Author's Note:
Greetings Everyone! After a month long hiatus, Enter the Ninjaverse is back! This arc was perhaps the longest thing I've ever edited before. Originally, this was only 14 chapters, but after extensive editing, it's now grown to 18 chapters. There was so much for me to have in this one arc! I want to sincerely hope that you do indeed enjoy your time with it.
For those of you who aren't aware, Enter the Ninjaverse: Universal Deviations has been out for a few weeks! The fic will be a series of small, independant chapters of the main NV cast prior to the events of NV occuring. It's my way of showing small stories that I didn't have time for in the main fic! Please check it out at this link: (Fanfic: s/13484858/1/Enter-The-Ninjaverse-Universal-Deviations )
Finally, the hiatus is now over! I will go back to posting weekly chapters. This new world is going to be a rather complex one… so you might want a map! (Imgur: /rioosqk)
Enjoy!
"Don't worry about a thing, son," Garmadon smiled warmly, "You've already brought them together. Just go out there and give the speech like we rehearsed."
"Yeah… I know, dad…" Lloyd sighed, "I'm… just worried, you know? This is important!"
"And the fact you know how important it is means you respect your position," Garmadon nodded his head, "Just go out and give your opening speech, I will handle the procedures from there."
"Yeah… yeah… gosh this was way easier on the battlefield…" Lloyd sucked in a breath, "Alright… alright, let's do this!"
With a small push, the two doors massive hall opened. Light poured around Lloyd, for a moment blinding him with its radiance. When it cleared, he found himself in the middle of a massive circular room. All at once, all of the leaders seated inside turned towards Lloyd. He smiled gently and adjusted his robes, the golden fabric shimmering in the lights floating along the ceiling. As he stepped forward into the room, the assembled leaders watched him with rapt attention.
"Members of the First Tribal Assembly!" Garmadon called out, "It is my honor to present your Founder and Dragon Lord, Lloyd Garmadon!"
The room erupted in applause as Lloyd stepped forward. The seats were situated around a massive round washer table. In the center of the washer housed a massive crystal placed within the middle of a ring of rocks, each the color of each tribe's element. The crystal cycled colors of each of the tribes, creating a warm and beautiful centerpiece for the room. Lloyd's chair was painted in gold, while each other was painted again with each tribal color. He stood in front of his chair, overlooking the room.
Yeah, this was definitely far easier to do when he was making a grand and booming statement across a battlefield. He forced his hands to calm down, clasping them in front of himself to do so. He shut his eyes, and when he opened them they shone a cyan. Calling upon the element of sound, he began to speak.
"Members of the Assembly!" Lloyd projected, "In the beginning, the First Elemental Master tamed the elemental magic of this world and shared that gift with the Firstbourne to drive the evils from this land for us to live in. Together, they turned this world into a space where we could live and prosper. He split that magic into the elements we use today, decided by the traits of the Firstbourne's first clutch. With these dragons for protection, he granted those in this world the power to wield those elements, and with it, the birth of the tribes. So we grew, we thrived, and we expanded, growing closer to our elements with each and every passing day. While we grew apart, in the places that the first clutch chose as their own, soon, we came to know one another once more. We populated the World, and slowly, we grew to see it as far more than each tribe alone.
"Two months ago, however, none of us would ever have imagined that we could meet in a place like this. We stood on the edge of destroying everything we had, all thanks to Chen. Chen turned us against one another, ready to kill one another for his own goals. Had it not been for all of you, working with me, to help tear down the fear that Chen instilled in us all, we might never have seen another day. Yet here we are, standing against everything Chen wanted, while we ready ourselves to have the first union of all the tribes!"
Lloyd inhaled slightly and gestured to a massive glowing core in the middle of the room, "This crystal was taken from the Firstbourne's nest. It represents the fact that we have come together. No longer will the tribes live apart and isolated. We are moving into a new life together, one where our unity will bring us closer than any war ever could. While many of you see me as the one that brought you together, it was each of you that allowed for this to happen. As we gather here, let this be a sign of our unity, our duties, and most importantly, the fact that nobody will ever be able to alter our destinies but ourselves!"
The room erupted into applause once more. Lloyd let the element of sound fade from his body. His eyes returned to normal, to which Garmadon gave him a subtle smile. Lloyd gave a long sigh of relief and slowly stepped backwards, allowing for his father to take the stage.
"With that address, I, Garmadon, the descendant of the First Elemental Master, father of the Dragon Lord, declare this Assembly open!" Garmadon raised his arm, and from it a small burst of purple soared forward to strike the crystal. The crystal shone for a few moments, then its surface was filled with the colors of every tribe present.
Garmadon stepped back, allowing Lloyd to take his seat. As he did so, he gently relaxed into the chair, placing his hands into his lap. The chair was incredibly large, with his head barely reaching halfway up the back. The wood was styled to resemble the horns of the Firstbourne, which currently was napping outside of the building. Lloyd had told her that it would take only a few hours. He hoped it was; he would have to do his best not to move.
"Why Dragon Lord not leading Assembly?" Karlof, leader of the Metal Tribe, stood up and shouted from his seat a good angle to Lloyd's left, "Dragon Lord won war! Dragon Lord lead tribes!"
"Well, thanks for thinking I could, Karlof!" Lloyd smiled gently, "But my dad and I agreed, I need a lot more experience before I do that. So, for the first three months, Garmadon will lead the meetings, then we'll put it to a vote for three month cycles!"
"Mrr… Karlof accept this," Karlof slowly sat back in his chair, "Karlof mean no disrespect. Simply curious."
"We're all curious about things, Kar!" Lloyd nodded, "That's why we're holding this Assembly. We all want to discuss things and we all want answers. So ask any question that you like!"
"I have one," Chamille, Form Tribe leader, stood up, "Will the Amber Tribe have a seat here?" She turned towards an empty amber colored seat, "Shouldn't start this without her if she does."
"Skylar is currently working on restoring her own tribe in peace," Garmadon shook his head, "When she feels her efforts are ready, she will join us."
"On that subject," Neuro from the Mind Tribe stood up , "The subject of reparations was not fully completed at our initial gathering. I believe that is an important topic we must broach."
"I agree!" Griffin Turner, fast talking Speed Tribe master, stood up in the chair beside Neuro, "We agreed that the blame for the war won't be held against individual tribes, but some of us lost a lot of land during the conflict! Some of that land was very valuable."
"Any land that was taken was returned just as promised," Shadow Tribe Shade didn't bother standing up, crossing his arms and scoffing, "We did what we were told, that should be enough."
"Let us discuss this on a tribe-by-tribe basis," Garmadon declared, "We will move the topic of reparations up the list today. Let us begin with the tribes that submitted their pleas first, shall we?" With a small nod, an assistant brought in a large stack of papers up to Garmadon.
Lloyd, for his part, remained quiet. Lloyd had hoped he could just open this up and then leave, since he didn't really do this stuff. He didn't understand everything they were talking about -the word 'reparations' made him think of repairing one of Firstbourne's scales- but he knew that the topic of war would have come up eventually. His dad insisted him being there was important for them to see that he wasn't going to abandon the world, and that in this room, no tribe was unequal.
Of course, that wasn't to say he didn't understand the feelings in the room. Even now, he remembered the Shadow Tribe's surprise assault upon the Form Tribe, nearly wiping out an entire city before he could arrive and end the conflict, or how the Water Tribe had broken an important dam to slow Iron Tribe soldiers, and his attempt to both rescue the soldiers while justifying himself to Nya. He knew why they all felt this way; those on both sides had been manipulated, and now even as they worked to peace unwind the twisted state of the world, it wouldn't be simple. Just like Chen, nothing was as simple as it seemed.
It was times like these that Lloyd felt a wave of admiration that Garmadon was there for him. Had his dad not agreed to lead the Tribal Assembly, he wasn't sure what he would have done. He knew any wrong words could complicate the situation, and right now, the last thing he ever wanted would be for this to end. His dad acting as his representative was the best decision.
The primary tribes that were looking for reparations were the expected ones: Iron, Shadow, Nature, Smoke, Form and Water. Those were the tribes that had seen the most casualties in the war, and with the establishment that no one tribe could be held accountable for the attacks, from what Lloyd was understanding every tribe was paying into something that would be given to tribes that needed it. Neuro and Shade were arguing they had no money left to pay anymore than given, which the Fire and Lightning Tribe argued that all tribes would pay to that amount, and then Gravis said something about crops… Lloyd stopped listening after a certain point. It was so much he couldn't take it all in anymore.
His thoughts drifted backwards. Almost two years ago, a man named Chen had appeared with his daughter, Skylar, and began traveling from tribe to tribe, secretly in some places and openly in others, turning leaders against one another. His silver tongue had split tribes with longstanding alliances apart, and soon the world had been drawn along clear divisions. Of course, Chen's motives had been far deeper than simply wanting the world to burn, but when the situation had shown signs of open war, Lloyd was told that he needed to use a unique gift he had that nobody else had: while he had no element of his own, he could use every single one.
It'd been… hard. Harder than he'd every thought. Chen claimed to be able to do what Lloyd could, making him worthy of listening to. He'd come to Lloyd's home once, and that's when his dad had met his daughter that traveled with him, Skylar. Lloyd didn't like thinking about the things he saw, trying to undo what Chen did. Just getting time to train while the world readied to throw itself to war… he knew nothing was simple. But it didn't matter. Chen was in prison now, and Skylar was working on fixing the fact she was the last of the forgotten Amber Tribe.
No use reliving the past! Instead, Lloyd's mind was drifting. The building had a curved sloping roof. If he were to use speed and then at the last minute gravity, could he travel straight away from the roof's edge? Was that how force worked? When Newto trained him, he explained some of that but, he didn't remember! Maybe if he instead used wind… but no, that would push him up instead! He wanted to go straight out, like if he hit a floor. Maybe if he made something with ice...
"...Then it is settled," Garmadon planted his hands on the table, startling Lloyd back into the present, "We will modify our current system to a monthly program instead of a four month period in order to allow for the payments to be made."
Lloyd held back a yawn. Just from how long it felt… It'd been at least three hours by now! Lloyd was surprised he'd let his mind drift for so long, but then again he was thankful that he hadn't had to listen to the conversations.
"Can we take a break?" Kai from the Fire Tribe called out, "I think we'd like some time to… think about this."
"I believe a break would be beneficial as well," Zane of the far colder Ice Tribe replied, "Perhaps we should put a vote to this?"
"Very well then," Garmadon looked around, "All in favor of a twenty minute recess, say aye."
All but Bolobo -Nature Tribe- and Gravis -Gravity Tribe- spoke. Garmadon nodded, "Majority holds the vote. This Assembly will be adjourned for twenty minutes."
With that, the leaders all stood up and began to exit the room. Lloyd held in his sigh of relief until he had exited the two large double doors, at which point he shivered and stretched his legs. Politics wasn't even going to be his thing it seemed… not that he cared too much. His dad was great at this, so he just had to be here to do other things!
But that said, he was hungry. Given that some leaders were staying here for several days, there was a place where food was being served. Lloyd was going to hunt that down! He smirked to himself as he began making his way through the halls, weaving his way towards the outside of the hall encapsulating the entrances to the Assembly room and towards one that led through a series of meeting rooms where leaders were working.
As Lloyd turned the corner, all of the doors were completely shut. As he passed by one, however, it slowly creaked open just enough to show the darkness inside. A pair of eyes painted green watched as the Dragon Lord passed, staring at him intently. Lloyd continued on, but the door slowly opened even further. From inside the darkness, a green crackle began to form, concentrating around one point. Lloyd was just about to exit the hallway when the green glow vanished.
Lloyd's senses burned as he suddenly ducked, allowing for a green glowing fist to swing overhead. Lloyd instantly thrust his left arm out, reaching up to grab at it. The green glow vanished again as his assailant was suddenly in front of him, bringing a foot down for his crouched head. Lloyd's eyes turned white and activated speed, sending him backwards to avoid the kick. His eyes then turned navy as his hands surrounded in water, bringing together to launch a blast of it towards his attacker.
Said attacker's hands turned blue, and the water slowed down in the air caught in its aura. Lloyd's eyes shifted to red as he blasted the water with a column of fire, causing it to vaporize and fill the air with steam. With his attacker now hidden in the cover, Lloyd brought his left arm up and focused. A clock formed over his arm, with four markings that small hands were pointed towards. The two hands rotated together to point down, and the clock turned green. Lloyd's eyes turned the same color as time around him accelerated, bringing him in front of his attacker before they could react. With a single fist, he sent the foe down to the ground.
"Acronix!" Lloyd shouted, pointing his hand towards him.
"Lloyd…" Acronix hissed, slowly reaching up to take off his helmet down to reveal his braided hair.
"...You didn't tell me that you'd be training me during this trip!" Lloyd smiled widely, the clock disappearing as he opened his fist to extend a hand to the fallen twin.
"It wouldn't be good training if you knew it was coming," Acronix gratefully took the hand and pulled himself up with it, "But you're learning the Time Matrix incredibly well. Using steam to cover which power you were picking was clever."
"I just thought of that in the moment," Lloyd moved his arm to the back of his head, rubbing it bashfully, "I'm still kinda relying on forward, you know."
"As you should be," Acronix frowned, "Time is a dangerous element. I have still not gotten to truly help you learn how to use Slow. And until I can convince the dragon to let me learn them, you are forbidden from ever touching Pause and Reverse."
"Yes sir!" Lloyd stretched his arm, "I can't even get Reverse to work. Pause I can do on rocks but, not much else. Time takes up so much focus! It's so much more complicated than the other elements!"
"Most elements don't have subsets in them,." Acronix reminded him, "Time is unique like that. I'm just glad that you're taking it seriously. You know what will happen if you lose control, right?"
"Then my entire existence could get split across time," Lloyd recited, "And I could end up screwing over the entire world."
"Good," Acronix sighed, "It relieves me to hear you say that. Where were you going?"
"To get food!" Lloyd spun on his heel towards the hallway exit, "Come on, let's see what they have! I haven't eaten since this morning, it was a long flight in!"
"At least you had a dragon to fly you here," Acronix pointed out as the two began to walk, "Taking the speed cars isn't very straightforward. I have heard that Nya has sent some of her builders to work with Turner to find ways to store speed inside of them to make them faster."
"Really? That's awesome!" Lloyd beamed, "I gotta ask her about that later!"
"You'll have time after the Assembly," Acronix nodded, "Now let's go get food."
The two made their way down the hallway, with Lloyd giving a quick burst of wind to help dispel the steam as they left. Once there, they found themselves in a large open room barren sans for a few rough seats. From there, they made their way to a door to their left, opening it to reveal what looked to be a large open seating area.
"By the way," Lloyd turned, "Is that a new outfit?"
"Hmm?" Acronix looked down. He was currently dressed in a set of deep forest-green leggings and a shirt, with a small piece of chest armor placed on painted the colors of green and light blue, with those same colors reflected in his gauntlets and his shin guards. The metal armoring was spaced around his arms and legs, both decorative and formal while providing mobility above pure defense. On his back, he had a massive decorative sword holster with strange symbols carved in it, all of them glowing light blue and reaching from his shoulder off past his left hip. The hilt that stuck out from the top glowed with that same aura. "Indeed it is. After my last set was destroyed I wanted to have something new. I'm just glad someone pointed it out, finally. I feel a little overdressed."
The two shared a small chuckle as they entered the seating area. The two were currently the only ones inside sans for a few representatives of the Fire Tribe all gathered around Kai. Lloyd waved to him, getting a flaming handwave back. Acronix gave Kai a small bow to his head, earning another wave in return. The two continued past Kai and towards a lone man behind a small cut in the wall. Upon seeing them, he eagerly gave them two plates.
"They serve meat here?" Lloyd looked to his dish of several types of meat plated around a bowl of rice.
"They've integrated an entire array of foods from all the tribes by now," Acronix shrugged his shoulders, "Some tribes have special accommodations. Namely the Nature Tribe."
"Ugh…" Lloyd grimaced, "They… really like those weird herbs. I know they give them energy but, it's like eating rotten food sometimes…"
Lloyd took a seat at a table, Acronix sitting down across from him. Lloyd was still shocked at how old Acronix looked, especially given that he was only seventeen. Acronix was only five years older than him, and already Acronix looked as though he was a fully grown adult. It only made it more confusing when Krux had been in the picture, given the two were nearly indistinguishable aside from their voices.
"Has everything been alright since the treaty?" Acronix asked as he began picking at his food, "I tried to contact you but, well, it's been busy."
"Hey, you're leading an entire Tribe by yourself now!" Lloyd beamed, "I wouldn't think it'd be that easy. But I've been doing okay! I mean, I have to fly around a lot and give speeches. I mean, I never thought that making peace would be this… busy? Like, the battle is over, do I really have to go and talk to everyone again?"
"If it were that easy, then we wouldn't need wars," Acronix sighed with a smile, "As much as Chen used us, it wasn't as though he wasn't bringing up issues that needed addressing. We just weren't willing to talk to them eye to eye with everything that was going on."
Lloyd took a few bites, then he leaned a bit closer to Acronix, "Hey… are you sure you're okay?" Lloyd leaned back, "I know what being exhausted looks like and, you look pretty tired."
Acronix reached up to touch his face, letting out a small chuckle, "I had hoped I could hide it for a little longer. The truth is… no, Lloyd, I'm not okay. I'm exhausted and last night was the first night I managed to get more than a few hours of sleep."
"Oh!" Lloyd raised his hand, "I found that the power of mind actually works really well to sleep! If you need me to I can just hit you with a little bit of it and you'll be out like a light!"
"I appreciate that, but it's not the act of sleeping that's the issue, if that makes sense," Acronix shook his head, "The war took its toll on my tribe especially, and I'm beginning to feel its impact."
"Oh… you're talking about Krux," Lloyd frowned deeply.
"I visited him in his cell yesterday," Acronix shook his head, "It wasn't a very good meeting. I attempted to tell him that I could grant him mercy if he pledged himself to me, and perhaps shorten his sentence. He… well, I can certainly say that he wasn't very pleasant to deal with."
"I still don't get it," Lloyd shook his head, "Chen got up in his head and did things, why is he still like this after Chen is, you know… gone?"
"If Chen's power were that simple, then he'd have been stopped far before that," Acronix bit his lip, "It's more complicated than that. My brother and I were the first dual leaders in our tribe's history. We differed on some very important points. Chen didn't put things in Krux's head… he just pushed Krux to start putting them forward more aggressively. Ironically, it was whether or not we would go to the other tribes' aid when the fighting broke out."
"Right," Lloyd nodded, "I remember, you said that he wanted to take some people out and attack, and you wanted to stay out of the conflict."
"And now he's imprisoned for it!" Acronix shook his head, "Our dragon took his powers away for it! When it came to drawing the battle lines I couldn't get him to see there was no point to the fighting! I'd never even met Chen, I didn't know what was happening! I told him I didn't want to fight… and all he did was just tell me that I had let my cowardice get ahead of me!"
"It takes more strength to not fight someone pointing their hand at your throat than it does to just indulge them, that's what my dad said," Lloyd affirmed hard.
"But he's my brother, Lloyd. You don't… it's not as easy as that. I have to live with the fact that I… that I failed him. He's going to have to sit in that prison, for the rest of his life. I have to be the only leader now, and if I let him out it'll make me look weak. I want to trust him, want to just, just take him with me and I move forward, but he's determined to sit still."
"That's his choice," Lloyd frowned, "You can't be responsible for him. Like… I learned that when I was fighting the other tribes. If you sit there and think about what led to that, you can't do anything. You have to deal with what's happening now."
"I wish I still had your ability to look at the world with such positive eyes," Acronix admitted, "It would help with the people in my tribe."
"Whatcha mean by that, Nix?" Lloyd asked.
"Krux didn't just leave and go to join the other tribes alone," Acronix shook his head, "He brought about a third of our warriors with him. When they returned, I realized most of them had followed based on the fact they saw Krux as a leader, and they didn't want to disobey him. So, I told them that anyone that fought alongside my brother was pardoned so long as they swore loyalty to me. Almost all of them did, but my people are not forgiving of them."
"Really?" Lloyd asked, "I don't get it, you had them swear loyalty, right?"
"I did, but that doesn't matter," Acronix admitted, "The people know they turned against me, and against the tribe in a sense. I know many of them personally. They're good people. But people have labeled these 'Krux supporters' as almost traitors. I've been working hard to make sure this isn't held against them. My cousin, Teran, is among them. He's been doing all he can to protect them."
"Well that doesn't sound right at all," Lloyd raised an eyebrow, " I mean, if they're good people… they're good people!"
"People forget sin far slower than they forget a good dead, Lloyd," Acronix scowled, "It's not like I can just fix all of his. It'll take time, and at best I'll figure out how to get people to stop treating them badly. But even then, we weren't unhurt from the war either. The attacks hurt our supply lines, and money is tight…" Acronix paused, "I don't need to tell you that these details stay only between us, right?"
"Nope, I remember!" Lloyd gave a thumbs up, "It's not the business of other tribes to know what's happening in yours!"
"Good, if word got out that I was in the situation I was, I fear the other tribes would try to seize the opportunity," Acronix leaned back, "I've been working to make sure that these 'supporters' don't get targeted and making sure my tribe stays together. I have a few ideas, but they're going to take time. My tribe right now is a pot being slowly lowered towards the fire, and I need to make sure it doesn't boil."
"Would it help if I came and tried handling some things?" Lloyd asked, "Not sure what I could but… I mean, I do need to get more experience!"
"Heh… I really do appreciate that, Lloyd, but this is far more delicate than slinging around elements until someone gives up," Acronix chuckled, "But, I have not forgotten about your training either. I know that you still need to perfect your usage of the elements."
"I really wanna learn how to use all four," Lloyd looked up, "Are you sure there isn't anyone in your tribe that can teach me?"
"Nobody that I trust," Acronix frowned, "I have confidence you can use my powers without much more warning, but there is a reason when children in my tribe are found to be able to use reverse, we forbid them to touch it until they grow up," Acronix leaned forward, "Using forward is one thing, that simply skips things in small increments, and most people can't manage more than a minute at most. Slow doesn't damage time. Even pause isn't as dangerous as long as you have someone else there to un-pause you. But reverse… Lloyd, if you use that element, and you lose control over it, you'll be at risk to destroy yourself."
"I know, I know! I'm plenty afraid of that!" Lloyd nodded his head, "But… and this is just me thinking here, if I can use forward, why can't I use reverse?"
"Because more than anything, going back in time is dangerous," Acronix sat back, "Time is not a straight line. It's a tangle of multiple timelines that all converge around one central line. If you go back in the past and alter something, then you're tearing threads from that main line. If you unravel too much, you could cause everything to create a new timeline. Usually, this isn't something that's noticeable, but even still, you could do something terrible, Lloyd, and no amount of forward will bring you advice."
"Well, I can't even get reverse working, so… that's a good thing!" Lloyd nodded, "I really wanna spar with your guards again though. It was fun, all of them slinging their powers around, making me have to think on my feet, it's so crazy when you gotta worry about everything around you!"
"I'll have you enroll in Temporus next time you visit the tribe," Acronix chuckled, "You remember those matches, yes?"
"Mhmh! That's how I saw about the whole 'teleports behind you' thing you do," Lloyd chuckled, "Maybe I could even challenge you one day!"
"The day that you beat me, is the day that I give you Aevum for your own personal weapon," Acronix smirked.
"You're bluffing," Lloyd spoke immediately, "You'd never give up your sword like that!"
"I think you have enough control over your forward power to wield it," Acronix stood up, showing the hilt of his sword to him, "You've tried to use it before, haven't you?"
"Yeah… that thing is weird," Lloyd grimaced, "Just how much energy did you pour into that thing?"
"Every day for four years I poured slow energy into until the sword had fused with it," Acronix nodded, "Just holding it will start to slow your body. If you don't coat yourself in perpetual forward, you'll never be able to use it."
"And it'll transfer that slow energy into anyone that it touches, right?" Lloyd asked.
"That's the reason I use it," Acronix sighed, "It was Krux's idea, actually. He was working on making a set of gauntlets with pause energy in them, before..."
Acronix trailed off, his recollection of his sword being taken away as thoughts of his brother crept back into his head. Lloyd, noticing this, quickly stood up and grabbed hold of Acornix's hand. Acronix, looking down at him, let himself get dragged to his feet before Lloyd let go and crossed his arms.
"No use being sad!" Lloyd grinned, "After this Summit, I'll fly you back to your tribe on Firstbourne and you'll train me! That'll get your mind off everything. The easiest way to get your mind off things is to spar. If you have time to worry, you have time to train."
"That's a rather simple way of thinking," Acronix felt a smile tugging his lips again, "But, not an unwelcome one. It will be difficult to get the time for that, Lloyd."
"Then you'll just have to work extra hard to keep your mind off him even more!" Lloyd punched the air, "Plus, I have all sorts of ideas! I wanna see if using speed while you use forward means we see each other in the same time!"
"Perhaps," Acronix nodded, "Well, it will be time to return to the meeting soon, we've talked a rather long while. Let us get back so we can indeed get ready to leave!"
Lloyd turned to guide Acronix out of the room, but the doors to the cafeteria-styled area opened up to reveal a figure that made his heart drop a bit. The woman in question wore beautiful navy blue robes that were styled to be frilly, free and aerodynamic. She had a hood over her face, showing only her eyes to the people present. She was clearly a beautiful woman if the curves under her clothes showed anything. Acronix in particular was stiffened as she walked forward towards them, her arms behind her back and her voice scathing as she spoke to them.
"We are beginning again," Bansha stated firmly, "We should return."
"Right!" Lloyd attempted to smile as he walked past Bansha, "Sorry, we were on our way back now!"
Acronix attempted to follow past Lloyd, passing by Bansha as he did. Bansha reached out and gripped hold of Acronix's wrist as he did, squeezing it hard. Acronix took a step back, putting his head right next to Bansha's as she spoke to him with a voice dripping with venom.
"Do not think this Summit means that I forgive your tribe for what they did to him," Bansha growled, "Your brother is a murderer. Do you not have the spine to make sure he isn't allowed to hurt anyone else?"
"What happened to Morro is an inevitability of war," Acronix stated back firmly, "They met each other at the wrong place and wrong time. I don't know what happened, but you shouldn't hold an entire tribe responsible for what happened to him."
Bansha's grip began painful as she squeezed, "Do not look down on us, Acronix. Just because you manipulate time doesn't mean that you can avoid it when your time comes."
"Is that a threat?" Acronix asked with a hint of darkness.
"I would never make an open threat to you," Bansha slowly let go, "But even if this Summit makes us closer to together, as long as I'm in charge, I will not have anything to do with your tribe."
"Then don't," Acronix drew his arm back, "There's no point for you to forgive me if you don't feel you should. I wouldn't hold such an open hostility at a place of peace. It'll ruin our atmosphere."
"Hmmphm," Bansha stepped back, "The atmosphere here is thick with hypocrisy. Just because that kid thinks that he can make the world a better place, doesn't mean it's that simple."
"That kid?" Lloyd spoke up from behind her, "Are you saying you refuse to be apart of this place?"
Bansha turned around in light shock, but it wiped from her eyes almost as quickly as her chilly exterior came back in, "Of course not. I cannot allow the Wind Tribe to fall behind these things. But I am saying that ideals of peace are only upheld if you have the strength to do so."
"You're talking to the only guy here that can use literally every element," Lloyd smirked, "Not hard to do."
Bansha didn't say anything else, instead she just bowed her head and made her way back out of the room. Lloyd looked up to say something to Acronix, but he cut Lloyd off and gestured after the door.
"We should follow her," Acronix stated firmly, "It would be wrong of us to attempt to add to the sins she has against us in her mind."
Lloyd followed after Acronix, looking back towards the room and following after him. The mood of the room had evaporated, leaving him back in the reality of the world that he lived in. He took a deep breath as he followed the leader of the Time Tribe, steeling himself for another few hours of boring procedures.
"Uugghhh…" Lloyd landed in the pillows on his bed, snuggling them up tightly as he did, "I don't even know how that was so tiring!"
Garmadon chuckled as he stood in the doorway, "Listening to people can take as much energy as fighting them. You'll learn more about why this is all important when you grow older."
"Then I just wanna stay twelve forever…" Lloyd rolled over in his bed, planting his face into them, "I just had to sit there all day! I couldn't follow anything!"
"I suppose that means you'll sleep rather well then," Garmadon smiled, "Tomorrow you do not need to be there for the full proceedings. I know how boring they seem to you. I'll get better in time. Do you need anything else before I leave for the night?"
"More excuses not to go back there tomorrow?" Lloyd asked.
Garmadon chuckled, "Goodnight, then, my son. Be ready for tomorrow."
"Goodnight, dad," Lloyd waved a hand to him, "Love you."
"I love you too," Garmadon warmly chuckled, closing Lloyd's door as he left.
With his father gone, Lloyd stood up and removed his robes. His room was rather small, but he had requested it that way. When building this place, the others had requested massive and elaborate rooms for each leader. Lloyd, however, didn't see the point in all that space. If he had a bed, someone to put his clothes and a bit of room to walk around, that was good enough for him! He threw his robes off and instead slid on a pair of silks he'd gotten as a gift from a family he'd rescued outside the Form Tribe. They made the perfect bedclothes he found. Most things that came out of the Form Tribe were the absolute best… like pillows!
Speaking of pillows, Lloyd flopped onto them again. He stretched his limbs out with a smile on his face, getting out what energy he could before he finally drew the sheet over himself. As he laid back into the bed, he looked up to the ceiling. Tomorrow, he'd have to spend time while his dad excused him to go outside and train. Having eighteen elements to learn was difficult, and if he counted time as four then it was twenty-one! It was fun to be able to just sling them around and see what he could come up with.
He closed his eyes. The Summit was coming together. He'd spent months running around and putting down fights, saving people caught in between them, and undoing the pain that Chen had caused. It'd been hard, really hard. In fact he'd call it the hardest thing he ever had done in his life. But he'd won, and now he was getting to experience the reward. Everyone was together, and now they had the chance to fully rebuild this place into something even stronger than before.
Lloyd's eyes turned purple underneath his eyelids. Neuro's advisor, Synan, had taught him this trick. While normally sleep would put his mind completely out, he could apply a bit of mental energy and allow him to enter what was closer to a trance. This way, while he couldn't dream, he'd be able to be aware of the world around him. Given how dangerous the wild was, he'd learned how to do this rather quickly. For almost an hour, he let himself drift away into sleep like that, half aware of the world around him, and half aware of his sleep.
Had Lloyd not been in that state, he wouldn't have felt the figure hovering over him. At first, he didn't think anything of it, but when he heard what sounded like the shifting of clothes, his eyes opened wide. A shadowy figure was standing above him, holding what looked like a sharp object pointed down at him.
Lloyd's eyes turned a bright yellow white as his hands shot up from the sheets. Underneath them, a ball of light formed in his hands, firing up into the air and passing through the sheet to shine brightly in the room. The light caused not only the one hovering over him to duck and cover his eyes, but two of his companions behind him. Lloyd leapt up to his feet, one arm over his own eyes to shield him before he looked to the figure in front of him.
The figure that had tried to stab him swung wildly at him, showing he was indeed holding a large knife. Lloyd dropped the ball of light from above him and his eyes went gunmetal. The knife bounced off his chest that had just turned metal underneath his silks. As it bounced backwards, Lloyd grabbed hold of the attacker's wrist and brought his foot up. He delivered a hard kick to their chin, his foot recoiling when he felt that it was both metal and hard. A helmet covered their entire face, and Lloyd hissed in pain as his foot retracted.
The other two in the room made their move. Both of them raised swords and shot towards him, seemingly going to gut him from both sides. Lloyd growled, his eyes switching from gunmetal to electric blue. From his fingertips on both hands, sparks formed and then shot out in all directions. The one he was holding onto was given the brunt of the shock, while the other two were sent to their knees. As the one in hand went limp, Lloyd threw him backwards and brought his fists up to his face.
"You wanna try again?" Lloyd smirked, "I got a lot more where that came from!"
The three twitched on the ground. One of them stood up and looked towards the other two, giving some sort of strange gutheral noise. The others turned to him and gave that same noise right back. The three stood up, weapons drawn. Lloyd readied himself for their next assault.
Instead, the three sheathed their blades and kicked the door to his room open. As it slammed out into the hallway, the three raced out quickly. Lloyd, blinking, was stunned until the last one had left before he leapt off the bed and immediately ran after them. As he entered the hallway, the three were already running down the long corridor.
"Son?" Garmadon threw open the door across the hall, his staff in hand, "What's going on, I heard noises!"
"Someone just tried to attack me!" Lloyd shouted, "I'm going after them right now! Go check on the others, see if they were attacked!"
"You were attacked?!" Garmadon shouted, but Lloyd had already focused. His eyes went silver as he placed his hands on the ground. In a flash, his body was enveloped by speed, soaring straight down the hallway. He covered the ground it took them to run in fifteen seconds in two. The three had just turned the corner from the hallway when he stopped.
The floor of the building was laid out like a wheel, and Lloyd had just ran down one of the spokes. The curved surface for the outer wall was almost entirely glass, showing the brilliant moonlight up in the sky that shone down on the grassy plains surrounding the building. Given they were on the second of the three floors, they were decently up in the air. The three backed up towards the window as Lloyd lit his fists on fire with red eyes.
"Stop right there!" Lloyd ordered, "I'm taking you down-hey!"
The three would-be assassins each drew their blades, stabbing the glass behind them, cracking it. The three turned and kicked the glass, causing it to shatter. As the wind of the night air blew in towards them, the three shoved themselves through the jagged hall and leapt off towards the ground. Lloyd rushed up to the hole, finding it too jagged for him to get through himself.
"Oh come on!" Lloyd groaned, reaching forward and placing his hand on the glass. The heat of his hands turned into ice as he caused the glass to rapidly contract, a neat trick he'd learned by accident in the Ice Tribe. With a kick of his foot, the glass shattered out into the night, which he immediately leapt through into the open air.
The three had hit the ground below him, immediately rushing away from the building. Lloyd thrust his hand forward, sending a jet of frigid ice towards the ground. The three barely scrambled aside from being flash frozen. Lloyd instead switched his element back to fire, this time sending jets of flame from his feet that propelled him forward. He soared after them in the sky, the three only giving him a quick glance.
The three rapidly approached a massive river. They each stopped at its edge, looking down into the rushing waters nervously. Lloyd landed in front of them, burning the ground as he did. He lit his fists on fire again and stepped forward towards them steadily as they moved closer to the rushing water behind them.
"I'm only going to say this one more time!" Lloyd shouted, "Give it up right now! You've seen how strong I am!"
The three raised their fists at him, but not their swords. Lloyd took a step towards them, making them tense up. The flames in his hands grew brighter, starting to singe the ends of his silks.
"I'm serious!" Lloyd spoke, "I'll bring you in! This is your last chance before I freeze you all solid!" He looked to his hands, realizing he had the wrong element in them and switching the flames to ice awkwardly, praying they didn't notice.
The three looked back down to the river, then back to him. When they didn't say anything, Lloyd shook his head, "Fine, I tried to be nice!" Rather than using ice, however, he readied to alter their gravity and crush them into the floor. Given they were standing still, it was far easier to visualize than trying to sling ice at them.
Suddenly, all three pieces of armor completely collapsed. Lloyd was so shocked at what happened, he didn't move until they were already fully empty. He rushed forward towards them, canceling out his elements and looking down at the things in front of him. He looked towards the river, but he saw nobody in it! He looked back down to the armor, confused as he lifted up the helmet. There was nothing inside but darkness.
"What… what the?" Lloyd asked in confusion, picking the breastplate of the armor up. He looked the armor up and down, studying its look and composite. Now that he wasn't chasing them, he noticed the strange frills on them, shaping, and the fact they were colored red and orange across the breast. The paint looked fresh, but the armor was older.
"Is… is this Time Tribe armor?" Lloyd questioned allowed, rolling it around in his hands, "No it's… no, it's not like that. Why is it all boxy? And… what?" He gripped hold of the armor under his arm. If this was Time Tribe armor, then those two colors were the colors that Krux wielded. And Acronix had that new armor set with his colors on it…
"Acronix!" Lloyd shrieked, "If they're Time Tribe…!"
Lloyd immediately turned around, still carrying the armor under his arm. When he moved forward to start using speed to get back, however, he felt a wave of exhaustion briefly wash over him. He'd burned through far too much of his stamina in such a short amount of time. He panted, shaking his head and rubbing it. He shouldn't have gone switching them so fast like that, it drained him far faster than he should let it!
Regardless of that, Lloyd forced himself to switch back to the element of speed. Using forward time would do the same thing, he knew, but the pure concentration he needed to manipulate the power of time wasn't good on his head right now. Easier to just use something like that. He quickly shot forward, running along the grass until he had looped around the building to find the entrance to the main hall.
Lloyd rushed up the stairs to the third floor, racing directly into the hallway that he knew many of the leaders were staying. As soon as he entered one of the hallways, he immediately stopped and gripped the wall to catch his breath. He shook himself, standing back up and deciding to rush down the hall. It wasn't long before he found many people crowded around one of the hallway doors.
Acronix lay against one of the walls, clutching his side. Blood was pouring out of a wound in it. In his other hand, he held Aevum fully drawn and the bright blue sword quivering in the air. Across the hall from him, an empty set of the same armor that he was carrying lay there, vacant and empty. A pair of guards from the Time Tribe were bent down beside Acronix, both of them using reversal energy to try to close up Acronix's wound.
"Acornix!" Lloyd shouted, crawling down onto his knees and moving up beside him, "You were attacked too?!"
"You were attacked?" Acronix shouted, only for the pain of his wound to get to him, "Urgh… I was. I managed to open Aevum just in time to slow them down to miss anything vital…. Guh, it still hurts though," He winced, "I cut one of them down but, they simply vanished after that."
"You too?" Lloyd shook his head, showing the armor he held in hand, "I chased them out to the river, but when I cornered them they just collapsed! I didn't see anyone in the river either."
"Then it looks like our attackers were one in the same…" Acronix coughed.
"Sir," One of his guards had her hands pulsing with orange energy, "Please, hold still. We can close your wound but we have to concentrate on it! You moving around is going to stop us."
"Of course…" Acronix slumped back against the wall, "Let me… let me see that armor…"
Lloyd held the armor up to Acronix. Acronix laid his sword down, reaching up to take hold of it. As he did, he turned it around in hand, and once he compared it to the other one. They looked to be the same. When he saw the coloration on it, however, his eyes began to widen.
"T-This is the armor that… it isn't the same but it resembles that which… which Krux's personal guards wore…" Acronix coughed, "Our assassins are… are they from my Tribe…?"
"But how'd they just disappear like that then?" Lloyd asked, looking up to the guard healing Acronix more expectantly to get them to hurry up.
"I don't know…" Acronix shook his head weakly, "But, this is bad. This is very bad. This means that… it means someone in my Tribe tried to kill me? But why… the war is over…!"
"Acronix!" Garmadon spoke up from the hallway, pushing past the other guard by Acronix to kneel beside him, "I did a sweep of the building with some of the guards. It seems you and Lloyd were the only ones attacked."
"Why just us?" Lloyd blinked, "Isn't everyone here like, a big target?"
"Do you have any idea as to why you were attacked?" Garmadon asked.
"No… but this armor, it's strange but appears like my tribe… from Krux's guards," Acronix held the armor plate up, "It seems this was an assassination attempt on my life… and likely Lloyd out of sheer oppurtunity."
Garmadon looked the armor over, confirming what Acronix said. When he looked to the armor across the hall, he didn't need to ask about why they were like that. He instead just nodded his head and looked to his son.
"This armor is… strange. It looks unlike any tribe I've ever seen… and rectangular," He shook his head, "We'll keep the armor and see what we can learn! Are you hurt?" Garmadon demanded.
"No, just tired," Lloyd groaned, "Kinda overdid it on the elements chasing after them."
"We will need to suspend the Summit for this," Garmadon frowned, "I will inform the leaders tonight that they can make their arrangements to leave. We will need to reinforce the security of this building before we reconvene."
"But… but this is supposed to be what we worked so hard for!" Lloyd protested, "The Summit, the alliances! If, if we leave now-"
"If we don't leave now, more could die," Garmadon stated firmly, "I'm sorry, son, but we will be heading back to our home. Is your wound treatable, Acronix?"
The guard that was working on his wound finally sighed, dropping her hands. Acronix raised his bloody hand to show the damages had been healed, leaving nothing more than the blood stained skin. He gave a small grin to Garmadon in turn.
"Good," Garmadon looked out towards the hallway, "It seems that someone is already working to tear this government down from the inside. We will fight this, but for now, we must consider the safety of everyone here," Garmadon turned to his son, "I'm sorry, Lloyd, but it seems that your dream of peace will need to wait a little longer before it is realized. It seems not all the embers of war have been snuffed out just yet."