Teardrops and Flower Petals (Discontinued)

Chapter 4: Just darkness...

"Are you okay?"

The voice was coming from behind Lance. "Um..." Lance mumbled.

"Lance?"

Lance opened his eyes. They must've moved him to the same cell as his neighbor, but it was pitch-black.

Just then, a few galra soldiers came in and dragged him (quite literally) into another room where he was dumped on the floor. The galra woman from earlier was talking into a screen and saying, "Ah. Here he is." She turned around and knelt down next to Lance. He swore he could hear a bloodcurdling scream in the distance. She smiled at the screen. "Bring Voltron, and your friend here might keep his sanity." She pulled out a syringe and stabbed him in the neck. Everything went dark. And that's when it started.

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"Paladins of Voltron."

Allura whipped around to see the video broadcast. She called the paladins down, and within moments they were all present.

The galra woman in the video was obviously high in power. A brown cloak swept over her shoulders, fastened by a black pin, with an unfamiliar symbol on it. It kinda looked like a strange knot. Her hair was in long plaited braids, hanging down on her shoulders. Ginger druid marks tinged with silver crept up her neck, swirling under her bright gold eyes and curling around her fluffy purple ears. Her armor was that of a general, or most likely a commander. Instead of red marks, they were the color of a freshly cut orange, and the breastplate itself was a bright violet.

The woman smiled, but it was cold. "I am Sai, leader of the Galra Heart. I believe you lost something a few days ago." A guard on her end dragged a familiar boy inside and dumped him on the floor. "Ah. Here he is."

"Lance!" Pidge gasped. The rest of the group looked equally surprised.

Sai knelt down next to Lance and pulled out a syringe. A bloodcurdling scream could be heard in the distance. "Bring me Voltron, and your friend might keep his sanity." She inserted the needle and administered the fluid. Lance shuddered for a minute, perfectly still. Then his eyes snapped open and he started at the floor bug-eyed and panting. Then he screamed. It was a scream of sheer pain. Then it stopped and he just stared at the floor for a couple for seconds before collapsing into a shivering ball. "I am sending you coordinates for my location." And with that, the video winked out.

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Pidge pulled out her bayard, activating it. "Begin training sequence. Level nine."

The gladiator dropped from the ceiling, and Pidge attacked. She sliced the gladiator in the chest, then used the momentum to hurl it over her head. She grappled one of its legs to keep her balance and continued fighting it. Level nine was always a good challenge for her since the style changed randomly.

She channeled her anger and fear into her fighting, defeating the gladiator quicker than usual. Her thoughts whirled. Lance could die. It was her fault. She flashed back to when Lance had that nightmare. He'd been shivering and in a frightened voice called her name out multiple times and stifled a scream. He had joked that he had dreamed her hair was pink, but she knew it was something different. Was he scared of her? She coughed, blue petals falling into her palm.

Someone tapped her shoulder, and she whirled around, and punched Keith in the face.

"Whoa there." Keith rubbed his cheek gingerly.

"I'm so sorry!" Pidge gasped.

Keith smiled. "It's fine. You pack quite a blow."

"What brings you here?"

"Level ten. Want to tackle it together?" Keith asked.

Pidge took a deep breath and pocketed the petals. "Ready when you are."

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Lance was falling. He couldn't feel anything, and all he could see was black. He felt weightless. Something - or someone - was poking at the back of his mind. Lance put up a mental barrier. He didn't like people poking around his head. Still, it prodded his mind, trying to find something, anything even. It poked and prodded until it found what it was looking for, and pulled it out of Lance's subconscious. It was sheer pain. All his nightmares at once. And her. She was the only one not attacking. He couldn't tell who she was, even though he could see her clearly. He knew her, he just couldn't remember, like all the memories with her were shut off. She stared at him, as the demons ripped into him. He tried calling for help, but the girl turned and walked calmly away. And that's when the screaming started. When all his walls fell down. A flash of green. Then nothing. Just darkness...