Chapter 27 - The Dark Hands of Power
His vision might have been warped from blinding pain and fatigue, but the sight before him could not have been more clear. It was too frighteningly clear. Kai tried to rush forward, but the almost numb tugging in his right arm held him back. He could not really feel the agony in his limb anymore. The sudden flood of adrenaline had made sure of that. Regardless, the blacksmith's vision swam with a tears as he continued to try and do something, anything, to run towards his sister.
She's gone, his thoughts echoed sullenly.
Nya just could not be gone. It was impossible. Lloyd was going to save her. The blacksmith had put his own well-being in danger to give Lloyd enough time to actually go and save his sister. He had placed his blind faith in the Golden Master, but it appeared that it had been a foolish mistake. What had he expected anyways? The kid had let Pythor take Nya in the first place. It was his fault that this whole thing had happened. Lloyd was nothing but a coward.
A satisfied screech filled the air as Kai tiredly focused back on the gathered crowd that seemed like it was miles away from him now. The sounds were fading into a dull, muddled roar that almost died the second it reached his ears. His breathing was loud in his own hears, an accompanying rhythm to the slow beating of his heart. Nya was dead. The person he was supposed to protect. The one that had always been there for him, looking up to him in almost every aspect of life, was just...gone. "Lloyd!" Kai growled, his own voice virtually unrecognizable. It was filled with a combination of raw agony and sadness that he had never heard before.
The unimaginable, retching pain was back again, consuming Kai faster than ever before. Of course, the blacksmith decided there was no point in fighting back now. There was no point in anything anymore. Blackness encroached upon the edges of Kai's vision and he welcomed it. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would just end up bleeding out. When he finally succumbed to unconsciousness he just would not wake up. That would be nice, very comforting. The blacksmith watched with disdain as Lloyd's small figure took something from the last person he would have ever expected. Could Lloyd be...a traitor? As soon as the thought trailed his mind, the blacksmith slumped forward, supported only by the sword that impaled his arm, and blacked out.
Lloyd heard Kai's voice, shouting his name, somehow making it sound like an insult. He could hear the hate itself reverberating in the blacksmith's voice. Lloyd looked down, feeling sick of himself. He wasn't a hero. He was a failure. He'd let everyone down. They'd forgiven him, let him in, and yet, he'd betrayed them in the last instant. And why? Because he'd been a slave to fear.
It seemed that no matter where he turned, the chains of slavery would always drag him down.
You're far more valuable than that stupid girl, the voice of temptation whispered to him once again You know that. It was only fit that she died. If you'd saved her, you would have been a hero. And you know what that would mean? You would forever be a slave to the people. Solving their problems. Saving their lives. Wasting every second of your life trying to satisfy them.
Lloyd wiped away the confused tears that had begun to roll down his emerald eyes. He didn't quite know why he was crying. Was it for Nya? Was it for Kai? Or...was he crying for himself?
You made the right choice, Lloyd. With your powers, you can do whatever you want. You're truly free now. You don't need your so called friends to drag you down.
Lloyd nodded to himself. The voice was right. Why should he feel bad about his decisions? He could do whatever he pleased. He was the Golden Master. He didn't have to obey anything. Pythor was nothing compared to him. If anything, Pythor should fear him above all else. He allowed his emerald eyes to drift over towards the violet serpent and the smug look on his face. Lloyd suddenly clenched his hands into fists, feeling a whisper of the energy that had flowed through him when he had attacked Cole. Pythor wasn't going to push him around at all. No one would. First things first however...
With a confident walk, Lloyd walked towards Pythor. The emperor felt an unfamiliar pang of fear in his heart. The boy he had been toying with for so long now approached him, blazing hatred in his eyes. It wasn't supposed to end like this. He was supposed to be broken beyond repair, falling to his knees and begging for his life to be spared. Why had everything gone so wrong? The stories couldn't be true. Pythor wouldn't let the stories become true. An idea struck him and the emperor gave a light chuckle just as the Golden Master stopped in front of him. He smiled and removed a large golden talisman from his neck. The talisman was a symbol of power, used to label whoever wore it as the indisputable ruler of the land. "I suppose it's time this land had a new ruler...don't you think?"
Startled, Lloyd took the talisman hesitantly, slipping it around his neck. He smirked, enjoying the sense of power it gave him.
"Now...I'll have to show you the ropes, of course," Pythor smiled, beginning to wrap his invisible strings around Lloyd's mind. If he could turn the Golden Master into his own puppet, he'd be invincible. It didn't matter if he didn't carry his talisman. If he stood behind Lloyd, steering his every choice, he'd remain the most powerful one in the land. So the former emperor kept a smile on his face, ready to guide the young green-eyed boy down the path of darkness. "May I suggest you make an example of those stubborn rebels that brought you here?"
Shallow breathing rattled through the air, a loud and unwelcomed sound in his ears. "No..." Kai groaned, slowly becoming aware of his own body once again. Why was he still alive? What right did he have to still be breathing when his sister no longer could? A throbbing pain, like a heartbeat concentrated in his arm, made its presence known. Still injured and still alive. Nothing was going right. Despite everything, Kai pried his eyes open anyways.
Low light greeted him and he had to focus straight ahead for a moment before he could really and truly pay attention to the environment around him. A dirt crusted, dingy floor sprawled out in front of him, mocking him, as they led up to vertical bars spaced closely together. So this is where the journey had taken him: from the comfort of his own home to the confines of a prison. He should have never decided that a rebellion was worth it. Now everything he ever had was gone.
Kai shifted away from the brick wall behind him and felt something around both of his wrists grow taut. The metallic sound of chains made his heart sink further, like it was being swallowed up by the Great Devourer as well. There was no way out of this at all. By trying to be different, trying to go against the grain, Kai had dug his own grave. And Lloyd had finally buried him in it.
"Hey, you're finally up," came a strained voice.
The blacksmith slowly rolled his head onto his right shoulder and stared into the cell directly next to his. Most of Cole blended in with the shadows, his hair and clothing, but Kai could see the sad glint in his grey eyes. "What are we doing here?" the merchant breathed, his gaze glued on to Kai's arm. The blacksmith took a sparing look at his injury and saw the deep gash, a hint of bone, mixed with caked and crusty dried blood, before directing his narrowed eyes back towards Cole. "Did...I hurt you? I don't know what happened, I swear. Please, you have to believe me. You know I wouldn't have hurt any of you if I...knew what was going on."
Kai shrugged, then winced as even more pain exploded through him. He looked at Cole's eyes, studying the worry and pain swimming in them. If it hadn't been for the merchant's mental weakness, maybe his sister would have still been alive. But...it wasn't fair to blame Cole. No. All of this was Lloyd's fault. "I know." Kai finally answered, his voice low and weak.
"So...what happened? What did I do?" Cole said fearfully, looking directly at Kai. "Don't hold back either. Tell me everything. I need to know...I need to know how low I sank us."
Kai didn't want to do this. He'd rather curl up in the darkness and wait for his turn to die. Yet, Cole was his friend, and he owed him this. Kai couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have part of your life devoid of any memory. "You crashed the Jaymobile. We were trying to save Nya, so Zane decided to stay and hold you back. You...you broke him. Then Jay tried to stop you. You did something to him too, because you were after me pretty soon. You stabbed my arm, impaled me against a wall. Then you were going to go after Lloyd, but Skales stopped you."
"So...I didn't kill Lloyd?" The merchant relaxed. "When I didn't see him in here, I thought...I thought something horrible had happened to the poor kid."
"Poor kid?" Kai scowled. "He's probably up there, in the palace, enjoying the luxuries of being emperor."
"What?" Cole shook his head. "What do you mean?"
"He got Nya killed! He didn't saved her, he stayed back, like the filthy coward he is!" Kai's voice was loud, his words filled with poison. "Then he decided to side with Pythor, or or something. I don't know. I didn't see it very well. Thing is, he's emperor now. And with his Golden Powers, he's invincible. We lost. He betrayed us and now we have nothing."
"Why...why would he do that?" the merchant asked slowly. He could not wrap his exhausted mind around why the one person chosen to protect the world would just give up on it. "Lloyd was a slave. He...he knows better than any of us how awful Ninjago has become. So why...would he side with the Serpentine now? After all that we've been through together?"
"There is the old idiom: if one cannot defeat their enemy, then they should align themselves with said enemy," a new voice chimed in to the conversation.
Both Kai and Cole turned towards the noise. Kai squinted in the dimness, trying to discern Zane's figure from the cell on the other side of Cole's, but he could not. The merchant, on the other hand, could see the android almost perfectly. A dark, thick line of black liquid trailed down Zane's previously pristine outfit. Though he appeared to be pretty intact, Cole remembered what Kai had told him: he had broken Zane. "Are you okay, Zane?" he tried tentatively.
The android waved away the question quickly. "I am still functioning for now," he replied. "Though my fail safe energy reserves are limited." Silence stretched on for a bit and Zane turned towards Cole, who's head hung low, chin nearly trailing his chest. "Do not look so melancholy. If you are concerned about the damage, then please refrain from it. I am very aware of the situation. I know you would not have done anything to harm me if you were conscious of the situation."
"Still..." Cole sighed, moving slightly and feeling the chains around his wrists rattle. "But, uh, where's Jay?" he settled on, trying to shift the conversation away from him.
"I'm...here." Jay said softly, trying to keep tears from spilling out of his eyes. He'd heard everything. He just hadn't had the strength to speak up after Kai had said Nya was dead. He couldn't believe he'd failed, after everything they'd done, he'd still managed to fail saving the one person he'd truly begun to care about. Nya had understood Jay. She hadn't been annoyed at his hyperactive energy, and she'd even laughed at some of his jokes. No one had ever done that for him. And now no one ever would. He blinked, trying to see through the darkness. He knew his friends were near, but he couldn't see anything. Jay blinked again, feeling sick to his stomach. Nothing.
Kai turned, spotting Jay through the darkness of the cell. He was leaning back against the wall, hands chained, eyes blank and unfocused. Something seemed...wrong. Forgetting his own pain for a second, Kai crawled a bit closer to the puppeteer. "Jay? Are you alright?"
The puppeteer stroked the back of his head, flinching as pain erupted. A warm liquid spread from his head to the palm of his hand. He remembered Cole slamming his head against a wall, but...shouldn't the bleeding have stopped by now? "Kai? Why is it so dark in here?"
"I don't kn-" Kai froze, frowning. He waved his hand before Jay, but the puppeteer's eyes didn't focus on anything. "Jay...Jay can you see me?"
"N-no?" Jay muttered, blinking rapidly, trying to wash away the darkness.
"It would appear that the blow to the head caused damage to Jay's visual cortex," Zane stated, breaking the silence. "The internal bleeding might blind him for a couple of days or, perhaps, forever."
"B-Blind?" Cole choked out, feeling nausea claw at his stomach. That must have been his doing. He must have been the one that took away Jay's sight. Internal bleeding? The possibility of permanent blindness? It was all his fault. He had been weak and allowed someone else to control him, allowed someone else to use his strength to hurt the people he cared about. Cole felt as if he would never recover from this, never forgive himself. He stayed silent now, refusing to look at anything but the floor.
Jay blinked hard one more time, panic practically engulfing him. He did not want to be blind. It was very disconcerting. Then again...did he want to see what was happening to him? No, he did not. Jay just sighed and closed his eyes since it did not make a difference if they were open, though a few tears slipped down his cheeks anyways. Nya was gone, he could not see, and the things holding his wrists back told him he was imprisoned. "So..." the puppeteer breathed quietly. "What happens now?"
"Now you get what you deserve." It was Lloyd's voice. Kai looked up, rage and fear creating a tornado of emotions inside him. The former slave's clothes seemed to be made of pure gold, and his green eyes were deeply corrupted. He stepped towards Kai, no regret in his eyes. Nothing but a faint trace of amusement. "Let's start with you. You were the worst of the bunch...always walking around like you were more important than anyone else. Your stupid smirk, your annoying attitude..."
Lloyd chuckled to himself then shook his head. "But, guess what? I'm the one with the power now. I can bend any of the elements to my will and there's nothing you can do to stop me. You can't boss me around. Never. Again. I'm not going to be anyone's slave. So tell me, Kai, are you ready for your punishment?"
Kai pulled against the chains hard, ignoring the searing pain in his right arm. "Anything that you could throw at me would be nothing," the blacksmith scoffed, allowing his underlined anger to coat his voice. He may have lost everything, but that only made him more desperate now. What did Kai have to lose? His life? He did not want that anymore anyways, but he was not going to give a traitor the satisfaction of seeing him crumble. "Just because you change the way you look and cozy up to Pythor, it doesn't change who you are. You're still a coward. You're still a slave and nothing will ever change that."
Even in the low light, the blacksmith saw the boy's features darken significantly and he smirked. "You think you can control the elements, but I haven't really seen it. We never got time to sit you down and personally teach you. You're not as strong as you think you are and you can't do anything that would convince me otherwise, half-pint."
The brief pain in Lloyd's eyes withered away, replaced by a small smile. "I'm the Golden Master, Kai. I don't need training. I can do whatever I please."
Lloyd stepped closer, raising his hands, aiming them towards Kai's body. "Would you like a little demonstration then? I think it'll shut you right up."
At first, nothing happened. Kai got ready to laugh, but then, his hands began to feel heavy. He looked down at them, his eyes widening with panic as bits of stone began to grow out of them. Soon, both of his hands were trapped in blocks of stone, and the weight made Kai fall onto the dirtied ground. He tried to move his arms, tried to feel his hands, but nothing happened. He even tried to burn his way through the stone, but it was all in vain. His hands, the only weapon he had left, had now been rendered useless.
"Face it, Kai," Lloyd said, spitting the blacksmith's name like an insult. "I'm free now and you can't control me. You can't do anything."
The blacksmith grit his teeth and pulled against his new shackles once again, a grunt of frustrstion ripping through the air and draining his energy. Blood was freely flowing from his open wound now, warm along the length of his arm. That little punk! Kai would find a way out of this and then make the brat pay for everything he had done.
Cole pulled against his own manacles, wanting to help Kai. Wait...maybe he could! The merchant held out the hand closest to Kai and narrowed his eyes, focusing on one of the unmoveable mounds of earth that trapped the blacksmith. If he just concentrated for a few moments, maybe he could somehow shatter or weaken it. "Come on..." Cole breathed, his hand shaking now. He had to be able to help. It was the least he could do to try and make amends for hurting everyone.
"Don't even think about it," Lloyd hissed, throwing Cole back against the stone wall of his cell with a large ball of raw energy, just as he had before. Cole coughed, sitting up, trying to recover. "You're not strong enough, Cole."
"Oh yeah?" the merchant growled, tugging at his chains. The metal began to stretch, slowly getting close to the point of snapping."I'm stronger than you think. And when we get out of-"
With a flick of his wrist, Lloyd launched a wave of water straight into the merchant's face. Cole coughed, feeling dizzy and weak. Water had always seemed to have that strange effect on him. It made him feel heavy. It made him feel tired. It sucked away all of his energy and replaced it with a dull, pulsing pain. "You'll never get out of here. Not while I'm in charge."
Lloyd pointed at the top of Cole's cell, and water began to rain down from the stone itself. Cole coughed, trying to stand, trying to move. He could do nothing. The water kept coming, and Cole's strength fizzled into nothing.
The sounds of struggle made Jay feel frightened. He had heard Kai say that Lloyd had betrayed them, but he could have never imagined that it would come to something like this. This was nothing but torture, and the puppeteer was both thankful and anxious that he could not see what was happening. A small whimper escaped Jay's lips even when he tried to prevent it. The rattle of the iron chains around his wrists sounded like a crash of thunder in his ears. Maybe if he just stayed quiet, then Lloyd would let him be, but his friends...
They really needed help.
"G-Guys?" the auburn haired man shouted, trying to extract any kind of information he could from them. The sound of running water was obvious, but it did not give Jay a very good visual of what was happening around him. "Come on, guys, talk to me, please! What's going on?"
"You want to know what's happening, Jay?" It was Lloyd's voice, the last thing Jay wanted to here. The puppeteer crawled back, trying to make himself as small as possible. "Everyone's getting what they deserve."
Jay bit his lip, whimpering and trying to stay quiet, but he couldn't let himself be pushed around like this. He'd come really far from the little useless coward he used to be. Now he had nothing, but that didn't mean he should shrink back and let things happen. No, Jay had grown to be better than that. He had learned many things from the others, and staying quiet while the world crumbled around him wasn't one of them.
So Jay sat up, staring forward, hoping he was at least looking in Lloyd's general direction. "None of of deserve this and you know it. You were one of us. I don't know why you let Nya die. I don't know why you're doing this, but you shouldn't be. Deep inside, you know this isn't right, Lloyd. Yes, I hate you more than anything right now. Yes, I resent the fact that you let Nya be killed, but I understand that you were afraid. And I can't judge you for that. Kai can call you a coward, but I can't. Because I've been there. I've hurt people I love because of my own fear. I know right now it seems like you can't fix anything, and you're trying to hide yourself inside all of your powers because you don't know what else to do, but it's okay. You don't have to do this."
Silence echoed around the room. Lloyd frowned, conflicted feelings flowing all around him. Jay was right. This wasn't what he should be doing. He made a mistake. He could-
He's trying to control you. He's trying to get you to free them. He only cares about his own well being, Lloyd, the voice in his head whispered, and Lloyd shook away all thoughts of mercy. He wasn't going to let himself be fooled by Jay's words. Jay was selfish, just like everyone else.
"Please, Lloyd, I know you-"
"Shut up!" the Golden Master shouted, stomping on the ground. Metal began to form beneath his feet, crawling closer to Jay's cell, and eventually covering every inch of the floor the puppeteer stood on. The adrenaline pumping inside Jay fueled his lightning, causing sparks to flow out of his fingertips. The metal shot the sparks right back at him, their power doubled. Jay's body shook as the violent shock of electricity flowed through him. The pain caused him to instinctively create more sparks to protect himself, and the metal shot back once again, trapping Jay in an endless cycle of torment.
"You are not thinking straight, Lloyd," came the level and calm voice of a certain android.
Lloyd turned on his heel, feeling irritation overwhelm him. Zane. Zane was always the voice of reason, the one who could talk his way out of almost any situation, could make an group of misfits feel like they stood a chance against an empire. And here he was, telling Lloyd that he was not thinking straight. "I haven't ever thought more clearly," the Golden Master shot back, narrowing his eyes and slowly making his way towards the cell where the former warrior was being held.
Zane shook his head as the boy came into his line of sight. "Look at yourself, Lloyd," he said, deep blue eyes searching for any trace of the kid he had promised to protect back at the Temple of Light. "You are not you anymore. You are nothing but a product of the empire now, and I know what that is like. It gives you a sense of importance, a sense of blind superiority, but it is all an illusion. You are not the one in charge. Pythor is, Lloyd. He is tempting you with power that you could have never dreamed of back in your previous life, but it is nothing but smoke and mirrors. You lash out at us, saying that we cannot control you any longer, but you will allow Pythor to do so."
"He's not controlling me!" Lloyd yelled back in a childish tone. Zane simply studied the boy, staying quiet, thinking of the best way to proceed. "With a snap of my fingers, I could kill him. I am the one with the power around here, Zane."
"Perhaps that's true," the android shrugged, deciding to take a different approach. "Though you know you cannot truly trust him. You need someone to protect you."
Lloyd stayed quiet, listening.
"I will offer my services. I do not need to sleep. I do not need to rest. I would always be ready to keep you from harm." Zane inched closer to the edge of his cell. "All I ask, is that you release the others. Allow them to go back home, to resume their lives."
"Oh...oh for a second there, I thought you were onto something, but..." Lloyd laughed, shaking his head. "You just want to control me. Let them go? So that they can get stronger and try to overthrow me? I'm not an idiot, Zane."
Lloyd snapped his fingers dramatically, enjoying the other's eyes on him. A bolt of electricity shot from his fingertips, shocking Zane, shutting down the android's reserve power. He then swiveled around, heading towards the exit. At the last second, he turned back, admiring his handy work.
"I did it," Lloyd smiled to himself. "I'm powerful. I'm unstoppable. I'm the Golden Master."