Devil's Advocate (Voltron: Legendary Defender Fanfic/ONC Entry)

Dark Steps

"I'm going to cure her," Lance muttered to himself as he walked towards the infirmary.

Except he wasn't alone. The ghost of Keith followed close behind him. "I don't think killing us will cure Allura."

"Yeah. You would think that." Lance's eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Are you able to see my feet?"

Lance glanced back at Keith in confusion. "Say what?"

"Can you see my feet? Things feel a bit odd..."

"Stop annoying me, Keith. Why is it when you finally disappeared you didn't and I'm now stuck with your annoying self..."

"That..." Keith's tone of voice indicated what Lance said upset him, but he also stopped speaking.

Lance now stood in front of the infirmary. He took a deep breath before stepping in. He saw Coran sitting near the princess, but Allura on the bed. The corners of his mouth twisted into a smile thinking of how she looked like the princess from the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. "Hey, Coran?"

The older Altean looked up. Bags were under Coran's face as if the princess' condition were wearing at his psyche. The man's orange mustache wiggled slightly. "How can you be so chipper?"

"I'm going to cure Allura." Lance pointed at his chest emphatically. In the back of his mind, he dreamed of Allura waking up and giving him a sweet, sweet kiss for saving her, but he honestly couldn't wait until they could be alone. None of the other paladins would interrupt the intimate moment between him and his princess, yet he didn't think of why none of the other paladins would be around. Instead, he heard the humming in the back of his head telling him he was doing the right thing.

"Yes, but the other paladins are dead." Coran let out a sigh. The man's eyes fell upon Allura's still figure. "I can't imagine..." Another sigh escaped Coran's lungs. "She sacrificed herself only for those she cared about to not make it." The older Altean's eyes widened as if he'd realized something. "Wait."

"Hey!" Lance pointed at himself. "She has..."

"Did you just say you could cure the princess?"

"...me." Lance found himself staring at Coran who now looked at him in horror. "What?"

"There is no way you of all people could cure her."

"Of course I can cure her!" Lance took a deep breath and pointed a finger at his chest. "After all, I am her soul mate."

The corner of Coran's mouth twitched. "No, you're not."

"Excuse me!" Lance felt his voice tighten. The humming in his head began to grow.

"You're actually the cause of her sickness."

"Ex... say what!" Lance clenched his hands together. He found himself storming over and putting his face into Coran's. "Take that back."

"I won't." Coran looked him in the eye.

"You're just ticked off I didn't go through the Altean customs like you wanted."

"Do you think I would have made you go through the customs if I thought you were an ideal match for Princess Allura?" Coran stood up and leaned in so his nose was only a few centimeters from Lance's face.

"Why the hell is it that nobody thinks I'm good enough?"

Coran let out a huff and sat down in the chair. The older Altean crossed his arms and rested one of his legs in his lap before letting out a sound of disgust rather than answering Lance's question.

"Seriously! You're not going to answer my question? At least the princess though I was good enough even though you didn't! Maybe the reason she's not come back Coran is because you and everyone else don't approve of our relationship!"

Coran turned his head slightly. "Tell me. Did you make the princess happy?"

"Of course, I did!" Lance felt his shoulders tense up. "We kissed and snuggled, but there was nothing wrong with our relationship! She said she loved me! She loved me!"

"You simply told me what made you happy." Coran sat down. "I want you to leave."

"You don't have the right! She's my girlfriend Coran!" Lance swallowed. "She chose me!"

Coran looked at Lance out of the corner of his eye and Lance picked up on the animosity the older Altean held towards him. Lance swallowed again. "Did you ever give her a choice?"

"I..." Lance's eyes blinked. "Of course I did! She had the choice of whether to be with me or not!"

"If that's the case I wonder why Keith is the one who found her and not you."

"She loved me, Coran! She said so!"

"There are many kinds of love, so did she mean the kind of love you wanted from her? Or did she mean something else? I've looked in the database and looked up the concept of love among you humans?" Coran pulled on his mustache rather menacingly. "Can you honestly tell me it was agape pragma?"

"What?"

"I take your answer as a no."

"How can it be a no when I don't even know what it is, this agape pragma."

"You could have at least described to me what kind of love it is."

"Allura is my family, but I'd promised I'd be there for her forever."

"Yup." Coran took a deep breath. "The answer was a no like I thought. I would appreciate if you left now. I am busy mourning, but at this rate, the princess will never recover, and even if she does, I doubt her heart would be whole."

Lance swallowed while his fists twisted in anger. "He has no place talking to me about my love for Allura! I'd do anything for her, but how can an old man who's never had a relationship with another person understand how I feel. He's just as corrupted..."

Realization hit Lance without hesitation. His hand moved towards the blade in his pocket and stepped behind Coran. He pulled the blade out and easily cut Coran's throat. He heard a gurgling sound from the man as Coran lifted his hands to his throat and collapsed onto the ground. Coran looked up at him with horror, but he wanted to say something.

"Do you understand how much I love Allura now?"