A/N: I published this already, but it did something really weird. I am very sorry for that. I just finished this series and wanted to write a fanfiction about it. I am in College and taking really hard classes so updates will not be frequent or often. I am sorry about that, but I wanted to give you all a heads up. Please Comment and Review!
She waits for so long on these xanthorium chucks that lay dormant in the sky around The Blades of Marmora's base that hides within a space fold. She can sense them coming, and she knows that it's soon.
"Come on lions..." She whispers very slowly before the Castle of Lions appear before her. "Finally."
She gets up as she jumps from the chucks very carefully so she doesn't cause them to explode as she watches another person that she knows is Galra head towards the Castle. She smirks at his stupidest idea, but she is going to use him as her decoy in getting in. He slips in which causes the alarms to go off just like she knew they would. She darts through as she sneaks towards the lions.
She closes her eyes as she listens to them as they lead her right to them. She has to find them. She misses them so much that she wants to see them once again. She finally opens the doors without any alarms going off because she is the one that helped build this castle. She knows every hide out and security camera there is on this ship.
"Roar!" The lions roar together as she runs to them with tears in her eyes.
"You guys are alright!" She screams with happiness as she stands in between all five of these great magnificent beasts. "I knew that I would be able to find you."
They all lay there heads on the ground for her to pilot one of them, but she shakes her head like she did so long ago. She smirks at them for trying though as she looks up to the opening for getting out. She hears the fighting stop suddenly as she listens to hear a voice that she would never have imagined would still be alive.
"Allura..." She whispers in fear as remembering something that she didn't want to.
Flashback:
She stands between the lions once again as she opens her eyes to the research lab under Altea's castle. She waits for the King Alfor to arrive with the others. They are going to release the lions. She glances up to see them appear in the elevator coming down. She watches them appear before her with shock on their faces.
"Alfor!" She calls out to him as she waves for him to come over with a smile on her face.
"Linna, it is great to see you!" King Alfor replies with a smile. "I told you that you didn't have to be here."
"I wanted to see them take off." Linna answers him with a smile.
"Who is this?" Zarkon asks with a questioning look.
"This is Linna. She is the one that help build the lions with me. She came up with basically everything." King Alfor tells them with a smile.
"How old are you?" Trigel wonders as she looks at her small statue.
"I believe 14 years old." Linna answers to her. "I really don't know."
"I found her outside of the castle trying to observe the part of the comet that I was studying, and she has been apart of the team ever since." King Alfor laughs a little. "She is great friends with Allura as well."
"So Alfor, how do they work?" Zarkon asks him as he glances over towards Linna.
"We made them from the quintessence-infused ore of the comet, which provides them with an endless supply of power." Linna informs the group.
"Remarkable!" Zarkon speaks with shock in his voice.
"The comet alloy also renders them nearly indestructible." Alfor tells them.
"That doesn't mean they're indestructible though." Linna points out to the group. "These lions have emotions and feelings just like you and I. Oh..."
Linna jumps up in shock as she runs off to check on the lions when she senses something is up. Alfor shakes his head with amusement as he watches her work with the lion side by side. He knows that she is the true creator and leader of the lions. She just doesn't want all that power.
"What sort of weaponry do they have?" Blaytz wonders to Alfor as he turns his attention back to the group.
"This is where things become more interesting. Altean alchemy can accomplish some incredible features of engineering, as you know. But in testing my ship, I started to feel some sort of psychic link. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the ship wasn't just reading my mind. It was communicating with me. They seem to be evolving. We don't yet know what powers these ships possess, but we may gain understanding with time." Alfor informs them of his discovering.
"Time? Time slips away even as we stand here. My people will soon be slaughtered by dark creatures from another realm. Without these ships, all hope is lost." Zarkon cries out to Alfor.
"I understand." Alfor tells him with his hand towards the lion as he leads them to the center of the lions.
"Are we sending them?" Linna asks Alfor as each one of them stares up to a lion of there choice.
"Yes." Alfor lowers towards Linna. "I want you to make sure they are alright before we leave. You have a better bond then anyone here with the lions."
"Alright." Linna answers him as she goes around to each of the lions and checks for their approval of this.
King Alfor begins talking to the group again, "It may take some doing. These are not regular ships to be chosen at a whim. You do not pick the beast. The beast will chose you."
"They're not beasts!" Linna calls out to him as she stares at the bonds that are starting to be created between each one of the leaders.
She smiles at them all except for Zarkon. She believes in his ways, but she senses something as he bonds with the Black lion. She feels that something is going to go terribly wrong. She places her hands on the Black lion just to make sure that she is alright with the journey that King Alfor has chosen for them.
Zarkon turns around to face the Black lion as he glances over towards Linna. Alfor tilts his head towards his friend while walking over to him.
"What is she doing?" Zarkon asks Alfor as they stare at her talking to the lion.
"She has a bond with all five of the lions." Alfor informs the group because everyone has gathered around them now. "She stays here at night and talks with them for hours. She doesn't leave their sides so she has bonded greatly with each of them. I don't know how she did it, but she has created herself a family with the lions."
"That's amazing." Gyrgan speaks up to the group.
"She is so young." Trigel says with concern in her voice.
"I know. But she doesn't want to do or be any where else." Alfor tells them as he sighs to her approaching them.
"The lions are ready. They believe that they have chosen well." Linna informs Alfor with a smile on her face, but she is hiding something.
She senses something deeply wrong with Zarkon. She knows that something might happen but that is only a feeling. She doesn't have any proof.
"Good job, Linna." Alfor places his hand on her shoulder. "I am very proud of you."
"I am going to head and hang out with Allura if that's okay?" Linna asks Alfor.
"Alright. Tell her I will be home later."
"Alright." Linna waves good-bye to the Paladins as she darts to the elevator.
Zarkon looks at the girl before turning to Alfor. "She does not call you by your title. Why is that?"
"I told her not too." Alfor informs him. "We are family. Just like you and I are great friends." He sighs as he watches her disappear with the elevator. "Alright, lets get into our lions!"
Flashback Ends:
Linna falls down to the ground as she remembers her past. She doesn't want to remember it. She feels the tears falling down her eyes as they hit the floor.
"I knew that Zarkon wasn't ready. I should have... I should have..." Linna cries out as she looks up towards the lions when she realizes the reason she remembered that moment. "How is she alive? Is that really her?"
The lions eyes light up in a sign of 'yes'. Linna places her arms around her chest as it starts to hurt in pain. She listens as she hears Allura's voice again over the intercom.
"Slow and Steady, Coran. Head for the xanthorium cluster."
"Yes, Princess. Beginning approach." Coran answers over the intercom as well.
"Coran..." Linna whispers as she recognizes his voice. "How are they alive?"
"Impact imminent in five, four, three, two..." Coran speaks over the alarms that are going off. "Well, that's something."
"What is it?" Allura asks him.
"Putting it up on the screens." Coran tells her.
She waits for anything to come through again but nothing. Linna listens for a while until she hears the doors open up to the base where I am at.
"Quiznak!" Linna whispers before hiding behind Black.
She watches as new people walk into the base. Linna doesn't know anyone of them. She spots the Galra and four other people enter the Red lion. She hides into the color of the Black lion so no one can see her at all. She listens to them leave the hanger before heading towards the main base of the Castle. That is where she believes Allura is. Linna makes it to the door as she listens to Allura inside.
"I knew he couldn't be trusted!" Allura screams at the screen.
"It wasn't him." Shiro tells her.
"How can you be sure?" Allura asks him.
"It doesn't matter now. What should we do?" Coran interrupts their little argument.
"Why can't we hide here in the space clam and wait for it to go away?" Hunk asks the others.
"Everyone get to your lions, but don't launch. We will wait to see what it does." Shiro informs the group of a plan. "I don't want to risk fighting it if we don't have to."
Linna starts to open the door before she hears footsteps running quickly down the hall towards the door she is in front of. She darts into another hiding place as she watches Coran entering the main hall where Allura stands where her father stood long ago.
"Allura..." Linna whispers as she notices that she hasn't aged one bit.
"He's drawing in the xanthorium clusters!" Coran informs the group with some panic in his voice.
"Wait?" Linna thinks about the situation at hand. "If he is swallowing them, he is..."
Linna knows what he is doing, but before she can get out of her hiding spot. The ro-beast already fired back and found the rift. Suddenly the castle takes a direct hit and pain shoots Linna in the chest.
"That hurt..." She whispers as she listens to Coran.
"Direct hit! He definitely knows we're here!"
"Get the particle barrier up!" Allura orders Coran.
Linna zones out the rest of the world for a moment until Allura yells, "We're exposed! The space fold has been lowered!"
"Well, there goes Ulaz." Coran mentions causally.
"I knew we should never trust a Galra." Allura speaks with dread in her voice.
Linna stares at the emptiness of the wall when Allura says that. She doesn't understand that it isn't the Galra that are doing this. It is what came out of that rift. Ulaz is also a part of the Blade. He would never abandon his team. Linna covers her ears so she can't anything else, only feeling the hits being taken from the beast. She listens to the lions as they cry in pain at some hits as well as the pressure that builds upon each injuring.
Finally after along wait, Linna hears the lions have returned. She wonders if she should reveal herself to Allura or not. Her heart aches with pain of remembering everything and needs to explain all of the things that are happening. She opens her eyes and decides that she is going to do it. She wants to see Allura and Coran in person. She walks through the shadows towards the lions bay before triggering the alarm.
She watches as the red lights flash over and over, above her. She closes her eyes that hide under her hood right now before she hears the doors open. She slowly turns her head enough to see Allura and the new paladins in front of her. They look up towards the lion who growl towards them in anger.
"What is going on?" Lance wonders to them as he looks at the lions, growling.
"Why are they growling at us?" Pidge asks Allura as she stares into the intruders eyes.
"Red!" Keith yells towards his lion. "What are you doing?"
The Red lion lowers her head towards Linna as she places her hand on the lion. Allura notices the burn marks that line her hand which only one person that Allura knew back then had. She walks out from behind the paladins as she stares at the intruder. Linna smirks at Allura before walking out of the lions circle.
"Allura!" Shiro speaks up in concern as he reaches towards her.
Allura shakes Shiro off as she stares at the intruder. She walks a little closer towards her as she tilts her head with tears slowly appearing in her eyes.
"You can't be..." Allura speaks up with shock in her voice.
"Allura?" Coran appears through the doors as he stares at the intruder's figure.
"Security needs to be updated Coran!" Linna shouts from under the hood as she continues to hide her head from them.
"Wait..." Coran stares at her with shock in his eyes. "Only one person could know the security from the back of their head besides pop pop. It can't be..."
"Coran..." Allura speaks up with her eyes open wider as she realizes the voice.
"It is great to see you guys again." Linna finally says as she allows the hood to fall down to her back and stares at them. "You have been gone for 10,000 years, and it was not very easy to track you."
"Linna..." Allura feels the tears forming in her eyes again. "How are you here?"
"Wait! She's Altean!"
Pidge points out the marks on her face as everyone stares at the intruder. Linna smiles at the group as everyone stands there waiting for someone to ask something or do something. But no one dares to do anything until Allura runs up to her and embraces her in a great hug as everyone stares at them with shock and confusion all in one expression.