Hidden Messages [Klance AU]

28: I've Got You, Brother

"What?! I can't do that!" Lance exclaimed once he understood what Krolia wanted. The witch was bad, sure, but he still couldn't get himself to do it.

"You have to."

"But..." Lance looked down at her, lowering his weapon. The way that she looked so eerily Altean... it made an idea form in his mind. "What if... we could heal her? Alf-er, a friend told me that mers could get corrupted if they were exposed to too much quintessence. What if that was what happened to her?"

Krolia glanced down, deep in thought. It didn't seem impossible. And that name Lance had almost said— it sounded familiar, somehow.

Like it had been lost in time.

~ ♆ ~

Keith was beginning to lose hope.

"Shiro, it's gonna be okay," he assured his brother. They floated a few feet away from each other, as far away as the cramped cave would let them. "We just have to get back home. Adam's there, he'll be able to help." Shiro stood with his feet planted on the ground. His robotic arm made a fist as he spoke in a voice that wasn't his own.

"We.. are not going anywhere," he exclaimed as he ran forward, arm raised. His fist lit up in a pink light as he tried to land a hit on Keith, who ducked and swam out of the way.

"Shiro, please, stop this! You can fight it!" he exclaimed. Shiro looked down to his right hand and the next moment a sword made up of pink energy formed from the base of it. Sparks flew with each attack that Keith blocked and items fell from shelves when Shiro crashed into them.

Keith moved forward to punch Shiro with his free hand, but he twisted Keith's arm and used his real hand to punch Keith in the chin. He fell back, hand raised to his face in pain.

But he didn't have much time to orient himself. Shiro was on him again, using every miniscule chance of distraction to swipe at Keith with his sword. Frantically, the mer tried to get away.

I can't fight him, he realized. He's too strong. He's always been stronger than you, Keith.

He used his blade to block Shiro's attacks, but still wasn't able to get through to him. Now the only thing he could do was fight for his life, and hope his brother was still in there somewhere.

Keith's back hit the wall with a crack that worried him for a moment. He looked up to see Shiro running toward him. Keith ducked and the sword sliced into the stone wall. It crumbled with the crack, revealing the vast ocean beyond the cave. Keith swam through it, with Shiro chasing after him.

His heart pounded in his lungs. This was like his worst nightmare come true, except he could never have predicted what had become of his brother. He saw what was around him; the ocean. He was literally inside the thing he feared most. But, now that he saw it, the sun shining through the waves, the fish he could see above him, he realized that it wasn't at all like his nightmares had painted it. .

Strange, huh? How the things we fear most can turn out to be beautiful.

"OOF!" Keith had the air knocked out of him(err, well.. water) when Shiro tackled from behind. They bounced through the water until they crashed into something hard. Keith swam away quickly, Shiro having been the one who took the hit.

With no sense of gravity, Keith found that they had drifted a long ways away from the cave. It was an area filled with stones the size of mountains. They loomed over him with an eerie sense of power.

He noticed that Shiro was on the ground, but was about to get up. You need to take your chance, Keith. Or else he'll just keep getting hits on you.