He's falling.
Orange and pink light spirals around Cole as he tumbles, unsure of which way is up.
He's floating.
The light fades as his movement slows, his body suspended in something cool.
A ringing echoes through Cole's ears, calling him back to reality.
Hands. Warm hands grab under his armpits, dragging his body out of the haze.
His left hand trails across dirt, and he lets out a small sigh, comforted by its presence. The vengestone had been gnawing at his nerves, blocking his connection to his element. He was thankful it was gone. It is gone right? The movement stops and he is laid down on the comforting cool soil.
Someone picks up his hand and a slight complaint rumbles through his throat at losing the comforting touch of the earth. More warm hands squeeze his shoulders, trying to get his attention. Maybe I should open my eyes?
Cole wearily opens them and sees a regular calm night sky, dotted with stars and a bright near full moon. A face interrupts the view. Then is joined by another. Nya? Kai? Their lips are moving, but he can't hear a thing, everything blocked by the ringing in his ears. Maybe he should tell them. "I can't…" he starts, but the words feel odd coming out, feeling the vibrations without hearing it properly.
Nya and Kai get pushed aside and replaced by Zane. His mouth moves too, Cole frowns, starting to hear something, but not enough to make out what Zane is saying. He hopes it's not important. Zane rests a hand on his forehead and Cole sighs at the cool touch, closing his eyes once more. Another cool hand is placed on his chest. He breathes deeply, enjoying the ambiance for a moment, but the ringing fades, noises bubbling their way to the surface, and with it comes pain. Is my arm on fire? His right arm pulses angrily, in time with his heart beat.
Cole whimpers as the cool hands disappear, he opens his eyes trying to find out why they left and sees Zane removing a plastic bag from around his arm. Why was there a bag on my arm?
"How is he this hot? He just spent the last 20 minutes submerged in cool water!" Nya. He could hear Nya.
"The wound is infected. We should take him to a hospital." Zane. Cole delights in recognising their voices, but the meaning of the words wash right through him.
"Can we do that? What if it didn't work? What if he's still linked?" Jay.
"Oh it worked. Didn't it Cole?" Lloyd.
There is a pause as Cole waits for the next speaker. Cole… I'm Cole. What are they talking about? "What?" he croaks.
"It worked. Yang's gone?"
Cole frowns. Right, they were doing a ritual. He closes his eyes, seeing flashes of the vortex that had demolished the mind temple, and taken Yang with it. He hadn't actually seen Yang go through, but he had to be gone right? He nods, stopping when the small movement gives him vertigo.
"Well, that's good enough for me." says Kai, and two burning arms slide under Cole's body. Cole groans as he's hoisted into the air, rib and arm complaining about the movement.
"Careful of his arm."
"I'm always careful!"
The movement is too much. Cole feels awful. Head spinning, stomach doing flips. He twists away from Kai.
"Cole, can you stop squirming? You're not helping."
Cole throws up, doing his best to not get any on Kai, but he doesn't succeed.
"Oh, oh! Dammit." Kai lowers Cole back down, patting his back as he finishes.
"We must not delay." says Zane.
"Ok. Fine." grumbles Kai.
Cole closes his eyes as the arms hoist him up once more.
Cole barely holds onto consciousness as they start moving again. He feels terrible, the movement makes his head throb, waves of nausea continue to plague him.
Finally the movement stops and he is laid on a bed on the bounty. He takes a deep breath trying hard not to throw up again. Trying to ignore how his arm feels like it did after he walked into the water main, full of pain, and not all there.
A cool cloth is placed on his forehead, and he opens his eyes, trying to see who to thank. Jay is crouched beside him, lines of worry on his face. A speechless Jay… There was something Cole needed to say, needed to tell him. He wanted to say: 'you can't let me die, after surviving all that supernatural ghost bullshit, I can't die from a cut on my arm!' but everything was so hard to focus, so all that came out was "I can't die…"
A grin creeps onto Jay's face. "Ha! Well, you have proven quite difficult to kill, but let's not test the theory, ok?"
Cole sighs, that wasn't what he meant… he closes his eyes, succumbing to the brain fog once more.
…
He briefly comes to, flashing lights passing overhead. Sounds of unfamiliar voices weaving around him. Pain continues to radiate out from his arm. "Jay?" he pleads, hoping for something familiar. A hand grips his shoulder, masked face popping into view, but it isn't Jay. It isn't anyone familiar. A small amount of panic rises within him, but it isn't enough for his consciousness to hold on. He closes his eyes and the sounds fade away.
…
It feels like only a moment has passed when Cole opens his eyes again. His eyelids feel heavy as he looks around the room. "Jay?" he weakly asks. He had been looking for him, he thinks?
A hand grips his left. He turns towards it, blinking as green and white blobs take form into his friends.
"Sorry, Jay's in the waiting room. They're only letting us in two at a time for now."
Cole lets out a sigh, squeezing Lloyd's hand. "Ok." he mutters. Mind slowly waking up.
"I could go swap with him if you like?" offers Zane. Cole shakes his head slightly. It was fine. Any of his friends were fine. He just wanted someone familiar. Someone safe.
"Do you know where you are?" asks Lloyd.
Cole frowns. He was in a hospital bed, like the one they had at the temple, but he looks to the walls, not the temple. "Hospital."
"Yes, good. What is your full name?" Zane asks him.
Cole doesn't bother answering the question, attention grabbed by his right arm. It was suspended from the ceiling by some sort of strap and it was huge! He frowns, staring right at it. Ok so maybe it wasn't his arm that was huge, it was wrapped up in a giant brace, a mess of black fabric and velcro straps that went from his hand up past his elbow. His hand was wrapped around something soft, and he tentatively wiggles his fingers as much as the binding would allow, each digit responding at least a little. "Oh thank goodness." he sighs.
Lloyd raises an eyebrow. "What?"
"They didn't cut it off." says Cole. He had been worried. Arms weren't supposed to hurt like that.
"You did need surgery." says Zane. "Your tendons and nerves were a mess, but the surgeon sorted it all out and is confident you will fully recover."
"I'm gonna be fine?"
"Well," says Lloyd, his turn for an update, "you're on IV antibiotics for the infection, but we are already seeing an improvement. It looks like the ritual may have put your body under stress, weakening your immune system, but you're bouncing back nicely."
Cole glances to the IV, wondering what else he was being dosed with. Everything felt, floaty. Nothing hurt, which was an utterly bizarre sensation after the last few days. He knew that would be temporary, but he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
"How are you feeling?" asks Zane. "How is your head?" Cole's eyes wander back to his friends, and sees Lloyd's gaze jump up to his forehead.
A sinking feeling coils in his stomach. "You've got to be kidding me… It's glowing?"
"What? No!" Lloyd is quick to respond. "Here, see for yourself." Lloyd pulls out his phone from his pocket, putting it in selfie mode and holding it up so Cole can see. Cole reaches out his left hand, adjusting the angle slightly. It isn't glowing at all. In fact he can barely see it. Cole lifts his hand away from the phone, gently touching the faint line of skin. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't send stabbing pains into his head, flashing lights into his vision… it looks so normal.
Tears start to form in the corner of his eyes. "What is wrong?" asks Zane gently.
"It's over. It's really over… he's gone." Cole lowers his hand, laying it back on the bed. He wasn't a ghost, he wasn't possessed, he was just… Cole. Finally, things could go back to normal.
Lloyd takes back his phone. "Yes. He's gone, you're safe now."
Safe?
'Thank you for saving me.'
Cole pushes the thought aside. He didn't want to think about Yang, about what he said. Right now he was just going to enjoy being fully himself. Tears stream down his face as someone grabs his hand once more.
They had been taking turns sitting with him, keeping up the Cole roster. At first he was grateful to have the familiar company, but a deep fatigue weighed on his mind. He felt flat, dull, he knew he wasn't good company right now.
"You know you can go home if you want?" offers Cole.
Nya pauses scrolling her phone. "Nah, I'm fine."
"Seriously, I'm not possessed anymore, I don't need a bodyguard."
Nya lets out a frustrated sigh. "You think I'm here as a bodyguard? Cole… we did the same for Lloyd after his surgery. You don't need a bodyguard, but you do need a friend. You've been through so much."
And she was right about that. Thoughts from his time with Yang kept popping up. He was doing his best to push them all back down, but it was exhausting. And trying to put on a cheerful facade at the same time?
"Nya, please… I haven't had a single moment alone in weeks." He meets her concerned eyes, hoping she would understand. "It's not that I don't want any visitors… and I just sleep half the time anyway. You don't have to stay all the time."
Nya chews her lip, thinking through Cole's words. "Ok fine! I'll get out of your hair."
"Thank you." Cole sighs with relief.
"But you have to promise to text us if you need anything, and Jay will still come round later for a visit, ok?"
"Ok," Cole agrees, giving her a small smile.
He watches her leave, a small wave of her hand, and a final look of concern, masked by a lopsided grin on her face.
As soon as she rounds the corner, Cole lets the smile melt from his face, resting his head back against the pillows. Finally left alone with his thoughts. And what brilliant company they were, a tangled knot of worry, guilt, anger, fear and shame.
This wasn't right. The dark emotions were meant to be Yang's, and if Yang was gone, why were they still here?
He thought it was finally over, he needed it to be over. Cole sighs. He probably just needed some more rest. He puts in his earbuds and opens the app on his phone. Maybe some music would help to drown it out.
It takes a few days before Cole is released from the hospital. His elation at being free of that place is quickly crushed when he gets back to the temple, greeted by the statue of Yang as he steps off the Destiny's Shadow. Right… This is Yang's Temple. Who's stupid idea was it for us to live here? Right, that would be my stupid idea…
His arm is already feeling a lot better. The brace has decreased in size since he first woke up. He doesn't need the sling, but it helps if he's moving around a lot. There are exercises from the physio to make sure he will preserve a good range of motion. The stretches hurt a bit, but it's nothing compared to what he's been through.
It felt so strange being back. Everything was the same, but just a little bit different. Meals, movies, errands; life went on. There was plenty that he still struggled to do with his recovering injuries. He was banned from training for the time being, until his rib was better; and got kicked out of the kitchen for trying to cut up carrots one handed, almost stabbing himself when it rolled onto the floor.
He wanted to be happy, he wanted to be his old cheerful self, but Yang was everywhere. Memories of him. Actual fucking statues of him. The entire time Cole had lived here, Yang had been looking over his shoulder, and it felt like he still was.
Cole's dreams had been weird, he couldn't remember any of them since the ritual, if he was even having any. That thing, vortex? had ripped a literal hole through his mind. And before that, whatever Yang did had left some serious damage. He worried that it had left him scarred in ways that the others would never really see. He had minor headaches on and off, every one setting him on edge, making him worry that something was wrong, that he would have another seizure, that Yang would come back.
The dark thoughts continued to build in his mind. A constant draining dread that he carried with him every moment of every day. Ignoring it wasn't working, so he spent sleepless nights laying on his futon, churning through his thoughts, seeing if he could unravel the knot.
'Thank you for saving me.'
But I didn't save him. I killed him.
'I'm sorry.'
I didn't believe him. I didn't forgive him.
'It's time to wake up kid.'
Why did he do that? Why did he help me?
'Now wake up!'
Twice Yang had thrust him towards safety at the last second. But he was evil, wasn't he? Why would he help me?
'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!'
He had hurt Lloyd. Nearly killed him. Cole couldn't forgive that, wouldn't forgive Yang using his body for that. So then why? Why do I feel so bad?
'Even in the dark, you can find some light. So there must be some good hiding in Yang right?'
He wouldn't have thought of Jay as the optimistic one. Always jumpy, assuming the worst.
'And some evil hiding in me…'
And bingo. That was the crux of the problem wasn't it? Cole wasn't sure he had done the right thing.
'Yang's making you mean Cole.'
Wasn't sure if Yang's evil had rubbed off on him. What if I lose my way? What if I turn into Garmadon?
He rolls over in his futon, careful of his arm, feeling a tug of pain on his rib, as his thoughts spiral back to the start.