Chapter Text
The Ninja had been called to the museum for an unexpected patrol, only Lloyd and Kai went. The moon was dark. The new moon is full, but the constellations are dull, covered in a haze of something that could only be blamed on air pollution. The other Ninja were snoring soundly in the Monastery.
Once they arrived at the museum, a cold wind traced their skin. Lloyd felt a shiver enter up his spine. It was a feeling he could never forget. He felt the same thing when he had his first ever encounter with.. someone. But Lloyd chose not to indulge in such conversation with Kai.
After several checks, Kai and Lloyd found no suspicious behavior, they decided to call it off and go back to the Monastery.
“Lloyd, you coming?” Kai asked, calling him outside the museum. Lloyd looked at Kai from over his shoulder.
“Go without me, I need to do some extra checks,” The blond answered. Kai was hesitant, but he nodded and left.
Upon Kai’s departure, Lloyd kneeled down and inspected the mess on the ground once more. Sand. Thin, hazel wood sand. Lloyd followed the trail of it. He flinched a few times, but it was all in his head. Lloyd heard screams, and cries. Voices of his own. Of his days of torment, from being possessed by a ghost. Lloyd was stopped by a dead end. He narrowed his eyes, looking for any other signs. But none. Lloyd wants to leave. Oh, he
needs
to leave.
But what if he ruins a life, once more? What if there really
was
danger, and he doesn’t stop it? All because he ran away, he might have changed someone’s life for the worse. Just like Haru.. nevermind. Whatever. All he needs to do is check it and call Kai back if it’s anything horrid.
He followed the path of sand to the end, footsteps careful and gentle to not disrupt any potential evidence. Aggressive wind howled through every window of the museum, tracing the hairs of Lloyd’s skin. He shivered from the touch.
Lloyd frowned upon noticing nothing but gold dust on the ground. He kneeled down to inspect it a bit more. His eyes narrowed into slits, nothing. The sand was not
magical
or anything, just normal sand. Lloyd sighed heavily before getting back up and heading to the door, hoping to catch up with Kai quickly. The skies were already as dark as coal, anyways.
“
Don’t leave yet!
”
Lloyd jumped. The voice was soft, not aggressive at all. But haunting. Haunting enough to make him physically jump and tremble, his breath hitch. His pupils dilated. Lloyd immediately turned his body around to see any hint of the voice. But nowhere. Not again. Please, not again. Lloyd pursed his lips to stop himself from screaming the name out.
“
Scared?
”
Is this real? Is Lloyd just thinking of this? Maybe the museum, and the sand, maybe it just brought back bad memories.
Terrifying
memories. That’s what he thought until he felt a figure emerge from the sand, A cheshire grin plastered on its face. “Morro.” Lloyd’s near-breaking voice was no louder than a whisper. It officially cracked when the ghost mockingly jumped to him, which made Lloyd tumble back in shock. He dug the ground with his heel and wrist as he tried to back away, But it only made Morro follow him. “Leave!” Lloyd cried. Shaking his head a couple times to make sure this was real. He had nightmares. Exactly like this. For nights and nights that had him going to Cole’s room just so he could get at least a few hours of good sleep, knowing someone he trusted was watching him. Morro slowly shook his head, humming as he followed the crawling back Lloyd. He wasn’t ready for a round 2 of imprisonment in his own body.
For a few weeks, Lloyd barely talked to the family ever since he was possessed. He’d sleep in the guest room and only leave for dinner, sometimes after Nya would hear gut-wrenching, gagging and coughing noises coming from the guest room’s bathroom. As much as her heart curled to go check on her little brother, she couldn’t. She tried. Oh, they all tried. But Lloyd never opened the door, or even replied to the others politely asking Lloyd to open up. The most he did was softly whine for a second. Or say he just feels a bit unwell, which both he and the ninja knew was a lie.
Lloyd was so lost to the point where he started dialing Ronin for marijuana and rolling papers. Ronin hesitated at first, concerned for the kid’s health. But soon compiled once he learnt that Lloyd refused to open up to anyone. And him being a bit lightheaded could get him to crack a bit. So, Ronin was careful with the amount he brought every day to Lloyd and he did his very best to soothe the boy whenever he started to scream and aggressively wipe the overflowing tears pouring down his eyes and soon passing out in the white sheets of the guest bed.
Ronin knew he was in the wrong. But he wanted to help. He really did. No one understood. Lloyd has gone through the unspeakable. From skipping his childhood, to imprisonment, to fighting the embodiment of evil, a handful of times. A bit of possession couldn’t have done much harm, right? That's what Ronin thought until he heard the dysmorphia Morro gave. From just comparing how much of a better Green Ninja he could have been, to downright degrading Lloyd’s physical body and mentality.
What hurt Lloyd even more was seeing his friends- his family being hurt by his hands. His powers, his doings. Seeing everything and everyone he swore to protect from getting hurt, getting hurt by him. And he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He could scream, cry, but nothing would work. He’d never stop fighting, to escape his own body, But Morro would only shut him back down.
So when Lloyd heard Morro’s whistles, his ghostly footsteps, his sudden
touch.
He had to gulp down all the memories. All his fear. He was the green ninja, goddamnit. An old enemy should mean nothing to him. So why.. Why did he want to run away more than anything right now?
Lloyd crawled back, never leaving eye contact with Morro until he bumped into the wall, he bit his lower lip to avoid screeching.
“Thought I died? Thought you got rid of me?” Morro cocked his head up while his pupils shot daggers through Lloyd’s, which were staring up at him in fear. God, Lloyd wanted a break. He just defeated the Overlord
again
. Why now? Why did Morro need to come back to his pathetic life now? “Come on~ talk to me, green ninja,” Morro smirked.
Lloyd pursed his lips. Hot tears were threatening to escape his eyes and a big, uncomfortable lump was building up his throat. There wasn’t anything he could do.. Who was he kidding, Of course there was! He was the green ninja, he could defeat Morro any time right now!
“Lloyd.. I don’t wanna be the green ninja anymore, don’t worry.” Morro sighed, stepping away from Lloyd. Which gave Lloyd no sort of relief. “..Aren’t you angry? From all this? I mean.. You just defeated the ol’ mighty Overlord what, for the fourth time? The city.. doesn’t appreciate you, Lloyd.”
Lloyd dryly scoffed in disbelief. Out of all the people,
Morro
had the least right to be saying this. “Come on, don’t you want to show them
true
pain? Humble them, in my words. They think they’ve gone through it all. What you’re doing is
light work
.” Morro hummed, floating higher.
“I got sick of wanting to be the green ninja, after seeing everything you’ve done. It looks tiring.. I’ve got a new friend, though. She convinced me that we need a real change. Don’t you think so?” Morro pouted. He waited for the trembling Lloyd to say something, but he just stayed silent and stared at Morro in utter shock.
“Ahhh, fuck this.” He grumbled before morphing himself into Lloyd. Lloyd could only shriek before feeling a sensation of passing out. It felt exactly like the first time. And he loathed it more than anything. It was cold. Freezing. And Lloyd felt sharp, blistering spikes slicing through his ribs. They weren’t real. Nothing was. Not even the cages he felt forming around him. The same cages he was stuck in while he watched his siblings try to rescue him. The atmosphere was so bitter and numb yet he felt like he was being cooked alive. Blistered, and ruptured. Dark, parsley green smokey fog was emerging from the non-existent void of a ground. Morro’s smoke.