Chapter 29 - Chimes of Misery
"Our help?" The android blinked, still fully rebooting. "I am not quite sure that Lloyd wants any help." He glanced around, looking at his friends down the line. Broken. They were all broken and by Lloyd no less. "You see what he has done to us all. I feel as if Lloyd would reject any attempt at help."
Garmadon felt his face fall. "I'm aware of...the situation," the ghost sighed, his eyes resting upon the ground for a brief moment before looking back at Zane. "Lloyd is not himself right now. He...he needs someone, he needs you, all of you, to knock some sense back into him. I don't know what's gotten into him, but you have to believe me that he isn't normally like this."
A small smile crossed Zane's face and he just nodded in understanding. "I sense that you care deeply about Lloyd. I know that he is not himself. I feel...a darkness around him that has seemed to grow much stronger as time has passed." The android rose to his feet, still chained to the wall with his manacles. Within seconds, Zane had managed to concentrate enough to spread ice down and across the metal cuffs and chains, pulling hard against then. The restraints snapped and he finally felt like destiny was finally on their side again. "I think we can help Lloyd. I might actually know of something that could possibly explain his sudden change of mind."
Garmadon's body flickered, briefly fading into nothingness. The energy holding his spirit to the land was rapidly fading. "Thank you. I trust my so-, Lloyd's life to you four."
Zane nodded. "There is no need for thanks. Lloyd is our friend. We were foolish to believe his heart was truly dark. The others might not be...as easy to convince but I will make sure Lloyd is safe from harm. Safe from himself."
"My spirit will not hold out for long. I must speak with Lloyd. Perhaps my words will make a slight difference. Now, the fate of Ninjago is on all of your shoulders. Do not fail." With one last nod, Garmadon's spirit faded.
After breaking open the door to his cell, Zane hurried to free Jay from his prison, pulling the puppeteer's small, unconscious body away from the metal ground. As soon as Jay was out of the room, his body relaxed, his chest rising and falling at a regular pace. Without waiting for the puppeteer's eyes to open, Zane barged into Cole's cell, pulling the merchant away from the flowing water. Cole coughed, slowly managing to sit up against the dry stone wall. He didn't speak, focusing instead on regaining his strength.
"Zane?" Kai blinked multiple times, a look of disbelief plastered on his pale features. "How...what..."
"I had a bit of help," Zane stated with a small smile. "No time for explanations, however. We need to help Lloyd."
"Help Lloyd?" Kai scowled, shaking his head. "All that little punk deserves is a good beating."
"You and I both know that he was not himself. He would never make these choices. Not unless someone was pushing him to."
"Yeah, well, it was still him." The blacksmith shook his head as Zane opened up his cell. "And I don't think I'm going to be very useful. You can't exactly pull my hands out of these things."
The android stared down at Kai and frowned. This was a bit of a predicament. "Perhaps you are right," he said sullenly, realizing that his friend was a bit more than stuck.
"Let...let me do it." Kai and Zane both turned their gaze in the same direction. Cole had entered the cell as well, leaning against the bars heavily, trying to support himself as much as he could. "I know I can get Kai free. If I can't, then I'm a pretty useless master of earth." A small grin emerged on his face, but they could see the pain that it tried to mask.
"You're too weak," Kai said, his face expressionless. "Just go help the little runt like you want to and I'll stay here. I don't wanna see Lloyd's face anyways." His heart ached to his astonishment. Kai did not want to be left behind, especially for Lloyd. The kid did not deserve help in his opinion.
Cole rolled his eyes and entered the cell, kneeling in front of Kai. "Don't be a martyr," the merchant scoffed, placing each of his hands on the rocks trapping his friend. "I'm not weak. I just needed a quick breather." With that, Cole closed his grey eyes and concentrated. He could feel the entirety of the two structures trembling lightly at his touch.
Crack! Kai felt his eyes widen when Cole brought his fists down on his manacles, shattering them into nothing but dust. He was free! "Cole...y-you did it," the blacksmith breathed.
"Of course I did," the merchant smirked. "Now get over yourself and let's go help Lloyd."
"H-help Lloyd, huh?" Jay groaned as he pulled his body up into a standing position. Every bit of his body throbbed with pain, but the time for resting wasn't now. Things weren't over yet. "C-can I still smack him for all this? I mean I don't mean to be picky but...the treatment in his palace sucks."
"Knock yourself out," Cole smiled, glad that Jay was well enough to make a joke. "I'm pretty sure a punch from you wouldn't bother him at all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jay crossed his arms, faking an offended look.
"You punch like a girl."
"Nya's a girl and she punches pretty-" The puppeteer tripped over his own words, then shut his mouth and allowed the silence to linger around him. After blinking forcefully he shook his head. "Well...what are we waiting for? Let's help the little punk."
"I need...I need to help the others." Lloyd shook his head, the weight of everything he'd done finally crashing down on him. For a second, it became hard to breathe. The young man closed his eyes, wishing everything could be erased. Then another question occurred to him. "You said Pythor isn't a good leader. Is that the only reason you're helping me?"
Skales shrugged, slithering towards the door. "Pythor isss no good. Not for you. Not for the Sserpentine. If you were to rid uss of him...you'd ssstill need ssomeone to control the Sserpentine."
"So, you want to rule?" Lloyd shook his head. "You just want me to get rid of Pythor so you can take over Ninjago?"
"That'ss not what I ssaid now isss it?" Skales turned back to face Lloyd, his large red eyes glowing against the dark background. "Don't flatter yoursself. We do not all live to torture the human race. Sssome of uss have livess to attend to."
With those last words, the Serpentine walked out, slamming the door shut. Lloyd sighed, pacing around the room. He needed to get the others. He needed to help them. It was the right thing to do.
But, once again, he was scared.
The others would hate him. After what he'd done, he would never be forgiven. He didn't deserve to be. "But I need to do this. It's a consequence of what I've done. I...I need to deal with it."
His shaky voice wasn't reassuring at all. But Lloyd was done with hiding. He would do what he had to do. And he would take whatever destiny thought he deserved with his head held high.
"Ah, I see you're back to yourself."
Lloyd swiveled around, his eyes growing wide. A large smile spread across his face. "I-I haven't seen you in ages! I thought you'd forgotten about me I...so many things have happened I-I've messed up but now...I'll-"
"You do not need to tell me anything. I have always been by your side, Lloyd," a sad smile formed on the emperor's lips. "I just did not believe you needed me. You had friends."
"Yeah...I had friends." Lloyd sighed. "I just...I messed up. I hurt them. I don't think they'll want anything to do with me now."
"Maybe not," Garmadon shrugged, his body flickering once again. "But you cannot continue living in 'what if's, Lloyd. You need to carry out all of your responsibilities."
"I know," Lloyd nodded. "I'm still scared but...I know what I have to do. And I'll do it."
The spirit flickered again, fading away faster and faster. "I don't have long here. But there is something you need to know..."
"Yeah?" The green eyed boy frowned. What did the ghost mean he didn't have long? Lloyd couldn't imagine losing him. He had always been there, guiding him, pushing him forward, reassuring him that everything would eventually work out in his favor. He'd always been there to tell him not to worry. Always been there to make sure Lloyd would never break.
"I have watched you grow up, Lloyd," the emperor stated. "I have seen you change from a boy into a man. You are incredibly strong. You have been able to conquer challenges that most would shy away from. You have fallen, and you have gotten up again. You have been scared, hurt, and beaten, and yet here you are before me, standing as tall as ever. I am very, very proud of you. My son..."
"We're doing what now?"' Kai asked, placing his back against the wall.
Zane gestured for the others to follow him, but the journey through the open halls of the castle was slow going. Jay was still the weakest of the bunch, leaning heavily against Cole for support and uttering many apologies. "We are close to where I recall seeing something that might help us," the android said, keeping his ever vigilant eyes looking for potential threats. "I never took a good look at it, but I remember that Pythor always kept on eye on it and, if my hunch is correct, it might provide us with some answers. Answers that will help us bring Lloyd back to himself."
The merchant felt Jay stumble and he tightened his grip around him. "Hunch about what?"
They finally entered a large room, walls adorned with shelves that held books that no one other than Zane had ever seen before. "The...the Serpentine burned all of the books..." Jay breathed, simply awestruck by the sight before him. "These aren't suppose to exist anymore, but..." His blue eyes rested squarely on a familiar, leather-bound title. "That's it! That's the story book that my parents use to read to me when I was little. The one that I based my puppet show around." Jay made his way forward, dragging Cole along with him and grabbing the book from the shelf. "I never thought I'd see this ever again."
"All of this is amazing," Kai said, feeling as if his lungs could not get enough air. "But...what in here did you want to show us, Zane?"
The robot closed his eyes for a second, visualizing where he remembered seeing what he was looking for. "It's over here." Zane crossed to the opposite side of the room, removing a large book with a dark purple spine and opening it up to the middle. The others gathered around him as they stared at a discolored page. With a triumphant grin, the robot easily removed the page and showed his friends that the edge of the page was torn.
"That looks like..." Jay cocked his head to the side slightly, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Like the pages from Lloyd's book," the merchant finished, his curiosity piqued. "What does it say, Zane?"
Holding the single page in his hand, the android read the words aloud in a low voice. No need for them to get caught now. Zane knew that the others would not be able to take another round of whatever Lloyd might have in store for them.
Round and round and round again.
You see the what, not the bane.
Darkness and light intertwine.
So they form a single vine.
"What does it mean though?" Jay piped in, his voice full of excitement and confusion.
Kai wanted to smack his friend upside the head, but he settled on just crossing his arms over his chest. "We'll never know if you keep interrupting." The puppeteer gave his friend a sheepish grin before shutting his mouth once more. "Please, continue, Zane."
Fire stands to light our path.
Ice reflects who we are.
Earth lifts us as we fall.
Lightning strikes the fear that dwells in our hearts.
Round and round and round again.
You see the what, not the bane.
Darkness and light intertwine.
So they form a single vine.
The clock ticks down to the final hour.
Trust crumbles while fear grows strong.
A voice in the shadows feeds on our casualties.
Hiding beneath a mask of innocence
Cole swallowed hard, not liking the way the message sounded. It was a prophecy if he had ever heard one, but what exactly was it predicting?
Round and round and round again.
You see the what, not the bane.
Darkness and light intertwine.
So they form a single vine.
The world comes to an end now.
Invisible threads start the final dance.
An ancient spirit rises.
Its puppet falling into death's embrace.
Round and round and round again.
You see the what, not the bane.
Darkness and light intertwine.
So they form a single vine.
"Death is someone I would never want to give a hug to," Jay ended, feeling his heart constrict in his chest as Zane finally finished the words on the page. "Never ever."