Voltron: Dark Universe

Chapter 13:

"The Truth"

Lance was frustrated, sitting on the couch, resting his head on his hand. Keith was by his side arms crossed, angry. Next to him was Pidge, and finally Hunk. There were three piles of cards on a table in front of them.

"Very well, it's my turn," Hunk said. He picked up a card and rubbed his chin and said, "It's a yellow animal. It's big. And their main source of food are the Dribbs. Keith, what is it?"

Keith did not even look at him. "I don't know."

"Come on, try a little harder! Lance?"

"I know, I know!" Said Pidge, raising her arm. "It's a Bluka!"

"Right!" Hunk said enthusiastically. "Another point for Pidge!"

On a holographic board, Hunk had eight points, Pidge had fourteen, Lance had five and Keith had two. "Lance, it's your turn. Take a card and ask us."

Lance stretched and took one of the cards from the table. "Let's see, what is-" Lance stopped, he stared at his friends and saw the card again. He left it on the table. "What is... what happened to me before I woke up in the capsule?" The question took them all by surprise.

"Lance," Pidge said. "We already talked about this."

"No! We didn't!" Lance was so upset that he stood up. "You did the opposite! Now I want to know."

"Lance, listen to me," Hunk said. "You have to take it easy."

"No Hunk! I'm not going to take it easy! There is something you don't want to tell me! Maybe you do not care, but I do want to know! I demand to know! Why can't I get on my Lion? Why do you keep the secret for me!? What did you do to me!"

"Lance! Enough!" Keith yelled, getting up. Lance glared at him, but Keith kept his eyes on him. Finally Lance realized his behavior and looked at his friends. Then they both sat down again.

"Sorry. I didn't want to shout at you, but I really need to know."

His friends shared looks. It was Keith who spoke.

"Before, you have to promise to keep calm, okay?"

Lance nodded. Keith sighed.

"Do you remember anything about the last days?"

Lance remembered. "The truth is all is confusing. I still remember that." He cleared his throat. "You and I argued a lot. Then we made make it up, but from then on, I only remember a Galra commander, an asteroid field or something similar and... A crystal."

"That Galra you're talking about, was a commander who had been sent to steal solid Quintessence in form of crystals. We intercepted him a first time, and escaped. When we found it again it was in a destroyed planetoid. We thought that there would be more equal crystals, but what we found was- different."

"That crystal was just as powerful," Hunk said, "but its composition and characteristics far outweighed everything we had seen, and its color was purple."

"We thought it didn't matter, until it started to upset you. Somehow, the Crystal adhered to your mind, it connected to you. It was as if, you were infected, somehow."

"You developed a sudden need to find the Crystal," Pidge said, "and with it, the ability to track the Quintessence. That took us to the planet Orion Prime, where the commander had a large quantity of Crystals stored."

They stopped.

"Keep going!" Lance exclaimed. "What happened next?"

"We argue. You and me," Keith said. "I told you to stay at the Castle, that you were not feeling well. I ordered you to stay but you didn't want to listen," Keith seemed to be claiming, then calmed down. "We went down to the planet, to the Galra base, because we believed that the Dark Crystal would have infected you…"

Those two words echoed in Lance's mind. "Dark Crystal" repeated it several times in his mind.

"...When we arrived, the Galra had betrayed each other and the base was about to blow up. Since we couldn't do anything else, we left. But when we returned to the castle, we discovered that you were not there."

"...Kyrek..."

"What?"

"That was the name of the Galra... Kyrek. And I fought with him." In his mind, Lance saw fragments of what he had just been told, but nothing was as clear as a huge purple crystal, a very bright one. "I remember the base, I remember the crystals, and I remember-" Lance stopped in dry, terrified and looked at others. "-I remember the explosion."

Lance looked down. "The explosion... I was scared... and you-" Lance looked up, and furiously said "You guys abandoned me!"

"What?" They replied.

"That's ridiculous!" Said Pidge. "We had no idea you were there!"

"And that should make me feel better? You left me there to die!"

"That isn't true!" Said Hunk. "You were selfish and you did not trust us! I would've helped you!"

"If it's someone's fault, it's yours!" Keith said. "I told you to stay at the Castle. But no, you went against me and look where it took us! You died!"

Lance wanted to argue, but he didn't know what to say.

"How long ago was that?"

Keith closed his eyes before answering. "Five days."

Tears welled up in his eyes. "If I died, what the hell am I doing here!? If you managed to get rid of me, why did you come back?!"

"Lance, that's not-"

"Oh yes! Yes it is! Let me guess, why did you decide to find me five days later? Guilt, remorse maybe? No, maybe you wanted to recover the armor to return to the Red Lion!"

"No! Lance, none of that makes sense."

"Nothing of what I say never makes sense! If it bothers you so much, you would have left me dead!"

A sharp pain in his temples made Lance fall to the floor.

"Lance!" They shouted. They tried to lift him, but rejected them.

"Leave me!" Lance got on his feet and stepped back. He had let himself cry. "I know why you let me die! I know you would be better without me!" I know you don't need me! The only thing I do not know is why you came back for me!" Lance was breathing hard. "But it doesn't matter anymore."

He turned and ran.

"Lance!" Keith couldn't just stay there. I couldn't leave things like that. Not this time.

He ran after Lance, and found him leaning against a wall, sobbing.

"Lance, please. Listen to me." He pleaded.

Lance didn't even look at him. "Why Keith?" He said between sobs. "Why? Why did you leave me? And why did you come back?"

Keith didn't know how to answer. Lance believed that they had let him die on purpose, and that he was alive only by mistake. Of course that was not true, but how to prove otherwise?

Since he did not answer, Lance walked again. "I knew it. I'm sorry you couldn't get rid of me."

Keith stretched out his hand. Maybe to stop him, but he didn't. Keith only saw him walk away. He looked down and closed his eyes tightly. He clenched his fists in frustration, and then hit the wall hard with a scream. His breathing stirred. Until then, Keith thought he had done the right thing by looking for Lance. After all, he was alive, but with what had just happened, he was not sure that looking for him would have been a good idea.

Coran's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Keith?"

"Coran!" Keith rubbed his eyes. "What happens?"

"Allura asks for your presence. She's on the bridge."

"Okay, let's go."

...

Lance stumbled and staggered into his room. His head hurt and he wasn't able to see well. The pain increased every second, and Lance could do nothing to stop it. Suddenly he felt a twinge in his head and fell to the ground screaming in pain. He held his temples tightly. Then a voice appeared in his mind. He didn't understand what he was saying, but the voice was clear, grave and scratchy. The pain continued, and continued, until Lance lost consciousness...

Then he opened his eyes, which had turned purple.

...