driftfleet

Who: Prince Lotor
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Absolutely
When: Saturday, 18 August

[Broadcast - Video ]

[ He's aware of something wrong even before his eyes open.

Lotor's long form barely fits on the bed provided, so much so that when he wakes up with a snap, he bends the arched metal at the end of the frame with his boots. The room smells different, the air tinted with a strange sour quality that spoke neither of the familiar filters on Galra ships nor the more exquisite processes that the Castle of Lions boasted; and as his eyes adjust to the bright lights the architecture speaks of nothing he's seen before.

Strange.

He stands slowly, looking around the entirely empty wing. Good fortune or not, he seems to be the only person here - where ever here is. The last thing he remembers is returning to the Castle, Allura's hand in his, and then nothing.

Ah, there is a camera. He's being observed.

There is no point in secrecy now is there? Either someone was monitoring him or not, and he straightens his back as he addresses the camera.]

I give you credit, I have not been taking off guard like this in quite some time. Identify yourself.

[Action - S.S. Starstruck]

[ He had hardly been on the hospitality deck for a few hours before he finds himself appearing on the bridge of the S.S. Starstruck, face crinkled up in an unpleasant expression as a flurry of badly made confetti tangles in his hair and falls to his shoulders. In his hands rests a plate, and he looks down at it with a frown punctuated with a fang pressed into his bottom lip.

Ah, but he is not alone.

Across from him is one of his supposed 'new crewmates', and those eyebrows arch now, and he offers the plate out, the tone of his voice sardonic. ]

I do not imagine that you ordered this, did you?

[Private communication - Video: Allura]

[The shuttle seemed the most promising place to pick through the databanks the vessel held.

It was small; all exits and entrances visible, and it gave him the privacy of not having any of his new crew mates hovering over his shoulder. Lotor rests his chin in one hand, tapping his lips with a claw as his eyes scan through the crew logs of the fleet.

Ah, most of the paladins were here as well, crowded on one ship. And then Allura's name comes up, and he allows himself a small smile as he opens his communicator. Regaining contact with his allies was paramount... but this was personal. ]

I hate to sound pleased to find you here as well, but I will not deny that it's a relief to see a familiar face, princess.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She feels hollow.

She doesn't want to hear this. But each utterance brings her closer and closer to the skeletons in the closet that, despite his prefacing as a result of his upbringing--or lack thereof--Allura begins to feel that there are pieces of him she may not want to see. That she won't understand.

He had just given her a gift beyond her hopes and dreams. Why sully it now?

He had no concept that she'd been alive. That would have changed things?

If only he had known she existed. If only. If only. If only this were for the greater good.

When their eyes meet again, Allura is already far off as if she knows what is coming. She's connecting the dots, aligning the pieces of the puzzle together about what makes Alteans so unique in this universe, what drives many of her own abilities. What Lotor had been waiting for. It's the edge of a cliff and she's just waiting for him to say those words to send her off.

Harvested.

And off she goes.

Her world bottoms out in an instant as the rest of his words bounce in the echo chamber of her mind.

Harvested their quintessence.

He barely finishes before Allura recoils, snatching her hands out of his grip as she draws backwards to the very edge of the bench. Her horror is painted on her face. ]

You--you used them...! These people that trusted you! Harvested...you took their very essence for your own!

[ She recoils and he of course follows, not quite touching her but still not leaving her personal space. His hands hover at her shoulders, teeth gritted. ]

I am aware of what a mistake it was. There is not a day where I do not think about those who are still held in stasis on the second colony. But Allura, we're so close. So close to fixing it all. Ending this forsaken war and bringing the universe peace. Please... I do not ask for your forgiveness so soon, just your understanding.

[ She pulls back again, moving off of the bench and takes a few steps back to put some distance between them. ]

A mistake? You said yourself you made that choice against your better judgment! Against your moral center! How can you lay the foundations of peace on...on this! These aren't warriors on a battlefield putting their lives on the line for the greater good, Lotor--these are people you lied to! That you used!

[ The intelligent thing to do here would be to let her step away, to settle down and think about what he's said, and let her calm and logical mind take weight on his words. He's certain she's capable of it, even with so few years under her belt, to see things outside of the crisp and yet malleable lines of black and white.

That would be the intelligent thing. The most logical thing.

Unfortunately his affections for her have swayed him towards the emotional before, and now as she recoils even farther from him, as though he was a creature of rot and horror, he can’t stop himself from pursuing her.

Allura rises from the bench and he follows, standing with the slightest of wobble as he keeps his shoulders hunched, subconsciously trying to reduce his size. There was a time for words and a time for silence, and he knows he’s digging himself into a deeper hole with each word and can’t stop himself regardless. ]

I am not defending what I have done, Allura. It makes it even more terrible that in the end it did nothing to further my goal towards peace. The only solace I can offer for them is that I believe Oriande has given you the abilities to bring them back from their current state. Lives have been lost, but I cannot give up what we have built and start over simply because a few lives have been lost and by doing so, sacrifice an innumerable more lives for some…empty empty words and convictions that neither right any wrongs nor take in to account the greater good.

[ Her gaze on him hardens. Allura knows that her gut reactions to things may not be her best quality, but right now? They feel wholly justified. Besides, the anger she's feeling rising up in her veins is much easier to digest that the implications of what this means for them. For whatever they were sitting on the precipice of. ]

Of course I would do everything in my ability to help them! That isn't the point!

[ She spits back and strands her ground, refusing to let any placating language take effect. But she doesn't back away this time. ]

You say this as if their fate was inevitable, but it wasn't! You chose to sacrifice them, Lotor! They trusted you and you betrayed that trust and used them as if they were simply a power source and not real, living people! How much is really allowed? How many lives are agreeable to sacrifice for the greater good?

[ Her hands form tight fists at her sides. ]

And what if I'm unable to bring them back!?

[ There's a nasty voice in the back of his head that whispers "But the sacrifice Alfor made of all his people, all my people, for you was perfectly fine was it? And the 10,000 years of horror he let occur rather than risk you was a forgivable mistake?", and his teeth grit as he bites it back hard enough to feel blood in his mouth.

Allura balls her fists, and he can't stop himself from reaching out to take them, to try and soothe her fury and get her to understand. ]

I have all the faith in you Allura. Princess. If anyone is capable of doing so you are. I cannot give you any kind of excuse for my behavior. It is my deepest and only real regret in these last 10,000 deca-phoebs. But please, you and I carry the secrets of the ancient Alteans, the ability to right all wrongs committed.

I know you are upset with me, for good reason. But I cannot change the past Allura, I can only move forward.

[ It's wise that he didn't share those words. Allura has enough of her doubts about her father's actions, her own leadership, and her ability to pave the way for a future that should be just and right without repeating the same mistakes. Alfor is a sore spot for her. A very fond, very sore spot.

It wasn't wise to touch her.

Allura stills immediately.

The contact might have bee nice--welcome--before. On so many occasions he's reached out for her hands and she felt her stomach flip. His words like poetry, asking...begging for her understanding. For her attention.

Her eyes snap up to his face. ]

Lotor...

[ Her voice is low. ]

I trusted you...and I should not have to correct your mistakes!

[ In one fluid motion, Allura twists her hands free of his grip, gentle and comforting as it's intended, and grips him by the armor on his shoulders. Despite the nearly two feet he has on her, Allura flings him away from her across the make-shift garden with the force of someone five times her size. ]

[ Dayak would be disappointed in him. For all she had taught him about never letting his guard down and always being ready for a strike, Lotor does not anticipate being thrown across the room into a whole rack full of plants for even a second. His frame is twice if not more the size of the Altean Princess, and yet she grabs him by the armor and simply throws him like he weighs not a feather.

If he had simply been prepared, aware, barely even conscious of any chance she may attack him he would have easily prevented it. But his heart was too soft in the end, as he was always told.

Lotor trusts Allura so much that he is certain that she would never harm him. It's that lingering thought, so thoroughly disproven, that sticks in his mind as he cracks his head on the metal supports, plants flying through the air as he knocks the whole structure down with his weight, tangled amongst the vines. ]

Ngh....

[ It should have helped her mood--and maybe it did, just a little--but Allura's seething is palpable even across the other side of the greenhouse. There's energy at her fingertips and in her bones that fills the hollow spaces. It isn't enough.

But it will do for now.

That he doesn't immediately rebound is satisfying enough. ]

...Clearly you are not the only one who has made a mistake.

[ She had trusted him, after all. Against it all, she trusted him.

With that, Allura turns on her heels and marches out, her normally quiet stride taking her full weight with each step. She needs to just--be anywhere but around him. ]

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