Fatal mistake
So uh about 5 years ago I sent an anon ask to @lloydskywalkers (whose writing was a major major source of inspiration for this) about an S5 Lloyd dies AU idea, and promised to write it one day... And while I did do so back then, I figured it was time to rewrite this old trope (shoutout to @wassupninja for proofreading all of it and holding my hand while I suffered through writing this)
But first, I shall summon some angst loving mutuals: @goldenavenger02 @thesoundofmadness @rosiehunterwolf @fishybehavior (I probably left out some people... It's 1 am...)
This situation has definitely been in one of his nightmares, Kai's sure of it. To be fair the past weeks as a whole have been a nightmare come true as well. Still he should've expected it... Of course Morro would resort to using Lloyd as a... As an ultimatum tool? Or whatever fancy words Zane would use...
Either way this sucks. If they don't give that greasy dickwad the crystal, he'll kill Lloyd for sure (Kai's seen that disgusting murderous gaze of his), but there's zero guarantee that he won't, even if they do, plus there's also that whole "gonna curse all 16 realms" thing too-
"Stop stalling! Give me the crystal, or else-"
"We're not stalling, we're thinking!"
Kai really, really hopes that Morro believed that, and that he doesn't hear their frustrated banter either. How the fuck are they gonna get out of this, they have nothing-
The ground slightly shakes, responding to Cole's frustration, and suddenly Kai's confidence comes back out of the void.
Let's see how you hold up playing hot potato, fuckface-
"Time's up, I told you to quit stalling!"
Before Kai has any chance to react, he's struck by an overwhelming sense of wrong. He whips around with speed comparable to Jay's strikes, the word 'wait' already on his lips-
His world freezes in place.
Lloyd stands on the ledge, bent back in an awfully unnatural way, red glossy blade sticking out of his middle, eyes wide open in shock.
Skewered, that fucker skewered him-
He's seen this before. Multiple times in slight variation over the years in his nightmares. But none of those even compare to the horror and dread of this because this is fucking real.
He doesn't hear the cries of panic coming from Jay and Cole, or the disgusting eerie chuckle coming from Morro. He doesn't even know if he himself has made any noise.
No he only hears the choked gasp Lloyd gives as he's kicked off the ledge, and makes a run for it. He gets there only a second after Lloyd lands on the ground with an awful crack, hands pressing on the wound reflexively.
Lloyd's eyes are wide open, his teeth clenched, and it takes Kai far too many seconds to realize that the horrible, garbled noise coming from him is his breathing. He can faintly hear Jay scream something again, but none of the words actually register. He presses his hands on the wound harder, earning an awful noise of pain from Lloyd in response. The panic has ebbed enough that Kai finally turns to look at Zane, waiting for whatever medical instructions he's whipped up-
But Zane's just staring. He's staring with that awful, horrified and saddened look, and Kai's blood runs cold.
No-
Lloyd's equally soaked hand suddenly grips his wrist, and Kai whips his head back to look at him.
His eyes are only half open now, but he's looking Kai straight in the eye.
"H-Hey... It's gonna be f-fine... Even g-got the power part handle-"
Lloyd suddenly chokes on his words, blood squirting from his mouth as he coughs. Seemingly realizing how little time he has, he reaches for Jay's shaking hands, turning to look at him and the others.
"Don' ya dare eve' s'op makin' jokes 'kay? Y'all gonna nee' jokes. Don' s'op till ya kicked the ass o' every ghost ou' there-"
Lloyd weakly spasms as more blood spills from his lips, his hold on Kai's wrist weakening. His head stills again vaguely in Kai's direction, eyes glossed over and barely open.
"Go'a s'ay a'some a'ight? Like... Vo'ca'o..."
His eyes are already closed somewhere mid sentence, and Kai scrambles to respond in panic, realizing he's been rendered silent the whole time-
The fire in Kai's heart sputters out just as Lloyd does, hand sliding off of Kai's wrist.
And Kai falls apart.
He cries and wails, begging his littl brother to wake up, to stay, even though he knows Lloyd can't hear it.
"I must admit I'm touched. But I do wonder, which is more pathetic? The fact that you even dropped this in your haste to reach him, or that he seemed the least scared out of the five of you."
Morro's sly, gleeful voice echoes through the cavern as he eyes the realm crystal in his transluscent hands with a disgusting grin before he disappears into one of the tunnels, likely leading to the surface.
As pathetic as it is, Kai doesn't immediately scramble to his feet to chase after him, to wipe the grin off his face by pressing it into water and wrangling that wretched crystal from his hands. He just stays rooted firmly into place, along with the others. It's as if all of his strength left him, leaving him to tremble in silence, clutching his brother's dead body, unhearing and unfeeling as Cole and Zane try to hold Jay together as he crumbles behind him with loud cries.
As if only a second had passed, Zane appears at his side, telling him they need to get going with an eerily monotone voice. He shifts his hold Lloyd's body with trembling hands, before shakily standing up. It feels like he's moving on autopilot, not even registering the climb to the surface. He can't feel his soaked gi sticking to him, or the wind coming from the exit of the cave or any of the bruises and cuts he's picked up. There's just this empty, numb and cold feeling right where his power and heart would be, the punishment for his failure to do the one thing destiny tasked him with.
That's not entirely true... He still has Nya left. He's going to have to work extra hard to keep her safe, failing her too is something he can't afford.
But unless he figures out some sort of magical plan real soon, he's going to lose not just her, but everyone else he loves as well.