[Previously on Homesick:

The Castle of Lions has been stolen!
In order to help their friends taking it back, Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Matt have broken into Area 51 to steal a flying saucer and made a selkie-alien friend on their way! Meanwhile, Coran, Allura, Keith and Shiro are stuck on a foreign planet named Aldebaran b, without any way to leave.] If you want to have updates about my chapter progress, you can follow me on Instagram (tinkerplume) or Twitter (KuroganeNoFeari)!

Chapter 7: A million dreams

When the red paladin woke up, he found out that he was sitting against a wall of the hotel room in a very uncomfortable position. The sun was shining bright by the window and he could hear birds babbling joyfully, but it wasn't enough to release the paladin from the heavy weight he could feel in the pit of his stomach. He had had another nightmare, which had been even worse than the last one. This time, Lance had been the one to lock him into the dark room. Keith didn't remember his words exactly, but he could feel the trail of dried tears on his cheeks.

He stood up painfully, stretching his arms in front of him and cringing at the feeling. When he looked around him in the room, his heart missed a beat. He was alone. The sheets of the bed Coran had occupied were crumpled, as if he had had to leave in a hurry and on the contrary, the other bed had been carefully made. Keith looked at the middle of the room where Kaltenecker had been sleeping for the time they had stayed in the hotel, but even the cow had vanished, leaving absolutely no trace of ever having been there.

The boy hastily grabbed his knife and opened the door wide without thinking. He rushed into the street which was full of diverse aliens again -it seemed like the city they were in never slept- but nobody turned to look at him. It was hard to believe, but people were too busy minding their own business to notice a human running and shouting incoherent words in the crowded street. It was like Keith was back in the USA.

"Shiro! Allura! Coran! Please, someone, answer me!" the paladin called around again. He put his hand to his pocket to take his phone but realised that it wasn't there, he must have left it at the hotel. "Shiro! Coran! Princess!" he yelled again in spite of his shaking legs.

Suddenly, he spotted a wave of white bangs from the corner of his eyes and ran in that direction as if he had the devil at his heels, not giving a quiznak - but actually nobody had noticed him, people were still chatting in a deafening hubbub.

Even if was certain he had seen Allura's mane, it was not her that the boy met at the corner of the street, but Coran. The man was keeping his hand on his ribs, a fierce light sparkling threateningly into his blue eyes.

"Coran?" Keith hesitated, scared by the gloomy glare the Altean was giving him. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Do you need some help?"

The latter snorted and his gaze froze the paladin's blood.

"It is all your fault," Coran began, all colours drained from his face. Between his fingers which were still pressed on his wound, a thick trickle of blood started flowing weirdly. "You were selfish enough to leave the Castle. They surrounded me, I could do nothing! If you had stayed, I wouldn't have been injured, and they wouldn't have stolen the Castle and the Lions. No wonder why people give up on you."

Sweat drops beaded up on the man's forehead and he had to lean against a wall to keep standing up. His skin looked even paler and Keith had to blink a few times to make sure that he was really disappearing. The paladin extended his arm to grab Coran's shoulder but his hand closed on emptiness and Keith stumbled, his head hitting the brick wall in front of him so hard that he heard a piercing noise and the street started moving around him. He pushed on the wall to get back on his feet, struggling with his dizziness and watching the world spin and zoom in and out on small details. Then, a sound he knew more than anything else hit him like a meteor.

He raised his head to look at the sky and noted that the buildings in front of him weren't there anymore. A copper sand desert stretched as far as the eye could see, and the air was suddenly so hot that it was unbreathable. A light burning wind brushed the paladin's cheeks and he closed his eyes again to focus on the growl he was sure he had heard.

It resonated again, and Keith realised that it was actually coming from the depth of his mind.

"I can hear you. I'm listening. Tell me, where are you?" he whispered, putting all his will into focusing on the presence he could feel. "You too?!" Keith exclaimed, opening his eyes in shock.

He startled when he saw that nothing was there for him to stand on, but he soon recognized the place: it was the astral plane the paladins sometimes shared - but this time he was the only human there. He was floating vertically, without any effort, and when he looked around him, all that he could see were purple galaxies spinning slowly far away in the distance.

Then, they appeared, and a smile lit up Keith's face until he understood what was actually going on. Red didn't even shot him a look, busy dodging her opponent's deadly attacks. In front of her, hovering and glowing with power, Black had unlocked his jawblades. They held their position and the paladin held his breath, totally helpless. Again, Black was the one to make the first move.

He swooped down on the Red Lion and the metal collided with a screech, sparkles coming from the impact.

"Black! Stop! What are you doing?!" the boy couldn't help but scream, not able to help his former Lion in any way.

The biggest robot turned his head to look at him. When he spotted the human, the Lion lowered his shoulders with a threatening roar, and Keith recognised a typical feline hunting stance.

The boy stepped back but the lion had already pounced on him. Keith waited for the impact, already picturing the gigantic claws crushing him. He gritted his teeth in anticipation, but the impact never came. Instead, he heard Red hissing. He turned to the source of the sound and saw his Lion falling down on her back under the other's hit. She tried to get up but Black was obviously stronger, and he managed to keep her down without any effort. The Black Lion opened his mouth, unveiling his long sharp fangs, and sunk his teeth into the Red Lion's belly without showing any mercy. Red roared in protest, stirring to get out of her leader's grip, and in front of them, Keith was frozen, unable to move nor to scream anymore. The paladin's vision became blurry, but he saw Black biting off pieces of the other Lion's mechanism.

"Stop that! Why are you attacking us?!" the human screamed into his mind, no word managing to get out of his lips.

Keith heard a soul-crushing death rattle, and then nothing anymore. Pain filled his chest and water flowed down his cheeks as he witnessed the macabre scene. There wasn't any blood, but somehow it was worse.

Then, Black turned to him and pounced on him once again.

Keith's eyes snapped open, he looked around him, panting, lost. He was back in the deserted street of the space harbour, safe and sound, and the relief that rose into him almost made him fall on his knees. He took a few ticks to catch his breath and calm down the erratic pulsing of his heart. It couldn't be true, Black would never have attacked Red… right?

The paladin felt sick, not knowing anymore what was true or not, and having no way of making sure that Red was okay was only adding to the awful feeling that was creeping like a monster inside of him. He started moving. His mind was blank and he just followed the path that his footsteps automatically traced for him.

He entered a wide place dotted with a few feathery trees, and that's where he found one of his missing friends. He heard Shiro before he could see him, but Keith would have recognized his voice anywhere.

"Keith, what are you doing here?" Shiro asked him with a frown, his voice colder than ice. He looked at the red paladin up and down, so standoffish that it hurt Keith more deeply than we would ever admit.

"I was… You all were gone when I woke up, I was worried… Am I… Am I bothering you?" the younger one stuttered, his eyes begging his friend to tell him otherwise.

Shiro stared at him, and suddenly Allura emerged from between his arms.

"Actually, yes, you are." She declared straight, still nestled against the man's chest. Her voice progressively becoming more and more condescending as she continued. "I know that you are jealous, we all have noticed. But Keith, you must know that you've always been like a brother to Shiro. Only a brother," she insisted, and Keith took a step back by instinct.

"I-I have never wanted anything more!"

"You're an adult, now," she cut him firmly without blinking. "You should be able to take care of yourself. You can't simply keep relying on other people. Keith. Let Shiro live his own life."

The red paladin took another step back and hit a brick wall. He knew his hands were shaking but he couldn't think of anything to do or to say. He knew that Allura was right. He knew that Shiro had always been like an older brother, but he couldn't help but feel his heart clench at this thought. Shiro had always been the person closest to Keith, and for most of his life, he had been his only ally, his only friend.

"I… I'm sorry, I won't bother you anymore," was all that Keith managed to say under the heavy weight of the looks the other two were giving him.

He retraced his steps until he arrived in a street he didn't recognize. He knew that something was off, that all that he was experiencing couldn't be real, but there was this little voice in the back of his mind which was telling him that even in the very bottom of the deepest dreams there was always a grain of truth.

He wandered in the streets, not even noticing the suns that were going down in the sky, and when he finally raised his head it was already dusk. He was walking in a narrow street bordered by tall buildings and no sound was breaking the quietness, there was nothing to rouse him from his thoughts. The only thing Keith was able to hear was the wind blowing lightly through the streets, whispering things even he couldn't decipher.

He blinked and suddenly he could hear the sound of water cascading harmoniously. He felt a fresh mist soaking his hair and a chill ran down his spine when he heard people chatting nearby. He knew them.

Hope filled his heart and he started running in their direction, eager to see them. The first person he spotted out of the three was Lance, who was standing in front of his friends, his hand on his hips and a grin across his face. Hunk and Pidge were with them, all of them wearing their paladin armor. Keith's heart beat faster at their sight and he almost laughed with relief.

However, when they turned to face him, his friends didn't seem as happy to see him.

"Oh, if it isn't Keith Kogane!" Lance greeted him with sarcasm.

Pidge glanced at the red paladin and folded her arms on her chest, sulking. Beside her, Hunk stirred nervously.

"I told you he'd end up turning purple," Hunk whispered to Pidge, who couldn't take her eyes off the red paladin, horror on her face. Lance arched a brow, his arms crossed in front of him.

Keith froze and stared at his friends. He raised one of his hands in front of him, already anticipating what he was going to discover. Just as the yellow paladin had predicted, Keith's skin was purple, and his nails were now as sharp as claws.

"I don't want to stay here," Hunk whined, his eyes locked on Keith as if he had to watch his movements carefully. "What if he decides to stab us in the back? He's Galra, after all..."

"Guys, it's still me!" the Galra hybrid yelped. He could feel the tip of his fangs teasing his tongue when he spoke. "I don't know what's happening! Please! Listen to me!"

He stepped forward and Pidge and Hunk took a step back. The girl reached for her bayard, determination in her eyes. Keith caught a glimpse of his reflection in her glasses. His eyes were glowing yellow and he had two marks on his cheeks that were a darker shade of purple than his skin ; soft, short fur was covering his ears that now looked more animal than human.

"Keith, we don't want you there anymore," Lance announced. The worst part was that his voice wasn't even dry, just serious, and somehow it hurt Keith even more. "I don't care about your heritage, I'm just sick of having you around." A joyless smirk painted on Lance's lips before he delivered the final blow. "It's not like we've ever been friends, anyway."

The Galra boy let out a shocked, hurt gasp. He stared at Lance who was staring back at him with pity and disdain, and suddenly Keith realised that he would have prefered having Lance just hating him. The red paladin felt something warm sliding down his cheek, but this time he did nothing to hide his tears. He was way too helpless to do anything. His knees buckled and he violently hit the ground, barely able to breathe through the sobs he couldn't hold back.

Keith heard the footsteps of the paladins going away, leaving him behind them, all alone, and he felt his heart breaking. It was a truly horrible feeling, a nagging pain stabbing straight in his flesh, the feeling of both his lungs burning and his heart exploding, bursting. Icy cold get through his skin and he stayed there, in the middle of the street, shaking and sobbing and unable to get up.

He didn't move when he felt the texture of the ground changing under him, it didn't matter anyway. He was alone, like he had always been. His friends had rejected him, but Keith didn't hold a grudge against them, he was well aware that he was the problem. It was the only logical explanation.

The wind blew stronger and gave the boy the impression that someone was caressing his cheek. He opened his eyes in surprise, blinded by the sunlight and his vision blurry with tears.

"Oh Keith," a feminine voice whispered into his mind. "If only there was someone out there who cared about you." He could hear the woman smile sadly, and even if he didn't know who she was, it crushed the boy's soul. "As I thought, you weren't worth me staying on Earth… You are such a disappointment to me, Keith…"

His voice broke. "Mom?" he croaked, struggling to keep consciousness in spite of the aching pain that was pulsing in his mind and his body.

He heard her smile with pity again before he passed out, the echo of her voice resonating into him.

Keith woke up in a sweat, panting heavily and so dizzy that he could see three Kalteneckers spinning around him. He spotted movements from the corner of his eyes and mechanically took his knife in hand. The blade awoken, revealing its true length and the paladin felt ready to strike - he was always much more confident when he was about to fight, trusting his instinct was his natural way to deal with unforeseen events.

A sleepy grunt came from under Allura's silvery mass of hair, and Keith saw that the mice had made their nest there. His sudden feeling of relief was so powerful that it almost made him nauseous, and he had to lay down against the cow again.

Coran snored loudly and Keith finally cracked a smile. He was so tired that every tiny noise could make him jump, but knowing that Coran was still there warmed his heart… until his nightmare came back to his memory. The red paladin glanced back at the Altean man and he was half-tempted to wake him up just to apologise. He let out a sigh and looked at the ceiling, then he fell asleep without realising.

He woke up two hours later because of the loud song of a predator that looked like a butterfly-hummingbird, a species indigenous to Aldebaran b, the planet they had landed on. Keith opened his eyes and met Allura's kind smile. Her hair was smoothly cascading down her shoulders and no trace of the mice's nest remained, it was flawless, as always. Keith blinked a few times, repressing a huge yawn, and looked around him confusedly. He didn't remember falling asleep but it had been a dreamless sleep that had managed to give him some rest.

Coran was sat up on his bed, food on his knees, a slight smile on his lips, and the bandage he had on his torso had been changed, certainly by the princess. He was already looking a bit better: his skin was less pale and his eyes seemed more vivid than the day ago. Though, soon, Keith noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Shiro?" the paladin asked, his eyebrows knitting together. He had lost count of how many times he had pronounced those exact same words in his life.

"He'll be back soon," Allura assured, obviously beaming. "He went out to join Matt and Pidge. They said that they are safe and that they have found a ship that will allow us to get the Castle of Lions back!"

She extended her arms, as if to hug Keith, but she ended up hesitating and gave him a sheepish smile that made the paladin laugh. He sighed a little and smiled back at the princess who eventually took him into her arms and hugged him tight. It was something Keith had never been used to, and somehow he was convinced he would never get accustomed to being hugged by someone.

Allura finally pulled back, flashing the most radiant grin. Even if she had tried to hide it, the weight that the loss of the Castle represented for the princess hadn't been a secret around there. To be able to take it back was the hugest relief Allura could have wished for. She had all her memories in there, including her last memories of her father, that she cherished more than anything.

Keith glanced at Coran who was smiling kindly at them, and a spark of guilt ran through his chest. The paladin got up and walked to the injured man. He swallowed, his eyes on the bandage. He knew he couldn't face Coran's gaze.

"Coran. I'm sorry, I should have stayed with you in the Castle, we could have avoided all of this and you wouldn't have been injured. I should have been there to…"

The Altean man wasn't listening anymore to Keith's rambling. He shared a look with Allura, who seemed to be as confused as her advisor. In front of Coran, the young man looked like he was in pain, his eyelids close tight and his fists clenched to the point his hands were shaking.

"What are you apologising for?" Coran eventually interrupted him, his voice low and soft. "If you had stayed with me, both of us would be injured now. They were way too many of them for only two people to handle."

Keith was still avoiding his gaze, and Coran knew he couldn't convince the boy of his sincerity. The red paladin was one of those people who always blamed themselves and tried to make up to people, even if they actually had done nothing wrong at all.

Coran let out a slight sigh and he was going to add something when the door slammed open.

"YOUR SAVIOUUUR IS HERE!" a male voice yelled.

Keith immediately turned toward the origin of the sound, and suddenly he was no longer sure whether he was awake or dreaming. His face turned so pale that he looked like he had just seen a ghost - which was exactly how he felt. The man in the doorway looked exactly like Lance, except it couldn't be him. Lance was on Earth, with his family, there was no reason for him to go to space again. Though, the body language was similar and the voice was the same too. Only the haircut and the outfit were different from Lance's.

"Did you miss me?" the guy asked with a wink and a smile that could outshine a supernova.

No doubt, it was definitely Lance. What the hell was he doing on Aldebaran b?!

The sharpshooter took the princess's hand in his as a greeting, then he walked to Coran to check up on him, visibly worried.

Matt and Pidge entered the room, followed by Shiro and Hunk who were carrying a huge cylindrical fishtank in which a seal-human alien kid was floating happily, a curious look on their face.

"Who's that?" the red paladin only managed to ask. He had so many questions - like "Weren't Pidge and Matt the only ones supposed to come?" or "How do you expect all of us to fit in a spacecraft retrieved on Earth?" -, but he was so confused that he could barely find anything to say at all.

"This, my friend, is our new buddy! We don't know their name yet, but they were locked in Area 51, so we decided to save them," Lance informed him, leaning nonchalantly on Keith, his elbow on the red paladin's shoulder.

Keith stared at him, still not believing that this guy was really Lance, and that he had changed so much in only a few weeks. What had brought him here?

He frowned, "Area 51?". He had made a lot of research about the place long before the blue Lion was found, but he had never been really certain that it existed. Knowing that his friends had actually visited it was kind of strange to him, and a bit hard to believe.

In front of him, Pidge was beaming, the proudest smile upon her face. "Yup, that's where we got the ship from!"

"It was no big deal. Actually, it was almost disappointing," Matt continued with the same smile as his sister, his eyes sparkling just at the memories. He told the others everything about their adventure, how they had knocked out a guy from the government and how they had stolen a giant flying saucer from one of the most mysterious places on Earth. In the meantime, Coran and Allura were staring at the humans, barely understanding their words.

A few vargas passed during which the earthlings took a much needed nap and ate what was left from the space team's provisions. Even if it would have been wiser to split the team, considering their makeshift spacecraft had limited room and Coran's injuries, they eventually decided that all of them would leave the hotel and travel to take the Castle and their Lions back. Given that most of them didn't have weapons, they needed all the support they could rely on, and Coran insisted to go with them.

"I'm not as old as you younglings seem to think." Coran had said, mildly offended. "And I will always fight to protect Princess Allura and the Altean heritage," he had declared, determination flaming so vividly into his eyes that nobody had dared contradicting him.

It had taken them only two more vargas to come up with a plan - if they could call it a plan. They would go with the weapons they had at hand, and without anything to protect themselves, as their armours were still in the Castle. They had no strategy, and all they could expect was that the thieves hadn't gone too far away from them. Allura was convinced she could find the ship by instinct if she focused hard enough, and Coran had confirmed that if was totally plausible since the princess had grown a strong link with the spacecraft. After all, it was Altean technology.

The probabilities of success were very slim, but that was all that they had, and all that they could rely on.

Keith was sitting on the floor against a wall of the flying saucer, lost so deep in thoughts that he didn't see Pidge slipping beside him. She stared at him for a solid two doboshes without getting any reaction from him.

Around them, everybody seemed to be busy planning out every detail. Matt had been designated their pilot, Allura was standing beside him, her hands on the back of his seat, her eyes closed tight. Her focus was so intense that she was almost radiating. Every now and then she would whisper something to Matt to adjust their direction. Coran was with them, making sure everything was alright.

On the other side of the room, Shiro, Lance and Hunk were establishing strategies, sometimes glancing at Keith, wondering why he didn't join them.

"What's wrong with him?" Lance muttered, irritated. "He's barely said a word since we came to your rescue."

His friends followed his upset look, which was once more on Keith.

"He's been having a hard time since the team splitted up," Shiro explained in a low voice. "I think having lost the Castle and the Lions, and now having you around again is a bit too much to take in all at once for him."

"Are you sure that's all there is?" the blue paladin asked with a frown, a hint of worry in his voice. "I'm pretty sure he's upset because I didn't reply to the text he has sent me…"

Shiro stared at him in silence for a few ticks, visibly processing the information. "Perhaps you should try to apologise, then?" he offered with a gentle smile. "I think he missed you more than he'll ever admit," the black paladin laughed, and Lance seriously wondered if Shiro was joking or not.

Meanwhile, Pidge had somehow managed to bring Keith down to earth… metaphorically. The red paladin had almost slapped her but she had been swift enough to dodge his punch, and her glare had frozen the other paladin.

"What's going on?" she asked right after Keith's apologies. He stared at her as if he didn't understand her language. "You haven't said anything for vargas. Don't lie to me, I counted!"

"Nothing," the boy mumbled, which made Pidge cringe and almost punch him in the face.

"I said 'Don't. Lie.'", she demanded, gritting her teeth in order not to yell at her friend. She took a deep breath to calm down and then she spoke again. "Is it because Lance didn't answer your text? His phone was broken. I know, it's so lame but it's the truth," she snickered.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Keith tensing up and just from his body language she could picture the face he was displaying - frustration and irritation. She was going to add something when Lance came in their direction. Keith quirked a brow at the blue paladin's obvious nervousness.

The latter took a deep breath, then he locked his eyes on Keith's.

"Okay, listen, I didn't mean to ghost you. I was just… Well, first my phone fell in that puddle and it was broken and then there was that thunderstorm so I couldn't use my computer anymore - because, you know, the router had crashed -, and then Pidge and Hunk showed up but…"

The red paladin had stopped listening to Lance's rambling doboshes ago, he didn't even care anymore about what the sharpshooter was saying. At first, he had wanted to be angry at Lance, and to be honest he had almost succeeded, but the blue paladin's expression and his tone when he was apologising were too much for Keith to stay mad at him. He almost wanted to laugh at himself. God knew he had missed this dork, even Keith couldn't deny it.

A sparkle glowed into Pidge's eyes as she stared at the red paladin. He had this very slight, very well hidden grin that he always had when he was amused by Lance, and somehow it made the green paladin feel relieved.

"Lance." Keith only said, an amused smile in his voice.

"... and then we were in that hotel room, ready to break into Area 51, and I swear I didn't even notice time passing! Oh, man, you'd have been so delighted in the hangars! Weapons everywhere, Galra stuffs…"

"Lance." Keith repeated, but the sharpshooter suddenly stopped his rambling, as if a detail had caught his attention. A detail that he seemed to be the only one aware of.

"Anyway, I'm sorry," Lance finally declared with a sheepish smile, holding his hand in front of Keith. "Still friends?"

Keith raised a brow, a smile spread on his lips. "I thought we were rivals?" he asked in a teasing voice.

In front of the team was a big planet, covered by a thick layer of green gas, and somehow the intricate designs that the swirls of gaz drew on the surface reminded the humans of Jupiter. Anyway, they weren't able to see anything through it, and knowing that they couldn't land on the planet to explore was leaving them pacing up and down like caged lions.

"The Castle is right there," Allura assured again, a hint of frustration in her voice. "I can feel it."

"But we can't do anything about it," Shiro stated once more, putting his hand on the princess's shoulder. "We have to wait until they leave the planet so we can board them."

"I know…" she sighed. She hated this so much, feeling totally helpless… But neither she nor the paladins had equipement that allowed them to breathe in inhospitable atmospheres.

They had nothing to protect themselves. No shield, no weapon.

All they had left was their determination to take their home back.

After several vargas spent watching the planet, they all agreed on taking a rest. They decided to take shifts one by one, but deep inside they all shared the same fear: that the thieves would never take off.

Shiro had taken the first watch, then it had been Coran, and by the time it was Lance's turn, Keith was sound asleep...

There he was again. He was starting to know the place by heart, and he knew very well how it was going to end - again. The Dark Room had always been more or less the same: empty, without any light coming in, save for a keyhole or a peephole pierced in what he knew was a door. Sometimes he could hear voices coming from the other side, but nobody ever came to free him.

Though, this time, the Dark Place had changed. Keith could feel it.

He groped in the dark and the sound of his steps told him that the room was bigger than before. The lack of echo informed him that there were actually some furnitures. Suddenly, he bumped into something very hard and he let out a muffled scream. When the pain disappeared and the stars stopped dancing under his eyelids, he extended his arm to reach for the object. It was a rough surface, very granular, and the paladin could feel holes on its sides. Keith suddenly realised that it was a cinder block, and when he put his hand higher on the surface, he felt a thick wood board. The construction reminded him of a table.

A few meters away, Keith found what he guessed was a metal couch, and against the wall behind the couch, his hand met a heavy fabric.

That's when the thought hit him.

The red paladin frantically pulled on the curtain that revealed a dusty window. This time, enough light came through the glass to allow the boy to see.

"It's… impossible…" was the first thing that came to his mind, soon followed by "What has happened here?"

Keith was back in his shack, but it had changed. More precisely, it had aged. There was dust everywhere on the furnitures, and sand had managed to get in, covering part of the floor. The curtains and the couch were damaged, and the books on the shelf were covered in strange scratches.

A detail caught his attention and Keith carefully walked to the corkboard on the opposite wall. Plenty of papers used to be pinned to it, but they all had disappeared. Instead, there were now photos and newspapers.

'Aliens on Earth! Will the Mars Attacks scenario become reality?' read the first article.

'Humans enslaved: the rebellion had been annihilated' claimed another one.

In the middle of the board, in a brown-red ink that Keith recognized as blood, two words were written in capital letters: VREPIT SA.

The paladin took a step back in shock and bumped into the table. Goosebumps covered his arms, he had a very bad feeling. A black sticky note fell to Keith's feet, ominous. The boy carefully took it, his hand shaking, and a cold shiver ran down his spine when he read the words written on it. 'One of us'.

The red paladin was now shaking uncontrollably. He closed his eyes tight and took deep breaths, alert. He tried to ignore the itchy feeling that grew on his skin but couldn't resist it.

He knew what he was going to see even before he opened his eyes. His hands and his arms were bloody because of him scratching them, but more importantly, they were purple. All around him were photos of his friends, of people he had known, but all of them were injured - or worse. Keith closed his eyes again to escape the view.

A loud, deep laugh resonated in his mind, and Keith recognised Sendak's voice for having heard him threatening the paladins and their home planet many times. He fell to his knees, distressed.

"ENOUGH!" the boy yelled, trying to get out of his own head. This was way worse than all his times in the Dark Room.

Keith got up in a hurry and rushed to the door, tears of terror streaming down his cheeks. To his surprise, it opened immediately.

"Keith?"

He stopped still and lost his breath so suddenly that it hurt him in the chest.

Lance didn't sounded afraid. He sounded worried.

"Hey buddy, are you okay?" He put his hand on the Galra orphan, which made the latter jump. "I'm there. It's all right, just calm down and listen to me."

Keith swallowed hard, panting and his heart still racing. Didn't Lance see that he was a monster?

"Focus on my voice."

Despite his instinct screaming to run, the red paladin nodded and tried his best to obtemperate. After a few more minutes, he managed to grab control on his emotions. When he opened his eyes again, Keith felt more normal. His skin was back to its usual tone too, just still bloody. He raised his gaze to Lance, who had kept his eyes on him the whole time. Though, he didn't look disgusted, and a slight smile was lighting up his face. The blue paladin had his old haircut and he was wearing his usual jacket, the khaki one. Keith had missed them so much. Not that he didn't like Lance's actual look - it suited him -, but it was weird to see him looking different, as if they had spent years apart from each other.

"Sorry about that," Keith apologised, looking away. He glanced at his shack, which had disappeared. Instead, he could see the ocean, blending with the sky on the horizon. The view was stunningly beautiful and for a few seconds, Keith forgot all that he had in mind.

"What about we stay here for a bit?" the blue paladin offered with a grin.

This time, Keith accepted.