Chapter Text
Asthore woke up to voices. She couldn’t discern who was speaking but she could tell there were at least 2 people talking. She could barely remember what happened.
All she knew was that one moment she was on a quest with Jason and Nico, then the next she was waking up here. Asthore groaned as she sat up, leaning against the pillows and wall.
“You’re awake,” A masculine voice spoke.
“No shit, dude,” Asthore replied, she shook her head to help clear her vision. Her vision cleared to see an Asian man with black hair. He was on the shorter side with his hair cut into a mullet. He was standing near a bed, talking with the person on the bed.
Asthore squinted her eyes, “You look like an Asian version of my friend, just with a mullet.”
“Huh?”
“..My friend. Where’s my friends?” Asthore demanded, she was tempted to pull her spear from her chain links but decided against it for now.
“They’re in two other infirmary beds,” the guy informed her.
Asthore moved to get up before a hand kept her planted on the bed. “You need rest.”
“What I need is to see my friends,” Asthore pushed the hand off her shoulder and stood up with slight balance issues. She limped her way over to the bed with Jason on it.
Jason laid on the bed, asleep. Asthore looked over to Nico who was starting to wake up. Asthore carefully shook Jason.
“Come on, man.. Wake up!” Asthore started to shake Jason harder, effectively waking him up.
“Gods, ‘Thore! What the fuck was that for?” Jason spoke loudly.
“Look at where we are! We aren’t even close to the woods we were in!” Asthore gestured to their surroundings.
“She’s right, we have no clue where we are,” Nico said, he had migrated from his infirmary bed to Jason’s.
“I could answer that,” The guy from earlier spoke up. “You’re in the Castle of Lion’s infirmary in the middle of the universe.
“Shit, we’re in Space?” Asthore said. “Damn, maybe that’s what that part of the Prophecy meant.”
“Prophecy?”
“First, before we answer any of your questions, answer this: What’s your name?” Nico asked him.
“Keith, your guys’ names?” Keith asked.
“…Asthore,” Asthore reluctantly introduced herself. “MacBride.”
“Jason.”
“Nico.”
“Great, now what fucking prophecy were y’all talking about?” Keith asked again.
“Uhm.. I had it written down somewhere…” Asthore trailed off, searching for her bag.
Just then, a Cuban boy walked into the infirmary. He had fluffy brown hair and a sort of bounce in his step.
Asthore seemed to recognise him, “…Lannie?”
Lance stopped in his tracks, “Asthie?”
“Haha! It is you!” Asthore jumped up from where she was sitting and ran into Lance’s waiting arms, laughing all the way.
“What the fuck is happening?” Keith looked confused about this whole situation.
“Answer is simple, they know each other,” Nico answered, as if it were obvious.
“Well, duh, but how?” Keith retorted.
“Oh! Wait until we get back, I gotta introduce you to the newbies!” Asthore leaned back from the hug, but still held onto Lance’s arms.
“How many newbies?” Lance asked, his curiosity peaked.
“That Blondie over there technically, we got a new sister.. Who actually took Drew’s spot after her first quest.. Then a Hispanic boy with an affinity for fire,” Asthore pointed at Jason and told Lance everything. “Blondie over there, is Thalia’s younger brother.”
“Really? How is Thalia, by the way?” Lance directed the question towards both Jason and Asthore.
“Thalia’s good! She’s wonderful, living her dream ya know,” Jason answered, he stood up and held his hand out. “Jason Grace.”
Lance shook Jason’s hand, “Lance McClain, friend of your sisters.”
“She’s mentioned you the few times she’s visited,” Jason recalled.
“Okay, hold up,” Keith interrupted the conversation. “How the fuck do you guys know each other?”
“Asthore’s my sister, Keith, and I know this guy’s sister,” Lance told Keith.
Just then, a tall man with black hair and a white stripe walked in. His stride screamed leader, he walked confidently but if anyone looked closely they’d see that he was faking the confidence.
Asthore leaned towards Lance, “This that Shiro guy you’ve been talkin’ about before you went missin’?”
“Yeah,”Lance answered his little sister.
“I tried IM’ing you, every day,” Asthore quietly admitted.
“Space is farther than the gods’ reach,” Lance whispered back.
-
A day later, Asthore was running around the halls. She was exploring around while trying to expel extra energy she had since being forced to rest by her brother. She was twirling and letting her skirt whirl around at random points before she ran into a short kid with fluffy light brown hair.
“Oh, sorry,” Asthore apologized, helping to stabilize the kid.
“No issue!” The kid looked at Asthore. “You’re one of the people who appeared out of thin air, how’d you get here?”
“Uhm. Uh. I don’t remember, you might have to go to Jason for that answer,” Asthore answered. “Uhm, I’m Asthore. You?”
“Pidge. You are interesting. Where are you guys from?” Pidge introduced themself.
“Dublin, Ireland,” Asthore pointed out. “Jason’s from L.A. I’m pretty sure. And Nico’s from Venice, Italy.”
“You’re from Earth?” Pidge asked, shocked.
“Yeah. Why, is that an issue?” Asthore was confused now.
“No! No issue, how’s Earth been?” Pidge asked.
“I’m not the best person to ask that question, Pidge,” Asthore told them.
“Who would be?” Pidge questioned.
“…This is starting to sound like an interrogation, I’m gonna go..” Asthore backed away from Pidge and waved before running to her brother.
-
“Lance!~” Asthore ran up to her brother and latched on, not bothering to pay attention to the people around her. “The small green child started to sound like she was gonna turn me into an experiment!”
“That’s Pidge for ya, Asthie,” Lance chuckled, hugging Asthore back before looking at Hunk and the two Alteans.
“Hm..” Asthore hugged Lance tighter.
“You’re more clingy than usual..” Lance pointed out.
“Missed ya, that’s all,” Asthore hummed, closing her eyes as she leaned into Lance more. Still ignoring the people around her except for Lance.
“i’ve met all of your family members, Lance. I don’t remember meeting her and she looks nothing like you,” Hunk pointed out.
“Oh shit, yeah.. We never did explain that, did we?” Asthore let go of Lance and smoothed out her skirt.
“Hmm.. How do we tell them..” Lance speculated before consulting Asthore in Spanish. “¿Les decimos la verdad?” Do we tell them the truth?
“Sí, you wish to do the honors?” Asthore gestured to give him the “stage”.
“Uhm. So uh.. Promise not to freak out?” Lance started.
-
“So what you’re saying is that mama’s not your mom?” Hunk recounted.
“No. Mama’s my mom, she just isn’t my bio mom. Papa made a mistake when he was younger and he owned up to it to mama. They worked on their relationship and then my bio mom left me in their care,” Lance corrected. “Mama has cared for me like I was her own bio son, I will always love her like she was my bio mom.”
“Now what about you? What’s your story?” Allura asked Asthore.
Asthore’s bright disposition dimmed a little as she retorted, “Why should I tell you?”
Lance elbowed Asthore, hard.
“Jesus fuck, Lannie!” Asthore shouted. “What was that for!?”
“Be nice, Silenciar la historia. Te ayudará a procesar el trauma,” Lance told her. Dumb the story down. It’ll help you process the trauma.
Asthore nodded, slowly. “Okay.. Uhm…”
She teared up a little as she leaned into Lance for comfort.
Asthore started up again, “My Pappa met my mother in Dublin, Ireland. Few months later, I’m born. Pappa emigrates to America, New York City to be specific, and meets my mum. I love my mum, she’s great. But my Pappa sorta went off the rails trying to experience the time he had with my mother, he never really moved on from her. I’m pretty sure he married my mum just to give me a mother figure and a babysitter he didn’t have to pay for.”
Hunk stared at her before scooting towards her and whispering, “Can I give you a hug?”
“..I guess,” Asthore allowed Hunk to hug her, she was shocked to find that she enjoyed his hug. She leaned into the hug as she started to cry. Hunk looked panicked.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Hunk looked panicked and a little guilty trying to cheer her up.
“Ih-It’s just your hugs are so… good I can’t handle it,” Asthore cried a bit more.
“See, I told you. His hugs are wonderful, Asthie,” Lance rubbed circles onto her back as he spoke.
Hunk stared at his best friend, in awe a little bit, “You talked about me? To your sister? Your super cool looking sister?”
“You-You think I’m super cool?” Asthore asked, shocked at that proclamation.
“I mean yeah, you’re Lance’s sister, that automatically makes you cool. But with the way you stand and other things make you way cooler!” Hunk explained, Asthore blushed out of embarrassment.
“Thank you, Hunk..” Asthore muttered quietly, embarrassed.
“Awww, despite who our mom is, you still can’t take compliments!” Lance teased.
“Shut up, or I will castrate you with a rusty dagger,” Asthore threatened.
“So aggressive and for what! Your older brother who only cares and never teases!” Lance dramatically put the back of his hand and leaned backwards.
Asthore stared at him before pushing him, causing him to fall over squawking with indignity. Asthore just started laughing.
-
The three demigods from Earth were chilling in the room the Paladins managed to set up for them.
“How are we gonna get home?” Jason asked the inevitable question.
“We complete the Prophecy,” Nico answered.