During Kai's distraction, Raven didn't notice Lloyd's sudden movement until he was near the hall door. She turned to see a flash of green enter the door, and Raven tilted her head in confusion, as she headed to the hall. She walked just outside of the door when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned to see Nya and Jay.
"Hey Raven, where are you going? The party's here, even though Kai's acting ridiculous," Jay said, and Nya asked,
"What's wrong, Raven?"
Raven felt that something was wrong with Lloyd's sudden disappearance, so she replied, "I'm going to look for Lloyd. He went this way for some reason."
Before Jay or Nya could protest, Raven was already jogging down the hallway.
"Wait Raven," Jay said, as he started following after her.
"Jay!" Nya called out.
Jay stopped in his tracks and turned to Nya, and his eyes widened in surprise. Nya ran up to him and poured a liquid from a vial into his mouth and forced him to swallow it. Jay swallowed the strange liquid as he fell on his hands and knees, and he started choking terribly,
"What, -cough- did you -cough- do N-Nya?"
"A gift from one of Flare's maids. She knew I was a vampire, and I told her that I wanted to stop you, Kai, and Cole. She gave me this vial of Wolf tears she gathered from a lake before attending the party for 'in case of emergencies.' I have more than enough for you guys, and Lloyd too," Nya replied.
Jay continued to cough until he felt a heat in his throat, and then he started to feel the heat dissipate.
After this, Jay stood up and looked at his hands and then touched his face.
'No more fangs, no more urge to do mas- I mean Marcell's bidding'
"I'm back... I'm BACK!" Jay shouted for joy, as he hugged Nya.
"Thank you so much Nya! I owe you big time. Oh my gosh I'm finally free! Your cured! I'm cured! We're all gonna be cured!" Jay said, happily, as she smiled at him.
However, she realized that Raven was in trouble.
"Jay. Raven!" Nya said, and Jay nodded and he said,
"That's right! Cole and Kai are still vampires. Then that means… Lloyd..."
Nya gasped, and then Jay said, "We have to help them before it's too la-"
BAM!
Nya and Jay turned to see Kai on the floor face down. Flare was entering the hall with a death glare on her face, as she approached Kai while saying,"You little punk, I'll break you!"
Before Flare walked any further, Jay jumped in front of Kai and said,
"Wait Flare, please! Nya has the Wolf tears, she can fix Kai in no time. Please don't blame him! He was under Marcell's influence like I was!"
As Jay said this, Misako, Garmadon, Wu, Dr. Julien, and Zane entered the hall and closed the door behind them.
"What?" Sensei Wu asked.
Then Jay said, "I'll explain quick, but we have to hurry, okay..."
As Jay explained the situation, Nya gave Kai the Wolf tears, and Kai started to feel the heat in his throat and cough excessively until the heat dissipated. Kai stood up while holding his head, and said,
"Oh man, I... Oh no. I'm such an idiot! I helped Marcell this whole time! I shouldn't have listened!"
"It's okay, Kai. Marcell is stronger than we expected," Nya said, as Kai grabbed a broken robotic bug from his ear and crushed it further than Flare did when she punched him into the room.
"What was-" Nya was about to ask, but Kai cut her off,
"Don't worry about it. We have more important things to worry about. Where's Raven and Lloyd?"
When Raven was jogging down the halls, she jogged to the end of the second hall on the left from the first. She looked out a window at the end of the hall, and saw that no one had passed through there.
'Strange, where did he go?' Raven asked herself, as she heard the squeak of an opening door.
When she turned around, a door was opened on the right side of the hall, which was now her left. She slowly walked towards the door and entered the pretty dark room that used the moon light as a light source. This was a guest bedroom with a small sofa and a lampstand on the left wall, and a bed on the center of the right wall of the room with two lampstands at each side.
Raven saw someone standing near the open balcony window entrance, whose back was turned as they looked outside.
"L-Lloyd?" Raven asked, as she walked a little closer to the person.
She quickly turned around when the door suddenly closed behind her. Then Raven heard a voice say,
"Hello Raven, I've been waiting for you."
Raven turned to see that the person turned around to reveal himself as Lloyd, but he seemed a bit different to Raven.
"Lloyd... you've been waiting for me? Wait, why did you come here to-" Raven cut off when Lloyd walked up to her, and placed his hand on her cheek.
"You know Raven," Lloyd said, as he caressed her cheek, and added, "You look more radiant in the moon light."
Raven blushed a little, as Lloyd took Raven by the hands, and started to dance with her to a slow song that was already playing in the room from some speakers.
Outside of the room, Cole was keeping watch to make sure no one entered it. He couldn't help, but overhear some of Lloyd and Raven 's conversation though.
Meanwhile, Lloyd and Raven were still dancing together in the room. Then Raven said,
"L-Lloyd..."
"Yes, my dear?" Lloyd asked, as he dipped Raven and moved his face closer to hers, with a charming smile.
Raven blushed a little more, and she replied, "Lloyd, you seem a bit... different. Like more 'outspoken' and 'confident' if those are the correct words."
Lloyd lifted Raven to a normal standing position, and he said, "Well, I feel different, and I've been meaning to talk to you alone. I wanted to tell you how I feel... about you."
Lloyd put his hands on Raven's shoulders gently, and right when he was going to say something, he saw a glint of red. When he looked out the window, he saw Marcell standing on the edge of the balcony, grinning, with glowing red eyes. Lloyd thought,
'Marcell... she's come for Raven. She thinks I'll just hand her over... Well you've got another thing coming, Marcell.'
Lloyd looked at Raven, and said, "Raven, I'm..."
Raven asked, "Yes?"
Then Lloyd closed his eyes and said, "I'm sorry."
Raven was confused at first, but when Lloyd looked up at her, she saw red-ringed eyes and two white fangs shining in the moonlight. Raven was shocked by this, and then Lloyd took Raven and dipped her again while looking at Marcell. Marcell frowened, as her eyes widened when she realized what was going to happen.
"You better not... she must remain the way she is," Marcell said, as she looked at Lloyd intensely.
Lloyd smirked and then went to bite Raven on her neck. Marcell became infuriated, and she realized that she had to stop Lloyd quick before he bit Raven.
As Marcell jumped down and charged at them, Lloyd had finished whispering into Raven's ear. Then when Marcell ran close enough, Lloyd did a spin while holding Raven, and Raven kicked Marcell right in the stomach and sent her flying on her back onto the floor. While Marcell was dazed, Lloyd and Raven grabbed some bed sheets and rope from the curtains of the window and tied Marcell up. They looked at each other and nodded at their achievement.
Then a bang was heard on the door. Raven and Lloyd stood still as they heard a shout, a thud, and then another bang. They looked at each other confused, and then the door shot open. Lloyd and Raven saw the ninja and others enter the room.
"Not soo... what the?" Kai said, as he saw that Marcell was tied up and Raven and Lloyd were just standing there.
"How did you guys do that?" Jay asked, as everyone relaxed.
"It was pretty easy actually. Lloyd was faked biting me so that Marcell would try to attack him, and we were able to surprise her and get a good hit in before tying her up," Raven replied.
"Wait, faking a bite, then..." Misako said, as she looked at her son.
Lloyd signed, and then he revealed his vampire form. Everyone gasped, and then Cole walked in rubbing his head as a normal human, and said,
"I'm sorry Lloyd. If I was stronger I probably could have resisted Marcell's contr-"
"Who can truly fight Marcell's hold unless you just have a resilience to it," Flare interrupted Cole, and added, "Only a select few people can resist Marcell's hold or any other vampire's hold, like Lloyd and Nya. It just happens. Some take their own path, while others follow Marcell. It's not uncommon."
Then Dr. Julien said, "So Nya and Lloyd are the special types who are resistant to forced control. That's very helpful, especially in this situation."
Then Misako walked up to Lloyd and said, "Well, it's a good thing you are able to resist Lloyd."
"Heh, yeah it is." Lloyd replied.
"But at least you can turn back to normal now," Garmadon said, as he let Nya pass by to Lloyd.
"Okay Lloyd, I have the Wolf tears here, so you just need to drink some and you should be back to normal in a jiffy," Nya said, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial.
Lloyd became uneasy as Nya approached him with the vial of Wolf Tears. Then, when Nya put the vial in his hand, Lloyd stared at it, and then threw the vial at the wall. The glass vial shattered to pieces as the cool liquid splattered on the wall. Everyone was in a gasping shock for a minute, and then they snapped out of it when they heard Lloyd run out to the balcony.
"Where's he going?!" Cole asked.
"And where is Raven?" Zane added.
After smashing the vial, Lloyd quickly grabbed Raven and ran out to the balcony. He was able to jump off the balcony and land safety on the floor below, which wouldn't have been possible if he was a human without injury. Then Lloyd continued running from the castle while holding Raven.
"Lloyd, where are we going?" Raven asked, and Lloyd replied,
"Don't worry about it. You'll see."
While Lloyd continued to run past the field of grass and into the forest, the ninja and others behind them were trying to jump down from the castle wall without hurting themselves.
As Lloyd continued running through the forest, he found a spot with a rock structure ledge above a small lake. He ran on top of the structure, and he set Raven down on it. Then Raven asked,
"Lloyd, what's going on? Why did you bring me here?"
Lloyd looked away to think before answering, "Raven, since I've been a vampire, even for this short amount of time, I can feel the extra boast of power flowing in my veins. I'm much stronger now, and I can help prevent Marcell or anyone else from trying to kidnap you. What I'm trying to say is... I think I should stay as a vampire, it would be better, and... I want you to come with me."
Raven's eyes widened, and she said, "Lloyd, I-I don't know what to say."
Lloyd walked closer to Raven and held her hand, as he said, "Please Raven. I want to protect you, and I want you to come with me, to somewhere safe. Away from all of this."
Raven asked, "But Lloyd what about our friends and your family?"
Lloyd pondered this and replied, "They'll be fine Raven, I'm sure they will. But that doesn't really matter now... So, will you come? We can go somewhere more isolated, so that no one will ever bother us, especially you."
Lloyd grew a dark grin on his face as he thought about what he would do if someone dared to bother Raven.
"I'll make sure of that..." Lloyd said, and Raven was able to confirm that Lloyd wasn't in the right frame of mind, and that he would only get worse.
Then Raven said, "Lloyd, I really like you, but we can't just abandon our family and friends. We have to go back to them. When it comes down to it..."
Raven thought about her own father and the Viporeons. She realized then that she had to go back home, and make due with her father. He was still her dad, and when it comes down to it...
"Your family and friends are the only ones you'll have in the end."
Lloyd thought about Raven's words, and he let go of her hand. Raven turned to look at the lake for a moment. Then she said,
"Lloyd, this lake has Wolf tears. If you drink some, you can be human again."
Lloyd looked up at Raven who was still looking over the ledge at the water. Then he thought,
'She wants me to be human again... But I was weaker than I am now, and I couldn't even tell her my true feelings before without hesitating or not saying anymore about it. No, being human... Ehhh… Aahhh! I'm better being a vampire, and I bet she will be better too. She will understand... I'll show her.'
Lloyd smiled darkly, and barred his fangs, as he slowly approached Raven. The vampire side of Lloyd was influencing him, and infecting his mind. Raven turned to Lloyd, since he had become quiet, and she gasped, as Lloyd approached her with his barred fangs.
"Lloyd! What are you doing?!" Raven asked, in panic, as she backed away slowly towards the edge of the rock structure.
"You'll understand more Raven, once you become a vampire," Lloyd said, as he chuckled darkly.
As Raven backed up a little more, she heard voices calling out, and turned to see the others running from a distance in her direction, since the area around the lake had more grass than trees.
"Raven!" -Flare
"Lloyd, stop!" -Misako
"Hold on!" -Cole
"Son! Stop!" -Garmadon
"Don't do it, Lloyd!" -Sensei Wu
"Raven, run!" -Kai
Lloyd ignored them, as Raven realized that she only had one option at this point to ensure that she would be able to save Lloyd without anyone else getting hurt. Then she turned towards Lloyd and let her guard down, as she closed her eyes, and turned her head while keeping her hands down. Right when she did so, Lloyd proceeded quickly towards Raven, and seized her by her shoulders. Then Lloyd sank his fangs into Raven's neck. The pain of the strike was much more than Raven anticipated, so she let out a cry as her eyes shot open, which made Flare boil in anger.
"Get AWAY from HER!" Flare yelled out, and right before she could attempt anything, everyone froze in their tracks while their mouths opened in surprised.
Raven had grabbed Lloyd by his waist and pulled him off the edge of the cliff with her. They both descended straight into the deep part of the lake, and hit the water with a splash. Everyone looked on for a moment, stunned. Then they continued where they left off, running towards the lake, and stood looking into the water.
"Lloyd! Raven!" Kai called out.
"I hope they're alright," Nya said, in concern.
"They'd better be. I've got a few things to tell both of them, and a few smacks to hit everyone with!" Flare said.
The water in the lake shifted and bubbles popped, as they popped out of the water. They swam to where the others were and climbed out of the water, dripping wet. Lloyd was back to his normal self, and Raven was normal too.
"Oh thank goodness. I'm so glad you're back, Lloyd" Raven said to Lloyd with a smile, as he turned to her and replied,
"Yeah. It's good to be back."
Then WACK! WACK!
Lloyd and Raven were left rubbing their heads, while Flare began scolding, "You FOOLS! While you two were completely oblivious, the party was going crazy! Kai with his idiotic shananigans, Cole with his complete arrogance until we turned him back into a human, and now you two running off causing worry and panic among these fools! You've got a lot of nerve, which I respect... but you all completely ruined EVERYTHING! Now the rulers may start going wild, and my mother will have a fit because of ALL of you! And YOU!"
Flare turned towards Kai with an irritated expression, as Kai backed away slowly.
"I'll make you wish you were a rock, so that I wouldn't be able to crush your bones so easily!" Flare said.
Before anyone could react, the voice of the Queen was heard not too far away,
"FLARE! ALL OF YOU! Come here at ONCE!"
Melantha was standing a couple of feet away, with her arms crossed, glaring as usual. Flare signed, and then she walked over to her mother, as everyone else followed. Flare stood a few feet from her mother and said,
"Mother, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen and-"
"Quit speaking words from your mouth and let me talk," Melantha cut in, and Flare stood silent.
Then Melantha said, "I came out here because I wanted to say... that the party was a SUCCESS!"
Melantha lifted her arms up with a smile, as everyone looked at her in confusion.
"What? Explain the meaning of this ma?" Flare asked, and Melantha continued,
"When Kai had started to cause an uproar, the four rulers were able to stop him, of course, by working together. After you left with Kai and the others Flare, the rulers had stood in front of your father, and had pledged their allegiance to him, and even signed a treaty and contract to forever stay together as one people under Arun's rule and his descendants. Oh this is fantastic! The kingdom is now closer than ever. They realized how important it is to keep the kingdom together. I have to admit, I really wanted to cut you all into ribbons, but I guess you all did help the kingdom, so I give you my gratitude and whatever else you may need."
Sensei Wu stepped forward and said, "Actually, we need some information, and I think you can provide us with some answers, Queen Melantha."
"Sure thing," Melantha replied, "But let's head inside the castle. After today's events I need to rest, and I'm sure all of you need some rest as well."
With that, Melantha headed off to the castle, and everyone else followed her.
However, Lloyd and Raven stood behind for a moment.
"Raven," Lloyd said, and Raven turned to him and asked,
"Yes Lloyd?"
Lloyd looked down with guilt, and then he looked up at Raven and said, "Raven, I'm so sorry. I wasn't myself. I-I didn't mean to hurt you. I c-couldn't control myself. I-"
Lloyd was cut off when Raven hugged him, which made him blush a little, and she said,
"I'm just glad you're back to normal, and don't worry. I was never mad at you to begin with."
Raven released him and smiled, as Lloyd smiled back. Then Raven continued to follow the others to the castle, and Lloyd caught up with them as well. The ninja were talking to each other and giggling, until Lloyd came walking besides them.
"Hey Lloyd -giggle- Nice to see you're all right," Jay said.
Lloyd looked at his friends in confusion, and then asked, "What's so funny?"
Then Kai said, "Sooo, Raven huh?"
Lloyd was still confused, until Cole said, "'You know Raven, You look more radiant in the moon light.' Wasn't that what you said Lloyd?"
"'I want to tell you how I feel' huh Lloyd?" Jay added.
Lloyd's face became flushed, and he said, "Y-You heard. All of it?!"
Cole nodded, and the other guys continued to laugh while Zane put his hand on Lloyd's shoulder, and said,
"Don't worry Lloyd. It's alright if you have a strong emotional attachment to Raven. It's quite normal, especially in your case since it seems like you lov-"
Lloyd covered Zane's mouth and the other guys started laughing more. Lloyd continued to walk ahead of them, embarrassed, as they followed him.
However, no one noticed the two figures a long distance away on top of a large hill. They were watching what was happening as everyone was heading back to the castle. One of them wore a black hood with a black long sleeved, and dark blue pants with zipper lines of silver on it. The other wore a black hood with a black cape that reached their knees, a long sleeved black shirt, and black pants with a white belt. The one without the cape spoke,
"Well, this is interesting isn't it? I guess those ninja are more skilled than we expected. All well, it doesn't truly matter. We'll get the girl and the Viporeon pearl soon enough. Let's head out."
They started to walk away, and the one with the cape stood a moment more to look at Raven and Lloyd. Then they turned and walked off with the other person down the hill, deeper into the forest.