"How many of these do you have?" Pidge asked the salesclerk, pointing to an old rotary telephone she found in a box filled to the brim with the outdated mechanisms. Pidge and Allura had decided to take a day for themselves while Coran and the rest of team Voltron worked on the Castle maintenance. They went to the space mall to spend some extra cash they had earned. Allura had wandered off to a clothing store, but Pidge had found herself drawn to the Earth store. Old magazines from the 1960's lined the shelves, broadcasting the news of Kennedy's assassination. Near the back, rusting toasters stood absently, collecting dust. Crinkled posters of P. T. Barnum's circus, World War 1 and 2 propaganda, and women's suffrage posters covered the walls, and time-worn jewelry and gemstones were kept in the glass display case at the front of the store. A lone lava lamp had been set on the display case, casting various shades of cherry, currant, and crimson throughout the small store.
The salesclerk was overjoyed at the prospect of a customer.
"Oh, those old things?" he chuckled, stepping out from behind the counter.
"My brother used to steal them all the time back in the day. He'd go to these open plains, where they grew their food, and he would sneak into a human house. He always found the weirdest things, like some sort of bread burner that you connected to an electrical outlet, four-legged creatures that were very large and produced a type of milk humans liked to drink, and those primitive communication devices. Afterward, he would leave some sort of mark or symbol that he had been in their fields for fun and to mess with them. Ever since, other aliens began to take up his habit, and now it's a big phenomenon on the middle of the continent the humans call 'North America'."
Pidge smiled.
"Where is he now?"
The salesman sighed.
"Well, he was knocked off course by an aircraft of the humans over a desert, and I've never heard from him since."
The salesclerk looked down at the ground.
"But hey, at least his efforts weren't in vain. I'll take 600 GAC for it."
Pidge pondered on the offer for it.
"I'm sorry, but I've only got 575 GAC left to spend."
The salesclerk smirked.
"Deal."
Searching through her pockets and pulling out the necessary coins, she handed them to him and he placed it in a worn, metal, human cash register. He placed the ancient machine in a box and sealed it, sliding the box across the counter to her.
She took one last glance over the store, before Allura entered the store.
"Hello, Pidge! Have you found anything interesting?"
"Yeah, I got a rotary telephone. What about you?"
"I haven't found anything interesting yet, and I decided to check this store for any interesting objects."
The salesclerk lit up.
"You've come to the right place! In fact, I think you might like this artifact my brother found on one of his last runs."
He pulled out a time-worn tablet from within the glass display case.
"He said he found it in a cave near one of their oceans. He says he also found pyramids and other civilized structures untouched by anything other than time."
"Woah!" Pidge gawked, her hand skimming over the long-lost inscriptions, carved into the obsidian rock. The foreign writing was highlighted by a strange azure filling that lightly glazed over the text only.
"That sounds a lot like Atlantis; it was a legendary city, filled with advanced technology and brilliant minds, before it was sunk and forgotten by history. A lot of people say it was just a mythical city, but this may be the evidence we need to prove it really existed! This is a historical breakthrough!"
Allura searched through her satchel and brought out 300 GAC.
"Will this be enough?" she asked, placing the money on the counter.
The salesclerk sighed.
"Yeah, sure. But be sure to come back later! I'll be going on another run in about a week and I'll be back with some relatively new stuff. It's been really hard to get any products to sell and customers to buy them these days, and with inflation raising my prices, it's killing my business."
"Thank you!" Allura beamed as he put it in a box and sealed it for her.
"I hope you find better business, and we'll be back for more!" Pidge replied as they made their way out of the store.
By the time they got back to the Castle, the maintenance was finished and the ship was ready for teludav transportation. Stepping up to the two waist-length beams, she placed her hand on them and focused on creating a wormhole. Suddenly, the wormhole appeared in front of them, consuming the light around it as it swirled in a dark abyss of nothingness. Coran slowly guided the ship through the rip in space and time.
Once they were safely and successfully on track to their next destination, Pidge ran up to the bridge.
"Allura, you've got to see this!"
Stepping away from her station, she walked up to Pidge, who was holding the tablet they had found.
The text was glowing with a radiant light.
"That's quite interesting," she murmured, reaching out with her hand and touching the tablet.
She felt a slight shock go through her as she gasped and crumbled to the ground, her mind being transported to a time before Altea.
All great things must come to an end.
When that end comes, no one knows.
It was a beautiful day outside, not a cloud in the sky.
The juniper trees were blooming, and the children giggled as they frolicked in the emerald meadows, speckled with lavender flowers.
A thriving community lived off of a coast, where the twenty foot cliffs met the sea. Towering structures cast shadows on the dozens of citizens that wandered the various streets, each person with a different directive. Open-air markets sold many products,from food to technology to crafts. The occasional hovercraft crossed the sky, leaving no trace of its presence behind it. Lions freely roamed the streets, occasionally bounding up to their owners for love and attention. The defenders of the great city had earned a great reputation after fending off the dark creatures from the forest near the border of their city.
Unfortunately, their biggest worry would come from the ocean.
But they don't know that yet.
It was a time of peace and prosperity in Atlantis.
Until Scylla came.
Atlantean prophets had been predicting the rise of her destruction for decades.
Vriden watched the great being arise from the depths of the sea, it's majestic monstrous form a sight to belay and behold.
Vriden rode upon his lion to the Castle, warning everyone of the upcoming danger heading towards them.
But no one believed him.
Until they heard her roars.
And felt the slight tremors from the Earth.
"Everyone, get to your hovercrafts! The king will send you the coordinates to meet at, just get off the surface of the planet!"
Panicked civilians rushed to their transportation off of the planet, but the lions faced the threat head on. Despite fighting a battle they knew they would fail, they faced the monster head on, putting their lives on the line for their people.
None of them survived.
Vriden sprinted into the large throne room.
"My king, Scylla is here. Where are we supposed to go?'
King Dresden sighed.
He knew this day would come.
He just didn't know when.
"I will send everyone the coordinates; I need you to unlock and operate the castle's main boosters."
"Yes, sire," Vriden conceded as he ran off to perform his duties.
King Dresden stood from his throne and made his way up to the bridge, where he took his position at the helm, placing his hands gently on the two beams on either side of him, both waist-length. Concentrating on powering the boosters, he channeled his energy into the castle, sending the coordinates to his fellow Atlanteans. Suddenly, the castle took off from the ground, breaking through the atmosphere and floating in space, amongst several smaller ships.
Using the last of his energy, he created the first wormhole in Atlantean history. Albeit unstable, but it was a better alternative to dying at the jaws of Scylla and wasting their lion's sacrifice.
He didn't want to leave Earth; the Atlanteans had been there for decades, centuries even.
He couldn't bear to leave his home.
But he had no choice.
Their future had been set in stone for thousands of years.
As he watched his world descend into chaos behind him, his people escaped their imminent doom. Soon, he was the last one left.
He felt a hand upon his shoulder.
"Your highness, it's time to jump."
It was Vriden.
"I-I know, I just…"
The king closed his eyes.
He felt a tear streak down his face.
"I'm going to miss Earth too," Vriden murmured, looking wistfully back at the turbulent planet that was once his home.
"But your people need you. I need you."
The king let out a breath.
"I know."
And with that, he slowly guided the massive ship into the unknown.
The ship began to experience major malfunctions, along with the other Atlantean ships. Their power went out, and random surges of lightning caused all of the passengers to pass out, their ships bobbing through the stream of space and time like tiny boats in the middle of a hurricane.
When they were finally spit out of the rip in the universe, they had retained no memory of Earth or its destruction.
All they had left were its blueprints.
And with that, they re-established their once great empire, sharing their language and knowledge with the rest of the galaxy. Settling on a planet they called Altea, they rooted themselves for the last time.
Eventually, they built a large gladiator composed of five robot lions. They weren't sure why they used the creature, but it had come to the new king in a dream, and decided to apply the idea to his structure. It felt right, as if they were paying tribute to an old friend.
In a way, they were.
But they didn't remember.
Until Allura.
Allura's eyes flew open, her mind still reeling from this new information.
"Allura!" Coran shouted, hugging her close.
She noticed she was sitting up on the ground, with Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance hovering over her.
"What happened?" she murmured, rubbing her eyes.
"I could ask you the same question," Coran replied worriedly.
"You fainted when you touched the ancient Atlantean tablet we found at the Earth store," Pidge told Allura.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked.
"Only a few dobashes, but you scared us nonetheless. Do you remember anything?" Shiro asked.
Allura stood up, gathering her bearings and brushing the dust off of her dress.
"Actually, yes! I had a vision that the Alteans came from an ancient civilization called Atlantis," Allura explained.
Upon seeing their confused faces, she elaborated.
"A sea monster named Scylla had attacked their city, and while their lions fended the monster off, they escaped on their space crafts, but they forgot all about their origins and built a new empire here!"
"Are you sure you're feeling alright, princess?" Coran vacillitated.
"Actually, she's right," Pidge added, motioning towards the stone tablet.
"I was able to translate it, and it explains how a "great sea being" will rise from the ocean and bring an end to the Atlantean empire. The Atlanteans becoming Alteans seems like a perfectly reasonable explanation for many questions I had when we became Voltron. How did they know English? Maybe they were able to develop the language out of latin and spread it to other alien races? What about the lions? I don't know about you, but lions are native to Earth and Earth only. But if the Alteans had originated from the Atlanteans, and if what Allura says was true about the lions and how they attempted to protect their people from the beast, they may have unintentionally built a monument and defender in their memory. But the irony is that they don't remember any of the lions. It also explains why they look so similar to humans," Pidge explained.
Everyone sat in shocked silence for a few ticks.
"That was deep," Lance marveled.
A few more awkward ticks pass by.
"Whelp, I'm gonna radiometrically date this rock to see when it was formed and see if I can pinpoint how old the writing is," Pidge spoke as she weaseled her way out of the awkward moment.
"Yeah, I have some cookies in the oven. I'd better check on them," Hunk pitched in.
"I think I can smell them," Coran replied, sniffing the air.
"Oh no!" Hunk exclaimed, running out of the room after smelling the burnt food.
Allura laughed.
"All things aside, you are feeling better, right princess?" Shiro asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Yes," she confirmed.
"Most definitely."
Food for thought:
- Vriden was Coran's grandfather, who helped build the Castle of Lions.
- What do you think of my conspiracy theory?
Let me know what you think!
I hope you enjoyed this story!
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Until next time,
Serafina Aster