25 「Weather the Storm」

For mere moments Acxa and Nemoi stared at one another. She could tell he was dangerous by just looking at him. He had destroyed the cuffs which restrained him. Just how was she supposed to combat someone who could turn her to ash? Would he turn her to ash?

The face of caution she made came off as more curious than anything else. Curious of why he wasn't killing everyone, he had been deemed an enemy of the Galra. Yet here he was, just staring through her after speaking words for Lotor, towards her.

"Lotor sees you as a probable asset, Zarkon has been ruling the Galra Empire with fear for too long. It is clear he fears you..." Acxa pointed her finger at him, trying to gage his mentality. Did he mind being pointed at, or would he be casual about it?

"What a cute finger... Would you like a pedicure?" Nemoi outwardly ignored what she had said for the moment. Which made her raise a brow at him.

What was his intentions now? "What's this pedicure you speak of?" She asked curiously as she looked at her nails for a moment. They were in decent shape, but they weren't shined nor covered by a protective coating.

He shrugged slightly and looked away from her, "And why would he think I would help him? I mean, the way he wants to Rule isn't bad, but what he is doing to accomplish it..." His cheek twitched slightly, angrily.

Lotor who was watching this interaction narrowed his sights. What he was doing to accomplish it? His thoughts went back to the Alteans. That's when he paused, stared at the screen and then leaned back in his chair. Crossing his leg, Lotor began to think. He wanted to know how much this man knew.

Acxa was pretty sure of her answer until she heard him talk on more about something he had been doing to accomplish his goals. Her own thoughts began to wonder. He was having her think. However, she couldn't think about what could possibly be wrong with what they were doing.

She had a look of confliction on her face. She couldn't figure out what he was talking about.

"Oh don't give me that look," He stood up from the bench in which was the bed of the cell. He walked up beside her. "I know I am exactly what Lotor is looking for. Someone with the secrets of Altean Alchemy."

Lotor stood up almost instantly, staring at the screen as he heard the boy's words. He knew that if his father got wind of that, then he'd likely use this man to destroy him. Alteans could use magic, alchemy, in ways that no one could even imagine. He studied the culture, its legends and mythos for centuries.

"Lotor?" Ezor asked as she turned to look at him as he had stood up so suddenly. "What's up?" She was casual, smiling softly. She had this innocence about her, but it was deceptively false. She was far from innocent, but that didn't mean she wasn't naive.

Partially raising a hand to calm Ezor's curiosity, he would stroll off the bridge as he made his way towards the brig.

A few moments later Lotor made his appearance coming down the corridor. By now Acxa and Nemoi were standing in the direct center of it. "Nemoi Vargon was it? You were the boy who supposedly studied under my mother according to some records I've acquired during my study of Altean culture."

Hearing his inquisitive voice, his intimidating charm, Nemoi glanced over at him. His line of sight never leaving that of Acxa as he did so. It wasn't that he didn't trust her no to sucker punch him, it was more so that he found her more appealing to look at than Lotor.

This man had a very strange resemblance to Haggar, also known as Honerva. "Prince Lotor, it's a pleasure to eventually kill you."

At moment he said this, Axca's blade was at his throat, yet Lotor raised a hand.

"No need to kill him. I assume that this was all apart of your plan, or... a backup one? Looks like suicide." Lotor said as he folded his hands behind his back, his eyes glaring through him. "I'm sure we can talk this through?" A white brow raised, awaiting for the response, "As a fellow Altean."

Letting out a quiet sigh, he crossed his arms slightly. Nemoi didn't like Lotor, he was a known manipulator and someone who probably killed thousands of his people just to gain Quintessence.

"My name is Nemoi Vargon, Viscount of Asriel. You have my people, you will return them to me. That is the price, if you want me to assist you. Otherwise, I will kill you and your generals." He stated with a nonchalant tone which even gave Lotor a chill. There was some severe signals coming from this man that just made pins and needles rush through his spine.

Lotor looked towards Acxa for a moment, then passed his gaze back towards Nemoi. So this was an Altean Noble. From what he remembered, Alteans weren't blood thirsty, unless driven to the edge. "You have nothing left," he pointed out. "From my intelligence gathered by one of my generals [Narti], all the Alteans on your ship died ten thousand years ago. Is that why you are choosing violence over peaceful intentions?"

"Peaceful intentions..." He shook his head slightly hearing him ask this. "Says the man siphoning my people of their raw Quintessence and claiming to want to bring peace to the Universe. How many Generations of probable Altean alchemists did you snuff out?"

These words made Lotor take a step back, his hands no longer clasped behind his back. Instead they were at his sides, slightly raised as if to defend himself from these words. He was surprised, he didn't know anyone knew.

Of course he didn't have the Sincline ships, made from the same material as Voltron yet, but it was clear that he was still doing the deed well beforehand for his own desires.

Nemoi furrowed a brow, "Ah... You, you didn't think I knew."

Acxa looked at the man who had gathered the half-breed generals just like her. However what she was hearing made her frown visibly. She was still loyal to him, but hearing that he was harvesting an entire race, it was rather disillusioning.

"If I knew I'd come across someone with Altean Alchemy... I wouldn't have do–"

"Wouldn't have done what you've been doing for thousands of years? Yes, I know. You would have also overthrown the Witch, if only you had found my sleeping place." Nemoi smiled at Lotor who was taking a few steps back.

"You hate the Witch because she denied you. The witch hates herself, because she denied you." Nemoi chuckled quietly to himself as he scratched the side of his head a bit, a tingling sensation bothering him slightly. "That witch is Honerva, your mother. She killed a woman and took her name, because she had become amnesiac."

Lotor's eyes closed partially as he heard the man before him speak. He was only sixteen, but he had ten thousand years worth of knowledge it appears. Knowledge that he was somewhat privy to. "So you want me to let your people go, and you'll help me...?"

"I'll spare you and assist you where I feel fit. However..." His gaze looked Lotor over, "Forget about continuing your mothers work."

Hearing him say this made Lotor blink a few times. He was being told to neglect the unlimited power he could obtain for his Empire? Was Nemoi insane? That's when he paused, then nodded. He had to assume that he would keep up his side of the bargain. Lotor himself didn't want to die here and he could take care of this little splinter group should they become an obstacle in the future.

Maybe in time he could convince him to join him, two Empires together. The idea was something he could marvel on.

"Understood... Nemoi," Lotor let his arms rest at his sides, he didn't look defeated. He however appeared even more confident and determined to have his way. If he could have the Galra Empire under his command, if he could bring peace, he would have done at least half of what he wished to have done in his life.

Nemoi grinned at the man, then looked to Acxa who didn't know exactly what to do in this moment. The Prince had agreed to Nemoi's proposal, yet she also gained a key piece of information of why he was acting this way.

The fact that he didn't trust her with the information he was using Alteans as a fuel source, seemed to rattle her. If the other generals knew, it was sure to bother them. At least some of them. Ezor most of all, despite her deviant nature, she wasn't evil.

"Though I am curious... How are you going to explain to the first colony, what happened to the second colony?"

Lotor blinked at this question which was spat out at him after he had already accepted the proposal. How was he going to tell the thousands of remaining Alteans that the people who went to the second colony were never coming back? His eye twitched slightly.

How was he going to explain that? Natural Catastrophe? They'll want to see the remains... The only way to explain it would be a Galra attack, he would be blamed for not upholding his false promise of making an universe where they no longer had to fear the Galra. He'd have no choice but to place them in this man's hands, while also dirtying his name and all of their wishes that followed it.

"I... I have an idea," Lotor straightened his jaw, he was about to throw away another asset in trade for another. He didn't even know if it was going to completely work out, it was a gamble.