening for voices or footsteps. He doesn’t want anyone to see him like this right now.
Luckily, he makes it to the bathroom undisturbed, shutting the door behind him and standing there for a moment.
His heart pounds, keeping his head down.
He should really look in the mirror. Just once. He can do it.
There’s no guarantee he’ll see Enemy Lloyd.
He takes a deep breath, then raises his head, stepping in front of the sink.
He looks awful.
His eyes and cheeks are red and puffy, his hair is messed up, the side part nonexistent. He did a shit job and fixing his hair, he expected it to look better.
Well. The braid isn’t that bad…
Actually, yeah no it looks bad.
He sighs heavily, reaching up to fix his hair and part it properly. He tries to do it quickly incase Enemy Lloyd decides to show up.
He then grabs his toothbrush and paste and brushes his teeth, keeping an eye on the mirror. It’s actually going pretty well…
Too well. What’s going to happen?
He squints suspiciously at his reflection, pausing in his brushing. This is getting weird.
Enemy Lloyd really doesn’t want to bother him?
Huh.
He leans down, spitting into the sink then rinsing his mouth out before splashing some water on his face.
When he opens his eyes and looks back up, he half expected Enemy Lloyd to be there. Guess not.
He cleans his toothbrush and puts it back in the mirror’s cabinet. If Enemy Lloyd doesn’t want to say anything, then thats fine.
At least now he doesn’t look like he was crying all night. Just… decently presentable.
Time to see if he can find Zane. He shouldn’t have this bottle any longer.
Maybe he’s overreacting, but he just doesn’t feel safe with it in his possession. Is his first thought really suicide as soon as he’s in a bad mood?
What if he does it? There’d be no going back.
He steps back out into the hallway, making his way to Zane’s room. He should be in there, or down in the hanger bay? Or-
Creak.
Lloyd stops in his tracks, slowly turning around. He never heard any footsteps… is someone walking quietly behind him?
Maybe it’s someone pulling a prank. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was Fritz and Spitz, or Wyldfyre.
He scans the empty hallway for a moment, no one in sight.
Weird.
“Wyldfyre?” He calls, crossing his arms. “That’s not gonna work on me.”
No answer.
He shakes his head, maybe it was his imagination. Or maybe he made the noise.
Lloyd turns back to keep walking, but he makes sure to glance behind himself every now and then, just in case. He doesn’t want to see what horrendous prank someone has planned for him…
He reaches Zane’s room, knocking on the door.
No answer. Guess he’ll find him later throughout the day. He should go check on what everyone else is doing now.
Probably sleeping in…
He goes to the courtyard, finding Arin and Sora training. Arin was trying to balance on Wu’s staff, but fell. Luckily, Riyu caught him.
”Ow…” He groans, sitting up on Riyu’s back. He reaches over and pats the dragons head, “thanks Riyu.”
Riyu chitters happily, leaning into the pets.
Sora picks the staff up from the ground and reaches up to pet Riyu as well. “Well, I guess you’re improving?”
”Suuuree…” Arin sighs. He then looks up and sees Lloyd walking out. “Oh, Lloyd- woahhh!”
Arin clings to Riyu’s back as the dragon decides to run over to Lloyd without warning, nearly knocking Arin off.
”Warn me next time!” Arin says, letting out a breath of relief when Riyu stops beside the blonde. He hops off with Lloyd’s help.
”Did you sleep in? Usually you’re on time for training,” Sora notes.
Lloyd hesitates, recalling last night and cringing inside. He’d rather forget about that…
Guess crying all night can really take it out of you.
”I guess I did,” he says with a shrug, acting clueless. He then looks at Wu’s staff in Sora’s hand. He then looks down and narrows his eyes, putting his hands on his hips. “Is that Master Wu’s staff?”
Sora’s eyes widen and she chuckles sheepishly. “Uhhh… maybe? We were trying to recreate the training Rontu had me and Riyu do.”
She hands it back to Lloyd.
Lloyd takes it, resting it against the steps to the porch.
He starts helping them train, showing them the steps and letting them try on their own.
Once they’re practicing independently, he sits on the steps, watching quietly. His mind drifts off, thinking back to the previous night.
The only reason why he didn’t do it was because of this. For them. If he weren’t training them today, would he have actually done it?
Or would he have freaked out and gone to sleep instead?
Time passes quickly, he doesn’t realize he’s stopped paying attention until he hears Sora yelling in his ear.
”Lloyd!”
He jumps, letting out a yelp. “Ah! Ow!…”
Arin walks over, tilting his head. “Uhmm… were you paying attention?”
“Uh- of course!” Lloyd smiles nervously. “… I think?”
To be honest, he’s pretty sure he stopped paying attention as soon as he sat down.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been distracted lately,” he admits, standing up. “But I’m sure you did well.”
”We did! We were perfect,” Arin says with a grin. “Riyu can tell you!”
Riyu roars in agreement as Arin scratches under his chin.
”Yup, I definitely didn’t fall flat on my face earlier!” Sora nods, putting a thumbs up.
Lloyd chuckles, reaching up and patting both of their heads, messing up their hair. “Of course. I’m so proud of you both.”
Riyu then whines, nudging his arm.
”You too, Riyu!” Lloyd pats Riyu’s head as well, even scratching the sides of his face. “Now you guys worked hard today, how about I make you some snacks?”
”Really?” Sora’s eyes light up. Suddenly, she recalls something. “Wait… you sure you can do that… without burning it?”
Lloyd crosses his arms, pretending to be offended. “Hey, I haven’t burnt a thing in my life!”
”You burnt tea,” Arin notes.
“Oh yeah…” Lloyd scratches the back of his head. “Dont worry, I’ll be careful. Go wait in the dining room.”
Arin and Sora nod eagerly, running off with Riyu into the Monastery. Mr Frohicky won’t be glad to see Riyu is still running in the halls…
In the kitchen, Lloyd flips through a cookbook. Jay was there too, he was looking for a snack and ended up staying.
”By the way, it turns out the Administration erased my memory,” Jay yaps as he munches on some crackers. “I got it back though, if you couldn’t tell!”
”Really? I couldn’t,” Lloyd hums. He’s still getting used to Jay having his memories back. He got so accustomed to him being an ass to everyone...
”Actually- not all of them,” Jay corrects himself, holding a finger up. “I kind of remember some girl with white hair?… Who-“
Lloyd slams his hands on the kitchen counter. ”No one!”
Jay slowly turns his head to look at Lloyd after the sudden outburst from him. “Oh.”
He turns back to his crackers. “Okay.”
…
Silence fills the air for a few moments, save for Jay’s chewing.
Eventually, he speaks up again. “I just realized I still owe Zeatrix Ras.”
”What?” Lloyd’s eyes widen.
”Yeahhh… I don’t know if she’s still waiting…” Jay wonders out loud. “Have you seen that guy around?”
Lloyd sweats nervously. “Uhm. No.”
He has. Shh.
”Aw man.” Jay takes another cracker and bites into it. He talks with his mouth full, “she was offering me a lot of money.”
“Yeahhh, I bet…” Lloyd goes back to reading the cook book. He finds a recipe for brownies. Hmm…
He starts gathering ingredients and bowls.
”Should I go back to being a bounty hunter?” Jay asks.
Lloyd pauses, looking at Jay with a serious look. “Are you being sarcastic?”
Jay glances away. “Uh… yes?”
”Okay.” Lloyd turns back to start mixing ingredients together.
He follows the instructions closely, wanting it to be perfect.
Hmm… is that enough salt? Maybe a little more.
”Anywaayyy-“ Jay leans against the counter. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Where did the kids come from?”
Zane told him everything already, but… he’s been away for so long. He just wants excuses to talk to everyone.
Lloyd squints at the next step, trying to focus and listen at the same time. “Loong story. I found Arin and Sora trying to save Riyu in Imperium-“
He starts pouring in the wet ingredients. “And then Wyldfyre was also in Imperium, who I thought was Kai at first.”
”And Frak left Ras’s team sometime after I left the Tournament?” Jay questions.
Lloyd nods, grabbing a spatula to start mixing the batter.
Jay sets aside his crackers, realizing he spilled crumbs everywhere. He grabs a paper towel and starts scooping them up.
“Guess a lot has happened while I was gone,” he notes quietly as he folds the towel and tosses it into the trashcan nearby.
Lloyd hears it.
”Yeah,” he mumbles, slowing his mixing to a stop. He looks down with a small frown.
Next thing Jay knows, Lloyd drapes his arms over his shoulders, hugging him tightly. Lloyd has been hugging a lot lately.
Jay’s eyes widen, not expecting it. But he doesn’t hesitate to hug back with a smile.
”I’m sorry for calling you Floyd,” he says.
”It’s okay.” Lloyd nuzzles Jay’s neck fondly.
Jay decides to nuzzle back. He’s not sure why Lloyd has become so oddly cat-like, but everyone seems to think it’s normal. Wait, speaking of changes…
”Oh, by the way. When did you get horns??”
”I become a conduit to power the Monastery portal gates by channeling Source Dragon energy and they just started growing.”
”Oh.” That makes no sense at all.
And Lloyd knows it doesn’t. He’s just glad his brother is-
What is that?
Lloyd’s blood runs cold as he locks gazes with a face peeking into the room from the doorway. For a few seconds, he can’t move. His breath is caught in his throat.
It’s dark in the hallway, but light green eyes glow in the dark, staring right back at him, unmoving.
He must’ve been tightening his grip on Jay, because he taps Lloyd’s back. “Y-you’re crushing me!”
Lloyd forces himself to move, pulling back and looking at Jay with a panicked expression. “Uhm-“
He looks back at the doorway, then back at Jay. What does he say?! Should he ignore it?!
”What?” Jay asks, rubbing his ribs. He watches Lloyd’s gaze shift from his face, then somewhere behind him.
He almost turns to look himself, but Lloyd grabs his shoulders.
”Nothing!” Lloyd tries to smile, but it’s obvious he’s nervous about something.
And it’s making Jay nervous too…
Uh oh.
He lowers his voice, going completely still, “is there a spider on my back…?”
What??
”No- uh, yes? I mean-“ Lloyd trips over his own words, then he slaps Jay’s shoulder, pretending it was a spider. “Got it!”
Jay sighs in relief, “thanks… imagine it stayed on me all day and I didn’t notice!”
Lloyd wipes his hand on his pants, looking back at the doorway.
There’s nothing there now.
No one in the Monastery has eyes like that. Other than…
“Hey, can I have the bowl when you’re done?” Jay asks. “You can have the spoon.”
Lloyd almost doesn’t answer for a moment, completely dazed by what just happened. But he brings himself to snap out of his thoughts.
”What? Yeah. Sure.” He reluctantly goes back to mixing the batter, but not before looking one more time.
That was so weird… is he hallucinating? Maybe he needs more sleep.
The chills from that encounter are hard to shake off, but listening to Jay’s talking, and mixing the batter, it starts to relax him a bit.
He looks back down at the cookbook, seeing how long he’s supposed to mix it.
Hm… he should be done by now. Maybe he mixed it too much.
He grabs a tray and starts pouring the batter into it.
”Can you set the oven?” Lloyd asks Jay.
Jay nods, peeking over to look at the cookbook to see what it says to put the settings at, then goes to the oven to start preheating it.
”Do you wait until it’s done preheating or do you put it in immediately?…” Lloyd wonders. It doesn’t say anything in the book.
”Uhhhh…” Jay thinks hard. “I don’t know.”
”Well… if I put it in while it’s preheating then it can slowly warm up,” Lloyd says, trying to make it make sense out loud as much as it does in his head. “So then the brownies would turn out better because they’re baked a little more.”
”I guess that makes sense!” Jay agrees, then opens the oven door for Lloyd to slide the tray in.
Now, they wait.
Kind of boring.
”Does Ras ask about me?” Lloyd asks out of the blue.
”What?”
”Nothing.”
…
…
”Do you wanna sit down and eat batter?” Jay asks.
”Yeah,” Lloyd agrees.
They both sit in front of the oven on the floor, staring at the tray inside while eating the leftover batter. If Zane saw them he’d be scolding them…
Surprisingly, they watched it being baked the whole time. It’s not really like cake where you can watch it rise, but entertaining nonetheless.
Lloyd tried not to focus on what happened earlier, the more he thinks about it the more creepy it gets.
When the oven finally dings, signaling it’s ready, they both stand up.
”Hmm… do you think it’s ready?” Lloyd asks.
Jay squints closely into the see through door. “Well, it looks ready!”
“Maybe just a few more seconds-“
”Uh. It’s gonna burn.”
”But-“
”LLOYD OPEN IT!”
“Okay, okay!” Lloyd grabs some mittens, then opens the oven door, immediately hit with a face full of hot air. It smells good though!
He takes it out, closing the door with his knee and setting the tray on the counter.
“Looks good!” Jay compliments, sniffing deeply. “Smells good too. Wait- I can have a piece right? I technically helped bake it!”
Lloyd nods, then opens the drawer beside him and pulls out a knife and forks. He then opens a cabinet and pulls out three plates. Yes, he’s making Jay eat with them.
He hands them to Jay. “Can you hold these?”
Jay takes the plates and utensils. “Where are you taking these?”
”To Arin and Sora,” Lloyd answers, picking the brownies up. “For their hard work!”
He’s been pretty rewarding recently, extra loving. No one’s complaining, really.
He’s about to start walking out, but pauses.
“Uhh… you go first,” he tells Jay, nudging him forward. Yes, he’s a sacrifice.
Jay looks at Lloyd suspiciously, but he goes anyway.
Once he’s past the doorway, nothing happens. Lloyd follows soon after. He still keeps an eye out though…
It must look so weird to Jay.
They enter the dining room, where Arin and Sora are attempting to teach Riyu tricks. Except he’s too big for the room.
Arin catches a whiff of the brownies. “Woah! That smells good!”
”Brownies?!” Sora gasps in awe.
Lloyd smiles, placing them on the table. “Unburnt!”
That’s not a word, is it?
Riyu leans forward, sticking out his tongue curiously and trying to lick the surface of the brownies. But, Jay quickly pushes his head away.
“Not sure those are good for dragons!” He warns. “Or is that dogs?”
”Maybe both,” Lloyd suggests. He grabs the knife, holding it cautiously and starting to cut the brownies and put them on plates. He made enough for everyone.
Just not himself. He’s not hungry.
He hands them out, but Arin and Sora are frowning.
”Where’s yours?!” Sora asks.
”I’ll go get another plate,” Arin says.
These two never let Lloyd skip out on meals and snacks. It’s impossible when they’re around. Even on shopping trips when he gets them snacks, they always either make him get one too or share.
It’s wholesome, really. Lloyd appreciates it.
”You can’t argue with them!” Jay teases.
Lloyd sighs in defeat. “Alright, alr- wait. Oh.”
He suddenly remembers that thing, his casual expression dropping.
He stands up immediately, almost knocking his chair over. “Uh- I’ll get it! You stay here.”
He doesn’t want to put Arin in danger. Even though it’s completely unreasonable that that thing was even real…
He starts walking out before anyone can ask. But at the doorway, he pauses.
He knows it’s empty. But his brain likes to scare him sometimes with unreasonable possibilities.
And he probably looks weird to the others. He knows they’re looking at him, he should probably move.
He steps out, cautiously looking both ways before going any further.
He’s a ninja, he knows how to fight. So he’s most likely going to be prepared.
He shouldn’t be scared.
But those eyes looked so hauntingly familiar.
His heart races in his chest as he walks. It’s a short distance, but he doesn’t let his guard down.
Once he enters the kitchen, he grabs another plate and fork. Maybe this isn’t so bad. Maybe it really was-
As soon as he turns back to the doorway, he catches sight of something moving. It scares him so bad he almost fell backwards.
He was being watched. He saw a head quickly move away.
What’s going on?
”Who-“ He speaks up. “Who’s there?”
No one answers. He doesn’t say anything more, frozen in place as if any movement will cause something to jump out.
After at least five minutes of staring and waiting, he deems it safe enough and starts slowly walking towards the doorway, waiting for a moment before peeking out.
Empty.
Twice in a row.
That can’t be normal. He’s losing it.
He takes a deep breath, stepping out again. Every step made the dining room feel further and further away. He just tries to act cool and not look behind himself.
Just… ignore it.
He comes back to the dining room, trying not to look visibly shaken. He must’ve done a bad job because he saw Jay look at him with concern from the corner of his eye when he sat back down.
He eats with them for a bit, until everyone is finished.
The brownies ended up slightly salty, and burnt, but bearable.
Once the brownies were gone and everyone dispersed, Lloyd found himself alone in the hallway. He always finds himself alone somehow.
He leans against the wall, pulling out the bottle. He forgot to find Zane. It’s nearing dinner time.
He’s probably helping make dinner. Lloyd doesn’t want to bother him, but the thought of having these any longer…
It worries him.
It’s so weird, how quickly his mood can change once he’s alone. The silence after a loud cheerful setting is deafening.
“Lloyd?”
Lloyd jumps at Zane’s voice behind him. Guess he doesn’t have to look far.
”Why does everyone keep doing that?!” He groans as he turns to face him. “You’re gonna kill me…”
Perhaps it’s his fault for zoning out so often. He’s pretty easy to sneak up on when he’s lost in thought.
”I am?” Zane asks in worry. He looks at the bottle in Lloyd’s hand. “Are those helping your pain?”
Lloyd looks down at the bottle. “Oh, yeah. I was gonna give them back to you. I’m okay now.”
He holds them out for Zane to take.
”Are you sure?” Zane asks. He knows how much Lloyd can downplay his own pain. But he takes them anyway.
”Yeah, don’t worry about me.” Lloyd smiles.
”Alright.” Zane nods. “I will go help with dinner now.”
He continues walking past Lloyd, but Lloyd stops him.
”Uh- I’m not coming to dinner,” he says. “I have… things to do.”
Zane pauses, looking at Lloyd with a sad look. Again?
”Okay,” he says quietly. “If you change your mind I will save you a plate.”
”Thanks.”
Zane walks off.
Things to do. Right.
Lloyd sighs heavily, going his own way as well, back to his room.
Inside, he looks at the covered mirror. He walks toward it tentatively, and lifts the blanket enough to see his reflection.
”Are you sleeping?” He asks quietly. He waits for a response. Anything.
Where is Enemy Lloyd?
”Uhh-“
Lloyd looks up, seeing Bonzle in front of his door. He probably should’ve closed that.
“I didn’t see anything,” Bonzle says before walking away.
That… probably freaked her out.
Lloyd drops the blanket, going to shut the door and go to bed, staring at the ceiling. An uneasy feeling settles in his stomach.
Today was weird.
Everything will be fine in the morning.