Here we are at chapter two! And here's Allura! Now the story can really get started! That said, this chapter is mostly exposition, but it is, of course, important, as is the nature of exposition. I'm really looking forward to telling this story, and I feel that more and more with every chapter I write (okay, so I've only written two chapters now, but still. Shush.) That said, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next update!

long live the queen

chapter two

distress signal

A nightmare flung her violently from her sleep, forcing her into awareness.

Allura swallowed, taking in a deep breath. It was nothing new. Over the past phoeb, she had been plagued with them. While she was no stranger to nightmares, she sensed that something about these were different- these vague, undefined nightmares that had seemed so real while she still slept, but became unable to recall when she woke.

At her side, the mice expressed their concern. She smiled down at them, reaching out to touch the head of the closest reassuringly.

"Just another bad dream." She assured them. "Nothing more."

The mice expressed their doubt. She couldn't blame them. They were the only ones who knew how long these night terrors had plagued her. She had yet to tell anyone else- there simply wasn't the time. Ever since Lotor had surrendered himself to the Coalition, Voltron had been busy. She had been busy.

But perhaps they were right. This had gone on long enough. Perhaps she should speak to someone about them. Coran... or perhaps even Shiro, who she knew was plagued with nightmares himself, much as he tried to deny it.

Then again, Shiro had begun to act a bit oddly lately. She suspected it was due to the chronic headache that he just could not shake. Coran had supplied him with many remedies, but none of them seemed to work, only dulling the pain for a short while. She supposed that with that in mind, it was a miracle that he wasn't more testy than he was.

Crawling out of bed, Allura pulled off the covers. She paused in front of the mirror, taking a moment to adjust her hair- she would fix it properly once she had showered. There were slight bags underneath her eyes, and she grimaced, allowing herself the use of a bit of Altean shapeshifting magic to banish them. No one had to know.

The paladins looked to her for guidance. She could not afford to allow them to see her weak.

She cleaned up rather quickly after that. For a brief second, she reached for her gown, before she moved her hand away, instead donning her pressure suit, knotting her hair up in a bun. She gave the mice a faint smile before she made her way out of her room, heading towards the bridge. There was more work to be done today. They had a base to raid, and-

She came to a halt, a curious sight before her.

"Kolivan?"

Yes, the Blade leader was more than welcome on the Castle of Lions. He didn't even need to ask her permission. But most of their contact as of late had been over video, not in person- the Blade of Marmora was just as busy- if not more so- than the paladins were. So for him to come all the way out here had to mean something grave.

"Ah, princess," Coran greeted her, but he did not look all that chipper- distressed, even, "-I took the liberty of allowing Kolivan access. I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not." Allura said. "I only wish that you had woken me. Is something the matter?"

Kolivan looked grave, but then, he always looked as such. "We have a problem."

"A problem?" Allura frowned, before narrowing her eyes. "Did the intel Lotor give you not check out? I knew he could not be trusted."

Kolivan and the Blade of Marmora were one thing, but Lotor? The same Prince Lotor who had used them to retrieve the trans-reality comet? She was loathe to trust him. He must have some angle, some ulterior motive that they had yet to figure out. She doubted Zarkon's son would ever truly preach of peace.

"No. This is not in regards to Lotor." Kolivan told her.

Allura's frown only deepened. "Then what is it about?"

If it was not about Lotor, then what was this about? Perhaps there was new news about Zarkon, or maybe even Pidge's father. She hoped it was the former, and not the latter, given how grave Kolivan seemed. She didn't want to have to tell Pidge bad news.

"It is in regards to Keith." Kolivan stated.

"Keith?" Allura blinked. Come to think of it, where was he? He usually followed Kolivan around like a shadow, ever since he left for the Blade. Though she could not shake the feeling that he had been avoiding them as of late, ever since Naxzela. "What about him?"

"We lost contact with him a phoeb ago." Kolivan stated.

Allura paled, before quickly composing herself. "What do you mean, a phoeb ago? If it was that long ago, why are you only bringing this up now?"

Kolivan didn't even flinch. Instead, he turned towards the Coran's console, bringing up a star map. "He was supposed to infiltrate a Galra cruiser in the Velaxium quadrant, but he never checked in. Initial investigation revealed that this was likely due to the fact that he never arrived."

Allura tensed. Kolivan still hadn't answered her question, but she had a feeling he was getting there, so she let him speak. Even as he did, her mind raced. Keith? Missing? And for nearly a phoeb?

This was grave news indeed.

"We searched the quadrant without much success." Kolivan continued. "There was no sign of him or his ship. However, after speaking with the rest of the Coalition, we discovered that a passing ship in the neighboring quadrant had briefly picked up a distress signal a movement prior. They attempted to respond to it, but lost the signal within mere doboshes."

"You believe it was Keith." Allura observed. The loss of a distress signal was never a good thing.

"The signal matched the distress signal embedded within our armor." Kolivan informed her. "And all other Blades are currently accounted for. So yes, we believe it was Keith."

Allura's eyes narrowed. "Surely he couldn't have been captured by the Galra?"

"Capture might be preferable." Kolivan plainly stated.

She felt her blood boil at his words, taking a step forward, decorum momentarily pushed to the side. "What do you mean, capture would be preferable? Compared to what?"

"Princess," Coran cut in, resting a hand on her shoulder, "-I would hear him out. There's more to the story, I'm afraid."

Allura frowned, but relented, drawing back. "Go on then. Let's hear it."

"We were able to triangulate the area from which the distress signal originated." Kolivan explained, either wholly unmoved by her display of anger, or simply far too accustomed to it to allow it to bother him. She was willing to believe it was the latter. "It appears that the signal originated from somewhere in the Reine system."

"And?" Allura asked. "If you know where he is, why have you not gone to find him? Surely you can spare at least one Blade to retrieve him."

Kolivan leveled his gaze with her. "The Reine system is uninhabited, save for a single moon orbiting the planet of Veritas. We believe that is where Keith is currently located."

That gave Allura some pause. An entire system, nearly uninhabited? That was... strange, to say the least. Perhaps as much could be said for the system from which the paladins hailed, but that was more the exception, rather than the rule. There should at least be some form of Galra activity in the area, if nothing else.

Yet Kolivan did not make it sound like what this single moon held was a Galra base. He seemed... almost afraid, if she had to be honest. And if there was something out there that could frighten a soldier as stalwart and hardened as Kolivan, then whatever it was had to truly be dreadful.

Beyond that, she could swear that she had heard of the Reine system somewhere before. She simply could not recall where. It was not something she had been told- but rather, something she had overheard by chance. It had been her father- her father and Coran, yes, they had been discussing...

Oh. Now she truly felt herself grow pale.

Ships entered the Reine system, and never left it.

But that had been ten thousand years ago. Surely it couldn't still be like that, could it? Glancing over towards Coran, he merely shook his head, a grim expression on his face. That was all the confirmation she needed to know that nothing had changed.

And that was where Keith was.

Allura swallowed, turning to face Kolivan. "Tell me everything you know about the Reine system."

Everything turned out to be quite a bit.

Halfway through it, Allura had to sit down. The information was simply too much. The blue paladin's chair had not often been used since she had taken over the role, but it certainly was seeing use now.

She had known nothing of the Reine system, other than that it was a place where ships disappeared. She nearly wished she still did.

"This... this Queen," Allura began, having to compose herself to keep her voice from trembling, which took far more effort than she cared to admit, "-she's real, then?"

She nearly sounded like something out of a fairy tale, the kind meant as a warning for children. In fact, she nearly sounded like a creature straight out of old Altean folklore. It was almost unthinkable- a monster that could bend minds to their will, not only forcing them into compliance, but linking them together, to form some kind of awful hive mind. It sounded absolutely dreadful, and she had a sudden, sinking feeling as to why she'd had so many nightmares as of late.

Keith might no longer be a paladin, but the bond that they had forged with him, that she had forged with him, was not something so easily broken. She cursed herself, wishing that she could recall the content of them. Perhaps they had been his attempt to reach out for help.

Perhaps not. Perhaps he had already fallen to the Queen's power, and her nightmares were merely the feedback from that.

A phoeb. That was far too long for Keith to be left in such a place.

"I see no reason for the operative I sent to file a false report." Kolivan merely stated.

Allura heaved a sigh. That was true.

"May I see it?" Allura inquired. "The report?"

"I can transmit it to the Castle." Kolivan replied.

"Thank you." Allura told him, watching as Kolivan did just that. Bringing up the report on the blue paladin's console, Allura read it over. It said much the same as what Kolivan had told her, but reading it from the perspective of the Blade who had actually been there... it sent a chill down her spine, able to read between the lines and see their growing desperation. "The operative you sent- what happened to them?"

Kolivan shook his head. "This was his final report. We can only assume he chose death."

A shudder ran down her spine at that. Knowledge or death, she knew was the Blade of Marmora's creed. She could only pray that Keith hadn't chosen such an extreme option, though she was unsure if she wished for the alternative either. She found it difficult to believe that he would allow himself to be brainwashed so easily, but that would only get him so far.

Her nightmares... she suspected that they were an indication that he had been. She was loathe to think it, but it was not an option that she could afford to not consider.

"How long ago did you send the operative?" Coran asked. "I can't help but notice that the Galran in this report seems a tad old."

"It has been nearly four thousand deca-phoebs since then." Kolivan answered. "But we have no reason to believe that the situation has since changed."

"So this creature, this Queen, has survived for over four thousand deca-phoebs?" Allura asked. It was not so absurd. Zarkon and his witch had survived more than twice as long as that. But she suspected that had something to do with quintessence, rather than their natural lifespan.

"We believe even longer than that." Kolivan replied.

"Yes, there were reports of ships going missing in that system even ten thousand deca-phoebs ago." Coran stated. "It was of great concern to King Alfor, but he never had the time to actually investigate it before the comet crashed on Daibazaal. And you know what happened after that."

"Indeed. Whoever, whatever, this Queen is, it is clear that she is ancient." Allura observed, glancing up towards Kolivan. "I do not suppose you have any kind of visual?"

Kolivan frowned. "Only one. But it was taken from a considerable distance, so I am not sure how much use it will be to you."

"I would still like to see it." Allura said. At least then she might be able to get some kind of idea as to what they were dealing with.

Simply leaving Keith there was not an option. She refused to even consider it.

That didn't mean that she had any intention to go in blindly. Far from it, in fact. The more information she could gather on this Queen, the better.

An image popped up on her console's screen, startling her even though she was prepared for it. Perhaps her own lack of sleep had been getting to her. She shook it off, studying the image that Kolivan had sent her. True to his word, it was quite the distant shot- enough to allow her to gauge the city in question, or at least, how it had appeared four thousand deca-phoebs ago.

White was a common color in Altean architecture. The color really should not have been so eerie to her- and yet, here it was. She couldn't put it into words, exactly. Perhaps it was the lack of any other color- or perhaps it was the way the people that she could faintly make out lining the city's streets all seemed to blend into the architecture, their clothes just as white as the walls. It was almost like they were a part of the city itself.

It was a thought that made her shudder. Perhaps they were.

It was not to say that there wasn't any color in the image. There was- a brilliant splash of it, right in the center. Enhancing the image as much as she could, she determined that it was a procession of some kind. Figures clad in vibrant blue flanked a central figure, one who was far more massive than the rest. This, she concluded, was the Queen.

Kolivan was right. It was rather difficult to make anything out. But there was something... something almost familiar about what she could see.

"Coran?" Allura asked, looking up, deciding there was no harm in following up on her hunch. "Do you think you can pull the footage from our battle with Lotor's generals? The recordings from our paladin helmets, not from our lions."

"Certainly, princess." Coran said, hastily complying.

Watching as Coran brought it up on screen, Allura frowned. She scanned the video feed until she saw what she wanted. "There. Pause there."

Coran complied, freezing on an image of one of Lotor's generals. She hadn't faced the general in question directly, having been too tied up with the bulky one, but she had been a difficult face for her to forget, mostly due to the lack of any actual eyes.

A trait, that even from a distance, seemed to be shared with the Queen.

By now, both Kolivan and Coran seemed to catch on. "Princess?"

Allura rose to her feet. "Coran, set a course for Naxzela. We will have to put today's raid on hold."

"Of course, princess." Coran complied. "Should we inform the other paladins?"

Allura paused, considering it. It wasn't as if she could keep this from them- nor should she. She knew that things had been... tense, lately, between Keith and the rest of the paladins, but that did not meant they didn't care for him. They likely would not take the news well. "Let me speak with Shiro first. We can speak with the rest of the paladins once we come up with a more concrete plan."

Kolivan studied her. "You intend to rescue him."

Allura narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

Kolivan simply frowned. "I assume you understand the risks."

"Oh, I understand them, alright." Allura told him, her tone a bit cross. She knew that the Blade of Marmora did things a bit differently than they did, and for good reason, but the idea of leaving Keith to such a fate still appalled her. "But I also know that I cannot simply abandon one of my paladins to such an awful fate. Tell me, did you simply plan on leaving him there?"

"No," Kolivan told her- and in spite of everything, she found that she believed him, "-that is what brought me here."

Allura gave him a stiff nod. "In that case, contact any operatives you have in that quadrant. You are welcome to use our communications room. Perhaps the Galra Empire has some information about the Reine system that we do not."

Kolivan complied, bowing his head and excusing himself from her presence.

"What shall I do, princess?" Coran asked. "Now that I've set the course, there's not much need for me on the bridge."

"Check the Castle archives." Allura stated. "If this really has been going on for the past ten thousand deca-phoebs, there should be something we can use."

The more information they had, the better. Turning on her heel, Allura fixed her gaze on the Castle's main monitor, the image of Lotor's general, hooded and blind, frozen in time on the screen.

Perhaps Lotor would be of some use yet.

The ride down to see Lotor was, needlessly to say, tense.

She suspected that Shiro would not be pleased to learn what had happened to Keith, and she had been proven correct. Perhaps it was for the best that she had broken the news to him first, independent of the other paladins. Though she was not certain of the nature of their connection, she knew that the two were close, and likely had been even before they had become paladins.

Even if their relationship seemed... strained, lately.

"You really think Lotor will know something relevant?" Shiro asked.

"This Queen seems to bear a resemblance to one of his generals." Allura stated. "It cannot be a coincidence."

"Guess I'll just have to take your word on that." Shiro stated.

Ah yes. It was easy to forget that Shiro wasn't with them when they had fought Lotor's generals. That had been back when Keith was still black paladin, and while Shiro was back with them at that point, the black lion had refused to accept him as its paladin a second time. It stayed that way for many phoebs, and she had not been oblivious of the rising tensions created by having two, oftentimes conflicting leaders.

In the end, the black lion had taken Shiro back- and Keith had left.

If she had known it would have ended up like this, she would have fought harder for him to stay. But she supposed that there was nothing she could have said that would have convinced him otherwise- his mind had already long been made up. He was simply waiting for an opportunity in which to do so. The black lion allowing Shiro to pilot it again was simply the chance he had been waiting for.

She wondered if they had done something to push him away. It was a foolish question. They had, and she knew it. Perhaps if they had been more receptive of his efforts, clumsy as they were, to be Voltron's leader, then things could be different. But instead they had chosen Shiro.

She wished she could undo it.

There was no room for further chatter, as the elevator arrived at its destination. Lotor's prison was little more than a small chamber protected by a transparent barrier, meant to keep him in, and others out. Whatever her feelings were on the Galran prince, they could not afford to lose one of their best sources of inside intelligence into the Galra Empire.

Since the fall of Naxzela, the Coalition had begun to retrofit it into a new base- after stripping it of the terraforming plant that had nearly transformed the planet into a deadly bomb, of course. It also meant that there were a fair number of rebels coming and going- and among them, there were bound to be those with a grudge.

"Princess," Lotor looked surprised to see her, though she could not tell if it was genuine, "-I must say, I did not expect to see you again so soon."

"Spare the chatter." Allura said. "There is something of an urgent nature that we must discuss with you."

Lotor blinked. "Of course. As I have promised, I will tell you anything I can."

"Then tell us about your general." Allura stated. "The hooded one."

Lotor frowned, his brow creasing. "Narti? I can assure you, Narti will no longer be a threat to-"

"We're not interested in the general herself." Shiro cut him off. "We're more interested in what she is."

She sensed he wished to get to the matter at hand as quickly as possible, for which she could not blame him. Every dobosh that slipped by was a dobosh wasted. And every varga was a varga longer that Keith was trapped in such a horrid place, likely a prisoner in his own mind, if even that.

Lotor's frown deepened. For once, the expression seemed genuine. "Did something happen?"

"If you must know, one of our own is missing." Allura stated. That was all she would tell him. It should suffice to create a sense of urgency- that is, if he was true to his word. "What do you know of the Reine system?"

Lotor's eyes narrowed, his lips set in a grim line. That too, seemed genuine. "Nothing good."

"Let's hear it." Shiro said.

"If you are asking about Narti, then it is safe to assume you have a fair bit of information already." Lotor observed, to which she gave him a curt nod. "Tell me, Princess, are you familiar with the legend of the Mad Alchemist?"

At once, Allura's brows shot up. "Of course. Every Altean child is told that legend."

Shiro turned to her with a frown. "The Mad Alchemist?"

"It is an old Altean legend," Allura began, already mentally recounting the legend, "-one meant to serve as a warning to aspiring alchemists not to abuse their talents. A cautionary tale."

"What's it about?" Shiro asked, still keeping a wary eye on Lotor, like he half expected him to simply walk through the barrier at any moment.

Glancing over towards Lotor, he merely arched his brows, as if to indicate she should go on with the story. A slight frown on her face, she turned back towards Shiro. "It is the account of a talented alchemist who sought to create a powerful weapon for the King of Altea. But in reality, he wanted to use it to usurp the rightful king. He succeeded, but the monster killed both him and his daughter and vanished."

"Now," Lotor began, "-what if I told you that was not simply a legend?"

Allura's brows knit together, looking towards the prince. "Do you mean to imply that this Queen is the Mad Alchemist's monster?"

"My research leads me to believe so, yes." Lotor stated.

"Impossible." Allura stated. "That story was ancient even in my father's time. There is simply no way such a creature could have survived for so long."

"We once thought alternate realities were impossible as well," Lotor simply pointed out, "-and yet, they are in fact, quite real."

She narrowed her eyes. Though she was loathe to admit it, Lotor had a point. "Even so, the Reine system is quite a distance away from Altea. How would it have ended up there?"

"That I do not know." Lotor admitted. "But if you want my advice, it is best that you simply leave whoever it is that you lost there. I can assure you, no harm will come to them."

Shiro bristled, opening his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. She understood his anger, and did not blame him for it in the least, but lashing out at Lotor wouldn't get them anywhere, not when he clearly had information that they so desperately needed.

"I would consider being brainwashed and made part of a hive mind plenty of harm already." Allura stated.

Lotor merely frowned. "It is not ideal, I will admit. But the Queen is rather dedicated to her royal farce. She will not harm one she has deemed as her own."

"That's not an option." Shiro snapped. "Just answer the question."

Lotor merely arched his brows at his reaction. "Do not tell me that you have lost a paladin. If that creature manages to get her claws on even one part of Voltron..."

"...well, it would be far worse than if my father were to." Lotor finished, looking grim.

She felt a cold tingle run down the length of her spine. It was not as if she hadn't considered it- glancing over towards Shiro, he caught her gaze, before shaking his head. She exhaled. She would need to speak to Lance as well to be properly sure, but for the moment, it would seem that she was the only one who was experiencing any kind of feedback from the fact that Keith had likely been brainwashed.

Her silence prompted Lotor to narrow his eyes. "So it is a paladin. And their lion...?"

"Here." Allura said, her tone clipped. She saw no reason to inform a prisoner of the circumstances behind that. As far as Lotor knew, Shiro had always been the black paladin, and Lance had always been the red paladin. Given his... preference for half Galra, she did not wish for him to think to take advantage of the situation.

Lotor exhaled, almost visibly relieved. "Good. I do not believe her influence can stretch this far. As long as you keep their lion far away from the Reine system, it should be fine. I would still recommend that you begin the search for a replacement, however."

"As we have said," Allura began, "-that is not an option."

Leave Keith there? Perhaps Lotor was right. Perhaps as long as Keith was in the Queen's thrall, he would not be harmed. Physically, at least- mentally? There was no question that he was experiencing harm now, as they wasted time speaking.

So no. It was not an option. It wasn't even up for debate.

Lotor merely sighed. "Very well then. I suppose I cannot condemn you for your loyalty. But know that even my father is loathe to deal with that creature. I suspect he fears it."

She lifted her brows at that. Something that even Zarkon was afraid of?

"You doubt me." Lotor observed.

"No." Allura replied. "It is not that."

Lotor rose to his feet. "If you are serious about this, then I will tell you everything I know about this creature who calls herself a queen. Knowing how she operates is your best defense against her."

"Starting with how she's connected to your general?" Shiro asked.

"Of course." Lotor nodded. "Narti is- was an attempt, by Zarkon's witch, to reconstruct the Mad Alchemist's experiments on a more... manageable level."

Allura looked disturbed at that. "You mean to tell me that she has access to his research?"

It was bad enough that the Mad Alchemist was apparently real, as was his monster, but to think that information could potentially be in the hands of Haggar... it left her with an ill feeling.

"No." Lotor said. "More like she simply knew enough from her own research to attempt to replicate it. You see, the Mad Alchemist did not simply build his monster entirely from scratch, at least, not if my own information is to be believed. He used something else as a base."

"A base?" Allura blinked.

Lotor's brows knit together. "A creature. I have never seen one myself, but I have heard rumors of them. They possess strange abilities, including the ability to connect with other beings through physical contact."

"Like a hive mind." Allura finished. "There was a creature like that, in Altean folklore."

In fact, it was the very one the Queen had made her think of.

"Quite." Lotor agreed. "Though I believe the Queen's ability to do so is far stronger than that of any other. The longer she remains alive, the stronger that ability becomes."

"Considering how long she would have had to be alive for the stories to be true, then it is no small wonder how she can manage to keep an entire population under her thrall." Allura observed, her lips set in a grim line. There had been a score of people lining the streets in the image Kolivan had provided her with. She found it difficult to imagine anyone would willingly choose to live under the rule of such a monster.

It was seeming less and less likely that Keith could have resisted for long.

"And Narti?" Shiro asked. "How does she fit into this?"

"She was the only survivor of the witch's experiments." Lotor explained. "Long ago, Haggar supposedly managed to catch one of the creatures. From it, she extracted its DNA, and attempted to use it to create a new kind of soldier, by splicing Galra DNA together with it. She created countless beings, but none of them made it past infancy."

"Except for Narti." Shiro finished.

Lotor lifted his head, looking up at him curiously. "Yes. Though to Zarkon's witch, she was largely a failure. She only had the ability to manipulate one person at a time, and only while maintaining physical contact."

"And the Queen has no need for this?" Allura inquired.

"While the Queen needs physical contact to begin the process, once the individual is added to the hive mind, she no longer has any need for it." Lotor explained. "They become hers to control."

"Then we should try to find this Narti." Shiro said, speaking more to her than Lotor. "Maybe we can use her to counteract the Queen."

"I am afraid that is impossible." Lotor shook his head. "Narti is dead. And even if she were not, her power paled in comparison to the Queen's."

He provided no further details, and she suspected that he wouldn't. "And the witch's research?"

"Beyond my reach." Lotor merely stated.

Of course. Allura exhaled, allowing her shoulders to slump. She was loathe to show any sign of weakness in front of Lotor, but she had hoped to get something more definitive out of him. Something that they could use to free Keith from the Queen's control.

All she had been able to gather thus far was that this was an even more massively difficult undertaking than she had first suspected.

"I do not suppose you know of a way to free someone from the Queen's control?" Allura chanced.

"Death." Lotor simply stated. "Be it the victim or the Queen's own."

"I thought you said the Queen's control can only extend so far." Shiro pointed out. "Couldn't we just remove them from her area of effect?"

"You could." Lotor admitted. "But I have no way of knowing what would happen to them. You must understand that she does not simply control her victims, she alters their minds. Your missing paladin may already believe they are a different person. Even if you manage to successfully remove them from the Queen, there is no telling if they will return to being the person they once were."

The thought made her shiver. She tried to picture it, having your own mind turned against you, to the extent you no longer even believed you were yourself. To be forced, against one's will, to become an entirely different person, a complete stranger. She wasn't sure if she'd even wish such a fate on Zarkon.

And yet, it had become Keith's fate.

She could only pray that there was a way to fix it.

"You seem to know an awful lot about the Queen." Shiro observed.

"That is because I have dealt with her in the past." Lotor simply stated. "After which I vowed never to approach that system ever again."

Allura stared at him. "I thought you said that was impossible."

"Not if you approach the Queen as an equal." Lotor stated. "As I mentioned, she is dedicated to this royal farce of hers. All I had to do was approach her with the intention of forging an alliance, and she welcomed me as an honored guest."

She exchanged a glance with Shiro, who quickly looked back towards Lotor. "How long ago was this?"

"Nearly seven thousand deca-phoebs ago." Lotor stated. "Back when I was first trying to determine the best way in which to fight back against my father's tyranny. At the time, I thought I might be able to use the Queen's power to my own advantage, but there are simply some things in this universe that should not be meddled with."

"And mark my words," Lotor stated, "-the Queen is one of them."

Their return to the Castle was just as quiet as their departure, if not more so. Looking over towards Shiro, she didn't miss the grim set of his lips, nor the way his nails dug into his arms.

"We will get him back." She told him. "I promise."

All Shiro could do was give her a weak smile. She didn't fail to notice the way it didn't quite reach his eyes, nor the way his nails dug in a little deeper.

"Let's hope."

"Wait, so," it was Lance who finally broke the silence that had been so deafening, "-you're telling us that Keith has gone and got himself brainwashed by some crazy lizard lady?"

"That is... not the choice of words I would have picked, but essentially, yes." Allura said. "I am afraid that is exactly what has happened."

"You're serious, right?" Hunk asked. "This isn't some kind of Altean prank?"

Allura shook her head. "I'm sorry, Hunk."

"Look," Shiro began, "-I know this is bad, but we're going to get Keith back. We just need to think up a plan."

"A plan?" Pidge asked. "If what Lotor said is true, this monster is older than Zarkon. How are we supposed to beat something like that?"

"Yeah, and how do we know beating it will even fix things?" Lance asked.

"We don't." Allura stated simply. "But we have no choice. This is hardly a situation we can ignore."

Even if Keith had not been captured, this still was not a situation they could turn a blind eye to. It only increased the urgency of the situation. Before, they could have perhaps left it until after Zarkon was defeated, and the Galra Empire was dismantled, but now? Now they had no choice but to deal with it.

"Okay," Hunk began, drawing in a long breath, as if trying to steady himself, "-so... what? Do we build some kind of helmet that protects us from brainwashing or something? Send in some robots? Robots can't be brainwashed, right? Because I've been brainwashed, and let me tell you, it is not fun."

"Agreed. It sucks." Lance said. "You would think mullet would know not to talk to strange alien queens by now."

Pidge just rolled her eyes. "Something tells me that Keith didn't exactly go up and knock on her front door, Lance."

"It doesn't matter how it happened." Shiro cut in. "What matters is that we get Keith back. Allura, did you get anything from Kolivan?"

"Nothing that would be useful." Allura shook her head. "Only a few old reports that indicated they had sent imperial scouts to the area."

"Let me guess," Lance said, "-they never returned."

"I am afraid so." Allura said. "Coran? Did you have any luck?"

"I'm afraid not, princess." Coran told her. "I haven't entirely exhausted every method of approach, but there's so much information to sort through that it may take me awhile. I'm afraid Pop-Pop wasn't the best at organizing historical data."

She heaved a sigh. Thanks to Lotor, they at least had a bit more to go on, but she would have liked to have at least a little more of an idea as to what they were dealing with. Knowing the identity of the Queen helped- provided what Lotor said was true, of course. And as much as she was loathe to admit it, she saw no reason as to why he would lie to her.

It also meant that this was an Altean problem.

Clenching her fists, she narrowed her eyes. To think that an Altean could have created such a monster... and to think that said monster had been allowed to thrive. Why had something not been done sooner? Surely, someone must have realized.

Lotor had.

"Allura?"

Exhaling, Allura let herself relax, or at the very least, to be a little less tense. "I'm sorry, Pidge. What is it that you were saying?"

Pidge frowned. "I was just going to ask if you had any ideas."

"I do, actually." Allura admitted. "Granted, it might not be a very good idea."

Her silent trip back to the Castle with Shiro had given her plenty of time to think. Although she had considered several options, she kept coming back to only one.

"I'm sure whatever you thought up is going to be an amazing idea." Lance assured her. "So, what is it? We bust in there Voltron style and beat up this Queen until she gives up Keith?"

"No," Allura said firmly, "-we cannot allow her anywhere near the lions. If she manages to compromise even one, then she may be able to compromise all the lions."

"Are you saying she could take control of the lions?" Hunk asked. "Because that sounds bad. Like, real bad."

Allura nodded. "She has been alive longer than the lions, and her power has only grown in that time. Gaining control over the lions may very well be within the realm of possibility."

"Allura's right." Shiro stated. "We can't let something like this get their hands on the lions. We have no choice but to keep them here."

Giving Shiro a grateful smile, Allura faced the gathered paladins. She had a feeling that what she was about to say next wasn't going to go over nearly as well. Drawing in a long breath, she steeled herself for the reaction that her words would surely garner.

But she simply could not see any other choice.

"I will go. Alone."