Chapter Text
Lloyd has nightmares.
It shouldn't be a surprise, with what he's been through. He should be used to it by now.
But he's not.
▪︎<◇>▪︎
"Please! Don't do this!"
"Make him watch."
Rough hands grab him, forcing him to look at the figures before him.
Five. Five figures.
The dark sword falls. He screams.
One. Earth.
The blade falls again.
Two. Ice.
He sobs, straining against the hands that hold him.
Again.
Three. Lightning.
His heart breaks.
The next figure tries to fight, but she can't move.
She looks him in the eye and smiles sadly as the sword slices toward her.
"No!"
Four. Water.
The last figure snarls, a burning spirit with rage in his eyes. He meets the figure's eyes, and the rage turns to sorrow and love.
"I guess this is it, Shortstack. Don't forget us."
The sword falls.
Five. Fire.
He crumples to the ground, unable to tear his eyes away from the five bodies.
"Look at me."
The voice is one he loves, one he hates.
He can't look. He already knows what he will see.
"Look at me, boy!"
He's hauled off the ground by the neck. Familiar red eyes meet his own, both beloved and despised by his heart. The words rip through him.
"I have no son."
▪︎<◇>▪︎
Jay wakes up to the sound of snarling.
It's not a sound he necessarily should wake up to, so he's quite a bit alarmed.
Actually, he's a lot alarmed.
Jay sits bolt upright in bed, glancing around the room wildly. His eyes fall on a strange shape huddled on the floor by Lloyd's bed.
"Lloyd?"
The shape disappears, seeming to melt into the shadows.
No big deal, just a creepy shadow. A shadow that makes noises. Yup.
▪︎<◇>▪︎
"Kai."
Jay's hissed whisper drags Kai awake. Kai frowns, keeping his eyes closed.
I need my beauty sleep.
"Kai."
He sighs in annoyance and sits up.
"Jay, if you're asking to race, I'm going to say no."
"Kai. Don't move."
Kai freezes, the fear in Jay's voice finally registering.
"What is it?" he hisses through his teeth.
"Don't freak out, but I think you're being stalked. Like, hunted stalked."
Way to go, Jay. Thanks for not freaking me out.
"Oh?" Kai's voice is barely controlled. "What's hunting me?"
Silence.
"Jay?"
"I'm gonna try making a break for the lightswitch," Jay whispers. "That might scare him."
Kai is considering the risk of moving to strangle Jay.
"Jay, who's hunting me?"
"It's probably better if I just show- Look out!"
Panicking, Kai instinctively ducks. He hears something whistle through the air where his head just was, followed by a blood-curdling snarl.
He rolls off the bed and whirls around, calling fire into his hands.
Nothing.
His fire's gone.
"Jay!" Kai screeches as he hears the snarl again, this time much closer.
"I know, I know!" Jay suddenly curses.
"Jay?"
"He blew the lights!"
"Who's he?" Kai shrieks.
"Behind you!"
Kai whips around. He's met with two eerie lights floating closer to him.
The lights hiss.
Not lights.
Eyes!
The eyes disappear, and something crashes into Kai's stomach, throwing him to the floor.
As he tussles, Kai can't help but feel something familiar about his attacker. Pushing the feeling down, he throws the snarling weight off. He hears a dull thud and a snap. The attacker screams, the glowing eyes dulling.
Getting to his feet, Kai makes a move toward the eyes.
"Kai, stop."
Cold metal hands grab Kai's arm, pulling him away. Kai looks up.
"Zane! Can you give me some... light..." Kai trails off when he sees Zane's expression. It looks strange on him; unnatural, even.
Kai can't really tell in the dim light, but Zane looks terrified.
"Zane?"
Suddenly, Cole appears with Jay.
"Come on, buddy, we need some light. He took out the lights, and our powers aren't working."
Zane looks like he's considering responding, but instead brightens his eyes. Light floods the room, and Kai gets his first good look at his attacker.
His brain instantly denies it. It just... isn't possible.
He would never attack me.
But there is no other person the attacker could be.
"Lloyd?"
The eyes are the only feature that Kai recognizes, but they are unmistakably Lloyd's, jade green and dull with pain.
The rest of him, though...
Two golden wings spread from a lean body. Gleaming ebony horns curve up from his forehead. His skin is mottled with black and gold scales, and when he snarls, Kai can see that his fangs have lengthened.
Dragon? Or Oni? A voice in Kai's mind ponders.
Ignoring it, Kai reaches towards his little brother.
"Lloyd, are you okay?"
Lloyd hisses and swipes at Kai's outstretched hand. Kai flinches back with a yelp as blood wells on the back of his wrist.
"Lloyd, it's me!" Kai begs. "It's me, Kai! Your brother?"
He stops as Lloyd's face spasms, fear gripping his heart. Lloyd collapses, gasping, and Kai darts forward to catch him.
"Lloyd? Lloyd, talk to me!"
"He's hurt," Zane murmurs. "I will go get Nya."
Kai nods, keeping his eyes on Lloyd, who's shivering in Kai's arms.
"Cole, get some blankets. We need to keep him warm."
Jay, who's been staring bug-eyed at Lloyd for the past few minutes, finally pipes up.
"What should I do?"
Kai glances at him.
"See what you can do about the lights."
Lloyd shifts in Kai's arms.
"Kai?"
Kai looks down at him. Lloyd's eyes are unfocused, but he looks more confused than hostile. Kai takes it as a good sign.
"Lloyd?"
"Kai."
Eyes going wide, Kai can only watch as Lloyd shudders and begins to change.
▪︎<◇>▪︎
"Lloyd?"
A familiar voice filters through the dark.
"Lloyd, are you okay?"
Fear wells up in his heart. He tries to respond, tries to warn them to stay away-
"Lloyd, it's me! It's me, Kai! Your brother?"
He stills.
Kai?
"Lloyd? Lloyd, talk to me!"
Brother?
"Kai?"
"Lloyd?"
"Kai."
An awful, fiery sensation...
▪︎<◇>▪︎
Kai yelps as Lloyd goes limp. The sudden dead weight nearly knocks the brothers over, but strong arms catch them before they hit the ground.
"Kai!" Cole sets him back on his feet. "What's wrong?"
"We need to get him to the medbay," Kai says, already gathering Lloyd into his arms. He dully notices that Lloyd is human again. He's white as a sheet, and his eyes are closed.
Hang on, Shortstack. Everything is gonna be fine.
▪︎<◇>▪︎
"It seems to show us our greatest fears."
"How do you know?"
"Because when I look at it..."
Familiar red eyes, both beloved and despised.
"I see myself becoming my father."
▪︎<◇>▪︎
Lloyd squints against the morning sun pouring through the window. It takes him a moment to recognize the view; his brain is unusually sluggish today.
He frowns.
Why am I in the medbay?
He tries to sit up -- and fails spectacularly as he nearly passes out. Pain lances through his side.
"Careful, young one."
Warm hands gently prop Lloyd up with a pillow and hand him a cup of tea. Lloyd hesitantly takes a sip, relaxing as he recognizes his favorite peppermint tea.
"Thanks, Uncle Wu."
Wu smiles, but he seems distant, the smile not reaching his eyes.
"You gave us quite a scare last night," his uncle murmurs. "Your brothers especially."
Scare? Last night?
"What are you talking about?"
Something in Wu's expression shifts. An uneasy feeling rises, putting Lloyd on guard.
"Uncle Wu?"
"You don't remember?"
Lloyd opens his mouth to respond, but no words come. Come to think of it, he doesn't remember anything from last night.
Wu sighs.
"You had a nightmare, as far as we can tell," he says. "Sometime during the dream, you broke a rib. I'm not entirely sure how."
A strange emotion flashes in Wu's eyes. Guilt, perhaps? It's gone before Lloyd can identify it, replaced with a smile that is obviously fake.
"Don't worry about it. You should heal in a couple of days, if you rest." Wu fixes Lloyd with a stern look before turning to leave.
It isn't until after Wu has left that Lloyd realizes that his uncle was lying.
▪︎<◇>▪︎
Wu closes the door to the medbay with a sigh.
I hate lying to him.
Taking a moment to compose himself, he turns to his students. They sit in a cluster at the end of the hallway, dozing lightly.
One is missing, he realizes with a frown.
Where is Kai?
▪︎<◇>▪︎
Sensei finds him in the monastery courtyard, trying to lose himself in training.
"Kai."
Kai barely glances at him before turning his attention back to the flames in his hands. There had been relief when his fire came back. It was quickly followed by horror at the thought of what could have been.
"Kai, he will be alright."
But he might not have been alright.
If I had done it before I realized...
If I had used my fire...
Lloyd might have suffered more than a broken rib.
Guilt rears its ugly head. What will Lloyd think of Kai, the brother who hurt him?
The fire in Kai's hands turns white-hot. Kai curls them into fists, extinguishing the fire before it gets out of control.
"Sensei... I..." He sighs. Wu grips his shoulder, brows furrowed.
"He doesn't remember."
Kai blinks, confused.
"I... what?"
"He doesn't remember the events of last night. I told him that he broke his rib having a nightmare."
Kai worries at his bottom lip, hesitant to ask for elaboration.
"Should we tell him?"
Wu shakes his head.
"No. No, it is better if he doesn't know."
"And if he finds out?"
The instant the words leave his lips, Kai is pinned by a fierce glare.
"Kai Vincent Jiang-Smith, he better not find out, for your sake."
The look Wu is giving him is so similar to the one Lloyd had when he snarled earlier, Kai has to physically stop himself from flinching away from Wu. The slitted eyes, the bared fangs... it's just too close.
The reminder that Lloyd isn't completely human was enough. He doesn't need to be reminded that Wu isn't human either.
Some fear must show on his face, because Wu's rage quickly fades to horror.
"Oh, Kai. I am so sorry."
"It's fine." Kai tries to reassure his sensei, but Wu backs away and retreats into the monastery.
Kai curses himself. Wu's probably not going to be seen until after dinner, meditating in his room for hours.
Of course I had to mess that up. Why wouldn't I?
▪︎<◇>▪︎
"Where's Kai?"
Nya sighs.
"Lloyd, I haven't gained awareness of his location since the last time you asked two minutes ago. Chill."
Lloyd grumbles, flopping back against the pillow. He winces, surprised by the pain the motion caused. He's feeling better than he did when he woke up -- good enough to sit up on his own -- but he probably shouldn't be flopping around. As Nya has been quick to remind him.
"Lloyd, you really shouldn't be flopping like that."
There she goes again.
"Fine." Lloyd goes absolutely still, even holding his breath.
"Better?" He wheezes. He's rewarded with an eye-roll from Nya, a small laugh from Jay, a half-annoyed half-amused groan from Cole, and a faint smile from Zane. Better than the previous reactions.
Lloyd looks over to see Kai's reaction, frowning when he can't find him.
Oh yeah.
"Where is Kai?"
"Oh my gosh, Lloyd. You can't just keep asking."
He sighs, giving up for the moment.
The team doesn't feel complete without Kai.
A knock on the door makes him jump. Nya laughs and goes to open it. Her smile quickly fades.
"Kai? Is everything okay?"
Kai storms into the room, practically tearing his hair out.
"-and Wu wants us to say nothing and if Lloyd finds out about last night, Wu's gonna kill me, and then I messed up, like I always do, and now Wu is gonna blame himself and-"
Kai's mouth slams shut the moment he sees Lloyd. He goes stark white.
Then Lloyd sees the bandage on Kai's hand.
He gets the feeling that he's done something so. Horribly. Wrong.
The world seems to tilt-
"-oyd! Lloyd, stay with us!"
"Fight it, Lloyd!"
"Give him some space!"
That last voice... why is it familiar?
He tries to speak, but all that comes out is a snarl.
What's going on?
"Lloyd. Look at me."
The familiar voice is talking to him. He looks up into golden eyes.
"Lloyd, it's alright. Just listen to my voice."
The voice is soothing, but he can't understand the words. Why can't he understand?
The voice shifts, changing with the body of the one speaking. He can-
"Lloyd."
He sobs. He can understand!
"Lloyd, can you change back?"
"I... I don't know."
The body may have changed, but the eyes are the same, golden and warm.
"Lloyd, what do you need?"
He considers this question.
"My family... where are they?"
The golden eyes soften.
"They're right here. They're with you."
He looks around, but only sees figures.
Five. Five figures.
His heart splinters. They seem familiar... but he doesn't recognize them.
"Cole, can you come here?"
A large figure steps forward, sturdy as rock.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Hold your hand out."
"Lloyd, this is Cole."
He looks at the outstretched hand, then back at the voice. The voice nods, golden eyes sparkling. He hesitantly reaches out, and-
Oh.
One. Earth.
"Zane?"
Next is a tall figure, pale as snow.
"This is Zane."
He takes the figure's hand.
Two. Ice.
"Jay."
Then a small one, jumpy as sparks.
"This is Jay."
Three. Lightning.
He begins to understand.
"Nya."
The next figure is graceful, but strong as the ocean current. He recognizes her.
"This is Nya, your sister."
Four. Water.
"Kai?"
The last figure approaches slowly, fear blazing in his eyes like a flame.
Five. Fire.
"Kai."
The figure starts.
His brother.
"Kai."
"Yes, Lloyd. This is Kai." The voice speaks gently, its body back to normal.
"Uncle Wu."
Wu smiles.
Kai suddenly sweeps Lloyd into his arms with a sob. Lloyd buries his face in Kai's shirt, comforted by the smell of smoke.
He falls asleep like that, held by his brother.
▪︎<◇>▪︎
Kai feels like a furnace.
Probably because of the combined body heat of a master of fire and a feverish master of energy occupying basically the same space.
Kai contemplates dumping Lloyd off the couch, then immediately feels bad for it. His little brother needs his sleep after the events of the past twelve hours.
Still. He's getting way too warm.
Gently moving Lloyd to one side of the couch, Kai gets to his feet, stretches, and makes a beeline for the kitchen.
He's about three sips into a cup of coffee when he hears quiet footsteps coming toward him.
"Kai?"
"Hey, Shortstack."
Lloyd flops into the nearest chair with a sleepy yawn. He brightens as he catches sight of Kai's mug, though.
"If that coffee?"
"No, it's poison." Kai emphasizes this point by draining the rest of the coffee.
"Besides, Sensei Wu would kill me if I let you have this after the day you just had."
Kai realizes his mistake too late as Lloyd pales.
"...oh."
The room quickly descends into an awkward silence. Lloyd worries at his lip before grabbing Kai's bandaged hand.
"Lloyd!"
Lloyd fixes him with a glare as he unwraps the bandages. The wrappings fall away, and the brothers go utterly still.
Kai is the first to move, giving a nervous laugh.
"Oh, that? That's nothing. A... cat. Scratched me on patrol! 'S no big deal."
He tries to pull his hand away, but Lloyd's grip is iron, and his eyes are dark.
Slowly, deliberately, Lloyd brings his own hand up to the claw marks. They fit perfectly.
Lloyd gets up from the table. Raking his fingers through his hair, his shoulders stiff, he turns and stalks out of the room.
Kai, stunned, takes a moment to process what just happened. He scrambles after Lloyd, tripping in his haste.
He catches up to him about halfway down the steps of the monastery.
"Lloyd, wait-"
"How stupid do you think I am?" Lloyd spits, not slowing in his march. "I'm not an idiot."
"No one said you are," Kai says soothingly. Lloyd whirls on him.
"Well, you sure are acting like it!"
Kai isn't sure how to respond to that, so he just says nothing. Lloyd presses on.
"I know it wasn't just a nightmare, I know I did something wrong, I know I hurt you! What happened? Tell me!"
Lloyd's eyes change, blazing red replacing green, and he becomes the spitting image of his father. Kai flinches.
Lloyd must have seen Kai's reaction, because he quickly backs away, nearly falling down the stairs.
"I... damn."
Then he turns and runs.
▪︎<◇>▪︎
"Dammit, Lloyd," Kai growls as he runs into yet another bramble patch.
He's been searching for hours. All night. In the woods.
In his pajamas. Barefoot.
I should have grabbed shoes, Kai laments for his poor feet.
Leaning against a tree for a breather, he sighs.
Where are you?
"Lloyd!"
"Go away."
Kai jumps about a foot in the air. He whips around.
Nothing.
"Lloyd?"
"Leave me alone."
Following Lloyd's voice, Kai finds him crouched at the edge of a creek he hadn't noticed before. It's hard to see him in the dim light of the moon, but Kai can tell.
He's changed forms again.
The sweeping wings, the horns -- Kai can't see, but he knows that dappled scales are dotting Lloyd's cheekbones.
Lloyd shivers, and Kai bites back a curse. He kneels next to Lloyd in the dirt.
"Are you cold?"
"No," Lloyd hisses, teeth chattering.
"I could give you my jacket... if I had one."
Lloyd scoffs.
"It probably wouldn't fit over these things," he grumbles, gesturing to his golden wings. Kai hums, remembering faintly that one spot between the wings where Flame used to love getting scratched.
Something about the memory makes him reach out and trail his fingers across a wing. Lloyd jerks away violently, letting out a broken sound.
"Lloyd, I-"
"I said Go away," Lloyd hisses, turning on Kai with fury in his glowing eyes. The fury quickly fades into something sadder, more subtle. Lloyd squeezes his eyes shut and looks away.
"Go away... before I hurt you more than I already have."
Kai gapes at him.
"Lloyd-"
"I'm a monster. A beast."
"Lloyd, you-"
"Just go back to the monastery and leave me here to die."
Oh, for the love of-
"Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon! I am not going anywhere until we figure this out!"
Lloyd blinks, his self-pity momentarily gone in his surprise.
"Besides..." Kai adds quietly. "You're not the only one who hurt a brother last night."
His brother's eyes go wide. Kai looks away so he won't see the hurt blooming in them.
"Tell me."
Kai whips his head around so fast he hears a crack.
"What?"
"Tell me what happened last night," Lloyd begs.
"You... you want to know?"
"Please."
Kai sighs. He gestures towards Lloyd's wing.
"Can I?"
Lloyd nods with just a moment of hesitation. He stretches his wing out, letting Kai see the full extent of it.
Kai traces one of the thin wing bones before beginning.
"You... had a nightmare, I think. We don't really know. Jay woke me up, told me that something was hunting me. You had blown out the lights, so we couldn't see very well."
"Couldn't you have used your fire to light the room?" Lloyd asks. Kai shakes his head.
"They weren't working. Something... I think you were blocking them." He shrugs. "It doesn't matter. It would have just made things worse. You attacked me. I guess I threw you into a bedframe and... and broke your rib."
"We found out that it was you, but... you were... changed. You looked like you do now, but it was like you weren't fully there."
"How did you change me back?"
"I guess I just talked to you a bit. You said my name, then collapsed."
Lloyd contemplates this, clearly having more questions.
"In the medbay... You said something about Uncle Wu not wanting me to find out." He looks up with a pained expression. "I can't remember what happened next."
Kai flinches. Watching Lloyd transform in the medbay had been... difficult at best. He had looked so scared, so confused. So lost. Kai had been trying to avoid the memory, but now Lloyd is looking at him with pleading eyes.
"It's... hard to talk about."
Lloyd sets his jaw.
"I changed, didn't I?"
"...yes. You changed again. Wu burst into the room and tried to talk to you, but I don't think you understood him. So Wu transformed."
Lloyd gasps.
"Yeah, he did. He made some weird growling noise, and you calmed down a bit. Then he called us over and you changed back."
"Then what?"
Kai snorts.
"You passed out. Went right to sleep with not a care in the world. Did you know that you purr in your sleep?"
Kai laughs as his little brother turns scarlet.
"Do not."
"Do too. It sounds like you swallowed a tiny motorbike," Kai teases.
Kai's laugh dies a quick death as Lloyd sighs and turns away, drawing his wings in.
"Lloyd? Are you okay?"
"The sun will be up soon," Lloyd replies casually. "The others will wonder where you are."
"...and?"
"You gotta go home, Kai."
Without me, his unspoken words echo in Kai's mind. He shakes his head.
"Not without you."
"Kai, you don't understand-"
"No!" Kai snaps, grabbing Lloyd by the shoulders. "You don't understand! You have a family who loves you, no matter what you look like or where you come from. It hurts us when you're not here. It hurts us, not because you're the Green Ninja, or our leader, but because you're Lloyd."
"We didn't want an all-powerful demigod Dragon Oni Elemental Master of Green. We wanted an emotional rollercoaster of a touch-starved shrimp who steals our candy and pulls pranks on a daily basis."
"We wanted a little brother who wouldn't listen to orders. We wanted a kid going through his awkward voice crack stage even as he shouted orders."
"We wanted you, Lloyd." Kai gently shakes Lloyd's shoulders. "We still do. Even with your horribly heartfelt speeches, and your squeaky voice, and- oof!"
Lloyd cannons into Kai's chest, squeezing the breath out of him.
"Still need air, broski," Kai wheezes. His little brother sniffles, and Kai's heart falls.
"Aw, no. Please don't be crying. If you cry, I cry."
"I'll cry if I want to, and you can't stop me," Lloyd says into Kai's shirt. But he pulls back with a smile and shining eyes.
"Come on. Let's go home."