Hidden Messages [Klance AU]

19: Holding on is Getting Harder

"Let go of me, Lotor, you quiznaking prick!" Lance shouted as he was pulled underwater by the mysterious person. He didn't have time to come up with a good insult on the spot.

"And why would I do that?" The mer prince suddenly popped up next to Lance. He was unnervingly close to the young mer.

Because it would be the right thing to do, but of course you wouldn't know that, Lance thought, though he stayed quiet, and ended up only glaring at Lotor. He turned his head in the direction they were heading, to a large building Lance hadn't seen before. It looked eerily abandoned, though, the only light outside a flickering bioluminescent coral.

Lance flinched as a mer came out from the darkness and opened a door hidden in the wall. He was led(well, forced) down a hallway, and then another, and then even more hallways. There sure were a lot of hallways in the building.

Finally the three arrived at a doorway. Like the rest of the building, it was mostly dark and only lit by a soft purple light. They entered a room that, surprisingly, had a chique, fancy look. All of the walls were a dull purple color, and they were lined with countless entrances to rooms that had only metal bars as walls. It was at this moment that Lance realized: this was the prison. And due to the style of the corridor, it was the palace prison.

The mer grunted as he was shoved into a cell at the very end of the hall. It was the only one with a window in it. Lotor slammed and locked the door behind him, glared at Lance, then preceded to open a door across from Lance's. The prince's partner willingly walked in. Lotor snapped his fingers and the glow of the person's eyes faded away. They gasped and looked around in shock. Lotor only chuckled as he walked away.

"I hope you'll find your new home to be charming, little one."

Lance bared his teeth, slamming his fist into the bars, "So that's it? You're just going to leave me here all alone?!"

Lotor smiled over his shoulder. "Of course not. You have your friend over there. I'm sure you two will find something in common to talk about."

Lance's eyes followed the prince in confusion until he disappeared from view. He looked over to the other prisoner. The one who forced him down here along with Lotor. The man was sitting on the ground, back against the far wall. His head was in his lap, and he seemed to be slightly shaking.

He was... under Lotor's control, wasn't he? Lance realized. Why would Lotor need to take control over a human?

~ ♆ ~

A young teen ran onto the beach, frozen with fear and shock. His hands trembled as he picked up a jacket from the sand, soaked with water and another, darker liquid. Tears rolled down his face. The boy fell to the ground, clutching the jacket against his chest.

"Shiro, please, no..." He mumbled repeatedly, "Please come back..."

"Lance, no... please..." Keith begged, holding the jacket he had left tight against his chest. Shiro's jacket. Lance must have taken it when he left.

The same scene that was replayed every night in Keith's mind was now real once again. It left Keith frozen in place as he relived his worst nightmare. Though it wasn't the same as the frozen he had been when he was in front of the ocean, and not the same as when he had found out Lance was the one who read his letters. This was different.

He felt as though he physically could not move. A single phrase played in his head like a cawing raven.

Your brother says hi.

What did that mean? Your brother says hi. Was that mer just trying to mess with him? Your brother says hi. How did he know that Keith had a brother? Your brother. A murder of questions filled Keith's mind along with the phrase.

Your brother. Your brother. Your brother.

Shiro. Gone. He was gone. Because of them. Mers.

Then Keith remembered.

That mer; he took Lance.

Lance was gone.

Keith finally felt as though he wasn't paralyzed with shock, but that was now filled with a different feeling. .

The long-haired boy fell to his knees. Tears rolled down his face, disappearing in the ocean waves that lapped at his body. He was used to loss. He had experienced it with his brother over and over again. He'd experienced it with every person he had met, who left after learning about all his problems. He'd gotten used to it. Keith hadn't thought he'd react badly to another loss.

But he did. It still managed to slip under his skin, like water when you stayed under for too long.

"No... Lance,  please.. come back..." he whispered through shaking breaths, though he knew his pleads would lead to nothing. He felt a sturdy hand on his shoulder. A moment later a smaller one touched the other side. His hands were pulled away from his face and pulling at his hair. A blurry face came into view, which soon became focused through the tears.

"Keith, look at me," the person said. Keith did as told, but no face clicked in his mind at the brunette comforting him. The world seemed unreal, as if he was only watching himself from a distance.

"Keith," the voice echoed once again. For a moment he recognized the tune as his friend who he wasn't sure if that was the right word to call him anymore... though Keith also knew that was impossible.

"Lance?" Keith thought, though he may have said it out loud as well.

He felt a warmth around him, and reached out toward it.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered.

"That's okay," the voice responded, "We can figure it out together."

Keith finally looked up and took note of who the person was. He saw Pidge kneeling down in front of him, smiling softly with their eyes slightly wet. Hunk, Lance's mer friend, stood behind Keith with a hand on his shoulder.

Keith wiped a tear off his cheek and somewhat smiled. He conveyed a thank you through his eyes.

"But... but how, how are we going to get him back?" Keith looked up to face the ocean. "I can't..."

"I know," Pidge assured him, "I mean, even if you weren't... you know, you and me can't exactly go save him. I don't think you forgot, but we can't breathe underwater."

Of course Keith remembered that. It was the only thing that filled his mind.

"But I can," Hunk added, sounding rather surprised at himself. Immediately after he frowned and looked down. "Although, I don't know where Lotor took him, and if it's in the palace then it'll be almost impossible to get in..."

Keith's mind was spinning. Lotor? Palace? What was Hunk talking about?

The mer seemed to read Keith's confused expression, "It's... hard to explain." Hunk then added, "You'll learn eventually."

PIdge spoke before Keith was able to respond. They held a hand out for Keith, which he took gladly.

"I hope he can find a way to get out of there," Keith said, looking out to where Lance and the other mers had gone underwater. The same feeling of loneliness washed over him with each wave over the sand. Except this time, there were people with him. They would figure it out; Lance would be okay. Wouldn't he? Keith thought he deserved a bit of hope. It was hard to hold onto, though.

A/N:

Hello! Finally, I got back into the writing groove and finished this chapter. Sorry for making you guys wait! I really appreciate your patience though =^-^=

Next chapter should be out pretty quickly! I got a bunch of ideas and so will likely be writing a lot for the next few hours...

Also, this is completely unrelated, but my friends and I were going to go to an AJR concert and it's cancelled :( So kind of sad about that, but hopefully we'll just be able to go another time!

As always, thank you for reading!

~Soni <3