Chapter Twenty-Eight: Reflections
As Lloyd returned to his chambers, a sense of guilt clung to him, weighing him down with each step. The people he had once called friends feared him now, and they finally knew that Lloyd was far above them and not beneath. Still, it felt wrong. Somehow, a part of Lloyd couldn't believe that his friends had truly been using him all along. The voice in his head must speak the truth though. It felt like a wiser part of himself, seeing those things his childish eyes could not.
And truth be told, having power, knowing you could destroy half of the land without anyone standing up to you, felt great. Lloyd had never experienced any kind of power, so a small taste of it had been able to corrupt him in a matter of seconds. The Golden Master walked into his new room, previously owned by Pythor, and sat on the bed, looking through the many riches that were spread around him. He would have never guessed the country owned as much wealth as it did, not after seeing the poverty that affected the majority of the people. Yet, here it was; golden surfaces reflecting his own features, beautiful but empty. The Golden Master stepped closer to his reflection, looking deep into his own emerald eyes.
His dirty reflection stared back at him. Lloyd soaked the sponge with the liquid, then waited for it to settle so he could see into his own eyes once more. "Tomorrow's the day. Tomorrow we'll be free. I promise.
Lloyd shook his head rapidly, scaring away the brief memory. He'd come a long way from the sniveling coward he'd been as a slave. Letting people push him around instead of standing up for himself like he was doing now. He wasn't that stupid little boy anymore.
"I'm the Golden Master," he told himself, yet his voice shook with a degree of uncertainty.
Kai stared down at the earth that kept him prisoner in the dungeon pf Pythor's castle. Though, he knew it was not really his castle anymore. It was Lloyd's. He had done this to them all, after they had all done nothing but put their own well being at risk to protect him. The blacksmith grit his teeth as a line of sweat trickled from his hairline, down the right side of his face. His thoughts were pulled back into a memory he had not expected. Pushing his way through a gathered crowd, Constrictai staff in hand, so he could get to Lloyd in time. So he could save Lloyd. Kai closed his eyes tightly, trying to push it all away, but it only allowed him to see the boy's emerald eyes that much more clearly. The weak smile that had adorned his face when the serpent had finally released him.
I...I was starting to think you guys had forgotten about me...
How Kai wished he could forget. Forget about his sister's death. Forget about this whole, wasteful adventure. Forget about everything. He had given up fighting his solid manacles now and just tried to ignore the sounds around him. The water that fell steadily to his right, drowning out any sounds of pain that Cole could possibly be making. The audible sounds of agony from his left as Jay took yet another hit of electricity. Every now and then, Kai could only hear the crackle and hiss of the energy and he hoped that in those moment, the puppeteer had fallen unconscious, even if to only escape the pain for a little while. There was nothing that any of them could do except wait.
What were they waiting for? Would Lloyd come back when he felt like it and finish them all off one by one? Or would he leave them down here to slowly weaken and starve? A public execution would be more likely than anything. Lloyd was probably waiting until the next Feeding Day to make a big show out of everything. Nothing said theatrics quite like feeding rebels to the most terrifying beat in the land. Of course, the teeth or digestive track of the Great Devourer would be a welcomed embrace in Kai's opinion. He was already dead inside anyways.
Killed by the stabbing knife of betrayal.
The blacksmith hung is head low, breathing steadily and trying to focus solely on falling asleep now. He had nothing better to do anyways. Of course, sleep never seemed to come to those who wanted it the most. As Kai just continued to try and keep his hopeless thoughts from prolonging his consciousness, he did not at all see a shifting figure now in the dungeon.
"I'm the Golden Master!" Lloyd shouted this time, trying to convince himself of that fact more than anything. His young features stared back at him, the angry emerald eyes belonging to a child. He could have as much power a he wanted. He could destroy everything and everyone around him with a snap of his fingers.
But, he was still just a kid.
Lloyd growled, throwing a beam of light at the golden artifact, causing it to shatter. It didn't matter. There were plenty of other surfaces where his face glowered back at him, judging his every movement and reminding him of who he really was. He couldn't take it. Lloyd lashed out around the room, destroying every bit of gold he could lay his eyes on. When he was done with his little temper tantrum, Lloyd slid down the wall behind him, sitting against the cold ground. His breathing slowly returned to a normal rate, and he looked at the mess he'd created before him.
"I'm the Golden Master," Lloyd muttered again, but this time it emerged as nothing less than a whimper.
"You know, sssaying it over and over won't make it true."
The boy glanced upwards, narrowing his eyes at the intruder. "What are you doing here?" Lloyd spat, harnessing his previous uncertainty into anger.
Skales gave a smirk as he slithered his way further into the large room, scanning every inch of it with his intimidating red eyes. "Jussst telling yourssself that you're the Golden Massster isssn't going to make it any more true or any better."
"Why should I listen to anything you have to say?" Lloyd continued, steadily getting to his feet and backing against the wall. If he was the most powerful being in all of Ninjago, then why was Skales' presence giving him the smallest twinge of fear, of helplessness? He was a leader, the Hypnobrai leader. The one that had been commanding Cole. Thinking of the merchant gave Lloyd another almost unbearably nauseating sensation of guilt in his stomach.
He could see the obvious conflict in the boy's eyes. Skales stayed where he was, only a few feet away from Lloyd, before he began to talk once again. "I know what it'sss like. It'sss harder to be sssomething you're not than sssomething you are," the serpent stated. "You can sssay you're the Golden Massster asss much asss you like, but isss that truly you, boy?"
"Of course!" Lloyd shouted, hanging onto the idea of the Golden Master with stubbornness befitting for a child. "I'm the Golden Master, and I suggest you leave me alone before I destroy you..."
"You wouldn't do it," Skales smiled. "You're sssick of hurting othersss already, aren't you?" You're not a killer. You're not corrupt. Your heart isss pure, and that isss the reassson you're having ssso much trouble with being the Golden Massster. You want to help your friendsss. You wisssh to beg them for forgivenesss for being a little coward."
"Don't call me that!" Lloyd stomped his foot. "I'm not a coward!"
"If you weren't then you would have sssaved the girl," Skales shrugged. "I am sssimply ressstating the truth, hoping it will break you out of thisss trance you've put yourssself in. It'sss rather gloomy to sssee sssomeone sssuch asss yourssself being controlled."
"I am not being controlled! I am not a slave! I'm me! I make my own choices!" Lloyd shook his head, then directed his attention at Skales, risking his own mind by looking at the snakes' eyes. "Why...why would you want to make me good anyways? Isn't it a benefit to you than I'm siding with the Serpentine?"
"I do not think Pythor isss a good leader." Lloyd opened his mouth, but Skales quickly cut him off. "Before you protessst, boy, yess, Pythor isss the leader. He isss sssimply playing with you. Usssing you asss a figure head while he sssitss back. Ssso, I need you to realize what you are doing before you dessstroy everything."
"I won't destroy everything..." Lloyd muttered softly.
"You're not? Asss far asss I know, the Golden Massster would be born to dessstroy the land. If that isss not what you're doing, young man, then who are you?"
Lloyd looked down, his thoughts tripping over each other. "I'm...I'm Lloyd."
He glanced around at every single one of the individuals before him and gave a sigh that no one heard. It had been quite some time since Garmadon had been back inside the castle that had once belonged to him, let alone down in the dreary dungeons. The last prisoners he ever expected to see within these cells were the heroes chosen by the Creator. Then again, he never thought he would see his son ruling either, but Lloyd was. Just not in the way that Garmadon would have expected him to. "This won't do at all," the former emperor lamented, floating his translucent form back and forth along the length of the cells, almost pacing. The kid with the reddish hair was unconscious. The one with the dark hair seemed to be in and out of consciousness as well. The robot appeared to be out of commission for now. Garmadon lay his eyes upon the crazy haired hero and phased effortlessly through the bars of the prison. "Can you hear me?" he asked slowly.
The brunet kept his eyes focused on the floor, much to Garmadon's chagrin. Narrowing his eyes, the ghost placed a hand on Kai's shoulder, trying to see if he could elicit any kind of response whatsoever, but even that seemed to be fruitless. The ghost frowned and waved his hand vigorously in front of Kai's face before giving up all together. "Kids nowadays," Garmadon spat, "don't even believe the supernatural or spirits. We have feelings too."
Lloyd seemed to need help. Garmadon could feel it. His son was not his normal self and the former emperor knew there was something wrong. Once more, he looked towards the robot. Maybe, just maybe, he could do something with it. Garmadon entered the cell on the far left of the room and circled the figure within it before finally deciding on a plan of action. If he did this, there was no going back, but his son was counting on him more now than ever. Garmadon placed his hands on the robot's shoulders and shut his eyes, feeling the air around him quiver with energy. He was feeling fatigued when a whirring sound suddenly filled the small space.
Darkness. It was the only thing around him, but soon it was replaced by the faintest hint of light. A rough and fuzzy image was now visible and Zane blinked voluntarily in a successive rhythm, watching as his optical servos slowly cleared the image up completely. The faint, wavering outline of a figure was barely visible before him, but he could feel the barely manifested energy. It felt...familiar. He had sensed this presence before, back at the Temple of Light. "Greeting," the android immediately said. "Did you restart my system?"
"Ah, you can see me," the ghost smiled lightly, still feeling weakened by his now decreased energy. "I knew you would be my best bet, the smartest one, but there isn't much time now. Please, listen. Lloyd needs your help."