Salt: A Ninjago story

39: Tide and Time (part 2)

Lloyd collapsed to his knees. How could this be? How could his life be so wound up in the history and the fate of the world? Why would this... thing... this relic of creation save him from death just to create something that near as killed him in his future. Was it some sick joke? Maybe it was as Harumi believed; they were pawns being lead down a path without free will. Was he the focus of some game, an amusement for a destiny writer with a God complex?

'Rrrrgh' Lloyd grit his teeth and let out a despairing growl. Where was Harumi? He needed her; he could loose himself in her... forget. Lloyd looked around, but the air distorted his view and he couldn't focus to find her. 'Please, no more!' he asked of the Clock, but it still shone as if new and the cogs still turned with a slow precision. Lloyd could only hang his head and wait for what else was to come.

The air grew thick around him; out of the twisted atmosphere, a cold mist grew and the ground softened beneath his knees. Lloyd looked up; the beach stretched away, obscured for most part by the mist, but the little boat was there, waiting for him. He wanted this to be real, to get in the boat and sail away, leave this island and his life behind. But he knew it wasn't real. Much like his life, this was all orchestrated. 'And what comes next?' Lloyd said belligerently.

As if on cue he heard the rustle of plants where the beach met the land and his father appeared. Garmadons flight from the peak had become a gentle walk, all anger and fear having dissipated with the return of his healthy son. To see his father behave like this in his dark form was a surprise; he talked gently to the child, looked him in the eyes, and made a connection with him. What is he saying? Lloyd moved closer, right up to them and walked alongside.

'...we are one, but not the same. You will never be the same as me, not anymore. You will be better. Better than I  could ever have hoped to become... because that was never my path, it was never in me... but you, you are light and hope and one day you will become more than I could ever imagine' Garmadons smile faded and was replaced with sadness 'I hope I will see it. I hope this poison will spare my life... I hope there is a cure. If anyone can find a cure it would be her. If she will forgive me, perhaps she might try'

The baby gurgled and reached forward trying to touch the face before him, the flow of words as soothing as a lullaby. Lloyd himself felt lulled. His fathers' words, equally full of hope and fear were calming and everything he wanted to hear. His father loved him, even when he had changed. He felt remorse for what was to come, but could not show it later. He feared his fate, but had hope. Hope in his family... Why didn't it work, could mother not help him?

They reached the boat, pulled up on to the shore. Garmadon climbed in and settled the child under the prow seat, wedging him from rolling with a tarpaulin. As Garmadon left to push the boat out, the baby began to cry. As the tide grabbed hold of the hull the boat was pulled from Garmadons hands and he jumped forward to catch a hold of it. His feet only barely touched the water and his fingers just grazed the wood before he was thrown back. He landed on the sand in shock, to see the boat gently drifting away and leapt up to run into the sea after it and his son. Again he was thrown back. An invisible boundary had been drawn and Garmadon was repelled as he tried again and again to run into the sea. Moving up the beach he followed the waters edge, crashing into the shield as he ran; there was no end, he could not leave.

Hammering his fists against the shield, he screamed and roared as he watched the boat being drawn further and further away. Despair gave way to anger and his eyes flashed red, the black blotches on his skin spread, accelerated by his rage. Spasms coursed violently through him. Arching back, his body convulsed, bones cracked and as Garmadon mutated everything that he was shattered and reformed anew. The cries of his son were drowned and the boat floated calmly into the distance.

Stunned at the sight, Lloyd felt sick. Witnessing his fathers' transformation was not something he ever thought to see and now, light-headed, he felt the world turn upside down. Planting his feet, he held his head and waited for the world to stop spinning, yet it didn't. It slid and twisted around his feet, but did not affect him. He lowered his hands and watched his father fall and claw at the slipping sand that dragged the newly created demon towards a sinking pit. Garmadons four arms were not enough to hold him in this world as the pit opened and the dark stars of the underworld beckoned.

As quickly as it had opened, the pit closed over Garmadon and the darkness of his exile descended onto Lloyd. He turned around in the black void confused and scared and felt like crying. His chest rose in panic and his breath quickened. As he held back his sorrow a cry came from somewhere close by.

A crack in the darkness exposed a sliver of moonlight. The silvery half-light washed across the world to reveal the soft fall of a shingle beach. A sail glowed eerily in the dark and the little boat gently buffeted the shore.

'Oh my god' Lloyd whispered and looking up away from the sea, Darkly's sat brooding on the cliff top.