Lance was lost.
After he had left the mansion he tried to run in the direction Keith had taken him to see the Styx, hoping to somehow find a way to bribe the ferryman, but before he knew it he couldn't tell where he was. He had tried retracing his steps only the wind up even more lost. Lance had no clue how Keith managed to navigate so easily.
He sat down against a tree with a thump, wrapping his arms around his knees. It had been days since he had run off, and he was exhausted and dying of hunger. No doubt Keith was searching for him, but he still wasn't sure whether or not he actually wanted to be found. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to see his mom's bright smile, get wrapped up in one of Hunk's warm hugs, and even be the subject of Pidge's teasing once more. He wanted to see flowers in full bloom, to feel the sun on his face, the breeze in his hair, and the rain on his skin. He'd never been so homesick before.
He had just buried his face in his knees when he heard a growl sound from a set of bushes off to his right. He quickly looked up to see a pair of glowing yellow eyes that didn't look friendly in the least bit. Faster than he could think, he scrambled to his feet and continued to run. This is what it had been like for the past several days.
He ran as far as his legs could carry him, which wasn't far considering how weak he had become but still hopefully far enough, until he collapsed to his hands and knees next to a tree, soon after falling onto his side and rolling onto his back to catch his breath.
As he panted heavily, Lance stared up at the light filtering through the leaves down onto his face. That was one of the few benefits of it always being cloudy in the Underworld he supposed; the sun couldn't hurt your eyes.
As Lance's breathing began to calm, he noticed something hanging from the tree. He suspected it to be some sort of fruit. Lance got up and stood on his toes, just barely being able to reach the object and pluck it from the branch.
As he looked it over, he recognized it as a pomegranate. What was a pomegranate tree doing in the Underworld? From what he'd seen Keith eat, food from the Underworld looked vastly different from that of his world.
Just then his stomach decided to growl at him, reminding him just how hungry he was after having gone days without eating. How long had it even been since he last ate? He'd lost track.
Lance could still remember Ulaz's warning about food of the Underworld. If he ate it, he'd be stuck there forever. But if he didn't…
As the thought crossed him so did another hunger pain, giving him a harsh reminder of just what the consequences of refusing to eat when given the chance could be.
Lance carefully weighed his options. Although the pomegranate wasn't much, it was still something for his empty stomach. And if he hadn't found the Styx yet it was unlikely he would do so anytime soon. The same could be said for Keith coming to find him. Who knew how much longer he'd be out here for? Getting trapped in the underworld versus dying slowly of starvation, in the end it was an easy choice.
Besides, pomegranates were food from his world, not food of the Underworld, right? Surely he wouldn't get trapped from eating one.
With his mind set, Lance managed to split the pomegranate open using his teeth to rip the peel, and began to eat.
The effect wasn't immediate, but it was fast. He had gotten about halfway through the pomegranate before his throat began to burn. Slowly, the sensation grew unbearable, as if his entire throat was on fire. Then, that's when he felt it. A sudden pain, different from the hunger pains he had been feeling, and more intense.
It rippled through him like a wave, and he paused in his eating to place a hand over his stomach in confusion. Then he felt it again. Even stronger this time. Much stronger. It was a pain unlike anything he had ever felt before, much worse than anything he had ever experienced in his life. And it burned, as if someone had shoved hot coals down his throat into his stomach.
The pomegranate dropped to the ground as he doubled over, clutching his stomach in pain, and began to scream.
Keith had been searching for Lance for days on end, hardly even stopping to eat or sleep. After giving Ulaz a proper burial, he had brought Orthrus with him to see if he could try to sniff him out. Unfortunately, the two-headed dog seemed to get distracted by every little thing, so in the end he wasn't much help.
"Lance!" Keith called out for what felt like the millionth time, "where are you!?"
Just then, Orthrus seemed to hear something, both heads swivelling in the direction of the noise. Before Keith could stop him, he was taking off through the forest.
Keith quickly ran after the dog, calling it's name and muttering a curse under his breath.
That's when Keith heard it. A scream. Lance's scream. And just like that, Keith was pushing his legs harder to chase after the dog through the brush towards the sound.
Finally, they reached the boy, who was hunched over in pain, tears welling in his eyes. Keith was at his side in an instant.
"What happened!?" He demanded before his gaze wandered to the pomegranate that laid on the ground in front of them. "You ate the pomegranate!? You idiot, those things are poisonous! I thought I told you not to eat anything unless Ulaz or I gave it to you!" He hissed, more in fear for the boy than actual anger.
"I didn't know!" Lance defended himself, wheezing in pain, "I was so hungry… and I figured… pomegranates are from my world! I didn't… think they counted!" Just then he heaved and vomited on the ground in front of him, a trickle of blood staining the side of his mouth.
"Quiznak!" Keith cursed, before quickly scooping the boy up in his arms. "Just… hold on! I'll get you some help!" And with that, he began to run, Orthrus on his trail.
He ran as fast as his legs could carry them, trying to reach the gates to the human world, but they were fairly far and Keith wasn't even sure where to go once they got out.
"Keith… Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Why are you trying to save me?"
Keith furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, wanting to look down at Lance but instead keeping his eyes forward to see where he was running. "Why wouldn't I try to save you? You're my friend!"
Lance was silent for several moments before he spoke up again. "I thought you were with Zarkon…? You were with one of his men."
"Is that why you ran away?" Keith hissed angrily, making Lance flinch in his arms. "You're such a moron... " He let out a sigh, though it was lost in his heavy breathing. "Thace isn't with Zarkon. He's with me. We've been trying to protect you."
Although Lance was curious as to what Keith meant by that, he was much too tired to give more than a quiet "hm" in response.
"You doing okay?" Keith asked in concern, trying to push himself to run faster only to stumble a little bit.
"Not really," Lance murmured, his voice quiet, "everything's numb."
Keith bit his lip. "Just hang in there, Lance, I'm gonna get you some help as soon as we get to Earth. Just stay with me."
Lance gave a tiny sigh, not having the energy to give a response, and certain it wasn't one Keith would even want to hear. Regardless, the both of them already knew the truth. Lance wasn't going to make it.
The lack of response caused Keith to bite down harder until he tasted blood. He couldn't help but blame himself for the entire situation. He knew there wasn't much he could have done, but there was no stopping the nagging sensation that it was his fault Lance had run off. Maybe he should have been more adamant about warning Lance about the food, or kept his meeting with Thace a secret. There must have been something he could have done differently. Then maybe Lance wouldn't be dying in his arms.
Finally, he managed to reach the portal back to Earth. He paused in his running and glanced down at the god of Spring. His eyes were closed and his breathing had stopped.
"Hey… Lance, wake up…" His plea was met with a deafening silence. He tried shaking the boy despite knowing it was futile. "Please Lance… I've already lost one person who was important to me… I don't want to lose another…" Tears began to stream down his face as he fell to his knees, resting his head against Lance's. "Please don't go…" He cried, already knowing that nothing he said or did would bring him back. It was too late. Spring was gone.