Wu rushed outside, looking frantically for Lloyd. The rain drizzled slowly, a soft pitter patter against the cobbled stone floor. The walls were a creamy white, and the shingles one the roof were freshly painted in a beautiful obsidian black. The wood that held the monastery together was a crismón red, brightly contrasting against the other, warmer colours.
"Lloyd, there you are." He sighed with relief, staring at Lloyd. The ghost blinked, sitting crosses legged on the golden dragon statue in the middle of the courtyard. His body gave a faint white glow, his reflection in the gold a hazy picture, like what you would see in a puddle.
"What are you doing out here? How are you even out here, it's raining-"
"Don't you think it's pretty?" Lloyd's voice was distant, like he was in another room. Wu felt a shiver go down his spine.
"Well yes, I supposed the rain is-" Wu stared as his nephew, his heart throbbing with pain. Lloyd's expression was neutral, like a numb finger, his mind elsewhere.
"How are you not affected by the rain?" Wu asked.
"It's too pretty."
"That's not an answer."
"Is it not? Then I simply don't know. Perhaps you do?"
"I do not." Wu frowned. Lloyd had his back facing his old master, but Wu could still feel his eerie white eyes staring at him. Lloyd's clothing had changed since the day he died, instead of being a bright emerald green it was now a dark purple, like a starless night. The dragon on his gi looked as if it was crying, and streaks of black and red were seen throughout his suit. Lloyd's nails were painted black, and his gloves were fingerless unlike the normal ones he used to wear. He wore a pair of black boots, instead of the traditional ninja shoes that he was supposed to wear.
"How amusing."
"Are you insulting me?"
"We both don't know. It's quite strange." Lloyd put his hand out to the side and flexed his fingers, watching the rain fall off them swiftly. "Rain is beautiful at times, it refills the rivers, waters the crops and flowers, and it's essential for things to thrive. Take that rain, add some dark clouds and you have a harmful, hurtful storm at the ready."
"My father said those exact words to me once." Wu walked out from under the roof and stood to the side of Lloyd, the rain dripping down his hat. "You remind me of him. Of his resilience, of his stubbornness."
"I know." Said Lloyd, facing him. "You think very loudly."
"Hmm." Wu laughed. "Maybe I do." Lloyd blinked in confusion, the dark markings on his face resembling tears.
"You really don't remember anything, do you?" Asked Wu, his eyes watering and his throat closing.
"I know I lived here. I know you… you were my uncle, right?"
"Yes. I am also your Master."
"How peculiar. I don't remember that. Do you have a name?"
"You may call me Master Wu." Said Wu, bowing. Lloyd looked at him with a blank stare before lifting his head towards the rain and closing his eyes.
"I don't think this was the first time we were here, Wu." Lloyd murmured. Wu frowned at his name. "Alone I mean, sitting here."
"No, it is."
"…strange. I remember you were standing to the other side though. We had just come back from a long trip to… somewhere. You were happy."
"You aren't making sense. I don't-" A memory played through his head, of Lloyd coming through the portal to another realm. And then later, at midnight, Lloyd had wandered out of his room and into the courtyard, sitting in the middle.
Lloyd's ghost opened his eyes and stared at Wu, who stood in shook.
"Lloyd, what are you doing out here so late? You've just been on a long mission, you need to rest."
"Sorry Master Wu, but the stars were just too pretty." Lloyd had turned back to the stars, his belt flowing in the soft winds.
"We are alone, you may call me uncle." Said Wu, sitting down beside him and placing his staff on the floor.
"See, look!" Smiled Lloyd, pointing at the sky as a comet raced across the dark obsidian abyss. "I knew that they were gonna be out tonight."
"Oh? And how did you know this?" Asked Wu. Lloyd looked guiltily at his Uncle before pulling a scroll out his Gi and spreading it between the two. He flicked the blonde wisps of hair out his face with his hands, and traced the scroll with his 4 fingers.
"I've been mapping the stars. Most scientists and astrologists thought that it made no sense that the stars kept changing. But they have a cycle." He pointed to one of his drawings, showing a similar look to a Moon cycle diagram. "It changes, it gets rid of stars it adds stars, but it has an order." Lloyd looked to Wu. "Eh, sorry, normally people don't like hearing me rant about it. Kai hates it." Lloyd scratched the back of his head.
Wu ruffled Lloyd's hair and stood up.
"Lloyd, that's beautiful… you can stay out here a little longer, just until the comets stop. After that, you're going back to bed."
"Yes Uncle Wu. Thank you."
"…no. Thank you."
"Why don't you remember? Morro remembered-"
"Morro?" Lloyd asked tilting his head.
"You don't understand! You're supposed to be my student. My nephew. You're supposed to be the green ninja!"
Wu couldn't tell if Lloyd was looking at him, his white eyes just sitting in the socket of his skull.
"Why don't you remember?" Wu screamed grabbing his head and staring at the floor in frustration. "I summoned you back from the departed realm, you should be just as you were before-" he looked up and saw Lloyd, his eyes white, his expression numb, and dark tear stains painting his face. He looked utterly miserable and creepy.
"I'm sorry. I don't know that name."
Wu felt a teardrop slowly fall from out his eye, his body slowly flopped back to its normal position and the shocking truth came to Wu. He would never get Lloyd back, not the way he used to be. He was just stuck with this strange ghost, who was immune to rain and could hear his thoughts. Lloyd turned away and closed his eyes. "Who are they?"
"That is a story for another day." Wu answered, staring at the floor. Kai came rushing out of the monastery, before spotting Wu.
"Did you find him?" He asked. Wu pointed to Lloyd, rubbing his eyes.
"How is he-"
"I don't know." Wu walked towards Kai, a look of pure guilt and sadness in his eyes. "He doesn't remember."
Kai sighed.
"What do we do…?"
"…talk to him. You were one of the closet to him were you not?"
"Yes but-"
"Please Kai." Wu put a hand on his shoulder. "Just talk to him. He is your brother." Kai nodded and watched as Wu came back inside.
"Lloyd?" Asked Kai, walking towards him. "Lloyd are you ok?"
Lloyd had his eyes closed, letting the rain drip off him slowly. Kai sat down beside him, leaning on his arm and frowning.
"Is that my name?" Lloyd's voice was frail, like a child's.
"Y-yes. That's your name. Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon." Kai answered. Lloyd frowned and opened his eyes.
"I don't like that name."
"Heh. I thought you wouldn't… but that's the name you're stuck with. I don't like my name either… it means ocean. But I'm the elemental master of fire so you know."
"…strange."
"Do you remember anything about elemental abilities? Do you remember me..?" Lloyd blinked in confusion.
"No." He said bluntly. "I don't remember much. I know your face yes, but trying to stick the pieces together is proving…" he tilted his head and grew a muddled expression. "Difficult."
"Huh. Maybe if we go through some places and meet some people that you know- or at least knew, you'd get some more pieces and then we can-"
"Perhaps. But I don't understand why you want to help me." He looked to Kai with his milky white eyes. Kai gulped. "I may know you but I don't know who you are."
"I'm your brother… not by blood but by heart. And friendship, we were best friends." Lloyd sat in silence, scanning Kai's face for any sort of connection.
"How odd." He turned away, as the rain started to pour even heavier. He frowned. "I didn't think that anyone would care for me. I proven myself useless with no memory of you, nor anyone else."
"You're lucky you're a ghost or I would of slapped you." Kai smiled. "You're not useless, you're one of the most amazing, legendary warriors out there"
"I was, wasn't I?"
"…Lloyd, I know you don't remember anything, I know that…you're different to the other ghosts that we've seen, but you're still Lloyd, you're still my brother and best friend."
"I don't understand." Lloyd whispered.
"Maybe not now, but in time you will."
Lloyd sat in silence and watched as Kai left, leaving him alone. He looked to the murky grey skies, a sudden longing to be with the others filling his chest.
Kai walked into Wu's study, spotting him frantically taking down scrolls and reading them before tossing them behind him.
"I don't understand!" Wu told him, his eyes darting between shelves. "First the merge and now this- I don't understand why he isn't-"
"Stop. We both know fully well that we should of never done that ritual."
"…I had to. It was the only way that I could-"
"That you could what?! He doesn't even know who he is! He doesn't even know you!"
"I wanted to say sorry! It was my fault that he's gone and I wanted to say sorry."
"…so now what?"
"…I don't know. I think he might be able to remember but even then- he's different. I don't know how or why."
Kai sighed and grabbed a blank scroll.
"Let's at least write some stuff down. And tell the others, they want to know too."
"I will tell the others later. Let's write down what we know now."
"R-right.So he's…not glowing green. Which is even weirder cause he's the green ninja and all. He looks different and is wearing different clothes to when he was…and he doesn't remember anything. Or anyone."
Wu scribbled down the words furiously before getting up.
"Change the plan. You go tell the others, and I'll see what I can find here."
"I'm not exactly a very good explainer." Kai said, scratching his head. "But ok. I'll tell them. Maybe I can introduce him as well..?"
"Maybe. But it's still quite a shock. I can write to my brother and tell him as well."
"Great…I'll go do that then."
Nya sat in Arin and Sora's room, stroking Riyu.
"What do you think he wants to tell us?" Asks Arin.
"I don't know Arin, but he said it was serious."
"This is Kai we're talking about right?" Sora asked.
"Hey, he can be wise." Protested Wlydfire, crossing her arms.
"Yes, whatever Kai wants to talk about must be very serious if he wants everyone together." Says Zane, standing in the middle of the room.
"Right." Agrees Cole, his body laid on the couch lazily. "Can't stay for too long though, Geo said that there's something he needed to show me." Kai opened the door slowly, taking a deep breath.
"Alright, so…" Murmured Sora.
"What's going on?" Asked Arin.
"So. As we all know, Lloyd has… passed on." Everyone looked to the floor in shame and guilt.
"Yeah. We all do. If you came in here just to tell us that-" started Cole. Kai put his hand up to silence him.
"We all know that that night was sad. We all know how Master Wu felt after he died. Wu was desperate enough to do some… bad things to bring him back. And when I found out…I wanted to help. We couldn't do anything though, so I suggested that we summon him back from the departed realm and…" he stepped aside and Lloyd stepped in, a faint white glow rising from his skin. The others gasped and stared at him.
"It worked." Nya rushed over to hug Lloyd, but she went straight through his body. Lloyd looked back in confusion before turning and looking at everyone in the room.
"Hello." He whispered, his voice frail and distorted. "It's so nice to finally meet you all."
"Meet us…?" Asked Arin, striding forward to Lloyd. Arin looked up at his old master, his heart pumping. "But… you already know us."
"Y-yeah… that's the thing. He doesn't uh, remember, anything." Kai stuttered. Cole stood up quickly in rage.
"You shouldn't of done this." He hissed, his voice low and stern. Lloyd stared at him with his white eyes and Cole suddenly lost the sense of authority around him. He shuddered. "I came all this way, just to see this. Just to see you like this." He pointed to Lloyd. "Where's Wu? We need to talk."
"Cole please-"
"No. I'm going to talk to Wu." He slammed the door behind him, and a painting fell from the wall.
"He seems angry." Whispered Lloyd.
"You think?" Said Sora sarcastically. "You don't remember us? Don't remember Arin?"
"No." Lloyd said bluntly. "You're very small and weak."
"I-"
"Lloyd, that's not how we address people. That's offensive." Said Cole, putting a hand on Arin's shoulder.
"Sorry. I don't understand why I'm here. Am I supposed to fight you? Why are you here? Why am I here?"
"Because our friends are going to help you." Said Kai, smiling. Arin looked to the floor and Sora tried to hug him. "So, I was thinking that we could maybe-" he looked at everyone, their expressions more then angry. "Listen. I know these past few weeks have been hard, but we need to forgive and forget. Lloyd is still here, he might be a ghost without memories but he's still Lloyd!"
"Kai. Lloyd sacrificed himself for all of us, he said that he didn't want to come back as a ghost. He said he was finally at peace." Reminded Nya.
"…I know that. And I'm sorry. But we need to know what's going on, why Lloyd is so weird and why… why he doesn't remember. Master Wu just wants to say sorry. After that, he'll go straight back to the Departed Realm, and he'll have forever peace, ok? But we need to figure out how to help Lloyd."
"Fine."
