Garmadon followed Wu and Misako into the building, looking around nervously. He pulled Ochre a little closer to himself, stroking his head.
He really hated this place.
Phil was already waiting, notebook and pencil in hand. He smiled. "Good morning. How have you all been? I know you skipped yesterday's session…did something happen?"
Wu and Misako exchanged a glance, Wu looking a little guilty. Garmadon stared at the floor, biting his lip.
"It…was a little complicated," Wu said.
"I see… Alright, then. Garmadon, could you follow me?"
Garmadon followed Phil down the hall, then into the room.
Phil walked over to the small table. "Would you like to start off with some Jenga?"
He nodded, sitting down in a chair. Playing Jenga wasn't that bad—it distracted him.
The therapist took out the Jenga game, set it up, and then sat down. "Would you like to start?"
Garmadon pulled a block out and set on the top of the tower.
Phil took his turn next, and they continued in silence for a few minutes. Until Phil broke it. "Would you like to talk about what happened?"
He shrugged, focusing on removing a block. Ochre laid at his feet, taking a nap. The dog tended to get bored here, since there was nothing for him to do but wait. "Like Wu said, it was…complicated."
Phil nodded. "That's alright. You can share whatever you'd like."
Garmadon bit his lip. "Well…a secret was revealed."
"What was this secret?"
"I…I had murdered someone during the Serpentine War. Wu found out about it." He clenched his hand around the block he'd removed, staring at the table. "He…wasn't happy about it."
Phil looked at him. "I see. Do you mind if I ask who?"
"His…name is Ichor." He swallowed, shakily setting the block on top of the tower.
"Why did you kill him?"
"It was complicated." He shrugged, a heaviness coming upon him. He squeezed his hands together, rubbing them roughly.
"How was this secret revealed?"
"Ichor showed up at the monastery."
Phil blinked. "Oh…he's no longer dead?"
"No."
The therapist paused a moment, then carefully removed a block. "What happened next? After this secret came out?"
"Wu…got mad. And I left."
"Where did you go?"
"The city."
"Why did Wu get angry?"
"Because Ichor was his friend."
"I see…that is complicated." Phil looked at him. "And how were you feeling when this all happened?"
Garmadon shrugged. Guilt? Shame? Maybe betrayed? He bit his lip.
"How do you feel now?"
"A little better."
"Why is that?"
"Wu forgave me… Everything sort of went back to normal." Though that wasn't entirely true. Wu forgave him a huge trespass, including the love letter. One of his brother's best traits was apparently forgiveness, as Misako had said. Garmadon removed a block from the tower, frowning in thought.
Phil smiled. "That's kind of him."
He nodded.
"Did anything else happen?"
"I…got beat up. And Misako almost got kidnapped."
"Is…that why you have that new scar on your face?"
"Yes."
"Who beat you up?" Phil removed another block.
He shrugged.
"Hmm. I heard from your brother that people have been beating you up like that. Do you know if these were the same people?"
"I don't know." Ichor's smirking, cruel face appeared in his mind, and he shuddered, sucking in a breath.
Phil watched him, then wrote in his notebook. "Who tried to kidnap Misako?"
"The same people."
"Do you know why they tried to kidnap her…?"
He shrugged. Though he knew it was to get to him. To hurt him for everything he'd done. Ichor knew his every weakness, his every flaw, his every anxious thought. He didn't know how. He was a master at inflicting pain, almost as some sort of twisted art.
"Hmm. Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"Not really."
"That's fine. How have you been lately?"
"Fine…" He paused, staring at his hands. "Well…sort of."
"What do you mean?"
"I…I hurt Lloyd again." Why was he telling him this? He didn't even know him.
"In what way?"
"I left. Disappeared. He was worried and thought I wasn't coming back…"
"And this isn't the first time that's happened, is it."
"No." He bit his lip, clenching his hands. "I didn't mean to hurt him…but it keeps happening."
"Hmm…have you had contact with your son each time this had happened?"
"Not really…though when I was evil, I sort of did. In a way."
"Was there any way for him to contact you this time?"
"No."
Phil nodded, setting a block on top of the tower, then took a couple notes. "Would you like a suggestion?"
Garmadon glanced at him. "What suggestion? Will it help?"
"I can't say for sure. Do you have a phone?"
"No…"
"My suggestion would be to get one. You two can text or call if something like this happens again. Even a simple thing, like saying, 'I'll be back' can go a long way. And if your son knows he can contact you easily if something happens again, he'll be less likely to feel anxious and hurt."
Garmadon frowned, considering. "And…that will help?"
"I believe so. You can talk it over with Lloyd, see what he thinks." He smiled at him. "It's honorable of you to try to do better. I don't think you should feel guilty about it if you're trying your best."
He stared at his hands, then took a block out from the tower. "Okay." But nothing he did was 'honorable'. He was a monster. And a murderer. And a villain. He couldn't do anything right, and he proved it over and over again. But…maybe this could help.
"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"
He shook his head.
Phil took his turn removing a block. "Alright. There is one question I had. Have you heard of depression?"
"Well…you talked about it before, right?"
"Yes. Have you heard of it before that?"
"No…"
"I'll explain what it is, then. Do you remember the depression assessment I gave you?"
"Yes…"
Phil nodded. "That had the symptoms for depression. A low mood, little pleasure in doing things, feeling tired, change in appetite, little or too much sleep, things like that. It's basically losing your will to live, or not seeing a reason to live. It's feeling down about yourself or the world. It can be caused by circumstance, or have an unknown cause. Does that make sense?"
Garmadon nodded slowly. "Okay…and you think I'm 'depressed'?"
"I believe so. But I haven't given you an official diagnosis. Maybe we could consider that in the future?"
"Okay…"
"That's all I had for today." He closed his notebook, then looked at the Jenga tower. "Hmm. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen yet."
"Yeah…"
"Would you like to finish the game?"
"I…just want to go home, really."
"Alright." Phil carefully broke the tower (if it's possible to carefully break a Jenga tower) and started stacking the blocks again.
Garmadon helped, and soon Phil had put the game away.
"I believe this session was very productive today. You've opened up more. That's progress." Phil smiled.
He bit his lip, rubbing Ochre behind the ears. "Yeah…I guess."
"I'll see you tomorrow." The therapist smiled again, the led him towards the door.
Garmadon nodded once, following.
Garmadon followed Lloyd closely, glancing around as they walked. "How far is this place?"
"Just a little further. It's close to Borg Tower, since it's Borg's store," Lloyd said.
"Okay…"
After Garmadon had gotten back from therapy, and mentioned the phone idea to Wu, Wu had insisted he get one. He'd thought it was a great idea. Lloyd did as well. So here they were, in the middle of Ninjago City, heading for the Borg store. He didn't actually know the name of it.
"Here it is!" Lloyd grinned. "It's got all the latest tech, too. Though Borg has been careful how much tech he's releasing because of the one Overlord incident…" He frowned.
Garmadon looked, seeing a larger store, though not huge. It had glass windows for the whole front, with sliding glass doors. People came in and out.
"I'm glad I got Jay not to come. He would have been rambling about the tech the entire time. Good thing Dareth doesn't know we're here either…" He walked in.
He followed, staying close to him and watching the people nervously. His eye scanned the crowd, watching for any sign of Ichor. Who knew when he'd decide to show up again? And try to kill Lloyd. He swallowed. He could not let that happen.
"Come on, Dad." Lloyd walked down aisles, pausing at the phones. "What sort of phone do you want?"
Garmadon looked at the options. "Um…just something simple. How much are these?"
"Don't worry about that, Master Wu's paying for it."
He swallowed, biting his lip. "Oh." Just one more thing he'd have to pay his brother back for. He was going to be in so much debt.
Lloyd picked up one display phone, flipping through the home screen. "This one's pretty simple. What do you think?"
Garmadon looked at it, frowning. "But how much is it…?"
"I already said, don't worry about it." He handed him the phone. "Start looking around. And make sure you can text and call with it, because that's the most important part."
"What phone can't do that…?"
Lloyd shrugged. "I've seen some weird things. I don't know."
He looked at the phone, then pressed a few buttons.
Lloyd waited, then wandered further down the aisle.
Garmadon watched him nervously, then quickly set the phone back, following.
His son glanced at him, eyebrow raised. "What? You can keep looking at that one, if you want. You don't have to follow me."
He smiled nervously. "No, that's fine. I was done anyway. Do you have any other suggestions?"
Lloyd gave him a weird look. Then he turned, looking at the phones. "Um…this one?" He showed him a phone. "Simple, but it has some cooler features. Also, you should get one that you can play games on."
He frowned, taking the phone. "Why?"
"Because you look bored a lot."
"Oh…"
Lloyd smiled. "And, you could play Candy Crush."
"Mm-hmm…" He smiled a little, amusedly. "Is that your favorite game?"
"No, but it's still a good one." He picked up another phone. "How big of a screen do you want?"
"Small is fine…"
"Okay. How about this one?" He handed him another.
Garmadon set the one phone back and took that one. "How many phones are there…?"
"A lot."
"How am I supposed to pick?"
"I'll help you."
"How about I just get this one…" He flipped through the home screen, then looked at the details of the phone next to its price.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes. I'm not really picky…"
Lloyd took the phone from him, looking it over. "Okay…hmm. It has texting and calling…good screen, even if it's a little small…it would work for games. Hey, and it's got maps, a camera, all that good stuff. Do you know how to work a phone?"
"Uh…yes. Unlike Wu I learned about technology."
He laughed. "Uncle Wu really needs to get with the times."
Garmadon smirked. "Yes."
Lloyd set the phone back, then grabbed a small rectangular box. "We can pay for it and set up a phone number and everything."
"Okay."
He headed for the checkout, and Garmadon followed.
They got in line, which was fairly long. The counter people worked quickly, but it only sort of made up for the amount of people.
Lloyd sighed. "I should have expected this. Why does Borg have to be so popular?"
He shrugged, glancing around. The whole store was grey in color with shiny, smooth grey walls and florescent lights on the ceiling, with white aisles full of tech. "It would probably help him to be less popular, seeing as how many people kidnap him or take over his tower."
He winced. "Yeah."
"Even just shortening his tower would help him. It's literally the perfect place for a villain base. It has the entire outlook of the city."
"Yeah…I've noticed."
He bit his lip. "Sorry."
"It's fine, sorry. I just… uh, it's hard being reminded that you were a villain once." Lloyd shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "I suppose you would know all that stuff…I should probably let Borg know."
He bit his lip harder. "Yeah…though I don't think he'd listen. He wants his tower to be a symbol of hope or something. That's why he built it over where the Overlord was defeated in the Final Battle."
"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Lloyd sighed. "He can be so stubborn. I think P.I.X.A.L. gets that from him."
"Yeah…"
They remained silent as the line slowly moved forward, and it was finally their turn.
Lloyd worked with the employee to set up Garmadon's phone and number.
Garmadon waited uncomfortably, wishing he could've brought Ochre. But after breakfast, the dog had wandered off and Garmadon hadn't seen him around. So he hadn't been able to bring him, as he wasn't sure where he was.
About fifteen minutes later, Lloyd stood straighter, smiling, and handed Garmadon the phone. "It's all set! Try it out."
He hesitantly took it, staring at it, then turned it on. "Now what?"
"You can add my number first of all. Wait, give it here a minute." Lloyd took the phone again. "And I completely forgot, you're going to need a phone cover for this. And a screen protector, probably. Ugh, we're gonna need to get in line again…"
Garmadon nodded a little. "Okay…I don't need that though, I'll be careful with it."
Lloyd walked away from the counter as the employee tried to help the next person in line. "Sorry, Dad, but it's the law at the monastery. With how many villains attack, we need durable phones. Or it could be a disaster."
"Law?" Garmadon rose an eyebrow, following him. "That seems extreme. Though I suppose it makes sense…"
"Well, not law, but…it's a rule." He led him over to the phone cases. "Okay, pick one. But it has to be for this phone. What colors do you like?"
"Black and purple, I guess…" Garmadon started looking through the phone cases.
"Okay." Lloyd started looking through the cases as well. "How about this one?" He pointed to a purple one.
Garmadon bit his lip, staring at it. Did he really want purple…? While he did like the color, it probably wasn't good for hiding…or blending in. It would get noticed easily.
Lloyd rose an eyebrow. "I'm guessing that's a no?"
"Uh…yeah. Sorry. I think I'd prefer black."
"You really like black these days…" Lloyd found a black phone case.
Garmadon fiddled with his sleeve. "Sorry."
"It's fine. It's not bad, just…different. Come on."
He followed him.
Lloyd found him a screen protector, then got in line with him again. He sighed. "Ugh, why does this line have to be so long…"
Garmadon shrugged. "If Wu was here, he'd say it's to teach you patience."
He smiled a little. "Probably. He finds a lesson in every situation."
Lloyd took out his phone, almost running into two people as they walked down the sidewalk, having just left the store. "Okay, your number's the same as years ago, right?"
"Uh…what?" Garmadon stared at his new phone, rubbing his thumb over the case. Mental checklist of things to pay back—phone, food, dog food, water? Housing? Dog collar, leash, and tag. What else was there…?
"Years ago, when you had your monastery. Your old phone number."
"Oh…yeah. I'm surprised it was still available…"
Lloyd bit his lip. "Yeah…weird."
He glanced at him.
"I think it's because of everything that's happened. I don't think anyone wanted your number…and you kind of saved Ninjago when you were sent to the Departed Realm, so companies probably left it out of respect." He shrugged.
Respect…? To him? Garmadon frowned. He didn't deserve respect. If anything, he deserved a cell in Kryptarium Prison. He'd only wanted to sacrifice himself to atone for all the destruction and pain he'd caused. He'd wanted to make things right. Though that had all backfired when Harumi resurrected him.
He bit his lip at her name, guilt clenching at his gut tightly. How could he choose her over Lloyd? How could he let her use him for her revenge against his son? How could he let her manipulate him into hurting him?
Was he really just evil? Was that what he was destined for? Destiny seemed to like to make it clear that his path was darkness, and that seeking light was hopeless.
"Okay, I texted you. See if it worked." Lloyd looked at him.
Garmadon blinked. "Uh…oh." He looked at his phone, right as it buzzed. He turned it on, seeing a text.
His son smiled. "Yes, it works! Now click on the notification and text me back."
He did so, texting, 'Hello'.
Lloyd looked at his phone, smiling wide, and replied. "This is perfect." He looked at him. "Thanks, Dad."
Garmadon smiled a little. "You're welcome."
"Now I have to get Wu's number on your phone, which he won't know how to do so I'll just do it. Um…is there anyone else's number you want?"
He thought for a moment, considering. Would…maybe he could—
No. Bad idea. Garmadon shook his head. "Not at the moment. This is fine."
Lloyd nodded. "Okay, let me add Wu's number." He took his phone.
He watched, biting his lip. He hoped getting a phone wasn't a mistake.
Garmadon looked in the kitchen.
The window was dark. There was no moon tonight. It sent a foreboding feeling through him that he didn't understand; sent a shiver down his spine.
He tried to ignore it, looking at Misako.
She stood by the sink, sipping a glass of water. She hadn't noticed him, looking at the wall with a contemplating look. She was probably thinking about history or archaeology or something.
Garmadon hesitated, then walked in. This would be fine. It was a normal question…right? "Misako?"
She started, looking at him. "Oh…um, yes?"
He bit his lip, blushing slightly. Why did this feel so awkward? "Uh…so…um…"
Misako rose an eyebrow. "Yes…? Did you need something?"
"I…I was just wondering if you still have the same phone number you had, since I got a phone today, and I'm not sure if Wu told you about that or not but—"
She blinked. "And so…you're asking for my number?"
He fiddled with his sleeve, biting his lip. "Er…yes. Um…is your number still the same?"
Misako looked back at her water, biting her lip to try and hide a smile.
That was great. Now she was laughing at him…maybe this wasn't a normal question?
"Yes, it's still the same." She sipped her water.
"Okay…uh…" He took his phone out of his pocket. "And I, uh…forgot what it was."
"It has been a while…" she murmured. She told him her number, glancing at his phone. "I see you got a black cover?"
Garmadon typed in the number, trying to remember what she'd said. "Uh…yeah. Can you repeat the second half?"
She smiled a little, then walked over, repeating the number again. "Is black your new favorite color or something?"
He quickly typed it in. "No. I just…like it." It feels safe. "Can I try texting you to make sure I got this right?"
Misako looked at his phone, standing beside him. "Hmm…yes, you got it right. You can text me quick if you want."
He nodded, blushing slightly at their proximity. Why am I so awkward around her? He texted, 'Hello'.
She took out her phone, texting back.
'Hi' popped up on his screen.
"Looks like it works." Misako stepped back uncomfortably, seeming to have picked up on the awkwardness. "At least you can text now…"
"Yeah…" Garmadon bit his lip. It also meant he couldn't hide anymore. Anyone could contact him at any time.
"So if we have another incident again, and you run off, it will be easier to find you. That's good."
"Yeah…"
She finished her water and set the glass by the sink. "Thank you for asking for my number. I'm glad we can keep in contact now."
He blushed, fiddling with his sleeve. "Oh. You're welcome." He put his phone idn his pocket. Why did he feel like a teenager again? Why was this so awkward? Or at least, he felt how he had when they'd first met and were getting to know each other.
Misako glanced at him briefly, watching his expression, and then walked out of the kitchen. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight…" She probably thought he was a fool for being so awkward. I'm such an idiot. Garmadon closed his eye, rubbing his forehead, and sighed. At least he wasn't trying to make some sort of impression this time.
Because he'd certainly failed with that.
