“So…” Lloyd started, “I can’t say I was expecting that.”

Nya, still applying Cole’s facemask, mumbled, “Lloyd, come up with a better response.”

“Sorry! I don’t have a problem with it at all. You being gay, I mean.” Lloyd hoped the correction was to Nya’s liking, and going off her silence, he figured it was good enough. “So, who is the lucky guy then?”

Cole tightened his jaw. “That’s where things get tricky.”

“It can’t be that bad!”

“It’s Kai,” Cole whispered. Despite his face being covered in his face mask, Lloyd could still tell he was feeling bashful based on his voice.

“Ew.”

“Lloyd,” Nya warned. “Better response, please.”

“Nono I don’t mean it in a ‘ew gay’ way, more of a ‘ew Kai’ way.”

Cole laughed. “What’s wrong with Kai?”

Lloyd gave him a “seriously” look. “Have you met the guy? He uses way too much hair gel, winks at himself in mirrors, and thinks ‘NOT SO FAST’ is a valid, serious catchphrase to use in battle.”

Cole smiled quietly to himself. “I know.”

Nya nudged her cosmetic box over towards Lloyd with her elbow, her hands covered in face mask goop. “Pick a headband. I’m doing your face next.”

Lloyd reached for the box and found it filled with various cosmetics, none of which Nya used as far as Lloyd could tell. He reached in a grabbed a white headband with fluffy cat ears, putting it on without protest. “Why do you have all this stuff?”

Nya stifled a laugh, positioning herself in front of Lloyd to do his mask next. “It’s all from Jay. He likes to get me gifts.”

“But this doesn’t seem like the kind of gift you’d enjoy.”

Nya looked over her shoulder at Cole, who was sitting contently, his confidence having returned to his body. “Well, it started with one headband and a few face products. They sat in my closet forever. When Cole first came to me about his sexuality, he seemed stressed, so I told him he was welcome to try out my stuff. Turns out, he loved it.” Nya broke out into little giggles, shaking her head playfully. “Jay noticed that the items he bought were being used, so he kept buying more because he thought I’d like it.” Nya’s voice lowered to a whisper as she said, “Don’t tell him he’s funding our self-care spa nights.”

“I would never!” Lloyd jumped as Nya pressed the face mask against his face, not expecting it to be so cold. “I want to hear more about Kai, Cole.”

Cole’s grip around his pillow tightened. “I don’t really know what to say! I mean, he’s cute.”

“That’s it? You just like him because he’s cute?” Lloyd asked.

“He’s incredibly protective and passionate about the things he loves,” Cole started, closing his eyes as he got lost in thought. “Like, when he talks to you two, his voice gets all soft and sweet because he cares so much. He’d give anything to protect you two, and I’d give anything to hear him talk to me like that.” His eyes opened with excitement as he continued. “And have you ever noticed he’s the literal embodiment of fire? When the light hits him just right, it looks like he’s a glowing ember. He gives off this constant heat that just makes you feel so comfortable in his presence. AND! He smells amazing when he doesn’t douse himself in cologne like a damn middle schooler. It’s like-” Cole took a deep breath, “-a campfire in the middle of a cold Summer night.”

Nya smiled, still facing Lloyd. “He’s smitten.”

Cole threw his pillow at Nya. “Oh, shut up. I don’t give you shit when you gush about Jay!”

“Yes you do!” Nya laughed.

Cole smirked. “Okay, yeah, I do.”

Nya scooted back from Lloyd, finished with his face mask. “Alright, boys, leave them on for a bit and then I’ll have you both rinse your faces.”

“You aren’t doing your face?” Lloyd asked.

Nya shook her head. “Like you said, not my thing.”

Lloyd looked back to Cole, warmly. “I appreciate you feeling safe enough to share this with me.”

Cole smiled back. “Thanks for giving me the room to figure myself out.” He grabbed his pillow and pulled it back up against his chest. “So, you wanted to talk about the Rumi stuff?”

Lloyd’s smile faltered. “I feel bad, though. I don’t want to take over boy talk.”

“Oh, dude, don’t worry,” Cole assured him. “I promise it’s okay. Nya?”

Nya nodded in agreement. “Go ahead, we’re listening.”

Lloyd took a deep breath. “Okay, so, Rumi-”

“BOO HISS!” Cole yelled. Lloyd shot him a look, making Cole laugh. “Okay, okay, sorry, go ahead.”

“When I touched the fog, I heard her yelling for me. I followed her voice and then I started suffocating.”

Nya nodded. “And I’m assuming you thought it was her?”

Lloyd hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want it to be her?”

“I…don’t know.” Lloyd felt a pit begin to form in his stomach. “That’s why I wanted to talk about it. I know I don’t exactly do ‘feelings’ or anything, but this was something different. I mean, I was being choked by nothing. That’s not normal.”

“Was it maybe a hallucination?” Nya asked.

“It’d have to be,” Cole figured. “Maybe we can talk to some of the other people who were caught in it tomorrow?”

“Zane already spoke to a few people today, though,” Nya pointed out. “Everyone saw or felt something different. One lady said she felt bugs crawling all over her, but a man he spoke to said he heard the screams of his wife in pain.”

“What do those things have in common?” Cole asked.

Before anyone could answer, a scream echoed down the hallway, followed by Jay pleading for anyone to come to his aid. Cole jumped to his feet, dragging Lloyd and Nya up behind him. The three followed the yelling into the living space where Kai and Jay were playing video games to find a puff of black mist swirling at Kai’s feet. Jay was a few feet away from Kai, outside of the mist, attempting to swat him with a pillow.

“KAI! WAKE UP! GET OUT OF THE SCARY FOG!” Jay yelled, chucking the pillow at him. The pillow bounced off of Kai and landed in the mist, the attack doing nothing to make Kai budge. Jay threw his hands up in the air. “That’s just GREAT! I don't know WHAT TO DO HERE!” He seemed to be put at ease slightly when his eyes fell on Nya, who grabbed his hand to pull him away from the mist.

“What happened?” Nya asked, pointing at her brother.

Kai was standing, slightly slouched, and was mumbling to himself as his fingers twitched with little embers. “Come…on……why won’t….my….power unlock?”

Zane busted into the room, panting, with an ice attack ready, but when he saw the cause of the commotion, he stopped in his tracks. “This is exactly how we found Lloyd.”

Cole shook his head. “Not exactly, he seems more talkative.”

“LET’S GET HIM OUT OF THERE!” Jay screamed, reaching for another pillow to throw. He threw it directly at Kai’s face, but Kai didn’t react to the hit at all. It was as if everyone was looking at something that didn't exist in the same realm of existence as themselves. “The pillows are too soft. I’ll be right back.” Jay shook off Nya's grip and walked out of the room.

“What do we do?” Lloyd asked. “How did you guys help me earlier?”

“Cole used his element of Earth to remove everyone from the mist while Nya and I contained it,” Zane responded.

“Okay, then let's do that! COLE, GO!”

Cole tilted his head. “And how do you expect me to do that on a flying ship?”

“Well, we can still do the containing thing, right?” Lloyd asked.

“And freeze my brother with it?” Nya shook her head. “No way.”

“Come on…..let’s….get….out of….here.” Kai mumbled, small flames now circling his fingertips.

Lloyd held up his hand, silently signaling everyone to stop talking. They watched as Lloyd took a step closer to the mist. His eyes narrowed as he quietly said, “But, the fangblade-”

“Forget it…..this place…..is coming… apart.” Kai’s breathing staggered and stuttered as if he was doing something physically taxing.

“It’s a memory,” Lloyd realized. “The day he saved me. The day I became one of you guys.”

“You didn’t see a memory, though,” Nya pointed out. “Why is he?”

“You think I know? I’m in the dark just as much as you guys.”

“We gotta pull him out of there before something dangerous happens,” Cole said, starting to head back to his room. “I may be able to move him with my scythe. Hang on.”

Zane watched Kai closely. “This is truly extraordinary.” He took a knee to watch Kai’s hands. “Is it possible that whatever this is, it’s trying to make us use our powers?”

“I don’t think so,” Lloyd responded. “I didn’t use my powers to claw at my neck.”

“I’M COMING KAI!” Jay screamed, running into the room, wildly swinging an iron skillet.

Nya caught Jay’s arm before he could throw it at her brother. “DROP IT!”

“I’M HELPING!”

“You are NOT!” Nya looked over her shoulder to yell down the hall. “COLE HURRY!”

Cole came running into the room, his weapon in hand. Jay broke free from Nya and threw the pan. Lloyd dove for it to try to keep it from hitting Kai, Cole diving after him to make sure Lloyd didn’t dive headfirst into the coffee table. Not watching out for his own weapon, Cole accidentally swung his scythe, hitting Zane behind his knees and taking him down.

And to make matters even worse, Kai’s hands fully ignited in flames that overtook the entirety of his arms. Still entranced, he started screaming, begging for an invisible force to “Come back” to him. He fell to his knees, setting the rug in the middle of the room on fire, choking out violent sobs that were nearly incoherent.

“Watch out, guys!” Nya yelled as she sprayed water across the room. She had expected the mist to spread across the room, but it instead floated out the window and dissipated into the night air. “That was….weirdly easy.”

The water had put out Kai’s fire, leaving him on all fours in a puddle. He breathed heavily, sniffling while he tried to regain his composure. Lloyd pushed Cole off of himself and crawled over to Kai. “H-hey, man. You okay?”

Lloyd’s heart shattered when he saw the look on Kai’s face. He was broken, his lower lip quivering as he tried to regain his composure. Kai had lost every ounce of color from his face, leaving him as pale as a corpse. His hands trembled as he wiped his face of tears and Nya’s water.

Kai opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t form anything. All he could do was tightly wrap his arms around Lloyd, his nails digging into Lloyd’s tee shirt. Lloyd reached his arms up to hug him back and, as his fingertips brushed his shirt, Kai broke out into sobs. He buried his face into Lloyd’s shoulder, not to try to hide his emotions, but to feel closer to him in any way he could. Lloyd didn’t fight him. Kai needed this.

Nya caught Lloyd’s eye, looking just as concerned as Lloyd felt inside. It wasn’t every day you watch someone like Kai fully breakdown.

Lloyd started to move his hands back down, but Kai whispered, “Please don’t let me go. I need to know this is real.”

“It’s real, Kai,” Lloyd assured. “I am real.”

“I saw you die.” The air in the room felt heavy as everyone processed what Kai had just said. “We were at the volcano and I lost my grip and you-”

“I’m right here, Kai.” Lloyd tightened his hug. “I’m okay.”