Chapter Eighty-Seven

It wasn't pretty on Lara's side of the cave in, the passage way, according to those who walked it daily had been made smaller by half. Lara had been tending to a group of six Underground citizens, who had been injured. Some worse than others... Keith and Lance, quickly triaged them, and got the worse headed toward trained doctors and surgeons.

Lara refused to leave, every time Keith, or Lance told her to go ahead and evacuate herself from the situation, get herself checked out - she had a gash on her head, though it didn't look too deep. She glared, pointed at some who needed help and looked toward the three passages that the one they'd opened lead to... All three blocked, except one had a hold enough for a person to slide through if they held their breath and pushed for it.

Lance had had enough on her fifth look. "Lara?"

Lara turned, her green eyes meeting his and she shook her head. "The Seers, they were down that passage. It's where they lived, where their altars are."

Lance glanced toward Mira, who was floating between him and Keith, he almost thought she was playing a human barrier to keep them civil, as well as a making sure she was a part of the rescue operations. She nodded. "Yes, down that way is home..." She looked directly at Lara again, her voice low and afraid as she spoke. "I keep seeing Esleben with a gun? Waving it, crazed..." she trailed off, she sounded...not unsure but as if she wished to be unsure about what she was seeing.

"He's armed. He stole one of Jude's weapons... He..." Lara met Lance's gaze, her face full of apology, full of fear. "He handled the quake badly, he snapped... We'd seen Tarus and Ara come through... It was like he went to another time and place...blaming the Seers."

Lance felt his heart drop to his throat, Mira paled, he started to move toward her afraid she might fall... but Keith was there first, hands around her waist as she did lose the ability to stand.

"No. No, no... Esleben wouldn't...no?" Mira whispered.

Lara looked lost as she answered. "I've never seen him like he was... Jude forced me into a promise to stay here and went after them."

Lance sighed. "And you weren't saying anything, Lara, because?"

Lara's gaze stabbed him. "Because I'm not about to send the Commander and the King on what could be a suicide mission..." her voice breaks as she stares at Lance. "And I'm not about to send someone else I care about down that black hole..." she starts to cry. "Damn it, damn it, damn him!"

Lance took two large steps and grabbed her into a hug. "You don't decide what I and Keith do," he said he said, running a hand up and down her back. "I'm going to go find out what is keeping Jude, and help the Seers and Esleben."

"Not alone you're not," Keith snapped.

"I have to go too, my family," Mira said.

"Not without me," Lara answered back.

vvv

Keith squeezed through the crack in the rocks last. It'd look a tight fit, he found it be tighter than he estimated, his gut sucked in, jagged rocks digging into his back, scrapping at his skin through the fabric of his uniform. But less than a minute later and he was in another passageway... smaller than the first, made smaller still from caved in rock. What the past leaders of Arus had been thinking sending people to live here? He knew what... it disgusted him, he couldn't fathom Allura came from such ancestry. But then again Earth history had it dark, dark corners as well.

His own specific lineage, those cultures... they held horrible truths as well. All people learned from the pasts of their heritiage he guessed, and could only hope to do better.

His eyes fell on Mira as he stepped into the darker passage, Lance ahead trying to keep Lara from steamrolling ahead. She held a torch, her face sad, her large brown eyes - that always seemed haunted to him, more haunted than he'd ever seen them. He wanted it go away, it made him uneasy.

She turned and looked at him as he thought it, her gaze sharpening a bit, it was determination. "Don't you dare try to make me turn back again," she said.

Keith shook his head. He'd given up, no one wanted to be safe that he had a job to protect it seemed. He couldn't force them without it taking up too much time. Time he felt they didn't have. An aftershock could concuss under their feet at any second.

Her featured softened, then she was moving, all most at Lara's same steamroller pace, right after her and Lance. Keith sighed, formed a light with his voltcom and followed; Mira's torch light causing crazy shadows across the path.

"Tell me about Esleben," he said, wanting to know what kind of crazy he was about to deal with as he fell into step with Mira.

"It's not his fault," Mira said. "Whatever is going on with him right now, it's not really his fault..." she trails off.

"Mira, I understand that but I need to know what to expect."

"He lost everything when Zarkon first attacked Arus. He had a wife, kids, they all were killed, in front of him. He couldn't stop it - I don't know the details. I don't think anyone but Esleben knows the full story... He's always blamed himself I think. He does an inordinate amount helping out the women and kids down here, never turns his back on them - including me, which... He blamed he Seers for awhile. Tarus once told me we had to hide from Esleben and others. I don't know what happened...but one day Tarus came home and said we could start mixing with the others, Esleben would protect us... Some kind of truce, maybe. I do not know. I think Tarus and Esleben have known each other a long-long time, before the war."

Keith nodded. Broken man, a war and history that went past the war, he took it all in and saw that a few steps ahead that Lance was listening as well, from the way he'd fallen just a hair behind Lara.

"He's a good man, eccentric, guilty; I mean he's always carried his own blame for his family, despite blaming the Seers at some point, at some level... I don't know. I just don't know why he'd go after my parents now."

"Sometimes things just don't make sense," Keith said, his eyes on the back of Lance's head. Like Lance a king, like Lance and Allura. Like Lance saying he can see aura's around rocks and talks to a damn planet - never making sense, stupidest damn thing he's ever heard. Is sure he'd stop reading a book, or leave a movie, if that happened. Problem was this was his life and he was stuck with it... As a truth. He had to live with it... and this moment and Mira's family was in danger and that mattered a hell of lot more than his issues with Lance and Allura. He shook himself mentally, he had to get a grip.

"Mira, it will be..."

"Don't lie to me to try make me feel better, Commander," Mira snapped, cutting him off. "Please, just don't."

Keith sighed. If she wouldn't let him do that, there was no way to help her until they found Jude, Esleben and her parents. "How much longer to where you think they are?" he asked.

Mira sighed. "It's about ten minutes. The altars are deep down in the caves, furtherest away from the entrance, the most hidden passageways... We had to be the most hidden citizens. We were the most at risk for so long."

"Jude...Jude knows the tunnels as well as anyone... He got down there and he's...he's..." Lara trailed off. Keith could only guess she wasn't much into the idea of lies, to make herself feel better, either.

vvv

Allura shivered. She was taking a moment to herself, walked over to the entrance of the Underground. A constant flow of evacuations streamed out of it... So many lost people, so many broken souls. She hated her ancestors. She wished father had been able to implement his plan to end these... awful places.

She would end them. She hugged herself, a wind bring gooseflesh across her skin, but it wasn't really the end. Lance and Keith were in there, deep down in there, trying to save people. Important people. Brave citizens like Lara, who hadn't stood for the status quo and fought it... Allura would always be a bit jealous of Lara due to her admiration of her. She sighed, it was ridiculous. She had no reason to be jealous of the woman yet... she was. Mostly because Lara was amazing.

Mira. Mira was down there afraid the man and woman who had raised her were in trouble, murdered by one of the Undergrounds broken souls. A man who should have been given psychotherapy, medication, help for the trauma the Drules' war on Arus had heaped against him.

Mira who had learned about her mother only to be shown a dead body... Mira who was sweet, wise and willing to aid Allura no question asked. Be her Seer, and be brave enough to do it publicly when Arus was still a place where that may not be the smartest move.

Allura wanted to be Mira's friend, she hoped they were moving toward it. She admired her wisdom, her bravery, her gift. She would not allow the absurd, brought on by fear, hatred of the Seers to last... Yet that was why Mira right now was afraid. A man who had forgiven the Seers, saw past his own mistakes and seen that he'd been unfair t a people... had possibly broken and gone back to blaming them, to not face the hole within himself.

Damn it, she wish Lance hadn't checked in. She wouldn't be so worried... no that was a lie. She'd be more worried not knowing anything. Yet... She shivered again and hugged herself tighter.

A warm coat falls on her shoulders, she jumped a bit, then turned to see Hunk. He shrugged. "Got it from one of the soldiers who live here, can't let you catch cold."

"I should get back to work."

"Break won't hurt for a bit longer."

"I'm worried."

Hunk crossed his arms, nodded.

Allura smile, stepped closer to him, he slung an arm around her. They worried together for awhile.