A/N: Okay guys, this is super important. I recently read a fanfic about Lance becoming the Black Paladin and fell in love with the idea, however I am unsure if I want that to happen in this fic or if I should write another Fanfiction for it separately. Please review or PM your thoughts on what you think! Should Lance become the Black Paladin here or should a new story be in the works? Alright peeps, enjoy the next chapter!

Summary: Allura has been hiding a secret from the Paladins, something painful from her past forced her to remain quiet. However that all changes when she finds a beloved object of someone she held dear. A simple pendant that hangs around the Blue Paladin's neck. Altean!Lance

Chapter Nine

Hunk and Keith were assigned to go to the belly of a weblum to retrieve the scaultrite. Though Hunk tried to make small talk and dance over the Galra bombshell, Keith was not to willing to participate. He wanted to focus on the mission at hand and not the fact that his heritage was Galran. The video Coran had sent them should have been helpful if it wouldn't have skipped around so often.

This job was incredibly important, they could not afford to be the ones to make a misstep here. Too many lives in the universe would be relying on them. When they arrived to where the weblum should be located, they found a graveyard of what appeared to be dead planets. Before either of them could question further on what could have happened here, the giant creature made an appearance.

It was up to Lance, Pidge and Shiro to rescue the scientist named Slav, someone who was going to crucial in building the gigantic teladuv. Though Lance didn't believe this mission would be terribly difficult, he had to wonder if everything would go according to plan. Pidge seemed to be restless, he had no idea why, but if she was nervous about something, Lance had a feeling maybe he should be more concerned as well.

He sent Pidge and Shiro to the facility first, he would wait for them out here for the time being until the cost was clear for him to land his lion without being detected. Once the sensors were down, Lance did a sonic scan of the facility to find the best place to land Blue and create a map of the entire area that Pidge would decode for all of them to see.

He landed Blue above Shiro and Pidge's location with a satisfied smile, this would be easy enough and he hoped the mission would stay that way. However his smile faded when the doors closed, an echo of a voice that sounded as if it were right next to his ear.

Casimir… You're alive.

A sharp pain went through his skull as he glanced around rapidly. He was alone in the cockpit, no one else. The echo sounded to clear to be a memory, panic started to build in him as he wondered why that happened. He shook his head, this couldn't happen now. He had a mission to complete. The lingering feeling of someone watching him did not leave him for several minutes, but he tried his best to ignore the feeling. He had to focus on the mission at hand.

Zarkon had been spending who knows how long with the sages, absorbing the lightning in order to locate the Black Lion. However, he had not had any luck in finding the machine and demanded more energy be placed upon him. It was then he felt it. Though the magical arts had never been his strong suit, he recalled the feeling of his young apprentice using some of that same magic on him once before, many years ago. The memories flowed through his mind easily enough, but it felt foreign.

"Trust me Zarkon," said a grinning child, "This will be fun."

"I fail to see how you performing some weird magic will be fun," Zarkon remarked dryly looking down at the boy.

Casimir replied with a bright smile, "You are going to feel my essence and Allura's with this trick."

"And this is useful because…" Zarkon questioned with a raised brow.

Allura huffed, "It's only useful if you have the ability, which I'm sorry Zarkon you don't."

"Well if he ever does get magic, he'll know what our essences feel like," argued Casimir, he looked up at Zarkon, "Are you ready?"

Zarkon smiled, "Go for it."

Zarkon's glowing eyes widened slightly as he said, "Casimir…. You're alive."

He felt the pulse of panic from the boy's essence before it slipped away from him, like grains of sand. Though Zarkon knew of the princess's return, their had not been any reports or sightings of the Altean prince. Zarkon had assumed he perished along with the rest of Altea, but this magic claimed otherwise. A new plan struck Zarkon, if he could get his hands on the Altean prince, he could turn the tide of this war.

"Hit me again," ordered Zarkon.

The sages did as instructed, sending more electricity to him. After a few moments, the darkness from his eyes faded until he could the Blue paladin standing the Green and Black paladins. At first he was confused by the sight of them, but realized the one in blue was Casimir. The locks of white hair, faded blue sickle marks and the essence coming from him was enough to confirm that this was Prince Casimir. The one in question looked directly at Zarkon, before the images faded away.

"A change of plans," said Zarkon as the lightning faded, "We need to find the Blue Paladin."

Pidge had been working on navigating Shiro and Lance through the prison without getting them caught, though she was also focused on trying to locate her brother. And after several long minutes of scanning, a match was found. After all this time, she couldn't believe it. Footage of her brother fleeing with some other aliens, rebels. There was a chance he was still out there and she couldn't wait to bring him home. It would take time, that much was true, but now she had a little more hope about finding him.

It wasn't until they were all in the blue lion that conversation turned a bit sour. Pidge may have been hopeful about finding him, but fear and doubt gripped her heart. There was no telling how long ago this video had been taken, there was still no way for her to know if he was even still alive with the rebels. She didn't want to think that her search would end with hearing a story of how he died or finding his body. Of course she didn't want that, but she had to be prepared in case that was the answer she received.

"What if I don't find him time," Pidge said aloud, more to herself than anything.

Shiro knew how important finding her brother and father was, having any hope at all was a big step, but at the same time it would lead to more doubt and fear. He wanted to find his crew to, more than anything he wanted to know they were okay. However deep down he feared that it would be too late and they were looking for a story, not them.

Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder, "We'll get to him before it's too late."

Pidge jerked away, "You don't know that for sure. He could be gone already."

"Pidge, I know it's hard-" Lance started, but was cut off.

Pidge barked at him, "You couldn't possible know its hard or understand what it feels like. Your sister is here! He could be out there, alone or maybe he isn't, maybe I'm too late and he's gone."

Lance frowned at her, a forlorn look on his face. Though he had Allura, it wasn't the same relationship he had with his sisters back on earth. He grew up with them, spent years with them, he could barely remember having Allura in his life. Part of him thought it was unfair for Pidge to say that, but he understood she was just in pain. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to constantly wonder what happened to the ones you loved, knowing they were out there so far away and then just gone.

An echo of words Allura had spoken to him, days after the discovery of his true heritage. And for the first time, he really understood how she must have been feeling.

I thought I was too late, that you were gone forever.

Those had been her words, the fears she had about him. It was the same fear that Pidge was facing now. Allura he supposed had been lucky.

"I couldn't imagine constantly wondering where my brothers or sisters were, that fear would be all I could focus on," Lance said sadly, he looked st Pidge, "I know you're hurting Pidge, and nothing I say will reassure you that he's okay, but I believe we'll find him. That footage is proof that he's out there. One way or another, we'll get your brother home."

Pidge looked at Lance and Shiro, but said nothing else. The rest of the ride back to the castle was filled with silence, though Slav's talking filled the silence and was slowly driving Shiro up the wall. Both Pidge and Lance wouldn't deny that it amused the both of them. Lance contacted Allura to let her know what was going on, that they accomplished their mission. She was glad to hear it, and to see that they were all safe from harm.

The transmission ended soon enough and the silence in the cockpit returned. However not much time passed when she contacted them about an emergency, Voltron was needed to fight the monster that attacked the Balmera before. The Blue and Yellow lions appeared through the wormhole, ready to fight.

Lance had not been able to fully shake the feeling he had felt from before they found Slav, about hearing the voice of Zarkon so close to him. Part of him wanted to tell Allura, but at the moment he was little annoyed with her to actually have a conversation about it.

The way she had been acting with Keith was getting on his nerves, he understood her dislike for the Galra because of everything they had done before, but Keith couldn't be held accountable for their actions. It was wrong to treat him so harshly. She wouldn't acknowledge his question on the bridge nor would she give him credit for getting the scaultrite from the Weblum. It was just wrong.

"Allura," Lance huffed as he stood on the bridge, his arms folded, "You can't keep doing that."

Allura wouldn't look at him, "You may not remember all the horrors Zarkon and the Galra have done before, but you have seen what they are capable of."

Lance gripped his arms tighter, "Yes, I'm aware of it. However that was Zarkon and other Galra, Keith didn't even know he was Galra until like a day or so ago. Do you not remember our very last conversation all those years ago?"

Allura turned her head to look at him so quickly, Lance felt a pain in his neck, "You have no right to bring that up."

"I have every right, I was there," Lance replied sourly, "Stop being so hard on Keith, he's still the same guy he was before. You can't punish him for his heritage anymore than anyone could punish me for being Altean."

Allura opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. Even though she wanted to say something further, she decided against it. She could understand that her feelings were uncalled for. It was just at this moment she couldn't help, but channel her anger at Keith. His people were the reason her entire civilization was gone, the reason the universe was in such disarray.

The princess sighed heavily. She was angry with Keith for something he couldn't change. It was just everytime she looked or thought of Keith, all she could picture were the horrors his people had inflicted on the universe, on her.

"The Galra were the reason father sent you away, the reason the universe is in a constant state of chaos and tyranny," Allura said, her eyes cold, "We cannot trust the Galra, the partnership with the Blade of Marmora could very well be a set up."

"Allura, you're being paranoid," Lance said softly.

"Someone has to be," Allura remarked.

Lance shook his head, "I don't think the Blades mean harm, they want the same thing. Keith wants the same thing. Would the Red lion really have chosen him if he wasn't a good person?"

Allura's expression turned darker, "Have you forgotten so quickly that Zarkon was once the Black Paladin, the leader of Voltron?"

Lance inhaled, "He was infected by quintessence, he changed. Keith isn't like that, none of us are."

"You can't know for sure," Allura muttered, more to herself than to Lance.

Lance's shoulders lost the tension he had been holding as he watched a wave of emotions flicker across her face. She was just afraid of the unknown and she remembered the betrayal, he didn't. All he had were some fragments of memories to go off of, most of them were pleasant and none about the attack on the castle. Though he did have a glimpse of it a few nights ago.

"I don't like this tension between you and Keith, we're all a team and we have to work together," Lance explained, his arms falling to his sides.

Allura looked at her brother with a pained expression. His brown hair had a few more white locks that had made an appearance, his blue sickle marks were more visible than before. With each passing quintant, he looked more and more like she imagined Casimir. Fighting with him had been easy when they were children, but that was when they had all the time in the world.

Their time was much shorter now, she couldn't waste any of it on arguing. Besides if this was so important to him, there was no reason she couldn't at least be civil with Keith for the time being.

"I understand, really and I, I will do my best not to let my feelings to get in the way," Allura said honestly.

The smile Lance wore made Allura feel more confident that she would be able to keep her word. Keeping Lance happy was a priority, mostly because she didn't want the foundations of their new relationship to be filled with strife. Dealing with Keith would still be hard, but she would remain civil for her brother's sake. To her surprise, Lance wrapped his arms around her.

It had just occurred to her that her little brother really wasn't little, he was much taller than her and she knew if he remembered their childhood more, he would mock her insistently for it. She returned his embrace, they would be okay. That much she knew. An alarm rang out in the castle causing the siblings to separate.

"What's going on," Lance asked in surprise.

While remained in his spot, a cold feeling washing over him, as Allura moved over to the control panels. Lance tried not to focus on the feeling, but it was overwhelming him. It was the same feeling he had when he landed Blue at the prison, when he heard Zarkon's voice next to his ear. He pushed the thought from his mind choosing to focus on his sister.

Allura pulled up what the censors were picking up to see the beast that Voltron had fought not long ago. The one that vanished before they could destroy it.

"Paladins," Allura shouted, "The beast is back! Get Voltron, you must end this beast!"

Shiro spoke to the comms, "We're on it. Paladins let's go!"