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Stay Alive, ch. 3

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Allura led Keith back to his old room immediately afterwards. She was eager to help him, even going so far as to tease him about forgetting where his room was. He wanted to laugh aloud, but couldn't. He was still very tired from the battle and his subsequent crying fit. The fact that he let Allura get so close to him like that, after he'd tried to distance himself from everyone. Even now he was worried he was getting to close to everyone. But she knew about his confessions anyway, and she would try to assuage his fears no matter what he tried.

Pushing people away always seemed to be the logical or right thing to do. He'd suffered enough loss, from people who'd abandoned him, over his entire life, to get too close to anyone, aside from Shiro. What was to stop Allura from rejecting him? The Galra could do something even worse and cause her to remember that she hated them so much that she'd reject him in turn. He didn't feel like he could win with this team.

Team…

Anyway, he hated when people thought he was a loner. The correct term is "solitary", but if the description fit him, then it was good enough for him. It was better than someone just up and leaving him. That's why he moved into that stupid shack to be alone—solitary—after Shiro disappeared and the Garrison booted him out. He could live on his own. He knew he could. He wanted to be alone.

"Keith?"

He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice that he'd stopped in his tracks. So he was still surprised when Allura called his name.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked.

"I think so," he said.

They finally made it to Keith's old room. Allura stopped outside the door and waited for Keith to step inside. He didn't take very long to look around. It was still as empty as when he'd left, but now he felt the internal pang of regret, making him clutch his chest. "Are you sure you're alright?" Allura asked again.

"I think so," he repeated.

Allura didn't like his response. "You have to come up with a better response," she told him. "And maybe you should stop feeling sorry for yourself."

"That's not it," said Keith. "I just... don't like being here right now. What if everyone—"

"Everyone will be happy to see you," she interrupted. "We missed you." Her disapproving expression changed into a soft, warm smile. "I'm sure Shiro will be the happiest to see you."

That worked and Keith smiled. Shiro was Keith's real emotional anchor, Allura knew. "Go see them now," she said.

He shook his head. "I'm not ready yet."

"You can't keep running away," she told him. "You know as well as I do that they will also be an—oh, that's why." She sighed. She couldn't fix the universe in a few short months. What chance did she have to fix a human's issues? It was better if she just left well alone for the time being. Keith's issues weren't going to go away after a crying session and a hug from a woman. Allura already knew that, and she looked at him like she didn't want to be some kind of emotional crutch for him. That wasn't her job. She had more important things to worry about—freeing the universe from Zarkon's tyranny. As she said, she wasn't some magical healing fairy.

"Thanks," he said. "But I'll handle myself."

Allura sighed, nodded and left the room, leaving him behind. She took one more glimpse of him sitting down on the bed before the door closed. "Take a break, Keith," she called one last time. She sighed again for the like the 6,000th time. She hoped she wouldn't have to be the only one to put up with his issues. It wasn't like she didn't have her own.

She tossed that out of her thoughts and went straight back to the bridge.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Keith didn't expect to lay down on the bed, but it happened anyway. Exhaustion hit him, causing said backwards collapse. He also tried to keep his eyes open. But that too proved hard. He tried sitting up, but exhaustion had already claimed him. He sighed and groaned and sighed again, until he finally managed to sit up. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, in his Blade of Marmora suit. Just the sight of it made him furrow his eyebrows, and then they went back to their normal position. Why had he done that? He felt more comfortable with the Blade, right? He should definitely be getting back soon.

But he stayed on the bed. And instead of doing much else, he pulled his ceremonial blade out. The mark of the Blade of Marmora still glowed purple. He thought back to when he first got it, when his mom told him that she was leaving. His father had already split, full of it and possibly debt-ridden. Then he came back, it nothing was the same. He remembered that his mother would sometimes look out the window at the Texas sky. Since he didn't know he was part Galra, he thought she was just staring out at the sky to find her husband's pickup truck over the horizon.

What if she was in the Blade of Marmora?

He chastised himself for thinking of that. He never once saw her in his entire time with the Blade. But having the ceremonial blade was certainly no coincidence, and she may have been a member of another cell, just not his. Still, he wouldn't know for sure unless he found out for himself.

But what would Team Voltron think?

There it was again, his desire to stay with the team that had already rejected him. "You're lying to yourself", a voice in his mind told him.

Shut up! He answered.


 "They miss you. You know the Blade is not where you belong. Stop lying to yourself."


He growled and threw the blade away, fell back down on the bed and grabbed the pillow so he could cover his ears as if he was talking to himself. "Shut up!" he said to himself.

Laying down on the bed turned out to be a mistake. As fatigue caught back up to him. And this time, he didn't stand a chance.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Coran heard Allura re-enter the bridge first through the sound of the opening door, and then by the sound of her long, loud sigh. "Tired, Allura?"

"Something like that," she answered as she took up her usual spot at the castle's control center, punching Olkari's coordinates into the wormhole generator.

"Was it Keith?"

"Let's not talk about that right now," she groaned.

"You just survived a very harrowing experience, Allura," he said. "You should rest."

"I will once we get back to Olkari." She yawned, which did not help Coran's confidence.

Coran took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Are you sure we can trust Lotor?"

"No," she answered.

"You say 'no' as in, you're not sure we can trust..."

"I mean that we absolutely cannot trust him," she answered. "And not because he's Galra. I've moved past that prejudice. I know I was wrong. However... why would he come to us now?" She punched a few more holographic keys in the also-holographic control panel. The teleduv came to life and created a wormhole. Then she maneuvered the castle into the wormhole, and it disappeared into it.

Once inside the wormhole, she activated the autopilot, then walked towards one of the Paladins' seats and sat down. She stayed quietly still, only staring out at the passing blue wormhole for several minutes. Coran occasionally turned back to look at her and could see the conflict in her face. He knew what she wanted to do. He also wondered why she didn't do it in front of Keith, since she seemed to be able to share her own insecurities and issues with him so well. But she might just have her own reason for hiding it from Keith.

War is hell. Allura seemed to have figured that out.

"I already said, you went through a very harrowing experience," he said.

"I already cried to Keith," she said, her voice cracking and fighting back tears. "But I must... I must..."

"Just cry," he said.

Allura needed no more prompting. The dam burst, and she cried, loudly and ugly. She doubled over, clutching her chest. The teardrops fell on the floor. Coran left his station and walked over to her, first placing a comforting hand on her back, then taking her in his arms and hugging her. She leaned into him, wrapping her own arms around him. He waited for her sobbing to die down.

Several minutes passed before that happened. Much like Keith, she cried until she couldn't. Hiccups replaced her sobs. She snorted some of the snot that had dripped out of her nose back in, then looked at Coran with her eyes puffy. She didn't look like a Princess, but that's what Coran was there for.

"Take a break," he said. "I'll get us to Olkari."

She sniffed and nodded her head. Then she got up and left the bridge. As she left, Shiro finally returned to the bridge. She put on a brave face for him and walked right past him.

"Is she okay?" Shiro asked.

"Of course," Coran replied. "Just coming down from an emotional high."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The witch Haggar approached Zarkon's throne room, still visibly seething from the failure at Naxzela. The whole trip back to central command had been terrifyingly awkward, especially for the cruiser's crew. None of them wanted to get on her bad side, or risk getting zapped or blown to oblivion or worse if they so much as said something to her. So they all kept their distance while she ground her teeth, maybe telepathically communicating with Zarkon or something. All they knew was that she had magic powers or something, and that was all. It would be foolishly suicidal to test her. Better to play it safe and get them back to central command so they can report to Zarkon himself.

She, in turn, wanted to destroy anything that came her way. But in her single-minded frustration, anger and devotion to her Emperor and husband, she didn't care if any of the crew were being smart, or cowardly in her eyes. Voltron had escaped a certain destruction, no thanks to him. Her own flesh and blood. The very idea that Lotor would betray the Empire was utterly inconceivable. And yes, she knew it meant what she thought it meant. But that's not important.

However, the fear was there, with his insubordinate actions, running around the universe to do… whatever it was, she did not know. And it was indeed inconceivable until they found out about the trans-reality ships he and his generals were constructing. She knew, or at least suspected, that he intended to use them to betray the Empire, at which point the possibility became conceivable. And now the inconceivable happened. Right before the end of Voltron. It was a bigger slap in the face than she even cared to admit.

That's why she was going to drain all of his life energy out from him the moment she saw him. Assuming that Zarkon did not slaughter him like an animal. Either one was acceptable, so long as Lotor was dead or learned his lesson. She personally wanted to slowly drain his life energy, just to watch him beg for mercy as he shriveled up and died. The mercy would eventually come. But he would be dead by then.

The guards standing in front of the throne room entrance snapped to attention and stepped aside for Haggar. She didn't even bother to look at their terrified expressions. Anyone else would commend them for remaining professional in the face of great stress. But Haggar is not one of those types. She thought they were spineless parasites, better suited for the most menial of tasks in the universe's backwaters. Those two could have conquered the Paladins' home planet if given the assignment. But they probably would have failed, too.

The door open. Haggar didn't break her stride. The guards sighed in relief when she was out of view. Quietly, of course.

Zarkon sat in the throne at the end of the long room, still wearing the armor keeping him alive. He didn't move. She knew he was staring at her from underneath that armor. They had yet to use it in battle, but they knew for certain it would end any rebellion in less than a tick. Fear was their key to keeping the universe in line, despite what Lotor may think. And now he had betrayed them. But first, she had to report the failure at Naxzela to an audience that would very likely lash out upon hearing the news of the failure. It wouldn't be the first time this happened, though.

"You have news to report?" Zarkon asked in his low, terrible voice.

"Yes, sire," she replied in her menacing, sinuous monotone. She approached the throne and stopped short of him. "The attempted trap at Naxzela was a failure. We almost succeeding in wiping out Voltron and the resistance... had Lotor not interfered."

Zarkon's eyes flashed. He reached out with his right hand, ripped off the head of a mechanical sentry and threw it to the ground. "THAT TRAITOR!" He roared.

Haggar didn't move. She didn't even react. "We were able to keep Voltron on the planet's surface," she continued. "The traitors Blade of Marmora provided back-up. One Marmoran even attempted a useless sacrifice to stop the bomb when Lotor intervened. We still succeeded in wiping out a part of the resistance forces."

"That is still not enough," Zarkon growled. "Too many systems have defected to Voltron. We must put an end to this at once."

"I understand, sire," Haggar answered.

"Begin preparations for a counterattack," said Zarkon.

"Sire, they will be expecting a counterattack," said Haggar. "That will hamper—"

"I KNOW THEY WILL BE EXPECTING A COUNTERATTACK!" Zarkon roared, crushing the other mechanical sentry, once again failing to draw a reaction from Haggar. "We cannot play safe just because they expect us. That is not how we have conquered most of the known universe. Gather the central command so that we may prepare a counterattack. Voltron may expect and prepare for us, but we must overwhelm them. And once Lotor is caught, we will make him wish he had never been born."

"I feel the same away about Lotor, sire," she said. "As for the rest... Operation Kuron has been proceeding as expected."

"Good," said Zarkon. "What details have you?"

"The part-Galra former Red Paladin has been forced out, to join the traitorous Blade of Marmora," she answered.

"That part-Galra Paladin concerns me," said Zarkon. "He has great potential."

"He even piloted the Black Lion for a short period," said Haggar. Zarkon grabbed one of the mechanical sentries and tore whatever was left of its body in half, throwing them both past the unmoving Haggar.

"The Black Lion is MINE!" He roared.

"That Paladin is of no concern to us anymore," said Haggar. "Intelligence suggests that it was his own mentor that forced him out."

"Then Operation Kuron is succeeding," said Zarkon. "That is good news."

"Sire, before we launch the counterattack, I suggest that we keep sending monsters after Voltron," Haggar continued. "We can keep them away from our troop movements before the counterattack. That will ensure their defeat out of lack of preparation."

"I wanted to be angry with you," said Zarkon. "But your suggestion pleases me. You may proceed with that plan."

"Thank you, sire," she said, deferentially lowering her head.

The doors opened behind them. Haggar turned around to see a soldier coming towards them. He looked like he had something urgent to say. "Lord Zarkon!" He breathlessly announced. "Lotor's generals have arrived!"

"This is unexpected," said Haggar. "Have you restrained them?"

"No," he answered. "They came willingly."

Haggar quickly turned to Zarkon. Both of them shared a look before Haggar turned back and Zarkon spoke.

"I will grant them an audience," he said. "But ensure they do not have ulterior motives."

"Yes, my lord," said the soldier. "Vrepit sa!" He got up and left the throne room.

Minutes later, the door opened again. Three female figures stepped inside. Lotor's generals, Acxa, Ezor and Zethrid entered the room. Haggar could not only sense how intimidated they felt, but she could see it in their postures. They kept their heads down and their eyes diverted from Zarkon. Again, Haggar believed them all to be cowardly fools.

They approached the throne and knelt before Zarkon, still not looking at him.

"What news do you have?" Zarkon growled.

"We came so we could get back in the good graces of the Empire," said Ezor.

"How?"

"We—we didn't know Lotor was planning to betray the Empire!" She stammered.

"Are you making excuses?" Zarkon growled, his eyes glowing. Ezor froze in her place the moment she looked up and saw his armor and glowing eyes.

"We're not making excuses!" Acxa declared. "Prince Lotor deceived us! He killed our friend Narti!"

Haggar's eyebrow twitched. She had been using the blind half-Galra general to spy on Lotor. It dawned on her that the generals didn't know why Lotor killed Narti. Perhaps this could be a good opportunity.

"I am deeply sorry to hear that," she said. "Did he say why he did it?"

"No," said Ezor. "We tried to restrain him, but he escaped!"

"It's not your fault," said Haggar. "We were also unaware that he was so determined to betray the Empire." She turned to Zarkon. The two shared a glance, and the Emperor seemed to understand where she was going. "What was Lotor planning?"

"He wanted to create a portal to another reality," said Acxa. "He was going to use it to harvest quintessence from the space between realities."

Haggar released a loud, satisfied sigh. "He wanted the quintessence for himself," she said. "How dare he. Now it is obvious as to why he betrayed us."

"What do you want us to do?" Acxa asked.

"Can we destroy him!?" Zethrid finally spoke up.

"When you get your chance," said Haggar. "But first, we will need to find him. There is no doubt that he can use his knowledge of the Empire to betray us."

"Report to the high command," said Zarkon. "We are going to launch a counterattack that will annihilate Voltron, the resistance, and Lotor."

"Won't Voltron be expecting a counterattack?" Acxa asked.

"Of course they will," said Zarkon. "But it does not matter. I have no doubt that you will be of great service to us. You are dismissed."

"Vrepit sa!" All three declared in unison.

"I hope your plan will succeed," Zarkon told Haggar once the three generals were out of earshot.

"Of course it will," said Haggar. "My only concern is if they are still loyal to him."

"We must ensure they remain loyal to the empire," said Zarkon.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"I can't believe they let us go free," Ezor said while they returned to their ship.

"Who cares!?" Zethrid roared. "We're FREE!"

"Yeah, but... what about Lotor? Acxa?"

Acxa had remained silent. It was visibly unnerving for Ezor.

"Are we really sure we can capture Lotor?"

"Of course we will," said Acxa. "We have to."

"I know we can," said Zethrid. "And I know we will. But he might have too many tricks up his sleeves."

"And now we know one of them," said Acxa. She stopped in her tracks and turned to the other two. "Stop with this nonsense. We're going to find Lotor, and we're going to bring him back."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Acxa," said Ezor.

"I know," said Acxa. "He's the best leader we've ever had. I'm as reluctant to capture him as much as you are. In fact, I would rather not be doing this. But we have to do it, for the glory of the Empire!" She was trying her best to hide the apprehension in her voice and gesture.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
So how was this?

I admit that I didn't really know where I was going to go with this at first, but now that I've been brainstorming some ideas, I have a good outline for my plans. There's quite a few things that I want to do, and I hope you guys like them!

Keith's issues aren't going away any time soon. And Allura has her own. That's the point behind their passages here. I don't want to make Allura some manic pixie dream girl, and she won't be.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please let me know!

Chapter 2
Chapter 3 (You are here)
Chapter 4
© 2017 - 2024 BigD1987
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