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"Greetings, guests. What business are you here for?" Zarkon's voice was lighter and friendlier than Lance was used to and it caught him off guard a bit. He was already feeling a little queasy at the fact that he and Keith were standing in front of two of three people he despised the most, acting all pleasant.

"Well, we were abducted," he muttered.

"My apologies if my soldiers were too forceful- it was for the safety of our people, you see." Zarkon looked at Lance pointedly as he spoke.

Keith spoke up. "Your people?" he asked. "We were heading towards Earth."

Zarkon blinked. "Yes...?" He looked as confused as Lance felt. "Earth is part of the Galran Peace Alliance," Zarkon explained slowly like it was common knowledge.

"Galran Peace Alliance?" Lance sputtered, bewildered.

The Emperor chuckled nervously. "You aren't from around here, are you?"

"We're from another reality," Keith informed Zarkon matter-of-factly. Lance squinted; the light that reflected off the gemstones on the walls was a bit bright. The room was bare besides the three thrones- jeez, get some decoration. Maybe a rug.

Beside Zarkon, Lotor's eyebrows shot up at Keith's information. "Another reality?" he questioned. His voice was still that deep, smooth baritone. Lance looked at Lotor, trying not to look like he wanted to strangle him. Or, at least, other-reality him.

Zarkon looked so perplexed that it made Lance want to laugh. "Oh," the Emperor said a bit dumbly. "Let's go to the Observatory. Commander, clear my schedule."

...

Emperor Zarkon's observatory was magnificent. It was a large hemisphere- the floors made of dark wood but the dome above made of clear glass. Scattered around the room were a few astronomical devices, including a giant planisphere, a model of the surrounding universe, and a sleek telescope positioned towards the sky.

Lance stared up at the ceiling. The glass was so spotless that he felt like it wasn't even there at all. Light grey clouds floated gently overhead and the suns were beginning to set (there were two).

Because of Daibazaal's shape, it had a bit of a wonky orbit, or so Lance heard from Zarkon's brief lecture on his love for the stars and the universe itself. The Emperor's eyes were wide like a little kid in a candy shop and Lance felt his resentment for the man begin to fade a bit.

As it turned out, in this reality, Altea didn't exist. No Altea meant no Alfor, no Voltron, and, subsequently, no Quintessence poisoning for Zarkon. This then led to an amicable Galra empire that spread blanket-like peace over the universe. This also meant that Zarkon never met Honerva. His wife instead was a stunning Galra woman named Nyx and Lotor was pure Galran, which explained his indigo hair color.

After Keith's explanation of their reality, Zarkon was frankly disturbed by his legacy and even mentioned that he'd love to come and visit his people. Lance had to carefully explain that he and Keith were on a mission, though, and probably wouldn't be going home for a while, or until they found the Black Lion.

"So," Lotor summarized, "a man on this Altea planet met Dad, they became best friends, created your magic space lions that form an even bigger magic space robot, Dad got addicted to the space magic, went crazy, as did my Altean mom, I go commando and start a resistance, kill Dad, fall in love with your Altean princess, go crazy, try to kill all of you, end up killing myself, and then my mom shows up and ends up being even crazier than Dad and I combined, and, most importantly, I have long, lustrous white hair? What the Quiznak is wrong with your reality?"

Nyx hit Lotor's arm lightly, chiding, "Language, son."

Hearing it like that, Lance agreed that it sounded crazy compared to this reality. Zarkon sighed, raising his eyes to the glass ceiling. The first sun had completely vanished from the sky and the second was following, slowly dipping below the horizon. At this angle, small houses were visible, dotting the desert in clusters of communities.

As Lance and the strange Lotor continued their conversation, Keith approached the Emperor at his post beside the glass. He allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he looked out over Daibazaal. "I'm happy to finally be able to see my home planet," he said quietly, not wanting Lance to hear.

It wasn't a secret, but it was something Lance wouldn't understand.

Zarkon looked at him with an odd expression. "I suspected that you were half-Galra. Are you half-Earthling too? Is that why you and your friend were going there?"

Keith nodded. Daibazaal's rust-colored dirt shimmered copper in the lingering rays of sunlight. "Daibazaal is destroyed in our reality," Keith said bluntly. Zarkon winced.

"Was it... my fault?"

Keith regarded the Emperor silently. He didn't know. It was the comet that had destroyed the planet but... He looked away.

"Learn from the mistakes of your neighboring realities, sir. Don't repeat them."

Zarkon's eyes were solemn with the promise. "I will not."

Suddenly, Lotor stood up so fast his chair fell over. "A Trans-Reality Access Module? We have those!"

...

Lotor led Keith and Lance down a short hallway to a door labeled 'Lotor's Lab' in scratchy handwriting. Keith held the TRAM in his hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the edges of the small, powerful box.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess," Lotor said sheepishly.

The inside of the lab was bright and clean, as brilliant white, in fact, as regular Lotor's hair. There were several work tables, odd chemistry equipment set out seemingly haphazardly, microscopes and charts and computers... Lance looked around in vague wonder. Everything in the lab looked so high-tech; he didn't want to touch anything lest he break it.

Cringing, Lance remembered the day when he saw Allura and Lotor kiss, then proceeded to be an awkward ass and clatter around the tools like an idiot in front of her. He remembered how jealous he'd felt. Looking at Lotor, a different, new Lotor, fumble around in a closet looking for something, even just talking with this strange Lotor, brought unknown emotions boiling up through his veins.

He didn't know how he felt. His heart and head were so scrambled, he just wanted to run away. It was all so much. He wasn't ready. Lance looked down at his hands and swallowed hard as he watched them trembling.

All at once, deep, dark eyes were in front of him. Keith's voice was smooth and calm. "Look at me, Lance. You alright?" Lance heard his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. Felt his breath coming in short in fast. He couldn't move.

As if it was second nature, Keith's cool, soft palm slid over Lance's balled fists. His other hand slipped to the nape of Lance's neck. Slight pressure. An invitation. Lance let his head fall down and rest against Keith's shoulder, the hard plastic of the chest plate cool on his forehead. He closed his eyes and focused on the anchoring feel of Keith's hands on his skin.

He was whole. He was safe. He was okay.

Minutes passed.

Lotor had stopped moving. Lance could tell because he could hear again and Lotor's mumbles as he had searched for whatever he had been looking for had stopped. The room was silent. Lance focused on his breathing. He raised his head.

Keith's unreadable eyes scanned his face, then flicked away, looking to Lotor. He stepped back. Lance's hands fell from Keith's cradling palm.

Lotor looked nervously between Lance and Keith, then, judging the situation as once again stable, held up a small sphere with a few knobs on it. He fidgetted with the knobs for a few seconds, watching the tiny holographic screen that popped up out of the sphere, then promptly dropped it on the ground.

Keith and Lance jumped back as a swirling portal sprang outwards, about as big in diameter as a kiddie pool. Lotor put his hands on his hips, chuckling lightly. "We call them Trans-Ports here. Transportation Portals- a little repetitive but whatever. We can't warp through realities yet, but we can set a place on Daibazaal or a neighboring planet in the universe and just step into it."

Keith peered at the Trans-Port with interest. This portal was purple in color (of course), as opposed to the TRAM's portal, which was black, grey, and rimmed with electric blue. Lotor waited a few moments, then the Trans-Port closed with an odd popping noise, resuming its state as the small sphere.

Lotor picked it up and motioned for Keith and Lance to follow him over to one of the lab tables. He leaned over it, resting his elbows on the surface, and twisted a few knobs on the Trans-port again, this time passing it to Keith when the little screen popped up. Keith squinted. The holographic image displayed the outside of the black castle, looking in.

Lotor stuck his pinky finger in the middle of the hologram, disturbing the image. "We use it to visualize our location. I was hoping to put a screen like this on your TRAM. That way, you'll be able to get a glimpse of the reality you're heading toward and, hopefully, avoid any treacherous situations."

Lotor flicked his purple hair out of his eyes. His smile was broad and his pearl-white teeth flashed between his lips. Keith felt a little nervous about it. He didn't know if this was a trap and if the TRAM was damaged in any way, he and Lance had no way of getting home. Lotor seemed to sense his hesitation.

He held out his hand. "You have my word as the Galran prince that I will not deceive you."

Keith shook his hand and gave Lotor the TRAM. "I'll stay here to watch if that's okay," he said, nervous even after Lotor's firm promise.

Lotor's eyes lit up at Keith's words though. Smiling sheepishly, he said quietly, "I'd love to have some company." His smile didn't leave his face until he'd finished the job.

...

and our first fix! this is, after all, a fix it fic, namely for s8, so here's the first patch

I was so sad about what happened with Lotor (and even Zarkon and honerva- they were so sweet precorruption) and I wanted to give him a good reality where he was a happy boi (: I wanted the same think for Zarkon too

this week has been a good writing week so far!! I hope y'all don't mind all the updates <333

Qotd: Favorite song?

¡¡ILOVEYALL!!