Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lloyd sat in his room, when he thought he had found arin and bought him back he left again, not alone either, he bought Sora with him. Why did he feel so bad? It was his fault for not being good enough to be their teacher he should’ve been better. He felt something grab his arm, did Kai come in and he didn’t realise, right? Lloyd opened his eyes, that thing was not Kai, he jumped up, where was he? One minute he was in his room, now he was in the middle of nowhere.

He stood up and looked around, he wasn’t too far from the monastery, maybe a 15 minute walk. Lloyd decided to look around for whatever had bought him here. He was shivering in the moonlight when he found the entrance to a cave. He used his element as a torch and began walking.

After finding nothing Lloyd headed back to the monastery. What are the chances of that happening again? Luckily nobody was awake at the moment, he couldn’t deal with questions right now. That nights events had certainly been… strange to say the least but what wasn’t these days? Instead of being normal and sleeping the green ninja decided to re-read the same scrolls he had been reading since his childhood.

Once the sun had risen and the other ninja were awake Lloyd looked half dead in the scroll room, his eyes had dark circles under them (From his amazing talent of not sleeping, not just tonight.) and his hair was unbrushed, he looked like he had been dragged through a bush on a windy day. Soon Kai walked in.

“Well don’t you look well rested,” The red ninja said, Lloyd did not find his sarcasm amusing. “Did you not sleep?” Kai asked, he began walking toward Lloyd, the green ninja replied, “ Possibly.” Lloyd twitched as kai dropped down beside him, “ Are you worried about Arin and Sora?” Lloyds heart dropped, he didn’t want that topic to be bought up again. After a moments silence kai spoke again, “Its ok to miss them, your only human you can’t help but miss them,” But. Lloyd was the farthest thing from human.

Chapter Text

Lloyd had to go to the stables to feed the dragons, he didn’t know why but since that incident he had this irrational fear around the dragons. He didn’t feel comfortable around them and somtimes he just wanted them all gone, not just from the monastery but from all of the merged realms, Lloyd pushed those thoughts away, fed the dragons and went upstairs.

Kai was in the main room by the time Lloyd arrived, how did he seem so happy? Arin and Sora were gone and he was acting like nothing had happend, Kai is probably just happy his student is still with him. Lloyd snapped back to reality, why would he think that? Kai was basically his brother, how did that come into his head, Kai was the one who helped him when he was upset. What was wrong with him.

Lloyd turned in his bed, why did he even try to sleep, he knew he would just be wasting his time. Lloyd hadn’t rested since that incident in the forest, sure that was a week ago but something like that doesn’t just happen once, instead of waiting for it to happen Lloyd sat up, got ready, and left the monastery to go and investigate. Instead of waiting until day he had decided to go at midnight, this was sure to go well.

He re-visited the cave, this time looking closer but something was off. The cave seemed to have moved since his last visit, new entries had opened at the sides, it looked like a hall in a fancy building with doors that could lead you anywhere. After stumbling around in the dark Lloyd felt the presence of… something, and then he saw them.

He didn’t have a moment to think before everything went black, soon he awoke, they had bought him somewhere but they seemed, scared? One of them had realised he was awake and jumped, the others walked towards him, why did they think he was intimidating? They were much stronger than him and he was the one in chains.

The oni had surrounded him, however they all seemed cautious, Lloyd was even more confused now, his hands were tied behind his back with a strange purple rock, and something was keeping him attached to the wall of the cave, but the oni still acted like he could jump out at any moment and claw their eyes out. None of them said anything yet, Lloyd had begun to guess they could talk telepathically but, that was a guess he made while very sleep deprived.

Soon one of them spoke, “We deeply apologise my lord, we did not recognise you in this form.” Lloyd had no idea what he was talking about, and the oni that had said that seemed to have sensed his confusion, he signalled to the others to leave them alone.

Once they had left the oni spoke again “My name is Aziru, you are related to our first king correct?” Lloyd didn’t know how to respond.
“Who was the first king?” Aziru looked at him respectfully.
“I will tell you later, for now we need to share the news with the people.” The green ninja felt like he could be trusted, but the oni are still the creatures that took over ninjago all those years ago, before the merge.

Aziru led Lloyd into a large clearing, it looked like you could fit a whole city here, but Aziru didn’t stop here, Lloyd followed him up some rock stairs. After a while they had reached a room that over-looked the entire space, the blonde boy barely had a chance to admire the view when Aziru let out a terrifying noise, it wasn’t a roar or a screech but whatever it was made Lloyd shiver.

It only took minuets before the space was filled with oni, Lloyd stepped back, he was shaking with pure fear. Aziru noticed this and placed one of his hands on Lloyds shoulder, “They won’t hurt you don’t worry,” Aziru assured but it didn’t help with the green ninjas nerves.

Aziru walked forwards and the crowed fell silent, he raised his hand and yelled. WE HAVE OUR NEW PRINCE!

Chapter Text

Lloyd couldn’t believe his ears, he had assumed he had been confused with somebody else, this had to be a mistake, right? Aziru continued his speech but the green ninja wasn’t listening, he was a prince, not just a prince but a future ruler of the literal definition of evil and destruction. “Would you like to say something?” Aziru asked, he could obviously tell that Lloyd was freaking out so when he didn’t say anything Aziru guessed he didn’t want to speak and finished the speech.

Once the clearing was empty Aziru spoke again, “I understand this must be a shock,” Lloyd looked up, “I didn’t even ask you for your name and now I have told you your ment to be the next ruler of our tribe, I apologise for the quick pacing but our people were in need of a ruler and I could tell it was you by your readings.” Lloyd stood there, even more confused than before, what were his readings, and he was right, Aziru didn’t even know his name yet. “Well for starters my name is Lloyd, and an explanation would be nice on a couple of things.” Lloyd said.

“That is a reasonable response Lloyd, you have two options that would work for everyone right now. You could go to wherever you live and return when this has sunk in, or you could stay here and we can begin training right away. Don’t feel pressured to stay the choice is yours” Aziru’s offer to stay somehow seemed more appealing to Lloyd for reasons he didn’t know, but if he stayed the remaining ninja would be concerned about where he went.

Then he heard a voice in the back of his head. Why do you care about what those pathetic humans think, they let you be weak and look at what happened to your students.Forget about them before they make you weaker than you already are.

Lloyd was already shaking before, but now it looked like he had died, bought back too life, then died again, his head was spinning and he felt like he was about to collapse, Aziru looked at him with worry. “Are you alright?” Lloyd couldn’t even reply, after remembering what he did after his visions ti calm himself down he stood up straight, took a breath and made his decision. “I think I’ll stay here, if that’s ok.”

Aziru still looked unsettled but seemed relieved at his answer, “That’s amazing we can set up a room now, before I go do you have anymore questions?” After contemplating Lloyd shook his head, he was not about to ask if he would need to show his oni features. Aziru nodded, they exchanged goodbyes and Aziru had gone down to do whatever he does in his spare time.

Lloyd didn’t feel like staying here alone so he went down and started to explore the cave, without the fear of being attacked the walk was quite enjoyable. It soothed Lloyds nerves and let him think about everything that had just happened.

He had come up with a timeline in his head of the events that had happened today, first he became oddly annoyed at kai for no reason, then he left the monastery in the middle of the night to go to a cave he had teleported to a week ago, then he was kidnapped by oni, then those oni said he was their prince, then he was led to a place with way to many onions for his liking, then the voice in his mind called the ninja *Pathetic humans* and said they were making him weak, and now he is staying in a place full of beings that might want to kill him but one of those creatures said they won’t even think about harming him. This made perfect sense to Lloyd.

After stumbling around for a little Aziru suddenly materialised next to Lloyd. “Your room is ready, how are you feeling?” The oni asked him, Lloyd didn’t even know what he was feeling at this point, “Im fine, thanks for asking” Lloyd replied, this wasn’t true but he didn’t want Aziru to worry. Soon the two had begun walking through a tunnel, Aziru looked at Lloyd, “I do have one question for you if that’s alright,” Lloyd nodded and he continued, “Why do you not show your oni features?”

Chapter Text

Lloyd was taken aback by the question, why did this have to be the question? His heart started racing, he couldn’t tell Aziru that he hated how he looked, that he wished he was just born normal, or how many nights he wanted to disappear, especially after the battle with the crystal king.

He started to panic, his heart seemed to be in his throat. He was a terrible lier when it came to reasoning, how could he even respond? His ears were ringing, he could just tell the truth and deal with the aftermath, or he could avoid the question entirely.

Aziru look at him with concern, he wanted to say something but he couldn’t trust his voice. He had mostly gotten over the initial shock of being here but now he was re-living everything, Lloyd looked at the floor, if he couldn’t answer the question the he just wouldn’t say anything.

The sounds in the tunnel seemed to grow louder with every passing second. Aziru just looked at Lloyd, they had stopped walking and were just staring at each other, Aziru looking at him and Lloyd, trying to avoid his gaze.

The two just stood there for a moment, then a noise broke the silence, but it wasn’t a friendly voice, but one of hatred, the one that Lloyd wished would disappear. What is taking you so long, just admit you are a coward, If you hadn’t been scared of your power maybe your precious little students would still be here. Lloyds blood ran cold, how dare he, he knew it was himself speaking but it wasn’t him.

That voice was going to drive him mad, Lloyd was sick of it. But what if it was right? If he had been better maybe none of this would have happened in the first place. If he had been more focused on finding Arins parents maybe he wouldn’t have run off with Raz, and once he left if he had helped Sora look for Arin more she could still be here too.

Soon Lloyd shot back to reality, his senses were on overdrive, everything was too loud. Aziru was standing there, alarm showing in his eyes, Lloyd tried to crack a smile but nothing happened. They were just staring at each other, the water dripping from the ceiling seemed to ease him. This also made Aziru less concerned.

Aziru finally spoke, he looked worried “I am sorry, it must be a personal matter, I shouldn’t have bought it up please forgive me.” Lloyd looked up, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. Now he didn’t need to answer, at least not yet.

For the first time since he got here Lloyd felt a sense of comfort knowing Aziru respected him not wanting to tell him, the ninja wouldn’t have stopped bugging him until he came up with a hardly believable lie. Lloyd answered “Its ok its just,” He paused, he knew Aziru wouldn’t judge him but he could tell him later. “A complicated subject.” He finished, Lloyds nerves had calmed down mostly by now but he still felt like something was happening. He just couldn’t pin what that something was. But, that was a problem for later.

“I think this has been enough for today, if you take a right turn and go down the hall it’s the room at the end.” Aziru spoke in a kind tone but he still looked concerned from Lloyds small panic attack earlier, if he were to guess the oni didn’t understand what had happened and assumed he just needed rest, which Lloyd didn’t completely disagree with.

“Ok, thanks for everything today, I’ll see you later,” Lloyd replied, the two of them said their farewells and began walking in different directions. Lloyd had a had time navigating the endless tunnels, everything seemed to repeat. Surprisingly the caves seemed to be really well constructed, Lloyd thought this must have taken years to complete. Lloyd was walking in the seemingly endless tunnels for a while until he found his room. The door was heavily decorated, it was laced with gold around the sides and something was writing in oni in the centre.

Once he opened the door he couldn’t believe his eyes. The room was more extravagant than the jade palace. But it didn’t feel like home, he missed his late night chat with kai today and it didn’t feel right to not tell anyone, hopefully they weren’t awake yet. He sighed, knowing Kai he could sense when Lloyd wasn’t there the second he woke up. He would go back soon, just not today. Lloyd shook his head, he didn’t need them right now. They probably liked that he was gone, nobody there to screw everything up. Lloyd didn’t even bother to get comfortable he just threw himself onto the bed and tried to fall asleep, his problems could haunt him later. But for now he needed rest.

Chapter Text

Lloyds eyes shot open, he looked around, where was he? The walls of the room had disappeared into a black abyss similar to his visions. But this one was different, there was nothing happening it was pure emptiness. Lloyds heart thumped loudly in his chest, his mind was flipping between options on what was going on. There was a chance this was just a very vivid dream, but why would life be nice to him.

The green ninja held his breath, he felt sick with dread. His other visions didn’t take long to begin torturing him but this one was certainly taking its sweet time. He half hoped it would just start so he could get the trauma over with, his body shook with fear but at this point Lloyd was just sick of the visions at this point.

He began stumbling around in the space, he was shivering with panic and dread, but his mind was showing a different emotion, an emotion that didn’t really suit the situation, excitement. The endless space seemed to close in on Lloyd, now he was scared, he would do anything for the visions to disappear, he hated the feeling of being helpless during the visions, but he felt even worse about not being able to change the outcome. That irritated Lloyd more than anything.

Lloyd took a deep breath, his chest felt heavy with stress about what was about to happen, the vision was taking too long to start. His heart dropped, how long would he be stuck here? There was no way to end the visions that Lloyd knew of and nothing had started so it couldn’t end.

He was walking in the dark, this would be an amazing time to have night vision, but that was not going to happen any time soon. He could see the shadows of something Lloyd couldn’t figure out what it was. Then, he heard something snap.

Suddenly the structure on the inside began to fall apart, the space began to crack and collapse. Lloyd braced himself for torture, his knees were weak with horror as everything suddenly went black. He didn’t have time to react when the floor gave way and dropped him into shadow. The darkness engulfed Lloyd, his stomach seemed to be in his throat, sure some of his visions had been a little nerve racking, but this one was horrifying.

He was falling into a pit of nothingness, Lloyd reached his hand upwards, he still could see but it didn’t take a genius to tell he was falling deeper and deeper into the abyss, He held his breath and he shivered with fear, he was going to die here. And the ninja wouldn’t even know.

Lloyd landed in a strange forest, it looked like the one that surround the monastery, the trees danced in the wind and rustling could be heard in the bushes. Then, a group of people emerged, Lloyd couldn’t make out who they were, it was too dark to see much. Some of them had weapons and there weren’t many of them. Lloyd tried to look closer at who they were but his legs wouldn’t move, his eyes flickered at each of them, they seemed familiar. Lloyds stomach dropped as an explosion of thick black mist coated the land. Lloyd went numb with fear, what was he looking at. Chills ran down his spine, everything had stopped moving but the boy couldn’t gather the strength to investigate.

Lloyd just stood there for a bit. He wanted to look but his legs didn’t respond when he tried to walk, all he could do was look at the shadow like figures and guess who and what they were. Lloyd took a deep breath and began to head forward, but he was too late.

Everything went black and he shot up, sweat was dripping from his head, that had to be a dream, his previous visions weren’t like that. Lloyd stood up and stretched to calm down, there was nothing he could do, even if he did know what he had seen in his vision there was no way of changing it, so there was no reason to stress yet, he could worry about it when he woke up properly.