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“How much farther away is this stupid place?”
Keith rolls his eyes as he hears his older brother, Shiro, continuing his whining as they continue to trek on the dirt path underneath the harsh Cuban sun.
“We’re almost there,” Keith grunts back. “Just a couple hundred more steps.”
“ Ughhhhh ,” Shiro whines yet again. “Why did I even come here in the first place?”
“Because you’re my brother and you love me,” Keith hums, smirking. “ And it's your job .”
Shiro mutters something most likely snarky under his breath, but finally ceases his complaining as the duo comes around a corner, Keith’s eyes sparkling with excitement as he runs towards the abandoned building in front of them.
From the outside, the one story building doesn’t offer much, the once vibrant yellow a now dull beige, almost all of the windows cracked and fogged over with grime while the door is boarded up with wooden planks.
Coming to a stop in front of the door, Keith sets his backpack down on the ground and rifles through it, Shiro coming up behind him to look down at his younger brother with an amused smile.
“You’re really adamant about this one, aren’t you?” Shiro teases.
Keith doesn’t take the bait, and doesn't stop his overzealous digging until he has his small, trusty axe out.
Shiro watches from the sidelines as Keith gets to work hacking down the planks, and in just a couple of minutes, the door is cleared.
However, when Keith goes to twist the knob, low and behold it’s jammed.
“I got this,” Shiro gloats, gently pushing Keith away as he sets himself even with the door.
Taking a couple dozen steps back, Shiro takes a running start and runs into the door full speed, breaking it right off of its hinges like a bull.
“Showoff,” Keith grumbles, rolling his eyes at his brother’s ever childish attitude.
Walking inside and taking a flashlight off of his belt, Keith clicks it on, dust and other particles floating by, the only other source of light coming in through the holes in the windows from the tarp that covers them.
“You feel that?” Shiro murmurs, his entire demeanor doing a 180.
Keith just nods, not wanting to avert his eyes and get distracted.
In front of them lies a wooden door, seeming like it’s about to burst right off of its hinges, the telltale orange glow behind it growing brighter and brighter by the second.
Hopefully it’s actually what they’re looking for.
Taking cautious steps forward, Keith gently sets his gloved hand down over the rusty knob, and turns it.
The door opens, and Keith closes his eyes as he lets the harsh light envelope him.
Being transported to a monster’s realm is always different, but this one is just flat out… empty.
It feels like both a lifetime and only a second before Keith’s blinking his eyes open again, gasping once he takes his surroundings in.
He’s spawned right in on the edge of a lush forest, which gave way to some flatland as well as rolling hills, with giant green mountains in the distance.
However, what caught Keith’s eye right away was the ocean of pink flowers that covered a large expanse of the field, their dewy petals shimmering in the ethereal blue sun set high up in the sky.
“ Woah, ” Keith hears Shiro breath, his brother coming up next to him in his frozen stature, Keith himself still unable to form words from the otherworldly beauty set before him.
“I... think we got the right place,” Keith finally manages to get out.
“Yeah, definitely.” Shiro mumbles in agreement.
Not sure where to go from here, Keith slowly starts to trek down to the field, Shiro’s brow raising as his brother takes off without a word.
“Um, Keith? Where are you going?”
Keith doesn’t say anything as he continues to march on forward, Shiro’s voice becoming distant before Keith cedes to hear it.
He can’t explain why, but he just feels… drawn to the center of the field, like it’s a magnet that’s pulling him in.
His legs don’t stop moving until sure enough, he’s at the center.
And then everything changes once again.
Keith silently gasps as the sun goes down immediately, two small luminous white moons taking its place in the now purple and black night sky, filled with thousands of stars ranging from white to yellow to blue and even red .
Looking down, Keith’s eyes zero in on the flowers, their veins turning yellow and glowing brightly.
It’s the most beautiful thing Keith has ever seen.
“Hello, Keith.”
Keith’s reverie breaks as a voice that sounds all too familiar yet completely foreign at the same time breaks the silence of the field, but when Keith whips his head up and looks around, he sees no one or nothing.
“W-Who’s there?” He croaks out, voice wavering.
The voice laughs, low and seductive, and Keith shivers, goosebumps rising on his skin as he feels the air grow significantly colder.
“ What I am is not important,” the voice chides. “What’s a mortal like you doing here , in my realm?” The voice asks, breaking off into a low growl at the end.
Keith opens his mouth to argue, but no words come out.
“Well?” The voice demands.
“Show yourself.” Keith breathes, barely audible.
“What?” The voice questions, seemingly taken aback.
Keith gulps, but repeats himself. “You heard me. Show yourself .”
It’s silent for a moment, and the air warms up a little, but then the wind picks up and is rushing all around him, leaving Keith gasping for air as it swirls into ominous black smoke in front of him, before a figure appears from it.
And wow .
Keith never expected that a monster could be so… hot .
A tall, humanoid figure with brown skin and curly black and brown hair emerges, adorned in white robes with gold trimming, but Keith’s eyes are drawn to the figure's own eyes.
Because again, wow .
Keith’s never seen eyes like them.
One of them - the one on the right - is brown, the black pupil barely visible, whereas the other is an oddly bright aqua blue, with an even weirder pupil; the color a dark blue indigo.
“Wow,” Keith breathes. “You’re… gorgeous .”
The figure’s eyes go round, staring at him like he just grew several heads, before they throw their head back and bark out a laugh.
In all of Keith’s twenty six years of existence, has he ever said anything so foolish.
“I’d never expect such flattery from a mortal ,” they sneer once they finish laughing.
Keith huffs, crossing his arms. “Whatever. Who are you, anyway?”
The figure gasps, holding a hand to their heart melodramatically. “You don’t know my name?! Your ignorance wounds me, foolish mortal,” they groan, holding a hand up to their forehead and closing their eyes, whimpering as if Keith had inflicted physical damage upon them.
Keith scoffs, and begins to tap his foot impatiently. “No, I actually don’t. And plus, where am I?” Keith’s eyes widen with realization. “Where’s Shiro?!”
“Relax,” the figure hums, their eyes dancing playfully. “Your brother is fine. My name is Lance, and you’re in my realm.”
“I know that!” Keith snaps. “But who are you .”
“As I said, I’m Lance. You should’ve known me as Olea. Y’know, the archangel of beauty? And you’re in my realm, which I like to call, Altea.”
Keith’s body freezes.
He finally found them.
He found his soulmate.