Crystal (Warmth series Book 3)

4: Phenacite

A/N: For anyone who'se curious, "Meserie" is from the Romanian word for "trade."
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Phenacite: Aids in astral travel
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Lance was still fuming when he rounded the corner to his bedroom. He  pushed in the access code for his quarters harder than he should have  and stalked into the room. This was one of those times he sincerely  wished he could slam the door behind him. At most, all he could do was  angrily lock the door and lean against it.

The metal was cool  against his clothed back, but not quite as cold as his skin was. It felt  good. At least the door supported him, even if it was just an  inanimate, unfeeling door. He let himself slowly sink down to the floor  so his knees pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around his  knees and rest his nose against his thighs. Hot, angry tears brimmed his  eyes, trailing down his cheeks.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to  anyone. Honestly, there were times he wondered if his sister knew what  exactly was involved in the whole Heir-Sentinel relationship. He knew  she did, but the indignant part of him still wondered. Why didn't she  just accept their positions and move on with her life?

Frak this place. Frak this war. Frak his father. Frak the Galra. Frak his life. Frak everything.

He  just wanted to close his eyes and wake up back on Altea with his mother  holding him and telling this was all just a dream. It wasn't real. This  wasn't real. This couldn't be real. It was too much weight,  too much responsibility. When he accepted his father's title of  Sentinel, he'd done so knowing what he was walking into. But no one  expected the Galra to rebel and take their fury out on the Alteans.  Lance had not been prepared for that.

He definitely hadn't been  prepared for the rebellion to become a war that resulted in the loss of  Altea and everything Lance ever held dear. Sure, he still had the  Castleship and Allura and Coran and Father, if he considered the  memories of his father familiar. But otherwise he was floundering in the  ocean with no land in sight. He vaguely wondered if this was what the  Humans on board were feeling.

But then again, they were going back  to the Humans' home planet now, weren't they? Earth. He'd listened to  the other paladins talk about it when they ate together in the mess hall  or in between training sessions. It sounded like a nice place to visit,  even if it wasn't home.

Home. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to be surrounded by something welcoming and familiar once more. Just for a quintant.

Before  he knew it, he was sobbing and shaking. He never felt embarrassed when  he realized a while later that mixed in with his tears, he'd been  calling for his mother.

~XxX~

The memory core remained  dark even after an hour. Maybe it was longer than an hour, Shiro didn't  know. All he knew was that his continuous attempts to get a response  from Sendak's unconscious mind were proving to be a study in failure.  Coran had said these things could take time even with willing  participants. Maybe Shiro should call it a day and take a break. A  workout session in the training arena sounded good right about now, if  Pidge was finished with it that is.

If Pidge was still busy  working on the targeting program with Keith, then it would probably be  best if Shiro paid a visit to Allura. The plan, as far as he knew, was  to make a wormhole jump to Earth's vicinity this evening or tomorrow  morning when Allura was rested enough to handle to power needed to  initiate the jump. Judging from what he'd seen of the princess's  appearance this morning, he doubted the jump would be made tonight. Both  Allura and Lance had seemed extra tired.