All I can really say for this chapter is... the feels on the bus go round and round. Enjoy, and please please please leave a review, it would mean so much to me!
The first thing he thought when he woke up was, How many days has it been?
He didn't know why. But there was a deep sense of urgency to get up and move around. Why on Earth would I wanna do that? My head feels like it's imploding. He could not open his eyes. Instead he groaned and shifted his weight. The cold hard ground underneath him sent a chill up his spine, and he registered in his brain that the taste in his mouth was a foreign one. He opened and closed it, smacking his lips together. Metallic. Blood. Why do I have blood in my mouth? Where am I? He got onto his stomach and tried getting on his hands and knees. His arms trembled in effort. He forced one eye to open. Dark grey stone. Gritty. Cold. Cracked. He craned his head to look around. More dark grey stone.
There was a low droning behind him. He turned around and sat down, propping himself up with one arm and wrapping the other around his leg. Right. I know where I am. The same place I've been for fucking forever. Only now, he'd managed to make his escape a hundred times harder. Nice going. He was alone for the moment, all of the other cells were empty.
Lance backed himself up until he could lean on the back wall of the cell. There he let out a deep sigh that turned into a shudder, and the first hot tear rolled down his cheek. It was all his fault. He'd managed to get caught when no one on the planet knew who he was, or what he looked like. It was the easiest thing to do, keeping his identity a secret. But no, he landed himself in the public eye anyways. And then, as a result of him being unable to keep his identity a secret, the freaking Galra were coming to a neutral solar system like the cancer it was to kill him and take it over. And on top of all of that... he'd gotten Keith involved in this absolute mess. They'd been sucked into a Wormhole for Christ's sake! He'd probably been spewed out on the other end of the Galaxy, and yet somehow Lance had single- handedly spelled out his friend's fate anyways. Keith probably hated him.
He let it all out from there. All of the regret. All of the remorse. All of the loathing. The salty tears dripped into his mouth, adding to the sickening cocktail of blood and saliva. He cried until his stomach hurt.
The only thing that made him stop was hearing the doors to the cell block open, followed by thirty pairs of footsteps, all conversing. They all took their respective places inside their rooms and the charged shields went up.
"Lance? You awake?" Dreks asked softly from beyond the wall right of him.
"I'm up." He replied hoarsely.
"Ya been gone a whole Light. Jus' got back from our morning meal." He mused. "I was beginnin' ta' think you were a gonner."
"Yeah well, unfortunately I'm still alive."
"...You okay?"
"... What do you think? We're all about to die. This whole system is gonna have to deal with the biggest pieces of shit to ever walk the universe, and it's my fault." Lance scooted himself next to the wall he and Dreks shared. He could feel Dreks do the same.
"It's not your fault."
"I got caught."
"I betcha your friend doesn't think i's on you." This made Lance stop. He lifted his head from his arms. Dreks went on. "Think about it: that guy, whoever 'e is, came 'ere ta get you. Sure it went embarrassingly wrong, but 'e did it."
Lance felt a warmness in his chest. That was true; he'd gone who knows how far when he heard the Galra were after him.
"Was' he like anyways?" Dreks asked.
"Keith? Well... he's really good at what he does, that's for sure." He laughed. "But he's such a pain in the ass sometimes." Lance went on to describe his friend in great detail. When he was done, Dreks asked about the other members of Voltron, and Lance spared no detail. For the next hour he unloaded everything he could remember about each and every one of them. About Shiro's leadership and bravery, Hunk's friendliness and spirit, Pidge's intellect and toughness, Keith's skill and loyalty. The Alteans had not gone extinct to Dreks' surprise, and Lance describe's Allura's past and Coran's background in mechanics. The more he talked about them the more he remembered, and the more it dawned on him how much he could forget about his friends in just three months. The cell block, unbeknownst to Lance, was getting quieter and quieter the longer he talked about his team.
After describing each and every one, Dreks asked him about his adventures piloting Voltron. It came to Lance that no one in this solar system, or region for that matter, truly knew what Voltron really was or what it looked like.
"... Hunk and I enrolled at the Garrison together a year and a half into high school... high school, it's a place where they stuff you with useless information for no real reason... ha yeah, it is pretty stupid..."
"Pidge lost their brother and father during the Kerberos mission. That's where Shiro was... no they're both still missing. But Pidge'll never stop looking, and neither will we..."
"... So then I thought Hunk was dead, and I kept getting blasted by the Galra fleet..."
".. and then Keith was all,"- Lance did his best Tortured Intense Goth voice- "'I don't think you're using that word correctly'..."
"... She got the weirdest idea to handcuff us together and Pidge provoked Allura enough for her to start a food fight... It worked..."
"...I can't remember what the stuff was, but it tasted so, so gross... ugh..."
"...That's when the crystal was exploded using a replica of Pidge's droid, Rover... I don't remember much after that to be honest- an' don't ever let Keith tell you otherwise..."
"... Turns out the Balmera are all alive, and get this, the Galra had enslaved a whole race of people to mine the huge animal bare... Hunk was especially determined to make sure everyone got out..."
"... And the airlock actually opened on me. Keith got me out before I was sucked into space... I know! The castle- ship was crazy haunted- at least that's what I thought, it was really just a virus..."
"... Coran really got all up in Shiro's business about letting Allura get captured, even though it wasn't really his fault... She's probably the bravest person I've ever met... and one of the hottest..."
"It's been three months... it's like a hundred Lights or something... but yeah. I haven't seen any of them in a long- ass time... well, until the other day."
A voice interjected from across the hall. "Wow. That's rough."
"Huh?" Lance scooted himself closer to the energy shield. The guy was an average- sized yellow- tinted alien with one eye. "Uh, thanks-"
"So how big is Voltron approximately?" Another asked.
Lance glanced to the left. "Imagine one of those really big transport ships-"
"And all five of you control it?" Another piped up.
Before he could begin to answer the question he got a slew of others from all around his block. Everyone had been listening to him tell his story to Dreks, and everyone wanted to know more about what he'd been doing as a Paladin of Voltron. One question silenced all of the others:
"Do you think you can beat the Galra?" They all awaited an answer, and Lance searched in his mind the best way to answer it. Turned out though that it was a simple answer.
"There's no doubt in my mind." He spoke up so everyone could hear him. "My friends- the Paladins of Voltron- are the most capable people I've ever met. Each and every one of them is smart, tough, kind, and we're always there for each other." Lance perked up. "That's why Keith came for me." He stood up before continuing. "Now I can understand why Cortaalis might be scared of getting involved, and they have every right to. But no one can stay neutral forever with the Galra Empire knocking at your door. Voltron stands for peace and justice, for everyone. Believe me when I tell you that we will protect you from any threat, no matter how big. Serus was wrong... We are defenders. And if you'll have us... we can be yours too." He didn't know what to say next. He could've heard a pin drop in the cell block. No one moved. No one spoke. It didn't even sound like anyone was breathing. They all just stared at him, eyes wide, shoulders slack.
Lance had to sit back down. He was still tired, and he leaned his head on the wall he shared with Dreks. Even though everything he said had been true, it was all hypothetical at that point. There was no getting out of that box for him, not until the Galra showed up.
The familiar jolting buzz sounded throughout the cell block. Lunchtime. This time Lance was indifferent to it. The guards positioned themselves at the end of the hallway on either side, and the shields all went down. All except his. It took a moment for the first inmate to step out. Others followed him down the hall. Lance heard Dreks get on his feet.
"'Ey Lance," he said in a serious tone. "I hope you find your team." And he walked out.
"Thanks dude. That means a lot." Lance began to drift off. He wasn't in the mood for food anyways.
...
He was awoken to someone shaking him roughly.
"You, get up! Get up, now!"
He opened his eyes to see Nav pulling him to his feet. His shield was down, Nav had opened it. He shoved an orange card in his less-than-ready hands. Lance blinked at it.
Off in the distance he heard a multitude of voices shouting and hollering."What-"
"All the guards are preoccupied. Dreks and the others made sure of that." Nav pushed him out of his cell.
"Are... are they rioting? But- but I thought Dreks said rioting never worked-"
"Yeah yeah," Nav cut him off. "That's why you're not a part of it. They're not trying to get out. They're all getting you out. All of them. Dreks sent me here to give you the card, but I gotta get back to the mess hall before they miss me too much." He eyed the end of the hall as if ten guards would suddenly spill out and end them both with two shots.
Lance was disoriented, but he started running down the hall where he'd last seen Keith, glowing key card gripped firmly in his hand as if it could fade away at any moment. His heart pounded in his chest in anticipation.
"One more thing!" Nav called after him. Lance slowed down and turned around. "Dreks told me to tell you for everyone, 'Thank you for defending us'."
Lance's throat tightened. He nodded. Nav said louder, "And that he's gonna 'kick Serus's ass extra hard' for you!" Lance smiled. He'd been the one to teach Dreks the word 'ass'. With that, Nav turned around and disappeared through another hall.
Lance was met with no guards as he sprinted through the prison, searching for Solitary. And he had no one else but the inmates of the toughest prison on Cortaalis to thank for it. It's always been my dream to start a revolution.
Please remember to review so I can get an idea of what you think so far!
(Also I love everyone who's supported the story this far, you are all great and I am so greatful for each and every one of you)
