Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was a burning feeling inside of Keith. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't move. His throat was dry, his body unresponsive and everything was black his sight was gone. But he could feel his heart pound louder and louder. As if it was trying to break free from his own rib cage. He felt fire spread throughout his body as if his blood was replaced with magma. He was burning, and burning, and burning. He tried to yell, kick, and even tried to shout for help, but to no avail.

"Shiro! Pidge! Hunk! Allura! Fuck!"  he tried to call out. "Anyone! Lance!"

"Lance!"  he repeated. He remembered Lance was the last person he had seen before succumbing into this damned state. He was going to rescue him, right? Right? After all, they were friends, right?

Then the flowing of heat suddenly stopped, but it remained ablaze in his chest. He felt his heart race and a small smile formed across his lips—he felt it. Everything was silent and the burning faded. Was it done? Did calling Lance actually work? 

He heard footsteps and he managed to finally speak. "Lance, I knew y—" 

Except this wasn't Lance. He was too silent to be. It was a presence he was not familiar with, but he knew to be cautious of.

"The Red Paladin. You are most fortunate to be able to witness this almost perfect dark magic," a low, female voice said. Keith tried opening his eyes, but he was still blinded. He cursed. This was the Witch that Allura was talking about. She was Zarkon's faithful right hand. "I believe you have been calling out to your friends. But there is no need for that."

"Don't even try! Voltron will destroy you!" Keith hissed.

"Your words mean nothing, boy. Your friends will come for you, that is to be expected. But know this. From now on, the more you value the life of someone, the more that life shall be taken away. You will be our key to claiming Voltron. Treasure it, Paladin, for it is more of a gift than a curse!"

And suddenly, he felt something jam through his chest. Through his heart.

And he screamed.

"Keith? Keith! Guys, he's awake!" 

Keith blinked. Once. Then twice. He was in the healing pod, he knew, because he recognized the blue-green glow on the walls of the Castle. Hunk was in front of the pod and looked at Keith with excited eyes. The others came running to him in just a few ticks. They all looked at him with a mixture of worry and relief. The glass barrier went off in a few more ticks and he was released forward. Shiro caught him just in time and managed to steady him until he was finally able to stand.

"Hey guys," he greeted dryly but with a forced, small smile.

"You had as all worried, Keith," Allura said.

"Yeah, you should have seen Lance. He was pacing the whole time you were gone!" Pidge said with a smirk.

Keith glanced at Lance. He was expecting him to deny it, or even get playfully pissed at the Green Paladin, but he only stared back at Keith with an not-so-proud frown for himself. The others laughed at Pidge's remark, but Keith was unsure how to respond. He was sure he wanted to tease Lance for it, but he could save it for later.

"What happened?" he asked. "How long was I out?"

"About two quintants," Coran replied, "You were caught by the Galra after the infiltration. You were taken to Zarkon's ship and we rescued you from there. Do you remember what happened after being kidnapped?"

Keith opened his mouth to relay to them the events, but suddenly it was as if he had forgotten everything. He tried to remember, but his mind can only put pieces of it.

"I...I don't remember," he said.

"Of course, the Galra know better than to let their prisoners escape with important information. Like they did with Shiro," Allura explained.

"I mean, I only remember some parts, but the rest of it is like some sort of dream."

"That is dangerous. For all we know, the Witch has probably experimented on you," Coran said, "Can you tell us what you can remember at least?"

Keith put a hand on his head. He tried closing his eyes to concentrate, but the tiny images of what he can remember were now completely gone. Obliterated. Something was blocking his mind, he knew it.

"I...don't remember... anything, at all," he said, clenching his fists. 

He felt a heavy but soothing hand land on his shoulder. It was Shiro, who gave him a warm smile. "It's okay Keith, don't push yourself. Take a rest first. We'll try and discuss it later."

"Yeah, it must be tiring after all that stuff, I'll make dinner for you!" Hunk said.

"I agree. Perhaps he would feel better after a good rest," Allura added and nodded at him.

"Thanks Shiro. Thanks guys," Keith managed to say before retreating. 

There was something wrong with him, he could feel it. With one final glance, he eyed on Lance who returned it with a pitying face before looking away. Whatever was happening to him, he didn't need to tell the others. He had to find out and stop it himself. 

The day went by rather quickly with nothing out of the ordinary happening. No Galra attacks, no retrieval missions, no anything. But he did feel a little weird. Keith was normally uneasy all the time, but his anxiety was way worse today. Maybe it was the constant worried looks he received from his peers, but that usually didn't bother him. They were always concerned for him because of his lack of social skills and his angry impulses, although that was what made him Keith, right? He knew it was normal for him to be like that and how others reacted to it. Except his restlessness was growing badly.

"Are you okay, Keith? You look pale," Hunk asserted.

They were gathered at the dining room to have a peaceful dinner together. Lance sat across Keith uncomfortably, throwing glances at each other from time to time. The exchange was awkward and silent, which Keith found relieving. Part of him wanted to avoid Lance for some reason, but he was not sure why. Sure, Lance wasn't someone Keith was so fond of, but he didn't entirely avoid the Blue Paladin. He felt this weird thinking strike his mind again until Lance decided to talk for once. He had been silent since Keith had recovered.

"But isn't he always pale?" Lance replied with a bit of annoyance. "Am I the only one who noticed that?"

"Maybe you need more rest?" Shiro asked.

"I'm fine," Keith snapped, "Just a little tired is all."

Hunk looked at Lance, who got a shrug in reply. Keith noticed this and stood up from his seat. He didn't like the attention directed towards him. He knew that concern was normally shared between humans, but he didn't like it at all. 

With a yawn, Keith decided to sleep. Maybe everything would be back to normal the next day.

Chapter Text

According to Coran's calculations, the rescue mission for Keith was supposed to be difficult. Allura was sure that the Galra were aware that Keith's rescue was imminent. He was being used as bait for the other lions to come to obviously lead them into a dangerous situation. Pidge, Allura and Coran were all listing possible situations and a number of ways to win. The Galra had already concluded the certainty of their arrival, so surely there would be a huge Galra fleet on the ready for each lion. After planning and gathering certain resources needed for the mission, they were all set to face Zarkon without Voltron.

But what surprised them all was the unexpected easiness of said mission. There were Galra ships, no doubt, but Lance and the others had easily avoided them. And he was only barely trying. The whole mission was so quick that it was done under five minutes without any actual damage on anyone or their lions. What was more stunning was how easily Keith was found in Zarkon's gigantic ship. The infiltration was done stealthily, but everything was still to easy. It was like handing Keith over like a trophy for "successfully destroying part of the Empire for the umpteenth time". But the Galra weren't friendly fellows to actually do that. No, who in their right mind would even. There had to be a catch, right?

"I'm just saying," Lance said as he lazily walked into the alleged hangout room. Keith was already rushed to the healing pods by the time his lion returned to the Castle. The others were already gathered. "That was so fucking—"

"Language," Shiro interrupted. Lance rolled his eyes and sat sloppily on one of the sunken couches, leaning on Hunk's back for support. 

"Right. It was so easy that I can't believe we did it all in less than five minutes. Like, what if Keith is actually mind-controlled or some shit? Or maybe they installed some alien camera in his eyes? Crazy shit."

"Lance, language. Please."

"Wow Lance, you actually have a point. But good observation, I'm pretty sure everyone noticed," Pidge said as she rotated a wrench from under a control pod. The Green Paladin had been busy tinkering with who knows what. 

"Maybe the Galra didn't want to waste more of their time and resources? I mean, we have been kicking their asses lately. I figured that they're trying to lay low a bit? You know, saving their strength for something else?" Hunk suggested.

"I'm not so sure that kidnapping Keith is laying low. They wanted the lions to be there, right? How could they let us go so easily?" Lance urged. He wanted some answer from Allura at least. A concrete one to stop his overthinking brain.

"Your concern for Keith and the mission is most pleasing, Lance. But I think the best assurance we have is to wait for Keith to wake up," Allura finally said to try and ease Lance's thoughts. "After all, we should be more worried about Keith's health than anything else at the moment."

"Allura's right. Why don't we all call it a day? It was an easy mission, but it still required some energy. Maybe then, Keith will be better in the morning and we can all be at ease," Shiro said, dismissing the Paladins to their rooms. 

Pidge and Hunk agreed to that and said their farewells to the rest of the team before heading to their own quarters. Coran and Allura went to their own rooms as well, but only after Coran muttered a few things to be done the next day. Lance had stayed behind with Shiro, who knew that his fellow Paladin wouldn't just let things go. He knew Lance was the most caring, but he had his own ways of revealing it. But Shiro could see through him crystal clear.

"Relax, Lance. I'm sure Keith's fine," the Black Paladin told him. 

Lance made a face. It wasn't Keith he was worried about, really. But he was, for a tiny little bit, of course. Yet he would deny even that. He sighed, exhausted. 

"I know, I know, but I just can't help it. I just... overthink things sometimes. Sorry, Shiro."

"That's completely understandable, Lance. We're all concerned for Keith, but just trust in him, alright? That Keith... he's a strong person. He won't let anything happen to himself. Especially something that could endanger the team."

"I guess so," Lance replied in defeat as he slouched, moving his hands in his pockets. The teen bid his leader a good night and flashed him a half smile, then walked off. But of course Lance didn't sleep that night. Why should he when one of his friends was not okay?

The healing pods were weird, for Lance at least. He had been watching Keith stay immobile like some sort of figurine trapped in a teal, glass-like tube. Was he also like this when the crystal exploded? The pods were huge enough to fit in one person and help them recover from different levels of injuries or whatever. But looking at Keith, who was small of stature, which Lance kind of thought was actually cute, he looked like a toy action figure trapped in its box, ready for some seven year old kid to take him away. 

Lance moved for a closer inspection. He was in one of the healing pods before but wasn't sure how they worked and looked like when someone was in them. He eyed on Keith carefully, who was breathing unevenly. His mullet was messy and his face was crumpled as if he was in pain. Or maybe he's just being Keith. An angsty, always grumpy Keith.

"Jeez. Even when you're unconscious you're still mad at the world, huh?" Lance whispered with a chuckle.

He received no reply, to his dismay. He was so used to teasing Keith around the clock that he always got a response. But this time, he was silent. At least his expression remained, Lance had thought. And he never knew how much it was relieving than actually receiving nothing at all.

And come to think of it, Lance was never this physically close to Keith for more than ten seconds without being pushed away or anything. He stared at him uncomfortably, taking in his features, one by one. His hair was remarkable, of course, anyone could tell it's Keith from planets away just by his particular hairstyle. He wasn't tall and didn't look like he followed his gym schedule, but he was a great combatant. 

Keith was overall handsome, Lance had admitted this to himself many times before. However, seeing him so vulnerable like this made him three hundred time more attractive. For some reason. The Red Paladin was always seen so grouchy, with Lance making a joke about how his bed probably never had a right side, that he wasn't sure how he looked like if Keith was actually not so tense. What if he smiled for the whole day? Or maybe just lay off the go-away-my-arms-are-crossed kind of personality? Lance was sure he'd fall for him right away.

"What if Keith was soft?" Lance had said out loud.

"What if Keith was soft?"  a voice repeated in disbelief. 

Lance shuddered. It was Pidge, walking towards him with a disgusted expression plastered on her face, ready to question everything she knew. It wasn't everyday you see Lance actually stare at someone for already ten minutes. Specially when that someone was his declared rival. And most specially when that person was Keith. Keith. Of all people.

"Pidge, what the hell? Why're you here?" Lance asked in a panic.

"I should be asking you that. Why are you here?" Pidge retaliated with a knowing smirk.

"I can't sleep," Lance lied with a grin. And he did so horribly. Pidge rolled her eyes. "Maybe I could draw something on Keith's pod."

"Uh-huh, yes, nice try," the female adjusted her glasses, "So what if Keith was soft? What was that about?"

"Nothing, it's nothing. Just me, scheming and stuff, nothing else." Lance tried to wave his friend off frantically, but didn't work. 

"Mhmm. Staring at Keith for a whole ten minutes was nothing?" 

"I wasn't staring."

"Dude, your eyes were literally glued to his face."

"They weren't. Honest."

"Aright, alright," Pidge had finally given up. She stretched, turning away from the half-blushing Lance. "I just needed to borrow one of your tools. So, you comin' or what? I don't wanna mess up your room."

"Coming," Lance ran up to her. He glanced back at Keith, hoping that the Red Paladin woke up with all that banter. But still, it's just an unconscious Keith.

 The next day was an event-free day. When the other Paladins awoke, they were surprised to see Lance awake. The Blue Paladin had a history of sleeping in, so seeing him as the early bird was a shocker. Pidge had caught him pacing in the kitchen, but didn't question him about it. During breakfast, Lance finished his food to early and didn't ask for seconds. Instead, he said he was off to the training deck. No one followed him, though, but Pidge was sure something was up.

"What's with Lance?" Hunk asked as he prepared the second servings.

"He's acting rather oddly lately, isn't he?" Coran seconded.

Shiro sighed. "I think we just let him be. He's probably just worried for Keith."

The Green Paladin was smiling sheepishly, however. Something was definitely up. 

"But that's something isn't it? Lance, of all people, worried for Keith?" Pidge added to their attention. Hunk tilted his head at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, aren't they like, you know, rivals?"

"And... so...?" Hunk questioned, oblivious and innocent, earning a sigh from the other.

"Never mind."

Across them, Shiro cleared his throat. "Whatever is between them, if that is what you're implying," he glanced at Pidge with a raised brow, "That is none of our business."

"But that is, of course, if something is between them," Allura said.

"I don't think so. Lance is just worried. That's all there is to it. I'm sure everyone else is, too," Shiro said before finally finishing his food. 

The rest of the day went by and Lance regrouped with them in the castle's bridge shortly that morning. He was back to his normal self: flirting with Allura, throwing some jokes at some of the Paladins and mild cursing. Shiro was glad that he was, and didn't actually scold him for his foulness. Until Hunk called for their attention from the healing pods.

Keith was awake.

Chapter Text

When Keith retreated back to his personal quarters, he wasn't expecting Lance to actually follow him. But Lance was a good person to talk to. He was open to anything. But regardless of his funny and annoying personality, the Blue Paladin's serious approach with Keith during situations like these was actually likeable for Keith. It was a conversation Keith could actually keep up with, without getting irritated to the last second.

"Hey," Lance greeted.

"What now?" Keith replied grumpily. Lance blinked in surprise, moving a few steps away. Despite his best efforts to not piss Keith off, the other still managed to snap at him. Not that it was anything new, but Lance had that tiny hope in him that he could have a good conversation with Keith without pushing each other's buttons.

"Look, I'm not here to annoy you or some shit, okay? I'm sorry," Lance said meekly, a hint of concern and guilt blended into his voice. The smaller boy sighed exasperatedly before lowering his head. Keith was suffocating with everyone's pitying eyes. He was fine, he guessed, he knew that much. And he didn't want other people to know what was wrong, if there was any.

"We can talk later, I promise. Right now, I just need to sleep. I'm sorry," Keith muttered, brushing his hair backwards, trying to look as apologetic as possible. 

Lance gaped at him, defeated and a bit surprised. That was a new sight, and a good one. Lance never knew Keith could actually feel guilty for being impulsive. But the Red  Paladin had already shuffled backwards, ready to open his door. Lance smiled.

"It's alright, I guess. Night."

"Night." 

When Keith closed the door behind him, he felt his mind start buzzing with different kinds of thoughts. He slapped a hand on his head. Stupid. Stupid, stupid. No wonder everyone was giving him those looks. He was acting up more than usual. Leaning backwards on the metal door, he slid down carefully until he was seated on the floor, one knee up and the other leg sprawled lazily.

He couldn't help but upset everyone, especially Lance who actually made the effort to run after him and maybe try to ask what was wrong. Instead, he ended up pushing away what he actually needed at the moment. He groaned helplessly with another exhausted sigh. He needed to apologize to Lance better. After all, his alleged rival, or so Lance said, was actually trying for once. 

Suddenly, his heart pounded, destroying all his thoughts. He looked down at his chest. He could feel his whole body pulsating, but it wasn't painful. And then there was a painful yelp.

It was Lance.

He jolted upwards, startled by the sound, forgetting about his great need for sleep. Lance was still nearby, so Keith’s biggest bet was the hallway leading back to where the team was. His feet immediately took him to Lance, who was curled up on the floor. 

“Lance!” 

The hurt boy grunted in reply. “F..Fuck...help me.”

His arms were wrapped around his own stomach. Blood splatters were spread across the walls and some on Lance’s clothes. Some were smudged off by what Keith could tell was Lance’s hand. It was a mess.

Keith rushed to his friend, eyes wide. The others came running to them but Keith had already scooped Lance up in his arms. More of thick, red liquid poured out of the Blue Paladin’s lips. Keith looked away in disgust unable to bare the metallic scent and the sight of Lance in pain. 

“What happened?” Shiro asked.

“I don’t know, but we need to get him healed!” Keith half yelled.

"...'s stomach... Fucked...up..." Lance groaned between coughs. More blood. 

"To the healing pods. And quickly!"

Keith sat uncomfortably, fidgeting with his jacket. He had it taken off when Lance threw up on their way to the healing pods. The poor boy then passed out, leaving him almost lifeless in Keith's arms. There was an awful stench, of course, but Keith had more to his mind than the stink of blood and vomit. Coran and Allura were by Lance's pod, the same one Keith was in. It had only been a few hours and someone already replaced him in that pod.  

"What do you think happened?" Pidge asked as she shifted from her seat. Originally, the place wasn't supposed to have seats, but Hunk carried some for them to wait on and watch over Lance's healing process.

"I don't know," Keith mumbled, eyebrows furrowed.

There was silence after that, except for the panicky exchange between Coran and the Princess. Hunk had fallen asleep due to the late time. It was two hours past their supposed sleeping schedule. By this time Keith should be sound asleep. When he looked over to his shoulder, Pidge's head was dropping slowly, her eyes blinking sleepily. Coran yawned loudly from Lance's pod, trying to push sorts of buttons on the holographic screens.

"You should sleep, Coran. I'll take it from here," Allura whispered as she gave the older man a pat on the back.

"No Princess. I can still manage for just a bit more. We just have to figure out what's wrong," Coran replied. He stifled another yawn.

Keith eyed on them anxiously. Carefully placing Pidge's head on Hunk's shoulder, Keith moved over to the two, hoping to lend a hand. But Allura only waved him off with concern, telling him how he should also get some rest after everything that took place today.

"Okay, I'll rest. But only if you tell me that what's happening," Keith tried to bargain. Allura sighed and pointed to what seemed like Lance's anatomical figure on one of the screens. 

"That's the thing, Keith. We can't seem to find anything wrong with his system," she replied bitterly.

"But that's impossible!"

"We know," Coran said grimly, eyes growing dark, "It must be some sort of magic."

Allura gasped. "I only have little knowledge of magic, but," she looked at Keith with a sorrowful look, then glanced at Lance, "I do know that this is no ordinary magic. I believe this is what they call dark magic, an ancient and evil type of magic."

"But it requires some form of quintessence, and a large amount at that," Coran tried to speculate.

"It's an awful situation, Keith. And we are not even sure where it came from," the Altean added.

"Could be the Galra," Keith replied, "They could have done something to Lance!"

Suddenly a beep sounded. Red bars blinked on the screen of Lance's anatomy. His condition was getting worse. Allura and Coran exchanged worried looks, then turned to Keith.

"Perhaps not, Keith. Magic is powerful but even it has its own limits," the Princess bit her lip, "Perhaps the magic might be coming from you."

Chapter Text

"W-What do you mean?" Keith asked in disbelief.

"There could be some sort of dark magic that Zarkon's witch placed in you," Allura explained, "Do you remember anything? Anything at all, Keith?"

The black-haired boy shook his head. He tried hard to gain his memory from his abduction, but all he could remember was being trapped in some sort of chamber during one of their infiltration missions and nothing else. There were bits of images but he didn't make out a face or a voice at all. It was agitating for him to lose important information, especially if it was something that could endanger the whole team.

Allura and Coran exchanged disappointed looks, but the Altean still forced a smile when she looked back at Keith. He was clenching his fists. It had become a habit when Keith was angry or annoyed.

"Whatever it is they did to me, I need to find out," Keith said, a spark of anger seen in his eyes. 

"We will help you on the way. But for now, please take care of the other Paladins. They seem to have worn themselves out today. We will discuss of this tomorrow. And if it helps, you should talk to Shiro. He should be at the bridge. He might know something," Allura said calmly.

Keith tossed and turn in his bed. It wasn't the first time he couldn't sleep, but this was definitely the first time he couldn't sleep because of something as alerting as this. He knew it from the start; the way his body felt when he woke up and how weird his heart palpitated too much since his rescue. He remembered overhearing Hunk and Pidge talking about how his rescue was too easily done that they thought it was suspicious.

And then his thoughts directed him to Lance. He had also heard that Lance acted weird since after his rescue mission. Keith didn't usually think of his friend slash rival, but when he did, he usually rolled his eyes. At first he wasn't so interesting, until his self-declared bonding moment. When he saw Lance's pained face inside of the pod after the Castle's crystal exploded, he felt razed. He had never seen the Blue Paladin, a.k.a the team's sharpshooter in such a state. But that was until earlier, when he was all coiled up on the floor like a baby, and the bloodied scenario wasn't helping. 

A tight pain in his chest indicated that he felt slightly guilty. What if he was indeed responsible for Lance's sudden incident? But if he was, how the hell did he do it when all he did was tell him that he only needed sleep? Keith rubbed his face with his palms, rubbing over his weary eyes in the process. The ceiling was all but boring, and he finally felt tired after this unbelievably long day. With a yawn, Keith dozed off into a stupid dream with a certain Paladin.

Lance was fine the next day. It was as if nothing had happened the previous night. He was all energetic and cheerful after his earlier-than-anticipated release from the healing pods, leaving confused looks on everyone's faces. Keith, on the other hand, felt more relieved than puzzled. Maybe Allura was wrong. Maybe Lance probably just ate something bad or his body was just that unhealthy. Maybe then, Keith wouldn't have to worry anymore, right?

"It was like a bad cramp, like a really, really, bad cramp. And then I just felt it, the thing when you have to throw up your dinner," Lance told the team, more hyper than usual. "It's painful, like the sudden sharp stab on your stomach painful. And before I knew it, I was curled up on the floor and just vomiting blood all over. Really gross! Man, I never want to go through that again!"

"Alright, we get it Lance. But are you sure you're alright?" Shiro asked.

"You did a solid 180 there. One night you're all sick and the next you're better than a sleepy Keith," Pidge added.

Keith scoffed. "He probably just ate too much or ate something wrong...or something."

"You probably poisoned me! You poisoned me, didn't you? I mean we all ate the same thing last night!" Lance shouted at him as he pointed a finger on the Red Paladin. 

"As much as I want to sometimes, I won't," Keith retorted with a smirk, "You don't deserve that much."

Lance fumed, opening his mouth to say something but Shiro cut him off just in time. 

"Enough. We should actually be taking this more seriously, guys," the team's leader said, eyeing on both Lance and Keith. Lance huffed and turned away, but Keith only diverted his gaze elsewhere.

Allura cleared her throat. "We have considered a theory last night, when some of you were asleep," she glanced at Hunk and Pidge, both grinning apologetically, "We assumed that what happened to Lance might be some kind of magic. We have scanned his body for any signs of anomaly but we found nothing."

"Oh great, something I can't actually comprehend all that well," Pidge commented.

"But who could've done it? And why me?" Lance asked, slightly offended.

Keith fidgeted on his seat. All attention would probably be set on him again. And he hated it.

"Well, we have a feeling it was something the Galra did to Keith," Coran started calmly, "But we're still not entirely sure."

And as expected, all eyes darted to Keith, who looked back at them uncomfortably. Lance glared at him though. "Look, I really... really don't know anything!" he defended himself, "And I'm sorry, if you think I did it on purpose. But I swear I didn't mean to harm Lance or anyone at all!"

"It's not your fault, Keith. No one is to be blamed here," Allura assured them, "The magic could possibly be a dark form of magic. It is known to be very dangerous and I only have little knowledge of it."

"So what do we do now?" Hunk asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Coran chirped as he pressed a button on one of the small controllers in his hand. A huge hologram of a white and blue planet came to view. The old Altean pointed to the center of the planet. "This is Planet Magnhild. It is a very lovely planet with inhabitants that are very much like cousins of Alteans. They have great knowledge in magic than any other planet. And they use it more than technology. It is basically their life essence."

"Not my type of planet, really," Pidge said with a frown.

"It's not like we have a choice," said Shiro.

"You'll learn to love them. I haven't been to a good planet like Magnhild in such a long time," Coran told her.

"Indeed. This would also be a great opportunity to consult with them about the Voltron coalition," Allura added.

"So we're heading there even if we're not sure that I'm cursed or some shit?" Keith asked sharply. Again, all eyes on him. He thought about shutting up, but he really couldn't control his own words. He swallowed, looking away. 

"I'm terribly sorry for assuming Keith. But we need to make sure that you're not. Magic is a very complicated thing that cannot be detected with technology. It requires so much more attention, especially now that we know that Zarkon has a witch that performs dark magic," the Altean Princess responded.

Keith only fell silent. Lance sighed and crossed his arms, trying not to think about Keith being a bad guy. If Keith was really cursed and he didn't know, then Lance couldn't really blame him at all.

"We will set a course to Magnhild. We should arrive there in four varga," said Coran.

"Good. In the meantime, you should all go and have some training, if you can."

Training was horrible, especially when you are unfortunately paired up with Keith at a wrong time. He was raging, angry at no one but himself. His punches had more force than usual, Lance could tell, but they weren't really that well. Keith was supposed to be good at close combat, but he missed for about ten times already. Sure, he didn't really have to hit Lance. The other just had to block his punches, but they were thrown at a wrong direction and at a wrong form, too. Lance was not that knowledgeable on combat, but Keith could definitely do better.

After catching one last punch from Keith, Lance finally told him to stop. It wasn't like Keith to act like this. Normally, even in his grumpy mood, his hits were really threatening, regardless if it was training or a real battle.

"What? Is my turn done?" Keith asked, panting.

Lance shook his head and lowered his hand. "No, not really. But, listen man, I'm sorry if you think I kinda blame you."

"You do anyway, don't you? So please, just drop it," Keith snapped.

"Can we at least talk without trying to rip each other's head off? I seriously need to talk to you," Lance said in a mellow tone.

"Lance! Keith! The break doesn't start in about ten minutes!" Shiro shouted at both of them.

"Sorry, just warming up my hands!" Lance shouted back then faced Keith with a more serious look than before. "Can we?"

"Alright, fine," Keith huffed, "But not here."