The urge to withhold the information just to spite Lotor was tempting, but Lance decided his best route at the moment was co-operation. Either Lotor would get whatever it is he was looking for, or Lance would find a chance to escape.
So he was going to stall.
Besides, his parents were on the other side of the universe. Normal people working normal jobs – there was nothing he could tell Lotor about them that could cause anyone harm.
He returned his bayard to his suit, and crossed his arms. "My mum and dad are Cuban. I lived with them and my siblings in Varadero until I was admitted into the Garrison to train as a pilot."
"Ah, Varadero." Lotor said thoughtfully. "A resort town for humans to escape to and relax. Hotels, spas, golf courses. Sounds lovely, if you like that kind of thing."
Lance felt himself bristle at the blasé labelling Lotor had applied to his home. He had no idea of the life in Varadero, the atmosphere, the people. The opportunities to meet people from all over the world, spending a full weekend on the beach, living in such a tight knit community. Outside of his parent's house, Lance knew his true family extended throughout the whole town.
"You've done your homework," He managed to say through gritted teeth.
"I wanted to know more about you. But I didn't ask about your life on Earth, I want to know more about your family."
Lance sighed. Family was something he had tried to keep locked away since he left Earth. It simply hurt too much to think about everyone he had left behind. His homesickness was bad enough when he was at the Garrison – it was something he couldn't face all the way out here.
"My mother was a chef at one of the restaurants in the centre of the town, my father was a scuba instructor. In the summer months my siblings and I would help in the shop: maintaining equipment, helping on dives, taking-"
Lotor held his hand up to halt him. "We're getting off topic. Where were your parents born?"
Lance had to bite his tongue for a moment to keep it from lashing out. He wasn't in the position of power here. Just keep talking.
"My mother was born in Varadero. She's spent her whole life there, with my grandmother. My grandmother moved in with us when my grandfather passed away, she helps take care of us when my parents are working." Lance couldn't help the small smile on his lips. He was trying to remain stoic but remembering his grandmother was breaking him down: a woman who, although small in stature, had the fieriest temper Lance had ever had the misfortune of bearing witness to. He felt his hard contract painfully at the memory of everyone he had left behind.
"Uh huh," Lotor waved him on impatiently. "And your grandfather?"
Lance glared at him. "From Havana. Died when I was young."
"Okay. Your father?"
"Grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. His mother was evacuated to Miami when she was a teenager as the communist government was being established. When she and my other grandfather passed away, my dad decided to make the move back to Cuba."
His father's smile flashed in Lance's memory. His mother, like her own, was short, her hair always fiercely pulled back, a habit learned from years of slaving away in professional kitchens. His father, however, wore his hair long, past his shoulders, and loose. He was an exceptionally tall man, always having to bend down to kiss his mother. Lance was always regarded as tall, but he only just reached the height of his father's shoulders.
"Does your dad speak Spanish?" Lotor's voice pulled him from his memories.
Lance nodded – his whole family did. Hell, his grandmother outright refused to speak to them in English.
"I suppose he has a strange accent though?"
Lance raised an eyebrow. "Of course he does. He was raised in Florida."
"Does he sound Floridian then?"
Here Lance stuttered. He was ready to say yes, but something stopped him. As Lotor had, Lance found himself questioning his father's accent for the first time. It wasn't noticeable when he spoke in English, but the strange lilt came through whenever the man spoke Spanish.
Lance couldn't actually be sure where that accent would come from.
"Does he sound like he learned his Spanish from a mother speaking her native tongue?"
Again Lance hesitated.
"What are you trying to get at?" Lance asked suspiciously.
Lotor reached under the computer in front of him, bringing out a clear, glass orb about the size of a soccer ball. Lotor stood, weighing the orb in his hands. "I am curious." He finally said.
"About what?"
Before Lance could blink Lotor threw the orb at him. Instinctively Lance caught the orb before it could hit him in the chest.
"Hey-"
Lotor's face split into a wide grin. "Interesting."
"Wha-"
As Lance spoke, he saw what Lotor had reacted to. The glass orb in his hands was steadily glowing white, growing brighter as Lance held on. In fright, Lance let go of it.
It stayed in his hands.
He shook it, trying to make it fall, but the thing was bonded to his hands and he couldn't let go.
"What is this?" He asked.
"A test," Lotor said nonchalantly.
"A test for what?"
"To see if your father was a liar."
Lance couldn't hold it back anymore. The floodgates opened and anger burned through him, "Who are you to-"
The computer pinged loudly and the ship slowed to a stop. Lotor turned back to the screens, ignoring Lance once again.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Lance shouted. The stupid orb would not leave his hands and the glowing light was starting to hurt his eyes. No matter where he looked, the edge of his vision was cast in a light blue light. He stomped towards Lotor, trying to see what had captured his attention.
"We're here," Lotor announced.
Lance looked out to only see a field of debris. "Where?"
"The Galran homeworld." Lotor sat back with a satisfied smile. "Blue Paladin, welcome to Diabazaal."
Suspicion bloomed in Lance's stomach. "What are we doing here?"
Lotor stood, ascending on him. Lance stepped back quickly, taking his strange glowing orb with him. "Stay back," Lance warned. He didn't know what Lotor had planned, but he was going to keep his distance. His hands were beginning to grow hot, prickling with pins and needles where they touched the glass.
"We're going to open the rift," said Lotor, grinning maniacally.
"We're what!?"
"You and I, we are going to reopen the rift that destroyed Diabazaal. And we will uncover an endless supply of quintessence."
Lotor stepped ever closer. "Don't you see? The Galra are destroying the universe in the search for quintessence. If I give it to them, the wars will stop."
"You're crazy," Lance said.
Lotor shook his head. "All I want is peace. That's what you fight for, paladin. It is your duty to help me."
"No."
"Unfortunately, it is no longer your choice. You are already helping me."
Lance looked suspiciously to the orb. "What is this?" He asked again.
"It is a device for harnessing quintessence. It draws it out of those who possess vast quantities of it and stores it for use."
Lotor stepped forward as Lance was inspecting the glass, staring at the quintessence building there regardless of how it hurt his eyes. Before he could move away, Lotor had his hands on the orb as well. Lance tried to pull away, but like his Lotor's hands were now bonded to the glass.
"What are you doing?"
"As half-breeds, you and I have access to the universe's quintessence. We can't weild as much at once as someone like Allura, but together it should be enough."
"Half breeds?" Lance choked out.
"I tried to open the rift once." Lotor was beginning to monologue. "But I simply don't possess the quintessence to do so alone. I thought Allura was my answer, but now…"
"What do you mean, half-breeds?" Lance shouted. The heat in his hands was beginning to grow painful, it was getting hard to concentrate.
"Think, Lance," Lotor said calmly. At this distance Lance felt small, the Galran prince towering over him. "You're telling me you've never felt misplaced in your life, never felt like you don't quite belong."
"I- I-" Lance couldn't argue with him, but everyone has feelings like that once in a while.
Don't they?
"I know you have, because that's how I have felt my entire life."
Lotor paused, maintaining eye contact. "You're not human, Lance. Not entirely, anyway."
Pain seared through his fingertips, across his palms. Lance found himself screaming. "That's not true!"
"You know it is. This wouldn't be possible if it wasn't"
"Lotor," Lance gasped through the pain. "You're going to destroy the universe doing this. It destroyed a planet last time. You need to stop this."
"This is the answer," Lotor pressed.
"You're going to kill us all!"
"I will save us all! We can stop the viral spread of the Galra. This way, my people are saved, as are yours. We can avoid the bloodshed. This is a risk we have to take!"
Lance had to stop him. Somehow.
The computer.
As he stepped in its direction, Lotor held his ground, their arms straining.
Lance knew he couldn't hope to overpower the prince – the guy was half Galran, those guys were strong.
But if he could break the orb…
Lance stopped pulling away, and instead ran at Lotor, pressing the orb between them and causing them both to crash to the ground. Lotor let out a shocked 'ooft' as they fell.
As Lotor lay stunned for a moment, Lance tried to smash the orb on the ground. He hit it again and again off the floor, but the thing rebounded off without a scratch.
"You can't break it," Lotor said, beginning to wrestle with Lance, trying to stop his struggle.
No. No. There must be something.
As he thought, he realised his mouth was moving of its own volition. A string of curse words falling from his lips without pause, a cascade to try and distract from the pain in his hands.
Lotor pounced on him, knocking Lance backwards as he was pinned to the ground. The orb pressed painfully to his chest where it too began to burn. Lance was openly yelling now, his train of thought long gone. The pain was too much. His fingerprints were being burned off, the bright light behind his eyes too much.
He was screaming mercilessly. Swearing endlessly.
"QUIZNAK!" He heard himself yell.
Through the sound of his blood pounding in his ears, Lance somehow heard a familiar voice shout his name.
He tried to bite off his scream. "KEITH!?"
It wasn't possible. He was imagining things.
"LANCE? Can you hear me!?"
"Yes!"
Lotor was staring at him, confused. "Wait-" He didn't let the thought form. He merely acted, leaping forwards to try and remove Lance's helmet. Of course, his hands were bound to the orb too, but his movement briefly winded Lance. He tried to squirm away, refusing to let Lotor try to take Keith's voice away.
"Are you okay?" Keith asked.
"Obviously not!" He spat, struggling to keep Lotor back.
"We're coming. We'll be right there."
Concern twisted in Lance's gut. The team, too close to the exploding rift. Trying to follow them through to a land of mystical monsters. "No-" Lance tried to say but Keith was cutting him off.
"Yes!"
Stupid mullet. "No time!"
The urge to start screaming again was overwhelming. He couldn't breathe.
"What's happening?" Shiro's voice joined.
I need to tell them what's going on.
I can't stop Lotor. But they can.
"Lotor…" His chest was contracting. It was too much. "He-"
Everything went black for a moment
When Lance's senses came back to him, the first thing he experienced was a new wave of pain. Then, the cold floor on his cheek.
Lotor was next to him, breathing heavily. He had collapsed.
The coolness on his cheek was a welcome feeling.
Wait…
His helmet!
Lotor had somehow managed to remove it.
It hadn't gone far, and Lance tried to crawl towards it. Lotor hung as dead weight, too weak to try and stop him.
He had to tell the team.
Once he was close enough to hear their distressed voices calling his name, he said, "You can't follow us."
He needed them to listen to him, for once. He needed them to understand – he didn't have the energy left to continue.
"Don't follow us," He said over the shout of their voices. "You need to destroy it.
"You can't-"
That was it. He was done'
The pain that had been building inside exploded, and Lance's throat was wracked by screams.
He was going to die.
No one could survive this,
His vision grew dark, but the shrieks in his ears did not diminish. He felt himself fading away into the darkness, despite the orb glowing like a miniture star in his hands.
"Lance?" Keith's soft voice somehow cut through. "I'm going to find you."
Lance must be imagining it.
"I promise this time."
Keith. He wished to reassure his friend, but he couldn't. His entire body was fried. He was done for.
The ground opened up below him and swallowed him and Lotor whole. The rift, the ship, everything faded away to nothingness, and Lance was lost.
Amid the void, Keith's final words echoed weakly, "I will bring you back." But Lance couldn't hear them. He couldn't do anything but fall.
