'I'm getting too old for this.'
Lloyd knew that was a ridiculous thought since he was still a few years shy of twenty, but the ache in his bones was bad enough that he just wanted to take a few days and do nothing but lay in the dark.
Whenever he got this tired, it seemed like all of his old injuries had to make a painful reappearance in the form of throbbing pain that radiated in his muscles and joints; the broken ankle from what was supposed to be the final battle, the sprained wrist in Prime Evil's eye, the plentiful injuries he had gotten fighting his father in Kryptarium Prison and the broken ribs from when the monastery door had fallen on his chest, it all came rushing back to a point where he could barely function through it.
But, just because he was running on nothing didn't mean that he could take a break. He, along with Nya and Skylar, were the only ones who still had their powers and the members of the Overlord's council were still at large minus Aspheera and Mister F and they had to be tracked down.
After all, Lloyd had fought against the Overlord three times in his life, each time resulting in some sort of twisted outcome. It was likely that a council member would try and resurrect him yet again, especially since Pythor had done it before.
'And I'd be okay with never fighting him again.'
Which brought him to where he was; pulling his green suit on after finally moving into his room in the rebuilt monastery. While it would make sense to put on the gold and green one since Nya's matched, it made his stomach twist with memories that seemed like a lifetime ago as well as very fresh memories of turning into something that terrified him to his very core.
'Nothing good comes out of me wearing gold.'
He was pulled out of his thoughts by a sharp knock on the door, revealing Jay standing against the door frame with his familiar grin on his face.
"Hey, Jay," Lloyd managed to smile around the pain, "What's up?"
"I just wanted to check out your room. Kai's convinced he has the biggest one."
"It can't be bigger than his ego," Lloyd responded while tightening the belt around his waist, wincing briefly as it pressed against his skin, "any updates on if they found any members of the council yet?"
"Not yet, but PIXAL, Skylor, and Nya have been working overtime on it," Lloyd couldn't help but sigh. He knew that some of the members had been hiding in plain sight while the others patiently laid low in Kryptarium prison, but he also assumed it would be easier to track at least one of them down, "Lloyd, you guys are gonna find them. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Lloyd nodded even though he didn't believe Jay's words, but also knew that he was doing what he could since he and the others had lost their abilities, "I'm gonna go see what I can do to help."
Jay nodded and the two walked out of his room, splitting up as Jay went towards his room while he went down into the renovated and rebuilt underground base, trying to keep the throbbing pain to himself by biting back the pain in his throat.
'I'll tell them after we stop the remaining council members.'
Luckily for him, Skylor, PIXAL, and Nya were all engrossed in the monitors so they didn't even acknowledge his presence until he spoke up, leaning against the wall for support while crossing his arms across his chest to appear more casual. "Have you three gotten anywhere yet?"
"Negative, but we will continue looking," PIXAL explained while keeping her eyes glued to the screen.
"We have Cole and Zane searching in the Bounty, and Kai is searching in one of the noodle delivery trucks throughout the city, so if they are in the air or on the ground, we're gonna find them," Skylor added while continuing to look on a different set of monitors.
Lloyd nodded in agreement, his body shaking against the wall. His throat was practically on fire now and his vision was starting to tilt with dizziness.
Getting sick from stress was somewhat normal for him after the second fight with the Overlord, but the onset was worrying. Usually, it was a matter of days as his adrenaline ebbed away, but this…
'This is way too fast.'
"Lloyd, are you okay?" Nya's voice broke through his fuzzy thoughts, but when he tried to speak, his tongue stayed heavy, so he just uncrossed his arms, and gripped the wall, starting to lose the battle for consciousness, "Oh, you look awful. Are you getting sick?"
Lloyd knew that his vision was dimming and that he couldn't stop shaking, so all he could do was force himself to squint at Nya as he rasped out, "Find Master Wu," before letting his eyes shut and his body hit the stone floor with a loud 'thud' filling the room followed with screams he didn't hear.
…
Cole had never made such a sharp U-Turn in the air before; he was used to operating vehicles on the ground after all, but when Nya's panicked voice came through the comms and demanded that the two of them returned to the monastery as soon as possible, he knew that there was not a moment to lose.
Nya was similar to him in the way that she kept calm until things escalated badly, and with how scared she had sounded, the worst possibilities sprang to mind for him and started to swirl in his mind whilst he piloted the ship.
'A member of the Crystal Council attacked the monastery and someone got hurt, or Garmadon turned on us again. Lloyd turned into an Oni and got completely out of control.'
The bad possibilities continued to swirl as he anchored The Bounty, only letting himself take a quick breath of relief when he saw that the monastery was still completely intact from where it had been rebuilt just a week before.
"Cole, PIXAL's signal is coming from the living area."
Cole nodded and the two of them slid down the anchor's chain before sprinting into the monastery, but just when he started to hope that it was a minor incident was when they stopped in the living room to find the entirety of the ninja team either twitching where they sat or pacing around the room.
'Everyone but Master Wu and Lloyd.' Cole's stomach dropped when he took in everyone's worried faces that looked up to make eye contact with both him and Zane behind him. Nya was the first one who stood up to hug them, her eyes red with tears.
"Nya, what?" Cole questioned when she moved away from Zane to wrap her warm, tight arms around him, her head resting on his shoulder as a sob escaped her, "what happened? Where are Master Wu and Lloyd?"
But her sobs only intensified in his arms, so he held onto her and tried to keep any sort of assumption to himself about what was happening while also trying to calm his racing mind.
'Lloyd probably just hid an injury from the battle, he does that. Or maybe he got sick from the stress, that happens too. He probably just got caught by Nya and she's over-tired from regaining her powers. But he's fine, she's fine and we're all fine.'
Everyone was looking at him with a mix of concern and aching like they wanted to tell him what had transpired but couldn't find the best way to break it to him gently like he would crack with the knowledge.
'Which is ridiculous. I don't crack or break under pressure. I always hold us together until we find the solution.'
Nya didn't let go until the door to Lloyd's room opened and Master Wu walked out, a glimpse inside of the room showed that Misako was hovering over Lloyd's bedside before he shut the door behind him, leaving Cole and the others waiting for him to speak with bated breath.
"I must admit that I was naive in my hopes that you four would quickly regain your elemental powers. I was also naive in the fact that I was sure that it would not have this effect on Lloyd,"
Wu stopped speaking to take a long, deep breath, "your abilities are connected to Lloyd's to the point where when Morro had control of him, you did not have control of your powers."
"We've lost our powers before and it didn't do this to him," Kai responded, which is when Cole realized that he had all but chewed through his bottom lip in his frantic pacing.
"You were the only one who lost them to Aspheera. Zane was the only one who did not have control of his powers as the Ice Emperor. The only other times that you two have lost all of your powers was when Morro used Lloyd's body, which inadvertently delayed something like this from occurring, and after he defeated the Overlord the first time."
"When he was the golden ninja and had all of our powers." Jay supplied and Cole watched as Wu nodded, but his stomach was still full of knots and he was still extremely confused as to where all of this was going so he finally asked the question on his mind.
"Can someone please explain what is happening?"
The room grew quiet for a few somber moments and Cole started to assume that the only way he would get the answer was if he begged, but before he could speak, Master Wu gave him the words that hit him in the chest like a ton of bricks.
"Because his elemental powers don't have you four to connect to, Lloyd has grown very ill, very fast. I don't know how much longer he has, but as of now, Misako thinks that the best plan is to get him to the temple of light and restore his golden power. And I can't help but agree with her on that."
"He doesn't want that power," Kai tried to argue while Cole's stomach started to twist with dread and anxiety about the state of Lloyd's health and how the way that Wu was speaking about it was all too reminiscent of his mother, "it practically turned him into a target for the overlord last time."
"But it might be the only way to save his life, unless you just got your powers back," Cole managed to retort with a heavy tongue before approaching Master Wu with a singular question, "When do we leave?"
"As soon as we can get him on The Bounty," Wu affirmed before turning to the group, "Zane and Nya, chart a course to the Dark Island. Jay, you and Kai lock everything up and grab the essentials for the flight." The five of them went off in their separate directions to get the ship ready to go.
"PIXAL and I will watch over the monastery and keep an eye out for council members," Skylor piped up from where she had been standing in the same space as Kai, "I can't guarantee that I can stop them, but at least we'll be able to hit the ground running when you get back."
"Thank you," Wu nodded with appreciation before turning to Cole, "I want you to help Misako and me get Lloyd on the ship. I know that without your powers, you don't have your regular level of strength but-"
"I'm still the one who does the most strength training outside of ninja training, I got it, Master Wu," Cole assured the older man before asking, "Is he conscious?"
"He's been in and out since he collapsed downstairs," Wu explained as they made their way back to Lloyd's room, "I gave him some healing tea to try and keep him lucid which has worked so far, but…" Wu trailed off as his fingers grazed the knob, "I don't know how long we have before we lose that."
And with that somber statement, he twisted the knob and opened the door, letting Cole into the dimly lit room before shutting the door but all Cole could focus on was Lloyd's sweating forehead with his eyes squeezed tightly shut in pain, his breathing tinged with a light wheeze.
All Cole wanted was to break out of that room and break apart a punching bag as he punched down the painful memories of losing his mother to her illness, watching her fall apart with every day that passed; but he has been trusted by Wu to take care of his nephew and he would be damned if he broke that trust.
So when Wu gently squeezed Misako's arm and told her that they needed to pack, he immediately took over where she had been and wiped away some of the beads of sweat from Lloyd's forehead, his temperature radiating through the washcloth; the only thing he could equate this too was when he had gone after Garmadon in Kryptarium.
He hadn't even been able to help care for Lloyd when he was unconscious, his stomach in too many knots to care for his friend before the attack had begun. But he was here now, and he had to stay present. He couldn't ignore it this time, not when his life was at stake.
"Cole?" Lloyd's weak but coherent voice forced him to look down at his squinted eyes and Cole had to swallow his tears back.
"Hey, bud. We've got a plan to help you feel better, you just gotta hang in there. Okay?"
"Y-you're getting y-your powers back?" Lloyd's voice was shaking with the long sentence but hopeful nonetheless and Kai had explained how Lloyd didn't want his golden powers back so he swallowed back his honesty and let the white lie slip from his teeth.
"Yeah. We just gotta make a road trip to do that and you gotta come too."
Despite how much pain and how tired the green ninja was, he still managed to add a little bit of his snark in his response, "Not walking right n-now."
Cole couldn't help but smile as he used the now lukewarm cloth to push Lloyd's blonde hair out of his eyes before responding, "Well, once your uncle gives the word, you need to be prepared to live down the embarrassment of me carrying you bridal style, punk."
"I h-hate you," Lloyd responded with zero bite in his voice and Cole knew that he wasn't serious as he smirked back, his heart feeling less heavy for a brief moment as the door squeaked open.
"Love you too, buddy," he looked up to see Wu give him a nod and Cole turned to Lloyd as he walked in, "Your uncle's gonna help me get you up. Are you ready?"
Lloyd's nod was almost non-existent due to the lack of strength in his body which forced Cole to push back the tears as he and Master Wu slowly pulled Lloyd to his feet, his arms wrapped around their shoulders and his legs shaking under his weight; once they got him to his feet, Cole managed to lift him into his arms, feeling his hot cheek against his chest as his wheezing breaths came out rapidly from the overexertion and he squeezed his eyes shut again.
Cole forced himself to take a deep breath to try and calm himself as he adjusted Lloyd in his arms, but his body was concerningly light in his arms and the pale-gray tone to his skin made bile rise in his throat. He had already lost his mother this way and barely survived. If he lost Lloyd too…
'Push it down, we're getting Lloyd help,' Cole told himself as he took the steps to The Bounty that were slow enough to keep Lloyd steady but fast enough that he didn't feel like he was wasting time, 'he just needs his golden powers back and then he'll be fine. Lloyd is not going to die.'
With those attempts at reassuring thoughts, he stepped aboard The Bounty and followed Wu to the small room below deck where Lloyd had stayed when he was brought in by the five of them all those years ago. He slowly lowered him down onto the makeshift bed, making sure that his head and neck were supported by the pillows and only spoke when Lloyd opened his eyes again.
"That sucked." He said through pained, gritted teeth while his breathing started to even out.
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have to move you again till we get there," Cole explained as he squeezed Lloyd's outstretched hand, "you just rest. Your uncle and mom are gonna be right here the whole time."
Lloyd nodded and closed his eyes, but Cole didn't move from where he was standing until Lloyd's breathing slowed enough for him to know that he was asleep and when he finally did move, it was straight to the on-deck training course to work out some of his frustrations in the fact that once again, he was completely useless in helping.
He found the remote easily and clicked the button to replace the deck floor with various pieces of training equipment but immediately fixated his site on the worn punching bag that was off to the left; despite never needing them before, he slipped on the gloves and let his hands adjust to the foreign feeling before he started to hit the bag.
'The last thing we need is someone else getting hurt.'
Cole had lost track of time as he punched, each hit rippling off of the bag into a very mild kickback and his forehead dripping with exertion but this level of intensity felt normal like his powers of the earth were still flowing through every fiber of his body and everyone was more than okay; he needed all of his brain power to focus on where his punches were hitting, so he was unable to dwell on just how bad things were and how grave of a situation Lloyd was in.
It wasn't until he was broken out of his focus by Kai asking if he needed a spotter that he was sure that he could hear sounds outside of his own grunts and the sound of his gloves hitting the bag.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." Cole agreed, wiping his forehead on his arm as Kai grabbed onto the bag, allowing him to hit it harder without it swinging back to hit him, but he should have known that the silence wouldn't stay for long.
"You're okay with this plan?"
"I'm always on the side of keeping people alive, in case you haven't noticed," Cole explained as his temple pounded just once to remind him of the period where he hadn't been, "you're not?"
"The saving Lloyd's life part, I'm all for that but…" Kai trailed off and looked at the ground with a face that easily showed guilt.
"You think we're painting a target on Lloyd's back."
"He already has to deal with the Oni thing and the fact that he's Garmadon's son. Not to mention, he gave up that power a long time ago. I just can't help but feel like he's going to hate us."
"He'll understand that we're saving his life," Cole stopped punching to meet Kai's regretful gaze, "that's what matters most. He doesn't want the powers, I get that, but we have to put things off until tomorrow to survive today," Cole explained, waiting until Kai nodded to continue punching, "besides, he was still really young back then. Maybe he's changed his mind."
…
In his brief moments of coherent thoughts, Lloyd knew exactly what the others considered the solution and he hated the idea.
Yes, being alive was the goal, he understood that but the fact that the only way to achieve that was to revive the powers of his grandfather inside of him, the powers that had caused the Overlord to hunt him down and subsequently nearly drained him of all his power, he wasn't exactly happy about that.
That didn't even scratch the surface involving the fact that he had foolishly ignored the training from his father and how he had failed to hide his disappointment when he gave them to the others.
'I fail too often in green, the only thing that gold will do is propel that further. That's when people get hurt, that's when people die.'
Despite his swirling thoughts, he knew it would be impossible to get any of them to budge on their decision to take him back to the Temple of Light. He was just going to have to force himself to accept that he would regain the title of the golden ninja.
…
Kai felt sick to his stomach. He had ever since he had sped back to the monastery when Skylor had told him what had happened over the comms. Boarding The Bounty made his vision swirl, flying through the air made his stomach turn, and watching over Lloyd in the small room below deck gave him the feeling of bile in his throat.
'I can't lose him. We've been through too much for me to lose him,' Kai thought to himself as he held Lloyd's hand gently in his, running his thumb over his worn and scarred knuckles, 'this has to work.'
He knew it was selfish to focus on his feelings in these circumstances, but at the same time, he couldn't stop himself from hating everything about the plan; he had multiple candid conversations with Lloyd in the past about how he no longer wanted to be associated with being the golden ninja and at the same time, he was forced to watch him fade slowly as they flew across the ocean to have a chance to reach the temple of light in time.
"You can't give up, Lloyd," Kai said aloud even though his eyes were shut and his breath, although wheezy, was light, "ninja never quit and I really need you to take that to heart right now.
Kai wasn't surprised that he received no answer except a slow, wheezy exhale. What did shock him, however, was the crash of thunder followed by the ship tilting harshly to the left, forcing him to grab Lloyd with one hand and the wall with the other, his teeth gritted together until the ship straightened.
"Keep the ship steady!" He shouted upwards towards his sister, only to hear her muffled insistence of Jay acting as a lightning rod much to his own loud protest that eventually forced Lloyd to blink up at him.
"Hey, buddy," Kai greeted with a much softer voice despite Jay's distant cursing, "how're you feeling?"
He watched as Lloyd took a few moments to swallow and look around at his surroundings before finally making direct eye contact as he spoke, "Like shit."
Kai couldn't stop the brief smile from spreading across his face as he smoothed Lloyd's hair down where the energy surrounding them slowly started to make his hair stand up on end while explaining, "We're in a storm right now, but Jay's being a handy lightning attractor."
As if on cue, an angered shout rang out from above deck followed shortly by another crash of thunder, but all Kai could focus on was the fact that Lloyd's face was slowly but steadily turning as green as his suit.
'He's gonna barf.'
"Okay, buddy, let's get you above deck," Kai insisted as he reached around and pulled Lloyd to his feet by his armpits, forcing himself to block out the pained groan as he rushed up the stairs while supporting his weight, just barely helping Lloyd stand with his head across the railing before he felt his body stiffen followed by pained reteching, "just get it out. I've got you."
Kai heard Jay shout out in disgust from where he was positioned at the highest point of the ship; in any other situation he would have laughed at his friend's disgust but right now, he was just holding tightly onto the back of Lloyd's shirt to keep him from falling over the railing.
Kai wasn't sure just how long he was holding on tightly to the youngest member of their team but eventually, his body relaxed and he practically leaned against him as he brought him back below deck, but he was just glad and shocked that Lloyd was still conscious as he lowered him back down.
"We're going to the d-dark island, a-aren't we?"
Kai took a deep breath as he dampened the cloth and started to wipe the sweat off of Lloyd's brow before responding, "Your mom doesn't have any other ideas and I don't like this any more than you do, but if it helps you-"
"Not mad," Lloyd cut him off as his eyes started to flutter shut out of exhaustion, "just have to g-get used to the i-idea."
Kai nodded in response as Lloyd shut his eyes; he wanted to keep talking to him and to get to the root of how he felt about it but at the same time, he knew that it would just waste the extra strength that he had.
'There will be time for talking after this nightmare is over.'
But when Lloyd asked with his eyes still closed, "A-are you sure this i-is going to work?" Kai had to scramble for words that he didn't know were true.
"Of course, it will. Your mom's pretty smart, so if she says it'll work, then it'll work."
His reply stayed on his mind even when Zane came down to stay with Lloyd so he could stretch his legs; it didn't take him long to find Nya, steering The Bounty with one hand and eating a granola bar with the other.
"Where did you get that?" Kai questioned as he leaned against the wall, trying to force some of his stress out of his mind even though he couldn't stop thinking about his conversation with Lloyd.
"I always keep this room stocked with snacks," she explained as she took the last bite, "the storm is starting to clear up. We should be there soon."
Kai nodded, his thoughts running wild with anxiety. All he could hope was that this would work and when he felt as though he couldn't hold it in any longer, he couldn't stop himself from asking his sister, "You're sure this is gonna work?"
"It has to," she affirmed before clicking on the microphone button, "hey, you can probably come down now, Jay."
"Thank goodness," Jay's voice echoed through the ship, "I hate being the lightning rod, you know."
As if on cue, Kai looked through the window to see a flash of blue climb down from the mast, practically illuminated by the break in the storm clouds. "I just…even if it works, he's not going to be happy about this."
"Yeah, I know," Nya nodded after flipping The Bounty to autopilot, "but we don't have another choice. It's been weeks and you four have no signs of your powers coming back. Without them, he's at an imbalance."
Kai sighed as he rubbed a hand over his face, "I'm just worried he's going to hate us for doing this to him."
He looked up when he felt the firm but gentle pressure against his shoulder that could only be Nya's hand and looked up to make eye contact as she spoke.
"I would rather deal with Lloyd's temporary anger than lose him, even if he can turn into an Oni."
"So would I," Kai agreed with zero hesitation before the weight of the stress returned as he looked out onto the sky which was growing clearer and clearer with every second spent in the air, "I just hope we're not too late."
It didn't take long for them to approach the island after they made their way out of the storm and Kai was glad that his sister had found a way to anchor The Bounty close to the temple, but he knew that was mainly so they didn't use any of Lloyd's strength that they didn't have to before they got inside.
He followed Nya outside into the humid air as the group made their way onto the closest semblance of a path that there was in the curves of the mountains that led to their destination; the sunrise shone on his face and he couldn't help but think that in any other situation, the view was gorgeous.
The sound of Lloyd's wheezing breath was what brought him back to the present and he quickly turned his head to see him standing on shaking legs with his arm wrapped around Jay's shoulder.
"You're sure you want to walk up the mountain?"
"I'll be fine," Lloyd insisted even though the sunrise made his face look paler with each passing moment, something that Kai was unable to hide because despite how sick he was, Lloyd still managed to roll his eyes as he spoke again, "if I can't, I'll let you guys know. Promise."
Kai slowly turned away and started the ascent up the mountain; he wanted to believe Lloyd but given just how sick he had been in the past twenty-four hours and his ever-present stubborn streak, it was nearly impossible.
'I guess I have to rely on Jay to keep him in check.' He realized before a second thought came into his mind, 'This isn't going to go well.'
…
Jay did his best to hold up the weight on his shoulders as they began the climb up the somewhat pathway.
Even though he was tired from the lightning that had coursed through his body amid the storm, he couldn't let any members of his team down.
He could feel Lloyd's body shake with every step that he took, which made his stomach turn with anxiety, but he didn't know how to step in and tell him that he needed Cole to carry him, so he just held on tighter to Lloyd's left side to keep his steps in tune with his own.
"I'm fine, Jay," Lloyd insisted as he stood up straighter when he caught onto Jay's tightening grip, blinking back visible beads of sweat that dripped from his forehead out of his eyes, "just tired."
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't be walking," Jay insisted as they stayed at the tail end of the group no matter how fast they walked, "you're going to need your strength."
"I said I'm fine," Lloyd insisted again, seemingly forcing his voice to come out clear without the shake despite the chills that racked against his body, "I can walk."
Jay wanted to find a way to convince him otherwise, but the words refused to come to mind, so he just continued to hold tightly as the ascent continued higher and higher.
As the climb continued in silence, Jay felt the subtle shift in the humidity that felt like a bad omen; but it wasn't until they were just a few feet from the steps that he felt the weight he was carrying suddenly go lax against his body.
"Lloyd!" He shouted, gripping tightly onto the youngest member of the team to keep him from fully collapsing while lowering the two of them to the ground; he blinked his eyes open a few moments later, but Jay's nerves were still unsettled despite the reassurances.
"I'm fine, I just blacked out for a few seconds."
"You're done." Cole's voice came from behind him and Jay was glad he didn't have to fight the signature Garmadon stubborn streak on his own this time.
"But we're almost there!"
"Yeah, and you almost just fell down the mountain," Kai argued back as he approached Lloyd's left side, "this whole thing is to save you so you need to get over your embarrassment and let Cole carry you the rest of the way."
"Not embarrassed," Lloyd muttered as he let Cole reach over and pull him into his arms before they started to catch up with the others, leaving Kai and Jay at the back of the group.
Jay stood up and wiped the sweat from his face, noticing Kai's face melted from determination to worry as he glanced at the rest of them before they started walking.
"I'm worried too." Jay finally spoke up to break the silence and distract himself from the bundle of nerves that his brain had become.
Kai was silent for a few minutes, but as they arrived at the steps, he finally whispered something that chilled Jay to the bone despite the heat.
"I don't think he's being stubborn, I think he's trying to stall and find another solution."
"Wait, he doesn't want to do this?"
"None of us do," Kai elaborated, whispering as he walked towards the fire symbol on the floor, "but we can't lose Lloyd."
Jay swallowed as he walked towards his spot on the floor, the lightning symbol practically glowing under him as it welcomed him back for the first time since Lloyd granted them their powers for the first time.
He had been all for the plan at the monastery, but now that they were there and the event was about to take place, he was starting to have second thoughts.
'After all, he doesn't want to do this.'
But he also knew that with just how sick Lloyd was, he was only getting worse and they had run out of time for any other options when they knew that this one would work.
So he stood up straight in his spot against the pillar and when Lloyd looked at them one by one to receive confirmation that it would work, he gave him a nod full of false confidence but not due to the legitimacy of the plan, but due to how all of them, especially Lloyd, would handle the aftermath.
Jay was lost enough in thought that he had barely noticed that Lloyd had managed to gather enough strength to launch himself off the wall and hit the bell before nearly collapsing in the center under it.
The loud clang rang through the entire temple, making his ears ring slightly, but what shouldn't have caught him off guard was the elemental weapon that formed in his hand, shining with its sharpness in the light that shone around Lloyd.
He knew that for this to work, he had to use the powers that emerged through the blade on the light; despite his worry, he did what was expected of him and watched as the room was practically filled with white light for at least a full minute before it finally dispersed and for a brief moment, he let his lungs release the breath of relief.
Until Lloyd hit the ground with a thud and didn't move, forcing Jay to rush forward in a sprint
…
The world around Cole went quiet, the screams of panic falling around him in deafening silence, as his legs collapsed under him and his chest throbbed painfully.
The tears welled up in his eyes as he looked directly at Lloyd laying on the ground, pale and lifeless and he knew that deep inside, he had failed.
…
Kai couldn't breathe.
He knew he was, as he got down beside Lloyd and held his wrist in his hand, frantically calling out to him as he checked for any signs of life, but his own emotions held onto his throat tightly to keep him from drawing in any air.
He could feel Nya's hand on his shoulder, a shuddering gasp coming from her chest, but he couldn't look back at her. Looking back would be giving up.
'And I am not giving up on Lloyd.'
…
Surrounded by golden light, Lloyd could feel his illness leave his body; any damage that had occurred as a result repairing itself in the brightness and every single ache and pain leaving his body resulted in the feeling of rejuvenation.
It wasn't until he looked down at his floating body surrounded in the bright light that he saw his green suit around him being replaced with golden thread that he fully processed what was happening and his mind filled with both panic and relief.
'Mom's plan worked.'
He wanted to yell out to the force behind this that he really didn't want the powers, but when he opened his mouth, nothing but a singular pitiful squeak escaped before the light faded, resulting in the world going black around him.
His heart started beating way too fast as he started to fully freak out in the darkness but he forced himself to close his eyes and take a long deep breath.
When he opened his eyes again, his vision was blurry but he could see the outlines of everyone surrounding him, staring at him from above.
'I'm alive,' he assured himself before slowly lifting up the hand that wasn't wrapped tightly in Kai's grip, the powers that had once been green now glowing gold and as everyone cheered around him and held onto , the only thing he could feel was a sense of dread, ' and I'm the golden ninja again.'
TWO WEEKS LATER
"Lloyd."
"No."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Can I get you out of this room?"
"Probably not."
"Are you gonna try and stay here forever?"
"It's looking like a good idea right now."
"Lloyd, I will drag you out of bed if you don't roll over to look at me."
Kai watched as Lloyd weighed the possibilities in his mind before finally giving up with a long drawn out sigh and rolled over to make eye contact with him; he expected to see the glints of red that had always been settled in Lloyd's eyes replaced with gold and in hindsight, he should've expected to see the tear stains on his cheeks, but he couldn't stop the harsh intake of breath when he saw them.
"What?" Lloyd's voice had some bite in it, but he also sounded too drained from the events of what had happened on the island to actually force any actual anger in it.
"PIXAL got a hit on Vangelis, Nya and Skylor are getting ready to help bring him into custody," Kai explained before sitting on the end of the bed next to Lloyd's feet, "they sent me to get you."
"They should go without me." Lloyd spoke after a moment of silence before flopping back over to avoid eye contact with Kai.
Kai bit his inner cheek to keep him from lashing out at Lloyd; he knew that he was angry at the situation and was most likely worried about innocent people getting hurt again but at the same time, Skylor and Nya needed all the power they could get.
"I get that you don't want these powers," Kai sympathized as he craned his neck to try and get Lloyd to look at him, "but we need to get these guys taken down, which means that we need everybody on board. We can try and figure out how you can transfer the powers to us safely afterwards."
"What about before that?" Lloyd questioned, "what if I hurt people when I go after the remaining counsel members?"
"We can keep you in check over the comms, and Nya will be there-"
"You don't get it, Kai!" Lloyd shouted suddenly while sitting up, his blanket cascading down his torso and settling over his knees, "you weren't there when I turned into that…that thing. I had no control, I couldn't stop shooting the Overlord. If that crystal hadn't been there…"
"You're scared that you wouldn't have shifted back." Kai spoke as it clicked in his mind and what Lloyd said afterwards made the explanation behind the fear of regaining his abilities.
"I was the only gold Oni that I've seen. These powers…I fight against that side of me every single day and I can barely hang onto myself sometimes."
"You think the abilities are going to make it harder for you?"
"I know they will," Lloyd agreed before looking down at his empty palms, "I know that the Overlord was a bad guy, that Vangelis is a bad guy, but I don't know if I can control myself long enough for myself to process who is good and who isn't when I'm like that. I don't want to hurt any more people."
Kai swallowed harshly when Lloyd finally slouched and let his head rest against his chest, seemingly trying to find any sort of comfort just by laying against him.
"I wish I could tell you that no one is gonna get hurt, but I think you'd know that I was lying. So I'm gonna ask you a question instead, is that okay?" He waited for a nod before speaking, "are more people going to get hurt if you go out there, or are they going to get hurt if Vangelis wreaks havoc on an entire village?"
Lloyd sat up once he absorbed what he was saying and rubbed a hand over his face before he twisted in a beam of golden light emerging in his suit that had been transformed before their eyes in the temple and put his pajamas in the laundry basket; he turned back to Kai with a smile.
"Thanks for knocking some sense into me."
"Anytime," Kai affirmed as he stood up before setting a hand on his shoulder, "I'll be on the comms if you need me."
He couldn't help but smile as he watched Lloyd grin before heading towards the base to meet up with his sister and girlfriend while he thought to himself. 'He's going to be okay.'