Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs

Chapter 27: Coming Out of the Fog

Lloyd barely remembered anything when he woke up. There had been fire, lots of fire, and a great shadow that had come over him. A two-headed, long necked, horned shadow, screaming his name. And then he remembered pain and not being able to breathe. Most of all, however, he remembered the fear he felt as the world around him began to fall into chaos and ruin. He had been sure that he was about to die, and yet, here he was, still breathing. Was he in Heaven?
'Run!! Run!! Get away from here!'
'No! Stay! You're finally safe now!'
Lloyd clutched his head as the voices yelled at him so loud his eardrums started ringing. If this was some sort of afterlife, then it had to be Hell.
'Use your power! Use it now! Destroy these pathetic excuses for human beings!'
'You must rest! You must trust that you will be okay!'
'Trust no one! The only person you can trust is yourself!'
'Not only is that statement wrong, it's also contradictory!'
'Be silent!'
'You be silent!'

* * *

"SHUT UP!!!" Lloyd yelled, startling everyone else at the campsite. They watched as he frantically rolled about on the ground, holding his head and shouting at himself.
"What's wrong with him?" Jay asked, watching him from a safe distance.
Garmadon sat by his son's side, trying and failing to keep him from flailing about. "The Fangpyre venom," he grumbled. "It seems to be having an... adverse reaction."
"To what?" Cole hadn't been able to eat a single thing while Lloyd kept yelling like that, as though he were possessed or something.
"His ancestral DNA," said Garmadon plainly.
Lloyd screamed a little louder and suddenly clung to one of Garmadon's pant legs.
"Is there anything we can..." Zane started.
"No." The old man stroked Lloyd's head, knowing full well it would offer very little comfort. "We must return to Wu. He and I are the only ones who can remedy this." At once, Kai understood what he meant, his mind flashing back to when the two of them had healed Jay.
As Lloyd continued to roll about, crying now, and announcing to the whole world where they were, Cole put away his dinner and made for his pack. "Well, then we'd better hurry."
The campsite was cleared and abandoned with little ceremony. It wasn't like they were going to sleep much that night anyway. Especially Kai. He could still picture the Fang Blade just a foot away from his fingertips, so close he could practically feel its cool metal. He wished he'd been able to do both—to save Lloyd and the blade—he might have been able to if he'd just thought things through a little better, but... there was his problem. Like Zane said, he had a bit of a problem with leaping before looking.
Afterwards, just outside the volcano, when the others had asked what became of the Fang Blade, Kai was forced to tell them that he didn't know for sure, but it wouldn't surprise him if Pythor got his grubby little hands on it. Then again, it was also entirely possible that he died in the lava, but... the truth was, they didn't really know anything for sure right now, and somehow that was worse than knowing for certain that the Serpentine now possessed two more keys to unlocking the Ultimate Snake of Doom.
Garmadon slung Lloyd over his back again while Kai put out the fire with a swish of his wrist, kind of like blowing out a birthday candle, and he replaced their source of light with yet another fireball.
The woods were dark tonight with all the smoke still in the air, and the western sky was glowing red with the light of the volcano. Thankfully, the winds were blowing in from the sea, so no ash was falling down on them as they slunk back across the countryside.
At several points during the night, Lloyd managed to fall off of Garmadon's back and into the snow, but he never got upset, as Kai thought he might. With his son, Garmadon seemed very patient, and gently went to pick him up again and again. It was quiet in the group (minus Lloyd) but not in the same way as before. Before, it had felt like everyone's eyes were watching Garmadon, waiting for him to try something dastardly, and now it felt like everyone was doing their best not to look at him as he took the lead, the Prince of Darkness writhing in pain on his back.
Late into the night, when the wind felt to be at its chilliest, Kai thought about what would happen after they had Lloyd back to normal. What were they going to do with him? Or Garmadon, for that matter? Surely Wu would send Garmadon to jail, and Lloyd to... well, a correction center maybe, or a mental hospital, depending on how things went. That kid did not seem well in the head one tiny bit, and he undoubtedly inherited that trait from his malicious father.
On through the snow they trudged, with nothing much exceptional happening.
It wasn't until morning, when the sun was shining clearly in a bright, empty winter sky that they were finally getting close to their ship. Man, they really needed to think of something else to call that thing than just "the ship." Maybe the "SS Ninja?" "Dynamite with a Laser Beam?"
Wu was waiting for them on the top deck. Even from a distance, Kai could tell that he was worried. Maybe it had something to do with how he started running to meet them after the first few seconds.
"Garmadon—" he started breathlessly. His eyes were on Lloyd, who had calmed down since last night, probably due to exhaustion.
"We need to reverse the effects of the venom," Garmadon said, not pausing to say hello.
The boys stayed to watch as they brought the blonde boy below deck, clearing a space on the floor and laying him down. He was moaning and his breathing was raspy. It was almost hard to look at him, what with all the lumpy scales and the forked tongue and fangs. It was like something out of a horror movie.
"No... leave me alone! Go away!" He almost cried, seemingly in pain.
"Quickly. Before anything worse happens," said Wu.
The old men reached out their hands, letting their powers swirl and mix together.