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Lloyd is beyond tired.
Sleepless nights and long fights are no strangers. He considers himself a pro at staying up all night when the bad dreams threaten to scare him or when he’s too anxious to fall asleep. It’s all good. He’s used to it.
But fighting in his own mind for days on end while his body is piloted around like a puppet trumps all of the times he’s stayed up for multiple days in a row.
He makes sure to never give Morro an easy time. Whenever he has the strength, he’s screaming and yelling at the ghost to let him go and leave his family alone. He’s forced to watch as Morro attacks his siblings, but it only fuels his anger and desperation. He fights for control, and he sometimes wins, but it leaves him drop-dead exhausted after each time he successfully breaks free.
He’s sure that if someone else wasn’t controlling his body, he’d collapse on the spot as if the strings on a puppet were cut. It’s a fatigue that aches throughout his whole body.
By the time that Morro discovers the tomb of his grandfather, Lloyd can barely pay attention to what’s going on around him. He’s too tired to keep his consciousness focused on his surroundings. His mind drifts, aimless and hazy. He feels like he’s floating and barely existent. It’s almost like he’s on the verge of sleep, with unclear thoughts and darkness promising to swallow him.
He’s so tired. Too exhausted to fight back anymore. Morro knows it. The ghost keeps pushing his body past its limits and he knows Lloyd can’t stop him. He would’ve dropped days ago if it wasn’t for the ghost’s vendetta.
He catches glimpses of his surroundings. The ocean. An underwater cave. A room full of doors. A slide of ice. Looking into the golden Sword of Sanctuary.
None of it makes sense, and his confusion leaches out his energy. So he doesn’t try to figure it out.
Not until he realizes that Morro’s gone perfectly still and silent.
Morro’s never quiet.
“You see that?” The ghost forcibly drags Lloyd’s consciousness to the present. The Ninja grimaces at the pain and fatigue that follows. “They’re finding the Realm Crystal for me.”
He must’ve sensed Lloyd’s muddled confusion. “They’ll have no choice but to give it to me,” he whispers. It’s more terrifying than his usual loud aggression. “Not with your life on the line.”
Lloyd reels in panic. Or, he would’ve, if he could move.
“That’s right.” Morro uses a blast of wind to jump over some icicles that had circled around him like an ice cage. “The fools and their bleeding hearts.”
They’re not fools for trying to save me, Lloyd thinks weakly. It’s the first coherent thought he’s had in days. The action of even thinking it saps more energy from his beaten mind.
“They are. You want to know why?” Morro heads towards the hole in the floor that the others created. “They’re too predictable. They’ll give me the Crystal for you.”
Lloyd knows this. He doesn’t want them to do it. His life is a small price to pay for saving all of Ninjago. But it’s not like he can tell them that; even if he could, they’d never listen.
Morro jumps down the hole. Before him is a stone ledge that looks down on a large cavern. Something bright blue glows from down there, and Lloyd can hear talking—his siblings. He wants to cry. He misses their voices.
Without warning, Morro separates from his body.
Lloyd gasps in alarm as he crumples to the ground in a boneless heap. His heart pounds. He feels cold cave air fill his lungs in raspy breaths. He can feel, and pain floods him. Morro had not treated him well; not to mention the battle wounds that his siblings were forced to leave on him.
The ghost’s cold hand wraps around the back of Lloyd’s shirt. He winces as his aching limbs are forced to move when Morro lifts him off the ground and holds him in the air. His head dips forward, but only for a moment. As soon as he feels the sharp edge of the Sword of Sanctuary touch his neck, he instinctively arches his head away from the blade.
He can hear Kai. “How does it work?” The Fire Ninja asks quietly.
Lloyd briefly closes his eyes to try and shut out the pain in his body that comes when Morro walks forward. His body swings uselessly.
“How it works is you’ll hand over the Crystal, or say goodbye to your friend,” Morro sneers at the gathered Ninja below.
Lloyd keeps his eyes closed. He doesn’t want to see his brothers’ faces as they take in his appearance. Morro’s putting him on display—how he’s lost every ounce of fight in his beaten body; how he’s pale and sickly and completely helpless. He flinches when the sword at his neck presses into the soft skin and draws a thin line of blood.
He can hear his team whispering. He desperately hopes that they take the Realm Crystal and leave him. He’s as good as dead anyway.
“Time’s up! You leave me no choice!” Morro’s voice suddenly screams in his ear. Lloyd startles and cracks his eyes open. He must’ve zoned out for a while. The other Ninja stand in a group next to a grave, holding the Realm Crystal, facing them. Lloyd’s gaze locks onto Kai. His brother has a determined expression.
No… Lloyd can’t manage more of a thought than a silent plea towards his brothers. He doesn’t want them to give up the Crystal. But it looks like they’re going to.
His prediction proves accurate when Kai throws the Crystal towards them.
Morro laughs in glee. He drops the Sword of Sanctuary in order to catch the Crystal. Lloyd’s head automatically bends forward now that the blade isn’t centimeters away from ending his life.
Suddenly Morro screams.
Lloyd sees a red-hot Realm Crystal plummet towards the river below their ledge.
He didn’t even realize there’s a river in the tomb.
Morro lets out a furious yell. It’s the only warning Lloyd has before the ghost throws him over the ledge and he plummets without a sound into the water below.
Cold envelops Lloyd’s body like an icy blanket. The shock makes his eyes snap wide open. He can see the blurry surface of the water above him. Black spots already dance in his vision. In his hazy state, all he can think is Cold! He doesn’t even realize that he should be panicking as he sinks farther away from air.
Lloyd’s body is too tired to even attempt to swim. He feels detached as he drifts downstream. The current pulls him wherever it wants.
His heart flutters. He can’t keep his eyes open, so he lets them slide closed. For a long moment, it feels like he’s possessed again, and sinking into the deepest depths of his own mind. The world goes quiet and numb.
He doesn’t realize that he’s slipping away.
There’s a moment of peace. It’s calm and warm and painless. Lloyd can take a metaphorical deep breath and for once everything is quiet.
He’s yanked back to the present when he feels sharp pain in his chest. His body seizes and water spills from his mouth.
Lloyd is dimly aware of being turned onto his side. It eases the flow of water from his lungs as he continues to hack up mouthful after mouthful. He gasps for air between breaths. His heart beats frantically as if it remembers it’s supposed to do something.
As the water leaves his lungs, the pain returns. Lloyd’s limbs feel weighed down. Everything hurts. He has a massive headache already forming. His too-thin body trembles violently and he can’t bring himself to move.
Luckily, he doesn’t have to. Strong arms lift him upright. His head bows; he lacks the strength to hold it up. He’s gently pulled against something warm.
Lloyd forces his eyes to open. They only obey until he can make out a sliver of what’s going on. He can see the wet cave floor and the river beyond it, plummeting into a dark void just feet away. He can see red fabric.
Kai. Lloyd subconsciously presses into the warmth around him as his breathing finally evens out and his frantic heartbeat slows to a normal pace. Kai tightens his grip around the Green Ninja’s fragile body and says something. It’s muffled and echoes uselessly in Lloyd’s ears.
Different colored feet appear in his vision—white and blue and dark green. Kai gently tilts his head back until it rests on the Fire Ninja’s shoulder and he can see better. Zane, Jay, and Cole all stare at him with wide, scared eyes.
Lloyd blinks hazily. He can see their lips moving as they speak, but he can’t understand. He sees a ghost in front of him but he can’t bring himself to be scared. He continues to shiver uncontrollably as his vision goes in and out.
A hand rests on the back of Lloyd’s head. He flinches in surprise at the action but immediately leans into it. His eyes finally close, and he’s seconds away from drifting off again.
He hears a voice whisper to him, and for once, the words are clear.
“You can rest, buddy.” Kai’s voice wavers but Lloyd can tell he’s trying to be strong. “You’re safe now. We gotcha.”
It’s not like Lloyd can stay awake any longer even if he wants to. But knowing that he’s safe, he’s with his brothers, he’s free, is enough to send a wave of relief crashing over him. It steals his adrenaline.
Sleep comes easily.