A/N: What up Paladins? Hope all is well. When I first started this story, there were three specific scenes that I wrote and while two of them have passed, the third one is just around the corner. Problem is the inbetween moments until I get that to one part, so I'm afraid the next chapter or two will be more filler based than anything so that I can tie in the scene correctly and not have to do a big jump to the future.

Currently I'm playing around with Lance's magic and how he's able to connect with it, since he's still figuring it all out it doesn't make the most sense, but soon enough it will tie together in a nice little bow, promise. As always, thanks for hanging with this story and hope you continue to enjoy it!

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 Thirteen

Lance jumped into the swimming pool, letting the water consume him as he felt a rush of warmth spread from his chest to his fingertips. Alteans had a connection to the magic of the universe, to the stars and the cosmos. With Voltron, that connection could be amplified through an astral plane. Lance had no idea how he or really Casimir knew this, but he knew it like he knew his heart was beating in his chest. However he was hoping to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

Ever since he found out that he would be losing his memories, he had been trying to find a way that he would be able to keep them or link them to something so that they would never truly be gone. Like writing them all down relating them to something that he owned. It worked for a little bit, but not enough and when he re-read the memories he wrote down before, he found that he didn't recognize them and nothing clicked in his mind. It was more terrifying than he thought.

His connection to the magic he felt tended to fluctuate, but he had an idea on how to keep it steady at the more important moments while also being able to hold onto his human past. He opened his eyes underwater surprised that it didn't sting, though he guessed that was because there wasn't any chlorine in the pool. Swiftly he sunk to the bottom or well the top technically considering the pool was on the ceiling. Lance had a strong connection to water, he hoped that would transfer over to Casimir.

If it did and his theory was right, that meant he would have a way to hold onto Lance and connect to his magic without losing himself. A memory flashed through his mind, when he first came here with Keith. It was clear, it was his as Lance, not him as Casimir which was a welcomed relief and pleasant feeling. He pushed himself to the surface of the water, he took a deep breath and the burning of his chest left him along with the warmth he had felt before..

"I remember the first time we came here," Lance called to Keith, his hair dripping water to the floor.

Keith had his arms crossed over his chest, he nodded, "Okay, how will this help us find Shiro?"

Lance grinned, "The alchemy magic will. I have a connection to the magic, but it isn't steady, it comes and goes in waves. Hence why we're at the pool, the water makes waves and by associating it, I might be able to get control of it or at least be able to predict when it will be big or small."

Keith frowned, he didn't entirely understand it, "Okay, but how will it help you find Shiro if he's… gone?"

"By strengthening my connection to magic, I should be able to find out if he's in the astral plane," Lance told him somberly, "Shiro just disappeared and people don't do that. So it's possible the Black Lion sent him there for his protection or as a last defense."

Hope flared inside Keith, "That's… incredible. There's a chance, a real chance that he could be there?"

Lance nodded, "Yes. It will take me a little while to figure it out exactly on how to make the connection last or learn how to read it, but once I get that down, I'll be able to see if I can find him."

Lance pushed himself out of the water and managed to flip around onto his feet with ease. It was a lot more graceful than he was expecting, but he silently thanked Casimir for once. He turned to look at Keith with a reassuring grin, "With a few days of practice I should be able to find someone else's energy. I'll talk to Coran and Allura to see what they know about it. In all honesty, I'm not even sure how I know this."

"You don't know it from Casimir," Keith asked with a frown.

Lance looked thoughtful for a moment, he tilted his head to the side slightly and Keith watched as his darkened brown hair and lighter white hair clung to his forehead. The water was dripping down him without delay, it made his skin glisten in the light. Keith forced himself to glance away, heat growing in his cheeks for a reason he didn't understand. He shoved it down without mercy as Lance began to speak again.

"I can't be sure," Lance said sadly, but he smiled anyway, "It certainly didn't come from Lance. Though it is weird talking about myself or selves in the third person."

Lance laughed lightly, but it sounded strange to Keith's ears. As if it wasn't really his laugh, or if it was, it was a laugh through pain.

Ten Battles Later

Lance stood off to the side, his breathing still shallow and slightly labored. It had only been a couple of minutes since he stepped off of the Blue Lion after fighting with the Yellow Paladin to free this world. He had been fine, everything was great in fact. The people wanted pictures with him, he felt like a… the earth word for it… a celebrity.

Yeah, that was it.

An ache formed in his chest at that. It had been two days since his last episode, they were getting closer and closer together. Even though every time he went swimming, the memories of Lance returned, the longer he remained out of water, the sooner the memories left. His theory had backfired a little bit in that regard, but at least his connection to magic had grown stronger. He felt almost like a space warrior from that really old film he couldn't remember the name of. A soft cough escaped him, he leaned against the rock wall as he tried to get his head back on straight.

He was a paladin, the blue paladin. Over there talking to some of the crowd was… the yellow paladin… his name it was, it was Hunk. He met him at school. Lance shook his head, how could he have forgotten Hunk? His best friend and for a long time only friend. Lance winced, he ran his fingers through his brown and white hair with a sigh.

For a little while he blacked out, not in the literal sense, but in the sense of one minute he was the planet Puig and the next he was in lounge area of the castle near the training deck. How he had gotten there or when, he couldn't remember, but decided not to say anything about it. He would go swimming in a little while and see what he missed.

"... pilot for the Black Lion."

That brought Lance out of his daze. He looked at his sister with a question in his eyes, her gaze glanced at him, but quickly away. It wasn't like she wanted to start the search for a new black paladin, she wanted to find Shiro like the rest of them, but the universe needed Voltron. Without a black paladin, they could not form it. The Galra were scattered and their empire was crumbling, they needed to appear strong in the midst of the chaos.

"No," Keith said, "I'm going to find him. Lance's connection to magic grows stronger everyday, soon enough we'll be able to bring him back. We can't just give up."

"No one is suggesting that we stop looking," Allura told him, she opened her mouth to speak again, but he cut her off.

"But we're going to replace him," Keith argued.

Allura released a soft sigh, "Voltron cannot function with four paladins. The Galra empire is falling apart the seams, if we are to continue to be a vision of peace and defense for the universe, we need Voltron. Not to mention while the Galra may not be ready to attack now, a time will come that they will and we need to be prepared."

Keith wanted to argue, he wanted to protest, but he knew she had a point. Voltron was the key to defeating Zarkon in the first place, but without a fifth Paladin, Voltron wasn't an option anymore and only using four lions wasn't going to cut it. However Keith didn't say anything, he stormed away not knowing what to do. He knew Lance was getting closer to finding Shiro, why couldn't the others and the universe just wait a little longer?

Lance leaned back in his seat, he glanced at Allura and she sent him a message. Apparently with his growing connection to magic, he managed to open up the channel between the two of them more than ever allowing them to communicate. It was easy for either of them to close off when they wanted to and at the ready to be open when necessary.

I want to find Shiro too, but I wish it wasn't you searching. Not like this.

Lance struggled not to sigh or roll his eyes at that. It took a lot more out of him than he cared to admit, not to mention he seemed to speed up the process on his retreating memories. The positive about the search was that it slowed down his deaging process which was a welcomed thing considering he had shrunk again, now he was at Pidge's height. It drove him nuts if he was being honest, but there was nothing he, Coran or Allura could do about it. Even though Lance wasn't one to give up, he knew when there was a battle he could win or one he would lose. This was one he had no chance of winning. He sent her a message before closing the channel.

I know, but I can handle this. Okay, I promise.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that Allura wasn't convinced by his message, but there was nothing he could do about that. The only way to ease her worries was to lie or sugar coat, even though he knew that wisest thing to do, he just didn't want to add anything else to her plate. She was leading the charge now more than ever, talking to all the leaders, building a coalition, trying repair ten thousand years of damage, the concern she had for Shiro and now her brother.

It was too much, he just wanted to ease the burdens she carried in whatever way he could. Lance left the lounge area to his room, quickly he changed into his swimming trunks, grabbed a towel and headed to the pool. It was where he spent most of his time anyway, but he knew soon he would be entirely dependent on it to keep memory alive. The thought didn't sit well with him at all.