Archive of Our Own

I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant, it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.

(Takeshi Shudo, The Art of Pokemon, the Movie: Mewtwo strikes back!) 

Lance hated druids. Things always went wrong when they were involved.

 Just ask Shiro to confirm it.  Actually no, better not ask him, you risked him ending up in a post-trauma flashback.

 The point was that the druids were the worst, and it didn't matter that they held the wisdom of alchemy in Allura's time, the ones Lance had encountered were insane.

 If it were up to him, he would never cross them.

Of course, things couldn't be done as he wanted.

 What were they supposed to do?  Go to a planet where a sect of druids not allied with Haggar lived.

 The universe had to love to see him suffer.

 "Princess, you can't be serious," he told her when they were alone, the others ready to leave.  Oh, there had been long discussions, because duh, a planet with perhaps non-evil druids seemed like a bad idea anyway, but Allura had a knack for convincing people that her ideas were good.

 " I am."

 "Do you want to go to this planet sustain..."

 "Sei'naka," she corrected him.

 "Do you want to go to Sei'naka, meet the druids who live there and find the weapon they are protecting?"

 “Yes, Lance.  That's what I want to do.  We discussed it with the others until a few seconds ago, ”she said annoyed.

 “Oh I know, I was there too, I don't know if you noticed.  What I was wondering was why do you want this weapon?  "

 “We don't know how to stop Haggar.  But Bob on his stupid game show said to remember Sei'naka.  My father used to tell me that the druids who lived there protected a legendary weapon.  He couldn't tell me what weapon was. "

 Lance hardly heard the last part, his attention focused on another detail, "Do you remember the game show?"

 The princess seemed more annoyed at that question, “Obviously I remember.  Didn't you pay attention to what Coran said?  It was all real. "

 A shadow passed over the paladin's face, but Allura ignored it, “Bob is a lowly, morally-less being, but he knows things.  If he said to remind me of Sei'naka, he must have done it for a reason. "

 "Oh, I'm sure the druids will be super willing to give us their legendary weapon."

 “Lance, this is no time to make jokes.  It's a serious matter. "

 Lance looked at her with a stern look, “I'm serious, princess.  Do you have a plan?  Do you know what we have to look for? "

 "We will find out as soon as we get to the temple."

 "So you don't have a plan," he concluded.

 Allura crossed her arms across the chest, “I'm thinking about it, okay?  "

 "Well, think about it now, because if this little adventure goes wrong, you will be considered the dumb one of the team."

 A pause, then he added, “Not that it matters, everyone seems to remember only my mistakes.  At least, you will already know who to blame. "

 “Don't be silly, Lance,” she said, as if it had ended up there, as if Lance hadn't just confided something important to him.

 She considered it a joke.

 Of course, nothing was more fun than talking about existential doubts and expecting to be understood.

 How foolish, for a moment Lance thought he was living in a universe where others cared about him.

Better to start thinking about possible escape routes.  He had a bad feeling about this mission.

*

Thinking of a planet where druids lived, one would expect a spooky place, some sort of horror movie set.

 Dangers hidden everywhere, dangerous animals ready to kill intruders, perhaps ghosts, because evil spirits could never be missing.

 Instead, Sei’naka was a huge greenhouse, filled with pristine nature and breathable air.

 The sky was clear pink, the temperature was pleasant, and no giant insects were chasing them.

 If it was a dream, don't wake Lance up.

 "Are you sure the sect lives here?"  Lance asked, because wow, that place was too good, where was the trap?

 If his time in space had taught him anything, it was to always expect the worst at any moment.  He held the bayard pressed against his chest, his body full of nervous energy.

 Allura said, "According to the coordinates, this is Sei'naka.  The druids live here. "

 "Maybe they're gone. I don't think this is a very druidic place."

 "They would never leave. Their mission is too important."

 "But you can't be sure ..."

 Keith interrupted impatiently, "Lance, that's enough. Let's not waste any more time. We must at least give it a try."

 And wasn't that attempt also a waste of time?  Why did all the things Lance said have to be useless?

 Keith turned to Allura, "Princess, where should we go?"

 "At the temple. If I remember my father's stories correctly, it is not far from here."

 If she remembered correctly.

 Perfect.  They were practically going blind.  In ten thousand years, do you know how much things had changed?  Perhaps the Druids had decided to move their home, or they had grown tired of guarding who knows what and had decided to ally with Haggar and the Empire.

 Had he already said that this seemed like a bad idea?

 Because that was a very terrible idea!

 Lance heard a creak and he turned, ready for action.  But there was nothing, and Lance relaxed.

 "Quiznack, I'm too stressed."

 "Lance, hurry up."

 "I arrive!"

 Hidden in the trees, golden eyes followed the team. 

*

Lance felt observed.  He wasn't sure how long they had been walking, the tension was very high, and maybe he was on edge.

 Could he be blamed?  There could be an attack at any moment, and it was not the paranoia that spoke, but the experience.

 Allura, on the other hand, proceeded with an unnatural calm, guided by God only knew what.

 It was impossible to orient oneself in that immense expanse of trees and foliage, but the princess seemed to succeed.

It was thanks to some mystical mambo jumbo stuff?  Did she feel attracted to magic?

 "I feel observed," Hunk said suddenly.

 "It's just a feeling," Pidge retorted.

 "It happens when you go to meet a group of possibly insane druids."

 "Allura doesn't think so."

 "Allura also thought that Lotor could help us. And look how well it ended."

 "We all trusted him," the yellow paladin reminded her.

 Lance hadn't.  He considered Lotor a smug bastard and had often the desire to punch him in the face.

 But if he told someone that the prince was suspicious, they said oh Lance, you’re just jealous because Allura likes him.

Maybe he was a little jealous.  But he was right!

 Pidge shrugged, “The guy was a good liar. But this? We’re entering the wolf’s lair.”

 “Maybe we won’t find anyone. In ten thousand years many things change.”

 “Hunk, no druids, no super special weapon.”

 Hunk groaned, “Do we need it? We already have Voltron.”

 “We need all the resources at our disposal to stop Haggar."

 "What if we don't know how to use it? - Hunk asked - We don't even know what it is."

 "Lance may not understand it. I do."

 The red paladin bit his lip, "Again? I'm not an engineer but ..."

 "We have arrived!"  Allura called them back.

 Everyone was speechless. The temple was huge.

The temple consisted of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome.

There were numerous niches were containing life-size statues of nameless deities, presences that had nothing comforting about them.

 They looked as if they were furious at the intrusion, and Lance wouldn't be surprised if the statues came to life and yelled at them to leave.

 "Good heavens ... these are ..."

 "These are corpses," Pidge finished.

 There were skeletons at the entrance to the temple, one of them ok a smashed skull.

 Hunk had a greenish tint, "What happened?"

 "We are probably not the first to have looked for the weapon protected by the druids," Pidge said.

 Allura was bleached, "It's not possible ..."

 "Maybe the Galras haven't found it."

 "We can't know, Keith. What if it's already in Haggar's hands?"

 It was a hypothesis that no one liked.

 Keith frowned, "We won't know unless we investigate first."

 "Keith ..."

 "We haven't come all this way for nothing, princess. We'll find it. - he turned to the others -  Let’s separate and search."

 "No, bad idea. Don't you know it's the first rule of horror movies? Don't separate the group!" Lance blurted out.

 Now it was starting to look like one of their usual missions, and he looked nervously at the statues.

 Maybe they would really come to life at any moment.

 "We're not in a movie, Lance."

 "Well, our lives are worse than a movie. It's better to stay together."

 "What's the point? The druids are all dead," Pidge muttered.

 "That's true, but ..."

 " I have decided - Keith said firmly - We will separate and everyone will control a part of the temple. End of discussion."

 "Good," Lance said through gritted teeth.

 "We do as our great leader Keith says."

 "Lance, for the sake of ... shut up for once and do as I tell you."

 But he didn't want to.  He retorted, "I'm your right hand. You should listen to my opinion."

 "I'd listen to you if you know what's best for the mission and weren't a coward."

 "I'm not a coward ..."

 But Keith wasn't even listening to him anymore, he was entering the temple without waiting for any of them.

 Allura and Pidge followed him, while Hunk stayed behind with him.

 The yellow paladin swallowed, "I don't like this place."

 "Neither do I," Lance said.

A hooded figure smiled in the shadows.

It is all proceeding according to the plan.

*

Inside, the temple was even more creepy  It was clear that it had long been abandoned, with corpses littered its corridors.

 There must have been a bloody fight, which had also left marks on the walls.

 Lance tried to stay calm, but it was difficult.

 Each noise was another blow to his nerves, he felt as taut as a bowstring.  He expected trouble, and he didn't want to be caught unprepared.

 He wasn't going to be the damsel in distress to be saved: Lance didn't want to give the others a reason to tease him.

 He entered the entrance to a corridor and found himself with a sword planted in his throat.

 "Lance?"

 "Hi, samurai. What did you expect? A zombie druid?"  he tried to play it down, taking a step back.

 He wasn't a fan of having a sword pointed at him, and Keith looked beside himself at the moment.

 Hesitantly, the paladin lowered his weapon, "I heard something."

 "What?"

 "I don't know. It seemed a voice. It said ..."

 He shook his head, "It doesn't matter. It's because of this weird place. Maybe it was better not to separate."

 "You insisted on separating us," Lance reminded him, with a hint of acidity.

 " Yes, but..."

 "But you realized it was a bad idea. What a surprise."

 Keith blurted out, "What do you want me to tell you? Sorry?"

 God, he wanted so badly to punch Keith in the face.

 Everyone has a breaking point, even the strongest people. Even those who seem too frivolous to have it.

 And Lance was tired.  This whole mission was madness and even if he pointed it out he was silenced.

 He was tired of pretending he was okay, and he was angry.

 He stated "It wouldn't solve anything! Do you know why? Nobody takes me seriously. I'm the pilot of the Red Lion and that makes me your right hand in every sense, but you just listen to Shiro or Allura. During that damn game show, nobody said don't worry Lance, we know you do your best for the team. So this means you all think I'm a bad paladin, too dull to take things seriously!"

 Keith seemed overwhelmed by that torrent of words, "I don't want to take you off Red."

 "Oh, but you'd prefer someone else! You hate me so much that you even told Bob that the only reason you chose me was to not spend eternity with me!"

 At that point, Keith's eyes widened, as if in panic, "Lance, I..."

He didn't want to give him time to find an excuse, “Just tell me this, Keith.  Did you mean that? "

 It was as if time had stopped.  Neither of them moved, Lance could almost hear his heart beating in his ears

 Finally, Keith snapped, “Yeah, I meant that.  Word by word."

 It was like jumping in front of an explosion, only this time it was worse, "Do you hate me that much?  What have I done? I know, I'm not very smart and I probably made you angry ... "

 You know when they say I feel everything collapsing on me?  Well, in his case, it was literal.

 The floor beneath them cracked and they fell 

*

 Hunk hated the temple with all his heart.  He tried not to think about the stench, the bones that were scattered on the ground, or the footsteps he heard behind him.

 He was trying to think of something else, but it was getting damn hard.

 He didn't think he would ever say that, but Lance was right.  Never separate, especially in a possibly haunted place.

 Entering a room, he saw a ghostly bluish light, and heard, "... the gods granted me ..."

 Startled, Hunk screamed and was about to use his weapon when Allura stepped in front of him.

 "Hunk, what are you doing? It's me!"

 Hunk lowered the bayard, relief washing its way across his face, “Thank goodness.  I had heard a voice ..."

 "It was him," Allura said, pointing to a man's hologram.

 "His name was Rama and he was the leader of the sect."

 "Oh ... did he say something important?"

 The princess shook her head, “Not yet, but I was hoping that Rama could reveal something."

 The yellow paladin took a glance at the hologram, which was continuing to list his glorious deeds, and thought it was better to listen to a boring history lesson than to go around in circles in that place.

 "Well, let's hear what he has to say."

*

When he woke up, Keith had a deadly headache and a dry mouth. His face was pressed to a rocky floor and not far from him was a hooded man.

 The man spotted him and threw a ball of energy at him.

 Keith dodged it just in time, but he was grazed on the shoulder.

 He looked around, they were in a sort of underground room with runes engraved on the walls.

 Behind the man was a chasm from which a halo of light emerged ... and Lance passed out on the edge.

 "Lance! Wake up!"

 The man looked at the boy on the ground, "He won't. I put a spell on him.”

 "Get away from him," Keith said, standing up, ignoring the pain in his arm.

 "I've been waiting five years for this moment. You won't ruin it for me."

 He grabbed Lance by the scruff of the neck, and the young man groaned.

 He was holding the paladin over the chasm, a false move by Keith and Lance would go down.

 "What do you want?"

 "I want to get the Heart of Sei'naka back, paladin. Isn't it obvious?"

 "If you want this, you don't need him."

 In response, the other laughed, "You're wrong. I need him. The Pit will destroy the container of flesh we made for him and he will return to his true form."

 "True form?"  Keith repeated in confusion as he looked at the unconscious form of the red paladin.

 "What do you think happened in this temple?"

 "The Galras attacked to get the weapon that was hidden here," was the reply, as he continued to pray for Lance to wake up.

 "If it was such a powerful weapon, why didn't we Druids use it? Why did I alone survive the fury of the Galras?"

 "Mhm ..."

 "I tell you why: we couldn't use it. As soon as your leader Rama realized that we were a target of the Empire, he decided to send the Heart elsewhere. It was not to end up in the hands of the witch of Zarkon. I begged him to reconsider, but he told me Miraje we must defend the Heart of Sei'naka, not to use it. It is more than a weapon. "

 The druid gave a choked laugh, "He was right. It was more than a weapon. It was a mystical artifact created by the early druids by taking what remained of the quintessence of a fallen god. It was pure power. And you know what we made of that infinite power? We locked it up in a body and sent it to Earth."

 Slowly, the realization hit Keith, "Lance is the Heart. But he ..."

 He had a family.  He had a life before Keith found the Blue Lion.

 It was not possible.

 Miraje continued, "He shouldn't have been a paladin. It was never his destiny. It was his sister's. She should have been the real blue paladin."

He shook his head, "Rama thought that living with a paladin would keep the Heart safe. So he changed the humans' memory, made them believe that the boy had always been there with them. He did not expect him to find the Blue Lion, nor that he would be chosen. It was another of his many mistakes."

The druid looked at Lance angrily, "But now I'll fix that mistake. I'll bring everyone back. I just have to throw the container  in the Pit ..."

 "His name is Lance! - Keith yelled- He is not a container!"

 "It's the only reason he exists! It's fair that he returns what we have given him!"

Said that, Miraje threw Lance into the Pit, while Keith yelled, "No!"

 He judged forward, reaching out to grab Lance.  Keith was almost close to him, but he couldn't reach him.

Lance fell, dissolving with the quintessence.

 Keith knelt at the edge, "No..."

 Miraje was ecstatic, "Rejoice, paladin. With the power of the Heart, I will bring back Rama and the others, and after ..."

 Keith hit him in the face, and the druid fell to the ground.

 Miraje spat blood, "I did what was necessary, paladin."

 "You killed him!"

 "He wasn't even a real living being! His body was a gift from us druids! "

 Keith wanted to tear him apart.

 At that moment, a pillar of light rose from the Pit and Keith turned.

 "The Heart of Sei'naka ..." the druid said, almost reverently.

 Keith felt his blood run cold in his veins.

 Lance ...

*

Rama's hologram had disappeared, and the room had plunged back into semi-darkness. They had the answers they were looking for, but oh, Allura would rather not have them.

 Hunk was the first to speak, “It's a trick, isn't it?  It must be. "

 "Hunk ..."

 “The Galra left us this fake message to confuse us.  There is no way ... there is absolutely no way that this is true. "

 He started spinning, waving his arms.  Just looking at him gave her a headache.

 “This is all false.  In short, it is an unlikely story!  Does Haggar think we're stupid?  We…"

 Allura put her hands on his shoulders and forced him to stop.

 “Hunk, it's not a trick.  You know it too. "

 The paladin's eyes filled with tears, “No, this is all false.  If it were, we should ... we should kill him. "

 "We won't kill him."

 “Allura, we came here to find the weapon to use against Haggar!  You said it! "

 “I didn't expect it to be a person!  "

 " What will you do?  Will you ignore it? "

 "I don't know…"

 Hunk opened his mouth, but no sound came out.  He swallows a sob, drowning out the noise in his fist.

 Allura hugged him.  Soon after, Pidge found them like this.

 " What is happening?"  the green paladin asked, confused.

 Allura released the embrace, "Lance is the Heart of Sei'naka."

 "What?"

 "The weapon we were looking for.  It's Lance."

 "Princess, if this is your idea of a joke ..."

 "She’s not kidding - Hunk said, wiping his eyes - We found this super weird dude's message, and he said ... he said Haggar was coming for the Heart, and they hid it on Earth."

 Pidge gave a nervous laugh, “And they hid it in Lance?  Come on guys, it's crazy... "

 At that moment, the earth shook, and Hunk grabbed Pidge and Allura just in time before a column of light destroyed the floor.

 " What the hell…"

 The princess felt her chest tighten as she said, "The Heart has been activated." 

*

Above the Pit, there was a bright, blue, swirly shimmer.

The Heart of Sei'naka. was wonderful and terrifying, just what they had come here for.

 Keith wanted not to have found it.

 Miraje reached out to touch it, but Keith tackled him and threw him to the ground.

 "Don't touch!"

 "The Heart belongs to me. I am the last druid of Sei'naka!"

 His hands lit up and he tried to hit Keith, but the paladin avoided the attack and pinned both of Miraje's arms.

 "You said that Rama wanted to protect the Heart!"

 "He was wrong! He had to use it! If he had used the Heart, the Galra would not even have come close to our planet!"

 "You have thrown away all his efforts!"

 " It was necessary!"  the druid insisted.

 "No, it wasn't! You killed my friend!"

 "The same friend you humiliated in that game?"

 Keith stiffened, "How do you know ..."

Miraje scoffed at him, "I've read your minds from the moment you landed on the planet. I know everything. How do you think the princess knew how to find the temple? I guided you here. And I also give you the idea of separating. "

 "So the voice I heard was you!"  Keith realized.

 "It had become difficult with you. Thanks to your blood, I suppose. But you gave me time to set my trap."

The druid laughed," You upset your friend, black paladin."

 "I didn't mean to..."

 "Didn't you mean to hurt him? Didn't you want to make him feel like you didn't care? Didn't you mean I'd rather spend eternity here than get stuck with Lance? You have a weird way of showing people that you care. Or was he special? "

 Keith was shocked and loosened his grip.

The druid took advantage of it and kicked him in the stomach, causing Keith to bend over in pain.

 He stood up, "He was, wasn't he? That's why you had to keep him at a distance. You thought he would distract you from your mission."

 Miraje passed Keith and approached the Heart, "I guess that's no longer a problem now."

 "Stop..."

 "Too late, paladin."

 Miraje stretched a hand towards Heart of Sei'naka and touched it.

But happened something that neither of them had foreseen: the druid's hand caught fire, and he screamed.  He tried to pull it away, but he was stuck.

 He died burning in front of Keith's eyes, screams so high they hurt his ears.

 When the screams finally stopped, there was nothing left of the druid, and the Heart shone with vigor.

 "Keith!"

 Allura and the others ran towards him, Hunk helped him to get up.

Their gazes were fixed on the Heart, and Pidge asked hesitantly, "That's ...

"Yes, it's Lance - Keith leaned against Hunk - I couldn't save him. I was so close..."

If he had been faster, if he had thrown forward, maybe he would have been able to catch him.

"Keith, you did what you could," Allura tried to cheer him up.

"Did I, Princess? I don't think so. Look at the result. Even if it's better this way for you. You have the weapon you wanted."

The girl's gaze hardened, "I never wanted this."

Before Keith retorted, Pidge interjected, "Princess, can't you give him a body back? If the druids did it once, you might as well do it again."

Allura hesitated, "I should study how they did it. But ..."

"But?"

"He might not be the same. The Heart doesn't have a soul ..."

Keith realized what she was trying to say.

Even if she had succeeded, he wouldn't be the Lance everyone had known. He would have been a stranger with a familiar face.

It wouldn't be the same. Keith swallowed a sob. It was over.

Lance was gone.

*