Though in the hidden garden
Down by the green green lane
The plant of love grows next to
The tree of hate and pain.

So take my tears as a token.
They'll keep you warm in the cold.
This is the age you are broken
Or turned into gold.

-Antonia Michaelis, The Storyteller

oOo

Lloyd kicks against the ground, sending himself flying into the sky on the swing. He likes it outside, now, now that the final chill of winter has dissipated, and summer has come into full bloom. It means he isn't stuck inside anymore, that he can run off into the woods all day if he likes because no one pays enough attention to him to care. Normally, anyway.

Because that is the exact moment the swing is caught from behind and he's shoved forward, into the ground. He twists, catching himself on his back, and growling up at his cousin's face.

"You've got mud on your shirt." Dan mocks. "Mother will kill you."

Lloyd gets up, and ignores Dan. Dan flaunts his status as a Nobleman's son and his envisioned superiority to Lloyd, being two years older. He gets everything he desires. Lloyd, on the other hand, is lucky if he gets supper.

"What do you want?" He snaps.

Dan is eyeing him like he's an eagle and Lloyd's a mouse, vicious and mean.

"Nothing." Dan grins maliciously. "Maybe you'd get left alone if you didn't insist on wearing your last name like it's a badge of honor."

"It is!" Lloyd replies, indignant as his eyes flash.

"Right, you sure we're talking about the same person? Garmadon?" Dan's eyes sparkle, and Lloyd knows how much his cousin is enjoying getting under his skin. Lloyd hates himself for letting him. "Like, the man who was a monster? The man who shoved you off onto his poor in-laws, the one who went insane after killing his sister?"

"That's not what happened!"

"And then ran off to who-knows-where after trying to kill his brother too?"

"You're stupid!" Lloyd bellows, eyes flaring as his hands heat, sparking with a foreign energy.

Dan rolls his eyes. "Oh please." He scoffs, but he looks nervous, glancing at Lloyd's hands. "You're the stupid one-running around like you're something special when all are is a half-monster freak with no parents, no home, and no legacy!"

Lloyd hisses, an airy sound that fills the space around them. "Take it back."

"What?" Dan mocks.

"I said, Take. It. Back."

Dan only laughs.

But he isn't laughing when Lloyd pounces on him, bringing him down to the hot summer mud and latching onto him. Lloyd wraps an arm around Dan's neck, pulling with his other.

"Want to make fun of me now?" Lloyd growls in his cousin's ear.

Dan doesn't do anything but grunt, unable to escape Lloyd's choking grip.

"Danuja! Lloyd Garmadon, get off this instant!"

Lloyd reluctantly complies, releasing Dan from his choke, and getting to his feet. Leiko, his aunt, is standing there, looking horrified and spitting mad. Of course, it isn't at Dan. It's at Lloyd. Leiko's precious little baby could never do anything wrong. She stalks forward and slaps Lloyd across the face.

"You insolent, horrible child!" She begins, disgust and fury twisting her face. Lloyd doesn't flinch, only stares up at her with a bored look in his red eyes. "How dare you! After all we have done, after all Danuja has done, sacrificing his summer to spend it with you, you ought to be grateful!"

Impulsive, angry hatred bubbles in his stomach, but Lloyd keeps silent.

"With how we suffer from your foulness already oozing from every corner, and how much we pay for your fancy doctors and fancy school, you would think that I would get some gratitude for it! But no, you choke poor, sweet Danuja!"

"He started it!" Lloyd bursts. "He started it! He always starts it!"

Shock widens Leiko's eyes, then they narrow with absolute contempt. She snatches his arm and begins to drag him toward the manor.

"You little wretch of a liar," She hisses. "You selfish, selfish child. Danuja never starts fights! How dare you insinuate such a thing!"

She slaps him again, this time much harder than before. Lloyd flinches. His face feels hot, traitorous tears rolling down his cheeks as he fights to retain a stoic front.

"Until you apologize to my sweet boy, you and your filth will remain in your room, is that clear?"

"Yes Aunt." Lloyd mumbles. It's better than getting hit again.

"And wear your contacts, you wretch. No one wants to see your ugly eyes."

Lloyd blinks, the world swimming in his tears, before nodding. "Yes Aunt."

"Servant-you! Come here!" The parlor maid, Itzel, hurries over. "Take this brat up to his room, and lock him in. He's not to leave or have dinner."

"Yes Madam." Itzel replies calmly, putting a hand on Lloyd's shoulder and guiding him upstairs. Lloyd waits until they are out of his Aunt's range of hearing, and then his silence bursts like a dam.

"She blamed me again! And Dan started it! He's a-" He breaks off into a slew of words he learned at boarding school that he would get slapped for again if they were heard.

But Itzel doesn't, however, instead replying calmly, "You'd best not use that language, Master Lloyd. It's not appropriate of an eleven-year-old boy."

"Well, according to Dan I'm half monster so…"

Itzel spins him around, hands on his shoulders. "You aren't a monster, you're a child. Remember that, Master Lloyd. Nothing that boy says will change it, and don't let it."

Lloyd grumbles but nods. "I hate it here." He moans, kicking the ground. "It's miserable."

"Your mother felt the same way." Itzel sighs "Too restless; that was what got her. Always had to explore, discover new things."

"Yeah, that's why she ditched me."

"She didn't want you to get hurt. Your father was sick and she was trying to find a cure, or that's what she told me. She wanted to keep you safe, not everywhere she was going would be."

"But she hasn't sent a letter in over a year. Dad sends one every week." Lloyd whines. "What's she doing? Why's she so busy?"

"I don't know, child. She's probably somewhere where she can't send letters right now."

"There's this thing called texting too, y'know."

"Don't take that tone with me, young man. If she can't write I'm sure there isn't cell service either."

They reach Lloyd's room and Lloyd reluctantly goes in. "I'm hungry." He tells Itzel.

"I'll bring something up later. Why don't you go get started on that summer reading list?"

Lloyd snorts. "Yeah, like Darkley's will care."

"Master Lloyd…" Itzel warns.

"Fine! Fine!" Lloyd shuts the door and flops backward onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

He hasn't seen his Mom, Misako, in over six years. He was left with Leiko when he was five, and he still doesn't know why. Neither of his parents will tell him. He's given up asking his Dad, Garmadon, despite the frequency of there communication. And his Mom is….well, for all he knows, dead. Really for all anyone knows.

Lloyd hates summer vacation.

Sure, school is absolute misery but at least he doesn't have to deal with Dan or Midiri, Dan's twin sister, when he's there. And it's not like Leiko will tramp half-way across the country just to slap him every time he does something she doesn't like. Actually, Lloyd's pretty sure she forgets he exists the moment he's gone.

He rolls over, reaching out to the bedstand for a comic book. Hey, he's technically reading. Only, this is something that's actually good.

Maybe I can spend the summer hiding here. He thinks as the world dissolves into epic space battles and weird aliens. And a place where everything makes sense, and no one is judged based on the color of their eyes.

oOo

The summer months pass, the sticky heat turning to sticky chill as autumn comes on and the leaves begin to brown and fall. Lloyd spends most of the time either outside or locked in his room. He manages to avoid Dan the majority of the break, and his cousin seems reluctant to instigate another fight. That doesn't stop him from finding other ways to torment Lloyd, particularly in the way of one very ugly pet snake.

Lloyd still hasn't let go of that, funny as Dan may have found it.

It's only a few months but it feels like a century, and Lloyd finds himself so miserable he's actually looking forward to going back to school. To sitting in the dark classrooms, to homework assignments he doesn't understand, to teachers who only see the worst in him….okay, maybe he isn't that desperate.

But he's getting close to it.

The day before the bus comes for him, he still hasn't packed.

"C'mon, Master Lloyd. You need to get ready." Itzel sighs, unsuccessfully attempting to coax the boy into getting up out of his bed.

Lloyd groans. "It's too early!" He wails, tugging his pillow over his head.

"No it isn't, get up. You need a new uniform, and we must go today."

Lloyd grumbles, moans, and complains his way through the seamstress and then through the packing process.

"I hate it!" He declares on more than one occasion. "I hate it there!"

"Oh, it isn't so bad." Itzel consoles.

"My first day Brad put fire ants in my bed." Lloyd replies dryly. "And it's not like it's gotten better with age!"

Itzel has no reply to that.

But she can't stop Lloyd from having to go, so Lloyd must. But he climbs on the bus the next day with reluctance.

oOo

Darkley's Disciplinary School For Boys makes Lloyd sick just to look at. Part of it is the students and teachers, part of it is just how tall the building is. The school crawls up into the sky, towering high on a mountain. It rests sixty miles east of Ninjago City, the capital, and five miles north of Jamanakai, a little village even higher up in the mountains. It feels like a jail and even looks like one-with bars on the windows, locks on the doors. It has curfews and solitary confinement, and dark rooms were evil practically breeds.

Lloyd had spent most of the trip hiding out in the back of the bus with his hood pulled up and his earbuds in, glad to be ignored. When they trundle to a stop, he's the last to get up and the last to step off.

"Back again, I see." The bus driver snipes.

"If you don't like it, take it up with my aunt." Lloyd replies shortly, snatching his backpack and jumping the last two stairs to the ground.

"Hey Gene, look who's back, Demon kid."

Lloyd elbows the boy-Manji-sharply, and receives a glare in return.

"Boys, Boys." The Headmistress comes stalking down the front walk, high heels clicking, as harsh and sharp as she has always been. "Hands to yourselves." Her condescending tone only makes Lloyd want to punch Manji more, simply to prove a point.

But he doesn't.

He'd rather not be in detention for the next month, thank you very much. So when Gene shoves him into the wall to get past up the stairs, he doesn't say anything. But that doesn't make the stinging pain in his eyes or the sharp ache in his throat hurt any less.

oOo

So…Lloyd is okay. He's fine. He can do this, right? Dad wants you to pay attention in school. Lloyd reminds himself. He wants you to do well. So just pay attention. Don't get into fights. Ignore them.

But it's so hard.

Especially when the teachers turn a blind eye and his one maybe-friend, Brad, (Yes the same kid that put fire ants in his bed-he's over that now) looks away. And Lloyd doesn't blame him, because who wants to be friends with the school punching bag anyways? But some days he still wants to scream and yell until someone pays attention to him and notices how much it hurts, how close he is to snapping, how deep the cuts go and how far the pain stretches.

And then it all comes to a head.

One month in, the storm breaks. And it breaks when Gene grabs Lloyd's pen (the needle kind; not the writing kind) and hides it early in the morning to prevent him from taking his medicine. Because of his mixed DNA, Lloyd's immune system is painfully weak. It's an inherited trait from his father, and the doctors automatically gave him a prescription soon after he was born. The other kids know this. The teachers know this. And this isn't the first time something like this has happened, but Lloyd decides its going to be the last.

"Give. It. Now."

Gene laughs, smirking. "Find it, Garmadork."

"I'll tell the nurse!"

"What? And you think she'll care?"

Lloyd growls. "The school'd get in trouble with the government if she didn't."

"I'm not telling you." Gene replies, voice singsong. "How 'bout this, I'll tell you when you're hot and when your cold." He snickers, obviously enjoying it.

"You'd lie." Lloyd snaps. "Because that's what you do."

"Nah, I think that if anyone would be lying it'd be you. I'm the most truthful kid in the whole school if my Dad pays enough money, if only your dad could do the same. Where is he again?"

And that's the breaking point. Lloyd is the first to act, knocking Gene to the ground, and screaming like a banshee. He can't take it anymore. It isn't fair! He's sick of this and if he doesn't take his stupid medicine, he'll be actually sick too! It all sputters into a mad blur, a blur of emotion and anger and that tingling feeling he gets in his hands that he hates. And all he knows is that he's angry and he just wants someone to pay and Gene has been sitting there asking for it for years.

And it's only when someone slaps him that he's drawn out of his fury. He looks up into the face of the Headmistress. His hands feel hot and sizzle with energy, white streaks bubbling around his fingers. He's on top of Gene, and Gene looks absolutely terrified. He has a black eye and a blistering, stippled burn mark curling around the side of his mouth, red and raw and hideous.

He looks around-the ceiling fan above, every lightbulb is shattered, glass that rained without him realizing. He has cuts on his arms. Gene has cuts on his face. How did this go so wrong?

Horror rises in Lloyd's gut-sharp shock that he did this. But then there's the boiling anger that justifies and justifies and justifies, because Gene was wrong and Lloyd at least knows that.

But the way Headmistress is looking at him makes him feel like the villain-makes him feel like the monster, the one in the wrong.

Headmistress grips him by the arm, pulling him up and out of the room. Lloyd hangs his head. He's been in fights before-but none like this.

None like this.

oOo

"What in the sixteen realms has gotten into you?!" Headmistress roars, any semblance of calm gone the moment they enter her office. "Do you know what you could have done? Do you?!"

Lloyd's lips tremble and his hands fidget as he shakes his head.

"What possesses the Makinos to send you here every year I have no idea, but I can say for certain you will not be staying past this year! Even the government cannot ignore this-attacking another child!"

"He stole my medicine!" Lloyd bursts, swallowing hot tears and shame. "He hid it and wouldn't give it back!"

"And I will take that into account, Garmadon." Headmistress replies. "But that does not condone your actions! How foolish must you be? Do you not know your own limits? Has no one ever taught you discipline? No! We have, or tried; but no matter what I do you are unruly and impossible, reckless and wild. A product of your father and his insanity, and I cannot teach someone who does not wish to learn or even attempt to try!"

Lloyd swallows, nodding. "I understand."

"The moment you set foot in here I knew; I knew you could never be taught, never understand, you half-human wretch, a red-eyed pale-skinned waif with no home or hope." Headmistress shakes her head. "And I have tried, Garmadon, for the sake of your mother's family and for your own good, but you cannot be taught. Someone has laid a curse on you and that is not something I can remove!"

"Yes ma'am." Lloyd responds, not bothering to lift a hand to wipe the tears. Cursed. I'm cursed. Just like my father. It's what he's always been told, after all, he looks like his father, doesn't he? Everyone says so; says that he is the spitting image, only with golden locks instead of brown. And maybe he bears his father's burdens too, and that is where the curse comes from.

"You will be sent home." Headmistress begins after a moment, voice slightly calmer, not so frantic. "You won't stay here; I will not allow it. Yes, yes. Go pack your things, boy, and don't speak or talk or even look at the others. Simply remove your belongings and leave; you will sleep in the medical ward until you can be taken back."

Lloyd nods numbly, and his tears have stopped. After all, what good will it do, to cry over something that he can't change?

He's the villain here; not the savior. And he never will be anything more than that.

oOo

Lloyd sits in the medical ward, chill seeping through his bones as the vent above pumps freezing air in. Out the window, leaves jerk from the trees at the slightest breeze, and the grey clouds swirl unappetizingly above. Lloyd likes storms, but these clouds won't produce anything more than a chilly drizzle that dampens the air and soaks into the ground and makes everything dull, sad, and sorrowful.

Lloyd curls up, head on his knees, and tugs his hood over his head. There is a rapping against the window. Looking up, he finds a sparrow tapping at the door. Hanging from its beak is a small tube encircled with the emblem of a dragon. Brightening suddenly, Lloyd jumps up, on top of the bed. He just barely reaches the handle to open the window, but once he manages the bird flies into the room, fluttering to a rest on the footboard of his bed.

"Dad sent you!" Lloyd exclaims, grinning brightly. The sparrow cocks its head, as if confused, then flutters its wings. Lloyd reaches forward, gently plucking the container from around the bird's neck.

He pops the top off, and shakes the curled sheet of parchment out. Inside, he reads his father's slanting print. It was only a few days ago he sent off the letter he wrote complaining about how miserable school is, how it's awful of a prison it is. And his father has already managed to reply.

Dear Lloyd,

I know that school is a trial, and if I were there, I would put a very quick stop to your Headmistress' behavior. It is wrong-remember that Lloyd, what they are doing, what they are saying, it is wrong. And it is a lie. Be proud of your blood, Be proud of who you are. It gives you power. Still, focus on your studies. You are intelligent; use that. Build up your mind and do everything you can to prepare yourself for the tasks ahead of you. Someday you will inherit the title of Lord, and you must be well prepared for that day. I will come to you eventually; never fear. But I have plans and things to do now, so you must be patient, hard as that is. You are strong and brave, and you come from a good line. Remember that. I know this letter is short, and I fear it will be the last for a long while. Like I said, I have work I must attend to, tasks that must be completed. But no matter what happens, I will always be your father.

Lord Garmadon

The last few words blur, and Lloyd lets out a sob. Oh, his Dad is going to be so mad when he finds out Lloyd has been expelled. What was Lloyd thinking? Fighting with Gene, burning him nonetheless. How stupid is he? Evidently pretty dumb, if he would make such a mindless mistake.

But maybe….

Lloyd looks up at the window, where the sparrow is still waiting, head cocked, as if saying, Well, what are you waiting for? Lloyd glances at his suitcase. He debates. Then he pulls it open and drags out his backpack, stuffing it with an extra set of clothes that isn't his school uniform and the box of granola bars Itzel had sent with him, and, finally, his pen kit. Then he reaches up and scrambles through the window. The sparrow chirps triumphantly, before streaking off into the sky. Lloyd's feet hit the ground, and he doesn't look back as he dashes off into the nearby forest.

"Sorry, Dad." He whispers. "I'll make it up."

He wonders how long it will be before anyone notices he's gone.

Probably a long time.

And the joy of freedom is upon him, and he's gone.