Still by Your Side -||Lloyd x Reader||-

41

The day ticked as the hours passed. People lined outside the Borg store to see the latest invention Cyrus Borg has come out with. In a far distance south of Ninjago, atop the Moutain of Impossible Height inside the broken and burned monastery, the man known as Sensei Wu stood waiting, pocket watch in hand. He was counting down the seconds of the inevitable event he knew was coming 40 years ago. A burst of bright lights colored red, blue, yellow, and green distorted the sky as thunder accompanied it.

The distortion circled as a man fell down from it, landing effortlessly. " Right on time." The old sensei said, grabbing the man's attention. " What?" The man looked back behind him to see Wu sitting with the pocket watch. " Long time, no see." Sensei Wu spoke. " Master Wu? You look...old. As if your best days have passed. Not unlike your monastery." The man walked closer to him. 

Sensei Wu closed the pocket watch and put it away. " I still have plenty of days left." Wu stood up as the man moved a hand behind his back. "Shall we finish what we started? I've been waiting decades." Sensei Wu asked the man. " Really?" The man held a dagger behind his back, " It doesn't feel that long to me." " This ends now."

"This ends now, Samukai," Jay said as he held a mannequin head of Samukai. "Nope, pretending this is the actual Samukai doesn't make cleaning up the museum any more interesting. This is so lame. We're Ninja, not janitors." Jay complained. Lloyd passed by him with a Chen mannequin on a cart as I held up Kozu. "Come on, Jay. We're all kind of responsible for the damage to the museum. After all, if we hadn't had that massive battle, on the Day of the Departed, this place would still be in one piece." Lloyd told him.

" Yeah, and whose fault is that, Cole?" Jay shifted blame to Cole. Cole stared at Yang's portrait. "Okay. How many more times do I have to say I'm sorry for accidentally unleashing the ghostly forces of evil that attacked Ninjago?" He placed the portrait in a nearby wheelbarrow. Jay placed the Samukai head in a box, " How high can you count?" Cole grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow but accidentally dropped the wheelbarrow as his arms glowed orange.

 "Eh, speaking of which, you're still not used to having your old, non-ghost hands back?" Jay asked, taking a box. Coles's arms returned to normal as he cleaned up the small mess he made, " Oh, I'm working on it." Cole followed Jay as they passed by Nya. " This is exhausting" Nya put down the box and cracked her back, laying on the box after. " If I could go back in time, I'd tell Dr. Saunders we were too busy to help."

Zane pulled a cart with Cryptors mannequin, " Nya, you may recall that the rest of us once time-traveled. It can have devastating effects, and should not be used lightly. Certainly not to get out of labor." He warned her. "It's just an expression, Zane. Nya walked over to Kai. " I...I don't believe it." Kai said as he looked at a portrait of a man and female. "What is that?" Nya asked. " I think it's a portrait of... our parents." Nya looked at the back of the painting. " Whoa. This dates to when I was, like 3 years old."

" Shortly before they disappeared. We know so little about them, Nya." Kai seemed saddened to see the painting. " Father was the Elemental Master of Fire. Mother was the Master of Water." She made a ball of water as she said the word water. "And they left us the old blacksmith shop and little else,"  Kai mentioned. " They left us our powers," Nya added.

" Uh, ayo guys come look at this!" I shouted, interpreting their moment. Nya let her waterfall as everyone came over to look at a large painting a just had to hang up. It depicted a battle, a fight, a war. " uh, its that Garmadon?" Jay pointed to a man with shaggy hair holding put two gauntlets that look like claws in a way. " It is." I said taking a closer look. " Ayo babe, its your dad!" I shouted to Lloyd who walked over. 

" And there's Master Wu" Kai pointed at the man next to Garmadon who had shorter lighter-colored hair. "He looks so...young," Nya added. " Look at them, my father and my uncle, Ninjago's two greatest Elemental Masters. I wonder if I'll ever live up to their legacy." Lloyd said slightly sadly and I put my hand on his shoulder. " First Kai and Nya, now Lloyd. It's family picture day at the museum." Jay added. " Ugh, me too. The Overlord is in quite a few things" I cross my arms.

" Does anyone recognize this battle?" Cole asked and Zane got Pixal to analyze it. "Facial contour mapping indicates this scene takes place forty years ago during the Serpentine Wars." "During the Serpentine Wars? But Ninjago was at peace. Who would they be fighting?" Cole questioned. Dr. Saunders walked over to us holding a tray of drinks. " Refreshing time. Hot, sweaty work deserves a cool drink." Saunders smiled at us. " Ah, thanks Dr. Saunders" Kai took a cup. We each took one and thanked the man.

" Enjoy the pickled beet tea." Dr. Saunders revealed the drink. Everyone spat out the drink as Cole 'accidentally' dropped his. I just drank it because well, manners. Lloyd put his cup back on the tray before asking Saunder about the painting. " Oh, this? Nothing. Minor skirmish. No historical significance. That is why I don't hang it in the main gallery." Dr. S answered and I stared at him. He's hiding something behind the accent. I don't even think his accent is real.

"It looks pretty significant to me. This thing is huge." Jay said, putting his cup on the tray too. " Yes, a huge myth. The folklores." Saunders continued to lie. "Even if it is a myth, who are these men Masters Wu and Garmadon are supposed to be fighting? I have no data on them." Zane asked. Dr. S sighed, " There is a legend." he put the tray on abox. " Twin brothers called the Hands of Time."

Hands of Time. I feel like I've heard of that before when I used to spy on Sensei Wu back when I was younger. "The Hands of Time?" Kai was confused. "They could allegedly manipulate time itself. Speed it up, slow it down. All sorts of things." Saunders laughed, "See what I mean? Manipulate time? A ridiculous fairy tale." He chuckled. " I mean, an Elemental Master of Time. Seems about right." I muttered. 

Lloyd nudged me. " What? He is covering something up." " Shush (Y/n)" Lloyd whispered. I rolled my eyes as Nya asked about who the man on the right was. "Oh, this handsome-looking fella? Ha! The legend says his name is Krux." Saunders answered. " And who is the nasty-looking guy?" Lloyd pointed to the man on the left. " In the stories, he's called Acronix."