Work Text:
Everyone was tired after the fight with Zarkon. The castle was in shambles, the lions had sustained damage, everyone was exhausted, and Shiro was missing. It had been a hard hit on everyone, but they can only move forward. Allura used the remaining of her power to wormhole into another side of the universe where they luckily found a folded time pocket that served as their hidden base in the meantime.
Allura, exhausted as she was, ordered everyone to get all the rest that they can so that they would have enough strength to work together and repair the castle. They did as asked and two quintants later, they were back and kicking. That was when Coran called a meeting in the main control room to discuss the damage of the castle and the materials needed to mend it.
“Alright, is everyone here?” Coran twirled one end of his mustache habitually after he scanned the room. “Number five? Where is our fine tech lady?”
“Wait, wait, I’m coming!” The doors parted open and Pidge dashed in with her laptop. “Sorry, I was doing repairs on Green.”
“Hey, Pidge, great to have you here!” Hunk greeted cheerfully but his eyes still looked bit tired. Then he frowned when he noticed that Pidge rubbed her eyes behind her glasses as she sat down on her control station. “Hey, did you get any sleep at all?”
“Yeah, I did.” Pidge nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
“Man, Pidge,” Lance spoke for the first time while he casually leaned back against his chair. “You need to start listening to advice and sleep or else you won’t get any taller.”
“Being short has its own perks.” Pidge’s tone held its own sass. “Like, I can easily reach it if I want to kick someone on the---“
“Okay.” Keith interrupted. He stood by the large window that overlooked the vast endlessness of space. “We get it. Now, can we please get on with this? The faster we’re done, the faster we can look for Shiro.”
Lance sighed but despite that, he held back his tongue and didn’t make any snappy comments because he knew what Shiro meant to Keith. It was no laughing matter that Keith lost the only person he had closest to family.
“Paladins, if we may begin?” Allura pursed her lips into a tight line and her eyes were serious. When she got nods from the team, she motioned for Coran to continue.
“Well, then,” the royal adviser cleared his throat. “As we all know, we took quite a hit in the last battle with Zarkon and the castled suffered a direct hit. The warp amplifiers aren’t quite working spiffily right now and as you all know, it took all the princess had to manually transfer most of her energy just to get the generators that power up the wormhole beams.
“Wait, so you’re saying we’re stuck in this time pocket?” Keith frowned deeply as he walked over to them from where he stood by the window. “Until the amplifiers are fixed?”
“We’re not exactly stuck, Keith.” Allura replied while her eyebrows furrowed over her eyes. “But it would prove difficult to warp the whole castle without the amplifier crystal. It would drain me half if not all of my energy to make even just one wormhole.”
“What do we need to get?” Pidge pipped the question. “You said a crystal?”
“Correct, number five!” Coran nodded with approval. “You see, besides the teleduv lenses, the wormhole beam is actually made up of other complicated and unique parts. The amplifier is made out of a series of mirror like crystals that amplify the magic that to power up the generators that send the beam to the teleduv lenses.” Coran quickly typed in on his station and the screen showed the crystal that he was talking about.
“Cogi-Cogitarrium?” Pidge squinted behind her glasses while she attempted to pronounce the Altean characters on the screen. “So it’s basically just a mirror?”
“It’s a reflective material that is strong enough to withstand the demands of Altean magic.” Allura said with a small smile. “It can only be harvested in planet Tenebris, which is fortunately, not far from where we are.”
Lance typed it in his search bar and information about the planet filled his screen as well as an image. Tenebris looked like a chunk of black ice with specs of silver that peppered its obsidian surface.
“Whoah, this has got to be the coolest looking planet I’ve ever seen!” he said excitedly. “It looks like a giant geode sold in witchcraft stores back on earth.”
“Why do you even know about that, Lance?” Pidge raised a brow at him and Lance just shrugged.
“They’re pretty to look at, don’t judge me.” He looked up excitedly at Coran and Allura. “Hey, maybe Hunk and I could go?”
But Coran just shook his head. “Not this time, space juice.” He replied, calling Lance one of the first nicknames he bestowed upon him while they bonded over cleaning the medical pods not too long ago. “We need our trusty engineer to help with the repairs.”
“Tenebris is surrounded by an asteroid belt that would make it quite risky for something the size of the castle to maneuver through.”
“Razor sharp, giant icicles, yes.” Coran added. “It would take something fast and flexible to get through those without popping a few holes.”
“Red would be perfect for that.” Keith said and earned another approving nod from Coran.
“We also need Pidge on board to help Slav get the system up and running so the task will fall upon you, Keith, and Lance.”
Lance made a whining groan that sounded like a dying whale and made a face. He crossed his arms over his chest and muttered. “At least let me drive.”
“I don’t think Red likes you very much.” Keith’s face became animated when a small smirk appeared. “You’d be lucky if he’d even let you in the cockpit.”
“Hey! I happen to be a very likeable guy, Keith!”
“Kidding aside,” Allura interrupted. “I can rely on you to carry out this task, yes?”
The room fell silent when Allura asked the question but she didn’t look at Lance, she looked at Keith and there was a strange look in her eyes, like a shadow briefly passed by. Keith lowered his eyes and there was a sullen look on his face that he hid behind his mask. He and Allura might have talked about it before the fight, but the whole thing won’t vanish overnight.
“He’s a hot headed jerk and he’s less cooler than me,” Lance spoke up and stood from his chair. Keith snapped his head up to look at his direction, his violet eyes wide. “But I think Keith could totally do this. I’ll go with him, after all.”
“Lance—“ Keith muttered in wonder and surprise that Lance, of all people, actually stood up for him in his own way.
“Then it is done.” Allura nodded. “Prepare for departure. I can only open a wormhole for about ten ticks to conserve energy to open another one for your return.” Then her eyes darkened and her lashes fanned down while her gaze fell to the floor. “You two need to be very careful.”
“What do you mean?” Hunk asked, worried for Lance’s and Keith’s sakes. “Isn’t it one of those dead rock planets? I mean, this one looks like it except it’s shiny… and a bit creepy looking.” He paused to try to think of more comparisons. “It looks like a black hole but it’s actually not since it’s a planet.”
“Will something try to kill them?” Pidge followed. “I mean, that’s been the case most of the time but what’s in Tenebris, anyway?”
“Tenebris is a planet oozing with magic and enchantment.” Coran replied this time. “There is no civilization there but it is inhabited by dark supernatural beings, specters, per se.” he wiggled his fingers menacingly at Lance and Keith while Allura rolled her eyes.
“Wait, so it’s haunted?” Lance paled. “Like… dead people kind of haunted?”
“You know what, on second thought, I think the engine room is the place for me.” Hunk smiled nervously. “I mean, Pidge is brave. She doesn’t believe in ghosts because science and stuff, right?”
“Coran is obviously making it up.” Pidge scoffed, looking utterly uninterested while she typed rapidly on her keyboard station.
“He is.” Allura scowled. “Tenebris specters are just tales of horror meant to scare Altean children to send them to bed early.”
“They’re absolutely real, princess!”
“Riiiiight.” Lance raised an eyebrow. “Well, if the princess doesn’t believe you, then I won’t.” He wagged his eyebrows flirtatiously at Allura. “A princess’s word holds true, after all.”
“Alright, Lance, we know.” Keith sighed. “Quit flirting with the princess, we have a job to do.”
Lance waited for an insult or for Keith to call him names, but none came. Keith just turned and started for the door.
“I think this would be a great opportunity for the two of you to strengthen your bonds with each other!” Coran suggested cheerfully while he twiddled with the end of his mustache. “With all that’s happened recently, you two didn’t get much of a chance.”
The blue and red paladins froze and stared wide eyed at Coran until their eyes fell on each other in a sudden realization that Coran was actually had a point. Bonding moments were rare between them and as teammates, it was really necessary to form bonds so that they could pilot Voltron better. However, that won’t be happening very soon.
Not when Shiro was missing.
“Heh, I bet I can get more of those mirror thingies than Keith.” Lance said as he tore his eyes away from those mesmerizing violet ones that belonged to Keith.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah!”
“We’ll see about that!”
Everyone watched while Keith and Lance challenged each other past the door until their voices disappeared down the hallway.
Finally, Pidge sighed. “God, I wish they’d just admit it.”
~
‘Pilot’s confirmation for launch.’ The automated voice rang through the cockpit of the red lion.
Keith grasped the main control handles and his fingers briefly pressed on some buttons on the side to prep up.
“Ready.” He sent the affirmative.
Lance, who was beside him, pressed his palms and his face against one of the plasglass windows that viewed the hanger. The blue lion sat in its plasma barrier.
“Blue!” Lance called longingly. “This is just for now, you’ll always be the one for me, my sweet beautiful lady!”
Keith rolled his eyes.
‘Opening side hatch. ’
The launch strip that led to the openness of outer space lit up red to guide Keith. “Lance, hold on.”
“I’ll be back soon, my sapphire queen---AAAHHH!!”
Lance managed to grab hold of the back of Keith’s chair while his face became distorted at the G force of Red’s speed. “Keeeeiiiiiith!!!!”
“I told you to hold on, didn’t I?” Keith answered with a sly grin. “You never listen.”
“I wasn’t ready!” Lance said in his defense.
“You should always be ready.” The red lion slowed down when they reached open space and Keith maneuvered at a certain distance. “Princess, we’re on the designated spot.”
“Alright, opening worm hole in five ticks.” Allura’s voice came through the speakers of the intercom. “Hurry through, I can’t waste much energy.”
“Roger.”
Lance and Keith watched as a big blue ethereal ring of light manifested before them, bending space and time.
And just like, they were gone.
Red emerged from the other side when the wormhole opened on the intended coordinates. The sensors beeped with their location and true enough, Tenebris loomed before them. Lance and Keith gaped; it looked ethereal and oddly beautiful in its own mysterious and dark way.
“Whoah, it’s… It’s actually really pretty.” Lance breathed. “Like a giant uncut gemstone.”
“Yeah.” Keith agreed pushed the handles to ease Red in while they approached the asteroid belt. “But don’t let it fool you. I’m pretty sure at the very least that something in there wants us dead.”
“Well, I got your back, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Lance beamed. “Heh, not to brag, but you’re lucky you’re with The Sharpshooter.” He winked at Keith.
And Keith just stared, dumbfounded for some reason. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“What? It’s a new nickname I’m trying to get around.” Lance shrugged. “Too bad you weren’t there when I saved Slav from the warden. Man, I was so badass.”
“The weblum’s digestive system tried to kill me.”
“Everything tries to kill us.” Lance rolled his eyes. “I mean, shit, did you know that a hot mermaid queen tried to enslave me forever? It wasn’t her fault, she was brainwashed, but I knew---“
Lance started to blabber away but Keith was thinking about something else that happened earlier. It was the way Lance stepped in when things got awkward between him and Allura and he was actually grateful.
“Hey, Lance.” Keith began and Lance stopped blabbering to look at him. Since Lance was draped behind his chair so when Keith tilted his head to the side to look up at him, their eyes met.
There was silence as they stared; Keith felt like he was sucked into those ocean blue eyes behind his helmet visor.
“Uhm, Keith?” Lance frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Huh?” blurted out and tore his eyes away to watch where he was going. “Yeah. I…I just wanted to say thanks.”
“For what?” Lance asked, confused. “I didn’t do anything.”
“At the control room.” Keith’s voice lowered and his tone sounded sad. “I…I really couldn’t blame Allura but…” he trailed off. That was when Lance placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and spoke;
“You know, I don’t really care that you’re Galra. You’re still Keith and you’re one of us.” A smile. “Besides, you maybe be an asshole but you’re an awesome paladin and an amazing friend. I mean, you’re fucking reckless a lot of times like when you were doing those scary Trials of Marmora and Red started acting batshit attacking the place I was worried something bad was happening to you. But there wasn’t really any way of knowing that but you get my point----“
“You were worried…” Keith repeated slowly the words the stuck to him. Lance stopped his mindless blabbering again and ended up staring at Keith when their eyes locked with each other’s. “…About me?”
“W-Well, I…” Lance stuttered and crossed his arms over his chest while his shoulders drooped. He felt his cheeks grow warm but he desperately tried to keep his cool. “Is it wrong if I was?”
“No.” Keith shook his head and a small smile lifted on his lips. “I had to make it through to at least get a clue about my past and so that I could come back alive and see you again.”
Lance’s eyes widened. “Uh…”
“I mean you and the whole team, you know!” Keith suddenly felt like the cockpit was a steaming oven and that he was sweating a river underneath his paladin armor. He moped a little but decided to say: “Thanks, Lance. Sorry if I freaked you out back there.”
“Thanks accepted and you are most welcome. “ Lance then motioned at the monitors when they started to beep. “But right now, we gotta get through that asteroid belt.”
“You got it.” The red paladin smirked. “Come on, Red. Let’s show Lance what we can do!”
Before Lance even knew what hit him, Keith pushed and pulled the levers and the G force hit them head on. Lance grabbed the back of Keith’s chair and held on for dear life while the red lion jumped and darted past the frozen chunks of asteroid that bumped against each other. When they came face to face with incoming debris, Lance squeezed his eyes shot while feared for the worst but then they snapped open then he heard the revving of the lion’s plasma lasers, blowing up the giant space rock into pieces.
“Keith, holy shit!” Lance raised his voice over the noise of the explosion.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Keith hollered back and his veins hummed with adrenaline and excitement. It was odd; he rarely felt like this when he was dodging asteroids like this but now that Lance was here… Keith took a second and he was shocked by his own realization that he was actually showing off to Lance to impress him.
“Keith, look out!”
When Lance cried out and Keith snapped back into attention, he maneuvered Red to lounge at another incoming asteroid. After the lion leapt to the right met head on with a nearby rock, Keith fired.
By the time they made it past the field of asteroids, Lance was pale but he was gaping at what he just saw.
“Please don’t throw up.” Keith frowned, concerned. “Red might eject you into space.”
“Holy shit, Keith.” Lance breathed. “That was… that amazing.” Then he caught himself. “I-I mean, it’s not too shabby.”
Keith rolled his eyes but he noticed a shadow pass over Lance’s eyes. Was he… sad?
“Lance?”
“Huh?” When Lance caught himself starting to sulk while he questioned his skills as a paladin, he immediately hid behind his cheerful mask. “Oh, pft, I’m fine. Now come on, Tenebris is sixty ticks away if you use hyper boost.”
When Keith fired up Red’s boosters, Lance held on but unlike earlier, he was much more quiet this time.
Tenebris was just as Coran said it would be; creepy. The whole planet looked like it was drenched in eternal night. There was very little vegetation that grew and they were mostly just thorny bushes that sprouted flowers that resemble earth roses. However, unlike those romantic flowers back home, these Teneris flowers discharged a red liquid from their center that made it look like they were bleeding. When Lance poked them with the nozzle of his bayard rifle, the residue left on the tip of his weapon was literally blood.
“Keith, look at these flowers.” Lance called and when Keith walked over to take a look, he took a step back.
“Whoah.” He said. “That’s seriously freaky. Do you think we should bring a sample for Pidge to examine?”
“Yeah, I bet she’ll like that.” Lance reached beside his hip and a container materialized when he summoned one from his paladin belt. When Keith pulled out his Galra blade and willed it to elongate, Lance watched with wonder as the blade did Keith’s bidding. He held the container out while Keith carefully cut the flower by the stem. It floated down and settled into the container before Lance capped it shut and held it up for the two of them to examine.
“Man, this is some Beauty and the Beast shit, huh?” Keith muttered.
“First of all,” Lance gasped. “Beauty and the Beast is not shit, got it?” he stared at the bloody rose. “But yeah, it bleeds from its center instead from the stem where you cut it. Weird.”
“Anyway, let’s get moving. We need that mirror thing.” The ceremonial blade returned to its original portable pocket dagger form and Keith slid it back its sheath.
“You mean the Cogittarium?” Lance confirmed while the container faded away in his grasp when he placed it near his belt again. He swiped on his gauntlet and pulled up a small holographic screen to view the information about the mirror like gem they were supposed to find. “It says here that it’s found in the heart of the caves and that they grow individually and far apart.”
“How many do we need to get?” Keith asked.
“Just one.” Lance swiped to scroll to the next page. “Oh, Coran left a little note. He said; ‘Beware of the Tenebris Specters. I swear, they are real. My grandfather encountered one from his own Cogitarrium harvest mission!’”
He frowned as he read the rest of the note out loud to Keith. “He says that they’re vengeful, sadistic spirits that like to mess with your head.”
“I thought Allura said they weren’t real?” Keith frowned. “The two of them are seriously contradicting each other. I hope Coran said something about what to do if we come face to face with one.”
The screen vanished and Lance held his rifle again. “Nope. Let’s hope that we don’t’ run into one. Let’s go. This place gives me the creeps.”
The cave they entered was made out of black rock but the inner walls glowed with chunks of white crystal that seem to hold some sort of light within them. Their reflections appeared distorted on the smooth but uneven obsidian cave walls and their footsteps echoed across the cavernous space.
“So, what’s it like to have Galra blood?” Lance suddenly asked in an attempt to start a conversation and make things less awkward from the silence.
“I don’t really feel any different.” Keith replied while he continued to walk beside Lance. “I just know that I’m not fully human and that I awakened the ceremonial blade. That’s it.”
“Your eyes don’t glow yellow or you don’t turn purple when the moon is full?”
“Okay, now you’re just being a jackass.”
Lance chuckled, teasing. Getting caught in the moment of their conversation, he elbowed Keith playfully. Keith returned the gesture a little harder and Lance reciprocated it. The two of them ended up rough playing down the lit path of the cave. They laughed and joked and while they did, Lance actually started to enjoy this little salvage mission with Keith.
“You’re going to look for your mom?” Lance asked and the question caught Keith off guard. “She’s the one with the Galra blood, right?”
“I… actually don’t know where she is or how I’ll find her.” Keith admitted as he lowered his gaze to the floor. “I don’t even remember her face. She disappeared when I was a baby, I think.” He pursed his lips into a tight line and clenched his fist. “But Shiro comes first. He’s like my brother and I’ll do everything I can to find him.”
“Nah-uh!” Lance protested. “We are going to find him. He’s our leader too and besides,” he let out a soft ‘heh’; “You’re too reckless. There is no way in hell I’m going to let you run out there head first and screaming to the nebulas like a batshit person.”
“I’m sure the team would appreciate diving head first into danger.” Keith chuckled. “But thanks, Lance. You’re, you’re…”
“Handsome? Amazing? Talented?” Lance gloated jokingly while he wagged his eyebrows at the red paladin with a smug grin.
Keith groaned. “Never mind.”
“But seriously speaking though, I hope you find more answers about who you are especially your Galra side. When you do, you’ll tell me about it, right?”
“You sound more excited about this than me, Lance.” Keith sounded amused. “I’m pretty surprised.” He paused for a moment. “After Shiro, you’re the first one who was actually pretty cool about what happened to me.”
“Did you actually think I’d think differently of you?” Lance’s smile disappeared. “You’re an ass but you’re important to me.”
Keith stared.
Lance realized what he had said and stared back, wide-eyed. He felt his heart speed up and it banged against his ribs while heat bloomed on his face. Now, whether out of embarrassment…or that other thing that he didn’t really like to admit even to himself, Lance didn’t know.
“I-I-I mean you’re our best pilot!” Lance countered defensively, his face red. “Next to me, that is, heh!”
Suddenly, they heard a whisper echo on the high ceiling of the cave. Keith summoned his bayard sword while Lance lifted his rifle, ready to shoot.
“Who’s there?” Keith demanded but an echo of the same words was all they got.
“If you’re one of those things that live here,” Lance called out. “We come in peace. We’re just going to grab some Cogitarrium and be on our way.”
Oddly, his own words didn’t echo back.
Lance felt the hairs on his nape stand when he felt a cold breeze blow down on them which was odd since they were in the middle of the cave, far from the entrance. Unless there was another opening nearby that would justify why the hell there was a breeze that blew by, that wind felt quite unnatural.
“Keith, we should hurry.” Lance sounded freaked out. “I really don’t like this planet.”
Without another word, they strode down the cave hallway. However, Lance noticed that the walls started to grow farther apart and the path became wider and wider. They obsidian walls became more uneven and their reflections grew numerous until they reached a cave room that was filled with nothing but their reflections on every polished surface.
“Hey, this place really reminds me of one of those fun houses back home.” Keith frowned as he glared at the numerous clones of him and Lance on the walls.
“You mean like a hall of mirrors?” Lance huffed out a breath which fogged from the cold temperature. When he looked around, he didn’t see any other exits besides the one they came through. “I mean, I know I’m beautiful but this feels wrong, Keith. I feel like we’re being watched.”
“I hope Coran said something on how to find them in this cave.” Keith while his fingers gripped his bayard tightly. “I think I just saw something move.”
“Shit, this place really is haunted.” Lance pulled out his gauntlet to scan through the information again while Keith walked off to examine every nook and cranny to look for anything that looked like the gem in the picture. “Keith, it says here that Cogitarrium usually spawns in cavities within the walls.”
“This whole place looks solid.” Keith was frustrated now. When they heard a disembodied chuckle, Lance started to shake while Keith turned to the direction of the sound and lifted his sword. “I’m starting to think Allura’s wrong about shit lurking in these caves.”
“Wait I got an idea!” Lance’s rifle disappeared from his hand and he hooked hi bayard back onto his belt. “It says that the gem grows in wall hollows, right?” he walked to the nearest cave wall to him and lifted a curled fist. “We just have to find an empty spot and break through it.” He knocked on the wall but it sounded solid. He knocked again and again in different places in a blind attempt to hit a spot.
“Lance, this could take forever.” Keith’s sword disappeared as well to get his hands free. He copied what Lance did but he didn’t appear to be too thrilled about it.
“Then you better start knocking as much as you can, Mullet!”
“Hey!”
“Hey, yourself!”
When all Lance got was a frustrated groan from Keith who decided to ignore him, he muttered; “Hah, nailed it.”
His reflection always greeted him whenever he would approach to knock on a wall. Dark brown skin, blue eyes, a thin build, and chestnut brown hair that was a little bit longer now since when they first left earth, it was the same image. However, as the same thing repeated with every wall he knocked on, he started to get sick of seeing his own reflection because he started to see the deeper faults about him.
Not special.
Useless.
Seventh wheel.
Miasma churned in Lance’s gut and he felt like his heart sank into a bottomless pit in his chest. The same conversation he had with the warden’s yupper replayed in his head about how everyone had something special about him except for him.
Maybe that’s why Lance ended up classified as a cargo pilot during his days in the Garrison. He wouldn’t even make it into fighter class if Keith wasn’t kicked out. He literally just grabbed Keith’s spot and lived a lie.
Lance felt like a joke. He felt like he didn’t matter and he was just picked as a Paladin because no one else would be the damn right leg of Voltron.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts so that he could focus on his task. When Lance knocked again, the wall made a hollow sound and he froze; shit, he was right. His idea actually worked? He couldn’t believe it but there was no time to celebrate right now.
“Hey, Keith!” he called. “I think I---Whoah!”
Lance wasn’t able to finish when something grabbed him by the wrist and he was absorbed into the wall. The next thing he knew, he was in a smaller cavern on the other side of the mirrored wall and everything was black except for a jagged mound in the middle of the room. There on top, was an oval gem the size of a curled fist.
The Cogitarrium.
It’s surface was mirrored but when Lance approached the gem, he saw faint little tendrils of electricity that slithered within just like in the reference image.
“Oh, shit, I got it!” Lance cheered. He ran towards the wall where he fell through. “Keith! I found it!”
BAM!
Lance staggered back when he hit the wall but didn’t pass through. On the other side of the mirror, he saw Keith walking around and he appeared to be looking for him. His voice sounded muffled even when he cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.
“Lance?”
“I’m here!” Lance banged on the wall with his fist. “Keith! Over here! Keith!” but Keith didn’t react; Lance could hear and see Keith but not the opposite.
When nothing happened, Lance tried to tap into his helmet’s radio to get a hold of Keith but all he got was static. The walls were so thick that the signals he needed wasn’t able to get through and that was when he knew he was fucked. But just when Lance thought it couldn’t get any worse…
“He can ’t hear you. ”
Lance stumbled back but his reflection remained standing, grinning maliciously at him. Fear engulfed Lance as he stared back at himself in horror but quickly formed his rifle in his hands and aimed it at that thing that looked like him.
“Who the fuck are you?” Lance demanded but his voice trembled while he got up to his feet.
It tilted its head and watched Lance as if it was sizing him up. “Are you blind, fleshling?” It smirked darkly. “I am you, only better.”
Those words were such a blow and it hurt even if it came from something that just copied him. Lance felt shaken at the fact that this thing knew his doubts even when he didn’t voice out any of while he was in the cave.
“If you’re wondering how I knew,” it said coolly and it crossed its arms over its chest. “It is because your soul is like clear water. I can see the bottom. I can see your deepest, darkest fears and I can read your every heartbeat.”
“There’s no need to be a complete asshole,” Lance narrowed his eyes at his clone and took note that it really was a legit copy; it had every single detail of Lance’s appearance as well as his voice, except that its irises were black tinged with silver whereas Lance’s were ocean blue. “I’ll just take the Cogitarrium for our ship and be on our way.”
“Oh, that silly rock?” the Specter’s tone sounded completely uninterested. “Of course, you can take as much as you want, I don’t care. I’ll even let you go and walk you back outside.”
“Wow, really? Thanks!” Lance perked up a little but then he realized that there was probably a catch to it. “Wait, what do you want in return?”
“Ah, the fleshling isn’t so dumb after all.” The Specter motioned at Keith who was on the other side of the mirror. “You see, this place could get boring. All I want is some… entertainment. The red one over there? He’s not going to leave this place alive and you’re going to be the last thing he will see as he breathes his last essence of life.”
“Leave Keith alone!” Lance snapped angrily. The beginnings of a beam formed on the nozzle of Lance’s rifle. “Or I’ll shoot you!”
“Why don’t you try and see where that gets you, then?” The Specter taunted. When Lance fired, the mean bounced off the mirror and he had to duck to avoid getting hit before it hit the ground. “Do you see that? You can’t hurt me. Defeating me requires a great sacrifice that someone like you cannot ever hope to provide.”
“Just… what are you?” Lance breathed each word and there was anger in his voice.
“Like I said.” The specter repeated smugly. “I’m you except that I’m not a failure.”
“I am not a failure!” Lance bit back but the rage in his voice did not match the way he withered inside. “I am a Paladin of Voltron!”
“Is that so? Then let’s play a game to prove that.” The Specter tapped its foot but Lance was impatient. He needed to get out of this place and warn Keith about what was happening but the crystal walls were too thick and their reflective capabilities rendered his rifle useless.
“The rules are simple.” It continued as it turned around as if it was going to leave. It looked over its shoulder and flashed Lance a sickening sly smirk that even he himself can’t pull.
“Defeat me before I kill your precious friend.”
“NO!” Lance rushed to the wall just as his doppelganger disappeared and it reappeared out in the open behind Keith. “KEITH! KEITH!!!”
“Keith, I’m sorry about that, I got a little lost.”
Keith turned around at the sound of the familiar voice and saw lance standing behind him with the usual smile on his face.
“Where were you?” Keith demanded. “We’re supposed to be looking for that mirror thing.”
“Oh, yes, the Cogitarrium.” Lance shrugged and he turned to look around. His hand ran along the smooth polished walls of the cave.
“What are you doing?” Keith frowned deeply. “You won’t be able to find a wall hollow if you don’t knock on it.”
“Really?” surprise.
“It was your idea.”
“I think there’s a hollow over there.” Lance pointed at the wall behind the red paladin. “That spot doesn’t look solid.”
“I’ll take a look.” Keith replied but his gut felt uneasy. He turned around to check the spot but never let his guard down. It was fortunate that he didn’t, because soon enough, Keith noticed a bright blue flash and the sound of a bayard shifting to take form of the paladin’s weapon. Keith rolled out of the way just when this Lance pulled the trigger and the plasma beam hit the ground he was just standing on.
When he got up to his feet, Keith and materialized his bayard sword. “Lance, what the fuck are you doing?!”
Lance blinked once and when he did, Keith felt a chill run down his spine. He’s known Lance since his days in the Galaxy Garrison and they’ve bonded during off days and over team missions as Voltron paladins.
And after all that they’ve been through, Keith was one hundred and twenty five percent sure that Lance’s irises were blue like the oceans of earth, not black. Keith kept his cool and prayed that the mask he wore didn’t give his suspicion away. Coran was right, something did live in these caves that liked to play tricks on visitors and if this was one of their tricks, it angered Keith that these… creatures had the audacity to use Lance against him.
Lance, his teammate.
Lance, his…
“What am I doing?” Lance repeated the question with a smile on his face which did not reach those dark eyes. “I’m saving the universe, of course…” The smile cracked into a malicious grin and those black eyes turned into pitiless pools. “I’m going to rid it of the Galra and I’m going to start with you.”
“W-What?”
Keith couldn’t believe what he was hearing but then a beam formed on the nozzle of the other’s bayard and fired it straight at him.
~
“NO! KEITH!!!!” Lance screamed behind the thick glass barrier. His hands felt bruised from trying to bang their way through the solid crystal wall. “That’s not me! I’ll never---I’ll never say that!! Keith! I’ll never hurt you like that!”
He tore off his helmet and hurled it at the wall which made the first layer shatter and shards of glass fell on the ground but there were still several layers underneath that his helmet wasn’t able to break. Lance was forced to watch as Keith dodged each beam and materialized his shield to protect himself.
“I’m here, Keith! I’m here!” Lance begged desperately. He banged on the wall again in a petty attempt for Keith to notice but the cavern he was trapped in was sound proof. Lance felt useless; Keith was on the other side of the barrier fighting his evil reflection while he was stuck in this prison. The way his doppelganger moved was far from the fluidity normal for a human being and right now, it looked liked the creature had the upper hand.
He hated himself for not being able to do more. Lance hated himself for being careless and for not being able to get out of this prison to help Keith. Maybe he really was useless. Maybe he wasn’t good at anything after all.
Lance was only dead weight for the others to carry. It would better if they just left him behind, Blue was the most accepting of the lions anyway. It wouldn’t be trouble for her to get a new paladin.
“Keith… no.” Angry tears trickled down from his eyes and landed formed two dark stains on the ground when they fell. Lance clenched his fists and glared at his own reflection on the wall while a hazy image of Keith and the Tenebris specter battled on the other side.
“This is a sick game you’re playing!” Keith spat angrily at the specter that looked like Lance. He lounged at him with his sword but this Lance moved faster than the human norm. Keith cursed when his blade slid a hair’s breadth away from the specter’s shoulder and it rolled to its side before it fired again at him.
He used his shield to protect himself and apprehended the next move he needed to make. “I’ll ask you again, you son of a bitch!” he barked in rage. “Where. Is. Lance?!”
“What are you talking about?” a sadistic laugh. “I am Lance!”
“No, you’re not!” Dashed forward and tried to land a blow on the specter but the other dodged quickly before it hit Keith back with the butt of its rifle. Keith slid back and slammed against a wall as his breath was knocked out of him. “Give him back! Give him back to me!”
“What if I told you that he’s dead, hm?” it asked and every muscle in Keith’s body froze and for a moment, it was like his heart stopped beating. “What if I told you that it was your name that he spoke before I snapped his neck---Gah!”
The specter gave a shrill screech of pain when it wasn’t able to continue after Keith skillfully threw the blade of Marmora at it. Caught off guard, it wasn’t able to dodge and the dagger sliced through its arm. Keith’s expression was blank, but his eyes spoke volumes of his rage as they glowed with a violet flame from within.
“You’re lying, I know Lance is alive; I can feel it. But if you hurt him in anyway,” His words were quiet but they quivered with anger. “I’ll kill you.”
The rifle disappeared from its hands and Keith watched with wide eyes when the specter’s hands morphed; its fingers elongated and became sharp chrome blades. “I will not lose to fleshling like you!!”
Lance gasped and gave a cry of pain. He grabbed his arm which was the same one the blade of Marmora wounded on the specter. He understood now; whatever damage that was done to his copy, happened to him. Blood seeped between his fingers from the wound but the pain was numbed by the horror he felt as he watched Keith starting to lose to the specter.
The creature moved so fast that Keith barely blocked the attacks from its lethal claws. It was a picture of terror; it looked like Lance, every facet of him a carbon copy, only its hands were twisted and distorted and the expression it wore was that of hatred which made it look like a complete monster.
Lance had to do something or Keith will die. He ran to the wall when Keith was shoved back painfully at the end of the cave. The creature had him pinned against the wall now while its claws dug into his paladin armor, the plates slowly getting crushed.
“Defeating me requires a great sacrifice that someone like you cannot ever hope to provide. ”
The words the specter said earlier gave Lance an idea and he sunk to his knees on the cold ground while he grabbed a long shard of glass that he was able to break off when he threw he helmet against the wall earlier.
Lance turned the lethal point at himself and aimed it over his midsection.
If any damage taken by the specter happened to him, the opposite was possible too. Now, the possibility of dying as well when Keith kills that monster was a gamble Lance had to take. But Lance didn’t think of himself right now, he thought about Keith who was in danger. He thought about Keith who was about to get stabbed by multiple chrome blades and who will die if Lance didn’t stop that thing.
“Damn it, Keith.” Lance smiled bitterly. “I guess you’ll be the hero this time around.” His grip tightened on the broken shard until the sharp edges tore through his armor’s glove and cut his palm. He gulped; Lance knew that he should be afraid that he could die from this but it only carved his decision on stone when he saw Keith struggle breathlessly on the other side, blood seeping from small cuts where the monster’s claws started to dig through.
“I’m sorry,” Lance whispered. “I guess I’ll never get to tell you after all.”
Then, he drove the glass into himself.
The glass walls quivered when the specter gave a shrill cry of pain. Cracks broke through the crystals and a mist like haze cleared away from the walls, revealing Lance on the other side of the crumbling prison.
“Lance!” Keith cried out when he saw what Lance had done to himself. In front of him, the monster doubled over while it clutched its bleeding stomach in pain and the red paladin understood what was happening.
“Keith!” Lance cried out from the other end of the cavern. “Make the kill now!”
“Are you insane?!” Keith demanded. “You’ll die if I kill this thing while it’s still attached to you!”
“It doesn’t matter!” Blood trickled from the edge of Lance’s mouth. “If you don’t kill it, it’ll kill you!”
“No, Lance!” Keith’s voice was reduced a tone of desperation and hurt.
Familial or not, his older brother was missing, feared dead, even. Keith refused to lose someone else that he cared deeply about.
“Quit arguing with me, dammit!” Lance gritted as he clutched the deep wound on his stomach. “This is your chance! Make the kill, take the Cogitarrium and get ‘outta here before this place falls apart!”
“To hell with what you say, Lance!” Keith snapped back at the blue paladin. “I’m not losing someone important to me again! I refuse to lose you like this and I’ll fucking fight you on it if I have to!”
“We don’t have the time to fight over this!”
“Shut the fuck up and trust me!” Keith hollered at him and their eyes locked. “I am not leaving you behind, do you understand?!”
Lance fell quiet and Keith wasted no time; he stood up and pulled up the fake Lance by the hair before he grabbed the elongated blade of Marmora and pressed it against the specter’s neck.
“Listen to me, you piece of shit.” Keith breathed out each word like a death threat, his eyes afire. “My partner is bleeding to death because of you and I’m in a very, very bad mood right now.”
Keith felt satisfaction when those black eyes looked at him fearfully. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to die, you’ve already lost anyway. So here’s the deal, break the mirror spell you have on Lance, scram, and we’ll call it a day.”
An eager nod and Lance groaned when a silvery mist lifted from his body. Keith let go of the creature and it dematerialized in a thousand shards of glass before the pieces flew away quickly.
“Lance!” Keith then ran up to Lance and took him into his arms. The blue paladin groaned in pain as his hand rested near the shard of glass that protruded from his stomach. “Lance, stay with me! Lance!”
Hot droplets landed on Lance’s cheek and he cracked his eyes open but unfortunately, his vision wavered.
“Hey, Keith?” Lance smiled weakly. He reached up to wipe away the tears that fell from the other’s eyes, his bloody fingers staining Keith’s pale wet cheeks with a dark crimson. “Nice one there, Mullet.”
Then, everything faded to black.
“LANCE!”
~
32 Vargas later
It was warm and soft and it smelled like him.
Lance’s eyes snapped open and the first thing he saw was the dark ceiling of his room in the Castle of Lions. He sat up and his hand immediately went to his stomach; the wound was closed up and the only thing left was a thin scar that ran diagonally on his abdomen.
“What the fuck happened?” Lance ran his fingers through his disheveled heir in confusion. The last thing he remembered was that a vengeful spirit that lived in a cave copied him, messed with Keith, and he had to stab himself to distract the creature from---
“Shit, Keith!” The realization hit him. He was about to get out of bed to check on Keith when something grabbed him by the wrist and made him yelp in fear that the Tenebris specter followed them back to the castle.
“Relax, it’s just me.” Keith’s voice speared through the darkness and the lamp by Lance’s bed lit up with a soft blue light. “It didn’t follow us back if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
Keith looked tired; there were circles around his eyes that told that he barely slept.
“What happened to you?” Lance frowned in worry. “Have you slept at all?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Keith’s grip loosened around Lance’s wrist and let him go. “I’ve gone longer without sleep. The healing pod discharged you a couple of hours ago but you were still knocked out cold so we carried you to your room.”
“And you’re here because…?”
Keith was quiet for a while and he averted his gaze away from those blue eyes. “I was keeping watch. I’m sorry for intruding, but I was worried. I... I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay and that you didn’t wake up alone after an experience like the one we had.”
“Oh,” Lance felt guilty for sassing up Keith. “I-It’s okay. You can stay over and sleep here. You don’t look like you’ll make it back to your room without passing out on the hallway.”
When Keith stayed quiet, Lance continued, his eyes lowered to stare at the sheets. “Thank you, for saving me back there.”
“You’re the one who saved me.” A small smile animated Keith’s tired face. “If it wasn’t for that fearless move you made, that thing would have killed me.” A grim pause. “I…I don’t like what you did though. You almost died.”
Lance wanted to tell Keith that it didn’t matter; that he was replaceable. Blue can choose another pilot if something happened to him and maybe that someone would be better.
“Don’t you ever do that again, do you understand?” Keith’s voice was hushed, but his tone was hard while his eyes bore worriedly into Lance’s. “I…I thought I’d lost you back there.” His gaze lowered now. “I’ve already lost someone I care about. I can’t…I can’t lose another important person.”
“Keith…” Guilt ate Lance up. He thought so lowly of himself due to his insecurities when he was actually important to Keith. It was like he disregarded the other’s feelings towards him.
“Do that again and I’ll kick your ass.” Keith picked up the tough guy mask and masked the bubbling emotion he tried to hide. Unfortunately for him, Lance was good at reading emotions. He then scooted to the side to make room in his bed.
“Hop in, Mullet.” He said and patted he empty space beside him. “Come on.”
“Are you sure?”
“Now or take a hike.” Lance smiled and Keith returned it. Keith kicked off his boots and squeezed in the space that Lance made available for him. They laid side by side and stared at the ceiling.
“I’m important to you?” Lance broke the silence between them but he didn’t look at Keith when he asked the question.
“Very.” Keith replied softly.
Warmth fluttered in Lance’s chest from an emotion he did not understand, but that didn’t really matter right now. He had plenty of time to sort his feelings later on. Right now, he was in this moment in time with Keith.
“You know what, Keith?” Lance asked and he turned to look at Keith who did the same as well.
“What?”
“If it meant that I could protect you, I’ll do it all over again.” Lance smiled gently at him. “Crazy shit, huh?” He didn’t know if it was the post healing pod jitters or if he was still too tired, but he thought Keith blushed.
“And I thought I was the reckless one.”
“Heh, I’m not going to let you steal all the glory. Anyway,” Lance yawned and tore his gaze from Keith’s. “Good night. No touchy feely or I’ll kick you out.”
“G-Good night, Lance.”
There was a silent understanding that made something deeper bloom within them. They took solace in the heat of each other’s skins when their fingers intertwined underneath the blanket.
It was secret that the team didn’t have any business of knowing…
Yet.