Archive of Our Own ^beta

Zane is in his element. Not literally, of course- though a layer of ice along the walls would have been an improvement in his opinion- but he knows the game of courts and kingdoms more confidently than he knows his shaky position on this team. The others claim there is no question to his place within their ranks, but he is no fool, and he understands intimately how his loyalty has been called into question when he tried to strike down their leader- His leader- Lloyd. He clenches his hands, blunt nails digging into the soft of his gloves with enough force to tear if he were careless. He has been the ice emperor for decades longer than he’s been Zane, there are still remnants. Detachments he cannot bridge yet, not with the screams still imprinted into his code. Not while he still misses his scepter.

They are led into a room bigger than the rest, a cavernous space swallowed up by its own pretentious need to be the best, and in the middle of the room is a raised dais, gold and marble white and blue, with a throne reaching up into the sky only curbed by the ceiling boxing it in. There are more windows and guards with wings, flying in and out as they work. It is not quite as grand as his own throne had been, too small and non-threatening and pure. The man atop it doesn’t straighten up as they walk in because he is already sitting as proud as he can, shoulders squared and jaw clenched, but he does smile broadly and welcome them to his kingdom with a leap to his feet.

His friends move to bow at the lead of their master and he is only half a second behind, beating back the way his lip threatens to curl at the action- only months before, an entire realm was bowing to him. They stand tall once again and King Vangelis looks to each of them with a warm, kind smile-

And cold eyes.

The Ice Emperor shifts beneath his skin, he is like us.

Lloyd preens beneath the eyes of the king, the others following suit with quiet confidence. Dark eyes stutter when they catch glowing blue. For a long moment, Vangelis won’t break eye contact with Zane, holding it until he is forced to move on to the others to be polite- and he must be polite, or they will see through his act. He must be the picture of a perfect king so they will look no deeper, but what is hiding past that mask of a kind smile? He recognizes it, almost feels kinship with the malice sitting in his chest. A black hearted ruler, dark ambition and violence sewn into his hands. He knows.

And Vangelis knows that he knows.

Even as he introduces his daughter, his eyes flicker to Zane, searching. He sees us too, the Ice Emperor spreads across his body in numbing cold, He knows what we are, and he is looking for an ally in us.

or an enemy.

This is dangerous. The king's interest is now a knife blade Zane must balance on, and he must not slip or the king will assume him a threat and do what he must. False crimes are all too easy to fabricate, evils invented to condemn a man (an entire people even- formlings falling under his hands-) childs play to a puppeteer who has decided on the beginning of his dark path that the end will justify any means. Of course, the Ice Emperor will not fall to a coward like Vangelis who hides behind clean robes and pristine hands, but to stand against the kingdom of Shintaro when it believes their king to be just- to kill with no concrete proof? His friends will believe he has frozen again, no matter what he will say.

A part of him cringes and cries to think so carelessly of raising his hand, but he has lived long enough now to know that the best way to defeat an enemy may be to make them your friend- but the second best way is with a knife. Protect those who cannot protect themselves, even if it ends in blood.

Vex would tell him to strike now, before the king could gather his bearings and think- box him in, rush him, corner him and make him scared and panicked. Make him afraid. Make him make a mistake, stop the threat before it becomes too powerful and then break it so badly no one will try again- but this is too delicate a game to rush, and too brutal a strategy to deal. He is no longer a great and feared ruler- the Ice Emperor shifts in unrest- He must play his hand carefully. He cannot strike down a villain who has firmly set himself as a friend. How would he justify it? How could he explain that he knew, without deepening the fissure between himself  and his friends?

Vex is not here, but we were not helpless without him. We can think. Have we forgotten that our scepter also had a blade? Cold blankets his chest and it burns, Wait, be patient and play innocent, the moment to bleed will come.

He considers telling the others anyway, of handing them the truth with soft edges, a more palatable version of his reality. Tell them something about visions or senses, something nebulous and hard to pin down that they must trust anyway, because they still have faith in him. Because he does not lie.

...No. He cannot break that trust.

We are still soft.

Wait and be patient.

Hanging in the jaws of a Vengestone cage, stuck high above the molten floor and burning heat in a hopeless situation, the Skull sorcerer taunts and heckles them. It’s cheap and weak, fear founded on threats and big reveals, undermined almost immediately by his friends' easy taunts and jokes. He is too inexperienced to be truly frightening, he is too wet behind the ears to make them scared. Without fear he has already lost. he has no control.

“Enjoy your final moments of levity!”

“They will be your last!” The skull grinds out, the voice of a man long since dead catching and scraping through the veil to reach them.

Lloyd plays the ace up their sleeve in Cole and Vangelis only to have it thrown back in his face as the Skull Sorcerer reveals himself, squashing half their hope of a rescue in one blow. He takes off his mask and Zane can barely pretend to be surprised.

We know you, there is barely a rush of cold with the vengestone around them but Zane can feel his presence all the same, With or without a mask, we see each other.

He knew the moment he laid eyes on the sorcerer for the first time, back in those white marble walls and vaulted ceilings, when the man wore a different mask. He knew the moment they first locked eyes and he saw himself in his reflection. His ledger was stained red with his sins, the blood of the Krags and the formlings and the innocents who he did not freeze will not wash from his hands. the Geckles and the Munce sully Vangelis.

And misery loves company.

He explains his plot to break the Geckles and Munce with a civil war, grinning behind his mask, “Now you know. May the knowledge bring you some peace in your final moments.” He hisses, turning to go and then- no, he doesn’t leave, does he? Hovering with his back turned for several heartbeats. The skull makes a displeased noise, agitated at his sudden inaction, green smoke curling and thick in the air.

Vangelis faces them slowly, and despite how his eyes are cast into black darkness, he knows his gaze is trained on him.

“Listen well,” He says sternly, “This is an offer I will only give you once.”

He moves closer with the barest beat of his wings, reaching out to grip the vengestone of the cage with a hand that shimmers with toxic magic and they all crowd away from the color warily. Behind the mask his eyes burn, “Join me.”

“What?” Kai sputters, shoulder bunching and eyes blown wide, “Us? Are you serious-”

“Not you!” Vangelis doesn’t allow him to finish, shooting him a dark glare before flickering his eyes back on Zane.

It would be in his favor to keep his eyes on us, The Ice Emperor comments darkly, a snake willing to strike.

He inclines his head ever so slightly in respect, “Emperor.”

Despite the vengestone, burning cold crawls rapidly up Zanes spine at the acknowledgement, ice crowding behind his eyes and making his circuits skip and jump. The tension in the cage grows tenfold, crushing in on his shoulders and trapping like a vice around his chest. Never had Zane thought he would be so bold to actually reach out to him when he had so firmly planted himself on the opposite side of this fight. The Ice Emperor jolts and rushes under his metal skin, his coolant like slush in his inner wiring as his chilling presence forces its way closer to the surface.

He does not attempt to get any closer, sitting just under Zanes eyes. His friends are silent and wide eyed, as if they want to say something but instead they are all holding their breath- what will Zane choose? It’s a test. They are frightened that they aren’t certain of the outcome.

“Yes, I know of your trip to the Never Realm, and what you did while you were there. You and I... we know each other, don’t we? You see me.” He cocks his head, the intense darkness where his eyes smoulder from eat at Zanes resolve, “Shintaro’s perfection is paid for by vengestone. I’ve done this to ensure my people will live out their days in bliss and joy. My magnificent city is built upon this labor- with you below and me above, we will secure Shintaro's place as the greatest empire Ninjago has ever seen.”

We know our answer, the Ice emperor tells him silently.

Yes, and he could end it all. Yes, and he could slide the knife in the sorcerer's back where it belongs. Yes, and he could put him down the moment the vengestone vanished.

But Cole is still out there, those were his mothers blades- This is not Zanes fight.

No.

“You have found no ally in me. I’d rather die.” He tells him honestly, grim refusal on his lips. His friends are still and silent and relieved.

His mask goes carefully blank as he pulls away, “Rest assured,” He says strongly, voice unwavering despite his disappointment, “You will.”

In the aftermath, when the former king screams and writhes on the ground in an unhinged mess, he wails, “I just wanted what was best!” He cries, “I did it for the good of my people!”

You were wrong. He’s not like us. Zane thinks as they drag the man away to stand trial. 

How so?

He had good intentions.

The Ice Emperors laugh spreads frost through his mouth, it’s an itching ice-burn across the back of his tongue he must swallow down-

Or he’ll choke.