Everything and Nothing

by ayjanae_cloven2

Summary:

While the paladins are on a dying planet, they fail to save any of the native species, except one. The team tries to get her to a cryo pod but her species is so ancient and remote that it doesn’t know how to cure her. On her last breath, she gives her savior the gift of her species to thank him for trying and showing compassion. Weird things start happening to the team and especially Lance.

Notes:

I feel like this plot would be a lot popular than it is. I’ve seen barely any fics about them getting some type of ability and I wish there were fics like this😭 Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 1: one.

They got the call too late.

Coran said that it might’ve had something to do with the aliens' old technology. It didn’t really matter to the team though. They got the call and they intended on answering it. They stood on the deck ready to get in their lions when they arrived on the planet.

“We do not know what to expect from this planet, Paladins.” Shiro spoke. “We don’t have much information other than the location of the distress signal.” Lance squirms a bit in his spot. He doesn’t think that he put his armor on right the way it awkwardly holds him, or maybe he’s just getting taller. Or buffer? They have been in space for a little over a year, it might be time for new suits. Maybe he can get his name embroidered onto it-

“So, this could very much be a trap?” Pidge pipes up from her corner.

“Yes.” Allura answers. “It could be. But it could also be very much real.”

“We have no information at all.” Coran scrolls through a tablet trying to collect any information he could. Which sounds like not much. “We don’t know what species reside here or what they’re capable of. I don’t know the oxygen levels so I’d advise everyone to keep every part of their suit on.”

“Tread lightly, Paladins. Coran and I will be here if you need us at all.” Allura assures
“Approaching planet AX-292.”

Lance was not prepared for what the planet would look like, but it was clear that this was no fake distress signal. It was a small planet, no bigger than mercury back in the Milkyway system. Lance could see where the planet used to be a beautiful purple and blue color, and now looked like it was going to war on itself. Explosions erupted from all sides of the planet, so big the Paladins could clearly see it from how far they were from the planet.

“Oh my god.” Hunk gasped.

“Let’s hustle, Paladins!” Shiro yelled, running towards his lion. The rest of them followed in pursuit. Lance made his way to Blue, who gladly opened up to him, letting him in. He made his way to the cockpit where his chair was waiting for him and he tried not to let his anxiety get to him as he took a few big breaths while booting up.
“Let’s do this guys.” He said into the comms trying to hype himself and everyone else up.

“We got this.” Hunk says back.

“Let’s try not to get in the way this time, right Lance?” Pidge retorted second-handedly. Lance stayed quiet for a second, not really knowing what to say.

“Me? In the way? Never.” He said playfully.

“This is a real rescue mission.” Shiro points out. “No time for games and jokes.” Lance assumed that was towards him even if his name wasn’t said, since apparently he’s the only one that likes games and jokes. He tries not to take anything to heart because they probably don’t even notice that they’re singling him out sometimes. And besides, they give each other advice all the time. It may be nicer than when they talk to Lance, but that’s besides the point.
“Shiro, what’s our plan here? We know nothing about this planet.” Keith talked for the first time in forever.

“We’re just going to have to improvise here, Keith. Everyone takes different areas, and stop whatever is making those explosions. Save anything that needs saving and keep your armour on.”

“Got it.”

Lance takes a couple deep breaths. He’s learned how to control his anxiety and situations like this, can keep his heart calm in the harshest conditions from practice. His ADHD is a whole different problem. He goes a different way from everybody else. He chooses what used to look like a small village. It was covered in flames and he couldn’t figure out what was causing the explosions.

He kept his eyes focused on the ground. There was no movement at all, no matter how close he looked. But he sees smaller explosions going off, only big enough to blow up a hut or two.

“Okay girl,” he tells Blue. “I’m gonna have to go in to find those explosives.”

“Lance. Not a great idea.” Hunk says to him. Shit. He forgot about the comms.

“Also, who were you talking to?”

“Um, my lion.” Hunk snorts at the answer.

“Okay bud.”

“Anyway, I’m going to have to go down there. I can see the explosions but not where they're coming from.”

“Thats the exact reason why you shouldn’t get out of your lion. God, listen to the words coming out of your mouth before you say them. Please.” Pidge retorted, eyeroll evident in her voice.

“Well, Pidge, I’m pretty sure the explosives are only targeting the villages because the woods look unscathed.” And he wasn’t lying. While the fire spread along the village and the villages around it, the places without civilization look completely unharmed.

“Okay Lance, if you’re going to make dumb and reckless decisions, don’t be dumb and reckless while doing it.” Shiro said. “Stay at a distance. Don’t want you to be caught in an explosion.”

“Are you serious, Shiro?” Keith said. He expected none of his friends to believe that he could do this on his own. But this is probably one of the lesser dangerous things that they’ve been through this week.

“Going down.” He said before anyone could say anything else. He led Blue down to the surface, a ways from the burning village in the middle of a forest. He still couldn’t tell if these trees were making oxygen or not, but he didn't want to learn the hard way so he kept his helmet on like he was advised.
Good luck, Blue said as he climbed out of the cockpit. Lance nodded up at the lion but didn’t say anything back. Doing everything except what Shiro told him to do, he started jogging toward the burning village, using the smoke to guide him.
When he made it there, he could see everything a lot clearer. Bodies littered parts of the ground, some type of unidentifiable alien. He almost gagged at the sight, but made sure not to think too much about it or he'd be awake for the next 20 years. He couldn’t make out too many features of the aliens because they’re bodies had been burned or obliterated. He could tell that they were slightly taller than the average human and that they had hair on their heads. They’re clothes seemed to made from natural stuff they found in the forest but other than that, he couldn’t tell you what they looked like.

And he still couldn’t find where the explosions were coming from. He went deeper into the village, stepping around bodies as if not to disturb them from a slumber. It was silent for the first time in a while other than the sound of buildings burning. There was no movement other than himself and no explosions. He assumed it was because everything in a ten mile radius was dead.

“Anything, Lance?” Hunk said in his ear.

“No. The explosions in this area stopped. Nothing is alive.”

“Same over here.” Pidge said.

“Wait…” Lance paused in his movement. In the distance he spotted something, someone, moving. Very slowly, as if injured.

“What is it?” Shiro asked.

“A survivor.” Without any more of an explanation, Lance rushes forward toward the figure.

“Hey!” He called out. “Are you okay?” The figure turned around to look at him. It was clear you could tell she used to be beautiful, a pure creature of nature, but she now had burns on half her face and running down her entire body.

“Leave us.” His helmet translated her language when he got close enough. It was labeled as ‘common language’. “It is too late.” With that, she collapsed, breathing shallow.

“I’m not leaving.” He told himself as he rushed to get her into his arms. She was bigger than an average human female but she was skinny, so he picked her up to his best ability bridal style, and hauled ass back to Blue.

“I have the injured survivor.” He said to his team as he climbed into Blue carefully. “Heading back to the ship.”

“The rest of you guys head back too.” Allura said. “There is nothing else we can do here.”

Lance laid the body of the alien on the med bed in the back of his cockpit and strapped her in before handling the controls. He had to be fast, the alien was on the brink of death and he didnt know how long she had. Easily, he takes off in Blue back to the castle ship.

He’s the first one back to the ship and Allura and Coran are there to help him put the alien in a cryopod.

“We need to hurry!” Allura states the obvious, leading them to the med bay. “Coran already prepped the cryopod, she should survive.”

By the time they made it into the med bay, the other paladins landed their lions in their hangars.

Lance gently sets the alien down in the prepped cryopod as Coran boots it up to start healing her.

The other four paladins run into the room, out of breath.

“Running diagnosis.” Coran retorts. They all stand around the cryopod in concern and interest about this undocumented species. After a couple minutes, the cryopod makes an odd beeping noise.

“Oh dear…” Coran says, taking a step back.

“What’s wrong?” Allura questions the man. Coran hesitates for a minute before looking back up at them. “The cryopod doesn’t know how to heal her.” There was silence in the room, filled with confusion. From what they know, the cryopod can heal any creature with a heartbeat.

“How is that even possible?” Pidge asks.

“Well, cryopods are built on medical knowledge we’ve discovered since they’ve been developed. Everything that a cryopod can do has been learned. Meaning this species is so closed off, so old, it has no idea what she is. And likely, neither does the rest of the universe.”

“This is crazy.” Hunk whispered, Right then the cryopod opened back up revealing the barely conscious alien. They all stared at her as she dizzily looked around the room. Lance took a step forward.

“The cryopod can save you, tell us how we can help.” His helmet translating as he talks. The alien looked at him.

“You cant.” She says back quietly. “ This is what is meant to happen.” Lance furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Who was bombing you?” Shiro steps up. “Tell us so we can at least bring you justice.” The alien breathes a bit harder, her time closing in.

“It was self-destruction.” She said, making Allura gasp. “The galra… they were coming…for our gift. That is our protocol if anyone ever found us. No one is supposed to survive.”

That sent the room into silence. The Galra had found them somehow and just the fear made them destroy themselves. There was only one thing Lance could think of right now.

“Whats your name?” The alien's eyes turned back to him as if she was trying to figure something out about him. And then she laughed roughly.

“It doesn’t…matter anymore. I see you want…to make sure my species doesn’t… die by remembering my name. But it’s… okay. I will live on in you.” Lance cocked his head in confusion. “I will give the gift… of my people to you. You’ve shown compassion… we believed that no other species could have. All of you.” She looks at everyone in the room individually until her eyes land back on Lance. “The gift will reside in you… and stretch to your friends. But you will… hold it. You will protect it. You pass it… to the next of kin.” She reaches her hand out. Lance goes to take it, assuming she was asking for some physical comfort. But as soon as his hand slides into her burnt one, his body temperature drops and he’s blacking out.

Chapter 2: two.

Summary:

“I mean, you can stay here if you want. J-just to even out the temperature, obviously. But you can stay…if you want.” Lance looks at him for a second before smiling and nodding. Keith rarely sees Lance so calm. Like he’s thinking distantly.

Notes:

Still working on a schedule for this but as long as someone’s reading this, I’ll finish it!!

He wakes with a gasp, flinging himself upwards. It felt like he hadn’t been breathing while he was out. He looked around, finding himself in his bedroom. It was almost like everything was a dream, other than the fact that he was freezing cold.

 

He gets out of bed and checks the castle’s clock. It was the next day, about 8:49 in the evening. Why didn’t anyone wake him up? Surely they had training today? He throws on a sweatshirt and sweatpants to keep himself somewhat warm, and wanders towards the kitchen.

 

He must’ve gotten there just in time for their late dinner because everyone was gathered and Hunk was just now setting food at the table. He walked all the way when someone noticed his presence.

 

 “Oh Lance! Your awake.” Allura says secondhandedly. 

 

“Finally. Now I can stop listening to Hunk whine about your health.”

 

“What happened?” Lance asked, sitting in his spot next to Keith. 

 

“You passed out.” Keith said.

 

“From what?”

 

“Exhaustion, the smoke, I dunno.” Pidge said.

“Well it was right after that alien said she was giving you her ‘gift’, whatever that could mean. So it could be from that?” Hunk guesses.

 

“Unlikely.” Pidge cuts in. 

 

“Were you guys able to get anything out of her that was helpful?” Lance asked the table, feeling a bit of hope.

 

“No, Lance…” Shiro looked down at his food, “She died right after you passed out.” They all looked at him, expecting some big reaction. But he felt sad in a hopeful way, knowing her story lives on in him with this “Gift”.

 

“Oh…” Is all he could say at the time.

 

“She also left behind this orb thing.” Pidge said bluntly. And just as quickly, everyone's eyes turned to her. She held a small orb, no bigger than a regular marble. Lance compared it to the color of the universe.

 

“Wait.” Coran piped up. “That's a physical transmitter!” They all turned him confused, except for Allura who gasped in understanding.

 

“Or similar to the “video camera” that you humans have.” Lance turned back to the orb with a slight smile.

“Lets boot it up!”

 

 

 

Ten minutes later, they find themselves on the main deck sitting in their designated seats. Coran stood, trying to connect the orb to the castle's frame so they could watch whatever that Alien left behind on the big screen.

 

“Aha! There we go.” Coran cheers. The image on the screen finally pops up. It was the alien and she was beautiful. Dark skin, white freckles and hair whiter than Allura’s. she lacked any burns and it made Lance upset all over again.

 

“Okay, are we ready?” Coran asked the group as he took a step back from the screen. He didn’t wait for anyone to answer as he played the video.

 

She stares at the screen for a second as if contemplating what to say.

 

“Hello.” She says to the camera. Her mouth doesn’t move the same as the words that are coming out, thanks to the translator. “If you have gained access to this transmitter, I am now dead. In fact my entire species has wiped itself out.” She said deadpan. Lance looks down already knowing this.

 

“But,” She continues, making Lance look back up. “If I am the last to live, I have a duty to my planet to pass on our gift, even if they do not agree. Even dead, the galra could get their hands on it. So, I will choose one person before I die that the gift will reside in. And it will spread to the ones they love and they will pass it on.” 

 

“So,” Hunk whispered to them, “She passed on an ancient gift that she wasn’t supposed to pass on?”

“To Lance?” Allura added for good measure. Lance was too connected to the screen to realize what they were saying.

 

“The gift comes naturally to us, but is power to other creatures.” The alien continues. “You will have the ability to move forces with the swish of your hand and the thoughts in your mind. When it comes, you will feel it. But the only way to activate it officially is to say the name of the one that gave it to you.” Lance leaned forward in his seat, eager.

 

“What does that mean? ‘Moving forces’?” Pidge asked herself more than anything. 

 

The alien took a deep breath before speaking again. “I am Ah’xya of Unwood.” Lance tried to memorize the name before blacking out again.

 

 

 

 

It was a sight, thats for sure. Keith couldn’t tell you why Lance kept passing out but he knew it had something to do with this gift. The second time he passed out really confirmed it.

 

“I am Ah’xya of Unwood.” The alien had said. Nothing happened for a second or two. And then Lance quite literally starts glowing. And as said before, it was a sight for sure. One that Keith isn’t sure he wants to forget. It started in his eyes, glowing a white-blue color, it spread to his freckles as if they were translucent. It also picked strands of his hair and the tips of his fingers. And almost as soon as it started it stopped and he fell over. Keith moved quickly to make sure his head didn’t hit the floor since he was the closest to him.

 

“What the hell was that?” Pidge screeches.

 

“The gift?” Hunk questions as he runs over helping haul Lance up.

 

“How are we sure? It could be some type of Alien disease.” Pidge said.

 

“Pidge…He was glowing.” Keith retorts. She shrugs. 

 

“If anything Ah’xya said was true, then that means this will be affecting us too.” Allura stated.

 

“If anything that alien said was true that means we have super powers.” Pidge rolled her eyes.

 

“Is that too hard to believe? I mean we fly giant magical space cats.” Keith retorts.

 

“Okay, fine. We have superpowers. What now?” 

 

“We wait.” Allura states. Everyone accepted the answer, no longer questioning anything out loud, though there were ten million questions hanging in the air.

 

Keith heads back to his room after helping Hunk put Lance into his bed. They ran a diagnosis on him before returning him to his room. The cryopod didn’t find anything wrong, so they were forced not to worry. Keith himself didn’t really know what to think after all this. Apparently, they’re developing something that's going to change everything. Yet no one else was passing out like Lance was and Keith felt perfectly normal. A little warm if anything.

 

He slides open the door to his room, right across from Lance’s. He forces himself not to look back, not to want to check up on the sleeping boy and slides the door closed behind him. He strips off his shirt and finds a pair of shorts before climbing into bed. He lays there for a couple of minutes underneath the blanket not being able to sleep. He was thinking about Lance too much and he was really hot.

 

He strips the blanket off himself and lets the air hit his bare back. That was better. With the cool air hitting him, he finally closes his eyes and goes to sleep.

 

It didn’t last long.

 

An hour or two later, he wakes up sweating buckets. It wasn’t a cold sweat, it was just super hot. He couldn’t figure out why either. His blanket was on the ground and the castle was usually super cold. He got up out of bed and heads to his bathroom. He turns the shower to the coldest it could possibly go, and steps in, not caring about still being in his shorts. 

 

It helps a lot, but he can still feel the heat of his own body. He closes his eyes for a second, hoping he’ll cool down some more. He sat in the shower until the cold water wasn’t helping anymore. He opened his eyes to see steam filling up the bathroom, radiating off his own body.

 

“What is happening?” He asks himself. He hops out of the shower, feeling a bit frantic. He grabs a towel and dries off his body as much as he can. He finds his reflection in the mirror. He looked fine, his cheeks and ears were a bit redder than usual but thats about it. He was no longer sweating but he was still unaturally hot especially after sitting in a cold shower for that long. 

 

Keith hears a knock at his door.

 

Who could be up right now? It was about midnight in the castle and they had early training tomorrow. Keith slowly steps towards his bathroom door before he pauses. It smells like somethings…burning. He looks down at the towel in his hands right as it catches fire. Quickly he drops it to the ground, with a small screech from his throat. He stomps out the small fire before the castle sirens can go off.

 

“What the hell-” The knock comes again. He looks down at the bunt towel before walking out of the bathroom. He’s a bit grateful for whoevers at the door, wanting some insight on whatever the hell is happening. He pauses at the door wondering who it was exactly. Without anymore second thoughts, he slides his door open.

 

“Lance?” Lance stands at his door, his eyes a little glassy like he’s half asleep. He had a blanket wrapped tightly around him and Keith notices the strange puffs of smoke coming from his mouth. 

“Hey.” Lance says.

 

“Are you okay? You look-”

 

“Freezing cold? Yeah I am.”

 

“Oh.” Keith looks at him, preparing to tell him about his dilemma. He doesn’t really know how to say it though.

 

“Somethings happening…to me. “

 

“You're really hot.” Lance says. If Keith wasn’t already red in the face, he would be right now.

 

“W-What?”

 

“I can feel it radiating from your room. That's why I came over here. It’s warm.” Lance looks down at him.

 

“Right..”

 

“I think its the gift.” Lance says. “It’s developing in our bodies after Ah’xya’s video.”

 

“Well…do you want to come in?” Keith offers putting a hand in his hair. He is now fully aware of his half-naked, very damp body. But Lance nods anyway and shuffles into his room to sit on his bed. Keith can see him shiver slightly from the temperature change. 

 

Keith goes to sit next him. He can feel the coldness coming from Lance and it feels great.

 

“What happens from here?” Keith asks Lance knowing he doesn’t have the answers. Lance stares ahead.

 

“Well, it hasn’t affected me much other than making me freezing cold. But…it seems to have affected you.” He points towards the bathroom. The towel that had caught fire sits in the doorway.

 

“I-.” He doesn’t even know what to say. He doesn’t want to believe that he is capable of now setting things on fire just with his hands. He doesn’t think he can believe even if he wanted to but there was no other explanation. 

 

“Fire huh…” Lance mutters. Keith realized the tempture in the room and his body have evened out. Not too hot, not too cold. Because of Lance’s presence.

 

“Are you tired?” Keith questions. Lance looks over at him.

 

“I mean, you can stay here if you want. J-just to even out the temperature, obviously. But you can stay…if you want.” Lance looks at him for a second before smiling and nodding. Keith rarely sees Lance so calm. Like he’s thinking distantly.

 

Lance sets up his pallet on the floor with extra blankets and a pillow from his own room. As the two settle in, Keith cant help but i wish Lance was bit closer, even though he was right next to his bed and Keith could touch his face just by reaching out.

 

“Do you think this is happening to the others?” Lance pipes up.

 

“I’m sure they’ll tell us tomorrow. Get some sleep Lance.”

 

With that. The two drift off to sleep.

Chapter 3: three.

Summary:

“Well usually my room isn’t covered in moss, weeds, and small trees! Look!” She points to the top of her head where a small plant had sprouted. Lance had to hold back from laughing at her as he gawks in disbelief.

 

“Thats…interesting.”

 

“It’s annoying.” She quickly plucks it from her head.

Notes:

Short chapter today! Still dont have this on a schedule but we’re in this together! I’m glad so many of you guys are enjoying this!

I have a few chapters already written but I’m writing this as I go, so if anyone has any ideas or critiques, I’m all ears <333 keep those comments comin😍

Lance left Keith’s room before he woke up. Last night was weird. He woke up freezing cold and on the verge of an anxiety attack. He didn’t know where he was for a second and he was freaking. And the first person he thought of was Keith. He didn’t know why, he just figured it was because he was the closest person to him.

 

But he woke up this morning feeling better, he was scared that leaving Keith's side would cause another cold spike, but as he walked through the castle he continued to feel normal. 

 

It was later than the usual time that the princess usually woke them up, roughly 10 am. He heads through the castle to find literally anyone else, curious to know if they went through anything similar to him and Keith.

 

He enters the main deck and sees the rest of the team standing around, discussing something.

 

“What’s going on?” Lance interrupts.

 

“What’s going on? What’s not going on, Lance.” Pidge turns to him, angry. “Your little alien friend cursed us. I woke up and my room was a jungle!”

 

“Your room is usually a jungle.” Lance mutters taking a seat in his spot.

 

“Well usually my room isn’t covered in moss, weeds, and small trees! Look!” She points to the top of her head where a small plant had sprouted. Lance had to hold back from laughing at her as he gawks in disbelief.

 

“Thats…interesting.” 

 

“It’s annoying.” She quickly plucks it from her head.

 

“If you think that’s interesting, guess what happened to me.” Hunk slides a hand down his face. “It was strangely windy in my room and I assumed there was something wrong with the ventilation system. Before I could even leave my room to go check it out, the wind got stronger and before I knew it, my room turned into a tornado. I couldn’t get it to stop so I just ran out of my room.”

 

“This is getting pretty serious, if you ask me.” Coran mumbles. “Nothing has happened to the princess or I. What about you, Lance?”

 

“Other than being freezing cold last night, I’ve been fine.”

 

“Hmm.” The princess hums. “What about Keith?” 

 

“What about setting things on fire with my bare hands?” Keith struts into the room. Lance glances up at him, remembering their night last night, the burnt towel on the ground.

 

“Fire…?” Allura mutters as if trying to figure something out.

 

“What about you, Shiro?” Lance asks.

 

“Welp, I fell asleep in my bed last night and woke up on the kitchen counter. You can do the math.”

 

“Okay, Allura, what happens now? We have no control over whatever is happening. This could negatively affect the war if Voltron isn’t available.” Hunk voices his distress.

 

“No kidding,” Pidge retorts. “Imagine Shiro accidentally teleports himself in the middle of space in his sleep, or Keith sets something or someone on fire. Hunk making catastrophic windstorms or I make inescapable jungles.”

 

Lance ignores the fact that he wasn’t listed there. Or was grateful he should say. It wouldn’t be too much of a shock if he didn’t even actually get an ability, his friends actually deserve it.

 

“Coran and I are doing what we can to find any help around the universe from allies.”

 

“This may go beyond allies, Allura. We need someone who knows what they’re dealing with.” Shiro says, crossing his arms. Allura stares at him for a second.

 

“We’ll spread the search further. But we have to keep this under wraps as much as we can. The Galra are still searching for us.” The team nods.

 

“This is no time for slacking though. Team training in twenty…minutes.” Allura concurs.

 

 

Lance walks back to his room by himself. Skipping breakfast probably isn’t the best idea but he really wasn’t hungry. He shuts his door behind him and looks down at his hands. He doesn’t know what he can do, if he can do anything at all. Maybe it has something to do with water? He’s noticed the elemental power, plus whatever Shiro has, on the team.

 

He takes a cup from off his dresser and fills it with water from his bathroom faucet. setting it on the desk, he just stares at it for a second. what was he really planning on doing here? He lifts his hands above the cup and closes his eyes. He wills something to happen. Anything. He thinks desperately, not wanting to be left behind, the odd one out on the team. More out of place than he already is.

 

When he opens his eyes, the cup of water sits there and stares back at him, seemingly untouched. He sighs and lays down on his bed. His chest didn’t feel quite right and he felt the heartbeat that resides there. This whole situation has got his anxiety acting up. He decides to ignore it for now and get up and ready for training. He had to work harder from now on if he wanted to keep his spot on Voltron.

Chapter 4: four.

Summary:

“No, I talk to her, you know, like a conversation? I know you haven’t had many of those before-“

“Wait, so she actually talks back? I thought you were joking about that.”

“Does your lion not talk?” Lance tilts his head slightly and Keith follows the movement.

Notes:

I’m trying to write chapters in advance and make a schedule but i’m so excited for you guys to read it I cant NOT post the chapter.

I just started writing chapter 6 and I think yall are gonna love this chapter! very fluffy <33

They got through training without too many incidents. Pidge couldn’t keep that plant from sprouting from the top of her head. At one point Lance had giggled at it which resulted in an angry Pidge and a giant tree growing in the middle of the training room. Allura ended training early.

 

For lunch, Hunk made them food as usual. He got a bit too excited about them trying and caused a slight wind change in the room, blowing the food all over them and on the ground. They had granola bars for lunch.

 

The next day brought news. As they all settled in their designated spots on the main deck, Lance almost couldn’t contain his curiosity of whatever Allura and Coran had found. Allura had a small smile on her lips which gave Lance hope.

 

“Paladins!” Allura announces. “We have an update on our search for answers.” 

 

“Though we couldn’t find anything on the species that gave you guys this ability,” Coran pipes in. “We found a species that could give us an insight on the abilities themselves.”

 

“We must remember paladins, we are on the run from the Galra. And I don’t want another innocent planet being in the middle of our battle. We’ll keep your lions in the castle, along with your suits. On this planet, we’re just traveling aliens. Got it?” The team nods.

 

“The air is perfectly breathable and we have translators separate from your helmets.”

 

“We’ll be there by tomorrow morning. Be ready.” Allura finishes, dismissing them. Lance sighs. He’s happy mostly, but he’s also slightly disappointed that he hasn’t developed any powers yet. As his friends get stronger, he stays the same. He decides to go talk to Blue about it.

 

Entering his hangar, Blue welcomes him with a warm feeling in contrast to what he’s been feeling lately. Both physically and mentally. It eases his anxiety.

 

“Hey girl.” He greets back. She lets down her partical barrier to let him closer. He opts to sit under her chest, next to her paw. 

 

You feel left behind. She says in his mind.

 

“Yep. Nothing too unusual.” He sighs, leaning against her paw. “There’s always something…making me the odd one out. I’m too slow, I’m too loud, I’m in the way. I just…want something to belong to me. If that makes sense.”

 

I feel what you feel, of course it makes sense. She chuckles.

 

He laughs weakly back. “It’s weird because I hold the gift yet everyone but me got it, you know? I don’t even think they think I deserve it.”

 

I feel it inside of you, even if you do not. It’s a part of your soul now, connected deeper than anyone else. Your time will come. She purrs.

 

“Yeah, I just wish-“ He gets cut off by footsteps. 

 

“Lance?” A voice calls.

 

“Oh…Keith.” Keith steps into his view. “What uh- what’re you doing here?” Lance asks awkwardly. He and Keith were never quite close. They were complete opposites really. It wasn’t until the night they spent together did they really ever form any type of connection. He couldn’t understand why he kept feeling drawn to him and it was clearly mutual.

 

“Oh uh…I was just looking for you I guess.” He furrows his eyebrows as if he didn’t know what he was doing either. Blue giggles in his head.

 

Your connection to the gift came with a thread. She retorts. Lance didn’t understand what that meant so he decided not to answer.

 

“Who were you talking to?” Keith keeps talking. Lance furrows his eyebrows. This question again.

 

“Blue. Who else would I be talking to?” He says as if it was obvious.

 

“So, you rant to your lion?” Keith asks, seated near Lance. Lance decides not to ask why he’s talking to him, not minding his presence.

 

“No, I talk to her, you know, like a conversation? I know you haven’t had many of those before-“

 

“Wait, so she actually talks back? I thought you were joking about that.”

 

“Does your lion not talk?” Lance tilts his head slightly and Keith follows the movement.

 

“No…she communicates completely through emotions. She doesn’t actually say any words.”

 

“Ah..” Lance nods.

 

“…What is she saying right now?” Lance looks up at his lion, expectedly.

 

“Uh, she’s talking about threads or something.” Lance shrugs. “Something about how the gift has threads yada yada.”

 

“Do you think she knows anything about the gift?”

 

“Other than it being ‘connected to my soul’, no. Apparently she can feel it.” Lance looks up at Keith.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lance asks. Keith had a weird admiration on his face. He quickly snaps out of it.

 

“Oh-uh. It’s just weird…knowing that she can talk to you. I mean- it's amazing…really.” Lance stares at him, not knowing how to feel about this odd interaction. Lance decides to change the subject.

 

“Are you a ravenclaw?” Keith pauses at the question, a little taken aback from the change of topic.

 

“A what-?”

 

“Actually no, you give me more slytherin vibes.”

 

“Okay…What is that?” Lance looks him in the eyes.

 

“You know. Harry Potter?” Lance tries. Keith shakes his head a bit, face completely blank.

 

“Oh my god Keith. How have you never watched Harry Potter?”

 

“I grew up in the middle of a desert.”

 

“Well, I knew that, but I didn’t know you were deprived as a child.” Keith shrugs.

 

“You know what a tv is right?” Lance questions dumbly. Keith gives him that same blank stare.

 

“What? Keith-!” Keith then cracks a smile at him. Lance falters a bit.

 

“…A joke. You told a joke.” Lance cracks his own smile as Keith laughs a bit.

 

“Lance, we literally have like ten tv’s just in the sitting room.” Lance rolls his eyes.

 

“Yeah but you never go in there for movie nights.”

 

“Probably because all the movies are in Altean.”

 

“Thats what makes it great. Trying to figure out what it’s about and who’s the closest to guessing right.”

 

“Hm. Maybe I should try it out sometime.” Keith gives him a look that he can’t quite decipher before quickly snapping out of it and standing up.

 

“Well- I uh should get going. Got…stuff.” He walks away before Lance could say anything.

 

“Right…” He mutters. He looks up at Blue as if trying to find the answers to whatever the heck just happened.

 

Patience my paladin. Is all she says. He sighs and says his goodbyes to Blue. He heads back to his room to get mentally prepared for tomorrow.

Notes:

I might make some fanart for this story so follow my instagram if you want to see or if you want to send in your own art <33

@baked_gay on instagram

Chapter 5: five.

Summary:

“That is not why we are here. Stay focused Lance, for once.” Lance tried not to be hurt about that and ignored that Keith was getting overly irritated over a wink.

 

“Plus you don’t know the gender of the aliens. You could be flirting with a dude.” Keith continued, flushing slightly. Lance raised an eyebrow.

 

“So?” Keith gaped at him for a second.

 

“…So? Lance are you-“

Notes:

Started writing chapter 7 so here’s chapter 5!! Enjoyy!

I would love to hear any ideas or theories yall have in the comments!!

The whole team stands on the main deck, finally arriving at this mystery planet, dressed in casual wear. Lance wears his favorite blue hoodie with a white shirt underneath, and a pair of khaki shorts.

 

“Okay, paladins, once we land the castle will go back into orbit until we bring it back down once we’re ready to leave. So, any belongings you think you’ll need, make sure to bring with you.” Allura says. She wore a simple blue and pink dress and had her hair in a ponytail behind her head.

 

Lance had a backpack full of his clothes since they didn’t know how long they were going to be there. It also held his journal, nail polish, his facial care and his toothbrush. He thinks he got everything he needed and was ready for whatever adventure awaited.

 

The castle landed in the middle of a busy city, a spot big enough to fit it, and Lance felt a spike of nerves shoot through him. He didn’t quite know what he was nervous about though. The team heads to the front gates of the castle ready to step out onto the new planet.

 

“Hey bud,” Hunk says to him. He looks over at his best friend. “Are you excited? Because I’m like totally  pumped. It’d be totally awesome if they could teach us to control these powers. It’d be a real turning point for this war. And then we get to go home-“ He stopped talking, noticing the look on Lance's face. “And obviously I hope they can unlock your power, obviously. I bet you have the best one. Maybe that’s why it’s taking this long to manifest and then…” Lance stops listening. 

 

He thought about this trip long and hard. The aliens they were coming to meet didn’t know much about Ah’xya’s species either but said they could give some insight on the abilities developing in their bodies as well as a way to control them if this does last forever.

 

Or, well, the rest of the team will be learning. Lance would have to hang back. The powers that resided in his friends evolved every hour, getting stronger and more prominent. More obvious. But Lance hadn’t discovered any powers of his own. It was like the universe was quite literally saying ‘fuck you’.

 

Keith had learned to make the fire dance around his fingers, but couldn’t quite keep it there or figure out how to make the fire go out without dousing himself in water. Pidge could now make small plants grow wherever she wanted, but whenever she grew the wrong plant and got frustrated, the castle earned itself a new forest. Hunk can make small tornadoes on his palm. But if he gets a bit excited about said tornadoes…well lets just say Lance's room is in shambles. And Shiro can now teleport a couple of feet away from the spot he’s in, but whenever he’s practicing he keeps his helmet on because of the fear of accidentally teleporting into the middle of space.

 

That all happened within the last day and a half. And not even a drop of power came out of Lance. He keeps telling himself to be patient, it’ll come soon. But he’s losing hope as fast as his friends develop their powers.

 

The planet they were on was named Glas (glase). It was predominantly water and plants and it was gorgeous. The perfect futuristic oasis you could think of. The intelligent species that resided there were called the Glasyons (Glase-sions). They were a beautiful species, resembling humans in a way, with differing patterns on their dark skin and an extra set of arms and eyes.

 

“Does everyone have their translators?” Allura asks the team. They all nodded after checking the small black objects in their ears. She nods back and opens the great double doors to the castle to reveal the city. People bustled around the beautiful building, not minding them too much other than a cheerful wave every once in a while.

 

“Welcome travelers!” A voice boomed. Lance turns his head away from the citizens to the owner of the voice. It was a tall Glasyon with long white hair that rebelled Allura’s. He couldn’t quite tell if they were male or female but he figured this species wasn’t separated too much by gender.

 

“I am E’hop, the royal chamberlain.” The alien said to them. There was a weird noise that took place when they said their name where it didn’t quite translate to any language Lance understood. But it sounded like ‘Up’ so that’s what he decided to call them.

 

“It is lovely to meet you.” Allura says, bowing. “Thank you for having us on your planet. You have no idea how this will help us.” E’hop bows back with a smile.

 

“It is no problem. Anyone who comes in peace is allowed to reside on Glas. Let me show you the way to the castle, the Queen would like to see you at this time.” E’hop leads them to some type of hover craft, and they all pile in. Lance watches as the castle autopilots itself back into space, leaving the team behind until they’re ready to leave.

 

“So, E’hop, tell us,” Pidge pipes up with a questioning look in her eyes as she studies the alien. “What all do you know about this remote alien species?”

 

E’hop shows no emotion as they answer the question. “About next to nothing. Which is way more than anyone else knows. The abilities they possessed were beyond any species. They were capable of almost anything. And they knew that not all species were as compassionate or empathetic as they are, and they knew the gift could be stolen from them. So they shut themselves off from the universe. But Glas hears just about anything about everything. We are known for collecting the smallest pieces of information and passing it to the next generation.

 

“I am interested in knowing how you, simple travelers, obtained the gift. And to know what happened to the species themselves. But all in time. You will learn more from the Queen.”

 

“Ooo! I’m excited to meet a queen.” Lance parades.

 

“Lets keep it professional lance. No flirting with any aliens on this planet. This is important.” Shiro shakes his head.

 

“Hey, I never said anything about flirting. It’s not my fault if an intergalactic woman can't resist my charm.”

 

“They do nothing but resist, Lance.” Pidge hums.

 

“Oh haha.” Lance rolls his eyes. He doesn’t think he’s ever actually flirted with an alien before other than Allura when he first saw her. But other than winks, finger guns, and kissy faces, he’s never actually flirtatiously talked to an alien, contrary to popular belief.

 

“We are almost there! You will love the palace!” E’hop claps all four of their hands. Lance glanced out the windshield over the hovercraft. They were approaching a huge tree, bigger than any building or tree he’s ever seen before, that outlooked an ocean. Like a treehouse, the Castle was built into the tree, each branch holding a different wing, and a village surrounded the bottom of the tree.

 

“Holy quiznack!” Hunk gasped.

 

“Language.” Coran muttered, also a disbelieving look in his face. The paladins sat flabbergasted at the size and beauty of the castle. Out of all of the planets they have ever visited, Lance thinks this one may be his favorite. Not only is the architecture amazing, but the planet had multiple beautiful oceans that stretched far and wide and had beautiful teal color naturally just like the lagoons on Earth.

 

The hovercraft pulls itself into the small village that surrounds the tree castle. The buildings here weren’t as fancy as the ones that were in the city, but like the castle, they were built from roots and trees. The roads were bricked up with some type of green material and it distantly reminded Lance of The wizard of Oz.

 

The hovercraft pulled up right next to the stairs that led up to the castle. Lance found himself being excited to see the inside of the castle and to meet the queen. He could feel the excitement in the craft from his friends as well. They all climbed out of the craft behind E’hop who clapped their hands together at the sight of the castle.

 

“I love it more each time I see it!” The alien yapped. E’hop led the group up the stairs and into the castle. Lance couldn't help the anxiety that ran through his body and he couldn’t really say why. He was distracted from it once they entered the castle.

 

“Holy quiznak!” He yelled. No one shushed him as they were in awe themselves. The castle looked bigger on the inside than the outside. A mixture between a marble type material and plants and roots.

 

“This is absolutely wonderful.” Allura says to E’hop. They nod.

 

“This tree has stood for more than 50,000 years, nurtured and protected by my people. The castle was built slowly in those years and it seems to help the tree grow rather than destroy it.”

 

Allura nods along as E’hop gives a history lesson on their architecture. Lance takes in a bit more of the castle as they are led to the throne room to meet the queen. And as beautiful as the castle was, he finds his eyes landing on Keith. He felt the urge to talk to him.

 

“How crazy is this?” Lance asks the other. Keith turns to him on slight shock, but doesn’t tell him to fuck off.

 

“Uh- yeah. It’s nothing like I’ve seen before. Probably will never see something as beautiful again.” Keith admits. Lance decides against saying what he was initially going to say to that.

 

“Exactly, and the fact that we get to stay here for however long…wonder how many more beautiful aliens they got here.” Lance says winking at a Glasyon that walks by. It probably wasn’t the best thing to say to Keith of all people because he gives him a look, like he’s tired of this conversation and his whole tone changes.

 

“That is not why we are here. Stay focused Lance, for once.” Lance tried not to be hurt about that and ignored that Keith was getting overly irritated over a wink.

 

“Plus you don’t know the gender of the aliens. You could be flirting with a dude.” Keith continued, flushing slightly. Lance raised an eyebrow.

 

“So?” Keith gaped at him for a second.

 

“…So? Lance are you-“ 

 

“We’re here!” E’hop interrupts Keith’s sentence. They stood in a hallway in front of huge double doors. Twice the size of anyone there.

 

“The queen and the queens council will meet with you and figure out if they can help you control your abilities. If they can't, you are welcome to go home, and if they can, we invite you to stay in the palace.” E’hop bows to them and they all bow back. Without any more conversation, the double doors swing open revealing the throne room. 

 

The Queen stands on the other end of the walkway, dark skin and big curly gold hair. She was taller than the average human and had a third set of arms and eyes. Her council sat on either side of her throne, all clearly a bit older than she was.

 

“Welcome travelers!” She greets the Paladins. The paladins get to a respectful distance from her and bow to greet her.

 

“Thank you for having us, your highness.” Allura says to her.

 

“Oh please just call me Nisa (Nissa). It is my name after all.” She smiles at them. Lance smiles back as the Queen's eyes land on him for a second. She squints slightly with her main pair of eyes and then turns back to Allura.

 

“Okay, fill me in on what is going on with you and your friends.” Nisa sits back down on her throne as Allura starts to speak.

 

“Well we were traveling the galaxy, as we do, and we stumbled across a small planet that was being blown to pieces." Allura lies slightly to not reveal Voltron's identity. She retells the story of them and Ah’xya and how these abilities have been amplifying throughout each day.

 

“And all of you have these abilities, correct?” Nisa asks.

 

“Well other than me and Coran…and Lance.” Allura states. Nisa turns to look at him, somehow knowing he was Lance. He glanced away awkwardly as she studied him. 

 

“Yet he holds the gift?” 

 

“…yes.” The council members whisper around them.

 

“Is this bad?” Allura asks the queen.

 

“Not bad per say. Listen, the species you came across is not born with that power, it has to be passed down to them from an elder who is about to die. That's the only way to receive the gift, and then say the name of the one that gave it to you. And the children of this species that get a gift but it doesn’t manifest almost immediately…well…” Nisa doesn’t finish.

 

“It’s nothing to worry about I’m sure.” Nisa smiles calmly. “Since you guys are…humans, it is hard to say what is going to happen. It is also possible he just didn’t get an ability. Are you evil?” Nisa asks Lance casually.

 

“Um- no, I don't think so?” Lance was confused.

 

Nisa raises an eyebrow. “Huh.”

 

“What?” Allura seems a little bit more frantic for answers.

 

“The gift is able to read what type of person you are, through your quintessence. I don’t see a reason why he shouldn’t have gotten a gift, unless he was Zarkon himself.” 

 

The whole team flinched at the mention of his name. Nisa gives them a look.

 

“Hmm, an interesting case.” She smiles widely. “Very well, we’ll take you in and see how we can help. Guards! E’hop! Show them to their rooms.”

 

E’hop rushes in, excited to show them their rooms. Lance glances back at the queen to find her already looking at him, smile disappearing.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

If you make any fanart I would LOVE to see it!! Send it to me!!

@baked_gay on instagram <33

Chapter 6: six.

Summary:

“Wait, look.” Lance whispers. Keith pauses watching their hands. The flame doesn’t spread to Lance at all, it stays where it's at in Keith’s palm.

 

“It doesn’t hurt.” Lance explains.

Notes:

Cute chapter today, the calm before the storm. We’re really about to get into it, so enjoy the cuteness for as long as possible.

I know this is chapter 6 but I sincerely apologize for chapter 7…

E’hop leads them to the right wing of the castle which was nestled inside of the huge branches of the tree. The paladins walked in silence trying to wrap their hands around anything and everything, as E’hop yapped about the type of rooms they had and how having rooms in the branches affected the tree.

 

“Okay hold on,” Pidge says, sighing, “We can’t just ignore Nissa’s reaction when we told her Lance didn’t get an ability. Right? I mean it sounds like something really bad could happen.”

 

“I thought the same thing,” Hunk says. “But if something really were to happen, whatever it is, wouldn’t she be a lot more worried?”

 

“E’hop? Do you have any insight?” Alurra asks them. E’hop glances back at them. 

 

“For the first time since you guys got here, I don’t have the answer. Our queen and the council know the most about this species, wanting to keep them as secret as possible. I don’t even know the name of the planet.” E’hop looks conflicted about not knowing something. 

 

It was weird hearing everyone talk about him as if he wasn’t right there. He realized he hadn’t talked in a while since he was thinking about the look that the Queen gave him and what she had said. Or what she implied. Was there something wrong with him? Was his quintessence too negative to carry this gift? He decided to just leave those questions for later.

 

“Alright, we’re almost there, travelers. There are only two rooms that we have available and one suite styled room that can fit three. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out who you’re rooming with.” E’hop explains, leading them down the last hallway.

 

Lance panics a tad bit before turning to Hunk. “Hey, who are you rooming with?” Lance expected him to say, ‘You, duh! We’ve been friends for 5 years, who else would I pick?’. Instead he gave Lance a small smile.

 

“Pidge. We’re going to work on some new cloaking codes and she’s gonna try to make me a chia pet.” Hunk laughs. Lance chuckles weakly next to him. Anxiety hits him a bit harder than it should’ve. Who was he gonna room with now? He can just picture the awkwardness if he and Shiro had to room together, and he could feel Allura’s annoyance if he had to room with her. Coran would probably be the best choice in this situation, but he usually made sure he roomed with Allura. The last choice would be…

 

“Lance?” Keith interrupts his thoughts. He looks Keith in the eyes, surprised.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I don’t know if you were paying attention, but Coran, Allura, and Shiro are taking the suite, leaving us with the last room.”

 

“Oh.” Lance hesitates. “Yeah. Okay.” Lance didn’t know if this was a good thing or not. He and Keith aren’t the closest and it could lead to awkward situations but on the other hand, he has the urge to get to know him better.

 

He follows Keith into their room. Upon arrival, Lance gasped. The room was straight out of a fairytale. A waterfall came down one side of the walls and into a small pond that went underneath the floor. The room was lit with candles, small lightning bugs, and a glowy substance that stuck to the walls. There were two beds in the room, the frames hand carved, both had dressers next to them. They were on opposite sides of the room so things shouldn’t be too awkward, Lance thought.

 

“Okay. Which bed do you want?” Keith asks Lance.

 

“Um, the one by the waterfall, duh.” He responds, running over to the bed and hopping on. He sighs in content.

 

“Can we just forget about Voltron and just stay here forever?” Lance asks no one but himself. 

 

“If we forget about Voltron, there won’t be a ‘forever’.” Keith reminds him. Lance groans, sitting up to look up at him. Keith was stuffing his stuff in the drawers next to his bed, not paying any mind to Lance. Lance was curious about something. He had never seen Keith use his ability yet.

 

Throwing his backpack on the ground, he stalks over to Keith’s bed and makes himself at home there. Keith turns to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Whatcha doin?” Keith says.

 

“You should show me your fire.”

 

“Why are you on my bed?”

 

“C’mon Keith! We could be here for only gods know how long. You better be prepared to have the longest sleepover with me.” Lance smirks. Keith rolls his eyes. “Yay.”

 

“Why do you want to see my fire anyway?” Keith asks the boy on his bed, sitting down next to him.

 

“Just curious, y’know. As a powerless, you should take pity on me and do what I say.” Keith cracks a small smile.

 

“Would that shut you up and get you out of my bed?”

 

“Precisely.” Keith rolls his eyes at Lance’s antics and opens his palm.

 

“If I burn this whole tree down, I’m telling them it was you.” Lance nods, half-heartedly listening as he stares at Keith’s palm. Keith sighs before a small flame shows up in his palm. Lance gasped and cracked a smile at Keith.

 

“That’s awesome.” The flame danced around Keith’s fingers.

 

“Um, I still don’t know how to put it out. I usually just douse my hands in water. Also-“ Lance stops listening to him. Rude, he knows. But there was just something about the flame. Keith’s powers didn’t make him feel jealous like when he watched anyone else use theirs. He felt drawn. Quite literally like a moth drawn to a flame.

 

Without thinking much about it, he reaches out and touches the flame. 

 

“Lance-!” He tries to pull away, but Lance grabs his shoulder.

 

“Wait, look.” Lance whispers. Keith pauses watching their hands. The flame doesn’t spread to Lance at all, it stays where it's at in Keith’s palm.

 

“It doesn’t hurt.” Lance explains.

 

“How?” Lance didn’t say anything, because he didn’t know. He cups his hand in Keith’s, and the flame goes out with a sizzle. Keith looks over at him. He stared in disbelief for a second before furrowing his eyebrows.

 

“You’re freezing cold.” This statement reminded Lance of the first night they ever spent together. It also made him realize he was in Keith’s bed, holding his hand, and looking into his eyes.

 

Lance stands up as fast as he can, ripping his hands from Keith’s causing the other boy to jump back slightly. 

 

“You’re right! I am cold. And a bit tired. Maybe I should go to bed.” He doesn’t wait for Keith to say anything before he’s in his own bed, covered up.

 

“…Okay.” He hears Keith say.

 

Lance wants to bang his head against the wall

Notes:

@baked_gay on instagram!!

Chapter 7: seven.

Summary:

“You are not powerless. Quite the opposite, I fear.”

 

“You fear?”

Notes:

This is my favorite chapter! If yall have any questions dont be afraid to ask! I feel like I haven’t explained everything very well, but I’ll try my best! We’re in this together yall.

I apologize for the following chapter in advance lol.

After a whole night of not talking much more to Keith, Lance finally leaves the room the next morning. Everything that’s happening right now is overwhelming him and he wishes he had blue to talk to.

 

He finds E’hop a few hallways down from his room.

 

“Ah! E’hop!” The Glasyon looks up and smiles at him.

 

“Ah! Blue one!” Lance hoped that they called him that because of the blue shirt he had on.

 

“Hey bud. Where can a man get some breakfast around here?”

 

“Oh! Your friends went down already, did they not wake you?” Lance’s face dropped slightly. He noticed Keith had left the room, but he didn’t know they all left without him.

 

“Oh- no. We have different schedules and all, y’know, because I’m normal.” E’hop frowns at him, obviously seeing through his persona.

 

“Normal? You should be on the same schedule as them, with or without an ability. Here, let’s grab some breakfast on the way down to the training room. You have to learn too.” Lance was grateful for the alien.

 

E’hop lead him to the dining hall where they had breakfast ready for everyone who lived in the castle.

 

“Has any sign of an ability manifesting in you shown up?” E’hop questions, trying to make conversation.

 

“I mean…” He thought about last night, putting Keiths flames out.

 

“Nothing consistent.” He decides to say.

 

“That is proof that you are not powerless, you hold the gift.”

 

“Might as well be.” E’hop makes a noise similar to a sigh. After they grab their breakfast, E’hop leads them down multiple hallways and stairs before they enter the training room. And just like with everything else in the castle, Lance is in awe. It was huge, the ceiling as high as the stadiums back on Earth. Equipment hangs from every wall and there were plenty of courses stretching throughout it. Lance noticed the queen watching the paladins closely as they were lined up on a mat. Queen Nisa catches his movement from the corner of her eye.

 

“Lance. Glad you could join us.” She studied him, motioning him over to the rest of the group. He felt slightly uncomfortable under her eyes as he joined the line standing next to Keith. He did not know she would be so involved with their training or he would have prepared more.

 

“Now, travelers, as I was saying,” Queen Nisa continued. “The gift is attached to your quintessence, reading you and amplifying your personality. Which you all had exhibited earlier.” Lance didn’t really know what was being said right now, but he tried to follow along.

 

“Pidge, you're at your strongest when you’re frustrated. Usually you can create a couple plants, but with frustration you can create forests and control what grows, when it grows, and how much it grows. Because frustration is your strongest emotion, you feel it the most.” It was starting to make more sense to Lance.

 

“That makes sense! Hunk’s is excitement and Shiro’s is determination!” Pidge recites.

 

“Exactly. The sooner you figure out what your  strongest emotions are, the better chance we’ll have of channeling that so you can use your ability at your will.” Lance thinks for a second. He doesn’t know what his strongest is, he often felt nothing really. He wanted to feel how he acted, but there was no name for the emotion he feels, especially lately.

 

Lance turns to Keith, totally forgetting about the awkward moment from last night.

 

“What do you think your emotion is, Sumarai?”

 

“I have no idea. Maybe confusion?” His face scrunches up in confusion as if to try to prove his point. Lance laughs at him and tries something bold.

 

“You’re way too pretty to be making that face.” Keith shoots him a look of surprise before quite literally bursting into flames.

 

“W-what?” Keith burns. Literally.

 

“Keith! You’re on fire!” Shiro yells, pulling Nisa to a safe distance away from him. The others scramble away in a hurry.

 

“Thanks captain obvious!” Pidge screeches.

 

Lance stays put, next to Keith’s side. He figured it out.

 

“You’re flustered.” Lance states. Keith glares at him, trying to shake the flames away. The heat didn’t hurt Lance. A couple of guards rush in with buckets of water ready to put Keith out.

 

“Wait!” The Queen yells before any water is dumped. “He needs to learn to put himself out. Focus Keith. Control whatever emotion you're feeling right now.”

 

It took a couple seconds, but soon enough Keith was no longer on fire. His skin still emitted smoke and he was hot to be around, but no actual flames escaped his body.

 

“Okay, what emotion are we working with Keith?” Nisa asked. Keith was still red around the ears and he had his hand covering half his face as he thought.

 

“Agitation.” He deadpanned. The Queen nodded, and blinked.

 

“Right.”

 

 

 

A couple of hours later, they were nearing the end of today’s training. Lance sat in the corner, watching as his friends learned to control their abilities. They were coming along nicely, almost in complete control as they figured out their main emotion. 

 

“Alright team,” Shiro announces, “That’s enough for right now. Let’s get some lunch.” Lance gets up and starts to follow them at a distance.

 

“Lance.” A voice says ominously. He turns to see the Queen and all her glory.

 

“Nisa.” Lance bows lightly.

 

“Stay with me for a second.” Lance nods in confusion. What could she possibly want from him? She turns from him, walking away slowly.

 

“You are not powerless. Quite the opposite, I fear.”

 

“You fear?”

 

“What I was saying when you first showed up…I didn’t want to send your friends into a panic or have them fear you.”

 

“Where is this going?” Lance muttered, wanting answers. A pang of anxiety ignited in his stomach.

 

“It’s rare. It never happens. My people call them Tántán. A malfunction, an anomaly when given the gift.”

 

“What?” Lance is trying to wrap his head around what was being told to him.

 

“They’ve destroyed planets, Lance. They’re powerful. Too powerful, it slowly consumes them and kills everything around them. We believe you are Tántán.”

 

Lance shakes his head. How could he trust what she’s saying? Is this a trick? What did he do wrong to deserve this if it is true?

 

“No. No, that can’t be right-“ Everything was overwhelming and he could feel his heart pumping unnaturally in his chest. The Queen turned to look him in his eyes.

 

“There’s a way to get rid of it before it consumes you, Lance.”

 

“What- get rid of-“ He felt like he was being interrogated. “What about my friends?”

 

“The gift will be extracted from them. You guys will be able to go back to your normal lives. Just let me help you give up the gift. Give it to me.” Nisa stepped closer to him desperately. Lance took a step back. He shook his head. Even through the jealousy of not having an ability of his own, he knew that this could be a turning point for Voltron, his friends could finally go home if they won. Plus Ah’xya gave him the gift. Not Allura, not Shiro, not Hunk. Him. He couldn’t let her death go to waste, or her planets’ sacrifice.

 

 “I can’t, I promised Ah’xya.”

 

“They almost killed us!” The Queen blurts, seeming agitated. “Thousands of years ago, a Tántán got away from their planet. Almost wiped out my entire species. We had to build everything from scratch. That’s why we know anything about them at all. They were a strong species. And you- you’re just human. You will not be able to control this.”

 

“That’s not for you to determine.” Lance fought against the fogginess in his head as his anxiety fought him.

 

“I am not dumb. We Glasyon’s are experts on reading people. You’re the odd one out, gift or not.” His whole body felt wrong as if her words were triggering everything. He felt confused.

 

“Lance, you are not good enough for this gift. You will kill all your friends and everything you love.”

 

“No.” His heart beat faster. Was he having a heart attack?

 

“Lance, listen-“

 

“No.” He backed up further from the Queen. He knows distantly what an anxiety attack feels like and he knows he should be trying to calm himself down, but he couldn’t think. It felt different from the other attacks he’s had, good in a way. He was letting himself get consumed by this feeling.

 

“You will give up the gift!” Nisa is yelling at this point.

 

“No!” Lance yells back. 

 

And it happens.

 

His sight darkens as he looks at the Queen. Her face goes from angry to fearful as she backs away a bit. He felt the cold in his fingertips. The frost started at his feet slowly and as it spread through the rest of the room it got faster. Spikes of ice shoot from the ground, encasing the room like an ice cave. The ice was pure white.

 

The Queen tries to back up again, but her feet and bottom of her dress are stuck to the floor and she falls backwards narrowly missing an ice shard through the shoulder.

 

“Lance, control yourself.” She gasps, breath coming out in puffs. She was shaking.

 

His ears were ringing and he couldn’t take it.

 

“No! I can’t! Everything is wrong!” He was spouting nonsense, but it’s the only way he could explain what he was feeling. He covers his ears to silence the noise. He could hear the Queen yelling for help, and the scurrying feet of people.

 

It was overwhelming, and he was cold. Where was the warmth?

 

Someone grabbed his shoulder and that was the tip of the iceberg.

 

He yelled out before there was nothing.

Notes:

Does the Queen have ill intentions or was this just a way to get Lance to unlock his powers?

@baked_gay on instagram <33

Chapter 8: eight.

Summary:

“This place is about to become a warzone team. The best thing to do is evacuate the town and call the castle back down. Refrain from using your powers.” Shiro shouted as they ran through the castle.

Notes:

I’m sorry for the wait, I start college next week and everything has been crazy. Not too many chapters left though! We’re almost there.

Lance sat up with a gasp, trying to get his bearings. His body felt like it was still pumping adrenaline. He frantically recalled the events that happened before he blacked out.

 

“Hey.” A voice said to him coming from next to his bed that he was currently on. He turns.

 

“Oh. Keith.” He tries to slow down his breathing. Keith looks at him with something like worry in his eyes. 

 

Lance remembers what happened vividly. The ice, the anxiety…the queen. He recalls their conversation, her trying to get him to give up and explaining what he is. An anomaly.

 

“Do you remember anything?” Keith asks him. He nods his head slowly.

 

“What happened, Lance?” Lance kept his answer simple.

 

“Panic attack.” Keith furrowed his eyes at him.

 

“I didn’t know you had those.”

 

“They’re never this bad. Easy to cover up for the most part.” He sighs heavily.

 

“You have powers. Ice.” Lance nods. If this was him three days ago, he would be jumping with joy. But this doesn’t feel like a victory, he feels destructive.

 

“It was nothing like I’ve seen before,” Keith continues. “The ice was pure white but black on the ends. And your eyes…they were glowing.” Lance frowned.

 

“If anything Queen Nisa said was true, then this is bad.”

 

“…What did she say to you?”

 

“I have to go talk to her.” He gets up out of his bed, Keith follows closely.

 

“Wait! Lance.” Lance stops. “I need to show you something first.”

 

 

Lance follows Keith through the castle.

 

“Where are the others?” He was kind of hurt when the rest of the team wasn’t there when he woke up.

 

“Trying to clean up our mess with the Queen.”

 

“Our mess?” Lance rolls his eyes. Keith stops and looks at him.

 

“Listen, we’re a team Lance. This is our mess now.” Lance nods at his determination wondering what caused Keith to have a change in attitude towards him.

 

They continue until their right outside the castle, at the bottom of the stairs.

 

“What are you trying to show me?” He asks Keith as he stops on the green bricked road.

 

“Something scary…but amazing really.” Keith turns and points back at the castle that they just exited. Lance gasped in horror. One side of the castle was frosted over, huge spikes of ice bursting out of it. Pure white and the tips black. It was huge. It could’ve been beautiful, but Lance was horrified.

 

“I did that?” 

 

“Yes. It is important to know what you’re capable of so we can try to control it.” Before it consumes me? Lance thought. He looks over at Keith.

 

“You sound like Shiro.” Keith rubs the back of his neck nervously.

 

“He may or may not have said those exact words.” Lance smiled at him. He was glad to have someone near, even if that someone was supposed to be his rival. It gave him a sense of determination to prove the Queen wrong as he looked at the ice.

 

“Let’s go see Nisa.”

 

 

 

They wandered back into the throne room where Keith said the rest of the team and Nisa will be, holding a council meeting.

 

Bursting through the door, Lance made his presence known. Everyone in the room turned to look at him and Keith.

 

“Lance. Good, I wanted to convene with you.” Nisa says.

 

“The feeling isn’t mutual.” Lance retorted rudely. The rest of his team looked at him in utter horror.

 

“Lance-“ Allura started.

 

“It’s okay.” Nisa says, standing from her throne. “What I did to him was disrespectful on many levels. Lance, I said what I said because your main emotion is anxiety. I was just trying to get the power to present itself.”

 

“And everything you said?”

 

“Anything I said about you personally was just an observation, not fact or opinion. Thats simply what you think of yourself. However, everything I said about tántán’s was true. And you saw it for yourself, I’m sure.” It was quiet in the throne room. Everyone had seen the destruction. 

 

“We are lucky no one was hurt…yet. I’m still encouraging you to give up the gift. There’s something in your body that amplifies it too much. Thats what makes you tántán.”

 

“Wait.” Allura interjects. “You said that you could get him in control, you never said anything about extracting the gift.” The Queen seemed to really get annoyed.

 

“It is all in good hands. If you’ll just agree-“

 

“No. And that’s final.” Lance stepped up. His friends needed this gift to win the war and Ah’xya trusted him with it. “If you want the gift you’re gonna have to pry it out of me.” The anxiety he felt from speaking up in a room full of people sprinkled down into his fingertips.

 

Nisa gave him a look of disapproval. “Fine.”

 

“Thank you for your hospitality Nisa, but we will be leaving as soon as possible.” Allura said diplomatically. The paladins turned away and headed for the door. Keith reached the handle first and pulled. The door didn’t budge.

 

“No, you wont be leaving.” They turn to look at Nisa.

 

“Open the door Nisa.” Lance said.

 

“I’ve done what I can to protect my people and my planet. Years and years of destruction, and finally we live in peace. The Galra gave us a trade. We can live in peace, in return, they get the Paladins of Voltron and the Gift of Aturaka.”

 

“What?” Allura yelled out. “How did you know-“

 

“You came to a planet known for their knowledge and didn’t think we’d recognize you? Come on Princess Allura.”

 

“Oh my god, we’ve been double crossed.” Lance mutters. Hunk gives him a look.

 

“It’s a shame your Altean.” Nisa continues. “The way your quintessence moves in your body won't allow for the gift to grow in you. But oh well, it would’ve made you guys more of a challenge.” Her once sweet voice sounded condescending now.

 

“Guys we’re probably gonna have to fight our way out of this.” Keith says quietly. 

 

“No duh.” Pidge rolls her eyes.

 

“Hunk, get the door on my go.” Keith continues.

 

“How? Do you expect me to bulldoze through it?”

 

“Hunk you’re literally a tornado. Yes, we expect you to bulldoze through it.” Lance mutters.

 

“Oh yeah.”

 

Nisa continued on her rant about her people and the Galra while Keith hatched up a small plan that he would fill Shiro, Allura, and Coran in on later.

 

“But the Galra are on their way to gather you and your lions, wherever they are. So might as well just sit patiently.” Nisa glares at them and then turns away to sit down.

 

“Now!” Keith yells. In a split second, the door was blown down with just a flick of Hunks wrist. Next, Pidge put her hands on the ground making it rumble a bit before vines exploded out of the ground. The swept the room chaotically before finding their targets. They grabbed Nisa and her council members, trapping them helplessly. Nisa screamed out as the team ran out of the room.

 

“They’re already coming! Please come back!” Nisa yelled. Lance almost stopped because of the tone in her voice but he kept going, not looking back.

 

“This place is about to become a warzone team. The best thing to do is evacuate the town and call the castle back down. Refrain from using your powers.” Shiro shouted as they ran through the castle.

 

“What? Shiro, did you see us? We have more control than we thought! Maybe we didn’t need training, we just needed time.” Pidge parades.

 

“We’ll continue this talk once we’re re in the castle.”

 

“I don’t know how possible that is!” Coran pipes up.

 

“What?”

 

“Something is interfering with the castle’s retrieval. I cant tell what it is.” He was typing away on a tablet.

 

“Maybe it’s that!” Hunk yells. They finally reached the doors to the castle and could see Galra aircrafts and ships entering the atmosphere.

 

“Okay, new plan team. Our lions are in the castle which we can’t get to right now, so we’re going to have to fight hand to hand. Allura, Coran, I need you two to get as many Glasyons out of here as possible. The rest of us split up. If the Galra want us they’re gonna have to fight us.” The team all nod to each other and exit the castle.

 

Shiro was gone in an instant, using his teleportation ability.

 

“Lance, come with me.” Lance turned to Keith. 

 

“Are you sure? I don’t have much control of my powers.” 

 

“I’m sure. I trust you.” Lance ignores the weird pitter patter of his heart and nods. Keith reached grabbing his hand, and they both ran towards the forest.

 

Notes:

Okayy…I’m thinking a Spiderman Au Lance centric as my next fic👁️👄👁️