TW: Blood, fighting, trauma, suppressing memories

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My head was spinning. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know where I was going. Only that I was.

My tabi boots scuffed the stone. I was suddenly much shorter than I should've been. Jack and Lucy were nowhere to be found. I was alone.

People milled about the village. I was still looking around at everyone with wide, curious eyes. My head hurt. My feet hurt. But I kept walking, because I... I had nothing else to do. What was I meant to do? I'd cried for what felt like hours already. I was hungry, I was small, and I was alone. Papa was...

...no, nothing happened to Papa. I've been here this whole time. It was a dream. Right? It had to have been.

The Green Ninja wasn't dead. The other Ninja weren't staring at me like I was a monster. My siblings were out there somewhere. I just had to find them. Find my siblings and I'd be okay.

It'd be okay.

It'll be okay...

I was cold. Really cold. People gave me strange looks, but I paid them no mind. I think I was numb. Both emotionally and physically. I must've been getting frostbite by the time I heard a loud commotion.

"It is I, Lloyd Garmadon! I demand all the candy in town! Or else!"

I turned my listless face to see a little boy standing on a fountain with three dragons pouring water into it, wearing a black onesie with a purple belt. His hood was up, so his hair was hidden from my sight. Adults were booing at him and throwing things.

Despite the clear nervousness in his voice, Lloyd continued. "G-gimme your candy! O-or I'll release the Serpentine on you!"

One man threw an eggplant at him. Lloyd flinched. Another threw a banana. More and more fruits and vegetables were tossed at him, even as he opened a box that released plastic snakes.

To my left, I saw four brightly colored figures-- Ninja, I realized-- approaching Lloyd. Red, White, Black, and Blue. No Water or Green in sight, for some reason.

Release the Serpentine...?

There was something odd about what I'd gathered from everything here. Lloyd Garmadon was meant to be around my age, wasn't he? Eighteen years old, I thought. But here, he looks like a little child. I look like a little child. The Ninja... their uniforms looked... wrong. Their gis were way too bright, although their faces were still hidden.

The only logical explanation I could think of was that I had somehow gone back in time. Back to the very beginnings of the Secret Ninja Force. But... how?!

And if I was back in time, I should've been back in Ninjago City with my Papa and siblings. They... they weren't here, though.

The Ninja were discussing something amongst themselves, sheathing their Golden Weapons as Red effortlessly picked Lloyd up by the scruff of his hood.

"H-hey! Unhand me! B-bow down to me! Or suffer my wrath! I-I'll give you the count of three! One... Two..."

"It's okay, folks, nothing to see here," Black called to assure everyone.

But I kept watching anyway.

I followed the Ninja, stumbling over my new limbs that I still didn't quite get used to. Being small was hard. I'd forgotten what it felt like to be a little kid with baby bones again.

Red ended up leaving little Lloyd hanging from his belt on a store sign. The grown-ups laughed. White went and paid for some candy and split it all amongst the group. They barely lifted their masks, but they ate in front of him anyway.

It... was horrible to watch. Lloyd was screaming and crying about being made their "nemesis," while the Ninja laughed at him and taunted him with the candy he wanted so badly.

I wasn't one to interfere. I could barely take care of myself, for the record, let alone anyone else. But I couldn't help feeling angry on Lloyd's behalf. Maybe what he did was wrong, but... he didn't deserve this.

"S-stop it," I mumbled, wringing my fingers as if I could get myself to feel them again. "Stop. Stop!"

The Ninja turned to me, surprised at my outburst. White blinked at me. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm..." No, don't tell them. They won't care. You don't matter. What matters is what they did. "I-I'm not gonna let you treat someone little like that!" Despite having a naturally high-pitched voice, I found it strange how much younger my voice sounded and felt when I spoke. It was as if I'd swallowed a bit of helium or something. "I-it's wrong! You're s'pposed to be grown-ups!"

Was my mind deteriorating too? Everything I said, and soon even the way that I thought was quickly molding into that of a ten-year-old girl who doesn't know what she's doing standing up to the supposed "heroes" of Ninjago.

Would my memories slip too?

Red laughed. "Whaddaya gonna do about it, kid? Look, you don't know Lloyd like we do. Best just stay out of our business, and--"

"You're so immature!" I squealed. "You're so mean! Lloyd's not as big as you! If you're so much bigger than us kids-- if you so-called heroes think you're so special-- why don'tcha start acting like it?!"

I was quick to start crying. To anyone else, it might've sounded like I was having a temper tantrum. But the Ninja looked strangely affronted, like I'd somehow said something profound. Maybe I had. Or maybe they hadn't expected a little ten-year-old girl to be more mature than them.

I started to climb the building, even though I wasn't good at it. I took footholds and tried to hold on, but my grip was too weak and my hands too numb. White flinched in my direction, but I glared at him as intensely as a little girl could.

"S-stop--!" White exclaimed, panicking. "I-I sense your injuries will only get worse like this!"

"What injuries?" Red whirled on him.

"Yeah, I don't see anything," Blue added, eyeing me in scrutiny.

I ignored them. I tried again to climb the building. "I'm gonna save Lloyd," I declared proudly, sliding down the house's corner again. I kept trying.

"Your frostbite-- stop moving! You will only make it worse on yourself, little one!"

"You're no heroes!" I accused them with stinging tears running down my face. "You're villains! Mean bullies who use your bigness to pick on people littler than you!"

I didn't care how little I sounded. As a ten-year-old, it didn't matter anyway. I just kept trying to climb the corner. I finally forced my frozen fingers to listen to me and, in spite of my lack in upper body strength, I slowly hauled myself over the jutting roof, slipping more than once and panicking that I'd fall, before breathing a sigh of relief when all my hands and feet were on the roof. I crawled over— slowly and carefully— to Lloyd's side and extended a hand to him. He gladly accepted, flailing his feet until he managed to gain a foothold on the roof and I pulled him up with all my might. It was hard, but when Lloyd jerked to a stop and I quickly untangled his sweater, the relieved look on his face was more than worth it. Happy with my success— and Lloyd kept holding my hands, marveling at how cold they were while I cherished his warmth— I stuck my tongue out at the younger-looking Ninja as they stared at me in bafflement.

"Uhhhh... We were supposed to stop her, right?" Blue asked uncertainly. "Why didn't we stop her?!"

White was still watching me with that cold, calculating gaze of his. I leaned closer to Lloyd, seeking comfort in his warm-looking onesie.

Lloyd, I noticed, had a little lock of blonde hair peeking out from under his oversized hood. He stared at me with emerald eyes, curiously examining every inch of my face.

Pink hair isn't common. I was born with it, so I'd always had it. But no one really gives me a second look because they think I dyed my hair. At least, that's how it was as a teenager. Children, however, don't often dye their hair, if ever. It's almost unheard of, considering the kind of damage dye can do sometimes. So I remembered being stared at as a kid a lot.

"W... why're your hands so cold?" Lloyd finally asked me. "A-and why did you help me? I'm... I'm supposed to be evil."

I cast my gaze down at my feet. "I... I don't think you're evil," I decided to tell him. "I... I just wanted to help you. I dunno why."

"R-really?"

"Mm-hm. A-and my hands're cold because... um... I'm cold."

Lloyd hummed for a moment, processing this new information, before he suddenly yelped and let go of my hands as though I were on fire. "W-wait! I forgot! I'm not supposed to touch girls or else I'll get cooties!"

His frightened yelp had scared me, admittedly. But his reason had a giggle bubbling from within. "I forgot about that! Cooties, hehe... You really believe that?"

Lloyd blushed furiously, embarrassed, and I realized maybe I came off a little harsh. "I... I-I thought..."

"Friends don't give each other cooties, silly," I corrected him.

The townsfolk had begun dispersing by now, since the show was over. But the Ninja were still there, watching and listening as we spoke to each other. Despite what I had known about the Secret Ninja Force, somehow I just couldn't get myself to trust them. Not after that horrible display.

Not after they humiliated Lloyd like that. They're teenage boys. They should know better.

"Is... Is that how cooties work?" Lloyd asked me with wide, innocent eyes. My little ten-year-old heart pounded. He sounded so genuinely surprised at the concept. I didn't give myself time to overthink the implications this had. I'd do it later, when I wasn't being watched by immature superpowered teenage boys.

"Um... I think so," I mumbled. "L-Lloyd, we should go. Let's not cause anymore trouble for the village, okay?"

"But I wanna be evil--"

"Lloyd," I pressed, giving him a worried look. "Please, let's just go."

After a moment's hesitation, Lloyd nodded and we hopped off the roof, managing to land in a pile of snow that broke our fall. With the village behind us, we trudged off through the chilly mountain peaks on our own; just two little kids who don't have anywhere left to go.

It felt... genuinely surreal to be doing something like this. We weren't followed. No one from the village cared that we were gone, not even the Ninja. We grew cold, but Lloyd tried to keep me huddled close to him for warmth. I appreciated his kindness.

I hadn't noticed before, but I may as well have just been wearing rags when I left the village. I had tabi boots for the outdoors, sure, but my feet were freezing and my plain robes did little to stop the freezing chill. Lloyd led the way as we trudged, taking on the persona of a brave leader.

"O-one day, I'm gonna be j-just as evil as my dad!" Lloyd said as we hiked. "T-then they'll have to respect me. And... and give me their candy, too!"

Lloyd had given me permission to hide my freezing hands under his sleeve by holding his wrist (because holding his hand would be "too romantic") so my grasp tightened just a smidge. "Wh... why do you wanna be evil?" I asked him. "I-I wouldn't wanna be evil."

"Girls like you wouldn't understand," Lloyd bemoaned. "My dad's the coolest, most evilest thing you've ever seen! I wanna be just like him! He's the best. Maybe if I'm evil enough, he'll welcome me and love me. Then we can be father-and-son evil overlords together!"

Ah, so that was it. A sense of longing for love. If my theory about time travel was correct, that meant this was before the time that Lord Garmadon was defeated by the Green Ninja. In fact, it could've even been before the Green Ninja's existence in the first place.

"Hey... if I'm an evil overlord, will you still be my minion?"

I wanted to retort that I'm not a minion, but the softness in Lloyd's voice made me falter. He's a good kid. Misguided, maybe. But if he had a friend to get him through this, maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

Slow and steady. Growth happens over time. I could ease him into being good. I wanted to help. I really wanted to help.

So...

"...I won't be your minion, Lloyd. But... I'll be your friend."

Lloyd's eyes widened. "R-really? F-for realsies?!"

I nodded and smiled at him, as warmly as I could. "Yep. For realsies."

"Ya gotta promise," Lloyd said, holding out his pinkie. "It's not real until ya promise."

A lump formed in my gut. The last time I made a promise...

Papa--

Papa was fine. He was fine, right? It never happened. If I really did time travel, then... then it didn't happen.

Papa didn't die. The Green Ninja didn't die.

I removed my right hand from gripping Lloyd's wrist, hooking my pinkie around his.

"Pinkie promise. I'll stay friends with you even if you become an evil overlord."

"Hey, if we're gonna be friends, maybe you can be like... an evil overlady! We'd be... we'd be like... partners in crime! Together forever! Like best friends!"

I nodded eagerly. "That sounds fun! Yeah. Let's be best friends."

"Oh--" he turned to me, confused. "We're best friends now, but... I don't even know your name."

Oh, that's right. I never introduced myself. I straightened, bashfully avoiding his gaze for a moment. "O-oh, right. Um... My name is Sylvia. Erm... Sylvia Reviar."

"Sylvia... Reviar..." Lloyd's eyes had floated up and I knew now that he was looking at my hair. "Did your parents let you dye your hair? You're so lucky. I don't have any dye. If I could, I'd dye my hair black, like my father!"

"Oh-- n-no, it's... it's not dyed," I murmured. "I was born like this."

"Born?! Seriously?" Lloyd ran a hand through a lock of my hair, enthralled. "But pink's not a natural color. How did you manage that?"

I shrugged. "I-it's just... been that way all my life. N-nothing new or strange or different about it."

"Man... I wish I was born with black hair, instead of stupid blonde," Lloyd grumbled as he took the lead in our snowy trek again, dropping his hand from my hair. My little ten-year-old heart couldn't handle how close he had been, despite me somehow keeping my voice from shaking with nervousness. Whenever it did shake, thank goodness that it sounded more like it was from the winter chill.

"Well... I like blonde hair," I tried to convince him. "It's a really nice color. Plus, when it's sunny, it almost looks like it glows like gold."

"Yeah, but that's all good-guy stuff. I wanna be a bad guy!"

He kicked a rock idly, but when it made a strange metallic clang!, we both paused in our tracks and exchanged nervous looks before going to check out what the rock had hit.

We made it to a clearing in the snow, revealing a strange patch of rock and a single, snake-like statuette. I assumed the statuette was what the rock had hit.

"What is... this...?" Lloyd murmured in hushed awe.

Snake. Snake.

What was it the Ninja were discussing before they picked on Lloyd? I hadn't paid attention to it before, but something they said stuck out in my mind.

Serpentine tombs...?

That's it, they were talking about the five Serpentine tombs. And earlier, Lloyd was also talking about unleashing the Serpentine. But I thought they'd already been...

...no.

My sluggish, reeling mind was too slow to catch up on what had happened by the time Lloyd accidentally pulled the serpent statuette, opening the ground beneath us. It was slow, but Lloyd slipped and fell inside anyway. He called my name as he fell. I was too slow to catch him.

The ground crumbled beneath me, too, and I fell with him.

"S-Sylviaaaaa!"

"Lloooooyd!"

I'd never fallen from this high before. My stomach may as well have jumped out of my throat. I watched in horror as Lloyd hit his head on a chunk of ice at the bottom and attempted to right myself to minimize injury. I ended up cutting myself on the ice anyway, though, as it sliced into my arm before I bounced and rolled over onto an ice floor. I cringed, bunching up my robe sleeve tightly to attempt to pressure the wound despite the white-hot pain I felt, then hurriedly glanced around for my new best friend.

"Lloyd? L-Lloyd!"

"Uuuugh..."

He had slid behind a pillar of ice, so I hurried over to him. My pain was making it hard to focus. I tried anyway, sliding onto my knees and bending over him.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

He turned his head to me so that I could see what the damage was. Surprisingly, he didn't seem all that badly hurt. Like, at all. I couldn't see an injury on his head, though I didn't rule out the possibility of it hurting still.

"My head hurts..."

Yep. Thought so.

"We're surrounded with ice," I told him. "You should take a chunk of it and put it on your head where it hurts."

Lloyd, ever the obedient listener, looked around for a loose, small chunk of ice to apply to his head. I managed to find a little ice crystal and handed it to him with my injured arm, since my other one had been too busy holding the robes. When Lloyd applied the ice to his head, it finally seemed to click to him that I was injured, too, and he gasped.

"Wait, Sylvia, you're hurt--!"

"You are out of your mindsss to venture ssso far away from home, little onesss..." a deep voice echoed from within the cavern.

We whirled around, wide-eyed and afraid, as a Serpentine of the highest order stared us down from way too close for comfort. Dark teal scales, yellow markings, bright, hypnotic red eyes... This was a Hypnobrai. Not just a Hypnobrai, either. Judging from his height and the staff he wields, this is the top Hypnobrai. The one in charge of the entire Hypnobrai clan.

I've said Hypnobrai way too much. I'm gonna stop.

"Y-you're...?"

"Sylvia...?" Lloyd hid behind me, though he didn't leave my side, bless his soul. "W-what do we do...?"

I whimpered. "M-maybe we can... t-t-talk this out...?"

"Look into my eyessss... Give up your mindssss..."

A Hypnobrai's eyes were hypnotic in every sense of the word. I'd never seen it before now-- I've only read not to look into their eyes-- but the deep scarlet swam with light and dark shades of red alike, mesmerizing anyone who looked too deeply. Just looking at them for long enough was enough to make the mind swim, the world falter.

"C-cover your eyes!" I exclaimed, shutting mine tight. "Don't let the Hypnobrai control you!"

Lloyd flinched behind me and covered his eyes.

"Ssssmart..." the Hypnobrai hissed at me, slithering closer. "But... will you lassssst?"

A tail swung at me from... well, in front of me, in hindsight, although I didn't know that because I had covered my eyes and didn't want to look at the Hypnobrai, so it seemed like it came from out of nowhere. He slammed me into the ice spike Lloyd and I had found ourselves backing away into, curling his tail around my small body. I couldn't help my pained screams both upon impact and when he began squeezing my injury painfully tight.

"Sylviaaaa!" Lloyd exclaimed beside me. "Y-you let her go, you big meanie!"

"And what will you do about it, human child?"

"I'll... I-I'll..."

"Lloyd, run!" I painfully gasped. "I-it's not worth it!"

"B-but..."

"Go, Lloyd!"

"How admirable of you," the Hypnobrai general hissed. "Ssssacrificccing yoursssself for the good of your friend..." He squeezed harder. It... it hurt... By now, I was certain the blood had probably trickled down his tail, but the general didn't seem to care in the slightest. "If you only had ssssuch chivalroussss heartssss ssseveral thousssand yearssss ago..."

"S-stop it...!"

I don't know who said it, me or Lloyd. But he didn't stop. Everything hurt. My body was shot through with pain, all stemming from my arm.

"Ssssuch a shame... That kidssss like you would meet your endssss here..."

"L-let her go! You... You're a mean bully, just like the Ninja!" I could hear Lloyd pounding his fists on the Serpentine general's tough scales, hardly doing a single bit of damage to him. "You have to let her go! Let her go!"

I heard him shift and hiss and slither in front of me. "... what 'Ninja'...?"

That. That! That was our chance! A break in his offense that would allow us to slip through and escape.

"T-they're... they're mean bullies," I whimpered, biting my lip to keep from crying out even more in pain. "They call-- they call themselves heroes, b-but... but they totally hu-- humiliated Lloyd and... and mocked him. T-they don't have the... the right!"

"...Heroessss, you sssay...?" The general turned his attention to me. "Tell me... young 'Ssssylvia...' "

I swallowed, peeking an eye open as he leaned in close to me, before hurriedly shutting it tight again so that he couldn't hypnotize me.

"Would they happen to be... Elemental Masssstersssss...?"

Fire, Ice, Earth, Lightning, and Water. And whatever the hell the Green Ninja had. Yeah, it was safe to say they were Elemental Masters.

"Y-yeah..."

No! Don't tell them that! My mouth betrayed me before I could even think about what I meant to say. I couldn't ignite a second Serpentine War. It'd be horrific!

With a chuckle, the Serpentine General tightened his grip around me even more, somehow. "Perfect..."

"S-Sylvia!"

More slithers. More hisses. They were coming from all around us. The Serpentine General suddenly loosened his grip, releasing me and turning away. I fell into a crumpled heap on the ice floor, gasping for breath and whimpering as I held my injured arm. Lloyd rushed to my side and enveloped me in a tight hug, although he wasn't careful about my injury and I yelped in pain. Startled, he jumped back and fretted over me, panicking and unsure what to do.

I finally opened both my eyes when the Serpentine General spoke again.

"We have been freed! Thesssse children will be sssspared our wrath, for thankssss to them, we can sssssee the ssssunlight again!"

Hisses, rattles, and cheers erupted and echoed all around us in the icy cavern. Voices bounced across the walls. Reflections raised their arms in celebration.

More than just the icy cavern, I felt a chill run down my spine. It was as if my whole body were encased in ice; that's how afraid I was. I stared at everyone and everything in wide-eyed horror. Was this really how the Serpentine had been released the first time? Did little Lloyd end up accidentally releasing them all on Ninjago, back before the days of the Green Ninja?

Oh god... Oh god...

Now what?

Maybe it was the lack of sleep in me, but my consciousness was finally starting to waver. I looked around at the crowd of Serpentine, their footsteps and tails and snake-heads as they surrounded us. One snake-- no, one Hypnobrai, because calling them just snakes is mean-- flicked his tongue in displeasure.

"General Sssslithraa... Are you... ccccertain that'ssss wisssse...?"

"They are children, Ssssskalessss... They will not harm ussss..."

"But they could call for help. Thosssse 'Ninja', asss they sssay... They may prove to be a threat."

Yikes. We weren't escaping that easily. I curled into Lloyd. Lloyd wrapped his arms around me protectively, even if we didn't know how he would be able to protect me. At the very least, we had each other, even if we'd only just met. I buried my face in his black onesie, hoping against all hope that somehow we'd come out of this alive.

"Hmmm... Sssso what do you sssuggesssst...?"

...Slithraa, right? The last I'd heard, Skales was actually the general of the Hypnobrai Serpentine-- the Snake King, in fact-- but all signs pointed to time travel. This was before Skales' rule.

"Imprisssson them. Leave them here to rot. Ensure that they will not posssse a threat to ussss ever again."

I couldn't bite back my meek whimper. Lloyd was panicking. I was panicking. Everything was just... wrong.

"W-wait! We have... i-information! About the Ninja!" Lloyd improvised quickly, calling the two Serpentine's attention. "W-we can tell you h-how to get them! That way... t-they won't be a threat to you anymore! We're on your side, see! W-we're not like them, y'know."

Lloyd... wasn't wrong. I have information about them, which I could give out little by little just until we find a way to escape. Until then, if we're useful to the Serpentine, they'll keep us around. We won't be stuck underground forever, and I won't die of frostbite. Still, the idea of being with the Serpentine, being in their clutches for such a long time...

...I couldn't suppress my shudder, though it thankfully passed as a terrible shiver from the cold.

"W-we know..." I tried again, because my chattering teeth were struggling to work with me. "W-w-we know how to gain their attention. I-instead of searching for them, they can come to you."

Slithraa and Skales appraised us with hypnotic gazes and I squeezed my eyes tight, desperately clinging to Lloyd while Lloyd desperately clung to me. We were just two scared little kids. Too little to get out of this on our own, but old enough to come up with properly useful ideas.

After some tense hissing and rattling, Skales spoke up. "I sssstill believe they should be locked up."

"Then it shall be done."

In the end, we led the Hypnobrai to Jamanakai Village. That is, after all, where the first recorded Serpentine attack happened after their release. I had to reason with them, to attempt to keep the timeline in balance. If I slipped up-- especially since I encountered the Ninja themselves-- just my presence alone may slip up the entire timeline and even prevent the Green Ninja from ever coming to join the Secret Ninja Force.

Although the Ninja were bullies now, I still looked up to them. All my life, I'd known them to be heroes capable of so much good. They'd done so much for Ninjago City. All of Ninjago practically relied on them for... seemingly everything.

As bratty and immature as they were now, they were still growing into what they would one day become. I hoped I could use that to my advantage. Maybe, despite their conceitedness, they could rescue us. Bullies or not, they were still heroes. And right now, we needed them to be heroes the most.

The Serpentine had us bound tight with rice rope. Since they barely had anything underground, they were unable to procure or build us a mobile cage, so that's what they relied on to keep us secure. To be fair, at only ten and eleven years old respectively, me and Lloyd were probably not going to be able to run very far anyway.

To be honest, though... the Serpentine treated us better than I thought they would. Slithraa was content with following our instructions, even despite his suspicions of us. When Lloyd asked for candy when we arrived in the village, he happily obliged, hypnotizing the candy store owner into giving us his entire stock. Quite frankly, it... was a bit surprising.

Lloyd and I feasted on candy while Jamanakai Village ran rampant. Serpentine hypnotized villagers all over. I honestly felt guilty about leading them here, but I knew that the Ninja would probably arrive soon to rescue everyone. Soon, the whole village was under Serpentine control. Slithraa was keeping guard over us, holding his golden Serpentine staff close. I forgot how the staff was important, but tried to keep my mind open.

The pure sugar we were on had Lloyd quite literally vibrating beside me. He would not. Stop. Moving. Meanwhile, the sugar was just barely keeping me awake as I bled out.

Yeah, by the way, my injury hadn't been treated, like, at all. I was close to fainting from blood loss. At this point, my raggedy robes were soaked through with red. They had once been pale green.

"The healer you requessssted, General," a soldier said, a grown-up from the village walking behind him. He hadn't been hypnotized, as evident by his shaking boots and frantic eyes. He held onto his rice hat like it was the only thing keeping him from running away. Maybe it somehow was.

"Perfect. Treat the little onessss of their injuriessss," Slithraa commanded the man. "Do it and you will be sssspared..."

Did... I hear that right? Really? He wanted to... heal us?

Lloyd and I exchanged equal looks of surprise, despite his sugar high. The healer looked down at me, his face wrinkled with disgust.

"D-do I have to...?" he mumbled. I couldn't push down the pang of hurt that sprung tears to my eyes.

Slithraa slammed his tail into the ground. "Yessss, you do! Isss this not one of your own kind?! HEAL THEM!"

"Gahhh! Alright, alright! I'll do it!"

Wh... why did he even hesitate? I mean, maybe it was because of the fear of the Serpentine, right? But... a large part of me couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was because of me, somehow, that he just... specifically didn't want to help.

And... why did Slithraa want to help us? Maybe it was the ten-year-old naivety returning-- or maybe I just hadn't lost it in the first place-- but the way he's treated us so far... He gave us the candy we asked for nervously, he kept guard over us and scared away anyone who dared to come close... It almost felt as if he'd quickly grown protective over us. Almost like...

"O-ow!"

"Stay still!"

"S-sorry..."

The healer cleaned my wound and pricked me multiple times. From the feeling of tugging, I realized that he was giving me stitches. It really hurt, and I was crying and whimpering, but I tried to stay as still as I could, even if that ended up not being very still at all. Finally, he wrapped my wound and harshly tore off the bandage, finishing the job. I flinched from the pain, curling close into Lloyd's side. Lloyd glared at the old man as he stood and wiped his hands on his pants, a dirty scowl sent my way.

"T-there. I'm done. C-can I leave now?"

Slithraa examined me carefully. "I don't know... Can you?"

Before the man had time to retort, Slithraa's tail suddenly snapped and curled around him. In a single fluid, powerful motion, the man was tossed aside, high enough to even go over the wall of Jamanakai. I gasped as he screamed in terror at being flung so suddenly.

"Yessss," Slithraa finished for him. "I think you can."

I winced when I heard a distant impact of oof and the sound of something falling into a pile of snow. With a mental apology to the poor man who was thrown aside, I slowly turned my gaze to my arm, wrapped in bandages and harshly stitched together. He could've at least tried to make it a little less painful for my little ten-year-old baby fat arm. But still, at least it would start to heal now. Um... hopefully.

I pulled my knees up to my nose and buried my face in them for a moment, still panting from the sheer endurance I needed to go through while I waited for the pain to die down. It did, but barely. When I felt like I could control my own voice again, I glanced up at Slithraa, who had turned his back on us and was watching his people as they wreaked havoc. I'd better speak now, or else I'd lose my nerve.

"S-Slithraa...?"

"Yessss, little one...?"

"Um... Th-thank--"

"Hey, ya big ugly snakes!"

I flinched. Never mind... The Ninja had arrived.

"The Serpentine... They're real?!"

"Look! They have Lloyd Garmadon, as well as that girl we saw earlier!"

"For all the trouble they are, I hope they're grateful we've come here to rescue them!"

Rescue... That's right. We were going to be rescued. B-but... Looking the Ninja in the eyes now, somehow...

I felt afraid, looking at them. They were probably going to hurt the Serpentine, or-- or worse. Or what if they scowled at us, looking down on us like those people did before? The way they glared at Lloyd earlier, and their sneers when their eyes slid over to me...

...I shivered. Slithraa's tail curled around us.

"Sssso... Isss thisss them?" he asked me. "Thessse sssso-called... 'Ninja'?"

"Y-yes," I answered automatically. "T-that's them. That's the Ninja."

"My mortal enemies..." Lloyd growled (and in all honesty, because he's so young and his voice is so high-pitched, it was probably akin to a kitten mewling than a lion growling).

It also probably would've held a lot more weight if he wasn't still vibrating from a sugar high right beside me.

"Ssssieze them!" Slithraa commanded.

All at once, every single brainwashed citizen of the village and Hypnobrai... warriors? People? I-I don't exactly know how to describe them. The Hypnobrai people and the village citizens all rounded on the Ninja, advancing on them slowly with rattles and hisses.

Blue started swinging his electrical golden nunchucks, but White held him back. "No! Our weapons are too unstable! We could do more harm than good!"

Blue, completely undeterred, turned to the others and said, "I guess that just leaves us with RUUUUUN!"

And, just like that, the Ninja somersaulted away from the growing crowd. Slithraa coiled around us protectively. It felt... nice, somehow, even though I was technically their prisoner.

Oh god, am I already developing Stockholm Syndrome? Is it Stockholm Syndrome if I've only been kidnapped for like, less than a few hours? And if they gave us candy?

Although, to be fair, this is exactly what every parent warns you against. Don't follow a stranger if they offer you candy, because then you'll get kidnapped. Except in this case, it kinda happened in reverse.

...

...Are we even in any actual danger?

At this point, it feels like I've just kinda been... forcefully adopted.

Adopted... Oh god, I missed Papa...

Hooray for overthinking.

And, because my ten-year-old brain isn't developed enough for this shit, overthinking made my brain hurt, because most of these complex thoughts are still things a seventeen-year-old would think.

The Ninja jumped and flipped out of sight. At this point, a dark, probably unholy part of me wondered if it was even so bad, what the Hypnobrai were doing. No one was getting hurt (although they were being controlled without consent, to be fair, but still), we hadn't been harmed beyond the injury I practically just... gave myself anyway--

--okay, that was kind of a lie. Slithraa did slam me against some ice and irritate my wound. But we were intruding on his land. Sure, maybe he was at fault for attacking me, but Lloyd and I were at fault for invading, but also it was a complete accident, but also--

The point is, I don't blame them for attacking us, basically. It's not like I would've done the same, but I understand that sometimes it's hard to be on the same page with other people. Mistakes and misunderstandings happen. Even if we're technically prisoners now-- or, more accurately, captives, since it's not like we're staying in one place-- I still find myself trying to see things from the Serpentine's point of view. Isn't it a lack of empathy that got us this far in the first place? That made them this angry with humans?

At the very least, I'll just try not to be mean and still remain useful.

After a moment of silence, the Ninja began climbing around places. I could see them out of the corner of my eye-- really, only Black and White were hard to spot because of the snow and shadows, but even then, their uniforms gleamed with the golden dragon patterns stitched onto the front. Did they expect to be stealthy like that?

Heh, I'm really nitpicking the Ninja, huh? I guess that's only because I remember them being so much more... skilled. But that didn't happen.

It didn't happen. I'm here now. None of that happened.

White landed behind us, but the sound of his footsteps weren't disguised well enough for us not to hear or feel his presence. Slithraa quickly turned around to face him, while White spun the golden shurikens in his hands. Using the sharp blade, he cut the rice rope that was binding Lloyd and I together.

"You're free now, little ones! Run while you can. I'll hold off the Serpentine," White assured us.

But even with the rice rope gone, I didn't move. Lloyd, on the other hand...

"I'm free! I'm free! I'm free! Oh man, I am so not coming down from this sugar high! I wanna party! I want more candy!"

He was... having fun.

Slithraa was quick to scoop us up into his tail, though, holding his staff out against White. "Try that again, Ninja. I dare you." His tail rattled and his eyes swam in that way that I knew we shouldn't look, because he was trying to mind control White now.

White, wobbling on his feet, didn't see it coming when Slithraa used the tip of his tail to easily swipe out his legs from underneath him.

Hugging us tight, Slithraa hissed. "Let'ssss go, little onessss..."

"W-wait...!" White struggled to stand back on his feet. He seemed disoriented, like he was struggling to just stand. "I won't... let you abduct those children...!"

It was almost admirable, how much White cared. Behind us, Black caught Slithraa off-guard and knocked the staff out of his grasp. Amidst the chaos, the other two Ninja were nowhere to be found.

Slithraa held Lloyd and I close. When it was clear that the Ninja had gained the upper hand in the battle (of which I sort of lost track of, because I was looking this way and that, and I was still very much sleep-deprived), Slithraa ordered a retreat, with the two of us in tow. Somehow, they had lost the staff and returned the village to normal, I think? I hoped? But again, I didn't really remember a whole lot of it simply because of how chaotic everything was and also my exhaustion was palpable.

We returned to the old Hypnobrai tomb, where Lloyd had soon collapsed from his relapse of sugar and I was still fighting sleep. How long had it been now? How many hours did I go without sleep?

Lloyd was warm. I snuggled against him as several little vipers surrounded us upon Slithraa's command. I think they were trying to feed off of our warmth, too. I was a little nervous to do it at first, but when I held out my hand to the Vipers, they didn't attack me or anything. Instead, they crawled onto me, curling around my arms. Despite the strangeness of their scales on my skin, I didn't hate it. I fell asleep beside Lloyd that night. I don't know how long we were knocked out for, but...

...somehow, I felt safe here. The Hypnobrai were very kind. Or, rather, Slithraa was very kind to us.

Ever since then, though, my memories began to deteriorate. I was no longer a seventeen-year-old in a ten-year-old's body. Genuinely, my mind started to falter. I was quickly adjusting to my new form.

I have no Papa. I have no siblings. There was no death. The first thing I saw when I woke up was Lloyd.