Now, I know that the name of the chapter could be somewhat confusing. After all, it implies that I've had multiple 'worst days of my life' before. I know saying 'worst' implies I'm picking one day from my life to single out. But I'm sticking with it, because well, it often feels like I can take my life and parse it into smaller stories each with their own worst day.

Of course, to talk about that day, I have to discuss something that happened very soon after I was taken in by the ninja: I was captured.

As much as I find it almost infuriating exactly how annoying that fact is, it was entirely my fault. Of course the first thing I did when I got bored was decide to sneak onto a Serpentine bus and go straight to their headquarters. Looking back on it, the plan I used wasn't that much different from what Zane used to get into the Sons of Garmadon. Both of our plans were so similar in fact, I would say that if I hadn't dropped my miracas, I would have most definitely at least lasted until the end of that ceremony. I would have actually pulled off that dumb plan.

Oh, and before I continue with that, I think that I should bring up what I was doing before I was caught. I told Zane originally that I had washed his suit over and over again until it turned white again. I actually got a spare suit from Wu and simply gave that to him and sold the Pink suit to a collector. I know Zane has gotten questions about this before after that collector started showing off that suit. For a few of the readers that wonder why I did that in the first place, I was an immature child who, as I spent the last chapter detailing, wanted attention more than anything else. I was on a pranking spree with all the ninja for the stay I had with them before it was back to being around snakes. The suit actually was actually me making an intentional accident with the laundry, but it worked out for me in the end.

Now that's out of the way, let me go ahead and get back to me being caught. Kai had just dropped me off at an Arcade to go hunt for Samurai X -who was Nya at the time- and of course it just so happened some Serpentine were nearby and traveling to Ouroborus. So I nabbed a nice snake disguise and hopped on the bus. The key element of my disguise was the maracas I constantly let bounce to help sell I was a snake. Solid plan.

When we got there, I ended up in the stands of watching Pythor vie for the title of Snake King. I don't fully understand it, but it looked like a big Slither Pit, which I did understand. I think I was the only one that noticed Skales throwing the match for Pythor, but that might have been because I was so angry at Pythor I wasn't paying attention to him. I think my original plan had been to see what was going on, go home to the ninja and then rub it in their faces that I had done something they hadn't. Of course, then I had to go and drop those dumb maracas while everyone was cheering for Pythor's victory.

Being captured by the Serpentine wasn't as bad as a lot of the ninja assumed it was. I think Pythor was so appalled that I'd so easily infiltrated their ceremony that he kept me alive at first out of spite towards me. Once he got his hands on the map to the Fangblades, the reason for keeping me alive changed. But I was given food when I complained enough, and Pythor didn't dare let any other Serpentine touch me. Only he and Skales were allowed anywhere near me.

The only time I've heard Skales laugh was when he visited me the night of my capture. He thought it was hilarious that I'd been thrown out of the Serpentine three times but still came back for more. That ignored the fourth time I wasn't there to try to make friends, but whatever. I thought Iwas being mature in telling him that, but I think it only made him laugh harder. I just remember he said I was lucky that Pythor hated me so much, or else I wouldn't have been around. Later when I learned more about the Anacondrai, I realized he had been right.

Pythor, however, wasn't angry with me when he talked to me. In fact, he sounded as amused as Skales was. I'm not sure why he was, but it seemed like he pitied me, and keeping me alive was almost his way of indulging that pity. I was a kid at the time, though, so to me it just looked like two guys came into my cell to laugh and gloat at me. Which, they were, but it was for different reasons.

Now, I wasn't really doing that much when the ninja came to rescue me. Pythor insisted that I be around him at all times as a symbol of something or other. I think he just wanted to humiliate me by keeping me in a cage. It worked, especially after I saw that the ninja had come to rescue me. I'd caused them so much trouble, but they came to rescue me anyways. It was touching, if a little insulting that Samurai X didn't attempt to save me when they were there. I mean, I was right there, Nya, you could have easily just grabbed me or at least acted like you wanted to.

I wasn't a prisoner for very long, I think perhaps two months at most. Like I said, they kept me fed and didn't try to lay a hand on me. Once it was clear Samurai X and the ninja were allied together, Pythor's priority shifted from gloating to keeping me as insurance the ninja wouldn't just launch another attack on him like that. It certainly worked, even if at times I wondered what exactly his plan was with sending me after the Fangblade in that old pyramid. I don't even know how he got to me after I triggered literally every trap, but I was so relieved to still be alive after all of that I couldn't care less how they did. Skales eventually just there to get me and carried me back to my cage.

Now, one thing I should say is that while I was kept as a prisoner, Skales and Pythor continually talked to me. A lot of the time, Pythor was just there to gloat. He'd tell me about his plans and how he was going to get back at Ninjago. He told me about how his people had been strong and powerful -which I can attest personally, they were- and how he was getting revenge on them for locking them away with no food or chance to survive. (Although since Snakes are cold blooded, I wonder how Skales and the others survived in a tomb made literally of ice?)

I think in a sense, he was trying to impress upon me that nobody was coming to save me. He wasn't entirely wrong, since it wasn't until my dad came back the others made any headway whatsoever into getting me back. Given that the last thing I'd done to the ninja was prank them and drive them crazy, I was also worried that perhaps them trying to save me was just a fluke. It wasn't like they gave me books or games to play in my cage, so I had to often times either listen to the two of them, or just wait around until I died of boredom.

Skalees, strangely, seemed like the more reasonable one of the two. I say strangely given the fact he was the first one to betray me and cast me out of the Hypnobrai. Pythor talked about his plan, but Skales told me about what he wanted. Being trapped in that tomb had given him plenty of time to think. It was through him I learned that the average Serpentine lifespan was far longer than a human. But he also said some interesting things. Namely, that he wanted to eventually make a place for the Serpentine to live. He wanted to fight, and it was for that reason he sided with Pythor, but ultimately he wanted to create a place where he could settle down, lead his tribe in peace and, oddly enough at the time, raise a family. Having met Skales Jr., I can tell he wasn't lying.

Spending those two months being dragged around only when Pythor wanted to use me for his Fangblade hunting quest was actually more boring than it was disheartening. I mean, I knew eventually Wu would want to rescue me, so even if I spent my time worrying that the ninja might not want me, I knew that one day Wu would try to save me. I mostly remember trying to talk to the guard that stood by my cage when Pythor wasn't there. Lasha actually was a pretty cool guy, all things considered. I mean, my poor attempts to persuade him to open the cage never worked, but at the very least he talked to me sometimes. Contrary to what some people think, Serpentine do all have names. I actually got to know a lot of them just by listening out of boredom.

The worst day of my life came on the last day of my imprisonment. Lasha had told me that Pythor was getting ready to go after the Fangblade in the Fire Temple. I'd never been there before, so I didn't have any idea of what to expect. The Serpentine had to bring extra water for me, since I wasn't used to the extreme heat. Actually, now that I think about it, Lasha was probably the one that kept giving me water.

I don't know how the ninja figured out that was where we were going. Pythor had wanted to use the Constrictai to go straight up into the Temple, but the pressure the heat of the volcano exerted was enough that we had to surface away from it. I wasn't worried so much about Pythor getting the third blade at the time, and more so worried about the fact that we were going into a volcano. I didn't know much about volcanos, but just entering the temple was hot enough I thought about ditching my cape. I didn't, because the look would have clearly been incomplete without it. I also think I never got to wash those clothes while I was captured either. I guess the burning heat masked a lot of it.

I wasn't paying much attention to what was happening on account of the fact that I felt like I was roasting alive inside my metal cage the entire time. The snakes were fine given their scales, but I wasn't. I eventually had to try to lay inside the center of my cage since the bars heated up so much it burned me through my clothes. I used to have a mark on my shoulder from when I fell against the side of the cage during what happened.

One thing that I should point out here, was that I had never seen my father before. I'd seen drawings of him and heard plenty about what happened to him, but I had never seen him before. When I saw him with four arms, I at first thought it wasn't him. But somehow, even if he looked different from what I'd seen, I knew it was him right away. And when I realized that my dad had come to save me… I'd never felt more happy in my entire life.

Of course, I wasn't happy for long. Pythor and the others retreated up the back exit to the temple, and in the process the snakes dropped me. I hadn't even realized what happened until I was falling. My cage fell into the lava that Kai had caused to start rising by using the Sword of Fire inside the temple. I later learned he'd been told specifically not to.

While I was sinking into the lava, I'd never felt so much fear before. I thought I was going to die. I didn't even see my father racing and fighting so desperately to get to me. I was trying as hard as I could not to sink into the lava. Of all my near-death experiences, that one is the one I remember the least about simply because so much more happened that day it gets jumbled together more than I can sort out.

When my dad did pull me out and hugged me, I felt like crying. I was so scared, relieved, happy and confused all at once. I remember dad telling me not to cry and to wait until I was safe to. We made our way back to the group, and I was all ready to go. I didn't think much on where my dad had come from, why he was there or what was going on. I just wanted to get out of there. And for a few moments, I was at that very point. I could have easily gone and just ran out with dad, and that would be that.

Then I saw Kai. I saw Kai, so desperate to go and prove himself he was willing to, by what I saw, kill himself trying to get the Fangblade even as the temple was about to erupt. As off putting and nasty the ninja had been to me while I was evil, how cold they were to me during my stay on the bounty, I felt scared. I didn't want anyone to die. It was my fault that they were there, and if Kai got hurt trying to get that blade… it'd be my fault. So I called out for him to try and get him to come back.

Looking back on my life, I believe the first time destiny attempted to assert itself on me was right there. The second I stepped forward to call to him, the ground under me collapsed. It didn't under my dad, or Wu, or the other ninja, only me. I was the one that fell. And if I hadn't fell, then Kai would never have found his True Potential, which would have meant he never learned the true identity of the Green Ninja. Destiny, it seems, was willing to put my life in danger just to show Kai what he needed to see.

In the moment, however, I was scared. I'd already nearly fallen in the lava, I didn't' want to again. But I knew Kai, and at that moment, I worried Kai could decide that the Fangblade was more important than me. When I called out to him for help, I wasn't trying to make a point to him. I was a scared little boy clinging to a sinking piece of rock and thinking this was going to be my last day alive. I wanted… I wanted to go home. And when he hesitated after I begged him for help, I was afraid that he was going to let me die.

I think Kai's choice at that moment is why of all the ninja, I grew closest to him first. It's easy for people to think that Kai is all inside his own head and doesn't think of anyone else. But at that moment, Kai was willing to give up his duty as a ninja, his own pride and his chance at finally proving he was the Green Ninja to rescue me. When he came over and grabbed me, it was like everything I knew about him suddenly made sense. We were going to climb to safety, but that was when the volcano erupted.

Part of me fully expected to die in that one moment. I saw the orange light and suddenly my body felt light. I wondered if that was what dying feels like -it does not- and if that was it. I'd seen my dad once before I died, and Kai had chosen to rescue me. Maybe that was how it was supposed to all end.

But we weren't dying. We were flying. Kai's True Potential was just like Wu would describe it: the fire inside Kai was enough that no flame could ever hurt him again. And he gave me that protection as we rode the explosion of the volcano out and to the Bounty. Kai chose that day to put his life ahead of mine, and it was the moment I realized that the ninja truly cared about me. I wasn't just a bratty kid that they were looking to get rid of. They… they were my family.

When we got back to the Bounty, I didn't think much about Kai collapsing. I ran right into my dad's arms, and cried. I cried for at least ten minutes. I was so scared, having almost died twice, having been left for dead, and just being so confused as to why he was there. He didn't ask for anything from me, and instead he just let me cry. I think the others realized I had to be alone, and they left me to cry into him. I let my hood get wet, I didn't notice my cape was singed or anything. I just wanted to be with my dad at that moment, and he let me.

Destiny, however, wouldn't let me have that happy moment for long. When we all met up in the main control area to talk, Kai said he had something to say. When we got there, I finally had cleaned myself up enough to get a good look at my dad. When I asked him if it was really him, I remember my dad's eyes looked misty for a few seconds before he assured me he was. I just took the moments to be happy he came for me. All I could think to ask at that moment was why he had four arms. Everyone thought it was funny. I was just trying to voice the confused mess of… everything I was.

What Kai revealed next, was something that I hadn't ever considered. I'd never even heard of the prophecy before. I wasn't sure what was going on, and what it was that Kai was talking about. I wasn't even really thinking when they put those weapons around me. I was just standing there, trying to piece together what Kai was saying. When they started to glow and crackle around me… it was like my entire world stopped.

Something clicked in me that day. Something inside me told me that the days of being that little immature kid, were over. I was the green ninja, the one that was going to defeat the Dark Lord. None of us had any idea who that was, but there was only one other person in the room that fit that bill. I didn't know what it meant to be the green ninja, but I knew that it meant something important. From Wu's reaction, I knew that it was something important.

"The battle lines have been drawn, brother. Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now, son versus father."

I will never forget those words. I will never forget the feeling of cold despair in my gut when I heard what was going to happen. I knew that from that moment on, I would never be able to be Garmadon's son again. I wouldn't be remembered as Lloyd, son of Garmadon. I would be remembered as Lloyd, the Green Ninja. In just those words, my entire life changed. Everything that happened to me from then on, was all because of this. I was the Green Ninja now. I was going to have to face and defeat my father. I was going to have to… to win.

After we all wondered what happened to the Fangblade -thanks to Jay blurting it out- I didn't do much else that day. It was already deep in the evening, and I just wanted to go and sleep. I went to the bed that Wu had shown me how stupid I'd been in, and I laid there for the rest of the day. At some point, I know I fell asleep. It didn't really matter, though. The only thing I could think of was the fact that now, I was going to have to face and perhaps… kill my father.

The first worst day of my life ended that night when I went to sleep no longer Lloyd Garmadon, but Lloyd Garmadon, the Green Ninja.

Lloyd slowly exhaled, leaning forward in the stool. Zane looked to him with a bit of worry in his eyes, attempting to see what Lloyd was thinking. Lloyd took a few more breaths, looking as though he was attempting not to cry. When he looked up to Zane, his eyes were firm, but from his words, Zane could tell he sounded exhausted.

"I never knew you felt that way, Lloyd," Zane looked down, "We knew that you wanted to avoid fighting your father, but to think you felt it so early on…"

"It's fine, Zane," Lloyd smiled, "Just, saying it all out loud helps. It really does. It's, hard to talk about it to a therapist when everyone in Ninjago sees me as a hero for, you know, saving it."

"Yes, I can see where those issues lie," Zane nodded, "Do you see these sessions as therapeutic, Lloyd? I'm afraid that I was not programmed to actively help with psychological stress."

"It just helps talking, Zane," Lloyd smiled, "I'm going to do the next chapter on my own. I'll give it to you after I finish recording it, ok?"

"That is up to you, Lloyd," Zane pointed out with a smile, "I am happy that I can help you with your book."

"It's way easier to talk and go through it all later," Lloyd admitted, "I feel like when I try to write it down I get all worried if it all makes sense, and then I stop and try to think and then time just all goes by while I barely get anything done. When I'm talking it all just… comes out."

"Everyone expresses themselves through a different form, Lloyd. You simply appear to have a preference for auditory venues," Zane explained, "There is nothing wrong in that."

"Thanks," Lloyd stood up, "I'm going to go get dinner. Thanks again!"

Lloyd made his way out of the room. Zane saved the audio file in his memory banks and stood up, following after him. The two had many more sessions to come.