Zarkon had been destroyed at last; his empire had fallen. But the Paladins of Voltron were far from celebration. Shiro, their team leader, had disappeared so suddenly and without warning; none of them could have foreseen it. And the impossible feat of vanishing in the middle of space and having not a single presence on his lion was incomprehensible. The black lion was pilotless and the remaining Paladins were more than overwhelmed.
On the bridge, the remaining group was spread out, silently and nervously moving about.
Pidge, Lance, and Hunk sat on the floor, their legs crossed mirror-like, one of them nervously twiddling their fingers.
Allura and Coran standing side by side, both looking equally troubled.
Keith sat alone, his assigned seat creaking softly as he rocked back and forth.
"I was left in charge of Voltron. Shiro told me so before...well..." The red Paladin shuffled his feet.
A soft voice spoke behind him, not daring to speak any louder. "Before he disappeared." It was Pidge. Straight to the point, but still aware of the heavy situation.
"Wait, wait. Hang on. I thought we defeated Zarkon?" The blue Paladin could hold his tongue back no longer. So many questions swirled in his head. "Why does Keith need to be leader if the Galra empire was destroyed?"
"Zarkon may have been put to an end, but there are still conspirators. There are still people who will need our help." Allura had been fazed just as Keith by the entire situation. She and the red Paladin had kept silent the entirety of the time the rest attempted to manage and assess what had exactly happened.
Shiro vanished, Zarkon was defeated and the Paladins were left with an unforeseeable future.
They planned to keep Voltron active, but only at the word of Keith. He felt obligated now to lead the team. He was left with a purpose he felt he needed to fulfill.
Now, one problem to face was the question of returning to Earth. Keith took a breath, finally coming to a conclusion. "As much as you might not like it guys, home is just going to have to wait."
And, suddenly, Lance was more than eager to fight; no longer mourning the disappearance of their leader. "Do you even know what home is? I have a family, Keith! A mom, brothers, sisters... I have something I need to get back to. All of us do, we can't just continue to sit here and wait for something that might not even come-"
"Lance!" The red Paladin had lost his patience. "You know as well as I do who we are. Just as you said, Zarkon still has a chance of coming back."
"Hey, Keith, he just meant to say-" Hunk tried, finally sitting up from his slouched position.
Keith only raised his voice, blood boiling to an unnatural level. His entire body shook with rage, yet his eyes watered incredibly so. "We are Voltron, defenders of the universe and its only hope! Haggar is still out there, right princess?"
Unable to give a verbal response, Allura nodded solemnly.
"We need to stay focused. We are a team and we can't be breaking up now. Every innocent planet needs us and we have to be ready. If Haggar is still alive, then so are those willing to do anything in the name of Zarkon. Earth...will just have to wait a little longer." His voice cracked, the emotion pouring out at last.
An uncomfortable silence remained stagnant in the air. All Paladins along with the two remaining Alteans spoke not a word. What Keith said was true. They couldn't give up with little evidence that the universe was safe. Sad to say, there would always be another force waiting to attack when it was most vulnerable. Terrors would still arise.
"Now I can see why Shiro chose mullet to lead the group." Lance broke the tense atmosphere, earning several flitting smirks from the rest. It was sometimes best to use humor in serious situations.
"Yeah." Keith tiredly wiped at his damp eyes.
"Either way, Keith's right." Pidge supplied. "Sitting and waiting might not be the greatest thing to do, but it's better than getting attacked back on Earth, completely defenseless. The galaxy's still going to need us."
The yellow Paladin nodded. "Yeah, and while we do that we can go ahead and, you know, look for Pidge's family."
Pidge looked up excitedly, eyes wide in response. "W-we could do that."
The team agreed as a whole, relief finally washing over their exhausted brains.
Allura, for one, stood up and straightened into royal form; head held high. "Paladins, tomorrow is a new day. We will rest for now and figure out later what the future will have in store. Sleep well." The princess turned from the Voltron members who gave their own goodnight's and headed away from the castle's control room, Coran following behind.
"Sleep tight," he called before exiting as well.
The Paladins continued to sit, too quiet and much too tired to move. None of them were comfortable, though. Their seats hard and rock-like.
Keith spoke first, his body too weak to move anymore. "Go ahead, guys." He responded tiredly. "I'll be down in a moment."
The other Paladins froze, unsure how to reply until Lance himself took the lead. "Alright, cool. Well, I'm beat." To emphasize, he let out a yawn. "We're probably gonna have to get up early tomorrow."
The others stood finally, tiredly making their way to the exit.
"And Keith," Lance called, "don't stay in the bridge too long."
Said Paladin stared after them, confusion written all across his face. If he didn't think too much, Lance had almost seemed concerned.
But he didn't need anyone's concern. If he was going to be leader, he needed his head turned straight. The mere idea of the next few days was absolutely chaotic.
With an agitated sigh, Keith dropped his head into his hands, unconsciously tapping his foot to the beat of a song who's origin he knew came from Earth.
"...I'm stepping through the dark..." his voice rose no higher than a whisper, trying as best he could to contain his emotions. "... and I'm floating in a most peculiar way..."
Finally, he raised himself from his seat, trying his best not to glance at the oddly empty one previously belonging to Shiro, and headed directly for the closed door of the bridge.
The heavy metal swished open. The moment he had stepped out of the room, the lights gave out to the dimness of night. Keith was more than thankful the source of his turmoil was in a shadow behind him, the castle almost seeming to know exactly what the red Paladin wanted.
