Blood, Gold and Broken Lace

Chapter 1

Something was wrong with the Realm Crystal.

It was hot. Too hot and too cold. Much too cold. It crackled and sparked in his hands, his own Elemental Powers churning and raging almost painfully.

Continuously falling through portal after portal was painful. Excruciating depending where he landed. It ripped at him, tearing his being apart, unraveling his tissues and organs and skin before slamming him back together again as he hit the ground, groaning and sprained. Sometimes Lloyd wasn't sure if still had everything inside him. Sometimes it felt like his lungs were never put back together correctly or his heart was just a little too far to the left.

Morro was never in that position. He was dead. He had no ribs to bruise.

The crystal burned in his hands, and tingled raw against his fingers. Crackling magic hummed so loudly it felt like his ears were bleeding. Who knows—maybe they already were.

Morro snarled and lunged, dust kicked up in his wake. Unnatural wind pulling him forward.

Lloyd jumped to his aching feet and stumbled away, the noxious air of the place making it hard to breathe. Lloyd dove to the side, wheezing. It smelt like death.

"Coward!" Morro's form wavered, flickering as his eyes glowed with vile green and corrupted magic. His clawed hand swiped at Lloyd, the hands were almost solid and Lloyd couldn't breathe. "You never deserved to be the Green Ninja—Wu never should have picked you—!" Morro shrieked, his ghostly form shedding humanity as his anger grew.

Lloyd was terrified.

He could feel it. Feel Morro and the winds he controlled. He could feel them clawing into him, sharp and cold. He could still feel the rotten traces of Morro's soul that clung to his bones and gnawed at his own soul. It hurt. He could feel Morro's memories, pain and hunger and hurt and betrayal and anger. So, so much anger.

It hurt to think.

It hurt to breathe.

Lloyd desperately shook his head and pulled at the magic of the crystal, his vision was black the edges, something was crawl along his skin, he just had to get out—away from Morro–away from—

Lloyd fell.

Magic pulled and crackled and tore and everything hurt. He held the Crystal tighter, the something inside him crying out as he was pulled through time and colors and space and something so very black he couldn't open his eyes without losing the dreg of sanity he clung to and—

He can't, he can't, he can't—

Something was different—

He can't, he can't, he can't, hE CAN'T—

Something was wrong with the Realm Crystal—

HE CAN'T, HE CAN'T, HE CAN'T, HE CAN'T, HE CAN'T—!

Something was—

HE CAN'T, HE CAN'T, HE CAN'T, HE CAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THE CAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THE CAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THE CAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THECAN'THE CAN'THECAN'THECAN'T—

Lloyd fell out of the air, crashing onto something, clatters and clangs and pots and plants and wood beams and metal things and candles and books and too many glass things. Lloyd fell and hit head and rolled to a stop. Lloyd shook as he stood, something warm soaking through his gi and dripping down his face. His ankles hurt. Glass crunched under his feet and something ricocheted off his head and thunked somewhere to his side but he couldn't—