Buried Within: An Altean Lance AU

Chapter One

"AAAGHH,"grunted the paladins from their lions. The lion's energy was pushing them backwards and if they didn't act out soon enough, they would be dead fish in the water. Yet Shiro was determined. They weren't going to die here like the other ships surrounding them.

"Full power to thrusters!" He exclaimed, to which both Allura and Hunk immediately acted on.

"We're making progress,"Allura gasped, a hopeful look in her eyes. They were indeed moving forward, but at this pace, a snail would unfortunately be faster.

As if out of nowhere, the face of a lion appeared right in front of their eyes.

"Is that a lion...?" Lance questioned before it blasted a ray of energy, pushing them back to where they had begun. Why it was attacking them was beyond all of them, but nonetheless, they were determined to get in.

Firing to attack the lion, it vanished for a mere second before reappearing once again before their eyes. Everybody stared in disbelief. There was nothing to hit.

Before they could act again, they were being pushed backwards once again by another beam. Struggling to defend themselves, Lotor's voice suddenly crackled into the intercom of their helmets. "That lion is a guardian! You must get out of there right now!"

"Great tip," Lance angrily snapped back.

As they turned to return to the castle, another laser beam protruded from the lion, this one catching them off guard. In a quick attempt to dodge, they watched as the castle got hit instead.

"No!" Allura exclaimed. "We must get back to the castle!" She exclaimed. But just as they turned to retreat back to the castle, the lion shot another beam from its mouth, only this time its aim had been successful.
Grunting at the sudden hit, the lions finally separated from each other.

"I can't control my lion,"Pidge claimed only for the rest to agree with her immediately . It seemed that the lion's hit had indeed shut down their lions temporarily.

"Everyone, prepare for a manual EVA. Rendezvous back at the castle. We're going to have to figure this out,"Shiro sighed.

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"The mark of the Chosen,"Lotor began to explain to the confused paladins. "The lion is only allowing the worthy to come in...In other words, the reason it attacked Voltron was because it's only allowing worthy Alteans to go in." He gestured to Allura. "Look at Allura. Her marks are glowing."

Allura raised her hand to touch her cheek. Just as Lotor had said, her normally pink Altean marks were now glowing a bright blue.

"Wait,"Hunk interrupted as he turned to look at Coran. "If the lion only chooses worthy Alteans then why aren't Coran's marks glowing?"

"Ah,I suppose there are different types of Alteans,"Lotor began, "Allura holds a strong bond with Altean alchemy due to her father. That's why her marks are glowing stronger than mine and Coran's. No offense,Coran, but you're just not magical enough."

Coran immediately frowned at this and crossed his arms over his chest,pouting.

"Wait...has anybody seen Lance?" Pidge spoke up as she looked around the room. The rest of the inhabitants in the room began doing the same.

"No,"Shiro lifted a brow in confusion. "I thought he'd be here any moment."

"Speak of the devil,"Pidge muttered as the metal doors of the room slid open with a soft woosh. In walked a seemingly exhausted Lance. At the sight of him, everybody gasped in amazement before running to gather around him in a crowd.

"My head hurts,"Lance groaned,speaking in a croaky voice lower than his usual one.His eyebrows were furrowed and his nose was scrunched. Grabbing his forehead, he suddenly collapsed forward.

"Lance!" Yelped Hunk before catching Lance's now unconscious body. "It can't be just me,"he looked up. "But those markings on Lance's face...are they the same as yours?" He pointed at both Lotor and Allura who were too shocked to speak thanks to the bright blue markings now plastered onto Lance's face.

Closing his agape mouth,Lotor cleared his throat. "Yes..."He muttered. "They are indeed Altean marks...but how?"

"That doesn't matter now,"Allura interfered, her voice authoritative contradicting the look on her face. "You all get Lance to his room. We will speak of this later once Lance gets the rest he needs."

"Yes,princess,"the paladins agreed before Shiro carried Lance over his shoulder. After that, they all left to put him to bed.

Allura sighed,letting her gaze fall down to the floor. Her arms were crossed over her chest and it seemed like she was thinking. "Princess,"Coran grabbed Allura's shoulder. Allura simply stayed silent while both Coran and Lotor looked at her, a worried look on both their faces.

"Lance,"she muttered. "He's..." She sobbed. Lotor's arms wrapped around her and Allura let her face fall into his chest, letting the warmth take over her body. "We've found him,Coran. There's no denying it. He's the Lance,"she wailed, clutching onto Lotor as the tears seeped out of her eyes.

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Allura's eyes snapped open as the cryopod arose from the ground. Her knees as weak as jelly, she immediately fell into the arms of a tan boy once she was out of the safety of the cryopod.

"The name's Lance,"he smirked, his pearly white teeth showing. "And you're right here in my arms."

Looking up, she gasped. Was this another Altean like her? She shook her head, noticing something different about him asides from him having no marks on his face.

"Your ears," she gasped,horrified as she stood up from his arms. "What happened to your ears?"

"What? What about my ears?"

"They're hideous. What's wrong with them?"

"Hey! My ears are perfectly fine and they just heard what you said about them!"

In a shocked state, Allura hurried to defend herself, pulling on his ears.

"Where is King Alfor!" She exclaimed.

"King Alfor?" Lance muttered,scratching his chin. "We don't know!" He yelped in pain when Allura tugged harder.

Everything after that was a haze. But how had she not realized from the very start? Those hauntingly familiar ocean eyes of his...and the way he sounded like he knew about her father.

It had been obvious from the very beginning.

(Word Count: 1053)