Drowning. He was drowning. He was falling and drowning and sinking and couldn't get up, panic settling like a bag of bricks. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe and just kept sinking and sinking and sinking and sinking-
"Kai?!?!" His eyes snapped open as he let out a gasp, sucking in air as he shot upwards. The distinct realization someone was calling out to him couldn't distract him from where he was. The forest, right? Yeah, the canopy is above him. What had happened?! He fell? That'd make sense since he's sitting on the soft grass. He looked around in pure confusion, before it hit him. A wave of nausea that made him slap a hand over his mouth, groaning as he keeled over. His head was spinning, pounding angrily as his body ached, and he had to lean against a nearby tree to keep himself sitting upright... and from vomiting on himself.
"Kai?!?! Where are you???" The worried call of his younger brother made him look up, keeping himself from moving too quickly as he tried to spot the green gi, which was pretty hard in his surroundings.
"I-I'm over here.." His voice sounded hoarse, much to his own surprise. He clearly hadn't been out long, considering he hadn't been found yet. He had yelled out before passing out right? That makes sense, unless they just met back up and noticed he was gone or not responding to his comms. He put a hand to his head as he closed his eyes, trying to calm his raging headache. The sound of footsteps through the foliage told him Lloyd was racing towards him, and it didn't take much longer before he heard a gasp.
"Kai!!! Are you ok-" The abrupt cutoff made him open his eyes to look up at Lloyd in confusion, wondering why he'd paused. The look of mortification on his face startled Kai.
"Are you ok..?" He returned, giving Lloyd a raised brow as he tilted his head, trying to ignore the sting that caused in his brain. Lloyd took a step back, before carefully approaching him, kneeling down next to him before taking one of his hands in his own. The warmth from Lloyd sent a shiver up his spine, causing him to realize how cold he actually felt. That was strange... he shouldn't be cold, not with his abilities regulating high temperatures in his body. He looked down in confusion... before he saw why Lloyd seemed so out of it. If the green mist floating off of his body wasn't tell enough, he had a pale green hue to the entirety of his arm, although it was almost... ghostly. He froze when he saw it, before raising his other hand to examine it, eyes wide.
"What.." He flexed his hand as he started patting himself, noticing the entirety of his body was the exact same. Panic and confusion welled up as his breath hitched, unsure of what was going on at this point.
"W-woah woah Kai hang on-" Lloyd grabbed his other hand causing him to stop, whipping his head to look at Lloyd with wide eyes, causing him to flinch.
"I-I don't- I don't know what this is, I-"
"Ok calm down, hang on, what do you remember?" Kai blinked at him before looking down, trying to wrack his brain.
"Well... I was, I was just looking around and then... the wind picked up suddenly which is weird... and then I saw this ripple or something- I don't know how else to describe it," He rushed when he saw Lloyd's confused epxression. "Then there was a laugh before something charged at me... then it's just blank until I woke up again..." He trailed off, trying to connect the dots. He gave Lloyd a look, before flinching in surprise at the horrified realization on his face. That's when it clicked for himself...
"Wait was- was I... possessed??" Lloyd flinched at this.
"I-I think... so..." Kai could feel the color drain from his face, just staring at Lloyd with eyes as round as plates.
"H-how-"
"Realm Crystal, I think they opened a portal to the Realm of the Departed... but if you got possessed that means a ghost crossed over, and..." Kai swallowed when Lloyd paused.
"And..?"
"You mentioned the wind picking up, we didn't have that problem at all where we were..." He trailed off. Kai stared at him for a moment, before suddenly it clicked. He scrambled up with vigor, planting his back against the trunk of the tree as he nearly screamed.
"YOU MEAN MORRO POSSESSED ME???"
"How is that even possible??" Jay had been rambling for the past 20 minutes about how impossible or possible or anything in between the situation could be while Cole prodded at Kai, who was freaking out in his own regards.
"Jay, as much as we appreciate the input of your panicked overthinking I do not believe it is helping the situation," Zane stated calmly, although he looked anything but calm.
"How is that even possible??" Jay had been rambling for the past 20 minutes about how impossible or possible or anything in between the situation could be while Cole prodded at Kai, who was freaking out in his own regards.
"JAY," Kai really couldn't handle his rambling right now, the more he himself listened to it the more his panic rose. "I don't need you making this worse!! Last time I checked you weren't the one at danger of losing control of your own body because a ghost is in it thanks!!" He didn't mean to sound snappy but he couldn't help it, and although Jay looked a bit hurt he shook it off, cleadly realizing this as well.
"Sorry! Sorry, just- I'm panicking and I know the rest of us are panicking but it's how I deal with panic you know this!!" Kai flinched when Cole prodded his arm again, but couldn't make a retort about it when he spoke up.
"Ok, let's be logical here, say it is Morro. Last time we saw him was with the Yin Blade incident-" His expression darkened as he remembered it. Everyone knew that was... not the most pleaseant time for Cole. "-And he appeared to be on our side. Then again, the last time we properly had a full on coversation with him he was fully able to, upon possession admit complete control of his host to himself and leave them unable to do anything without a struggle," Cole snuck a glance at Lloyd, who winced a bit at the memory.
"I believe it is safe to assume the reason we cannot locate those two followers was due to Morro escaping the Departed Realm, but why he possessed Kai is beyond me, especially considering I am well aware how much Kai has despised Morro these few years and what appeared as a mutual agreement of hate between them. Although I can see Morro being why those followers are absent, I cannot understand why Morro would even stick around unless he himself wanted the Realm Crystal, unless we do not have a vital piece of information," Zane had long ago scanned Kai, but the information he'd received hadn't helped in the slightest.
"Shouldn't a ghost be able to just communicate to it's host?" Upon Jay's suggestion, Lloyd nodded.
"Yeah, from my, er... experience... when a ghost takes hold of a host they can easily communicate unless the ghost is doing everything in their power to drown out the host's soul, or just isn't in a talking mood," Upon this information, everyone laid their eyes on Kai, who flinched. He swallowed before shaking his head.
"Well it's awful silent besides my own panicking thoughts.." He muttered, putting a hand up to his still throbbing head.
"I'd say try but I feel like by now if the ghost could than they would have if your mind is running wild, especially if it was Morro, probably would have gotten agitated.." Lloyd mumbled.
"Perhaps he is injured? I am acutely aware of some research provided by previous possession victims and studies that explained how injured ghosts in the Living Realms would often scramble for a host to keep themselves grounded to the living, perhaps the ghost, presumably Morro was injured?" Cole almost slapped himself in the face at this information.
"Hang on, that water canteen! Maybe they used the Realm Crystal to summon Chen or someone else but got Morro instead, so they used that canteen on him in a fight! He could have gotten hit with a large dosage of water which could explain not only possessing Kai but being completely brooding in silence," Everyone exchanged looks at this, before Jay shrugged.
"Probably our best reasoning until he finally speaks up... while we hope it's just speaking in his brain and not controlling his body," He shuddered as he spoke. A chill went down Kai's spine as well, the nausea rising again the longer he stood.
"Kai hasn't experienced this before though... I remember feeling utterly horrendous when Morro possessed me so maybe we should...?"
"Ice packs? Cold water? Actually wait, what would that do if he drank water?" Cole peered at Kai, probably debating in his head.
"Records say drinking water while possessed will not harm the ghost depending on the level of possession. Kai's current state appears to be level 3 out of 5, which is simply stated most commonly as 'visible signs but still in control' which only occurs when a ghost is desperate for a host but not willing to use it outside of a temporary home. In most cases drinking water on stage 3 will not affect the ghost, so Kai should be alright not to experience repurcussions of sustaining his body. Showers are also acceptable, just do not opt for a bath as a large exposure of water will harm the ghost,"
"Isn't that what we'd want if it's Morro??" Kai looked at Zane dumbfounded.
"If you wish to be potentially incapacitated for a month or longer then yes, if it were stage 1 or stage 2 that would be an optimal course of removing a ghost without repurcussion to the host but not on stage 3 or above," Kai's heart sank at this.
"Wait, didn't you say 'desperate for a host but not willing to use it as other than a home'?" Nya finally spoke up, having just listened in before making her presence re-known. Zane blinked at her before nodding, presumably bringing up the file in his mind.
"Stage 1 is as simple as just possessed, the host is aware and so is the ghost but there are no outward signs nor is there a communication link between the two. Stage 2 has a communication aspect to it and makes the host give off signs like potential fevers, ever slightly green tinted skin and a haunted look in their eyes, although more a calm expression. Stage 3 has visible note of possession such as giving off the same aura a ghost does, unusually cold skin or sensations for the host and upon the first few hours of getting used to it provides headaches, nausea, dizziness and exhaustion. Stage 4 is a fight for control that jumps constantly between the host and the ghost unconsensually, and provides a much more apparent presence of danger from water to both the host and it's recipient. Stage 5 is how Lloyd was, fully possessed and controlled by the ghost with little to no room for the host to use their own body. This often leads to the aftermath of malnutrition and dehydration, sometimes even minor to major injuries," Zane recited the words with ease, not skipping a beat once until he finally stopped, allowing the information to settle in the others' heads.
"That means.." Jay and Cole exchanged glances while Lloyd shook his head.
"If this is Morro possessing Kai, than he has no current intent of using his physical form," Nya grumbled, taking her turn to prod at Kai much to his irritation.
"Why is he so silent then??" He huffed, shaking his head.
"Don't ask me, he was pretty chatty with insults when he possessed me," Lloyd shrugged, although he caught on to Kai's anxiety, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll make sure he doesn't do anything drastic if he decides his stay is being over extended.."
"If it's him," Jay huffed at Cole.
"The wind apparently picked up in an unnatrual way, unless we got some other wind controlling ghosts I think it's more than safe to say it's Morro," Cole grumbled, but didn't bite back, knowing he was probably right.
"I swear this was meant to be a relaxing day.." Kai put his face in his hands as he groaned, before another wave of nausea and exhaustion washed over him, causing him to stumble a bit. Lloyd noticed immediately as he wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Let's get you back to the Monastery, I of all people know how much a possession can take a toll and you need to rest, otherwise you're going to collapse before we can get proper answers," Kai gave him a look, but didn't argue, sighing as he ruffled Lloyd's hair.
"I'll take your word for it,"