Lotor whipped around, scanning the rocky crags and searching for the source of the words. Allura's eyes wandered across the sky. He followed her gaze to the height of a stony outcropping.
Amidst the grey boulders sat a motionless stooped figure. His brilliant sapphire eyes glinted with half lidded mystery and his lengthy gold beard twitched in the wind. Stark white points adorned his high cheekbones.
Lotor took a bold step forward. "And how might we do that?"
The Altean smiled grimly. "I can show you."
Lotor sensed Allura's words coming before the newcomer even finished his sentence. "You are Altean?! How did you get here?"
Silently, the prince cursed. The Altean indulged Allura's questions. "Many Altean's survived. Surely you don't believe that all have perished." The man briefly met Lotor's eyes before continuing. "A culture is difficult to eradicate."
The words seemed to drip with venomous accusation. Lotor's heart beat a little faster and his expression became stony. Hide everything. She will not know. He's bluffing. He can't know. No one knows. He looked down at Allura. There was much doubt in the woman's face but also an unmistakable glimmer of hope. She was so naïve. His purpose changed instantly.
"Lies! You are a mirage. A spirit trapped here like us," Lotor guessed.
Based on the Altean's sudden attention, he deemed he hit close to mark. "You are a wise creature, half-blood."
Lotor's face remained stoic against the insult. "How did you get here?" He repeated, growing progressively infuriated with the man's non-answers.
The Altean folded his hands politely as if he were about to lecture a particularly stupid group of students. "I am trapped." He indicated the princess with his eyes. "The force you are wary to utilise is keeping me here. It is of my own alchemy from years ago. A diseased form of quintessence." He sighed deeply. "It killed me and took on my behaviours and abilities."
"A doppelgänger," Allura pursed her lips. "Why were you experimenting with quintessence?"
The Altean smirked. "Ask your galra friend. They say addiction runs in blood."
Alarms blared in Lotor's mind and he struggled to keep from snapping. "Leave me out of this." He didn't look at the princess. "Zarkon's experimentations with quintessence were known throughout the galaxies. I believe the princess intended to ask why you went along with my father's whims."
"I was forced! Just like so many Alteans before me. Do not claim ignorance, Lotor. I" –
"Silence." He was quickly losing ground in this battle. This being knew far too much. Eliminate the threat. The objective pounded into his head.
Allura unexpectedly interrupted. "You used your power to harm countless others," she accused. "That was not Zarkon's choice. What happened to everyone else on these planets? The other Alteans?"
Stop this. Redirect.
"I killed them," the Altean admitted dryly. "Or, my doppelgänger killed them. Death was a far better alternative than suffering. I saw the carnage and attempted to destroy my creations before ridding the universe of myself. I could not be rid of my other half it seemed. It trapped me between realms: death and life, constantly draining me as an inner source of power. He is what is keeping all of us here."
The Altean fixed Lotor with a hard gaze. "Lotor opened the portal."
"Lies," Lotor snarled. He was acutely aware of the princess' eyes boring into him. "I have no alchemic skill." The words stung and dripped with bitterness. The truth hurts doesn't it? Just like the doppelgänger you must rely on strength not your own. Anxiety peaked within his chest. He kept the emotions tightly reined in.
"Whether or not Lotor brought us here does not matter. How do we leave?" Allura asked exasperated.
A slow, menacing smile crept over the Altean's face. "Kill my shadow and this prison will crumble."
"How do we know you are not the evil one?" Allura asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He would not speak this way. He will not allow his own source of power to be destroyed. He relies on me. Such is the nature of those falsely strong. Destroy him and free me. With his grasp ruined all can go free, even the other Altean souls trapped here."
The words twisted Lotor's stomach. He is lying. He wishes us to succumb to his corrupted force. Lotor felt sick and enraged all at once. A mirror of you. Look closely, that withered husk before us is your image. Kill him.
His inner battle heated similar to the discourse happening between the Altean and the princess. Those words faded into the background.
I don't know. Lotor felt like vomiting. He schooled his outward expression to stoicism. Sweat treasonously beaded on his forehead.
Kill them both then take his strength. They are both weak. Use this place as before in the knowledge of his schemes. You can harness quintessence! Here is the steppingstone. You will not need neither him nor her nor this place! Kill them then revel in your power and discard all that is left. All that is not your own.
I need her.
Here is the key.
It is not purest quintessence. It is sullied…
Like you. How fitting.
Stop.
If it were not for me, we would not be here, filth. Listen. Remember!
Images and flashes burst into life around him as he wrestled with his other half.
In a cold, silent city Lotor huddled alone in a massive chamber. He sat with knees pressed against his chest and back nestled against the foot of an empty command chair. Breathing came in ragged agonising huffs. His hands shook as panic induced seizures wracked his body every hour. Golden irises glowed dully from his swollen eyes.
He wanted to die. Why hadn't his father just killed him? He was alone. A haze fell over his mind, making thinking even the simplest things difficult. Yesterday's events dominated the only conscious thoughts flashing through him. He was so tired.
"Stop it," he feebly attempted to tell himself.
Lotor hugged himself like he had done so many times before.
Maybe he only wanted to hear the words as company. Was he that alone?
A deep, mournful laugh echoed through the chamber. He was unaware that it was his own. "No. We don't need anyone but that does not make us alone."
Lotor was too weak to disagree.
He forced Lotor to smile. "Stand up. Even bad days must end."
You've never listened. You've gone off your emotional urges this entire time. I am sanity. I am logic. You are insane without me. Just like your cursed father.
Lotor growled irately. "Lies!" Instinct took him in his entirety. A heavy, angular sword revealed itself in his grasp.
Allura gasped and was thrown back from the force of Lotor and the Altean's weapons meeting in a lock.
The Altean showed teeth in a gruesome smile. "You are following ghosts, boy!"
Lotor had no words. Hatred drowned every last sentiment.
The battle was quick. Lotor suddenly broke the draw, pirouetting to the left and dropping into a low crouch. The Altean was no swordsman. The move took the man off balance. Lotor merely braced himself and caught the man on his sword. It sliced cleanly making a wet slurping noise as it dug deeply into the Altean.
Adrenaline burned through his veins like fire. He did not meet the princess's eyes. He felt like falling on his own sword. All for what? All this for what? Anguish tore at the stitches holding him together. It was not the first time, nor would it be the last. He had made difficult decisions many times in the past. This one was finally his own.
His fey despair was cut short by a ground shaking explosion from the direction of the storm.