I ran down to the teludav chamber where I found Coran and Pidge working away, they had to set the teludav to overload.
"Lance what are you doing, you should be helping pack up with the others," Coran said, he was literally jumping from console to console.
"It's okay Coran I know how to help," I said, jumping to a console next to him. Pidge and Coran both eyed suspiciously at first, but when they saw I actually did know what I was doing they resumed. Surprise I wasn't completely useless, and I was also going to save the castle for Coran and Allura, and well everyone else too.
It happened one night, I had been wandering the castles in the dead of night when the mice squeaked, telling me they had something important to show me. I followed them, mistakenly, because I fell down a massive vent which never seemed to end.
I landed on my ass hard, but found myself overwhelmed. I was in a workshop, like an ancient lab workshop. Blueprints and science and math decorated every single wall. I spent hours just admiring everything in the workshop. It was until I got a text from Hunk asking if I was coming to breakfast that I realized I had spent five hours in the workshop. There was a ladder leading up to the vent I had fallen through, turns out where I had fallen through was just some random nook with a vent on the twentieth floor of the castle.
I didn't tell anyone about my discovery, a little selfishly, but because everyone had something they could do, something they were supposed to do, something that contributed to the team. I did not, so the workshop was my safe haven. I learned all sorts of secrets about Altean machinery and inventions, I later came to realize it was shared workshop between Coran's grandfather, father, and King Alfor himself. The designs for the lions even lay hidden in the workshop, and it made sense, why the space was a secret.
It honestly hurt my heart not to share it with Coran and Allura, but I figured until I knew more I would keep it a secret. I stumbled across journals kept by the both of them, and would read them. All three of them had so much love for their families and for Altea, it hurt and pained him to read through some of the entries. Especially the ones where Alfor begins sensing deceit with his best friend, Zarkon. The ones where Coran's father talks about his father's death and passing as well as the one where he talks about his son's birth.
Though none of that was important right now, what was important was the failsafe Coran's ancestors put into place for the most dangerous part of the ship, the teladuv. If the correct code and passwords were entered the teladuv would seal itself off and eject.
I knew what I had to do.
"Pidge go get all your computer and nerd gear packed, we all know your room is a mess," I shouted, she grumbled in agreement, double checking everything on her end was good before running off.
Perfect now he just had to get rid of Coran, but how. The workspace!
"Coran there is somewhere on the ship you need to see before the castle is sacrificed," I said trailing off, knowing I was lying to him, but it was for the best. I just hoped my memory would hold up and remember the code.
Coran looked over at me suspiciously, "I know everywhere on this castle my boy, so I do not know what you speak of."
"Coran trust me, I accidently fell into this vent on the twentieth floor of the castle, right across from painting, the big painting of the juniberry field. Go into it, it's your grandfather's workspace, you need to see it. I can handle this, it should be ready in ten doboshes, so seriously hurry," I said, please, please work.
"A workspace? My grandfather's? How long have you known about this?" Coran said coming up to me.
"Coran now is not really the time, I have known about it for a little while, I am sorry for keeping it from you, but go," I said pushing him towards the door, he nearly fell over, but when he caught the sincerity in my eyes he ran. Ten doboshes was not a lot of time for him to discover a passage way he never knew about especially one that belonged to his father and father before him and best friend.
"Well now that they have been taken care of, here goes nothing," I said before quickly buzzing myself with the buttons and controls. I entered it certain codes here and there, it was a foolproof code, with a variety of steps, after all you didn't want to accidentally get rid of your teladuv.
Seven minutes of me trying to remember the next steps correct and getting the processors to understand what I was doing. Finally a big code popped up on the main screen. I knew exactly what it was, but I didn't know how to spell it.
I opened up a communication channel with Coran, "Hey Coran…"
"Lance...thank you," I could hear the tears.
"Don't thank me yet, but real fast, could you spell your middle names for me?" I asked, hopefully the random comment wouldn't throw him too off guard.
"Coran Hieronymus H-i-e-r-o-n-y-m-u-s Wimbleton W-i-m-b-l-e-t-o-n Smythe," he muttered out, perfect, he was completely entranced in the glory of the workshop as I entered his name into the code.
"Yes!" I yelled as the screen turned green and read Initializing Teladuv Removal.
"Wait, why did I just spell my name for- Lance, what are you doing? Lance, no- What do you think are doing? You can't do this! If the teladuv begins ejection protocol you won't be able to leave, that's why my father wrote it in this book and stashed it away, because whoever needed to do eject the teladuv would be removed with it," Coran rambled out faster than I could even process, but I already knew all that.
"I know Coran, and for the record, the ejection sequence has already started," I said, leaning my back against the teladuv doors.
"Lance-" Coran started, but didn't finish.
"It's okay Coran, you always put everyone over you, you were always there to protect us, to be our loving Uncle or Grandfather depending on your mood. It's about damn time you put your feelings first and hold onto this castle, the only thing you have left of your family and of Altea," I said, I could feel the tears begin to well in my eyes. I knew what all of this meant, because not only was the teladuv going to explode, but the teladuv was going to launch itself into rift in space-time reality to collapse it. "Coran in my room, there is a recorder I kept in the desk drawer it's hidden in a sock, you all can listen to it, and if you ever get back to Earth, please get it to my family."
Oh there were the tears, they were fortunately silent.
"Of course my boy, but I think you owe the rest of the crew a goodbye," Coran said, he was right. I switched over to the main comm line, it was dead silent. I swallowed hard. The screen popped up a countdown, well two of them. One represented the separation from the castle and the other represented time of overload. A screen on the other side showed video screens showing the descent of the teladuv and gave me piloting options. I adjusted them, straight for the center of the largest rift.
"Everyone-" I started, but I choked in the process. Where even was I supposed to start?
"Don't worry Lance I got Kaltenecker on Blue already," Hunk shouted, he also solemn.
"I have the videogames on mine, sorry Lance, boring ride for you," Pidge laughed.
I felt my heart sink. My two best friends, my original crew. I was going to miss them.
"Wait no seriously, everyone stop," I said, I pushed through the lump in my throat, they deserved to know. I owed my team the truth.
"Lance we don't have time for this, we only have like six more stable doboshes to get out of here," Keith said, hearing his voice filled me with sorrow, I hadn't even had a chance to really talk to him yet, he was gone for so long, well longer for him than us. He had become one of my best friends on this crew. We had grown from always fighting to playful teasing to best friends. I could trust him with my life, hopefully he trusts me with his.
"I have to agree, Coran where are you? I needed to set the final coordinates on the castle for the center of the rifts," Allura said, she sounded so strong, even after all she had been through. I was grateful that I ever even had the chance to meet her. I may have playfully flirted with her and fallen in love with her hope for peace, but I knew I never had a chance with her, but even having the opportunity to know her and to call her a friend was more than enough.
"Coran what are you doing?" Allura suddenly shouted, sounding strained.
"Hey what's going on?" Keith shouted.
"Coran is moving the ship away from the rift," Allura said confused.
"We need to get as far away as possible," Coran said, the cries still in his heart.
"But the rifts?" Pidge said confused, she had just been working her ass off down here.
"Lance!" Coran yelled, it was strained, pained. It hurt.
"The rifts are going to close, don't worry. The teladuv is going to eject itself from the castle in a dobosh, and then fly into the largest rift and explode," I said, keeping my voice steady and calm, I couldn't break, not in front of them.
"I didn't realize it could do that, why did Coran say we need to fly the castle of lions into it?" Hunk said.
"Because only Lance knew," Coran said.
"Coran what's wrong?" Allura said, concern in her voice echoed hard, reverberating in my ears and gut.
"Lance, there's a catch isn't there?" Keith said, his voice completely steeled and monotoned. He had aged so much, two years huh? I wish I could get to know the more sophisticated and refined Keith, even if it's only a bit more. I wish I could get to his mom and his dog, but I was just glad he finally had a family, and now Shiro was going to be okay.
"Allura, bring peace to the universe and bring your people home. Coran remember what I told you. Tell Shiro that no matter what he said to me, he will always be my hero. Pid-" I was rushing through it fast, not wanting to make it last any longer than it needed to.
"Lance you better shut up right now and get in your lion," Pidge responded before I could finish her name.
"Pidge I can't wait to see all you do with that big brain of yours," I choked, shit. Keep it together. Pidge was like my little sister, it hurt so much, knowing I was saying goodbye.
"La-Lance I swear to god, if you don't come into this hangar in the next five ticks I am going to end you," she yelled through tears, and the damn pushed hard, but I felt it back.
"Hunk-"
"Don't Lance, don't do this," Hunk gritted out, I had never heard him sound so angry and serious before.
"Hunk, you better keep making garlic knots, and spreading sunshine and love, I will never forget you, you are my best friend, we've had each other's backs since day one, keep braving the world, you showed me not to let my fear ever get the best of me," I said, my heart pounded and my mouth was going dry.
"K-"
"This isn't funny Lance," he said back, but there was no real bark in his voice.
"If you still have a mullet after two years then it is still funny, but I am glad you finally get a happy ending, don't let go of your family, and I am not just talking about your mom and dog and Shiro. Look around you, you have a family," I looked up and the ticks finished counting, a gentle unclasp and suddenly I was moving, the whole teladuv was. I felt the lack of gravity begin to push me around, I activated my boots.
"Lance, there's so much I never got to say to you," Keith yelled, I could hear him panting. "You are already gone you stupid idiot, you stupid stupid idiot."
I heard banging, he must have been banging on the doors where the teladuv used to be.
"Lance, we can't defend the universe without you," Allura said, she had been silent, and I know I knew why, a strained voice was more than enough to say she had been crying.
"Please, you all were always so much better at it," I said trying to laugh, it was true, but it still hurt, and here I was about to end my entire existence still hurting about never comparing to the others.
"You can't seriously be doing this, get out of there, you have to, you have to come back to us, we need you," Pidge yelled, her words came out broken and choppy.
"Pidge please, you don't need me for anything, you could take over the entire universe if you wanted to, probably overnight," I said. I could hear her laugh or cough or both? I wasn't sure.
"Lance, I just want you to know, that you were my buddy, my best friend in the whole world, and you might be immature or laugh at the wrong times and flirt with way too many people and be an idiot, but I would never give up having you as a friend," Hunk said, and I let out a choked sob. I watched the time tick by faster, the comms started to crackle on my end, I was getting closer and closer to the rift.
"Team Voltron, no, Voltron family, I love you all so much," I let the dam break, but it didn't matter, in seconds the comms would go out completely. I heard love you's and hate you's come back through the static.
This was it, but I didn't see it as a heroic sacrifice demanding remembrance or a holiday, no this was a chance to give happiness and a future to my friends and family.
"Goodbye."