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Garmadon was limp in his arms.
Lloyd’s shaking hands tried to feel for his heartbeat, for something alive, beating, just anything. His father was peacefully quiet, contrasting his destructive demeanor with how gentle he looked with eyes closed. The Overlord laughed behind them as Harumi yelled for Lloyd to move but emotions continued to hit him like a punch in the gut.
Grief, hurt and so much rage.
It was stronger than the emotions Harumi conjured in the cage locked with vengestone. Stronger than any hurt and betrayal he’s ever felt before.
Lloyd had a second chance with his father, no matter how different. Lloyd yelled at Garmadon, and glared at him. Lloyd told Garmadon he wasn’t capable of caring.
And now Garmadon was gone because he sacrificed himself for Lloyd’s escape.
The howl that came out of him was animalistic, reverberating throughout his entire being until he can't feel anything but anger. His body twitched and his stance widened until the fury shaped into a powerful set of arms beneath his own, gold showering upon him like sparks to form white horns.
All he could see was purple, his body moving instinctively. Lloyd could feel the strain and scrapes of his body as a glow continued to ignite at his palms over and over.
The power mirrored Garmadons.
Lloyd reveled in it.
It's not until everything becomes utterly quiet does Lloyd sink to his knees. His wordless huffing evened out as his form flickered back to a poor imitation of a human. He’s not back to normal. The purple brightness of his eye replacing lush green is everything but that, nor the white horns still protruding out of his head and the shimmer of golden scales along his newly formed tail.
Lloyd cradled Garmadon's body on the ground, uncaring of the Crystal King’s purple blood coating his palms and trying not to damage the corpse with sharp claws. He remembered how Garmadon used to cradle him like this when he was a child. Blurry memories of him as a baby, a warm voice and soft hands holding him gently.
His dazed mind wandered back to the first time his father hugged him. The lava was hot underneath him and Pythor leaving him for the dead. Garmadon rescued him, and Lloyd jumped into his arms while crying desperate tears of relief and joy.
He couldn’t feel the happiness now.
Again. A voice whispers, crawling from the depths of his mind, unrestrained and broken free from the reveal of his Oni side. It sounded familiar and almost emotionless. A voice he’s only heard bits and pieces of from his addled child brain at Darkleys.
Revive him once more. Take your rightful throne, and bring him back.
No. I… Another voice fought back. This one was smaller, and sounded panicked. It was also weaker. Fading.
Lloyd’s eyes hit the ninja far below the ground, accompanied by Uncle Wu and his mom. For a second, he felt familiar raw warmth travel through him at the sight of all of them.
They’re your family. The smaller voice insisted.
His family.
Then, he heard the soft sound of Harumi moving. Lloyd’s gaze caught the girl who once held his heart. She wasn’t the most painful memory he has, he found himself thinking to his surprise. Lloyd’s eyes flashed, and before he knew it, the crueler voice was picking at echo's best left forgotten.
Being left at Darkley’s as a child. Bullied and made fun of. His stomach rumbling and bruises covering his skin as he ate from trash-cans and resorted to stealing. Finally getting his dad back, only to fight against him then lose him once more. A girl playing his heart like he was a fool.
Lloyd’s sight slowly focused on the body in his arms.
Garmadon was cold.
And the coldness spread, washing away any warmth that was left.
A tap of his foot against the pavement. One year had passed since then. He had never stopped counting the days.
Lloyd was basically vibrating with eagerness. It felt like his nerves were charged, his happy hums a rare thing to hear. The ritual was set up, the one meant to fix everything and finally make him truly happy again. It was both a pain to set everything up so intricately and have everything
He was atop the floating crystal mechanism, the same place he fought the Overlord on. It was fairly easy to control it as the Crystal King did, using one of the many floating geodes to move down and up from it. It brought him a painful memory, but also excitement. No one could bother him here. This day was the same day Garmadon died, an exact year after it happened.
He had already waved the vengestone warrior's away to guard his palace while Lloyd was gone. It was quite easy to make these guys susceptible to his powers, the Oni blood making it possible for the army that originally belonged to the Overlord to be under his name and rule now. It was still so exhilarating to think about. Old Lloyd wouldn’t have even thought about doing this, which meant that the him now was already way better.
Lloyd even had a palace! It replaced the one where the deceased Jade Royals used to occupy but this time he made it so it was less easy to invade and destroyable.
He took his rightful throne as ruler of Ninjago. The Oni in him relished the power and control. The Ninja weren't even in his way, nor his useless mother he used to adore or former Sensei. The last he'd seen of them, they were bloody and bruised, telling him that they'd save him as they crossed over the border from Ninjago city and to elsewhere.
Lloyd didn't feel like following, even though he could've easily had sniffed their scent from past objects holding their whereabouts, leading him to their direction and killing them with a snap of his fingers.
He didn't care enough to, letting the Ninja have a false sense of security. Even though the city was his most common domain, he technically had rule over all of Ninjago. Shintaro, the Endless Sea, the Dark Island, any destination possible to name, Lloyd had power over.
Even the Cloud Kingdom. First Master, he hated that place and had to control himself from demolishing everyone and everything in it multiple times. They were lucky that they were useful for some things, namely the occasional good desserts they nervously offered him anytime he went snooping around over there.
But Ninjago wasn't what he wanted the most or what he'd been focusing on for the past few months after he'd taken reign.
Instead, it was his father. Garmadon, who was settled on the ground.
Some might call Lloyd unnerving for hauling around a corpse. Of course, people have already cursed at him amongst other stuff. They never knew he could hear it, and it usually ended up with something of theirs being lit on fire. Maybe even their heads blown off with the element of destruction if particularly nasty, especially if they brought up his father.
He had needed Garmadon's corpse if he was going to correct that stupid mistake his old self made. Besides, he liked the corpse! Sometimes he took it around with him to places, regardless of the gagging that he would sometimes hear from the citizens around him.
One very fond memory was when he took Garmadon’s body on a rollercoaster with him. He still had the pictures given to him by an employee of the ride who looked like they were about to puke. It was like his father was still there.
Lloyd was lucky Oni corpses rotted just as slowly as they aged. He wasn't against carrying a rotting dead body around, but they smelled absolutely horrible. He would know. He'd smelled them before and Lloyd had to stuff his mouth with the nearest amount of pillowmint he could find.
He made a small humming noise as he took in the sight of his father’s old sensei clothes on top of the corpse. It brought back a few good memories, like when Garmadon had taught him the Art of the Silent Fist. Well, Lloyd hadn’t used it as much as he should but it was really the thought that counted.
On a day he associated with death, his mind invertedly flicked back to the ones he’d killed after Garmadon’s unfortunate passing.
First was Harumi. After all, she was the absolute worst, and the death he mostly enjoyed reminiscing on. His festering hatred could finally explode. He couldn't fathom how Old Lloyd had a crush on her. He'd looked at her in the eye after massacring the Crystal Council mercilessly, their blood dripping from his hands. Harumi scrambled backwards as his palms began to ignite with the purple he was getting used to.
“Wait, wait!” Harumi screamed, holding her hands above her face. It looked like a parody of what happened when Harumi attacked Lloyd in the cave and left him for dead. Except for the large amount of red liquid coating his hands. “Lloyd, Emperor. I know–I know a way to bring your father back.”
Lloyd could’ve trusted her. Harumi managed to find a way to bring Garmadon back once before, whereas no one else could. Make his father live once more.
After all, Mistaké was gone, along with any possible known way to bring his father back. Wu never dabbled with any scrolls regarding resurrection from what he can remember in the past so it would be useless to go after the old man.
If Lloyd was like how he was before, he would’ve been naive and hopeful enough to take her up on her offer.
He wasn’t that stupid kid anymore.
“If you could find a way to revive my father,” Lloyd’s fingers were curled around her neck, squeezing, her adam's apple bobbing and red paint on her face smearing from sweat. “Then so can I, Harumi.”
The sound of her neck cracking was the only noise in a room filled with bodies.
She didn’t deserve a death worthy of his powers. Though, it was a delight to kill Vinny with them. After all, it was the camera man’s fault that Garmadon decided to cozy up with a plant of all things other than Lloyd. He’d blasted the stupid plant later too, wishing it was sentient so it could feel the harsh spike of pain.
Lloyd imagined it screaming horrifically to quench some of his anger. Hah. Dismembering Pythor was even better, his second most enjoyed murder of the Crystal Council, third belonging to the Mechanic. The fury and betrayal he’d felt from so many years ago when he was a lonely child latching onto his only friend who used him had finally washed away. His blood had shone purple under the light of the crystals surrounding them.
And so was the ritual’s liquid. It most definitely had something to do with the fact that blood was actually in it.
The liquid he’d conjured from the set ingredients was already mixed together, in a teacup that used to belong to Mistaké's shop. An altar he'd brought up sitting at the side with two candles and a picture of Garmadon. Lloyd glanced up at the dark violet sky, eyes following the light leading to the bright blue moon. The scales of his dragon tail basked in the shine of it.
In his hand he held a remade piece of the broken Yin Blade. It would’ve worked better if the Yin-Yang eclipse was appearing, but it only happened every three thousand years so he had to make do with what he had. It had been a long process to scourge up the remnants of it and turn it into something usable, the blade being so finicky that it was hard to get it into this short dagger even with the many months he'd spent working on it. The ritual liquid helped strengthen the connection, working as a weaker replacement for the eclipse.
The liquid had a drop of Garmadon's and Lloyd's blood, which Lloyd had dipped the newly minted blade in before swiping it across his hand.
Lloyd ran a finger over the cut across his palm, barely feeling pain as he let the scent of iron and the mixture linger across his nose before breathing in and standing up. A mortal would've caught an infection from it, but it was a laughable thought for an Oni to get sick from this. He could also smell the candles burning, two wicks lit up and the orange glow almost overshadowed by the moons.
It was time. This had to work. It was his only chance. This was the only blue moon that would appear specifically on the day Garmadon died. The next one that would...it was estimated to take a full ten-thousand years.
Lloyd knelt near his father, the moon’s light brushing against Garmadon’s skin and seeming to make him glow. Lloyd hoped, to glow with life. A similar cut was on his father’s palm, hidden by his hands facing the ground.
With the moon in tow, Lloyd closed his eyes. His hand reached for his father's lifeless ones, feeling his own fingers pulse with energy. A familiar green light flowed from his hands, cut bleeding against cut and a chant being whispered under his breath.
He inhaled the pungent smell of the concoction he made which was surrounding his father as a thinly painted summoning symbol, some dripping from the cut on his palm and beginning to shift into a green color as well the more energy that flowed. A feeling intensified to a similar one that happened on the Day of the Departed, a sign that made him ever more so eager.
Lloyd hadn't used this power in a while, relying on his newfound powers that could deal damage. The fight with the Overlord the first time hadn't even consisted of him using it, the blow struck by all elemental powers mixed together to create a golden hue.
But energy meant life, meant that they were there and alive. Life, what held everything together, what Lloyd wished for Garmadon to have and if this didn't work he would break–
A spark of green flooded his eyes and Lloyd was sent back as everything blurred, leaving him to tumble back onto the pavement.
He let his eyes close for a moment, before opening them and surveying the ground. The Yin Blade was thoroughly gone now, and the wicks of the candles were blown out. The potion he'd created was spilled and seeping into the floor, teacup shattered. Even the moon seemed to be in such a state, a cloud shifting across and covering the moonlight.
Lloyd's throat closed up, his heart squeezing with anticipation and barely kept in grief that threatened to spill, with every sign that he had failed, that he'd gotten his hopes up for nothing, Garmadon was still dead and laying right there with unblinking eyes–
A cough.
Lloyd's eyes shot towards the sound and his worries untangled.
The key to his happiness and what kept him there was sitting upright, gone of four arms with just two and long white hair shortened to a gray he hadn't seen since he thought all was fair and right in Ninjago. His oni side now replaced with the mortal one that Lloyd would admit he missed more than any alliteration of him. The Sensei robes that Lloyd used to cling to in his sleep was now laid upon a body, chest moving with every breath the other took.
“I–” Garmadon wheezed, the back of his pants wet with what had spilled onto him from the ritual and Lloyd could only stay frozen with disbelief when his father-alive, alive, alive-blinked up at him from his spot on the ground.”...Lloyd?”
Lloyd finally moved at the sound of his father's voice, this time his eyes blurring with unshed tears. He unsteadily rose off the ground, gaining more courage as he got nearer to Garmadon, looking at him up and down to make sure he wasn't going to randomly disappear and this was all a dream.
He took back all the times he'd cursed his grandfather.
“Son? How is this…how am I…in Ninjago?” His father muttered as his legs trembled when he tried to stand up and a surge of exhilaration coursed through his veins as he slung an arm around his father to keep him upright.
Garmadon was looking at him with the same disbelief he felt earlier, hints of the love that he'd looked at Lloyd with before his first death spreading throughout his eyes before being tainted with growing wariness the more his eyes darted around.
Garmadon was shorter than him now, Lloyd's genes making his height skyrocket in the past months since releasing his Oni side. Seeing the difference in his father and the fact he was here made his protectiveness grow to an unhealthy amount fit for an Oni.
A joyous frenzy came rushing in and he pulled his father into a hug, feeling the other's head lull against his shoulder. The air was now tinged with an unsettling fervor, euphoric waves of joy overwhelming his senses.
He giggled. The raw relief and affection all but rushed back to him. Finally. The joy in his heart couldn’t be described, the mourning ache finally dispersing into pure giddiness. He might be crying right now. If anyone else were to see the tears dripping from his eyes, he would kill them. But this was Lloyd’s father, not just a useless Ninjago citizen off the streets.
"Dad." Lloyd laughed, clinging to Garmadon with his tail happily flicking up and down behind him. He felt like a child again. "It worked! You're back.”
"What have you done?" Garmadon whispered, arms limp at his side. His father's gaze was glazed, looking past the rooftop and at the dark sky streaked with purple. Maybe he was also hearing the faint screaming coming from down below that had started. Lloyd never liked that sound. It was always so repetitive.
He hoped the generals would just kill whoever was screaming already. Lloyd wanted his father to pay attention to him, and just him.
Lloyd answered eagerly. “I brought you back.”
Garmadon didn't seem to like that answer.
“I should be dead. I shouldn't be here, Son.” His father drew back, cupping Lloyd's face and examining him. Warm fingers swiped away his tears. Warm. Not cold.
The sound of screaming was loud enough for both of them to hear slightly, yet Lloyd's face was still plastered with a grin. Garmadon's features began to twist into panic, a tremor in his arms created by shock from finally seeing the difference in Lloyd and the utter madness resonating from him. “Is Wu not here? Please answer me Lloyd, what in the world have you become?”
Those last words were said in an anguished tone, and Lloyd tilted his head. His father was just being like this because of the resurrection. After all, dying and being brought back to life twice had to have an effect. Besides, he could see Garmadon's legs beginning to buckle, exhaustion visible throughout the man's body from his soul and body being torn through death.
“The old man? He didn't even try to resurrect you.” He scoffed just thinking about it. So much for being Garmadon's brother. Lloyd's voice softened as his fathers hands slipped away from his face.“It’s just me, Dad. I did what I had to do to save you.”
“Isn't it great?” Lloyd continued, oblivious to his father's worry. Garmadon was desperately trying to keep his eyes open now, despite the way he slumped against Lloyd's hold. “Now it's just us two like before, like how it used to be.”
Garmadon shook his head, voice becoming quiet as fatigue finally took hold. “I love you more than anything but this is not what I wanted you to…”
Lloyd grasped him as his fathers body lost all tension.
For a second, dread enveloped him upon seeing his father's closed eyes and slackened l̶i̶f̶e̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ body before remembering that Garmadon wasn't dead and was only unconscious.
(Here, here, here.)
Garmadon's last words before falling asleep echoed relentlessly within him, creating an unyielding cacophony. He would be replaying that moment until his father finally woke up. What was said after ‘anything’ became lost, with his focus only on the sentence preceding it.
Lloyd shifted his hold on Garmadon, lifting him up till his legs were away from the ground and carrying his father in his arms while being careful not to make any excessive movements to jolt him awake.
He had to make preparations, a celebration to congratulate his dear father’s return. Lloyd would sit for a while at Garmadon’s side, the man sleeping in the bed and room that Lloyd had requested be made specifically for Garmadon after the palace was created. He wouldn't leave until the man woke up, be the only person Garmadon saw.
There would be no one to take him away now, because Lloyd would kill them before they even thought about doing so.
His father would see the world Lloyd had made in return for him.