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

Hated

"I hate you."

Lance's blue eyes blinked while he let the blade drop. His throat tightened up and his stomach lurched at hearing Allura's waking words to him being that she hated him. He kept telling himself this didn't seem right, as Allura choose him and he was her soul mate. More importantly, he'd finally won and yet what he won was still being ripped from his fingers.

"Don't you mean Keith?" Lance asked hopefully. "He was the one who was by you just a few minutes ago, right?" The look in Allura's eyes though was willed with anger and hate. She sat up and as she did Lance watched the black ooze become black robes. "Allura, shouldn't you be staying in bed? After all, you..."

He watched Allura's eyes traverse to the ground and Lance found himself forced into seeing Coran's body. Lance swallowed back the lurching feeling in his stomach at seeing Coran's body. He felt ill, yet in the back of his mind, he wondered why he'd gone so far. "Wasn't it because you wanted to do anything?"

"This is so wrong..."

The next thing Lance knew he was flying across the room as Allura backhanded him or more of used the back of her arm to fling him. Pain rushed through his arm where she'd hit him, but the blow reminded him Allura's strength was above that of a human. Tears welled in his eyes, and yet he knew he'd had this coming. "Did I? Did I really?"

"Look. I don't care what my brother did to you Allura..."

Lance heard Veronica's voice and hoped she'd say, "...but he's my brother, and I won't let anyone mess with him, got it!"

Instead, his sister said, "... but this isn't justice."

He lifted himself up off the ground, but his ego was still figuratively dashed in pieces at his feet. Lance's blue eyes caught sight of glass on the floor but paid the fact no mind and instead looked at his sister imploringly. "Veronica..."

While she did give him a pitying look, it wasn't because she sympathized with him. "Lance, you can't treat people like crap and..."

A thundering noise erupted through the room and there was a black blur as Allura rushed forward and lifted Veronica up by one hand. Veronica's feet didn't touch the ground, but Veronica struggled to breathe. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she tried to breathe. Lance rushed forward and lifted his hands up. "Allura, if you care at me at all."

Allura turned her head and looked at him menacingly. Her teeth twisting into a sneer. "It's not as if you cared about me."

"Of course, I did!"

"Wasn't I just a prize to you?" Allura's hand tightened around Veronica's throat and Veronica gasped and then her eyes rolled into her head. The corner of Allura's mouth twisted up slightly as she looked at Veronica's limp body. Her dark blue eyes – Lance now realized they weren't bright blue like they normally were – looked him right in the eye before tossing Veronica against the wall before leaving through the door.

"Veronica!" Lance rushed over and nudged his sister, but found that she wasn't moving. "Veronica!" He felt tears fall down his cheeks as they fell onto her body. "Where's Keith when you need him?"

"What I was going to say was that is that you can't treat people like crap and expect a positive outcome."

Lance's blue eyes widened in disbelief as he turned and looked at his sister. Her ghost now stood near Coran's dead body. "No. Not you."

"Lance, what were you thinking?"

"I just wanted Allura back."

Veronica gave him a look of pity. "Lance..." The tone of voice her ghost used was the tone Lance recognized as an indicator he would get schooled even though it was always in the gentlest manner. "Was that it?"

"What do you mean?'

"You said something about Keith stealing Allura from you, but you also thought she should be hating him. You wanted her to hate him, didn't you?"

"I don't see what this has to do with anything! Veronica, I love you. I would never wish this on you."

"Yet you'd wish harm on your rival for Allura's affections?"

Lance's eyes widened. "Why would you say that? I called for Keith for help. He said Allura wouldn't date me unless she liked me, so..."

He watched Veronica push up her glasses, though he didn't understand why he needed to when she was a ghost. "In other words, he is conveniently your friend when you need him, and a nuisance when things aren't going your way."

"Didn't you hear me. I said..."

"The fact he said she must like you because she dated you?"

"She wouldn't have said yes if she didn't like me."

"That's wrong." Veronica took a deep breath.

"Keith said so!"

"Something tells me Keith is not the person to ask regarding romantic relationships." Veronica glanced away.

"But she said yes, and you said she liked me."

"Apparently I was wrong."

"She said yes Veronica!" Lance choked. "Don't you get the fact she said yes when I asked her out?"

"Something is missing from your story."

"No, there isn't."

"Lance, I don't have the time for this. I want to move on, but I'm going, to be honest with you. I never thought you the type of person to do something like this."

Lance watched Veronica begin to fade. "Wait! Don't leave me! Everyone leaves me!" The last image he had of his sister was a look of pity, yet he didn't understand why. He collapsed to his knees and let out a deep breath. "Why? Why is it that everyone picks on me? Why is it that nobody cares about my happiness? Aren't I important."

"Wasn't Allura important to you, young paladin?" The voice made Lance freeze, but he found himself not wanting to look up at the person. He knew the voice, and he didn't want to face them. He didn't want to face any of his ghosts.