Hi everyone, this chapter is dedicated to the guest user 'lex luthor' who left my first ever negative review! There, you got the attention you so desperately wanted. If y'all could find some way to make sure they see this, that would be awesome, but whether they see it or not, it's here now. Honestly, thank you so much, I care so damn much about your opinion. I mean it's not like I write these stories for me to get things off my chest, to vent and talk about issues I have in my life. No, I write solely for you. And if it really does, as you said so elegantly in your review, 'suck' (honestly that's all you could come up with? 'This sucks'? Damn grow up and actually get some originality), then I am so sorry you had to deal with my story, thank you so much for voicing your opinion. Honestly though, why did you think you had any say in this? It's my story at the end of the day, my way of staying at least kind of mentally clear, my way of venting when needs be. I use my life to influence my stories, sometimes it's so minor, it's just one line of dialogue that actually got spoken around me, and sometimes it's major, such as a character's arc with battling mental health (e.g., the entirety of My Band). But at the end of the day, at least I'm creative enough to write my own stories, not to mention my own username, and I didn't just copy some well-known DC villain. So yeah, honestly, just shut the fuck up. Anyway, now that's out of the way, I have the next chapter for the rest of you!

Celine doesn't show up again for a while - a few days, by Lloyd's best estimate.

Steven's bullying has gotten to new points that the Green Ninja honestly didn't expect. He believed that even Steven wouldn't stoop this low.

Once again, Lloyd's body curls in on itself, his arms squeezing his aching legs against his bruised ribs, ignoring their screams for him to relieve the pain and pressure.

Tired, with thick shadows clouding the corners of his eyes, Lloyd allows them to close, the darkness stepping forward and scooping him into their embrace. Not even five seconds later, he is overcome with the familiar, eerie sensation of his skin crawling under someone's watch. Once more, his eyes snap wide open, landing on none other than Celine.

Her large eyes focus on him and track his movements, even as he rapidly scrambles into a sitting position further back from her than he had been before. Absent-minded, she starts scratching something off her arm, most likely a small speck of dirt.

"How did you get there so fast? And quietly - I didn't even hear you come in." Lloyd's mouth hangs open slightly at the end of his statement, which the small girl seems to take as a compliment in some way. Still not looking up, she takes a small breath before answering.

"You learn to be quiet as a kid here. And you learn quickly." Her voice is lower than usual, hushed, and he realises what she means. "I would have thought you knew that, Lloyd. But then again, you're not one of our verdants, so maybe not." There it is. Verdant. His eyes.

"What do you mean, 'one of our verdants'?" She lifts her gaze slowly, one eyebrow raised as if she can't believe he would seriously ask that.

"I told you - your eyes. They're green. Green is a colour of crime here. Having green eyes shows a possible connection to the one we only know as the Broken Emerald, a child of a lord, who grew up to rebel against their father, eventually killing him. That lord is often hailed as a hero or savior down here, but he didn't seem much of a hero to me when I first heard the story. I guess people have different opinions and standards when it comes to the ones to worship." Lloyd only nods, dragging the movement out as long as he can, his head trying to process the new information as well as he can. The 'Broken Emerald'?

"The Broken Emerald is mostly seen as someone who pretty much fell from grace or whatever the phrase is. You know, emeralds are shiny, pure gemstones, but this one is damaged, it's ruined. I don't know who chose that name for them, but I don't think the Emerald did themselves. I think they would have chosen something better, more complex to understand." she looks pointedly at Lloyd.

Does she think I didn't get it? I was just processing- (me in class)

A thud crashes through the walls of the Den, shaking the floor violently. Celine, despite her tiny, young form, barely moves, the tips of her hair quickly flipping over each other. Lloyd's eyes widen his hands slip across the vibrating ground, though Celine watches him intently, her brown pupils still tracking his exact movements. The shaking stops as soon as it had started, though a small chunk of the wall to his right, the highermost bit, tumbles down, dragging a small section of the ceiling with it. The compressed dirt slams against the floor, shattering roughly. Tiny pieces of dirt fly across the room, some slipping through the bars of Lloyd's cell to slap him across his right cheek. Larger bits jump from the ruined ship of dried mud, lifting a few inches off the ground before slamming down, some splitting in half, others cracking slightly and a couple simply land and roll over to their flattest side.

A wave of anxiety seems to take over Celine's face for a split-second before returning to its original, careless composure. Silently, she stands and turns away from Lloyd, facing the door she must have entered through. She looks over her left shoulder, her uneven bangs swinging on her forehead, and waves to him before walking out. She slips away into the shadows outside, and the tapping of her feet drifts into silence.

Not even twenty seconds later, Steven bursts into the room, a sword clutched tightly in his hand. His eyes land on the splintered dirt before immediately shooting to Lloyd, sighing quietly when he sees the blond teen still stuck in the cell. Lloyd rolls his eyes and inspects his nails out of boredom, as well as a secret attempt to frustrate the older man but he didn't need to know that. He picks a bit of dried dirt off his left middle fingernail. He hears Steven scoff before walking out, sheathing the sword as he leaves.

Sighing himself, Lloyd closes his eyes and leans back against the rough wall. He eventually manages to slip into the cold embrace of fitful, dreamless sleep.

Okay so this is out a lot sooner than the schedule should allow but whatever, I'm already behind on homework and schoolwork from last year, as well as this year, so let's just fall behind on the updates tooAnyway, I'll have other stories updated soon, but for now have this againI hope you all liked this update and I'll see you all again soon. -XeroZero