Work Text:
“Mother, what’s it like down on the surface?”
A young boy stood next to a beautiful woman in a white dress. They rested on the clouds, far away from any mortal to see them. The young boy peered over the edge of the cloud, staring with sparkling eyes at the earth below them.
“It is… very different, love,” his mother replied. “The people there do not have the gifts that we do. They are normal, but the things they can make are amazing enough.”
The young boy looked up to his mother with wonder in his eyes. “Could I go down there, mother?”
She sighed and crouched down to his level. “We are not permitted to go to the surface. The people living there would not understand us, and they would be afraid. I am sorry, love.”
The god of the sea looked back to the surface longingly. “Okay, mother.”
His mother, the goddess of the rain, observed him with stormy eyes. She could feel that one day he would disobey those directions, and become something very important to the universe, but now was not the time to dwell about it. He was a rambunctious child; calm some days and wild on the others. She could not control his actions.
As years went on, the young boy grew up into a powerful god. He controlled the sea, producing large waves or tranquil waters. They called him Neptune, in remembrance of the god of the sea who lived before him.
And on one day, the boy was gone.
-
Lance gazed out into the emptiness of space from the observatory in the castle.
He replayed memories of his family, making sure he could remember his mother’s voice and her warm smile. To him, he was Neptune. To everyone else, he was Lance McClain. Just a normal boy from Cuba with a fascination with the ocean. He scoffed. If only they new…
Lance hadn’t seen the familiar waters on Earth for months. He wondered if the seas had changed because of his disappearance from Earth. He hoped they didn’t.
When Lance saw a planet in the distance, he snapped out of his thoughts. Allura had mentioned to them before that they were stopping at a planet to converse with the leader and hopefully persuade them to join Voltron’s forces. He observed the planet; it was quite large and colourful. Blues, pinks, and oranges were scattered over the land. It was odd seeing such unnatural colours on a planet, since the only colours Lance was used to was green and blue.
The castle was almost halfway to the planet, so Lance got up from his resting place and went to his room to change into his armour. As he changed, he wondered if there were any oceans on the planet.
He needed something to remind himself of home again.
-
The aliens on the planet had humanoid features, but looked nothing like humans. They had two legs and arms, and two eyes as well. But their skin was a variety of colours, and their eyes seemed to be changing colours every time they blinked.
When he and the team took their first steps on the planet, Lance could feel hundreds of eyes staring at him. It wasn’t unusual, since he was a paladin of Voltron after all, but for some reason he felt like these looks were different. He had a god’s intuition, and it was almost always correct.
These aliens sensed something about him, and Lance knew that they knew he wasn’t human.
He kept quiet as he walked with the team to a large building. The meeting that they would have with the planet’s leader would probably take place in there. He chose to not draw any attention to himself as he usually would, only because he didn’t need the aliens to find out that he was more powerful than all of the paladins combined. The existence of gods on Earth was the number one secret that Lance could never tell. If it got out, who knows how the paladins would react.
Lance absentmindedly wondered if he would be in this situation if he stayed up in the clouds with his mother and the other gods. Maybe Blue would have came to him eventually, or maybe he would have sensed her and went down to the surface anyway. Who knows, Lance thought as he entered the doors of the building and greeted the leader with a handshake and without eye contact.
When he saw the leader give him a questioning look, Lance hurried to a seat as far away from the leader as possible and sat down. When the other paladins were seated, Allura and Shiro immediately discussed joining Voltron’s coalition. Lance didn’t think the meeting would go on for too long, since the planet seemed happy to be protected by Voltron and join the alliance.
Whenever Lance looked up, the leader always managed to catch his eye before he could look away again. So, he settled for staring at the designs carved onto the table in front of him. On accident, he tuned out the conversation between Allura and the leader, until he heard his name being said.
Shiro was telling the leader everyone’s names, and as he said Lance’s, the leader frowned. “I do not believe that is the blue paladin’s name,” he said, and Lance stiffened.
Hunk laughed a little before replying, “I don’t mean to be rude, but why do you think that?”
“My people can sense a person’s true identity by an aura around them. I can tell that his real name is not Lance,” the leader said, a curious look on his face.
Lance coughed. “Um, I’m not sure what you mean,” he said, letting out a fake chuckle to conceal his nerves. “My name has and always will be Lance.”
“But, your aura… It screams powerful. It looks different than your other human friends here. I do not think your blue paladin is human like the others,” stated the leader, and this time Lance flinched.
“Listen man, I really have no clue what you are talking about-”
“Neptune.”
Lance’s breath hitched and he stopped talking. His mind raced with things he could say; maybe he could lie his way out of this? The leader looked like he had no intention to stop however. And when he said Lance’s real name, any plan he had was thrown out of a window.
“His name is Neptune. My people could see it from the beginning, and so could I. So, what are you, blue paladin?” The leader questioned, and all eyes turned to Lance.
His knuckles were white as he gripped the sides of the table. Before any of his teammates could ask him anything, he was already stumbling out of his chair and running out of the building.
-
Lance pushed through crowds as he ran, letting his legs carry him since he had no idea where he was going.
He ended up on the outskirts of the city they landed in when he decided to take a rest. Lance groaned and ran a hand through his hair. I’m a god, dammit. Get yourself together, he told himself as he caught his breath.
Looking around, he didn’t see any of his friends or many aliens too. He sighed in relief, he didn’t want to confront them or draw attention to himself. Lance had no intention to go back to the building at the moment, so he continued walking out of the city and he lost himself in thought.
When he finally looked up, he noticed that the planet’s sun was setting behind colourful mountains, painting the sky a burnt orange. He saw the tall buildings of the city in the distance behind him as he observed his surroundings.
His heart jumped when he saw a body of water a few meters to the left of him.
It looked just like Lance’s oceans on Earth. The calm waves were a transparent blue, and the light from the setting sun sparkled over the water’s surface. Lance hesitantly touched the water in case it was a weird alien ocean, but was relieved when it felt like regular water.
He sat on the shore of the water, the waves close enough to touch but not close enough to get his clothes soaked. Which didn’t matter honestly, since he could easily get rid of any water on him.
Lance looked out to the horizon and sighed. Whenever the team found him, he would have to explain to them who he is. They knew he had been keeping a huge secret from them now because of the leader’s stupid sixth sense. Lance understood that the aliens had no clue that it was a secret or that he wasn’t human was never meant to be shared. It wasn’t their fault.
“I guess it’s more my fault…” Lance mumbled aloud. Talking to the ocean always used to calm him back on Earth. “I should have told them before a stranger had to break the news.”
He let the water flow up to his hands, twirling it between his fingers. Even if he couldn’t see it, he knew his eyes were glowing a faint blue. It always happened whenever he was controlling water.
“I’m sorry that I had to break our secret, mother…” he whispered, now making intricate shapes and figures with the water in his palm. His throat felt hoarse as he wondered what she would tell him.
“What a crappy god I am,” he muttered as he let the water rush away from his hands.
Lance curled his knees to his chest and rested his head, watching the last rays of sunlight vanish from behind the mountains.
-
Lance’s eyes snapped open as he heard footsteps and hushed voices from behind him.
“What do you want,” he muttered, not bothering to look behind him. He already knew who they were.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hunk sit down next to him. Lance tensed up, but didn’t look at him. He stared at the water’s horizon, not even realizing that he fell asleep. It was dark out, so he hadn’t been sitting there for too long. The stars reflected off the water as they twinkled in the night sky.
“Hey, bud,” Hunk started softly. Lance assumed that the other paladins behind him chose Hunk to talk, since he was his best friend after all. “I don’t know what that guy was talking about before, but you can tell us anything, you know?”
“Yeah, you’ll always be our goofball, Lance, no matter what!” Pidge piped up from the back, and Lance let himself smile and relax.
“I would have told you guys earlier,” he said, his voice slightly muffled by his jacket, “but it was a huge secret. Like, take it to your grave secret.”
“Well, maybe we could take it slow?” Allura asked. “Perhaps you could tell us what the leader meant when he said your name was ‘Neptune’?”
Keith let out a noise of agreement, as did Hunk. “Yeah, take your time, bud.”
Lance exhaled slowly. “He was… right about that,” Lance said after a moment. “My name… my real name is not Lance McClain. I’m not from Cuba, either. I’m not even-” Lance stopped himself instinctively, all of his senses telling him to stop, you can not tell anyone. He took a shaky breath and ignored them. “My birth name is Neptune. It was given to me because it was the name of my predecessor. Neptune isn’t his most… famous name, though.”
Lance paused to catch his breath and let his words sink in for a second, then continued. “Most people know my predecessor as… as-- shit, I can’t do this!” Lance exclaimed, abruptly standing up and facing away from Hunk and the rest of the team. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut. And I call myself a god of the fucking sea? Get a hold of yourself Neptune!
Shiro came up behind him and put a calming hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Lance. I swear, we will accept you for who you are. You can take however long you need to,” he gently told him, and Lance felt tears of frustration fill up his eyes. I can do this… I can do this.
“My predecessor… and my mentor, his name…” Lance cursed. “Ugh, screw it, his name was Poseidon!” He blurted out.
“You mean… the god of the sea, Poseidon?” Pidge asked, confusion in her voice. “Lance, did you hit your head or something-”
“I’m telling the truth!” He shouted, turning to face them now. “Mierda, I knew nobody would believe me!” As he got angrier, his eyes started glowing a bright and dangerous blue. “My name is Neptune. I am the successor of Poseidon; I am the new god of the sea!”
The water beside them started to churn and the waves became sloppy. Chill out, idiot! Lance willed himself to calm down before someone got hurt, and gradually the waters became serene again. He turned around once more; he didn’t want to look at the faces of his teammates.
“I left my mother, the goddess of the rain, and the rest of the gods years ago. Going to Earth’s surface was forbidden, but I couldn’t help myself. “ Lance scoffed, and wrapped his arms around his torso. “What an idiot I was. One day I was having the time of my life at the Garrison, and the next I was stuck in space fighting a war. They must be so disappointed in me… I don’t even want to know what happened to the seas once I left. I hope they replaced me, or else the waters would have gone chaotic.”
“I always knew you had a weird connection to the ocean…” Hunk spoke up, and Lance was startled to find that his voice wasn’t angry or betrayed or scared like Lance thought it would be.
“Everything makes more sense now!” Pidge gasped. “You would always come out of the bathroom seconds after taking a shower and you’d be so dry already! I never understood it!” When she laughed, Lance turned his head and looked at them all cautiously.
“So… you guys aren’t mad? Or scared of me?” He said in a quiet voice.
“Lance, from what I’ve heard so far, you are not human,” Allura said, and Lance nodded along. “Lance, I’m not human either, and you all have accepted me and Coran for who we are. And Keith is half Galran too, and he’s still here!”
Lance shook his head. “But this is different! Gods on Earth are a myth; they have always been fake. I was supposed to keep it a secret from you all.”
“Aliens were always thought to be fake too Lance, and yet look at us now,” Shiro said. “We learn new things every day. I honestly don’t care if you are human or not. I’ve been with you for months fighting side by side. I trust you enough to know that even if you aren’t human, you don’t have bad intentions. You are still Lance to us, and we’ll always accept you no matter what.”
Lance couldn’t take it anymore. He ran up to Shiro and threw his arms around him, crying into his chest. “T-thank you so much Shiro…” he choked out, sniffling into the hug.
Soon enough the other paladins joined the hug too, and Lance laughed as they almost toppled to the ground on multiple occasions.
Maybe his mother was wrong. Maybe not all humans would be afraid.
And if they were, at least Lance had an amazing team that would love him anyways.
-
Years later, a teenage boy stood on the edge of the water, looking out at the distant waves and ships dotted across the horizon.
He felt something hit his head, and when he lifted his hand, he saw droplets of rain splattering against his skin. He turned around and saw a woman in a white dress standing a few feet away. Her stormy eyes widened in shock at the sight of him, and the boy smiled.
“Hello, mother.”