A/N: Sorry guys, I thought updates this story, but apparently I hadn't. My bad fellow Defenders! A little on the short side, but starting the build up for the upcoming chapters. Without further ado, here's the next chapter!
Chapter Five
Lance would have liked to do nothing for days, but a mission was brought to their attention. It had only been two days since he discovered the truth, but he still was shaken and far from fully accepting it. After everything that had occurred, he was not in the mood to be bothered by anything or anyone. But the universe waits for no one.
There were lives on the line, he couldn't sit around and sulk when someone out there needed help, the help only flying lions and Voltron could give. It was strange to think he was put in space, flying robot lion and saving the universe. Life was funny like that he supposed, crazy things happen and you either fight it or roll with it.
Lance preferred rolling with it, though with his most recent challenge he finally understood why people fought change or new things. Sometimes they were things you didn't realize you never wanted. He shook it from his mind and tried to refocus his attention on Shiro and Pidge.
When he was called down for a mission, he realized it was actually a possible one and not one of urgency, he expected they would head out immediately. That wasn't the case. Hunk had only told him that because he thought Lance wouldn't show up otherwise. It was true, but Lance was annoyed.
"-me escape," said Shiro when Lance finally focused.
"And he was Galra," Allura said angrily.
Lance tensed at the tone, why did it bother him so much? He supposed because he didn't like the sound of her voice or that she had a hatred for an entire people.
You can't blame everyone for the actions of a few.
His… mother on earth told him that when he was younger and he carried that advice with him. The thought of her sent a pang in his chest.
"Yes," Shiro sighed.
Allura went on in the same tone, "You know you cannot trust them."
Shiro glared at her, "Your father must have trusted them once. Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?"
"That was a long time ago," Allura said glancing away.
A creature with purple skin and yellow eyes stood towering of him, his armor white and black. His smile was friendly and his laugh infectious.
Lance winced, squeezing his eyes. The name echoed in his mind, Zarkon.
"He was the Black Paladin," Hunk said in shock.
Keith spoke next, looking at each member, "Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion right out from under Shiro? Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? Shiro's bayard? You know, the black one?"
Shiro looked at Allura then, an accusation in his eyes, "Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?"
Allura looked slightly guilty, "I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins so that you would have a chance to bond with your lions on your own. You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon."
"Yeah, well, the Black Lion may have a different take on the matter," said Shiro a bit dejected.
"Wait a second. I think I see it now," said Pidge excitedly, "Some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it."
They were all silent for a moment.
"They are coordinates! They lead here: the Thaldycon system."
Shiro stood up then, "Then, that's where we're headed."
"Shiro, are you sure you can trust this," Keith asked worriedly, "I mean, after all the Galra have done to you. They, they took your arm."
Shiro nodded determinedly, "It's worth the risk. Someone helped me escape. If we can locate some allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones from his own side, we might just find a way to take him down."
Allura crossed her arms over her chest, "We can check the location, but I do not like this. The Galra are not to be trusted."
It didn't look like the Paladins would be leaving the castle any time soon, so Lance took this as a blessing. His head was clouded and he wasn't ready to be in a fight or in a high stakes situation. The last thing he wanted was for someone to be her just because he was a little distracted.
You can never allow yourself to be distracted on the battlefield. One moment is all it takes for the enemy to gain the upper hand.
Lance brought his hand to his head as the voice echoed in his mind, his temples starting to throb. The voice sounded far away and muffled, but he had a feeling he knew who the owner was. Zarkon. According to Allura, Zarkon had been like a mentor to Casimir, who helped him train and strategize.
Lance wasn't thrilled about the idea and after the story Allura told him the other night, his mind had been all over with random flashes from a life he didn't know. He assumed this would go on for awhile, but didn't think it would cause him pain.
At first they just came, but then the headache and unease in his stomach followed by lunch yesterday. A hand on his shoulder caused him to jump back and stumbled on his feet.
"Lance," said Shiro concerned.
Lance realized Allura's hand was on his shoulder and Shiro was facing him, the others were watching a few steps back.
Focus on what's around you prince.
His temples were throbbing.
"Are you alright," asked Allura worriedly.
Lance glanced at her then at the others. While yesterday when he was around, the other's hadn't treated him differently and for a while he could pretend nothing had changed.
However he knew soon that would no longer be the case. It would turn into the elephant in the room, something there that no one wanted to talk about.
"I don't think now is the time," Lance said taking a deep breath.
"You look like you're in pain," Keith said matter of factly, "What's wrong?"
Lance narrowed his eyes. What wasn't wrong with him at this point? The new information, the flashes, the aches. The blue Paladin was not having a pleasant time.
"Just some headaches and flashes of stuff," said Lance dismissively, "What's wrong with me isn't important right now. We need to get to Thadycon and find out who helped Shiro. We need answers."
"Flashes," asked Coran curiously.
Lance sighed, "Did you not hear what I just said about it not being important?"
Shiro replied, "Lance, we're here right now because I saw some flashbacks. What are you seeing that's causing you pain?"
Lance tried not to growl, "I'm fine. Can we not focus on me or my issues right now?"
"We want to make sure you're alright," Shiro said patient as ever, "Talk to us, we're a team remember?"
Lance held back a retort. He knew it was unfair to take out his anger on his friends, but he couldn't help it. It was too easy for him to lose his temper. Honestly he hated it.
Don't allow your emotions to control you. They will cloud your judgement.
The pressure building behind his eyes.
Taking steady breath, Lance pushed his anger aside and nodded in answer to Shiro's question. His team was here for him. He had to believe that.
"How did we know Zarkon," he asked looking directly at Allura, "I, I've seen him. In flashes and echoes."
Allura visibly swallowed and looked uncomfortable with the topic. She knew he was going to ask eventually, but she had hoped she would have more time to come up with a better story and explanation.
This had to be handled correctly. The last time she spoke about Zarkon to her brother it had ended poorly, she couldn't let it happen that way again.
Allura sighed, "Zarkon was a friend of our father's," Allura ignored the wince on his face, "that's all you need to know."
Lance narrowed his eyes at her, "You can hide it for now, but you don't get to decide what I need or don't need to know."
Allura released a sigh, she had expected as much, "Very well. When there is time, I shall tell more."
Lance flashed her a grateful look then before it slipped away. He could hear is pulse in his ears.
"What have you seen," Pidge asked curiously.
Lance shook his head, "Not important. Look let's just focus on one thing at a time alright. Shiro's right, we need to get to the bottom of whatever is going on with the guy who saved him. We can deal with my issues after."
Allura frowned at the use of the word issues, but she couldn't blame him for it. After all, he now had more problems than before. The guilt of that was weighing down on her, but she wouldn't take it back. Not now or ever really, her brother was here and that was all that mattered.
The castle arrived to the coordinates Shiro and Pidge has found, it was nothing but some time of mind field. Lance didn't remember the name, honestly he wasn't paying much attention when Coran was describing it.
He had been lost in thought, the echoes of a life he didn't know ringing in his ears. If this was going to become a regular thing, he was not pleased about it. Soon enough after their arrival, an intruder had come to the castle sending the Paladins into gear.
Chasing him down had been rough, in the end it had been Shiro who stopped him or really at least got him to stop running and fighting.
It turned out the guy, the Galra who saved Shiro, was the one who broke on board. That was a bit of relief. Though the Galra intruder named Ulaz was still cuffed for breaking in. Shirt wasn't pleased by that.
"I don't think this is necessary," Shiro commented.
Allura glared at the Galra, "I will not have some quiznak-ing Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!"
Lance muttered under his breath, "Harsh much."
Ulaz spoke then, "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."
"Are your Galra threats supposed to win my trust," Allura snapped.
Ulaz replied not phased by her tone, "I'm not trying to win your trust. I'm trying to win a war. And, because of Shiro, we are closer than we've ever been. Our gamble on you paid off better than we could have ever imagined."
"When you released me, you also mentioned that there were others working with you," Shiro said curious and a slight hesitation.
Ulaz nodded once, "Yes. We are called the Blade of Marmora."
"Uh, others? Are they here," Hunk asked in surprise.
Ulaz shook his head no, "I am alone on this base." "What is this base you're talking about," Allura asked harshly, "Shiro's coordinates just led us to this wasteland."
"The base is hidden. Now that I know it is Shiro that has come, you are welcome to our outpost. It lies dead ahead," explained Ulaz simply.
Pidge raised a brow, "Behind all the xanthorium clusters?"
Ulaz shook his head, "No. Right in front of it, in a hidden pocket of space-time."
Allura spoke a bit louder, "Coran, are you hearing this?"
"I am picking up some kind of anomaly on the screen. I suppose it could be a cloaked base," Coran replied from his spot on the bridge.
"Just fly straight for the center of the xanthorium cluster. You will see," said Ulaz without changing his tone.
Allura glared at him furiously, "You think you're going to get me to destroy our ship just because you say so?"
"We came out here to find some answers. Are we going to turn back now," Shiro questioned.
Keith voiced his suspicions, "You know I trust you, Shiro, but this doesn't feel right."
Pidge agreed and gestured to her head, "Galra could have implanted fake memories of the escape in your head."
"Oh, come on, that would be so evil, which, of course, they are. But they'd have to come up with some molecular level storage unit, which his hand does have," Hunk said nervously, "But, to be linked up to memory, it would need a direct pathway to his brain, which... yeah."
Lance spoke next, his voice soft, "I say we listen to him."
A chorus of what and why's came. Shiro was silent.
Lance explained, "Ulaz set Shiro free and that lead to Voltron being formed. Without him, none of that would have happened. We may not know him, but we owe him this."
Allura looked like she wanted to argue with him, but Lance had a feeling him being her brother made her hesitant. They were shaky at best, she probably didn't want to rock the boat anymore than it already was. The echoes of the past seemed to haunt Allura more and more, especially the voice of her kid brother.
Please 'Lura.
Allura relented, "Fine. Slow and steady, Coran. Head for the xanthorium cluster."
Coran sighed, "Yes, Princess. Beginning approach." Slowly the castle moved forward, the alarms blaring in warning of impact.
Coran announced to them, "Impact imminent in five, four... three, two... Well, that's something."
Allura glanced up, "What is it?"
"Just a tick," said Coran, "Putting it up on the screens."
The screen behind the Paladins game a live with a view of all the colors of the rainbow streaming forward through the dark abyss of space. It was a stunning sight to see.
Pidge spoke first, "Amazing. They're folding space."
"It's like a space taco. Or a space calzone. Or a space-time soup dumpling and we're the soup," Hunk said dreamily, he looked at Ulaz, "Hey, is there a cafeteria on this thing?"
Ulaz stood from his seat, "Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon. Now, if you'll free me, I need to send a message to the leadership. They need to know I've made contact with Voltron."
Allura looked like she wanted to argue, but when her eyes fell to Lance she decided against it. In her mind she could still hear the echoes of their argument, of her anger and his hurt. She had to avoid any issues with him, at least until she was certain their relationship could survive.
The Princess looked to Shiro, "Go with him and keep an eye on him. I'm staying here."
"Ooh! Can we go," Hunk asked excitedly.
Pidge added with just as much enthusiasm, "I want to see how they make the space pocket!"
Allura sighed, "Go ahead, but be on alert."
Hunk and Pidge cheered at that. However Hunk stopped when he looked at Lance, Keith had turned to the blue Paladin as well. While it was clear that the others were going, Lance was not.
He did not entirely want to leave, but at the same time he really didn't want to stay behind with Coran and Allura alone. However it looked as if that would be the case if the other Paladins decided to go with Ulaz.
"Lance you going to join us," Keith asked after a moment.
Lance hesitated, "One of us should stay with in the castle in case of an attack or emergency of some kind."
Shiro nodded to Lance with an impressed look, "He's right. Good thinking Lance. The rest of us will travel to the base with Ulaz. We'll take the Red Lion, it's fastest and if we need to leave in a hurry, it will get us there in no time."
It was decided, while Lance remained in the castle, the rest of the Paladins and Ulaz would go to the base. Allura has been so relieved that Lance was remaining here, close enough for her to know he was safe and away from the Galra.
She knew sending him out on missions with the Paladins would be more difficult, knowing that he was her brother complicated things. If she could she would forbid from flying the blue lion again, but he would never agree and Voltron needed all the lions operational. It was an unfortunate situation.
Once the Paladins were gone, Lance was sitting in the bridge with Coran and Allura. The silence between them all was tense and uneasy. Usually Lance would have filled the silence with his endless chatter, but he couldn't find any words to say nor did he really want to break the silence.
Sometimes the best plans come in the silence, but some of the great ones come in the best of battle.
Lance suppressed a hiss at the voice ringing in his ears. Trying to ignore it wasn't working, but letting it continue was almost worse. Regardless of what he did, the pain in his temples didn't leave, at first it was a dull ache, but it turned into a stabbing pain that he could barely handle.
Luckily or unluckily, a threat was detected headed towards the base now. The other Paladins returned quickly and all of team Voltron went to their stations. Lance was somewhat grateful for this, he had something else to focus on and was ready to take Blue for a spin.
A Galra machine, merciless and giant had come after them, firing attacks and using a tractor beam to power up. The fight had it's difficulties, but Voltron was successful in the end. Unfortunately, Ukaz died saving them. He used the space picket to get the machine to fold in on itself, destroying it and himself in the process.
Shiro took the loss the hardest, none of the Paladins could blame him. Not even Allura could find fault with it. Lance had gone to see Shiro after they all returned to the castle, Pidge and Hunk were with Coran going over the technology used for the space pocket and possibly a way to recreate it with what they had. Keith had joined Lance to visit Shiro, only moments after he just arrived.
"Are you okay Shiro," Lance asked worriedly.
Shiro kept his eyes on the Xandthorium crystals, "I'll be alright. I will have so many questions."
Keith spoke next, "Sorry we doubted Ulaz, Shiro. He saved all our lives."
"He died a hero," Lance said softly, his gaze on the floor.
The doors behind them opened, but none of them turned to see who entered. It was Allura.
Keith asked, "Do you think Zarkon is really tracking us?"
"We cannot know for sure," Allura said making her presence known, "Only Ulaz knew our whereabouts."
Shiro looked over her shoulder at her, "You don't really think Ulaz gave us up? After he sacrificed himself?"
Keith was quick to agree, "Yeah! Maybe Zarkon found out about this place on his own. He's probably been searching for the Blade of Marmora."
Lance said nothing, his narrowed slightly at Allura. He knew of her prejudice and hatred towards the Galra based on the flashes he saw after she told him about their argument when he was Casimir. My only had Lance seen Zarkon, but he had seen her plenty of times along with the King and Queen of Altea.
She spoke again, tone indifferent, "It's clear the loss of Ulaz has caused you great concern, but regardless of how Zarkon located us, we cannot stay here any longer. It isn't safe."
"We should meet up with the rest of Ulaz's group, finish what we started," Keith said passionately.
"No way," Lance said with a frown, "Zarkon would just find us and the rest of the rebels again."
Shiro agreed, "We can't risk losing the only allies we have in this war. Until we figure out how Zarkon is tracking us, we can't go near them again."
Allura was prepared to say other reasons as to why they shouldn't go near them again. However she bit her tongue because of Lance. Her gaze fell to blue Paladin dressed in his usual outfit, his arms wrapped around his stomach.
Everyone, including herself, was still unnerved at Lance's shift in demeanor. No one would blame of course, but he wasn't talking enough and his posture and positioning was all wrong.
During the battle it was easy to forget that he was acting different, but it was these quiet moments that everyone noticed a change. Allura had become so wrapped up in her observation, she hadn't noticed Shiro or Keith leave the room.
"Maybe you should take a picture," Lance said turning to look st the stars, "It will last longer than you staring at me."
"I apologize, that was rude of me," Allura replied.
Lance waved dismissively, but made no verbal reply.
"Are you alright," Allura asked as she walked over to him.
Lance didn't answer her question, "Tell me about how we knew Zarkon Allura. His voice is echoing in my head, so are two others that I don't recognize, but Zarkon's is the most noticeable." Lance lifted his head to look at her, his blue eyes slightly narrowed, "Don't hide anything from me this time."
Allura tried to hide a wince at his phrasing, but he saw the expression. Part of him wanted to feel guilty about it, but he was too upset to care. The revelation from before had brought on all kinds of distorted memories and voices he didn't really know.
It was slowly driving him up the wall, though he didn't want to accept this situation, he knew figuring it would do him no good. What he needed were answers, right now Allura and Coran held most of them.
"He was the best friend of our father's, a teacher and mentor to you," Allura explained, "I don't know the details of your relationship with him, only that he taught you many tricks and even had you as an apprentice of sort."
"Did I ever write any of it down," Lance asked.
"I don't know, why," Allura questioned confused.
"If I had any information on him or how he thinks, it could be useful. Though it would be ten thousand years old, possibly outdated," Lance said thoughtfully.
Allura offered a weak smile, "Only possibly?"
Lance nodded, a slight grin of his own, "Only possibly. Clearly his tactics are working since it's been a long time. Any past information might be helpful."
"You could always check your room," Allura suggested casually.
Lance raised an eyebrow, "My room?"
Allura nodded, her eyes lit up, "Your room or study, either one could hold information about your apprenticeship with Zarkon."
"It's a start at least," Lance said with a nod.
"I could show you to it perhaps after things have settled down and we are in a age location," Allura said a bit hesitant.
Lance offered her a small smile, "Sounds like a plan."