#heck even Maul literally five minutes later

[questforgalas]

Qui-Gon's force ghost every time someone survives a lightsaber stab through the stomach

[kpoptrashibnida]

Enchanted Pt. 1

A/N: So I am a total liar because I said I was going to do a Taehyung One Shot, but I am not. I don’t think I was meant for the One Shot lifestyle. I think my problems stems with having too many details in my work :( but I hope that you guys enjoy the beginning of this Tae mini series. I am going to try and stick to 3 to 4 parts, but we shall see. Happy reading! And as always, constructive criticism is always welcome/appreciated!

Moving to South Korea on your own seemed like a good choice at some point. Especially since you came to live with a boyfriend you made online and he promised you a wonderful life in an exciting country. Of course you were too naive to see what was really happening even though your friends and family tried talking you out of it the whole time, up to the day you were due to leave for Incheon.  

It was a big surprise to you when you arrived at the airport and he wouldn’t answer your texts. You figured he was stuck in traffic or on his way and didn’t want to text while driving, which is a good thing. But after waiting at the pickup curb for half an hour with still no answer, you started to worry. What if he got in an accident? Is he okay? He couldn’t have forgotten that you were arriving today because you sent him a screenshot of your flight info. Deciding that you had enough, you finally decide to call him. 

We are sorry, the number you have dialed is disconnected or no longer in service. Goodbye. 

“What the heck?” You whisper to yourself. You try it one more time and get the same message, your heart sinking. Is he ignoring you right now? Why isn’t he picking up? You log into your instagram to message him and your stomach twists in knots when you realize he blocked you. Your chat was no longer available and when you looked him up by username nothing came up. Tears welled up in your eyes at the realization that he was not coming for you and he just completely ghosted you. How could he do such a thing? Why would he promise to live his life with you and have you come out to a foreign country where you only know him just to abandon you? Did he mean it when he said he loved you? Or was it all just a game for him? 

Deciding that wallowing in self pity at the airport surrounded by strangers was not something you were about to do, you wipe away the stray tears and get to work.

‘This is why we came with a plan.’ You say to yourself, glad that you didn’t just come without a proper plan in place and blind trust on that bastard you once called your boyfriend. 

You looked up a hostel near the airport that was accessible by bus and started on your new journey. Thankfully the public transportation in Korea is amazing and you didn’t have to wait long to get on the bus. Once there, you made sure you kept your ears open for the name of your stop, grateful that you were smart enough to learn some basic Korean so you can get around without a problem. 

Taking a deep breath you try not to let your pain crush you and you manage to keep your tears at bay. Even though things are not going the way you planned, that was not going to ruin your plans to live in this country. You are going to make it work and show that bastard that you don’t need him.

****3 months later****

“Hey do you think you can cover my closing shift tomorrow? I have to go wedding dress shopping with my sister.” Minyoung, my coworker asked.

“Yeah that’s fine.” You say with a smile. Any extra income is welcomed especially because rent is almost due and you’re short. 

Working at the cafe part time makes you just enough for your rent, but it’s still not enough. The cafe is close by some entertainment agencies and it’s always filled with crazy hopeful fans and on rare occasions, the idols themselves. It was hard to know sometimes because most of the time they were wearing face masks, but on rare occasions they came in without one. You weren’t particularly a big fan of any of these artists but you could say that they were very talented. Minyoung was your closest coworker and she was extremely obsessed with them. She would listen to their music all the time and talk about them non-stop. It was endearing but you were lost half of the time. She tried getting you into it but you were busy with work and your side job as an English tutor, that you didn’t really have a lot of extra time available. Binge watching music videos and tv performances is a luxury you couldn’t quite afford. 

Your English tutoring was what made it possible for you to survive without having to eat ramen all day every day. It was great because that way, you didn’t have to call your family and ask them for help. Your parents were no longer angry with you, but they were concerned. You assured them that you were fine and everything was under control, even though they didn’t know that you were actually ditched the second you arrived in the country. You were going to tell them, but you wanted to wait and make it seem like you broke up later on. 

Now, however, you were struggling to make ends meet because the family you tutor for left for a two month vacation and you were out of that extra income for that time. So you were more than willing to cover as many shifts as possible, even if it wasn’t the same as your tutoring job. What mattered was that your bills were paid on time, even if you had to eat ramen with Kimchi every day. 

You sighed a breath of relief when it was finally time for you to clock out for the day. Your back and feet were so sore, the thought of a hot shower excited your tired limbs. You bid goodbye to your coworkers as you grabbed your purse and left the building. You saw a huge black van park in front of the cafe and you felt grateful that you were off and didn’t have to help the huge group that was coming in. It looked like the type of vans that idols use, but it could also be a school group or even a church group. Regardless, you were glad it wasn’t your problem and you can go home to relax. Besides, who gets coffee this late? The cafe was practically empty now. 

Your apartment was close to the coffee shop therefore your commute was short. You lived in an older building but the rent was low and your landlord was nice. She was a sweet old lady that helped you out and didn’t treat you differently just because you were a foreigner. She checks up on you a lot and gives you some banchan from time to time, which you always appreciate because her cooking is amazing. 

You take your shoes off as soon as you enter your apartment and sigh at the mess you left in the kitchen this morning before going to work. You woke up late and in a rush to eat some breakfast and make some coffee, so it looked like a tornado passed by your kitchen. You were extremely exhausted and decided that the kitchen could wait until after a nice hot shower and maybe some fried chicken from the place down the street.

After your much needed shower and a clean kitchen, you were able to enjoy your fried chicken while watching some TV. You didn’t watch a lot of Korean TV, mainly sticking to streaming apps like Netflix. But you did enjoy watching the music shows from time to time and tonight was some kind of comeback stage. You watched as the myriad of girls screamed on the TV screen and rolled your eyes at the noise, extremely amused at how they idolized these people. You had to admit that these artists were all gorgeous- men and women, although you knew that the makeup was attributed to it as well. You never knew that men could be cute and sexy at the same time. These pop idols were not afraid to rock some femininity but still managed to look manly and sexy all in one. It was something completely different than what you see back home, but you were not complaining. Before you knew it, exhaustion crept over you and pulled you under without warning. 

*

The second you walked into the cafe you could feel a buzz of energy in the atmosphere that was a little too much for you at such an early hour. 

“What’s going on?” You ask Minuk, taking in the giddy whispers of some of the female staff.

“They’re losing their minds because BTS came in yesterday to get some coffee and they are practically drooling.” He grumbles, rolling his eyes at the ridiculous situation.

“They would.” You shake your head, knowing that Minyoung is going to cry the second she hears that BTS was here after she had gone home.

“When did they come?” You ask the group of giddy girls.

“Literally like a minute after you left yesterday! If only you had stayed a little longer.” Bora answers, she was the one who worked the evening shift with you yesterday and she stayed to close the shop.

“It was so amazing. They’re all so nice and down to earth.” She swooned, tying her apron around her waist.

You chuckle at her dreamy expression, thoroughly amused at the whole situation. BTS are a very popular group so it makes sense that they came to get coffee once the place was empty and they had a low chance of getting mauled by crazy fans. You had to admit that they are very talented and passionate about what they do. Since Minyoung is a huge fan of theirs, she would force you to listen to their music and stream any music video that they would release. You would oblige but you haven’t gotten too into KPOP. While you enjoyed listening to it over the speakers at the cafe, the grocery stores and basically anywhere you went, you weren’t a hardcore fan by any means. You were still trying to get fully settled in this country and your priorities were different right now. Perhaps in the future it’s something that you can get more into. 

The day went by in a rush and you were surprised at how tired you felt once you finally sat down to have your lunch. Well, it was more like dinner because you were all so busy that getting a break was almost impossible. Today was the first day of the holiday drinks and it seems like all of Seoul was anticipating this day because the incessant line of customers just died down five minutes ago. You were closing for Minyoung today and you were working the closing shift with Dara. she insisted you take a break to eat something before she headed home for the night. You were very thankful because you were starving and your feet ached. 

“Okay I’m all done.” You say, coming back from the back room. 

“Did you chew your kimbap at all?” She teased, noticing that your break was way too short.

“It’s fine.” You waved her off, you much preferred to get your cleaning tasks out of the way to make closing easier. 

“You know what I noticed? Since it was busy all day no one ground the coffee beans for tomorrow’s opening shift. I’m going to do that right now before I leave. It should take me about twenty minutes.” She informs you.

“Oh gosh, yes please. We cannot leave without doing that first. Are you sure you want to stay and do it? Your shift is basically over.” You say, not wanting to keep her here unnecessarily. 

“Of course. Besides, it's dead right now and I doubt anyone is going to come in within the next twenty minutes.” She brushes you off and heads to the back where the coffee grinder is. 

Thankful for the help, you decide that you should start on your cleaning tasks so you can get out of here soon too. You were concentrating on trying to get a stubborn stain off a table that you were startled when you heard the door’s bell jingle, signaling someone coming into the cafe.

“Welcome.” You quickly greet, bowing at the customer. 

“Are you still open?” The deep voice asks, his eyes looking at you intently.

“Yes we are, no worries.” You say, quickly walking back to the register. “What can I get for you?” You ask, taking in the customer’s appearance. He is wearing a black cotton face mask so you can’t see his face that well. 

“I’ll have a medium hot chocolate.” He says, looking right at you.

You type the order in the POS system and try not to turn red under the strangers gaze. You are a foreigner after all and you should really be used to the stares by now. One thing is seeing a foreigner on vacation, another thing is seeing them working and living here. 

“Okay, anything else?” You ask, briefly glancing up to look at him.

“Just that.” He answers, shaking his head lightly. 

“Is it for here or to go?” You ask as you run his card for his total.

“Here.” He says and you quickly look up at him. He just stares back at you and you quickly look back down, the heat now spreading all over your face. It wasn’t very often that people would have their drinks in the cafe this close to closing time, but you couldn’t complain. You informed him that you would bring his drink to his table and he thanked you in that deep voice of his.

You quickly got to making his drink and you carefully took it to his table. As you approached, you could see that he removed his face mask and it was dangling from one of his ears. You were curious to see if his face was as attractive as his voice. The moment you were in front of his table, your breath hitched in your throat. He was very handsome, his smooth skin looking beautiful under the cafe lighting; his hair was fluffy and it looked so soft, making you want to touch it.

“Here you go.” You say with a smile, carefully placing the mug in front of him.

“Thank you.” He says, looking right at your face. You held eye contact for about two seconds but inevitably looked away and walked back to the barista station, deciding that it was the perfect time to clean the area. 

You kept glancing back to the table where the guy was and noticed that he would be looking in your general direction and that made you nervous. You hated being watched as you did your job, but he was the only person here.

“Hey, I’m all done with the coffee, I’m going to head out.” Dara says, coming from the back and breaking you from your inner freakout.

“Okay, thank you so much for that.” You thank her, glad that your workload has lessened.

“Oh, I didn’t hear the customer come in.” She says, barely noticing the man sitting at the table. “Oh my gosh.” She suddenly whispered, her eyes as wide as saucers.

“What?” You ask, looking back at the customer and noticed he looked away the second you looked his way.

Dara quickly pulled you to the back, away from his sight.

“That’s Taehyung from BTS!” She whisper-shouted, her body trembling slightly out of excitement.

“Oh. No wonder he looked kind of familiar.” You shrug, his ridiculously good looks now making sense. 

“How can you be so passive about this? He’s BTS’s Taehyung!” Dara shakes you slightly, making you laugh at her excitement.

“He’s just a human being.” You reply, rolling your eyes.

You walk back out to the front of the cafe and almost jump back when you see that Taehyung is no longer sitting down but standing right at the counter. Dara eyes you nervously but says her goodbyes, leaving you alone with Taehyung.

“Sorry about that wait. Is there anything else I can help you with?” You ask, your customer service voice on.

“No that’s all, I just didn't want to leave the mug on the table.” He explains, smiling at you. 

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that. Thank you.” You say, bowing slightly and picking up his mug.

He stood there watching you place the mug in the sink, making you feel self conscious about your actions. You slowly turn to look at him, his soft eyes watching your every move. He held eye contact with you for what felt like an eternity but was probably about five seconds. Before you could break eye contact or say anything, he gave you a cute boxy smile, your heart beating irregularly at the sight. 

“Have a good night.” He finally said and bowed, before turning around and heading out.

“..Um, uhhh, yeah you too.” You mumble, watching his figure walk out to a car that was parked across the street. 

You shook your head and tried to forget the odd encounter, focusing now on locking the door and making this place sparkly clean for the morning shift… which you are working. 

By the time you made it to your front door you were practically dragging your feet, exhaustion wracking your whole body. You went straight to the shower and then straight to bed, too tired to even feel hungry.

*

“You freaking bitch, tell me all about it!” Minyoung screeched the second she walked through the doors of the cafe, which thankfully was empty at the moment. 

“Will you keep it down?” You chastise, worried that customers are going to be coming in while she is screaming and cursing. 

“Dara texted me last night and said that Kim Taehyung, THE Kim Taehyung was here last night! Is that true?” She questions you, wanting all the details. She is a hardcore BTS fan after all. 

“Yes, I didn’t realize who it was until Dara told me.” You tell her, rolling your eyes at her whines about how she can’t believe that you didn’t recognize someone as amazing and handsome and Taehyung.

“Okay but all that aside, I do want to ask you something.” She says after the first wave of customers finally leave. 

“What’s that?” You ask, scared of what she might come up with. 

“Want to come to a BTS concert with me? My friend and I bought tickets a while ago but she can’t go anymore. If you’re interested, you can have her ticket. You haven’t been to a kpop concert yet and it’s a great experience you should have.” She tried to convince you.

A concert sounded like a lot of fun, especially since you haven’t done many fun things since you arrived in Korea. Minyoung is the first friend you made and you haven’t been able to spend much time with her outside of work because you’re always so busy and you need some distraction. 

“Okay, I guess I’ll go.” You give in, smiling at her excited jumping. She promised that you would have a great time and not regret it, which you hope was right. 

*

It was the day of the concert and you were excited to go with Minyoung, even though she was literally going crazy with excitement. She coordinated your outfits in case you got to meet the boys; which you knew was almost impossible but you let her be with her wishful thinking. You felt comfortable and confident in your all-black ensemble, your cute skirt and top giving you a confidence you have not felt in a while, ever since your ‘boyfriend’ ditched you the second you got to this country.

This concert was unlike anything you have experienced back home and you were feeding off people’s energy. Everyone in the stadium was excited and you could feel it in the air and it was contagious. You laughed at the way everyone screamed at the top of their lungs the second the stage started to rise, indicating the start of the concert. The noise was deafening, especially since you had tickets in the pit, right below the stage. Words couldn't describe what you felt throughout the concert. These guys were not just excellent artists, they were amazing performers. The energy they radiated was incredible and you soon found yourself screaming along with the thousands of fans. You were familiar with BTS and knew the name of the different members so it was easy to follow along with the fan chants. There came a point in the concert where the members went to different parts of the stage and they were singing, dancing, being silly and waving at the fans and the cameras. You immediately recognized the member that went to your side of the pit, since he was just at the coffee shop not that long ago. Minyoung was next to you, singing at the top of her lungs while you swayed next to her, smiling at the soulful way she was singing. You were so busy taking everything in, you didn’t notice the person staring at you; his eyes glued to your face and not looking away.

“Omg, look!” Minyoung practically shouted in your ear, your eyes following the direction her finger was pointing. 

You see Taehyung walking in front of your section, singing his part of the song, all while looking right at you. You made eye contact with him and he did not break away. You telt like you were in a trance, his brown orbs so tantalizing you couldn’t look away even if you wanted to. You felt as if the earth stood still and the only people in that stadium were the two of you. It felt silly to say, but you honestly felt as if there was an invincible cord pulling you towards him, strong and unrelenting. You don’t know if he felt it too, but the way his brown eyes looked at you, it made you feel like perhaps he did. 

The moment was broken when he suddenly looked away and ran back to his members that were standing in the main portion of the stage again. The beginning of their last song for the night started and you watched amazed as you still felt that strong pull. Was this something all the fans felt? If so, you totally understand now why they’re so loved by them. The concert ended with a spectacular performance and you were surprisingly sad that the concert was over. Perhaps it was time for you to start finding some time to get more into this band. 

“Okay, bitch! What the hell was that?” Minyoung asks excitedly as you walk back to the subway station. 

“What was what?” You ask innocently, hoping she would buy your bs lie.

“Girl don’t play dumb with me, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” Minyoung was not having your faux innocence today.

“I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.” You try to play it off but it was no use. You knew she was not going to let you off the hook that easily. 

“Come on, don’t be a jerk and tell me!!!!” She practically yelled, earning some glares from a few of the older people waiting for the subway.

“Okay fine.” You relent. “I honestly don’t know what that was all about, but it looked like Taehyung was looking at me. It could have just been a coincidence though.” You try to brush it off, but your heart was being fast at the memory, calling you a liar because it knew that it wasn’t just a coincidence.

“Yeah, okay, coincidence my ass. He was looking right at you and you know it.” She insists as you enter the subway, sitting down on the empty seats.

“Do you think he remembers you from the cafe?” She asks, eyes twinkling at the possibilities.

“I don’t think so. They see and meet a lot of new people all the time, I highly doubt he remembers me. Maybe it’s odd for him to see a foreigner at a show here in Korea.” You offer, not believing that you were special enough for such a successful man to remember.

“Whatever! There are tons of foreigners at their shows here. Trust me girl, I know what I saw. And if he comes by the coffee shop by himself again, then I know I’m right.” She insists as the both of you get off at your subway stops. 

“Well if you insist, but I don’t think that’s true.” You say with finality. 

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Minyoung waved you off, the both of you parting ways.

You arrive at your apartment and make a beeline to the shower, wanting to wash off the sweat and makeup from the night. Your mind was still buzzing from the encounter at the concert, your stomach fluttering with a mix of excitement and nervousness. Your mind told you that it meant nothing, that it was pure coincidence. But there was a small part of you that wondered if he really remembered you and the look you shared meant something more.

You fell asleep still thinking of those brown eyes, their warmth encompassing you into unconsciousness. 

*

It was two days after the concert and you were exhausted from working two double shifts in a row. Dara had covered your shift so you could go to the concert and now you were paying her back. You also picked up an extra shift because you wanted to eat more than just ramen once your rent was paid. It was an hour before closing and Hana had just left since it was a slow night. You sat at a stool and rested your back for a second, your lower back killing you. The cafe was empty and you needed a small break before you started to clean all the tables. Hopefully you wouldn’t get many more customers at the end of the night. 

“Hi, are you still open?” You hear a gruff voice say as they enter the cafe. You stood up at the speed of light and walked back to the counter, embarrassed that a customer walked in and you’re just sitting around.

“Yes, welcome.” You say, bowing slightly. 

You look up to take the order of the customer and your breath hitches in your throat, your eyes not believing the sight before them. There stood Kim Taehuyng, his mask hanging from one of his ears. 

“Hello, can I get a medium hot chocolate?” He orders, a small smile gracing his lips. 

“Oh, of course. For here or to go?” You ask, suddenly wishing that he says to go. 

“For here.” He answers.

After you collect payment, you quickly get to work on his hot chocolate. You notice that he sat at the bar and was watching you make his drink, which was extremely nerve wracking. You take a deep breath and turn around, meeting his curious brown eyes. 

“Here you go.” You say and place the cup in front of him, averting your gaze.

“Thank you.” He says, his soft deep voice sending a shiver down your spine. 

You get to work, hastily cleaning up the tables and hoping that he leaves soon. He makes you oddly nervous and you don’t know why. It could be the way his eyes seem to stare intently at you, but you can’t be sure. Maybe that’s the type of person that he is and it means nothing. But something in the depths of your stomach makes you feel like that’s not the case. You’re almost done cleaning up the cafe when you hear the stool scrape against the floor, indicating that he has gotten up. You look over, expecting him to be halfway to the door by now but were surprised to see him still standing by the bar.

“Can I get you anything else?” You ask, wondering why he is still here.

“No that’s all.” He says, still staring.

“Okay.” You answer, staring back at him. 

The silence was very awkward and you didn’t know what to do so you stood in place. He was just looking at you and you could feel your face getting red, giving you away. Could you be blamed? He is such a gorgeous person, you really did not know how to react to him standing there and looking at you like he’s never seen such a monstrosity before. 

By the grace of all things holy, he finally broke the silence.

“What’s your name?” He asks curiously, confusing you further. 

You stared at him in awe, wondering why the hell Kim Taehyung wanted to know your name. After a few seconds of stupefied silence, you mumbled your name, hoping it was coherent enough.

“I’m Kim Taehyung.” He introduces himself, such a silly thing.

“I know.” You say without thinking, mentally slapping yourself for being so stupid.

He chuckles slightly and you can feel the redness coating your face once again. Great. 

“Were you at our concert the other night?” He asks and you swear you have to be dreaming. None of this is real. 

“Um, yeah?” You say uncertain, not understanding what’s going on at all.

“I remember you. I hope you enjoyed it.” He flashes a heart stopping smile and you swear you have died and gone to heaven. What the hell is going on?

“Yes, um, I had a great time.” You nod, the urge to pinch yourself very strong because you swear this is a lucid dream. 

“Good, I’m glad. I have to get going now.” He tells you and you nod, not understanding what he wants you to do with that information. Of course he has to get going, he can’t stay at the cafe all night.

“I don’t normally do this but, I was wondering if I can get your number?” He asks and has the audacity to look shy and cute and hot all at the same time. Who is this man?

“Uh, ye-yes.” You mumble and write your Kakao id on a sticky note and hand it to him. 

“Thanks.” He flashes you a bright smile and bows, waving goodbye.

You bow back and watch his frame walk out of the cafe and into the night. Slapping yourself across your face, the sting indicates that indeed, you did not dream all that up. It was reality and you had no idea why Kim Taehyung wanted your phone number. 

You quickly finished cleaning up the last few things you needed before finally closing the cafe and heading home. It was a chilly night and your light sweater was not enough to stop the nippy air from hitting your skin. You power walked home and sigh in relief when the warm air thawed out your skin. After your shower, you had some leftover kimbap for dinner and settled on the couch to watch some late night tv. You were so concentrated on the show that you jumped at the sound of your KakaoTalk chime, indicating you got a message. Reaching for your phone, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you see the unknown sender’s message.

KTH: Hey this is Taehyung. Did you get home safely?

You jumped on your seat and blinked your eyes repeatedly, not believing what your eyes were seeing. Was he actually serious?

Me: Hey, yes I did. Thank you for checking in.

You sat on your couch in anxious excitement. Biting your thumb nail, you were staring down your phone to see if he would reply. When did you turn into this person?

KTH: Good, I’m glad. I was wondering that if you are available, would you like to get something to drink tomorrow night?

Oh crap. Is he serious?

Me: Sure, that sounds great.

Your knee was shaking in excitement, the disbelief coming and going in waves. Was this actually happening? What did you ever do to deserve this? 

KTH: Great! I’ll text you the details tomorrow. Good night :)

Me: Good night

You screamed into your pillow, heart racing at the possibilities that tomorrow will bring. You? Getting drinks with THE Kim Taehyung? You don’t know what brought this on, but you will not question it, that’s for sure.

[nyctolovian]

Ch1

A/N: Heya! I’ve been really tired the past few days but i managed to get off my ass to post this lolllll. Once again, special thanks to @lunasloveliess, @oorubixoo, and @alunaii for helping me to beta-read this!! :)

I originally planned to post a new chapter once every Tuesday but god thats too tiring and i have a life (+ other wip to work on) so.... theres a change in plans! It will not have a fixed schedule but I’ll still try to keep it regular! dun worry!

Okay so we get to the next fun part of torturing Lance even more (i mean,,, thats the entire point of this fic tbh) 

WARNING: Graphic depiction of violence

Lance woke up with a groan. His entire body felt sore. And his head! He rubbed the side of it, and hissed at the stinging sensation.

“What the– What happened?” Gingerly, he pressed the painful spot. A bruise?

He was in a well-lit room with tables and chairs, which were haphazardly shoved to the sides of the room, toppled or broken apart. There had been a struggle or fight or something.

The smell of iron was heavy in the room.

Lance sat up and saw a Galra soldier on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. There was no way she was still alive with that much blood and the flap of flesh dangling at what used to be her throat.

Lance seized up as memories surged back. The distress signal, the capture, the attempted escape, the millions of bottles, the monstrous creature.

Why wasn’t he dead?

He lifted his hand saw it was caked with blood. In fact, both hands were. He felt his throat constrict.

But his hands weren’t wounded. The blood was from elsewhere.

Lance ran his tongue over his lips and cringed as he tasted blood. “Where the heck did that come from?” he muttered to himself.

He did a quick scan of himself. There was no gaping wound or anything of that sort. His back felt like there were glass shards in it, but that was probably because there were glass shards. Otherwise, he was only bruised and battered with a few shallow cuts, most likely from the glass as well.

Did the creature spare him? For what reason?

Maybe it didn’t spare him, so much as it had only sought vengeance from the Galra. It was hard to imagine anyone who would be thankful for being cooped up in a liquid-filled vessel.

But what was he doing here? Did the creature bring him here? For what?

Lance sighed. He decided not to question it. He was alive. That was all that mattered now. That and how he needed to get out. The others must be worried sick.

He rose to his feet, grunting in effort. His vision blacked out for a moment, and Lance had to stretch out his arms to keep himself steady. His sight gradually cleared, although he remained light-headed. The burning sensation in his back intensified, the glass shard relentless, as every other part of his body was aching dully, as though he had been thrown against several walls.

He stumbled out of the room and winced. The corridor was drenched in blood and littered with mauled bodies.

Some of them had their necks ripped through like the Galra in the room. Others had large gash at their torso, their ribs torn apart and left open. The occasional body was missing a limb or two, which could usually be found a couple of metres away, in its own pool of crimson. There were some bodies which were twisted unnaturally, bones snapped in two like toothpicks.

The corridor walls were scratched up and bathed in dark red. Certain parts were slightly charred. They were marks made by Galra blasters.

Then, there were the claw marks on some of the walls. Those clearly were not Galra.

He shuddered.

Jesus. That creature must have gone straight up mad to wreck the place like this. The place reeked of fresh blood and death.

Lance really was lucky to be spared from the massacre. Somehow.

He tried not to breathe in the scent of blood, but it was soon apparent that it was unavoidable. With a resigned sigh, he walked through the corridor, carefully avoiding the corpses.

He needed to find his lion and bayard. Then, he’d get out of here.

Soon, Lance reached a forked road and frowned.

Which way to turn? None of them felt like the right choice. He didn’t even know where he wanted to go in the first place. How on earth would he know if he should turn left or right?

Let’s try left.

He turned that way and continued down the long corridor. Not like he could make an informed decision at this point.

There were several other turns, and he trusted his gut feeling to direct him. It came to him quicker than usual.

Was he becoming another Keith Kogane? Maybe trusting instincts wasn’t that bad since Keith’s premonitions proved right.

After about five minutes of stumbling through the corridors, Lance noticed a familiar yellow figure on the floor. His breath caught in his throat as he dashed and skidded to his knees, uncaring that they would surely be bruised later. “Hunk?!”

He wasn’t… was he? It couldn’t be!

Fingers shaking, Lance held a hand in front of Hunk’s face.

He felt breath! Hunk was breathing!

He nearly collapsed onto his unconscious friend. “Oh, thank goodness.” He pat Hunk several times. “Hunk? Hunk? Wake up.”

When he didn’t respond, Lance’s heartbeat picked up again. He did a quick check on his friend. Hunk didn’t seem to be sustaining any major injuries. Lance turned his unconscious friend onto his back and checked his breathing closely. It seemed normal.

Nothing about Hunk raised any alarms; his life probably wasn’t in danger. Lance patted Hunk’s head, and reassured that he was fine.

The fact that Hunk was mostly unharmed supported Lance’s theory: the monster only attacked and harmed the Galra. Anyone else was left largely unharmed.

His stomach twisted in sympathy for the monster.

That poor fella. It must have been hurt so, so much for it to want vengeance this badly. His heart ached for the tortured soul of the creature, even if it was a scary monster.

With a grunt, Lance grabbed Hunk’s arm and threw it over his shoulder, hissing in pain.

The glass shards. They shifted in his back, digging into his flesh.

Steeling himself, he tried to stand up but tumbled down after every try. He panted with effort. Lance’s head spun violently and his hand shot to the floor to steady himself. It took a few seconds for the world to wobble back in place.

Maybe he had lost more blood than he thought.

Slowly, he placed Hunk back down before scouring through the corridor and the surrounding rooms. Luckily, there was a trolley nearby. He pushed it beside Hunk before half-rolling, half-lifting him onto it as gently as he could.

Lance had to get back to the lions. He sighed and began to push the trolley. When they arrived at a crossroad, Lance peered down all three corridors. This place was a damn maze. He pursed his lips in thought.

Straight ahead?

Lance grunted as he leaned on the handle of the trolley and pushed forward.

Somehow or another, Lance managed to find the lions quickly but their barriers were activated. He knocked on Yellow’s particle barrier and called, “Hey, buddy. Could you open up?” After a small hum of greeting, the yellow lion lowered its barrier and open its mouth for Lance to trolley Hunk in.

He lifted the large guy with a Herculean effort and propped him up on his seat. As a safety precaution so the other boy wouldn’t go tumbling to the floor when they lifted off, Lance strapped Hunk tight with the seatbelt.

When Lance straightened up, he swore he felt his skin rip further. He hissed in pain. To top it all off, his back felt wet. Whether it was blood or cold sweat, he really didn’t know.

Lance sighed loudly. The damn glass shards. He wanted to reach back and just yank them all out. That, of course, would do nothing but make more blood gush out.

Besides, he had better things to do than make his injuries worse.

Slowly so he wouldn’t aggravate his back, he got off the ship and nodded towards the two lions. “Wait for a sec. I still need to get the bayards and armour and stuff. Keep him safe, ‘kay, big guy?” he said, patting Yellow’s leg. “You too, Red.”

When he sensed the soft rumble of acknowledgement from the two lions, he headed back down the hallway, hoping he’d be just as lucky while finding where the bayards and armour were kept.

Walk straight and a fork right up ahead… Turn right.

He turned and continued staggering through the corridor, sighing.

Just a little more.

He made yet another turn at yet another crossroad. But as he walked round the bend, he was hit by a distinct and unwelcome smell.

The rotting stench.

The more he walked, the closer he got to the laboratory, it seemed. The odour only grew stronger and stronger. Truthfully, he didn’t want to go anywhere near that lab. However, he had a strong unexplainable feeling that this was the right direction, so he didn’t turn back.

When he made a turn again, he saw the swinging doors at the end of the corridor. It was the corridor from before. It was empty, save for the spot near the swinging doors, where a large bulge sat in the dark.

Lance pursed his lips. There was a strong urge to investigate it.

You wouldn’t like what you’d see. No point looking.

He pulled his gaze away, focusing on the walls instead. After walking slightly further, he found himself staring into a room. A quick glance was all Lance needed. He spotted their bayards and armour hanging on hooks that weren’t far from the entrance.

Unlike the corridors that smelt like rotting death, this room already reeked of fresh gruesome kill. It was a literal bloodbath in there and Lance hadn’t even stepped in yet. Fortunately, it was dark. He really didn’t want to see more dead people than he must.

Lance glanced at the piles of bodies in the room and did a quick count. It was the same number of druids that had cornered him a while ago.

With a shudder, he turned away, biting the inside of his cheek. The stuff they did was pretty messed up, but surely they shouldn’t have to go through such violent deaths.

No, they did. They would have used you like an experiment if they hadn’t died.

Lance shook his head to clear it. He didn’t want to dwell on that thought. It was too frightening to think about that while standing amongst piles of corpses.

Get what you need and leave.

He steeled himself, held his breath and stepped through the doorway. Quickly, he grabbed the bayards and armour before darting back out into the corridor. Immediately, he put his helmet back on and switched on the communicator.

“Hey, guys?” he tried. “Anyone online?”

“Wait. Lance?” He heard Keith say in disbelief. “Is that Lance?”

Lance laughed at the little crack in his voice, and his chest warmed up at the familiarity of his teammate’s voice.

“It’s him, isn’t it? It’s Lance!” Pidge screamed. “Quiznak, you’re alive!”

There was a flurry of cheers and screaming and talking all at once. Lance couldn’t catch a word they were saying amongst all the noise. “Guys. You need to talk one by one. Can’t understand a word,” he said, a sigh in his voice.

He dropped to the floor and propped his head up on his knees. Feeling a little cold, Lance hugged his legs tightly. His eyelids were heavy with lethargy.

“Shiro and I lost all contact with you!” Coran yelled first.

“I could sense your lions moving away from Regeunde. But I couldn’t do a single thing!” Allura cried. Her voice was wracked with panic and guilt, trembling violently. “I tried to go back to the castle as fast as I could, but–”

“We couldn’t move out of the base! Security was tight and we had to follow for the sentry’s cycle, so we were moving at snail pace. But we’re heading back in now,” Pidge stuttered. “We’re so sorry!”

“Nah. It’s alright now.” Lance chuckled weakly. “Sorry for worrying you guys.”

“Are you okay though, Lance?” Shiro asked.

“Yeah, ‘m fine. A little beat up, but fine. How long has it been?”

“Three vargas!” Keith shouted.

“Geez… No need to yell… My poor ears, Keith. Definitely felt a lot longer than that though. My throat’s all dry.”

“What happened?” Pidge asked. “And where’s Hunk?”

“Apparently, the druids were ordered to stop Voltron from forming. Got dragged into their ship. Hunk’s knocked out or something. He’s in Yellow so he should be safe. Should still check up on him when we get back,” he mumbled. “They’re definitely planning something. Turns out you were right, huh, Keith?”

There was a curt hum from Keith.

Coran said, his voice more composed than before, “I am able to locate you through your communicator now.”

“Hang in there,” Keith said, firm and reassuring. “We’re nearly in the castle.”

Pidge said, “The Galra will most likely have a plan ready if we come to rescue them. We need to be careful.”

Lance bit his lip. “Whatever they’ve got up their sleeves, it probably won’t work now. The entire ship’s wiped out.” His hands were cold and stiff so he rubbed them together.

“What?”

“I’ll… explain later. I don’t feel good talking about that… now,” he said, glancing around the eerily quiet corridor. “Anyway, I’ll try to move away from the ship in the meantime. In case there’s, like, a booby trap or something.”

“Right,” Allura said. “Do stay safe, Lance.”

“As you wish, princess!” Lance said playfully, even adding a small superfluous bow despite his lack of an audience.

The groans and sighs came nonetheless.  

“Just hurry up,” Keith grumbled.

“Alright! Lance out,” he replied before switching the communicator off.

With sore limbs and an aching back, Lance struggled to get back on his knees. When he did, his eyes were drawn to the large bulge right in front of the swinging doors to the laboratory once again.

It sat there, ominous and unmoving, but Lance couldn’t shake off this lurching feeling in his stomach. He had to look at it. Yet, something in him kept warning him that it wouldn’t be a good idea.

It wasn’t moving anymore. Surely it was dead. Why was he so terrified?

Of course you’re afraid! It’s a body! How could you not be? You should just leave it alone.

No, it wasn’t that he was scared of the body or its death. There was something else about it. Something was very off. If he took a closer look, he should be able figure it out.

But perhaps you are better off not knowing.

Maybe.

Still, Lance found himself inching closer. His heart slammed against his ribcage, and his breath was shallow and fast, not unlike that of a terrified rabbit. He activated his bayard and his breath hitched at the transformation. His hands were tightly curled around the gun as he slid his left foot forward, then his right.

A single look was all it took.

He jerked back. “Ay dios mio,” he breathed.

That bulge. It was mangled, resembling a crumpled paper ball rather than the limbed creature it had been.

But the dark green scales and sharp claws were unmistakable. Its head had been ripped off and was sitting wide-eyed beside the body. Still and unseeing, as though paralysed with shock.

It was the monster from the lab.

Lance broke into a run. With what little strength he had left, he dashed him to the lions— to safety.

He didn’t have the courage to look around now. Not when bodies of the Galra were scattered over the floor— disfigured, mauled, destroyed.

As soon as Lance made it to his lion, he fumbled for the buttons and managed to take off. His legs were jelly and his heart was beating quickly, but whether from running or fear, he didn’t know.

When he tried to sit down, pain spiked through his body. Glass shards. He let out a groan and remained standing.

Lance tapped the button at the side of his helmet. “Hey, guys. How much longer are you gonna take?”

“We’re almost there, Lance,” Allura’s calm voice came in. “Wait for us outside the ship. We should be there in a tick.”

“Okay. Thanks, ’llura,” Lance mumbled as he shuffled his weight to his other foot and switched the intercom off. He was way more exhausted than he had thought. “Okay, Red, m’ buddy,” he said. “We gotta drag Yellow and Hunk out. We should be able to reach the rest that way.”

Lance managed to complete that task with a combination of nudging and tugging and dying noises. As soon as they were out, the space in front of their lions folded into itself, and the Castle of Lion winked into existence.

He heaved a huge sigh of relief. His legs buckled and he barely caught himself in time.

Careful!

As he lowered himself, he was careful not to hurt his back any further and lay on his side, tired and sleepy. Every part of his body was aching.

He felt Red being dragged and he looked up to see Blue pushing him and the black lion grabbing Yellow with its massive jaws. By the time Red had landed securely in the castle, Lance was curled into a foetal position. His eyelids were closed and he could feel himself slipping. He managed to open his eyes enough to see the interior of the hangar.

Just a short nap. After that, he’d wake up to make sure Hunk was fine. His eyelids fluttered shut again.

A loud “Lance!” woke him.

Someone touched his shoulder and he hissed in pain. The hand was quickly removed.

“Oh gods. Lance? Are you awake?” Allura asked, tapping his arm frantically. “Please be awake.”

“Hm?”

She let out an audible sigh of relief. Her voice grew a little distant as she turned away from him to speak into her intercom. “Tell Coran to ready the operation table. Bring a stretcher to Red’s Hanger. Lance has lost a lot of blood.” After a brief moment of silence, Allura’s voice was directed to Lance again. “Alright, stay awake. Open your eyes,” she said.

“’m sleepy, princess. And everything kinda hurts,” he mumbled. “Gimme five more minutes.”

“Lance, stay with me. Just open your eyes a little longer,” Allura said as she conducted a check on Lance’s body.

With a groan, Lance forced his eyes open. His vision was blurry for a moment. Then, his eyes found iridescent blue ones and locked on to them. “Y’know, princess, your eyes are really pretty,” he blurted. “Anyone told y’ that? Like jewels.”

“Alright, Lance,” Allura said absently as she ran her hands over his limbs to check for wounds. She let out a soft curse when she saw his arms. “Do you know how badly you’re injured?”

“I know I have glass in my back,” Lance replied.

“Glass?!” Allura cried.

He tried to turn to let Allura see it, but the movement sparked a sharp pain through him and he let out a gasp, too tired to do any more than that. “Ah, fudge ball,” he whimpered. “Didn’t hurt so much jus’ now…”

“Did you jostle it while on the lion?” Allura peered over his shoulder and winced. “Oh, this is much worse than I thought. There’s so much– Why didn’t you say anything?”

Lance shrugged slightly, causing more pain to spike through him like an electric current. He dropped his head against the floor and breathed heavily, trying to steady himself.

Stay awake. She wants you to stay awake.

But surely a short little nap would be fine–

“Lance!” Allura called again. “Stay awake, alright? Stay awake. Help is coming.” She placed a reassuring hand on the back of his.

Lethargically, Lance nodded but he was losing focus. When he found himself staring at blobs of blurry colours, he shook his head and tried to concentrate on Allura.

“’s Hunk okay?” he asked.

“What? Oh. Keith and Coran are attending to him right now.”

“But is he oka–”

“Princess Allura!” Shiro’s voice came. “I have the stretcher.” His worried face hovered above Lance’s. “Hey, Lance. Hang in there.” Shiro gave him his worried-dad smile and Lance returned it with a tired one.

Allura hoisted Lance up and placed him on his side on a stretcher.

“Make sure he does not roll. His back is full of glass. We do not want it to be pushed in any further,” she told Shiro as they strapped Lance securely to the stretcher.

Just as he began to close his eyes, she pat his cheek. “Stay awake, please.”

“As you wish, princess,” Lance mumbled with a quirk of his lips.

Quickly, the two of them carried Lance out of the lion. They ran into Keith, who had just sprinted over from the direction of the infirmary. He matched the pace of Shiro and Allura as he gave them a quick rundown. “Hunk’s fine. Coran ran a check on him in the healing pod. Only bruised and slightly concussed. Nothing too bad. Put him in the healing pod for about two vargas and he’ll be fine.”

“That’s good,” Lance muttered.

Keith shot him a look filled with both rage and worry.

Lance gave him a sheepish grin.

With a groan, Keith squeezed his eyes shut and tore his attention away from Lance. He turned back to Shiro. “The operation room and Coran are free. Pidge prepared the room and some blood bags already.”

“Good,” Shiro replied.

They reached the operation table. As Shiro laid Lance onto the operation table, Allura explained the situation to Coran, “There are multiple glass shards in his back and burns to his arms.”

“Can I sleep now?” Lance mumbled. No one seemed to hear him over the loud clangs of preparation and rapid dissemination of information and instructions.

Try to stay awake.

But he was so, so exhausted.

Just a little bit longer.

Lance still found his eyes blinking slower.

“First degree burns, I believe,” Allura continued. “Multiple wounds to his arms and legs. Blade wounds. I can’t see much of his skin beneath the suit, but there seem to be many bruises.” She pulled at a cut in the suit and exposed some of Lance’s skin to Coran.

Coran winced. “He’s very pale. He must have lost a lot of blood.”

Eyelids heavy, Lance let himself slowly drift away. No one was replying him anyway. “G’night,” Lance mumbled, closing his eyes.

For some reason, Lance was aware that he was in a dream. He wondered if this was one of those lucid dreams Rachel had once talked about. He had never had one before. However, something felt a little different. Because this dream… didn’t feel like his.

His movements weren’t fully under his control. It was as if his actions and feelings and thoughts while in this state were shared with someone else.

In the dream, he was in the druid’s lab again. This time, he was in a jar on the shelf. It was difficult to see anything outside the jar. There was a white rectangle, probably a jar label, obscuring his vision. Behind him was a white wall, and to his sides were similar jars.

Each jar contained a blue and green creature that looked like half-developed foetus, except with a long tail that was twice the length of their body. They had small jagged mouths and two pairs of beady eyes. The twitch of their eight legs, and the slow movement of their feelers were the only indicators that they weren’t dead as they floated about in liquid.

Though they didn’t look alive to Lance either.

When Lance focused on the reflection on his glass jar, he realised he looked just like them. His wrinkly skin was dark green with splashes of bright blue.

His eyes travelled to the creature on his right, who had the most brilliant shade of green on the tip of their tail. They looked rather lethargic with their feelers drooping and head slightly bowed. As though sensing someone watching, they lifted their head, and beady eyes looked back at Lance. Despite never meeting such a creature before, Lance recognised their small tail movement as a greeting. He returned the gesture politely and watched as the other creature shook with joy, a momentary relief from the tense lifeless atmosphere of the room.

Then, there was a click. With a flick of his tail, Lance swirled in the jar and peeked through a thin gap under the jar label. An involuntary shudder ran through him.

Druids.

They got to work. Some prepared the laboratory table and equipment, but Lance’s attention was drawn to the druid approaching the shelf he was on.

His eyes made contact with the creature on his right again. Their tail shivered as they floated backwards in the fluid. Fear.

He glanced around. Everyone else was shaking in terror. He looked forward again to see the druid considering them all as though they were canned soup at a supermarket.

The druid’s arm loomed in Lance’s direction. With a squeak, Lance squeezed his eyes shut and curled into a ball. For several seconds, nothing happened. He worked up the courage to open his eyes again.

The spot on his right was empty. Alarm surged through his body, and he launched himself to the side of the jar. The druid was walking towards the table with a jar in hand.

A flicker of brilliant green.

“Fivirion!” The name slipped from his mouth. The name associated with that beautiful shade of green, something in his mind supplied.

Fivirion swivelled in the jar, and their eyes stared into his. Fivirion was frozen in place.

There was a violent, wrenching tug in Lance’s gut. As if there were millions more memories between them, and this was the final sliver of a moment left that they could ever share.

Lance felt his body press against the glass of jar and his voice screaming Fivirion’s name over and over and over.

A druid twisted the jar open, and Fivirion was poured into a light blue tray. There was sufficient light for Lance to catch their silhouette in the tray, flickering and writhing about frantically.

“Vree! Vree!” they screamed, and Lance felt his voice yell with greater urgency, “Fivirion!”

He moved back and slammed against the front of his jar. His heart was beating a thousands beats per second. He was on the verge of combusting with panic. Desperate, he swished in his jar and jumped to hit the jar cap.

It wouldn’t budge.

Fivirion’s screams morphed into a screech. Lance plunged to the bottom of the jar to look through the gap.

The druid used a pair of tweezers to seize Fivirion. Dread wracked through Lance’s body with fearful familiarity, despite never having seen it before. The druid swished Fivirion in the liquid of the tray for several seconds. When he was done, they were no longer screaming.

There was the occasional defiant twitch. But the druid had them under control.

The druid picked up a small needle and drove it into them and Fivirion spasmed for several seconds before falling deathly still again.

Lance pressed his body against the glass jar again, a sense of defeat washing over him.

A large creature was rolled into the lab. It was heavily sedated, its eyes only open a fraction, allowing its bright orange eyes to peep through. Its huge furry body slumped heavily against the cage it was in.

Lance felt faint. His breathing was heavy and his head felt light.

The druids opened the top of the cage and shoved the creature about roughly as they readied it for their procedure. When it was hooked onto a monitor and several tubes, they began the operation.

They shaved the back of its head and carefully made a small hole in it. Using the pair of tweezers, they picked Fivirion up and inserted them into the creature’s skull.

By this point, Lance could watch no longer. He curled into himself and squeezed his eyes shut.

He’d be lying if he said he knew what exactly was going on.

But he knew it was very wrong. The millions of indecipherable feelings, which welled up inside him and made his feelers shrivel, told him so.