Darkness from Within #7: A Promise Broken (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 21

Green grass sprouted from the ground, dancing in the warm wind. The sky was a clear blue, dotted with only a few white clouds. The trees bloomed with new leaves and pink flowers, and they shaded Lloyd's path as he weaved through the forest. He glanced around as he walked, scarcely feeling his earlier pain. Where am I? he wondered. I thought I was in Baddie Bend...

Only when his stomach started to nag did a burst of realization hit him. He recognized that forest. It's the place I used to go to in my visions, he recalled. Am I having another one?

He hadn't had a vision in years. Why now? Why another one after so long?

The thought made him irritated. One thing I know about these visions is that I'm never alone, he mused, just when he finally thought he would never have to deal with the ninja again. If this is like the others, Kai should be just around the corner...

Following the tug at his stomach, he slipped around a tree and found the familiar clearing. Let's just get this over with, he thought. Entering the clearing, he glanced around and found someone sitting on a rock, back facing him. "Kai" was just on the verge of passing Lloyd's lips when he took a step closer and stiffened.

It wasn't Kai.

It was Cole.

You have got to be kidding me, Lloyd thought, eyes rounding. Cole didn't turn around, and the Baddie wondered if the black ninja knew he was there, when he spoke.

"Well." Cole's voice was low and emotionless. "Isn't this awkward?"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Lloyd reached over and drew out That Sword, realizing this was finally his chance. I've tried to kill you once when I stole your scythe. I've tried to kill you again in the hospital room. I've tried to kill you a third time in battle, then a fourth in the monastery, then a fifth in the mountains. But this time, I'm not going to fail.

"Go ahead," Cole murmured, hearing the sword unsheathe. "Kill me. I don't care."

Lloyd halted beside the rock, raising an eyebrow. Wondering if the black ninja was just bluffing, he raised the sword and touched it to his opponent's neck.

Cole didn't even flinch.

Puzzled, Lloyd drew his weapon away again, pondering this. What fun is killing him if he doesn't care?

"Don't you realize," Cole went on, his voice steady but empty, "that when you killed Raymond, when you made Vanessa leave me, you caused me more pain than death ever could." He wrapped his arms around his chest. "You made me suffer more than I ever had before. A suffering I want to end. You should've killed me in the mountains. I would've thanked you. Thanked you to have relieved me of my pain."

Lloyd felt awfully bewildered. What could be worse than dying? he wondered. Taking away things he loved makes him no longer scared to die? He hadn't intended that to happen. He hadn't realized that could happen. Slipping his sword away again, he rounded the rock until he was in front of the black ninja. Cole kept his gaze on the ground, seeming awfully crushed.

"So... why are we here?" Lloyd demanded, tired of being confused.

Cole shrugged softly. "I know why," he said unenthusiastically.

Lloyd stared down at him. "And are you going to tell me?" he barked, frustrated when Cole didn't seem scared. You're supposed to fear me! he wanted to shout. How depressed are you?

"That depends." Cole finally looked up at him, eyes dull and lifeless. He tipped his head. "Do you want to die?" he asked as if it was an innocent question.