Chapter Text
In a world like Ninjago anything was possible.
From Snakes, to Dragons, Ghosts, Skeletons, Oni and Beyond. To traveling to different realms, destruction of realms, time travel, elemental powers… To a revived Oni Dragon hybrid that was now more Oni than Dragon, and more evil than good, brought back lacking almost any memories and sense of Self.
These days he no longer looked human. Soft human skin traded for the rough charcoal flesh- that of an evil Oni, of a corpse. Graying hair once brown and then black turned white. Kind brown maroon eyes changed to a piercing red. All good stripped away, and used as a puppet to a girl who decided his sacrifice meant nothing, less than nothing even, preferring the corrupt shell of a man over the one who'd been allowed- for a time to finally choose who he wanted to be.
Deciding to tear his soul apart and pull him away from the departed realm to fulfill her sick desires, forcing him yet again into the role of villain, the role of a cruel man…forcing his good away under all his hate. Forced to fight his family yet again like destiny had decided for him so long ago. Picked out by the overlord himself and bitten by a venomous snake that sealed his fate.
Though it seemed destiny had one more cruel twist for this old soul.
Before the events of battling the Crystal King, he had gone on a journey of self of Discovery, and he'd begun the path of trying to better himself, to remember how to care. Starting small and with a little fern. Furthering this path, though with setbacks, as he worked with the ninja, especially his son as they fought to take down the Crystal King. Even managing to… find a tentative place among the Ninja and his brother again after.
Though during all this time after his resurrection, he hadn't regained many of his memories. Though… that soon began to change once he was permanently staying at the Monastery among the others.
Small things at first as he awkwardly watched the ninja during their daily lives once the monastery was standing properly once again. Most times standing on the fringes of the shadows. Flashes of the elder teens when they were years younger came to him, first back during their old battles… and then to a time where voices were soft, words not completely understandable but seemingly mostly kind. Bits and pieces as they had learnt to trust him before he allowed himself to be sent to the cursed realm.
Memories of his brother and their years together, back to when they had been young. Back to his first few years before the Venom had taken it's toll, infecting his life and changing its course forever more.
As time continued to do what it always did and progressed, more and more small pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place, though they came with headaches and more confusion and a deep unscratchable itch in the back of his head or brain that began to bother him day and night.
He felt his gaze beginning to linger on Lloyd longer and longer as days went by. A pit slowly grew inside him as he watched Lloyd live his life, seeing Lloyd glancing at him with some distrust when he noticed his fathers disturbing red eyes on him for too long. Making him look away from his son, like a coward.
It seemed for every small fragmented memory of the others that slowly settled back into his Skull there were 5 more of the hybrid teen himself. Lloyd smiling, listening to him, fighting him, hugging him, learning from him, helping him.
A teen, a child, a wee baby.
A newborn on the day of his birth, gently held in his, at the time horribly pale, arms as if he was the most precious thing in all Ninjago. Little tufts of blond hair shining like gold. The swell of pride mixed with a faint fear he felt deep down in his soul When his little boy first opened his sweet ruby like red eyes for the first time.
Each piece filling him a little more, yet acting like a slow poison to his mind in a way The Great Devour’s venom could never touch. More painful than the headaches that bring the past back to him, worse than the aches in his body when his dreams turn to nightmares, than the pains he got fighting the overlord himself- worse than even being possessed by said evil incarnate years previous, body forced to change its shape in ways it never was supposed to...
For with each memory he gained of his son, with every small piece of his conscience pulled to the surface, he was forced to truly rethink everything he'd done to the boy after he'd been resurrected.
Harumi had been pulling the strings, filling his head with false promises and half truths as well as full on lies while his mind had been purposefully emptied of all else. All to serve her cause.
That didn't change what had been done to his son though….What had happened to him.
What he had truly done to him, slowly becoming more and more apparent. Someone he had considered to be the most important being in his life.
It painfully tugged at his heartstrings and strengthened his guilt. He had lived for thousands of years, lost all that knowledge when returned to life, and was slowly regaining it, only to realize the dawning horror at what he had truly done. And without any idea how to fix it.
Back when Lloyd had just learned his destiny as the green ninja, despite knowing he would have to fight his father, he at least had always known that his dad loved him. He may have tried to harm or even kill the other ninja, even his brother, but never Lloyd.
Never his son.
There was a small kindness still thriving in his evil shriveled heart that he reserved for his son, something that stayed pure inside him when nothing else did.
Something despite how powerful it was, how inevitably it had corrupted everything else, not even the devour’s venom could squash. Not the love he held for his son.
But Harumi did.
By ripping away both his goodness, and the memories most important to him, she had stolen it from him.
Because of her he hadn't loved his son anymore, but worse than hating him he had been indifferent to him. He hadn't been important to him in any way, simply an obstacle to overcome.
Harumi had shaken that belief he had made sure was ingrained into Lloyd. That he would always love him and be proud of him no matter what, and he himself had only confirmed that to his child. He denounced him as his son, almost killed him and took Harumi as a daughter, constantly compared him to her, belittled him, hunted him down, paid no attention to when he tried to help him remember things and more, and yet-
And yet Lloyd still cared for him. He had faked his death to ‘give him a push’ and Lloyd had gone full Oni from it- In another world, perhaps he wouldn't have seen his reflection and gotten a hold of himself after... By now he had done all these horrible things to him. Something, as he remembered more, didn't believe he could ever truly make up for.
Yet Lloyd, despite rightfully not trusting him, still loved him even then. Allowed him to stay in his home with him and his family, the ones who had been good to him almost all of his life.
It was something he did not deserve.
But it was something he couldn't stop thinking about.
So one day while Lloyd was out training with the others, he made his way back to his son's room, disappearing unnoticed. His eyes scanned over the room, noticing the small knick knacks scattered around, the weapons, the small sweet treats hidden about, and the pictures… pictures of the ninja, of Lloyd and his friends, of his uncle and mother… Slowly his gaze moved to a specific one though and after a moment of hesitation he gently grabbed and lifted it.
As he gingerly held up a small broken framed photograph he hadn't paid much attention to before now, he couldn't help the tears that slowly began to well up his eyes as he looked down at the image.
He…he remembered this now.
Gently, he caressed the cracks in the glass he had caused as he looked down the photo, the glass not even scratching his rough black skin. This had been him at the best stage of his life, when he had felt the most free he had ever been in his life. Free from the The Venom that tortured his thoughts for thousands of years, that turned him wicked and cruel. Free to love his brother, his wife, their family, the ninja, his son.
The guilt had been terrible and at times even painful but even that had been so much kinder to him than the evil that had once flowed through his veins had been. Making him question everything and everyone, making him lose trust in those he once called friends and forcing them to do the same, tearing apart his friendships, souring his relationship with his brother, wrecking the small bond he had with his father as a child, and Crumbling the Good Future that could have been. Forcing him slowly, to lose his humanity.
And now that same fate had befallen on him yet again, even without the venom.
His ugly clawed inhuman hands shook, but his grip never wavered. Why was it that something good and kind could never stay? All the beauty he found in his life would quickly fade out and leave him. All the good crushed and left for dead in the end, all done with his bare claws whether he wanted to or not.
His form began to tremble, and his breath got shaky. Teardrops began to dot the broken glass. “Oh Lloyd…” He started, taking in a quick breath afterwards as he closed his eyes. “My poor sweet boy, we were truly doomed from the beginning…” It was only a whisper in the air yet it made everything feel so much heavier. But as he slowly slid to his knees, heart aching with regret, he did not take back his words for it was nothing but true.
The vile Lord and the young Savior.
Destined to fight on opposing sides with only fleeting moments of kindness. Doomed from the start.
From the day he was bitten, to the day of Lloyd's birth. A bitter truth he would never tell another living soul.
For it was the love for his son, wanting a better life and world for his boy that had driven him towards the Golden weapons and finally broke Garmadon In the end.
-
Something strange was going on with Garmadon, and had been for a few weeks now. Lloyd didn't know what it was, but he kinda wanted to despite how much he tried to brush it off.
It started with small things, longer looks here and there from his father either on him or the others, a small wince once and a while, before slowly it increased. A hiss of pain when Garmadon didn't think anyone could hear it, barely being detected by Lloyd's keen ears, larger winces of pain- Garmadon sometimes reaching to hold his head when he did so, a small stumble as he walked away from them before he quickly regained his balance. Things no one else seemed to notice. But Lloyd did.
Lloyd was used to watching his father. He once did it because he wanted to be just like him when he was younger, because he was here and he was real and he was the parent he'd been missing all his life. And then more recently because he needed to be ready in case Garmadon changed his mind and tried to attack.
So he, and he alone was catching all the small differences, things Garmadon himself didn't realize he paid attention to. And they were adding up and getting concerning by this point.
So when his father went from watching him and the other ninja train to quickly, but quietly, going back into the monastery- he noticed. And after a moment of questioning whether he should or not- he followed after him Giving the others an excuse before quickly following after his father.
It took a minute to find him since he'd given him a few seconds of a head start by hesitating before following, and the fact the Oni was quite fast when he wanted to be. It didn't end up taking too long to find him though, but the place he found him confused Lloyd. His father had gone to his room. But what he found him doing inside of his room confused and shocked him even more than the fact he went in there in the first place…
Quietly, Lloyd had stalked over to the doorway and peered in to find Garmadon standing beside his bed holding something… Lloyd was going to say something, but then looking closer he realized his father was holding the broken picture he'd broken himself, The one of him and his Dad whole and no longer tainted by evil after He had beaten the overlord for the first time as he possessed his body.
Lloyd suddenly felt himself freezing in place. He closed his mouth now and scanned his father's figure, watching his face… and gripping onto the doorway tightly when he realized he saw a light smile tugging on his father's lips for just a moment before he stroked the photograph gently, Lloyd then watching the smile slowly fade and fall off his face.
His father must have truly been deeply in thought Lloyd then decided, for him to not have heard him follow after him or grip the doorway.
His heart beat fast in his chest though, wondering what he could have been thinking about. And then slowly, as the seconds wore on- He noticed another shift in Garmadon’s posture and the look on his face as his hands began to shake. His whole form beginning to tremble, and when a few droplets of water hit the surface of the broken glass, only then did Lloyd realize his father was crying.
His eyes widened in shock, heart simply pounding in his chest at this point, his own breathing getting quick, and a spark of something igniting itself inside his chest. Something that felt like days long past, of training, a kind smile, of gray hair and dark maroon eyes that would sometimes look brown when under different lighting, of wrinkled skin and a boisterous laugh- of a different yet the same man, a regretful man with so much on his shoulders but attempting to go forward. Who's only wish had been the option to choose who he got to be.
Something he swore he would never let get a hold of him again, not after what happened the last time.
Something like hope.
And when his dad then spoke he couldn't help but let it take hold. It was only a whisper, but in the quiet room it boomed like thunder in Lloyd's head and heart. And one part kept repeating in his head. ‘my poor sweet boy’. And it rang clearer that anything else he'd ever heard, bringing tears to his own eyes now as well.
It had become clear to Lloyd that ever since his resurrection. Garmadon had been lacking many things. His goodness, which he had to slowly regain and relearn- and still had not mastered. His old body, But most importantly his memories. Because of this Lloyd had realized that THAT was a major part of what had made Garmadon his dad.
Thousands of years of memories being wiped clean from the slate had done just as much damage to him and his psychi as ripping away his other half had.
And as he watched his dad slowly slide to the ground onto his knees he couldn't help but slowly, finally shakily enter the room. His father didn't notice his footsteps, not hearing him approach at all, tears dripped down his chin as he got closer to dad. Green eyes locked onto the man on the floor. And then, once finally only a step away, he opened up his mouth and allowed a croaky word, only a whisper, to slip past his lips.
“Dad…?”