Chapter Text
“I’m probably the one that wants Lance to be not-eaten by demons the most, don’t get me wrong, okay?” Hunk babbled as they went through the forest’s east path. Every little word and gesture coming from the man just oozed anxiety. “But I would also like to underline that we have half a poorly planned idea and that we might all die because of it.”
“We know, Hunk.” Keith and Pidge growled at the same time.
They could understand where the other was coming from but he had been at it for the past hour, and it did nothing to help their own nervousness. They all were aware the plan clearly wasn’t as good as they would have liked.
A few seconds of silence ticked by between them.
When Hunk opened his mouth again with a ‘yes but’, Shiro gently interrupted him: “You make very good points, Hunk. But you’ve told this four times already and we didn’t have more time to plan. If worse comes to worst, we did bring offerings to at least save ourselves.”
As grateful as Pidge was for Shiro - and consequentially, Keith also - tagging along, she couldn’t help but worry for him as well. She could see his real hand shaking.
He hadn’t said much of what happened, but just by his appearance anyone could say he went through a lot. Flocks of hair didn’t turn white on their own, he had a giant scar across the bridge of his nose, and one of his arms had somehow been replaced by a magic prosthesis of some sort.
She would have been more than happy if Shiro simply helped them prepare the way he did at the barracks without doing more. Yet he had insisted on joining their mission. To repay a debt, he had said.
Any kind of chatter they could have had was immediately shot down when Keith pointed at strange purple lights in the distance. They all crouched down in the nearest bushes on the side of the path.
When they got close enough to distinguish silhouettes, Shiro harshly whispered “Galra”. Pidge could tell it was more for himself than for them, but it was nice to have a confirmation that those were indeed who they were looking for.
She didn’t know what she had expected fae folk to look like.
A lot of them looked different from one another. Sometimes furry, sometimes looking like lizards, sometimes indiscernibly robed and masked. The only common trait was the yellow eyes and purple skin that could be seen under the glowing magenta lights they were carrying
As the procession advanced, even passing in front of them, they spotted Lance in the middle of it all: he was on a horse, skin paler than the moon and wrists bound in chains. It was a sickly, scared color on his otherwise sun-kissed skin. He looked almost vacant, but the way he sometimes darted looks left and right confirmed he hadn’t completely given up yet.
“It’s useless, fleshling.” A croaky voice said, coming from a cloaked Galra. Strangely, this one didn’t have a mask, nor did she put up the hood of her robe. Her skin and eyes were similar to the others, however she looked a lot more… elvish than the other. Long pointed ears, and blood-red marks going down and over her lips.
A sneer decorated her face when Lance kept glancing around himself - no doubt looking for them. She grabbed the floating chain that was attached to her and yanked.
Not only was Lance pulled towards her, but the chains lit up in that characteristic magenta color and traveled from the witch to his wrist. As soon as it touched him, Lance hissed in pain.
“There is no escape.” She croaked again. “You should be happy I accepted your deal, boy. I would have much preferred to keep your quintessence for myself.”
Trepidation ran through the group as Lance approached from the bush they were hiding behind.
Soon he would be in front of them and…
They all jumped forward, Shiro going for the witch, Keith for the Galra that composed the front of the procession, and Hunk the ones in the back. Pidge dove straight for Lance, tackling him off the horse.
As soon as they hit the ground, she sat up and grabbed the shackles ready to pick them apart.
The first problem showed up already.
They looked perfectly fitted for Lance’s wrist, with no lock or way to open them in sight.
She looked back at him, and tried her best to ignore how terrified he looked.
“How do I get these off?!” She yelled, as the noises of battle picked around them.
“I don’t know!” Lance screamed back. “They’re magic!”
He pulled on them - Pidge didn’t know if it was a demonstration of magic or an attempt at escaping - and the metal glowed ice blue, traveling down its length back to the witch.
Whatever had happened, it caught her attention and she turned towards them, her composed, sinister face showing another displeased and surprised expression.
She raised a glowing hand towards them, but thankfully didn’t get to do anything as Shiro used that distraction to hit her. She avoided it in time, and turned toward the man once again.
Pidge immediately focused back on her task, and grabbed the manacles pulling on it as well. The metal shone green this time but she couldn’t care for magical colors.
The metal wasn’t budging.
Her weak arms didn’t even make them move. If someone stronger did it with her…
As if on cue, Hunk was pushed back and stumbled near them, regaining his balance last minute. He readjusted the automatic crossbow he had built and improved with her family and shot a wide row of bolts towards the galras.
Most of them were scattering, the witch and Lance had been near the end of the procession.
“Hunk!” Pidge exclaimed as soon as he stopped shooting and started recharging. “Help me break Lance’s shackles!”
“On it!” Hunk replied after shooting once again for good measure.
Once no galra was in sight on their back anymore, he dropped his heavy weapon and grabbed the damned thing.
“Three, two, one… pull!”
The three of them struggled against it, trying to get them off Lance’s wrist. The chains lit up, swirling of blue, green and yellow down the restraints and straight toward the witch.
She jostled into place mid-spell, and turned to them once again, the disturbed and wary expression only grew. So did her sneer. She muttered something under her breath Pidge couldn’t hear.
Once again, Shiro used the distraction and managed to land a hit straight to her temple with his magic arm.
The witch was sent against a tree, and crumbled at its roots, unmoving.
Shiro straightened immediately and, not wasting a single second, screamed for his brother, running beside him : “Go help Pidge and the others! I’ll take care of the rest.”
Keith tried complaining about it but clenched his teeth and swiftly made his way to them.
Soon, a vibrant red joined the other colors, swirling down the chain.
All their attempts seemed useless. Aside from making an incomplete rainbow, the chains didn’t move at all around Lance’s wrists. They tried pushing, pulling, turning them around the arms. They could see red, chaffed skin around it from how much they had tried
Soon enough, the procession was dispersed, Galras running for their lives or dead, and Shiro joined them.
As soon as a dark purple lit up the chain when the man touched it, Pidge felt one of the manacles loosening up. The five of them immediately focused on that, renewing their attempts once more.
The slumped form of the witch rose from the ground and snarled.
Before they could blink, she was at their side.
“I don’t know what cursed luck brought you five together, but I will not allow it!” Her voice was nearing a bestial growl as she grabbed the chain, and raised her other, clawed hand. A round speck slowly started gathering energy.
“I will have you gutted for Lord Zarkon!” The hag screeched as she brought down her hand.
Pidge barely had the time to hear Lance’s gasp and to see the chain glow bright blue that Lance had jumped in front of them.
She and Hunk - at least - let out a strangled “Lance!” as the four of them grabbed tighter on the restraints to try and pull him back.
Right as the witch brought her hand down, their colors burst alongside Lance’s down the chain and it was as if time had stilled.
Actually, it did still.
A rose-tinted shield around them was withholding the witch’s attack, and the sparks that were flying from her hands seemed to emit in slow motion as did the movements of her robes. The chains rattled slower and their five colors slowly disappeared in a crackling fashion, before the same pink light exploded the pieces away.
They all looked at the scene with terrified awe, until time seemed to catch up to itself.
The shield shattered outward, as did the chains and sent Haggar to the ground once again. A bright, pink light shone above them, giving an ethereal glow to the forest.
The light slowly changed itself into the shape of a feminine silhouette with long hair and a long, flowy dress. As it delicately went to the ground, the light receded to reveal a fae folk.
She was unlike any fae from the procession, if maybe the witch. She had long pointy ears, normal dark skin, long curly hair and pink triangles under her eyes. She looked regal.
“Haggar.” The fae spoke with thinly veiled anger. “You betrayed my father, sealed me away, ruined my kingdom and allowed demons to roam.”
She snapped her fingers, and the still-floating remnants of the broken chain rushed and reformed around the witch’s wrists and neck, tethering themselves to the ground.
“You know what price you have to pay.”
She waved her hand in a downward motion, a trail of pink following it.
Almost instantly, the chains around the witch glowed the same color and slowly dug down in the earth. The witch tried screaming pleas and insults all the same, but those were silenced when her whole body got pulled underground, leaving a single sprout behind her.
Pidge gulped down, nervously glancing at the fae.
The five of them subconsciously shuffled nearer to each other when she turned around to look at them. Her cold two-toned eyes combined with the display of her powers terrified Pidge, who was still clinging to Lance’s arm.
Her cold gaze warmed lightly when she took in their appearances.
“I must thank all of you for breaking the seal by combining your strong quintessences.” She said, then looked at Lance and bowed slightly towards him. “Especially thanks to you. The lost souls you’ve convinced to leave offerings for me greatly helped weaken it down.”
Under her fingers, Pidge felt Lance tense all at once. She felt his hand on hers and he squeezed.
“You’re… you’re welcome… I guess.”
Pidge tore her gaze off of the fae to look at the boy. She was surprised he wasn’t immediately asking for a thank you kiss, like he had done with her for the past week.
He still looked awfully pale, but a little less. His hand was trembling over hers.
“Oh, but where are my manners?” The fae said, the diplomatic composure breaking a little as she put delicate fingers in front of her mouth. “I am Allura, princess of Altea- the feywild, as you call it. I’ll have Coran allow you to roam my kingdom for as long as you please without being tricked as my deepest thanks for freeing me.”
She looked around herself, and called for that ‘Coran’ when she noticed he wasn’t around.
A small teal light appeared, fluttering around the group and Allura before materializing into a tall, moustached, red-headed fae. He spoke about some kind of dizziness caused by the seal and cleared his throat.
“I’ll make sure everyone knows our guests shall not be tempered with, Princess!” He cheered, and waved his hand in the air, sparkles of light vibrating into place before they all shot off in different directions.
The group still hadn’t moved, awkwardly gathered together. Pidge could feel Keith right behind her, and knew Hunk was most likely clinging to Lance as well. Shiro was still standing a little lower than he usually would, ready to fight if he had to.
But no fight came. Instead, Allura thanked her advisor and elegantly brought her hands together to talk to them again: “Is there anything else I could do to show you my gratitude? A banquet in your honor, perhaps?”
Lance clammy fingers trembled some on her knuckles and he replied for the group, his voice squeaking on the first few words:
“With all due respect, I would… I would like to go home. See my family again.”
Allura gave them all a look. Her gaze lingered on their weapons and Lance’s chafed wrists. She seemed to understand what had been going on and smiled.
“Of course. I can always postpone the banquet at a later date, maybe in five hundred years. In the meantime, you will always be welcomed in Altea.”
The five of them bowed to her - a gesture she reciprocated almost immediately - and slowly, warily took their leaves. Allura didn’t seem to mind them, as she turned to Coran, ordering him to reopen contact with allied planes, freeing any remaining prisoners and requesting galra that still were roaming the forest to be taken care of.
Pidge didn’t let go of Lance’s arm during the whole trip back.
He didn’t seem to mind.
When the morning line started shining through the trees and that the adrenaline had slowly receded, they all started talking about what their near future plan would be.
They ended up deciding Lance and Shiro would rest at the barracks until they recovered a little. After that, the five of them would take off to go back to their family. Surprisingly, she learned that they all lived near each other: Keith even in the same village as her, albeit on the outskirts.
Lance and Hunk lived in the village next to theirs, thirty minutes away by foot.
It would make the way back much easier. Safer too. She didn’t want to lose any of them ever again. Whether it be her family, Shiro or even Lance.
She had grown oddly attached to him in the little time they’d known each other. She still couldn’t believe he was just a human with how charming he was. She bit the inside of her cheek when she realized how much Matt would tease her about her feelings.
Lance gave her a tired smile once they approached the end of the forest.
Maybe being teased would be worth it.
They were out of the forest.
Out of Fae’s reach.
Lance inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, letting the morning sun shine on his face.
“I’m free.” Lance whispered, as if he couldn’t truly believe it himself. A handsome, relieved smile painted his lips and he opened his eyes to look down at Pidge, who was still holding his arm.
A glance at it and the mesmerizing smile turned to the annoyingly charming smirk she’d grown to know.
“I’m free, and I even have a pretty girl at my arm.” Pidge blushed furiously and tried hiding it behind an unimpressed face. “Do I get a kiss for saving you back there?”
“Saving me?” She scoffed, before pulling a little on his arm. “If anything, I saved you, so maybe you’re the one that should kiss me.”
A matching blush immediately erupted on Lance’s face and he stammered a few nonsensical beginning sentences. The hunter didn’t know how to be hunted, then.
She found that she really didn’t mind. Before she could overthink her idea, she smirked back.
“Didn’t know that’s where you’d falter, you know? Here, I’ll show you how to do it.”
She tugged him down so his face would be at her height and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
And then let go of him to walk away, pointedly ignoring the fond and knowing look Hunk sent her.
“Wait! Pidge!” Lance exclaimed behind her. She heard some rushed footsteps behind her. “What does that even mean?!”
Definitely not.
She wouldn’t be telling him about her crush out loud. He’d need to figure that one out by himself.
Thankfully, the barracks were in sight.
She waved her hand over her shoulder and, before she broke into a jog, told him: “I’ve got to catch up with my family for real now! See you later, Lance!”
And if the lanky boy didn’t get it at all, even with Hunk’s help… then she wouldn’t mind trying out the kisses again to make him understand.