Man, the amount of times I've rewritten this is embarrassing. Not sure if I'm proud of this but here it is. Forget horror movie characters, this fic haunts me.

Chapter 6: In which father and son finally have a conversation and Cole needs a vacation.


"What do you mean?"

A sharp inhale came, followed by another pitying look. "Lloyd, I'm afraid that Tomorrow's Tea—"

"No, it has to work," he heard himself insist, barely feeling his own tongue move. Inside, his heart was racing, pounding madly in a form of panic that felt too similar to the one on the sky tram for his liking. "It just can't not—"

Wu's eyes were regretful. Lloyd's voice died in his throat the second the sight caused his heart to drop.

"Your father and I were both cursed with long lifespans, Lloyd," the old man then explained, and Lloyd immediately went still, understanding settling in him at once. "Our pattern of aging and that of a human are vastly—"

"But—but it worked on me—"

"It only 'worked on you' because despite all else you are stillmostly human, nephew," Wu sighed, and Lloyd felt his jaw clench, realizing that it was just like speaking to a four-armed Oni Garmadon again. Of course, there was a catch. There always had to be a catch.

Why was he surprised, anyway?

"We can just use more Tomorrow's Tea," he then suggested shakily, already knowing that suggestion would go nowhere.

Wu shook his head. "The amount Mystake left us with is far from sufficient."

"Then we could make more," Lloyd tried, instantly cringing at the desperation he could hear in his own voice.

Wu's face fell, his shoulders drooping low. "Mystake did not disclose the ingredients needed, Lloyd."

"So you're telling me he's stuck like this?" Lloyd cried, agitated.

"I don't think we know that yet, Lloyd," Kai suddenly said awkwardly, as though to remind Lloyd that he was also in the room. Right, he'd been surprisingly silent ever since the option of using Tomorrow's Tea had been thrown out of the window.

FSM, it wasn't as if Lloyd could even fault anyone for assuring him that anyway, not if it had been said with the best of intentions. In the end, his friends were trying to help him. Honestly, even he would've suggested the same thing had it been someone else's turn to have a week as emotionally horrible as this one was going to be.

Lloyd swallowed hard.

But still, they had been so close. So close to bringing his actual father back and now—

"So that's it, then," he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose wearily. At this point, he was just tired. "There's nothing we can do."

Kai immediately shot him a concerned look. "Lloyd, we're not giving u—"

"I'm preparing myself for the worst," Lloyd cut him off, voice strained. "For once, just let me."

"We still have time, nephew," Wu assured him despite not looking that much better himself. His forehead creased. "Though, I must admit it will take a lot of it. I have never seen any other occurrence similar to this one."

Kai immediately gave him an unimpressed look. "Never?" he asked pointedly.

"My own was caused by the Reversal Blade," Wu explained, beginning to pace. His hands remained crossed behind his back. "When I questioned my brother hours ago in the village, he told me he had woken up in this state."

"Maybe he got a blast of the blade too," Kai suggested, before then turned to Lloyd questioningly. "Hey, any chance your dad might've taken a trip to the Boiling Sea?"

FSM, if Lloyd could have words with a certain resurrected Oni right now—

Instead, he settled on just throwing his face into his hands, unsure whether to give in to the growing urge to pull at his hair or start crying in frustration. "I should've just left him in that cell."

"And I thought the things you got yourself into were bad," Kai breathed, sounding dazed.

Wu sighed into his palm. "You both did not grow up with him."

"So my luck's really genetic," Lloyd groaned, wondering if he should be impressed.

"That's not an excuse for whatever mess you get into next though," Kai narrowed his eyes, wagging a finger at him the second Lloyd raised his head. "Just because your bloodline is basically cursed—"

"How are we both descended from the First Spinjitzu Master, again?" Lloyd asked Wu tiredly, running a hand through his hair. He then scowled. "Anyway, how do you even end up getting two generations cursed? What the heck did he even do?"

Kai blinked at that and turned to Wu as well. "Any chance the FSM might've pissed off the Cloud Kingdom monks at some point?"

"I wish I had wondered that sooner," Wu admitted.

"Is there a way to resurrect him without Oni masks?" Lloyd asked exasperatedly. "I have so many questions."


Cole usually wasn't one to stare, honestly.

But there he was, playing sitter to a visibly much younger version of his former enemy. A much younger version that could still unarguably be considered a child—

Cole was quickly reminded that that would mean no different for him as well—so that put an end to his train of thought the same way he'd ended his plans of spending this day as a normal one.

And there was no denying it either. If he gave the teenager before him a box of blonde hair dye and a pair of contacts, he would be looking at none other than Lloyd himself—hands down. Geez, maybe Lloyd should cosplay his father the next time they ended up invited to another Halloween festival, if they were ever welcome again at all. Cole grimaced. Their last one hadn't been quite—

"How long have you been training with my brother?" he heard Garmadon ask. Cole looked up from his lap.

"Nearly six years," Nya answered before Cole could even open his mouth—thief,he decided.

Garmadon merely nodded, Garmadon merely nodded, and went back to staring at a nearby wall—though, Cole could see that he had glanced at a particular spot before doing so out of the corner of his eye. It didn't take long for Cold to realize just why. He was waiting.

"You're Cole, right?"

Cole took a second to blink, surprised at the question coming his way.

"Yes that's my name," he replied, feeling his eyebrow twitch upwards curiously. "Why?"

Garmadon breathed out a laugh. "Nothing."

"Nah, you're not keeping me up like that," Cole rolled his eyes, gesturing to Jay without hesitation. "I've already lost enough sleep because of zaptrap over here."

"I told you, that was the chicken!" Jay retorted, crossing his arms. Cole didn't believe him one bit because 1) a chicken definitely could not make blender noises and 2) he'd heard Jay's door open at some point during the night. The Master of Lightning huffed. "Have you ever seen what that beast is capable of?"

"Well I have," Garmadon muttered, and the two of them turned to look at him in surprise. "Was Wu actually sane when he decided to keep it?"

Jay let out a nervous chuckle. "As much as we all love our ancient one, sane and Wu don't belong in the same sentence."

"He was probably pissed though," Nya said dryly. "We were slacking off, remember?"

"Exactly," Pixal nodded, her green eyes momentarily flicking to Zane. "And unfortunately, he was correct."

"If memory serves, we were not that horribly out of practice," Zane defended, but Cole could see that even he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Pixal merely raised an eyebrow.

"I can go into detail, you know."

"Please refrain from it," Zane begged.

"Now spill," Cole ordered, looking straight at Garmadon who raised his eyebrows. "You're the second brother today that owes me an explanation."

Garmadon tilted his head. "An explanation regarding what, exactly?"

"Now you're even worse than Wu," Cole groaned, causing the teen to bite his lip—and Cole briefly wondered if it were to hold back laughter or to conceal something else. There was a sly smile spreading across his face soon after though.

"Alright, alright," Garmadon relented, letting out a quiet sigh. He fiddled with his bandana absentmindedly. "I just wanted to know if the names stayed the same, that's all."

"What do you mean if the names stayed the same?"

"The first Master of Earth my Father trained was named Obsidius, you know," Garmadon explained, fixing his gaze solely on Cole now. "And the one after that was named Flint. Do you understand where I am going?"

"Yeah, but my mother's name was Lily," Cole argued, feeling his head spin with this new information—he didn't know why he was this surprised, in all honesty. His own name literally referred to a black rock.

It was then when it also hit him that Garmadon had known his ancestors—that there was a high chance Garmadon had been there watching generations of Earth Elemental Masters be trained by the First Spinjitzu Master himself. He should've already known this, really—Garmadon had just told them about Nya's for FSM's sake.

But this Garmadon couldn't have known her though. Or him. Definitely not him. The First Serpentine War hadn't even begun yet.

The teenager lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "I'm just telling you what I know."

"So it seems your parents considered your element when naming you," Pixal commented, appearing to be quite amused. Cole buried his face into his hands. "An interesting discovery."

"He gets a lot of Christmas coal too, by the way," Jay said cheekily. At that, Cole found himself seriously considering the idea of weaponizing a pillow. "I'm the witness."

"So the room is still intact after all," Kai remarked.

Cole took a glance and saw the hothead, already back with his soda guzzler. He was just about to open his mouth to shoot something back in return when he saw Lloyd not far behind him, arms loaded with a surprising amount of cans—a sight that immediately gave Cole a feeling Kai had already failed at his attempt to convince him to let him help. Cole felt himself sigh. Maybe Lloyd really needed a distraction at the moment.

And speaking of the blonde, he was already making his way to them.

"Well here you go," he panted, arms carrying seven—wait, seven cans of drinks and handing one to each of them. "I brought lots of extras."

Zane proceeded to stare at him.

"I don't think I even requested for—"

"We travelled through the Desert of Doom for this, Zane. Have some," Kai sniffed, giving Cole his soda guzzler. Cole breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw that he didn't have to refill it just yet.

"Thank you," he said solemnly.

Kai smirked. "We're good waiters, admit it."

"You're good enough to blow up the whole restaurant, that's for sure," Nya coughed, taking a coke from Lloyd. She then made a face. "And what do you mean we? The only waiter here is doing child labor."

"I'll have you know I tried helping him," Kai huffed.

"And for once, that actually happened," Lloyd added. Kai looked insulted.

"For once?"

"Take that Kai," Jay cackled as Lloyd handed him something.

"You save one kid from a volcano and now look now he treats you," Kai sighed, shaking his head. "I'm impressed."

"To be fair, you did mention no lying when you tried to make me unlearn everything from Darkley's," Lloyd quipped, giving him a rather innocent look. "I'm just keeping things fair, that's all."

"Oh really?"

"You were my role model, you know," Lloyd sniffed. "So the least you could do was—"

"Alright, alright, you win," Kai relented hastily. "Now shut it."

"Can't. I need to end things with a motivational speech remember?" Lloyd asked cheekily.

Kai looked pained. "Please don't."

He then rolled his eyes and turned to Zane, as though he'd had enough. "By the way, Sensei told us to remind you to start dinner."

"I thought that was my job," Jay huffed, still sounding displeased.

At that, Kai gave him a deadpan look. "We want to live."

And Cole didn't want another massive headache, but that was too impossible of a wish wasn't it?

"I'm not that bad," Jay argued, shooting the Master of Fire a scowl. "At least the lightning gave the meat some well-needed flavor—"

Kai stared at him in disbelief. "You call that flavor?"

Maybe he should invest in some earplugs, Cole thought to himself, wondering why hadn't he thought about that sooner. It was a wonder why he hadn't lost his marbles yet. (He could already tell he was going to one day)

Oh well, he sighed, deciding to just accept it. This was normal.

He was just about to wear his guzzler when he suddenly realized something.

Lloyd had brought seven cans.

Not that it was the most surprising thing in Ninjago history but... it had been just four of them who'd requested the soda—excluding him who'd only wanted his guzzler, of course. The rest of the drinks Lloyd had brought definitely weren't extras. If Cole knew anything about Lloyd, he and Kai had most likely decided to get some to spite Zane and Pix anyway, so that would mean the last one was—

Cole immediately froze.

Then… after passing a can to Pixal, he saw Lloyd momentarily still.

Cole held his breath.

The Green Ninja's gaze seemed to be alternating between the last can he was holding and the most recent addition to their monastery. And the last drink wasn't even a soda either—instead, it was one of those lightly-sweetened green teas that Lloyd occasionally drank whenever Wu finished all the tea leaves.

Cole watched anxiously as the blonde then proceeded to walk up to his father.

"Da—uh, do you want this?" Lloyd asked quickly, stumbling over his words in his nervousness. Cole had still managed to catch the near-slip up though, and held his breath for the second time in that hour. Lloyd's cheeks flushed slightly. "Sensei told me you like tea."

Great opening line Lloyd, Cole wanted to facepalm, but held himself back. Lloyd actually had a valid excuse.

At first, Garmadon said nothing, his eyes glued more to Lloyd than to anything else including the drink being offered. Like he was seeing him for the first time, Cole thought. Properly seeing him.

"Thank you," the formerly four-armed man then said, finally taking the can. He made no move to open it though, continuing to stare curiously at his son instead. He bit his lip.

"You're Lloyd, right?"

Lloyd's nod looked closer to a jerk than it did to an actual nod. He looked pale. "Yeah, that's my—"

"It's a nice name," Garmadon commented before Lloyd could even finish—Cole could tell he really meant it. "I never thought I'd pick one like that."

"Oh," Lloyd blinked.

"Or maybe it was your mother," Garmadon mused, brows furrowing as his forehead creased in thought. Then, his eyes suddenly widened. "Wait you have a mother, right?" he asked, sounding surprisingly anxious. "I didn't make you the same way my Father did, did I?"

Lloyd was visibly trying to hide a grimace—probably at the latter. "Yeah, I have a Mom."

"So I actually managed to get married, after all," Garmadon said dryly, seeming quite impressed before curiosity began to seep into his expression as well. "Was she an elemental master?"

Lloyd shook his head.

Garmadon then tapped his chin. "I'm guessing she named you, then."

Lloyd swallowed thickly. "It was you, actually."

Garmadon stared at him as though he'd just jumped off a flying ship. "You're joking."

"I'm not," Lloyd replied, voice cracking.

"So you're telling me I was the one who picked a name similar to Lord Garmadon for my own child?" Garmadon raised an eyebrow, but then ended up frowning as he let that thought sit. "Actually—now that I think of it—that sounds like something I would do."

"You don't say."

Garmadon smirked. "And I'm the only one of your parents with elemental powers—which means I have another Master of Destruction running around."

At that, Lloyd's eyebrows immediately pulled into a frown. "Destruction?"

Cole could only blink.

"Yes," Garmadon nodded, seeming quite confused at his son's own visible confusion. His forehead creased. "Didn't you inherit my element?"

Lloyd instantly balanced. "Uh, no," he confessed.

"What?"

"I've never been able to use Destruction. I mean, Wu never mentioned anything about me being able to so I guess I—"

Garmadon's stare was incredulous. "Impossible—"

"No," Lloyd swallowed, cutting him off, immediately. He then seemed to hesitate. "I'm...the Master of Energy, I think?" he tried, winching as soon as he finished the sentence.

"What in the blazes—"

"I know it's not something you expected, but—"

"That's an element?"

"It is," Lloyd insisted, and Cole's eyebrows shot up as he registered the sudden edge of offense that was audible in his friend's voice.

But Garmadon didn't even look the slightest bit of convinced. "I don't recall my father ever training an Elemental Master of Energy," he huffed.

"Well it's a newer element, so deal with it," Lloyd shot back, daring his father to say any more. However, Garmadon merely stared back at him, eyes wide in disbelief.

For the sake of his sanity, Cole's attention briefly shifted to check on the other conversation in the room. He regretted it immediately.

"So what?" Jay was retorting, causing Kai to flick his gaze skywards in despair. "In the end it actually tasted good and turned out a lot better than your uh..." he coughed. "chilli version."

"You take that back—"

"Jay is free to assist me in the kitchen if he so wishes," Zane cut in, hastily. "And no, Kai. We will not perish because of such a decision." he added.

Kai grumbled. "Famous last words," was all he said, but didn't attempt to protest any further—Cole guessed that was probably because he knew it wouldn't be just Jay in the kitchen.

Which... wasn't exactly that reassuring to Cole, to say the least, but FSM, who was he to talk?

Zane paid Kai no mind and merely turned to Jay.

"Come," he said, somehow managing to sound as though he'd aged more decades than he had in the Never-Realm. "Before Wu decides to come for both of us."

FSM, it's like dealing with children, Cole thought amusedly, watching as Jay wasted no time slipping past him to follow the nindroid. Kai stared after the pair with an alarmed expression, as though debating whether storming in and dragging Jay to the other side of the monastery would get him frozen solid by a frustrated nindroid or not. Cole had expected nothing less from the fire breath, actually.

He let out a sigh, Well at least that mess was already—

"And what even is Energy, anyway?"

Dear FSM.

That's it. He was going to leave this room with a headache worse than the ones Jay and Kai would give him. There was no such thing as peace and quiet in this monastery and there never would be. This was just ridiculous.

"It's kinda like Lightning," Lloyd huffed, with a note of finality in his tone. Cole wasn't even surprised when it went ignored.

He couldn't help but wonder if he was somehow stuck in a dream.

"Why would my father even make an element similar to Lightning? That doesn't even make sense."

"How would I know?" Lloyd threw up his arms, frustrated. "You ask him."

"Which would be rather difficult, unless either of us know of a way to resurrect the dead, don't you think?" Garmadon raised an eyebrow. Lloyd gave him a pained look in return.

Garmadon seemed to take the hint. "Alright. You are an Elemental Master," he relented.

"Thank you," Lloyd bit out, voice laced with sarcasm. Cole was genuinely grateful when Nya then took notice of the pair standing in the corner of the room, her eyes blowing wide.

"Are they both okay?" she asked him, warily.

Cole rubbed his temples, letting out a weary breath. "What do you think?"


So far, Garmadon's opinion of his son was just this.

Lloyd was around his height, that was for sure and—unlike Garmadon had previously thought—they were not the same height and he himself actually had an extra inch over his green clad son. Arguments could be made that it was actually half an inch though.

He shook his head, briefly lifting his gaze from his plate to look at his son who was currently engaged in a playful conversation with Jay.

And Lloyd clearly had quite a number of friends—close ones. The realization of that was almost comforting. His son was alright being an only child, it seemed.

That...that was a relief.

Garmadon couldn't help but envy that, honestly. All his life it had been just him and Wu in their Father's monastery. And it wasn't as though the village children were keen on sharing air with someone who stared at them with eyes redder than blood and fangs.

...'bitten by a great evil' immediately went ignored.

Needles to say, he was highly grateful that Lloyd hadn't ended up with his eyes. He supposed he owed that to his wife—whoever that was. Green irises suited Lloyd well, he guessed. He briefly wondered if the blonde hair had come from her or his father. The latter and Lloyd did look alike though, but only slightly.

Now what else was was he missing—

—oh, and his son hadn't inherited his element either, which was something he couldn't help but find sorely disappointing.

(And perhaps even a tad bit suspicious as well)

Was this really his child?

He looked up once more, brows furrowed curiously. It wasn't long until he ended up staring at his portion of rice Zane had prepared once more. What was he thinking— that boy had already committed appearance theft.

And he still could not fathom where on earth had Energy even come from.

Hadn't he just seen the boy destroy those glass things on the ceiling—light bulbs, he mentally corrected himself, Pixal had explained that they were light bulbs. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If that didn't scream destruction, he didn't know what was and this was coming from a Master of Destruction.

Wu was quiet beside him, evenly sipping whatever tea he had brewed as though he could care less about the conversation going on with his students. They were all certainly loud, Garmadon observed, grimacing internally. But it was definitely better than the silent hallways he was so used to passing.

And Wu had said he'd left this?How much had he changed in old age, anyway? It was almost unbelievable.

Father forbid he end up like Wu.

"You're all horrible," Jay complained. Garmadon didn't understand the slightest what was going on this time but it was still entertaining nonetheless. "Fritz had no choice, you know."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Last I checked, he could've just thrown Vyn over—"

"The First Crew and him are literally airships apart, Kai. It was either accidentally kill Vyn or get both of them captured, which would you pick?"

"Kill Vyn," Lloyd said automatically, shoving another spoonful into his mouth and chowing it down quickly—Garmadon had to frown. "Let's just face it, she's a menace."

Kai stared at him warily. "How do people even idolize you?"

"Lloyd still managed to throw Wu to us though," Cole pointed out. "And that was without powers or Airjitzu. Vyn has powers."

Airjitzu? Garmadon frowned.

"I... suppose the speed of the two vehicles in and the bounty are also the same," Zane reluctantly agreed. "The distance is also nearly identical."

Jay looked exhausted. "Look, it's a space franchise. It's not supposed to make sense."

"So we make sense?" Kai asked dryly.

Nya sighed as she reached for her glass. "Shut up and eat. Your hair's falling into your food."

"What."

Pixal stared at him intently. "I believe it is from here," she said, pointing at the left side of the front of her scalp.

Kai almost choked while Nya's eyes went wide in disbelief. "I...I was just joking," she said, winching.

"Too late. No hope in consoling him now," Cole grimaced as the Master of Fire then proceeded to frantically search his plate for his lost strands. He sighed. "Well, there goes said hope."

Kai immediately shot him a glare. "Believe me, you'd do the same thing."

"First Spinjitzu Master, could everyone just finish their food?" Zane then asked. No one paid him any mind. He exhaled a weary breath. "It is becoming cold, you know."

"We have a Kai," Lloyd replied, innocently.

Zane gave him a pained look. "And you truly trust him?"

"I can resuscitate food well, thank you," Kai said pointedly.

Garmadon almost snorted into his water—which he was highly grateful was in a glass instead of the cylinder thing he had failed to open hours earlier. How it was even called a modern improvement was beyond him. What imbecile had designed such an invention?

He was just about to share that thought to Wu when he found himself staring at an empty seat. Garmadon blinked at the sight, confused. Then, he felt his eyebrows shoot up.

"Where is my brother?"

"Oh that," Jay coughed, sounding genuinely unconcerned, "is completely normal."

"So he just leaves and none of you see him?" Garmadon asked, raising an eyebrow. Wu had been just next to him, for crying out loud.

"Legend has it that is how he stays mentally stable," Zane remarked. "It...It works well," he eventually admitted.


Wu merely stared at the ancient writing on the scroll, mind not even trying to make any sense of it. Not that it mattered—the worn parchment only existed in front of him as a distraction, and First Spinjitzu Master knew he needed one at this moment.

He desperately hoped his brother had only been lightly tapped.

The sound of footsteps then filled the air and Wu looked up, gaze drawn to the door.

He swallowed hard, "Come in."

Garmadon's head quickly poked out, expression curious. His brows then hiked up to his hairline when he noticed what Wu was reading, "I was wondering where you were."

"Well, now you know," Wu smiled, gesturing for his brother to come closer. Garmadon took the hint, silently studying the rest of the library as he did so. Wu held back a sigh as he took notice of the mess. "I trust my students did not antagonize you too much?"

"Students?" Garmadon repeated, sounding quite amused. "I find myself reluctant to believe those are trained ninja."

"You and I both, brother," Wu chuckled, feeling his lips twitch once again. "How do you find Lloyd?"

Garmadon's face was instantly coated with exasperation, "He is avoiding me."

"Give him time," Wu advised, trying to ignore his the disappointment flooding his gut at the information—he couldn't quite fault Lloyd though. "Out of everyone, you were always the closest to him, you know."

"Are you sure you are not meaning his friends?" Garmadon asked dryly.

Wu sent him a deadpan look.

"Point taken," Garmadon said reluctantly, but Wu could see that he was still unconvinced. He'll remedy that at some other point, Wu decided, but right now, there was—

He had more pressing issues to tend to, didn't he?

"There is something I wanted to ask you," Wu eventually managed out.

Garmadon tilted his head, "Ask away."

"When you first awoke, was there a blade?"

Garmadon's face pinched into a frown, "You...you mean in that pitiful house?"

"Yes."

"What kind of blade are you referring to?"

Wu sucked in a breath, feeling it freeze in his throat. "Chronosteel."

Garmadon's forehead wrinkled and his frown deepened. Wu felt his heart sink.

"You don't remember," he realized, trying to keep his face from falling.

Garmadon shook his head, appearing guilty. "No. All I wanted then was to quickly leave. I wasn't exactly in the mood for indoor sightseeing."

"I see," Wu replied, running a hand over his cheek. "You may go now."

"Not until you tell me what on earth you were blabbering about," Garmadon replied pointedly. "Why is this blade—"

"The blade contains the elemental power of time—the reversal aspect of it," Wu explained, watching as understanding soon settled in his brother's questioning gaze. "Which is why I suspect it to be the cause of your predicament."

Garmadon blinked at him, "You stripped the Master of Time of their element?"

"You and I did," Wu corrected him, straightening. "It was necessary."

"We stripped an Elemental Master of their element," Garmadon repeated, as though attempting to make some sense of that statement. Disbelief was streaked across his features. "Realms," he breathed. "what did they even do?"

"Something that should not have caught us by surprise," Wu muttered under his breath. Judging by the surprise in his brother's expression, it was safe to say that Garmadon had heard it.

Wu then exhaled tightly. "Now leave. It is late."

Garmadon rolled his eyes, "Are you telling me to head to bed?"

Wu swatted him playfully. "Goodnight, Garmadon."

He supposed the only positive side of this was that the effects of the Reversal Blade would wear off—if all this was truly the result of said blade, that is. Perhaps it had actually been there, unseen. What else could explain his brother's younger appearance, then?


Okay, now I gotta update my second child before my intrusive thoughts make me write the whole fic again.