Division

Varasach awoke to a distressed cry. The room was dark, and she struggled to make out the silhouette of Cole in the bed next to hers. They shared a living space, which consisted of two beds, a nightstand, and two small trunks of clothing. All somehow condensed into a room hardly ten feet long by eight wide.

The silhouette shuddered. Muttered something.

"Cole?" Varasach whispered.

Time seemed to stop as he froze. There was no sound, no movement. Then Varasach pulled her thick blanket around her shoulders and stood, bare feet tingling on the cold concrete. She leaned over his bed and touched what she assumed was his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out the tiny snoring bundle in his arms. Chedva. The poor child's few harsh weeks in this world had taught her to sleep through anything. Including her father's sporadic behavior.

"Yeah," Cole whispered back. "Why wouldn't I be all right?"

Varasach seated herself next to Cole, wrapped her arm around him, and stroked the side of his head. "A nightmare?"

Cole's head leaned ever-so-slightly into her soft touch. "It's nothing," he said. "I promise. Just an old dream. I've been having it for years. Go back to bed."

Varasach's thin lips pressed into Cole's temple. "What's eet about?"

"It's nothing, Vara," he said tersely.

Varasach pulled back and searched his eyes, which seemed to glow in the darkness. Like the embers of a dying fire.

"Was eet about your mother?" Varasach asked.

Cole shook his head.

"Your sister?"

Another negative answer.

"Then who?" Varasach stroked the many scars on his bare shoulders- he never slept with a shirt- as if each was a treasure.

And indeed, they were. Each mark from the whips, each knot in his pale skin from countless different beatings, each lump where his bones had been broken and healed unevenly, they were all precious. Even that ugly mark on his chest was revered by Varasach. They showed how strong he was, how much he loved his family.

Cole closed his eyes. "Everyone," he said. "Everyone's there. I...I carry the world in that dream."

His sweaty back, though broad, strong, and scarred, felt as delicate as wet paper under her hand.

"...And I fail," he said. "I just...I'm expected to do great things, and to be a hero. But when the time comes, I mess it up. And people pay." He laughed humorlessly. "I know, it's foolish. But I've been having it since I was a kid."

Varasach shushed him.

This was the way Cole was. She had known from the moment she met him nearly three years ago. Cole- terrified, young, and fresh off a boat from the mainland- had found a girl who had been neglected for almost a week. Overlord had forgotten about her and just happened to throw Cole into the same cell one night.

Cole had stayed with the girl. Fed her, comforted her, protected her from Kozu's hand. He had loved the girl and had guided her away from the looming gates of death.

"...I...I failed, Vara. Every time."

His duty- his one true passion- was to care for innocents like that dying girl in the cell. It was just the way he was wired. Like a mother hen, he would gather them under his arm and be their shield. Literally. His desire came at the price of his own life. Because it's the things we love most that destroy us, and being told that he had failed would be the worst kind of punishment.

"You have not failed," Varasach whispered. "You brought me back from the dead. Overlord would not have missed me, an ugly fourteen-winters whore."

Cole cupped her cheek in his palm. His eyes now glistened. "You're beautiful," he said. "Don't let anyone say otherwise. I love you, sister."

Varasach put her hand on top of his. The same hands that had held her while they were chained in the dungeons of Overlord's fortress. The hands that had fed her. Held her in a way that she had not been held before in all her life.

The hands of a gentle giant.

On the next night, Jay, Cole, and Kai sat on the porch of a house in the village aboveground, Blades unsheathed on their laps to absorb the rays of the full, bright moon. Besai sat on her knees, head on Kai's shoulder.

"It's crazy," Kai said, rubbing the small of her back. "It's been a whole month since we left the Dark Island."

"Cole died a month ago," Jay said, trying to be funny. "And it looks like his ability to shave died with him."

Cole stroked his beard, frowning. "Not my fault. Mister nanny-goat over here won't let me touch a razor."

All eyes fell on Kai, who scoffed. "Can I really trust you with a razor?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Merv asked. Then she pursed her lips and bowed her head, blushing. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry about asking questions," Jay said. "It's all right to be curious."

"Oh, so my scars are an object of curiosity?" Cole asked.

"No," Kai said. "But you really want to use a razor again? Let me see your arms."

Cole bent forward, concealing his arms between his stomach and lap. He glanced at Jay.

"It's all right," Jay said. "You don't have to show me."

"You'll have to come to grips with it eventually, Cole," Kai said. "Accept it, embrace it, and move on. Hiding it only wastes time and energy."

"Hypocrite," Cole said. "You're the one who always wears a shirt to cover his brand."

"Burn!" Jay laughed, then joined Merv in the Corner of Humiliation. "Sorry. That was uncalled for. But a great pun, eh?"

Kai groaned. "Brand. Burn. Got it. But it doesn't apply to me, though."

"Why not? Weren't you marked?"

Kai unbuttoned his shirt. "No. I guess I got lucky or something."

Cole looked at Kai's tattoo, a queasy feeling rising up his gut. He touched it tentatively with his thumb, then shuddered. Why a tattoo?

Jay seemed to be thinking the same thing. His eyes were downcast, focused on Merv's hands.

Self-conscious, Kai buttoned his shirt. "That bad?" he asked.

Cole and Jay nodded as one.

"Change of subject," Jay said. "Uh...what's the happiest thing you can think of that's happened to you this past cycle?"

Now very, very self-conscious, Kai pulled Besai onto his lap, as if using her body as a cover so no one could see even his shirt. "Good idea. You go first."

"No, you," Jay said. "But please don't say Besai. Think of the best thing besides her."

"The best thing besides her?" Kai nuzzled her cheek. "Hmm. Probably the friendships I've gained. My life was so boring before I met you guys. Now, for the first time in my life, I have friends who don't look at my past, or my status, or anything else like that. You guys don't care who I am on the outside. You just accept me."

"Hear, hear," Jay said. "Merv. You next. But don't say 'freedom' or 'Jay'. I know, I'm fantastic. But be creative."

Merv contemplated this a moment. "My sister," she said, looking at Besai. "I have her back."

"Yeah, good," Jay said. "Cole. You next."

Cole played with his cuffs. "Coffee," he said.

"Uh...excuse me?"

"Yeah. Coffee," Cole said. "I don't know how I'd survive without it. Especially since I'm up most of the night taking care of Chedva."

"That can't be your happiest thing," Jay said. "You could say...umm..." He looked to Kai for help. "Chedva."

Cole fingered his scars through the sleeves of his tunic. "Hagar," he said softly. "I got to see her. For just a few minutes on the Dark Island, we were a family. That's my happiest moment."

Seizing the opportunity, Kai grabbed Cole's arm.

"Uh- hey, Kai!" Cole tried to pull away, but Kai held fast, pushing up the sleeve up.

"Stop it," Kai said. "You want me to trust you with a razor, right? Now stop complaining."

He stroked Cole's skin, each lump feeling like an ocean wave under his hand. "They're a little infected. Have you been keeping it clean?"

"Not really."

"Ah. So you've stopped cutting, but now your personal hygiene is squat. Smart." He let Cole's arm go. "Nope. No razor yet."

The subject seemed to suck all the spirit from those with Cole, and he pulled up his sleeves, looking away with a dark scowl.

"Uh..." Jay began. "Stormstrider says he's got enough charge to last a while. Are your Blades good?"

"Yeah." Kai stood and helped Besai to her feet.

Cole helped Jay up. "You okay?" he asked.

Jay picked up his cane and nodded, grimacing as he administered weight onto his prosthetic. "Yeah. Stormstrider has enough power now to take away maybe sixty pounds. It helps."

Kai nodded to Jay's 'foot', which was hidden inside his boot. "You're lucky that flight is your Blade's strong suit. If you were like the rest of us, you'd be in bed a lot longer."

"Tell me about it," Jay said. With awkward shuffling steps, he made his way to the front door and opened it. "I hate this almost as much as I hate playing the piano."

Cole followed Jay and Merv through the door. "You don't like playing piano?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jay said. "My parents forced me to learn when I was like...eight. I hated every second of it."

"Hmm." Cole shook his head. "Different taste, I guess."

"Like with that weird drink you gave me? What kind of 'different taste' do you need to come up with something like that?"

"You didn't like it?" Cole almost looked offended. "I thought you would."

Kai laughed dryly. "'Like' is the wrong word. It's closer to..." He frowned. I can't describe it."

"It's weird, isn't it?" Cole said. "I rarely have all the ingredients for it, but Cyrus had such an arsenal of different brandies and beers...I had to make one."

"Why would you want to drink a laughing potion?" Jay asked. "That's all I can do when I drink it."

"That's because your body doesn't know how to handle it."

"What would happen if I drank the entire bottle in one sitting? Would I-"

"Don't." Cole's eyes narrowed. "That's too dangerous. I've never done it before."

"Ooh." Jay opened the trap door, and Merv rushed to his side to help him down the stairs. "A mystery. Cool."

The door behind them flew open, and a man rushed through, breathless. "Out of my way," he said. "S-sorry. This is urgent."

"Whoa, whoa," Jay said, scooting to the side. "Where's the fire?"

The man hesitated.

"You know I have clearance," Jay said. "Anything the Doctor knows, I know. Might as well tell me now."

"O-okay." The man pressed a hand to his chest, as though it would help him to catch his breath. "Kyle and his partner were making their rounds. Healing. You know. But they encountered a Guard."

Guards. Members of Garmadon's army, known for their ruthlessness and inability to follow their own code of honor.

"The Guard arrested them," the man said. "Said they were committing an act of treason, and Garmadon wanted them executed."

"Executed?" Cole gasped. "Vara was out with Kyle tonight! Garmadon would kill her?"

"I don't know. If you'd please let me pass now," the man said, "I need to talk with the Doctor."

"Yes, go!" Cole nearly shoved the man down the stairs, then looked back at his companions. "Come on. We're going too."

No one had any doubts left in their minds when the saw Cyrus' face. This situation was serious.

"Kyle is considered a traitor to the crown since he's been working with me," Cyrus said. "There is only one punishment for that. Death."

"And what about Varasach?" Cole asked, leaning forward in his chair. "What will they do with her?"

"Garmadon does not make a habit of executing women," Cyrus said. "But I don't know. Since his poisoning, he's been unstable. She could be considered an accomplice. Whether she lives or dies, things are looking grim."

Cole's energy seemed to leave him. His shoulders slumped, and he rubbed his face with his palm.

Besai pulled a vial of oil from her belt and began massaging Cole's neck with it. "Can we get them back?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kai said. "Maybe Garmadon plans on holding them for ransom. You could give him money for their release."

"I am by no means a wealthy man anymore," Cyrus said. "I could give him every coin I have and he'd still demand more."

"Then we ambush them," Jay said. He sat in a cushioned chair, prosthetic leg elevated by a stool. "Your informant said that this just happened about three hours ago, and the Guard had an escort of three other privates. If we went by horseback, we could overtake them by sunrise."

Cyrus looked doubtful.

"We don't have much of a choice," Jay said. "If Kyle and Varasach were captured, then that means Garmadon's got your antidote. If he replicates it..."

"I see what you mean," Cyrus said.

"I don't," Kai said. "If Garmadon replicates it, wouldn't we just have more people healed, and at a much faster rate than they are now?"

"...Yes," Cyrus said. "Yes and no. It's difficult to explain. But if you give the government such power over medication..."

"Bad things happen," Jay finished. "Even the best governments can be corrupted by the lure of money. But with a government already as corrupt as ours, Garmadon would sell the antidote for a hundred times its real value, and we'd have a bankrupt, starving country."

"Then Garmadon could just buy food for the people," Kai said. "I don't see what's so wrong about it."

"Redistribution is never the answer," Cyrus said.

"Back on our original topic," Cole said. His shoulders twitched as Besai rubbed the glands behind his ears. The room began to smell of lavender. "I say we follow Jay's plan. Ambush them before they can reach the Middle Realm."

"All right," Jay said, swinging his leg to the floor and grabbing his cane. "Let's do this."

"Not you," Cole said.

"What? Why?"

"You aren't healed yet. You struggle too much getting up and down stairs, let alone fighting trained officers. You need more time."

The look of betrayal was clear. Jay stood, eyes hard, and dropped his cane. He limped to the door without it. "I'm going to the library." He shut the door behind him.

Cole watched with his lips parted and a hard scowl. "He needs to grow up," he said. "Really. Can't he see that he'd only slow us down?"

Kai stood and picked up Jay's cane. "I'm going to the library too," he said. "Maybe there I'll be able to have a talk with the only sensible person in this bloody place."

"And...who would that be?" Cole asked.

"Myself!" Kai walked out, slamming the door.

Besai withdrew her hands from Cole's shoulders. She and Merv looked to Cyrus, confused.

"Don't ask me," Cyrus said. "Uh...how about we plan this ambush? Give those two some space."

Kai found Jay sitting under the piano with a stack of old books.

"Hey," Kai said. He set the cane by the door. "You want to...I don't know. Talk?"

Jay grumbled something inaudible.

"Pardon?"

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture!" Jay shouted. His voice hitched, and he hunched over the pages of his book. "Leave me alone."

Kai sat at the piano bench. "Cole's a jerk, eh?"

Jay flipped the page. "Find a stronger word."

"Pain in the neck? Clod?"

"Hmm."

"How about...cretin."

"Better."

Kai groaned, hand sliding down his face. "Cole didn't choose his words very wisely," he said. "But he meant well. He's worried about you. We all are."

"What's next?" Jay said, all sweetness drained from his mien. "You going to pat my head like a child and tell me that I've helped enough? That I should go back to playing with my toys and let the more capable people handle it?"

"Not unless you want me to," Kai said. "Which would be asking me to lie."

"Stop talking in circles. My childish brain can't handle such deep- ow!"

Kai kicked Jay's head. "What was that? Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of idiot."

Jay rubbed his head and inched a safe distance away. "I hate you so much."

"I hate you too," Kai said, knowing Jay was trying to hide a smile behind his growl. "Listen. I want you to come with. We need all the help we can get, rescuing Kyle and Vara. But your leg still needs time to heal. How badly did you mess it up just walking here without your cane?"

"It's fine. I forced Stormstrider to carry me. My feet never touched the ground."

"That Blade actually obeyed you?"

"Well...no. He elevated me on his own accord after he realized I wasn't gonna slow down. I won't repeat the foul curses that suggested not only some frighteningly improbable things about my ancestry, but also contained some equally unlikely things that I was suddenly being invited to do to myself."

Kai couldn't hold back a laugh. Jay chuckled a little, too.

"So...you actually want me to come with?" Jay asked.

"Why not? We could always use a guy with super speed and flight. It's more useful than mind reading, anyway."

"Stormstrider says he's pleased with what you say," Jay said.

"Moonsong says I should start digging my grave," Kai replied.

"How rude."

"Tell me about it. All Moonsong does all day is complain. My Blade and Cole could get along nicely."

"Wouldn't they, though?" Jay flipped another page. "They're both so negative. If they got together, maybe they'd cancel out and make a positive."

"No!" Kai slapped his palm on the piano cover. "No math jokes! That's not funny!"

But the damage had been done. They were both laughing. Laughing so hard that after nearly a minute, Merv stormed in with her hands on her hips, asking if they had been drinking that alcohol again.

This only accelerated their laughter.

"I-I tell you what," Kai said, hand on Merv's shoulder, still chortling. "You are a near-perfect mother hen. But now that you mention it, a mouthful of that stuff would be-"

Merv interrupted him. "You are not babies," she said. "I should not have to tell you thees. Go to Cyrus. He ees planning weethout you. Not good. Go!"

Kai stood and helped Jay to his feet. "Fine, we'll go- Ouch! Don't touch my ear!"

With Merv biting at their heels, they fled back to Cyrus' office to help plan the rescue.