Chapter 54 - Difference Maker
Will looked up from piling piles of the dastine into careful containers. He took a deep breath. "How long has it been now?"
"Three weeks regular time, three hours for us, maybe thirty minutes for them." Jesse sighed, going back to his work. "This should be enough."
"I'm sorry for asking so often." Will tallied up in his head. Sixth time asking? That seemed right. "I'm just worried. It's honestly kind of weird that you're not. Lance is our leader, after all, and he's been in there...thirty minutes."
"He'll be fine. They've still got time."
"Are you sure the rest of the universe is okay?"
"That'd be a Caden question. But I'm pretty sure that if something was up, he'd let us know."
"You sure?" Jesse didn't respond. "What's going on between you two?"
"I honestly don't know. He's been cold since we got back to doing Voltron stuff, which he loves to do, and things just got weird after the original team left. And then he lost it at the last planet and won't even tell me why." He slammed a container on the ground. "But if he doesn't want to be around people, I'm not gonna argue. And I'm not gonna try to talk to him here."
"Not like we're doing a ton more."
"Being around this much raw quintessence is messing with our heads. It'll amplify every emotion until we're bombarded with more than we were made to handle." He glanced over. "I actually thought you'd be losing your mind faster than me in him, since you and Ari are a thing."
Will shrugged. "It's nice, actually. I love her, she loves me, and yeah, I'm worried about her, but she's a good fighter and can stand on her own. I know she'll be okay. Don't know if she thinks that about me-probably not-but I'm not worried a ton. I just miss her." He kicked a rock. "Wish they'd hurry up. It'll be my birthday soon."
"Shh."
He scowled. "You don't have to-"
"No, shh." He stuck his hand on Will's mouth effectively, and they listened to echoing from caverns. A rock wall outstretched in the distance, loud cataclysms coming from inside. Jesse motioned behind. "C'mon. Let's investigate."
They jetpacked to the wall, slowing when they reached the entrance. Through the gray light, they could see black shapes with drills carving into black rock, tearing out the silver streaks. One in particular stood above them all, one with light purple skin and black hair, lime green streaks. Jesse and Will slumped over against the wall.
"I recognize her," Will whispered. "She's one of Lotor's people. I-think they had a thing?"
"Not an important detail right now," he told him. "We've gotta stop them."
"Wait." Will put his hand across Jesse's chest, silently pointing to patrols of druids circling the miners. "We gotta get out of here."
"For once, I agree with you." They ran away as fast as their legs would carry them, using the mountain as cover, the clouds of quintessence covering them. "We gotta tell Caden about this."
N
"When Earth was still young, only decades old, we received visitors from another planet. They had triangle marks under their eyes and called themselves Alteans." Lance and Ari glanced at one another with wide eyes yet didn't dare to interrupt. "They established diplomatic relations with us, yet admitted we should take time to develop as a society ourselves. Humanity-we were born."
Mr. Schuttmann took over. "They were especially fascinated with a group of humans with brilliant red hair. While all humans were unique, these humans-us-were especially equipped to be defenders. While they already had Voltron in place to defend the universe, they needed trustworthy guards to keep Voltron safe while the paladins attended to other business."
"When Zarkon arose in vicious power, the cycle began. King Alfor entrusted his family of ten or so redheaded humans with protecting Voltron. For ten thousand years, our family has stopped the Galra Empire from acquiring the Voltron lions."
Lance put his hands to his face. "I always though the Galra just couldn't find them."
"Though King Alfor intended to, the Galra Empire expanded about as fast as the universe. He found them, over and over again, and every time, our family protected the lions, flying them to the outreaches of the universe, hidden again, until Zarkon discovered them again."
"And when Voltron was reformed?" She asked.
"We were no longer needed. We intended to reunite with Coran and reveal our intentions, finally safe from the treachery. Your father and I were so close, on Haza when Voltron was only a star system away, when Lotor found us."
"We didn't know, but he'd been tracking our family all that time, seeking to destroy us so he could reclaim Voltron for himself. We don't know what he intended to do from that point. We never got the chance."
"We did all we could to hide you from him. So long as a Schuttmann lives, Voltron will be safe."
Mrs. Schuttmann took Ari's hand. "Is it? Is Voltron safe?"
She snorted. "I hope so. I'm the red paladin."
They both looked surprised, yet pleased. "So the red lion has chosen a Schuttmann?" He pointed to Lance. "And you are the black paladin?" Lance nodded and stood with him. They shook hands. "You are quite the qualified leader. Thank you for continuing our work."
"No problem."
"So how are you all here?"
"The Alteans realized we sacrificed much to guard the lions, so King Alfor worked with a team of brilliant alchemists to create this place, our Earth. All our descendents, upon death, come here for another five hundred years. We have peace and security in this place."
"Ari." Her mother moved to her side of the couch. "I know this is a lot to process. But...you can stay."
She blinked. "Stay?"
"You and your black paladin. You crossed over rightfully with your key, and you can merge with our culture. Even those marred with us by matrimony come here, and their descendants, though only those who carry the red hued hair are considered worthy enough to protect Voltron, and they carry the Schuttmann name."
"You, darling," her mother confirmed. "You are a true Schuttmann."
N
"Caden!" Will shouted, running up to the feet of the blue lion. "You've gotta see this."
"Oh, wow, did you find more silver metal? While you were doing that I was trying to get in contact with the original team, who have somehow all mysteriously disappeared in the hour you were gone. Now that we've wasted a whole month of regular time and Lance has officially been in there for twenty minutes to an hour, I'm starting to think that you guys just don't care about our leader anymore."
"What's that even supposed to mean?" Jesse yelled.
"Guys! Caden, there's a bunch of druids and miners that-a-way. They're mining up the ore."
"Did you stop them?"
"There were too many."
"They're probably gone now," Jesse mumbled, turning away. "We had a chance to stop her."
"You would've just died," Caden snapped.
"You saying I can't fight them off?"
"Guys if you don't stop, I swear, I'm gonna ship you off to Haza where you can fight off your differences." He looked to the white mist. "C'mon Lance, we need you."
N
They stood outside the door, twenty minutes later. "Are you sure you must go?"
"The universe needs Voltron." she gave them quick hugs. "And I'll see you again. Y'know, when I die."
"That you will." He stroked her hair, then turned to shake Lance's hand again. "Thank you for taking such good care of my daughter. I believe we will see you here again?"
"No, not me." He and Ari shared a glance. "But someone."
"We're not married," Ari mumbled, turning redder than her hair.
"I trust you have chosen a worthy mate." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Though, his name?"
She blushed more. "Will. He's a human. Blond hair. Kind of an idiot, but he's the best one I know."
He kissed her forehead. "You will do well." Before she stepped through the door, Ari threw the key down the hillside. "One more thing, daughter. It may do you well to look into a character called the Motley."
"The what now?"
"The Motley. He is a man prophesied to us and the Alteans since the creation of Voltron." He bowed slightly and handed her a slip of paper. "I know as much as you, but here are coordinates to one who may be of more help than I. She should still be alive."
She smiled. "See you later."
They walked slowly through the door and into the thick mist. He looked at her. "You okay?"
"Mm hmm. I think." She played with her bayard. "Things are different. I guess I'm someone different."
"It's good, though?"
"I think so. I..." She spotted Will in the distance. "Oh my gosh."
He sat between Caden and Jesse, pushing them apart with all he could. His hair went in every direction. When he spotted her, he jumped up and ran in her direction. They collided in a hug. He stroked her hair and kissed her neck frantically. "I was going crazy. Ohh, I'm so glad to see your face."
She took his hand. "You'll be looking at it for the rest of your life."
"I hope so."
Lance and Will bro-hugged, and he snapped his fingers at Caden and Jesse, who begrudgingly stood. "We've got a lot of work to do. Ari and I saw some pretty unbelievable things in there."
The other three shared a glance. Will laughed nervously. "Trust me, we've got some pretty unbelievable things ourselves."
"Probably more unbelievable than yours," Caden admitted.
"Bet."
