A Side Unseen

Chapter Nine

Lance dried his eyes and prepared himself for what he knew would be the hardest to face.

This is it, he thought. This is finally happening.

 "Okay," he said aloud. "I-I'm ready."

The last memory(or at least he hoped so) faded in again and Lance could immediately recognize the setting.

He stared at his past self, running through the ashes of Altea. It was his nightmare he had dreamt of so often, he could practically smell the smoke filling his lungs. 

It was after his near-death encounter with the giant Galran and his father... yeah. Lance expected the moment where he stumbles and gives up. Surely it was about to happen, he thought painfully.

But it didn't. 

He recognized the flower he would've died by, but his past self kept on running. Odd.

Lance ventured and climbed over all the wreckage around him swiftly. Fallen houses and destroyed gardens were the only remaining signs of what used to be a civilized society. Black smoke filled the air still, glowing firelight tinting the night sky with a nasty, orange shade. Lance coughed and turned his face into the crook of his arm to shield himself from the fumes.

Real Lance had no idea where he was headed and tried to think as he saw himself approach the Castle of Lions. He ran through the entrance to the main courtyard, a big arch, which was peculiarly wide open. But Lance didn't hesitate a second and continued on his way.

He had to dodge a few sentries on his way into the Castle, but that was without a problem. Lance sprinted down every hallway, this way and that, until he abruptly stopped in front of a wall.

He watched as he muttered under his breath and searched for something. What...? Real Lance thought. 

After a moment or so, Lance's face lit up a bit as he appearantly found what he was looking for. He placed his palm flat in the center of the wall and blue light began to glow from beneath it.

...Quintessence?

The wall began to shift and a doorway opened in front of him and he immediately raced down another dark hallway. 

He soon entered another room- an armory of a sort. But half a dozen pods lined one side of the room. They looked like they were still being constructed, but obviously past Lance didn't really care at the moment and jumped into one. 

As he watched his past self mess around with some buttons on the pod, a light bulb went off in Lance's head.

The escape pods Cygnus was talking about! Why wasn't this part included in his nightmares?

Real Lance shrugged it off and continued to watch intently. 

Teal glass closed down over him inside the pod as he was secured.

When Lance least expected it, the pod shot up through a now open hole in the ceiling he assumed led outside the Castle. He soared through the night sky, above the thick clouds of smoke as he left all the pain and horror below him.

Lance sighed and closed his eyes, noticing the dark circles beneath them. The pod was traveling at what appeared to be light-speed, though he was probably just dizzy as the exhaustion finally settled on him.

What had only seemed like a few minutes of the past Lance dozing off, everything came to a sudden halt. 

And a rough one at that.

Lance was jerked awake, suddenly aware. He snapped his head back and forth, frantically. A red light flashed somewhere and a faint ringing could be heard. What was happening?!