Garmadon Oneshots! Of Many Flavours And Forms

Horns. • Mother Mystaké Au

It was far too early in the morning for anyone of sound mind to have prepared for the issue at hand..

A high-pitched wail broke past the walls of the tea shop, piercing the night air with a violent stab of sound.

Sitting up slowly and calmly, Mystaké got up from her bed and made sure to tie up her sliver hair into a neat bun behind her head as she lit a candle to welcome warmth into her room, a subtle comfort rather than for practicality for she could see perfectly in the darkness. She was an oni, after all.

From beyond her room, down the hall was Lord Garmadon still struggling with his inhuman nature in a way he never had to face before, crying into the shadows. Mystaké never felt herself overly concerned, never panicking nor feeling too worried.

His roaring continued as the old lady shuffled down the halls, cracking open the door to see Garmadon bowed down upon his scraped knees, clawing at his head as hints of bone white could be caught within  the shadows of his solitude.

Out of his head, two off-white bones protruded out of his skull, splintering into two different sets of horns like antlers. Two horns were curved inwards in a U shape while the crest of his horns cracked into twisting shapes more reminiscent of those he had seen on the omega. The disconsolate animal wept which each ounce of growth.

He whimpered with dismay as they grew taller and larger out from his skull, bending and curving, but also splintering like wood. Garmadon clutched at his head, claws that lengthened into talons formed beads of blood beneath their points.

Mystaké kneeled in front of the weeping soul, raising her hands to his cracked horns with slow movements, as if he would run away if she were too quick. Her wrinkled hands slowly touched his horns, feeling their weight.

They felt heavy. Heavy enough to break off to the floor with ease. Like even if it were only smacked by a pillow, they would shatter like glass..
Gently, Mystaké stood up and tugged at them, feeling him groan.

"Wha-what are you doing?" He glared up at her sternly, biting back a growl as she tugged again. Fighting the urge to claw at her wrinkled plams as Mystaké pressed her fingers at the base of his new horns, Garmadon bit back a snarl of discomfort, the hallow sound filled his chest with a strange mix of beetle and bugs that scurried around his ribs.

The wisened oni began to yank on his frail bones jutting from his proud head, his ego and pride as splintered as they, the crown he so usually displayed now abandoned to the side, thrown away in despair..

Mystaké tutted lightly at the notice of his helmet being so pathetically tossed aside but brought her attention back to the thorns sticking from the wearer's head.

Gathering her reserved strength, the one she hid behind the guise of an old lady for millennia, Mystaké pulled the horns off as if they were nothing to her.

Garmadon roared on dismay and pain riddled shock, hands groping at the floor, staring with injected eyes and a gasping mouth, bead of sweat, and a few newly sprung tears ran donw his face. The oddly formed horns were held up and away from his head, the other inspecting them with an oblivious intrigue and apathetic interest.

Mystakè stoked her thumbs over the dead horns, over every jutting shard.. "My, my, young Garmadon," She started to say, ignoring the discomforted sounds from behind her. "It seems you have experienced a mutation of sorts, a genetic defect to your ressurected nature.."

She raised her brow towards the man on the floor, and he cupped his face with his hands, using his rough plams to wipe his teary eyes. The younger oni grunted in annoyance, gingerly touching his claws to the empty stumps that replaced the newly lost horns..

Garmadon pushed aside his grievances, mustering up his strength and finding his voice. "Why -" He cleared his throat, now bedridden of the weakness it had croaked with. "Why did that happen.." The Lord stared at the horns in Mystaké's hands, burning eyes tracking each fragile movement.

The other merely exchanged a glance at the creatureous man as he groped for his balance as he stood upon his shaking legs. He hissed in embarrassment and brought his fist down on the table in frustration coupled with a yell that took Mystake's attention.

"Calm yourself." She warned Garmadon with an authority in her voice that made him pause. "This happened because unlike a true oni, you never shed your horns when you were young. Your body did you a favour." Her narrowed eyes slowly moved from the pitiful display, focusing on som5uing more interesting.

Garmadon stood up properly, his back cracking making him grunt in alarm of which caused her to roll her eyes, a smile playing at her lips. The Lord rasied his head, his trembling limbs popping in their sockets.

Gingerly, he touched at the stubs once more, new questions flooding him like pain. "How long will they be like this?" The confused oni echoed his thoughts through a quiet voice, puzzled by the intruding emotions, a newfound sensation that he didn't enjoy.

Mystaké looked at him with a certain stare that made him embarrassed and humiliated by the whole ordeal, like it was indeed worthy of shame. So that's what he became: embarrassed. His gace flushed with blood as he turned away from her gaze and stood leaning against the table, sulking like a bratty child.

"You forget you are a Lord." Mystaké deduced, breaking his stare. "Pardon?" He turned to look at her again, a newfound politeness that she could only imagine was born from half-hearted bitterness that he hit behind a flat tone.

"You are, or at the very least were, a dark lord. You are Lord Garmadon, and yet i find you weeping and wailing into the night like some disconsolate animal or a frightened child who can jot stand for themselves." She tutted, watching his face contort into anger, his colour changing from shame to frustration. "Oh, do not give me that look. You were perfectly capable of tending to yourself."

"And I was going to!" He barked back, his jaws snapping and tail swishing in a violent manner. "Had you just not intervened when you did, I would have been able to do it myself!" He folded his arms and huffed, turning his body away from her like true child would.

For a moment, it seemed he had regained his pride, though that moment fell falt once her turned back to her with a worried and questioning look in his eyes. "It won't happen again, right?"

Mystaké shook her head, resisting the need to tease the childish monster before her. "I don't suppose it will, but you mustn't ignore that other things will happen in replacement.."

This peaked his concern as he gave the wisened oni a look that pressed for her to go on. "You have caused enough trouble this morning as it is. To sleep with you! Go!" She commanded, flapping her hands at him a swatting manner as he fell backwards onto the bed in a surprised compliance.

As Mystaké headed to the door, she made a quiet take to look back at him and say, "I will be down the hall if more problems emerge." Though her reassurance prodded at the idea of him being a child and she being his mother, she meant what she said. And that was what made him pause and feel embarrassed. He was a young boy, he was a man. No. A monster..

With a final look, she left him alone in his dark room to sulk or sleep.

Garmadon touched the stumps of his now forgotten agony and wondered. 'What if she's right, and there is more to come...'

What a shame that would be, right?

Yes.. a shame.. >:]