Chapter Text
He felt tired.
Why he felt tired, he wasn't sure.
The events of a few hours ago felt almost like a blur... And then he was knocked out cold.
Quite literally.
He woke up in a cell, corrupted ice chains as Vex had explained being around his wrists...
And another prisoner alongside him. Kataru, Akita's brother who she thought was dead.
Lloyd wanted this to be just another rescue mission but somehow, not only did Zane not remember him, he was also evil and cursed the world into an eternal winter situation decades ago!
That wasn't normal.
Something was wrong.
Vex did something to him. The scroll did something to him.
GAH! This was already giving him a headache.
Lloyd looped the ice chains beside a spike, trying to snap them apart.
They refused to budge no matter how much he tugged.
"Save your strength, my friend. Nothing can break those chains." Kataru spoke up, overhearing him.
"There has to be something we can do!" Lloyd said.
"The only way we're getting out is if someone let's us out. And I don't see that happening anytime soon..."
Lloyd paused, staring at the chains, then back at the door.
"Do you... Know how long you've been here? What life was like while the Ice Emperor took over?" he asked after a moment.
"I do. The Ice Emperor froze over my people and took me prisoner. But... I lost track of how long it has been since."
"Then... Then how old are you? How old were you when you were taken?"
"I... I do not know. But I do know that I was 18 when I was taken."
Lloyd bit his lip, thinking for a moment. "How many marks do you have on your wall?"
"Too many to count..." Kataru sighed, exasperated.
"Give me a rough number."
The formling stepped onto the wooden board for a bed, looking over the cell room.
"I think... 200. In groups of fives..."
"You're 20..." Lloyd breathed, almost shocked at the number himself.
"Two years? It's been two years?" Kataru asked, shocked.
"Yes. For you, it's been two years!" he repeated.
"I... I need a moment..." the formling pulled away from the door, lost in thought.
Lloyd frowned. He had a feeling that would've happened. He turned to the window, pulling himself up to look outside.
The cold air hit him immediately. It was absolutely freezing out there. How was it even decently warm in here?
No wait... That was probably his body temperature.
Lloyd pulled away, brushing himself off.
Ninja never quit...
His friends were coming. They had to be.
Vex stared through the ice, making sure the dragon was dealing with the land bounty as he made his way down the halls.
Unfortunately, he had to feed two prisoners now.
Not much of a problem... Except the green one was being a threat to him.
He picked up the two plates of food and headed down to the dungeons.
"-But I'm absolutely sure they're coming! They have to be."
Vex stopped.
The green one was speaking about... Others.
More traitors.
"How can you be so sure? What if they got frozen too?" Kataru, the formling, spoke up.
True. But the ice dragon wasn't doing well from what Vex could see.
"They wouldn't. They're strong like that, I'm sure they survived."
"And what if they didn't?"
"Ninja never quit. My friends would not quit on me. Wu and Pixal are waiting back home for us, I just need to find some way out of here to get Zane back to normal and fix... Well, everything!"
Wu and Pixal... Those were new names. And they were waiting back home?
Vex hummed, trying to think.
Home... Back home...
He could've seen them by now, but from how he said it...
Vex remembered how the Ice Emperor arrived. Through a form of teleportation, a burst of flames.
The green one must've been the same... Alongside the other traitors who were new here.
Home... Must've been another dimension.
Another world to take over.
Vex slipped down the stairs, still trying to act like he didn't overhear some very integral information.
"Well, haven't you two been chatty?" he cut them both off as Lloyd kept trying to assure Kataru that his friends were coming.
Idiotic. Hope that wasn't going to last long. It was always like that.
The green one growled, gritting his teeth. "Why are you back here?"
"Me? Oh, I am delivering your meals for today." Vex slid the first dish under the hatch, then the second under the next door's hatch.
"It's never too late to join us, formling."
Kataru threw the plate back at the door. Vex cracked a smile.
"Still resilient. That won't last."
Lloyd stared at the plate in silence, unsure of what to do.
"Why don't you eat, green one? You seem quite famished." Vex sneered.
Lloyd pushed the plate away, hesitant on what to do.
"Don't trust him, my friend. The meal is tainted." Kataru spoke up.
"It is not tainted." Vex snapped.
So his gut was right. Lloyd simply picked up the plate and dropped it flatly on the ground, splattering the food everywhere.
"How dare you! I was trying to get answers out of you!" the advisor hissed.
"I will get rid of you, traitor. And I will make it quick-"
"Vex? The Ice Emperor requests your presence." an ice soldier spoke up.
Vex groaned.
"We shall continue this afterwards." he glared down Lloyd as he left.
"My friend, I'm sorry."
"For what? Telling me what the food would do to me?"
"... For what's coming."
Lloyd paused. "What are you talking about?"
"If Vex wants something. He will do whatever he needs to do to get it. He'll hurt you."
"I can take it."
"My friend, you do not understand. He could kill you. He wants to kill you!"
Lloyd stared at his cuffs, then at the door.
"I won't let him. He's not going to get far."
The Ice Emperor created three more dragons, sending them out of the fortress to hunt for the last survivors.
Vex sighed, returning back to the dungeons after that situation.
The Ice Emperor was smart, but the fact that one of his dragons got destroyed wasn't a good sign.
He clicked on the cell door, Lloyd's attention snapping to him.
Fascinating. He seemed much more alert than a human.
... He didn't even notice just how pointed his ears were until now.
Vex unlocked the cell door, entering the room. He snapped his fingers, two ice guards coming to his side as back up.
Lloyd backed up, moving to a more defensive position with his fists raised.
"You won't get far like that." Vex directed the guards to hold onto Lloyd.
"You've said some interesting things, traitor. I just have a few questions." he tilted his head up, icy blue eyes meeting his green ones.
"Who is Wu?"
Lloyd tensed up, his ear twitching again before lowering.
"... Not important."
"Then why did you say he was waiting back home? You're clearly not from here."
The green one froze, staring up at him wide-eyed.
He picked up what he was implying. Good. They're an observant one.
"... You heard me, didn't you?" the boy sounded almost breathless.
"Indeed, I did." Vex hummed.
"Now, here's what's going to happen. You will tell me who you know. What you were up to. And perhaps you will be worthy of mercy that I shall not kill you."
"I won't tell you anything." Lloyd growled bitterly.
"Are you sure?" Vex yanked the boy forward, revealing his ice blade from his back pocket. He put it up to his cheek, digging into the skin.
"Just one question for today. Who is Wu?"
"I won't tell you... You could use that information for anything..." the boy gritted his teeth.
"True... Though, if you said he is from another world, then it's not important to the Ice Emperor is it?"
"... I won't rat anyone out."
Vex exhaled. "And here, I hoped you'd come to your senses."
He dug the blade into Lloyd's cheek. The boy hissed as he dragged it down before tearing it out. The guards let him go, letting him collapse to the ground as he gasped.
"I will be back by tomorrow. Rethink your pitiful resistance." he left the cell alongside the soldiers shutting the door and locking it before walking away.
"My friend, are you alright?" Kataru asked.
"I... I'm fine..." Lloyd lightly touched his cheek.
Blood coated his fingers.
Shoot. That wasn't good.
He held his cheek, trying to stop the bleeding.
He felt almost... Dizzy.
Lloyd tried to stand up, only to fall back down again, breathing shakily.
What was wrong with his body?!
He winced, pulling himself up to his feet again, staggering to the wooden board.
He pulled himself up, heaving and shaking.
"Lloyd!"
Lloyd froze, hearing Kataru's voice again.
"Is it hurting you too?"
"What... Is hurting me?" Lloyd sat up, trying to steady himself.
"The ice. I... I don't know why but... Does it feel like it's draining you?"
The ninja stopped. He stared at his shackled wrists, his hands already feeling numb as his arms felt... Unnaturally cold.
"I... I don't know."
"He must've done something. What did he do?"
"Tear a blade through my cheek. Then my body started refusing to cooperate." Lloyd said.
"But I'll live-"
"No. Was that blade corrupted ice?"
Lloyd tried to remember, but he was growing dizzy.
"I... I think it might've..."
"The Emperor's staff is made out of that ice. The shackles aren't. That ice is like a conduit to him."
Fuck.
Lloyd immediately got off the board, only to collapse again onto the icy stone floors.
He groaned, dragging himself up to the door.
"How do you know it's a conduit?" he asked.
"I saw it. Vex showed me when the ice took over my people. He could cast the ice soldiers temporarily animal forms."
Lloyd's eyes widened. He let go of the door, slumping to the ground in horror.
He put his hand up to the scar on his cheek.
If the ice could...
Then...
...
"Kataru. Tell me a way to get out."
"Only if someone let's us out. But... I doubt it'll happen."
"I can't just let my friend take my powers to power him up! I need to talk some sense into them! I need...!" he felt dizzy.
"I... I need..." he slumped at the door, his eyes growing heavy.
The ice crystals near him seemed to glow just as he blacked out.
"Power..." The Ice Emperor tested it with his staff, more ice forming around the fortress.
"Indeed. All from the traitor." Vex declared proudly.
"... Do it again."
"Of course, my lord. I'll do it again."
For as long as it took to get answers.