Dark Abyss
The water below looked dark and still, reflecting the lights and the old bridge above it. Yet underneath that mirror like surface, raged currents that tumbled around trash and small rocks. Anna wanted her life to end, she didn't want a second chance, but she got it anyway... In the world of Voltron: Legendary Defenders!
WARRING!: Mentions of suicide, self harm, and abuse.
~Chapter 3, Teasing Emotions~
Devine's face was burring from her impulsive action to kiss the Voltron Leader, her heart hammered ageists her rib cage, wanting another kiss from the Paladin's warm lips.
'Seems you just said your fair well to this world, or rather... kissed it~.'The black lion teased in the dark room, but Devine didn't need to see as the lion's corrupted quintessence was enough of a look. In her senses she could already see it was almost like a mange infested, skin and bones cat like body with torn bat like wings pined to its back by chains made of physical quintessence.
"I may have messed up this world, so I'm gonna set it right." she stated firmly, approaching the corrupted lion who chuckled in realization.
'Oh~ now I can feel it. The resemblance... how did I miss this? I wonder~' the lion purred as Devine took deep and steady breaths for what she was about to do. 'Do you really think you can tame ME!'It asked as Devine felt something snap at her, of course she filched away from it but in doing so, her back hit the hanger doors, the inside of them riddled with claw marks from the black lion's attempts to escape, but the doors where thick and made to keep the lion locked in.
"I-i'm not here to tame you... I'm here to heal you." Devine stuttered as her legs shook and tears dripped down her face as she gave a sad smile.
'What!? Foolish little cub, do you wish to meet with death that badly? Then let me give you an early appointment!' The black lion lunged at her the best it could, its chains seemed to tighten and glow white around the massive lion, stopping it short of crushing Devine in its massive jaws.
'Bring it on, Obie.' Devine though as she laughed sadly, stepping within range and holding her hands out to the Lion's mouth, her eyes narrowed in determination and glowing almost the same shade of purple as the black lion's quintessence. Obsidian roared and lunged for the tiny being, ramming its nose into her chest, knocking the air out of her lungs but Devine firmly planted her crystal claws into the lion's muzzle, purple sparks arching across her body painfully. A desperate, blood curdling scream filled the hanger as the unnatural feeling shot threw the young woman as she trembled in fear.
~Voltron~
"DEVINE!"
The Paladins called out her name desperately as they looked at the door in fear and worry.
"Allura! Open them! Now!" Shiro commanded urgently, trying to pry open the door with his bare hands as the princess tried to find some sort of override to open the hanger doors again. "I can't. It seems only the other lions can open the black lion's hanger doors. What possessed them to think this was a good idea?" she asked worriedly form the main deck. "Then lets' get the lions to open them. Where's the roar button at?" Lance asked looking for the nonexistent button desperately. "Did she scream!? I heard her scream! Is she gonna die!?" Hunk asked worriedly as Pidge was frozen in place by the chilling scream.
"Come on Red, we've got to help her. She's in there all alone." Keith pleaded with his lion, trying to move her, but to no avail. "Agh! You liked her so much over me, why are you being so cold to her now?" He asked, slamming his fists on the console and getting a weird static from his controls just before all the Lions roared, letting the doors open again.
Only this time it was all the way, but the humans couldn't see past the blinding purple light that was inside.
"Devine!" Shiro yelled seeing something black and white get tossed into the main hanger, without thinking, the black Paladin caught the limp body of the empath, slam into the front paws of the red lion, the air was knocked from his lungs from catching her, but cradled the weakened female in his arms. Both Shiro's and Devine's eyes opened wide as they glowed a bright white, the Black lion's golden eyes shined bright as the chains crumbled away, the lights inside diming to show that the Black lion was back to its majestic form and watching the two small beings intently.
"What? What happened?" Shiro blinked away the white in his eyes in confusion, he down looked at the woman in his arms; finding her to be a lot heavier then she looked.
'I wouldn't let her know that, My New Paladin~.'
"Devine?" Shiro questioned as he saw her eyes drop into an unforced daze, looking too weak to even speak.
'No. I am the Black Lion, Obsidian.' Devine's voice purred in his mind proudly, as he looked at Devine and then the lion in confusion. "Obsidian? You can talk?" He questioned as his eyes widen as he heard the lion scoff. 'Of course I can, not that you would understand my words. My little cub that you have in your arms is translating, so that you may understand me. So I can say this to you only once.'
The black lion spoke to him before letting out a powerful roar that shook the castle, even more so as the other lions joined her, voicing their agreement with their powerful leader. Shiro relaxed a little as he smiled while looking down at a nearly out cold Devine. "Of course I will protect her." Shiro agreed readily before Devine's eyes shut going completely slack in his arms.
"Agh! How heavy is she?" he asked, surprised by the short woman's already abnormally heavy weight seemed to increase.
~Voltron~
Devine lay on her stomach as she slowly came to, the lavender sheets pulled over her body. Her suit removed leaving her in a lavender tank top and white shorts. She lay in a daze before getting up to look around confused. "This isn't... my room?" she blinked rubbing her eyes as she tried to focus, the bed was larger than she was used to, it could fit about five more people on it comfortably. It was really soft and smelled like Juniberry flowers as she breathed in the scent of the sheets. Her vision clearing and she could see the lavender colored walls that had her confused before she recognized the little lavender bulb on her night stand.
"I'm... really in... the castle of Lions." She smiled softly, sending out her quintessence to feel for the others. She could feel the paladins in their rooms, just down the hall, as Allura and Corran where on the main deck. "What did I miss?" she asked slipping across the silk like sheets before her bare feet touched the floor, getting up on shaky feet she went to her bag and pulled out some extra clothes before going to the private bathroom where her eyes widen in amazement.
"Wow! This is bigger than my old room." she looked at the deep white marble like sink, the thrown like toilet, the glass walk in shower and large in floor bath tub that was more like a small pool, several fancy looking bottles where sitting in a glass case that also had three books and clean towels ready for use. "I think I'll try out that shower first." Devine smiled, as she eagerly stripped and basked in the warm water creasing over her cold skin, washing out her hair and running her claws threw the white strands. She plucked out some troublesome crystals, setting them aside in an empty glass vase, before she came out of the wonderful shower and began dying herself off, getting into clean clothes. A conferrable pair of light gray jeans and a long sleeved lavander top that covered her neck but didn't cover her crystal covered upper back.
Devine looked at her back, the crystals forming two small wing like patterns on her shoulder blades, the newer crystals taking on a slightly different tint form the older ones. Sighing she picked up her baggy black jacket and slipped on her boots before quietly leaving her room, quickly getting her bearings before she made her way to the elevator, checking on the sleeping Paladins as she went.
Lance was dreaming about girls, she rolled her eyes as she felt his excitement and love. Hunk exotic alien food, she chuckled and thought of a few things the yellow paladin might like to know about alien cooking. Pidge was dreaming about finding Matt, a soft smile stretching her lips as she knew it would come true. Keith... was defeating Zarkon, it amused her to also hear the young boy's voice as he slept, growling out their enemies name as he dreamed.
As for Shiro...
Devine stopped in front of his door, knowing and sensing that he was up with restlessness. The image of Shiro working out in his skin tight paladin armor was tempting to see in person, but so was actually helping him get to sleep. Quickly building up her courage, she came closer to his door with a raised fist to knock only to be pleasantly surprised as she got an unrestricted eye full of his, scared, naked chest and neck.
"Miss Devine, you're up." Shrio voiced in slight surprise, a smile tugging on his lips as he saw that she was alright. "Oh! Um, yeah. I was just going to check on everyone. How... how did the battle with Sendak go?" She asked nervously, gulping down her blush as she took in Shiro's scars... having seen where he had gotten them, something tempted her to run her fingers across his scared skin. Only she could feel Shiro's nervousness clearly with him being so close and half naked in front of her.
'Did the battle go differently? Danm it! Why is he shirtless!? I can't think with a half naked Shiro in front of me!' She panicked inwardly biting her lip before Shiro spoke up.
"We formed Voltron and destroyed his Battleship. Are you alright Miss Devine?" he asked, concerned as he saw her looking at all his scars. It made him a little self-conscious to have his scars exposed to her eyes. He was about to reach out for her shoulder only to stop his prosthetic arm from touching her, worried about what she would see if it touched her. So it shocked him to see her actually grab his Galra arm and seem unaffected by whatever she saw.
"I'm fine, just disappointed that I missed seeing Voltron form for the first time in 10,000 years." She told him, holding his hand as she could feel and see what had been done to the Voltron leader threw the imprint, the sites of blood and carnage didn't faze her as much as Shiro's pain and guilt from killing them was heavily imprinted into the prosthetic limb. "There's always next time but if you don't mind me asking..." he closed his prosthetic fingers closed around her hand gently, pink sparks coming from her skin.
"What happened back in the hanger with Obsidian?" Shiro asked, concerned as he looked down at her, biting her lip, a tell sign he had noticed that meant she was not saying something, restraining herself. "She... was corrupted by Zarkon. That's why the others hesitated, because they had to chain her up in the first place." Devine told him, nervous as she was so close to a half naked, attractive young man that was holding her hand and seemed to... care about her from what she could feel emanating from his familiar quintessence.
"Why go in there alone? You could have gotten hurt, or worse." Shiro trailed off as he watched her eyes close and her body relax. Devine could feel his concern wrapping around her like a cozy blanket, it felt nice but her heart was beating loudly in her ears at the feeling. She let herself enjoy it for a moment before letting out a composed breath. "I extracted the corruption, because I knew I could get rid of it." She told him, biting her lip but Shiro didn't want to press her for more details. "You should have let us handle it. Obsidian was growling at me because I said you were heavy." He admitted with a soft smile only to get a rather sudden and forceful fist to his side, where a rather large scare still remained, making him pull away from the woman that was almost the same height as Keith.
"Here's a few tips for you, One: Never call any female heavy, EVER." She scolded him, smoky gray sparks dancing across her skin, as she let go of his prosthetic hand to raise one finger then another. "Two: my suit has added extra weights added for strength training, and Three:..." she trailed with the last one as Shiro's face was so close to hers as he smiled knowingly.
"I'm glad you're okay, but let me help you next time. You're not alone and you don't have to be." His voice was soft, and sincere as he cupped her cheek with his large, warm, REAL hand. His thumb creasing her sensitive Altean markings as his middle finger pressed into a spot behind her ear that made her shiver, she blushed and sparked pink at the far too soothing motion she didn't want to stop feeling.
"I... I...I've got to check on Allura and Coran!" Devine said suddenly, as she stepped out of the paladin's reach to restrain herself, as a bright red blush and pink sparks danced across her tanned skin. "G-get some sleep. I want to see all of you from Voltron." She explained, looking away from him before literally flying to the elevator, leaving a visible trail of pink sparks in her wake that slowly faded.
Shiro chuckled as he watched the pink sparks, to him they looked like the cherry blossom petals he and his parents used to go see every spring.
"I wonder what emotion pink means." He mused before grabbing some clean clothes before going to shower.
~Voltron~
'That was even better than expected!' Devine thought as she sparked pink and white, the image of a shirtless Shiro exciting her before she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Calm down, he's not a toy you can play with... he's Obie's paladin and the leader of Voltron." She reasoned with herself as she stopped sparking and gave a worried frown as the two Alteans seemed to have been on the main deck for a while. "I hope I can convince Allura to let them rest. Shiro not sleeping could be the real reason they couldn't form Voltron last time, and maybe some proper food." Devine shivered as she remembered the sewage sludge looking stuff Corran tried to feed them from what her reality showed her.
"I'm glad I got those recipes from Master Antok. Who would have thought he would love cooking." She mused fondly remembering her time training with her masters, Antok having taught her about survival on harsher planets and about edibles that tasted good together. Then he taught her a few common Galra dishes that managed to survive from 10,000 years ago and some his family had made themselves. "I'm sure Hunk's gonna love it. I wonder if I could teach him some of the recipes... would it upset Master Antok if I passed them down?" She pondered before the elevator stopped as she arrived to the main deck, Allura and Corran at the controls.
"Let's test the Alarm systems and our new Paladians." Allura suggested and Corran seemed to agree with her. "No!" Devine boomed as she flew to physically stop the princess, and let the humans get their much needed REM sleep. "Miss Devine, I see your up and doing well." Allura smiled at the woman, looking a little worried for the older Altean female. "We almost thought the Black lion, had killed you, but Shiro assured us that you just needed some rest." Allura seemed genuinely happily to see her, making Devine let go of her before she let out a sigh. "Yes, and so do the Paladins. Give them a few more Varga and they will be refreshed and able to start training." she suggested, making the princess pout. "No. The universe has suffered long enough under Zarkon's rule. They must wake to form Voltron till they can do it in their sleep. Then they can rest." Allura reasoned as Devine shook her head in disagreement.
"Be reasonable here Allura. They were taken trillions of light-years away from their home, thrust into a strange new world to begin a war with a powerful, and experienced warrior leading a massive empire, the likes of which their kind have never even seen before, and even putting the responsibility of winning said war on their shoulders is just to much!" Devine ranted worriedly, taking a deep breath before continuing for the Paladins' behalf. "Before this, their biggest problem was Homework, getting good grades, and even just getting back home with some ice for some fucking stupid research!" Devine yelled, trembling as she cursed, clenching her fists into tight balls before composing herself, the Altens looked at her with wide eyed shock.
"I know you want to avenge Altea, your father, and everyone that has suffered because of Zarkon's greed for quintessence but..." Devine informed the princess who thought about it for a moment, hesitating, the older woman could see a way to convince the Altean royal. "It's better to do things right, then quickly. We can and will defeat Zarkon and ALL of his followers. IF we take our time and build up our own solid faction against him to back the Paladins... so they don't have to carry this heavy burden alone." She reasoned as the princess started at her wide eyed as tears started to build in the Altean girl's eyes, along with a feeling of familiarity falling between them.
"W-what's wrong Lura?" Devine asked, startled by the tears as she reflexively wiped way the princess tear's gently, creasing the pink markings that faintly glowed at her touch."That's what Queen Amora used to say to Allura when she was younger." Coran explained, looking a bit pained at the mention of the Altean queen. It was confusing as there was never any mention of Allura's mother before, yet the woman was coming up so often.
"It is better to do things right, then quickly." Allura parroted with a sad smile, making Devine want to ask about the queen's fate, but also not upset the princess anymore then she was already. "Yes. Give the paladins four more Vargas at least. I'll even make us all something nice for breakfast. " She suggested, trying to temp them with food, making a note to find some proper Altean recipes.
"NO!" The Alteans shouted in fear, surprising the empath at the sudden dread. "Was the queen... not a good cook?" Devine assumed as they both looked sheepish at their reason for being so fearful.
"No, I would say the last time she tried to cook; she had the pervious paladins out sick for a week." Coran explained as Allura giggled softly. "Yes, Mother told me the story. She just wanted to make Father a little sick with some cookies, but the other Paladin's ended up eating them as well." Allura mused. Devine had to smile at the story, wondering if that was what brought Zarkon and Honerva together, if they weren't already.
~Voltron~
Shiro sighed in contentment as he dried his hair with a towel, walking back to his room from the showers. Having enjoyed the scorching hot water running over his body, his prosthetic arm not needing to be removed and handled the water without any problems. He had needed a shower for the longest time, to clean all the dirt, grime, dead skin, and dried blood from his body. All his visible scares had healed rather well, but he couldn't recall how he got many of them. His time in Galra captivity was a big blur and it was painful to remember any of it. He had hurt people with and without his prosthetic arm; the strange colored dried blood washing away from its crevices was evidence of that before the water seemed to purify him with it's comforting heat.
'So cute~.'
Shiro blinked at the sudden voice as he looked down the hall at Devine, who blushed as soon as she noticed he had spotted her. "Enjoy your shower?" She asked, smiling a little at how attractive he looked in baggy black sweat pants, a white tank top with a white towel around his shoulders, steam coming off his skin making him look sinfully hot. However with his white strands of hair looking like a cotton ball on a fluffy black cat, Devine found the look more adorably cute in her mind.
"Yeah, I was just headed off to bed. You?" he asked casually, confused by the cute comment he heard from her. "Checking in on the others, go get some sleep. You're gonna need it for training tomorrow." She told him with a soft smile as the paladin nodded, going into his room as Devine checked on the others, still dreaming away. Unfortunately dreams and sleep where avoiding Shiro, as lay awake with his mind racing with different thoughts and worries, before he heard some familiar sounding foot steps before his door quietly opened. He looked over and saw Devine with a glass of water coming into his room before he could even give her permission to.
"Still awake?" she asked as Shiro gave her a sad smile. "Yeah." He admitted sitting up before she offered him the glass. Giving her a grateful thanks, he downed the whole glass in a few gulps, the water had tasted a little strange but it did it's job cool his heated insides. Shiro was starting to relax as he let his eyes close a little, before he felt fingers gently brushing his hair, opening his eyes suddenly he saw Devine petting his white fringe in childish amusement.
"It's so soft~." She whispered softly before noticing Shiro's sliver eyes looking at her. "Sorry." Devine apologized, bushing as she retracted her hand from his quickly with a small pout. "You must have suffered a lot of stress. That color isn't normal for a human your age to have." She mentioned softly, knowing that humans could get white hair from either extreme stress or age, and Shiro would be 25-26 years old, if she wasn't going by his birthday of February 29.
"I don't remember much of it." Shiro looked at the floor in shame, missing the look of disappointment on the woman's face. "Yeah. All that fighting in the arena could get pretty gruesome." She admitted as Shiro felt shock and fear as he looked at her in disbelief. "I never mentioned I fought in the arena." he responded, his body tensing as Devine bit her lip. She would have to partly lie to him, but he didn't remember her even if when she was so close.
"I've... seen you fight in the arena, before you... lost your arm." She mentioned, looking at the prosthetic arm sadly. "You where a prisoner too?" Shiro asked, concerned and worried as he started to wonder what she was doing in the same place as him.
"No. I was hidden among the Audience with Master Regris." She told him before she felt his anger appear so suddenly. "You where a slave?" The paladin growled angrily as Devine paled at what he had assumed she had been to the kind Galra. "No. That's what I call my teachers, I was apprenticing under Master Regris at the time and... I asked him to take me there to see the fights there." She explained urgently, looking away nervously before feeling him calm down from his sudden bout of anger. "I've watched you fight, and I knew you would be a Palladian of Voltron. I believed almost all the stories they told about Volton and the paladins. Master Regris was almost convinced about them too until-" she cut herself off, biting her lip nervously.
"Until?" Shiro prompted gently, watching her turn her head away from him.
"Do you... really not remember me?" She asked unsurely, biting her lip as Shiro looked at her in confusion before frowning. "I don't think I really paid much attention to the audience as much as my opponents." He confessed, wondering why she seemed to think he would remember her from his time as a prisoner. "Should I remember you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the young woman, looking at her carefully before she shook her head in dismissal. "It's not important. I can help you get some sleep if you want to give it a try." She suggested, her golden eyes locking with his sliver for a moment, Shiro felt himself relax as he got a good look into them, feeling something warm spread grow inside his chest.
"I don't see why not." he responded almost breathlessly as Devine nodded, gently pushing backwards onto the single, bunk like bed. She fought the temptation to slip into bed with him, as she only kneeled on the floor, her hands where placed over his heart and forehead. Pink and white sparks flickering in contact for a second before stopping completely. "Just relax and take slow deep breaths." Devine told him as she let a soft blue mist seep into Shiro's body, taking calming cool breaths and within seconds he was fast asleep, giving a light snore as sleep finally embraced him.
She suppressed an amused giggle at how cute the paladin looked just sleeping, watching his chest softly rise and fall in a calm rhythm for a few ticks. Blushing as a tempting idea came to her, crushing the thought as she stroked Shiro's white fringe once before getting off the floor. Carefully bending over to plant a soft, innocent little kiss on his forehead before pulling a soft light blue blanket over him. Suppressing her excitement at her small achievement, Devine left with the glass that had a little 'extra' in it to help with any nightmares standing in the way of some well deserved sleep.
"Sleep tight, Takashi~." She mused softly, before leaving his room reluctantly.
~Voltron~
Helping Coran with a few repairs had her exploring the castle as well as being productive. It her something interesting yet important to do while the paladins slept, leaving only the Alteans and her self awake for Arus short night cycle. Finding a few interesting rooms and locked doors before she began browsing threw the massive library for helpful books she could read later, doing a bit of meditation to maintain a stable sanity until she started to explore the sewing room.
Golden eyes sparkled as she ran her fingers over the colorful fabrics in the queen's old sewing room, a whole wall dedicated to nothing but soft, silky, and beautiful fabrics. Numerous drawings of beautiful dresses filled several sketch books along with a few pictures of Allura wearing, the dress that was drawn on the pages. The princess looked so happy wearing each dress, an unrestrained smile on her face as a child that slowly became more fitting of a princess into a demure up turned lips slightly parted to hint at pearly white teeth.
Devine's eyes sparked as she sported other dress styles that didn't seem to fit Allura's taste of long, bright and regal dresses that would suit any princess. Only she found her self loving the short, dark and flowy dresses that wouldn't be out of place on a stage performer or even a dancer. Then the dresses transitioned into more masculine looking suits, spotting a dark purple suit with a lighter diamond shaped pattern along it's edges, instantly falling in love with it. "The guys would look pretty handsome in Altean suits." She giggled, thinking of the suits they would wear that matched their lions before the whole room went red and alarms blared.
"Has it been four Vargas already?" she asked shocked as she looked for something like a clock before she heard Allura's voice over the intercom, a bit too loudly.
'Everybody up! Zarkon is attacking, we need Voltron NOW!'
Devine cringed at the volume before she could feel four of the five paladins wake up suddenly with a hit of panic as they rushed to the main deck. With a sigh she left the sewing room to walk into Lance's room, finding him still fast asleep with Pidge's headphones covering his ears.
~Voltron~
"Oh, no! Devine has been kidnapped and Allura is dead! Aw, it's horrible! Her head fell off!" Coran yelled into the mic, faking tears as he tried to convince the paladins of their threat."Wait! What? Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it, Allura's head? What are your final words?" Coran said, falling to his knees, cradling air as if he actually had the talking served head of Allura. "Coran." Allura called his name, slightly annoyed as four paladins, dressed in their casual clothes, made it to the main deck watching Coran act out his little radio show, unamused. "Oh, yes, Princess, I'm listening." Coran perked up, looking at his princess, oblivious to the paladins in the room, mic still on.
"It's over." Allura told him but Coran kept up with the ruse.
"I know! If only Voltron was formed in time!" The altean whiled before he noticed the present paladins.
"I guess this wasn't an actual attack." Shiro sighed, relived that Zarkon was not at their door step, letting out a tired yawn as he was dressed in his casual clothes like Keith and Pidge, only Hunk was still in pajamas. "It's a good thing, too. It wasn't because it took you... Coran?" Allura scolded, trying to be stern and strong like Devine and Shiro as she looked at Coran, who had a small device ready in his hand. "Seventy-five degrees." Coran reported before realizing something was wrong.
"Oh! Sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer." He said as he realized his error that did not please the princess before she adressed the paladins.
"However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! None of you are in uniform! Where are your bayards? Shiro, you're the leader! Your supposed to be the example the other paladins follow, and where is Lance?" Allura asked, crossing her arms over her chest, looking at the four Paladins as Coran's nose twitched.
"This scent? Could it be?" he asked, sniffing around in the air for something.
"What is it Coran?" Allura asked, confused by her aid's sudden interest in a smell as the mustached Altean started to sniff the paladins. "What are you looking for?" Shiro asked as Coran sniffed around Hunk, who looked a little nervous having the Altean trying to smell him.
"Nope. Not here." Coran dismissed Hunk as the source, before moving on to sniff Pidge. Much to the Large Paladin's relief and the smallest paladin's discomfort. "Negatory." The advisor concluded as Pidge let out a relived sigh as Coran's eyes locked onto Keith next. The red paladin slowly backed away from the strange man who just grabbed him before gave a big sniff of his scent, to far into the teen's personal space.
"Oh~! You smell very nice, but no. It's not you eather." Coran confirmed before getting one sniff of Shiro. Pausing as his eyes widen in shock and surprise as he leaned in very closely to the Black paladin, sniffing his chest and up to the white fringe of hair on his forehead.
"It's YOU!" Coran accused, pointing at a shocked and confused paladin.
"Coran, what where you sniffing out?" Allura asked, as the Altean looked closely at the black paladin's normally gray eyes that held a very slight tint of blue to them. "A secret mixture that kidnappers use to make their targets go to sleep. I have been trained to sniff it out for Allura's safety and YOU-." Coran narrowed his eyes at Shiro who was shocked and confused as he processed the information. "Have it on your breath. Although it was a small dose my sniffer still sniffed it out. " He stated with pride and a puffed out chest.
"So... someone tried to kidnap Shiro?" Pidge asked, looking at the older paladin in confusion as his eyes widen in surprise at the idea."Does that mean there's someone else in the castle?" Hunk asked, confused but was far more tired then worried as he yawned loudly. "No, I think it was Miss Devine who gave it to me." Shiro confessed, remembering the strange tasting water, but before he could ponder her motives, Devine walked in with a tired looking but fully dressed Lance.
"What was all that noise about?" He asked, annoyed to be woken up from his beauty sleep, even if it was by a lovely woman. Devine had been sadistic enough to shock him until he was awake. "Is something wrong?" Devine asked as they all looked at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. Before anyone could speak, Coran grabbed her hands and sniffed them carefully, confirming that the same smell was coming from her. "So it was you Miss Devine." Coran accused, as she looked at them in shocked confusion.
"Am I missing something here?" she asked, not familiar with this event from her original reality. She just decided to try and wake up Lance, and for Shrio to get some decent sleep for the longest time in a while.
"You drugged Shiro?" Keith asked bluntly, looking at her with suspicion.
"W-what!?" she asked, not sure how to respond to the accusation other then shocked, with a little fear and a little embarrassment at being caught so easily. "It was in that water you gave me, wasn't it?" Shrio asked, not looking or feeling mad at all, if anything he seemed grateful and a bit more relaxed then before. Devine nodded not trusting her voice as she tried to process the Paladin's current feelings displayed by his quintessence.
"Is that why you asked to give them more time? So it could wear off?" Allura asked, amazed at the woman's planning and cunning. "Yes. It wouldn't do well if any of them where tried. Aside from Shiro, the others are still in their developmental stages. They need plenty of rest and good nutrition among other things." Devine explained but looked at the younger paladins who were unconvinced of her true intentions.
"Right~ so how deep of a sleep does that stuff give you?" Lance asked, looking around with interest. "Oh, very deep. You could handle their bodies however roughly you wanted for a varga with just a teaspoon of the stuff." Coran helpfully explained giving his eye brows a little wiggle. Devine could feel what some of them where thinking, making her and Shiro blush red at the implication as she also let off pink sparks.
"Embarrassment?" Keith muttered to himself before Allura spoke up to get their attention again.
"Regardless. Miss Devine, Coran and myself have been up for hours getting the castle back in working order. So we had to run a test on alarms and decided to test you as well. Guess which one failed." she added with disappointment heavy in her voice and quintessence.
"Hey!" Hunk shouted before yawning tiredly.
"You got to sleep for 10,000 years, man. Monday night, I was on Earth. Now, I've flown through space in a yellow cat mech, fought some evil purple alien named Sendak, and eaten goo in some weird old castle. That's a lot to process in, uh... I don't know. What day is today?" He asked, disoriented as he tried to think about the days of the week. "It's the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!" Coran explained happily with a wide smile on his face despite being unhelpful. Devine giggling as he said the phrase she was used to a silly camel saying in old commercials.
"It's a lot to process." Hunk's shoulders slouched, mentally exhausted from his experience so far. 'Hopefully meeting Shay will light a fire in him.' Devine mused with a small smile, finding the two to be a cute couple. Then her eyes wondered up to the triangle drone orbiting around Pidge, looking at it worriedly.
"You must understand the stakes of our mission." Allura voiced grimly, a holographic screen showed up around them. "Over the last 10,000 years, the Castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations." A holographic universe showed them a small fraction of planets in blue, with the rest in red, showing where Zarkon's Empire had spread like an unstoppable force without Voltron or anyone else to stop him.
"It's safe to assume Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe." Allura looked at all the red grimly, before she turned the map to show the further reaches of the universe, where there was a familiar blue planet and solar system sat just outside Zarkon's reach. "Earth is here, and the chances of a Galra attacking and your planet is inevitable." Allura looked at the small blue planet that was home to billions of humans and many more creatures.
"Oh no." Hunk paled, Devine could feel his fear as she clenched her fists, yellow sparks arching around them as she bit her lip to keep herself from worrying them anymore then they already where.
"Exactly." Allura nodded. "Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so we can begin the fight ageists Zarkon." She told them, looking at Devine who wrapped her arms around her middle, shivering. "The Princess is right." Shiro agreed, trying to give off good emotions for Devine, who looked terrified enough for all of them. "Let's get to our lions and start training." he tried to encourage before Pidge spoke up. "Wait! I wanna talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship." The smallest paladin asked their leader, looking desperate. "Ah! Negative, Number five! I have you ranked by height, okay?" Coran piped up, spreading his arms to show off Pidge's height. "The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow."
"That's right. No more distractions, get to your lions." Allura commanded them as the other Paladins left, Keith looking at Devine unsurely before leaving as Shiro approached her carefully. "Miss Devine? Are you alright?" he asked seeing the rainbow of sparks that come off her body. 'Yellow is fear, White is Excitement, gray is anger...' Shiro recalled the colors with how she seemed to feel at the time, before he noticed red and black sparks in the mix.
Devine let out a slow breath before she responded to him uneasily.
"I-I'm fine, I knew a lot of creatures from some of those planets... I couldn't help them very much." she admitted, shyly and flinched as she felt a hand on her shoulder, only relaxing when she noticed it was just Shiro, giving off his emotion of concern to her. It felt so comforting; she wanted to drown in it for a little bit as she missed the Voltron leader's words of thanks and assurance, leaving her in a light daze on the main deck.
~Voltron~
"Should someone go in after him?" Lance asked, as four of the five lions arrived on the bridge to the castle once they left their hangar bays, waiting for Hunk and Topaz to come out of the castel so that they could get their training over with.
"Hi, guys. Sorry, everybody." Hunk apologized sheepishly as he flew Topaz onto the bridge with the others. "Seriously, though, can't they park these things, like, a little closer to the bridge?" he asked, not impressed with the over the top quick way to the lions. "I mean Miss Devine beat us to the lions, and she walked!" he pointed out, not amused that the woman had beaten them all to the hanger by simply walking and taking the elevator, she was even conversing with Topaz, the yellow lion before Hunk finally got to the hanger, waiting with his speeder bike that had yet to enter the lion.
"We can sort that out later Hunk, right now practice on your Voltron formation." Devine spoke up from her position above the entrance to black lion's hanger on the main deck, since it's display was the only one she could read clearly enough, unlike with the others. "She's right, guys. Let's just fly in tight formation until we're totally in sync." Shiro ordered, glad Devine was better as the lions ran and flew in formation up in the sky. "Feel the bond with your lion, and your fellow pilots. Five will become one unit and you will have form Voltron!" Allura encouraged, her face appearing on their screen in the lions.
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered together as they in sync in the sky, sprits flying s high as their lions.
~Voltron~
"Yeah!" The group cheered, less enthusiastic as they flew the other way, trying to from Voltron, Devine was conflicted on helping them before opening one of the books she got form the castle library.
~Voltron~
"Yeah." Everyone said as they flew another way, still in formation but Devine could see Keith and Lance where starting to lag behind before she went back to the book.
~Voltron~
"Yay." Everyone said weakly as they flew another way, Devine reading a cook book she had gotten from the library for this moment, along with a pleasantly convenient, Altean-Galra dictionary to help her translate.
~Voltron~
"Whoo!...Am I the only one who's still pretending to be excited?" Hunk asked, noticing he was the only one giving a response to their now sloppy formation flying. "Clearly, this isn't working. Let's set down for a little bit." Shiro voiced, getting frustrated with the lack of progress. "Miss Devine?" he called her name as ember eyes blinked and looked up from the old books as she appeared on his screen. "Yes?" she questioned, mostly lazing about in the main control room, monitoring the paladins as Allura was fixing something from her station. "Got any ideas on what we are doing wrong. Besides the princess and Coran, you seem to know the most about Voltron." He asked, as Devine smiled at being asked for help.
"Well just flying in formation alone isn't gonna cut it. You guys have to be in sync-"
"We are in sync!" Lance complained, cutting her off.
"Then why no Voltron? Look. What I'm saying is that physically being in sync alone isn't gonna from Voltron. You have to have your minds and hearts linked together as well." She told them as she put a hand over her heart. "It's almost like a Waltz." She explained only to get groans for the younger paladins.
"I have two left feet." Hunk admitted shamefully.
"I passed on dance classes." Pidge waved it off.
"I just don't like dancing." Keith divulged with disinterest.
"Why a Waltz?" Lance asked with a disappointed pout.
Shiro sighed as Devine shook her head at their little group. "It doesn't have to be a Waltz. Most music just follows one rhythm, so let's all pick a song together so we can get all of you in sync." She asked, opening a pandora's box as they argued about what song to follow.
~Voltron~
"Well that didn't work." Devine pouted, disappointed they still didn't from Voltron, but she expected something to go wrong with her idea in the first place. "Maybe we should be building Voltron from the ground up." Keith suggested, giving up on the music idea after not being able to pick a song."What do you mean?" Shiro questioned, willing for more solutions to their problem."I mean, let's try literally building Voltron, like, stacking on top of each other." Keith explained, confusing the others.
"Like a cheerleader pyramid?" Lance questioned, thinking of girls in skirts stacking on top of one another.
"You got a better idea?" Keith snapped back.
"It's worth a shot." Devine mused, eger to see the rest of their funny ideas as the image of the paladins in cheer uniforms came to mind. 'I wonder if I can get them into those uniforms.' She grinned wickedly as she watched them try and stack the lions, and fail as Topaz was on top of Obsidian, Shiro also noticed the added weight to his lion.
"Hunk, what are you doing?" Shiro asked, unamused by the extra weight on his lion, and neither was she.
"What do you mean?" Hunk questioned innocently. "You're supposed to be the leg over there." Shiro deadpanned while pointing to the left of Sapphire, where Hunk should be with Topaz. "What? No. No, no, no. I'm pretty sure that when we did it last time, I was the head. Right?" Hunk asked, innocently as Devine held back a chuckle.
"You yelled, 'I'm a leg'!" Lance argued, being on the bottom.
"Yeah, I was yelling a lot of things." Hunk tried to defend himself.
"Shiro's the head." Keith corrected as Hunk pouted.
"All the time?" he asked, a little deflated.
"Let's just try it my way for now." Shiro replied, feeling mentally exhausted already.
"Okay, but next time I call head." Hunk declared, as Devine shook with amusement as they rearranged. Sapphire and Topaz where on the bottom to form the legs, Ruby and Peridot on top of them before Obsidian lowered onto their backs carefully. "Okay. Arms, legs, and I'll form the head. Feel the bonds with your lions. Channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus... Focus..." Shiro encouraged as he tried to focus on forming Voltron like the others.
There was just wind and birds for a moment before Devine busted out laughing, startling them with the sudden noise and making the lions fall into a heap on the ground. "Devine! What's wrong!?" Shiro asked, worried by the sudden outburst as he pulled up the screen to see the laughing woman. "S-s-sorry I-I can't h-h-help it! AGH!" she laughed, amused by the lion pile but also something was crawling around her clothes. Slowly, a blue, angry looking mouse popped up over her shoulder, then a pink on top her head, a small blue one from her sleeve, and then a big yellow one from inside her jacket collar.
"Lucky Rat." Lance muttered as Devine calmed down from the mice climbing inside her clothes. "Well I guess they wanted to say hello." She mused pulling out the yellow mouse form her shirt, and giving it a gentle pet on its head. "Why was this so much easier before?" Lance whined as he slouched in his chair, the other paladins wondering something similar.
"Let's take a break." Shiro sighed loudly, strangely feeling a little peeved at the mice for invading Devine's clothes with a light blush on his cheeks.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I may be able to help." Allura appeared on screen, and Devine looked worried, as the mice gathered on her shoulders. "Yesterday, you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle."
"Yeah, I guess." Keith agreed, not knowing where the princess was going.
'Sorry Shiro.' Devine thought as the Black Paladin blinked in confusion as he could have sworn he heard Devine's voice in his head."Perfect! Because I need to run a diagnostic test on all of the Castle's defenses. This should help!" Allura added with glee activating the castle's barrier before it started shooting lasers at the lions. The Paladins screaming while trying to avoid the lasers. "Okay, whoa, whoa!" Lance yelled as he and Sapphire dogged the rapid firing lasers. "Allura, what are you doing?!" Keith exclaimed and her and Ruby evaded the shots with some difficulty. "Running a diagnostic test on the Castle defenses and inspiring you! I believe in you, Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!" Allura cheered thinking she was doing them some good, as Devine pet the mice in worry, not fully agreeing with the Princess's method of harsh motivation.
"Forget this! I'm heading back to the Castle!" Lance yelled, Sapphire making her way to the castle only to run head first into the castle barrier and be bounce back painfully. "Please stop! Please! Have mercy on us!" Hunk yelled as Topaz was slower and bigger than the rest, yet having the thickest armor. "You think Zarkon is going to have mercy on you? He's probably on his way right now to destroy us all!" Allura declared angrily before she walked away from the console with a final command.
"Auto-lock-on engaged." A computerized voice announced, Devine could feel everyone's panic and dread before Allura turned to her. "Now. What are these Earth snacks you will be preparing? The mice and I are very interested in these muffins." the princess asked, her light blue eyes sparking with interest as the mice squeaked in agreement.
~Voltron~
Devine was in the kitchen, setting down four 'space muffins' for the small mice, who happily dug into the tasty smelling treat. After politely waiting for them to cool down from baking inside of the Altean equivalent of an oven. Devine set aside a water dish and some fruit, chopped down into small pieces for the mice to nibble on. She smiled at the rodents fondly, listening to their genuinely happy squeaks as they ate. It was one of the reasons she preferred animals over most 'intelligent' creatures, they always expressed their true emotions, unless badly hurt, they would either like you or hate you, no in-between or 50 shades of gray.
Letting out a relived sigh, she picked up two trays, one topped neatly with warm muffins, and the other had several glasses of mixed fruit smoothies, topped with cute little umbrellas and straws. Walking out of the kitchen and into what could be dubbed as, the Living room, where four of the five paladins where lounging around after dogging the castle's auto locked lasers for a few hours, looking defeated and tired as they didn't respond to her entrance.
"Who wants a little pick me up?" Devine asked, slightly amused as they all looked up at her quickly, seeing the treats as if they where sent from some divine realm. "Are... are those muffins?" Hunk asked, sniffing the air excitedly as Devine walked into the middle of where they where lounging, presenting the trays proudly. "Sure are. Made with a super secret family recipe, and some smoothies made with the native fruits of Arus, toped with little umbrellas. Just to give them a more, tropical feel." Devine mussed as they all took a drink and muffin before eagerly devouring them.
"Don't eat them to fast. You guys still have training, and doing it on a full stomach isn't a very good idea." She warned them as the young paladins happily ate the new, yet familiar confections. "These are really divine~. Just like the angel who made them." Lance flirted as he drank his smoothie, feeling lighter and energized form the thoughtful snack. Devine smiled softly as she felt their sprits lift with the simple treat.
'There goes the carrot, and now for the stick.' She thought, just before the Alteans entered the room.
"Are we at full power on condenser number five yet?" Allura questioned as she walked in, the paladins mood quickly souring. "No, still just 84 percent." Coran responded before the princess noticed the younger paladins in the room. "You did it! You formed Voltron!" Allura smiled happily as she saw them, Devine still feeling nervousness coming from the princess. "No. The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in." Keith informed her, making her sprits fall.
"What!?" The princess snapped angrily as Devine rose her hand in admittance.
"I turned them off. We don't need the Castle destroying the Lions, or the Lions destroying the castle." She reasoned before offering Coran his own drink and a muffin which he curiously tried the unfamiliar treat. "Besides, Coran said he needed to test the fire suppressors, he couldn't very well do that while the Castel is firing away at moving targets." She pointed out as the mustached Altean finished the last of his muffin. "She does have a point princess." Coran agreed, making Allura feel hurt and a little betrayed by her trusted advisor siding with the older woman that no one really knew well. Yet she seemed to be able to take command from the royal Altean princess almost as easily as-
"What are you guys doing in here?" Shiro asked as he came into the room, looking disappointed and frustrated about something. "We're not done yet and our break is over." He barked at the younger paladins who looked away in shame as Allura's mood brightened with the black paladin on her side. "Shiro's right, ALL of you should be training." Allura enforced as she glared at Devine, feeling more confident in her self before the woman shook her head in disagreement.
'To much stick.' Devine thought before looking pleadingly at the dissatisfied princess.
"Allura. Shiro and I know firsthand how cruel the Galra can be, the others haven't seen even a sliver of it yet. I don't know how they operated on Earth, but winning a war with a massive alien empire is not even in their dreams, except for Keith and even then he dreams of fighting an honorable Zarkon that doesn't use any dirty tricks." She admitted, making Keith blush as the others looked at him with mild interest.
Devine carefully approached Shiro, with a soft pleading smile on her lips that made him tense and his heart beat a bit faster as she stopped at arms length away from him. "Shiro, if we want to take down Zarkon, we need to do things right, not quickly." she explained, Allura feeling shame as she heard her mother's phrase being used against her decisions again. "Their tired, and so are you mentally. Let rest be your ally. You could even think of it more like a bonding break to work on getting closer as a team." she suggested, reaching out to him with her left hand and placing it over the Black Voltron insignia, instead of his unprotected face. Devine had planed to use her strange gift to influence him, before stopping herself as Shiro's shoulders relaxed without the use of her powers. The older paladin letting out a slow breath as he relaxed, processing her words carefully.
"I-your right, but what are those?" Shiro asked looking at the drinks curiously, as she smiled a little. "Fruit smoothies, made from the local fruits, and muffins made with-" She started but blinked in confusion at seeing an empty tray of crumbs, two Alteans and Hunk being the closest to it. "These are delicious!" Allua praised in surprise as she polished off her fourth muffin, Coran brushing out the crumbs in his mustache. Leaving Hunk was the only one who looked bashful at getting caught eating the last muffin.
Shiro pouted in disappointment before Devine suppressed a chuckle, finding it amusing that Allura liked a Galra recipe. "Don't worry, I made more. I'll just go check to see if the mice left them alone." She mused intending to walk to the kitchen as Shiro moved to follow her, only to have her pick up a glass hand it to him with a soft smile. "You, sit down and rest. Bond with your team, you're their leader but that doesn't mean you can't be their friend too." She told him, leaving the room before he could respond. Shiro watched her leave, being a little stunned in place by her subjection as the other paladins watched him staring at retreating her back.
"I hate to see Miss Devine leave, but I'm starting to love watching her walk away." Lance mussed as he watched the woman leave with mild interest.
"Lance!" Shiro hissed sternly, giving the blue paladin a stern glare before Devine reappeared with a pleased smile and a tray of muffins, with the Altean mice on her shoulders looking proud of themselves. "Good news! They where little sweet hearts and left the rest alone." She announced before setting the tray down and picking up her own drink to help them bond.
~Voltron~
"Alright Paladins, your code demands that you put the safety of your teammates, and the Princess, before your own. A swarm of drowns are about to attack, get ready!" Coran explained as he was in the observation room above the large, almost arena like training room. "I can defend myself Coran. I'm not a princess." Devine argued, standing in the center of the Paladin's formation, dressed in the purple and white suit that once belonged to the Galra Empress. half a dozen small orbs appeared and circled around them. "Don't worry princess; we'll take care of these drones in no time." Lance boasted confidently, tossing a smirk over his shoulder at Devine, making the older woman scowl at the pet name he used, but she said not thing to the young paladin.
"It's up to each of you to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team." Coran instructed as shields appeared in the Paladin's hands. "Wait, wait, wait. What's going on? Whoa. Did you guys get one of these?" Hunk asked, looking at his little shield that was only the size and length of his arm. "Get ready, hold your ground." Shiro ordered as a drone fired at Hunk, who let out a yelp before narrowly dogging it, the laser about to hit Devine before she summoned her own shield to block it.
"I'll just assume this suit doesn't have its own shield, Coran." She growled unhappily as she used a small, shield that looked like a transparent white diamond, instead of the teal rectangular shield the Paladins had.
"Protect your teammates or no one will be there to protect you!" Coran shouted as Hunk dunked behind Devine as they traded spots, before she summoned another shield for added protection. "Come on now. Not even Miss Devine can protect you forever." Coran voiced as a hole in the floor opened just under her feet, caught off guard Devine started to float in the air as she protected the paladins around her.
"CORAN!" she yelled loudly in annoyance, the mustached Altean pouting at his failed plan of separating the female from the paladins, so instead he opened up a hole under the cowering Hunk. "Agh!" The yellow Paladin screamed, scared as he vanished into the floor.
"Hunk!" Pidge cried out, becoming distracted as a laser managed to hit them, and the green paladin was sucked into a hole in the floor as well.
"Time to increase intensity!" Coran yelled as he had the drones speed up around the group and unleashing a rapid fire of lasers as those remaining nearly pressed their backs together. "You keeping up over there, Keith?" Lance asked, feeling confident as he had Devine and Shiro protecting his sides and Keith at his back. "Yeah, just concentrate on keeping me safe." Keith responded as he deflected the lasers coming at them, making Lance scoff. "Me? I own this drill. You're the one who needs to concentr-ate!" Lance screamed as the drones went low to the floor, a laser almost hit his unprotected leg before the Cuban boy pulled it out of harm's way, which allowed a drone to hit Keith's unguarded back. A hole appeared under the red paladin disappeared into the floor, leaving Lance's back unguarded, being the next to get hit and fall into the mysterious hole in the floor.
Coran's face met his palm as he let out a tired groan, growing frustrated with the new paladins failing the simple training exercises. Leaving their leader and their self proclaimed, liaison, to deal with the drones' onslaught.
Shiro and Devine pressed their backs together being the only ones left standing in the room. "Leave no room for attack." Shiro yelled over the rapid firing of lasers as Devine summoned more shields to protect their sides, concentrating on maintaining several at a time as they where hit repeatedly. The drones then blurred into a spinning ring around them, firing lasers almost continuously
at the pair. "How many of those shields can you make?" the paladin asked, glancing at the small shields briefly before getting a response. "Just jump and we'll see." She suggested, concentrating on the six drones, mentally seeing their attack pattern and speed, neither of them noticing the soft glow in their eyes.
'JUMP!' Devine thought just as Shiro made a powerful leap into the air, leaving the woman unguarded for a fraction of a second. The woman managed to throw several white shards at the drones, piercing right threw their targets leaving small holes that ran right threw the Altean machines. Just as Shiro landed on his feet, the drones fell uselessly to the floor, the paladin looking at the destroyed drones with a satisfied smirk, one that Devine unknowingly mirrored despite not even looking at him.
"Wow! Beautiful work, Miss Devine, and that was some good thinking on your part Number one. You two are quite accomplished. Now, lets move on to the next exorcise." Coran praised as he watched the two closely, having noticed something strange between the two as they worked together.
~Voltron~
Lance stood alone on the training room floor, in the middle of a simple looking maze that had invisible walls as the other paladins where up in the observation room watching. "To form Voltron, you must trust in each other. This ancient paladin maze will teach you all that trust. Your teammate can see the walls, but you cannot. So, listen carefully. If you touch the walls, you'll get a slight shock." Coran explained as they watched, Devine knowing that it would not go over well for Lance, and the other to a lesser degree possibly.
"Okay. Who's guiding me through?" Lance asked before Keith spoke up from observing the maze displayed before him on screen. "Take two steps forward." Keith instructed over the mic and Lance was not happy to hear the red paladin's voice. "Oh, no. Not Keith! Why does he get to be the man on the mic?" Lance complained as he looked up at him up on the deck. "Now, just sit tight. You'll get your turn." Coran assured as Keith repeated himself a bit more annoyed. "Like I said, take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps that direction." He instructed. Lance grumbled in complaint but turned right instead taking two steps forward, immediately he got shocked by the invisible wall.
"Coran! That was not a slight shock! Devine's shocks didn't even hurt this bad!" Lance complained as he glared accusingly at Keith. "And you did that on purpose!"
"You're not listening." Keith shot back, eye twitching in annoyance. "You said, turn right." Lance repeated part of the instructions. "Before that, I said, Take two steps forward." Keith repeated as Lance frowned and walked forward, only to be shocked again. "That's it! We're switching places right now!" Lance yelled angrily as he pointed up at Keith as the other's watched Lance get shocked even more as he tried to make it out of the maze by himself.
"Lance isn't very good with directions is he?" Devine asked worriedly as Hunk and Pidge shook their heads in confirmation.
~Voltron~
After they finally got Lance through the maze, Pidge was next, guided by Hunk, Devine giving the large paladin a little encouragement to get the green paladin safely through. Hunk was next to enter the maze, guided by Lance, and the yellow paladin had made it out with only getting shocked three times thanks to his friends directions. Shiro got through the maze the quickest with Pidge guiding him safely threw. Leaving Keith to be instructed by Devine, much to Lance's disappointment as the red paladin made it out safely, but not as quickly as Shiro and Pidge, having hesitated a slightly at the strange woman's instructions.
Coran then instructed Devine to enter the maze, confusing the woman slightly.
"Coran, why am I down here?" she asked, waiting as the maze rearranged around her so that none of them could just memorize the way out. "Well you are a part of this team Miss Devine. You also seem to have quite the bond with each of the lions. Only fair you do this exorcise as well." He pointed out as Shiro studied the layout of the new maze. "Don't worry Miss Devine; I'll lead you in the right direction." Shiro's voice suddenly entered her ears, making the woman forget her retort as she blushed from hearing his alluring voice.
"S-sure. Lead the way then." Devine responded calmly, trying not to get distracted from the task a hand. "Take two steps to your left then go four steps forward." The black paladin instructed as Devine followed his instructions obediently, willing to complete the pointless exorcise that wouldn't help with the formation of Voltron. Shiro could already lead and she was willing to follow his commands, despite not being a paladin or under his command.
'She was hiding that figure?' Devine was slightly confused as she heard Shiro's voice in her mind. Processing the words made her blush a deeper pink, the tight purple and white suite had exposed her thick hourglass figure, and since she didn't have her baggy jacket to hide it, she just wrapped her arms around her middle nervously.
'Please don't look at me.' she pleaded, slightly uncomfortable with the leader taking in her form, confusing the Black paladin who hard her plea in his mind rather then the communicator in his ear. "Miss Devine, are you alright?" He asked, a bit concerned about hearing her voice in his head again, watching as she shifted uneasily down below. "Yeah. Where to next?" she asked, mentally cringing at a possible flaw Shiro could have seen in her to prompt the question in the first place.
"Take five steps right, then four left." He instructed, unsure of her response as he watched her calmly walk threw the maze, no hesitation in her steps, trusting his directions in a way that unnerved the black paladin. "Now just two steps to your right and then-" Shiro was saying into her ear but in her mind she heard slightly different directions. 'Bend over for me~.'She heard Shiro's voice purr in her mind. Her mind producing a lust inducing scene:
She was bent over obediently, Shiro behind her holding a ridding crop in his left hand, tapping it ageist's the palm of the prosthetic once before a sinfully gorgeous smile blooming across his face before he raised the crop... quickly bringing it down quickly on-
"Sorry! W-what was that?" Devine nearly shrieked her question, snapping out of her daze. Blushing a deep red under the purple and white helmet, trying to will away the sudden heat of desire that pleased her inner animal. Shiro on the other hand was struck speechless by the same image that came to mind, blushing a deep red as his mouth hung open in shock and confusion.
"Shiro? Are you alright?" Keith asked as he noticed his mentor go rigid for some reason, Coran carefully observing the older Paladin carefully as he seemed to recover from his sudden shock. "Yeah! Um? Miss Devine, take two steps to your right and then another... right?" He said unsurely as something in his mind brought bring up a memory.
Shiro was panting heavy as his naked and scared body was flushed pink, his head thrown back as he cried out in pleasure after he-
'NO! This isn't 50 Shades of Gray! Now Focus!'
Shrio was startled as he heard Devine's voice yell loudly inside his head, vanquishing the odd image just in time to see her follow his directions. Leading her into a wall that sparked on contact, like the first time Lance run into it. "Did I... just hit a wall?" she asked, confused as the woman proceeded to pat the invisible wall in several places, getting 'shocked' every time but going unaffected even as the sparks ran threw the suit and into her body harmlessly."I didn't think Lance would be that big of a baby. I can barely feel a thing."
"Hey! It really hurt!" Lance cried out in his defense, surprised the woman was handling the electrified walls as if it was nothing. "I'm with Lance, those things didn't tickle me either." Hunk added, pouting in confusion. "What's the voltage going through the walls now Coran?" Pidge asked, curious as the Altean was slightly impressed as he checked the voltage. "Same as any of you, but that's no surprise. Alteans are a very resilient race; you can't hurt us that easily!" Coran boasted proudly as Shiro refocused on the maze.
"Sorry, I meant to say left, and then you should be out of the maze." Shiro corrected, Devine following his directions obediently and escaping the maze. "Excellent work you two. Next time Number one, try not to get distracted by her Altean beauty." Coran smirked at Shiro, giving the paladin a knowing wink. "I say it's a nice distraction. Who knew she was hiding that under that emo jacket! It completely hid that gorgeous time piece." Lance piped in as Devine became uneasy from the well meant praise.
"I-i need to take this suite off." She told them hurriedly before nearly running out of the training room as the paladin's watched her leave in confusion.
"Does she not like complements or something?" Hunk asked, having noticed her discomfort.
"She's just being shy and innocent little maiden. Besides the princess, she is a beautiful Altean female surrounded by strong, handsome, young men." Coran explained, flexing his muscles with pride. "Not to mention it's unheard of for any Altean to not be engaged or even married at her age." He told them sagely, as they looked at the Altean in confusion."Then what about you?" Keith asked, damping Coran's mood as he huffed. "I am married to my work. The castle does not take care of itself completely you know." he explained, not showing how the innocent comment had burned his pride.
"I'll go check on her. Make sure she's alright." Shiro offered, walking out of the observation deck, Lance about to eagerly follow him before Coran stopped him, a smirk hidden under his orange mustache.
~Voltron~
"WHAT THE HELL!" Devine yelled as she nearly ripped off the helmet from her head, not caring about her messed up hair since she was alone in the changing room. Letting the helmet drop to the floor carelessly in her desperate attempt to get the suite off her burring skin that was alight with white and pink sparks with puffs of red mist coming out of her mouth. Getting the suit off down around her waist, her body was exposed to the cool air, only a black and purple sports bra like garment covering her chest, her heated skin flushed at the sudden temperature change. "Why did I think of those things? We were just training and-Augh! I probably need an other good fucking." she growled in frustration, her hormones roaring loudly, demanding to be followed and satisfied by one of the most alluring prospects in the castle.
"W-what!?" Came Shiro's voice, sounding confused and shocked from the door way. Devine froze in shock as her neck audibly snapped as she looked behind her. A blushing, wide eyed Shiro who had just walked into the room, the blush starting to deepen as they realized she was half naked. "DON'T LOOK!" Devine yelled fearfully as she tried to cover herself with her arms and legs, curling into a ball in the air as Shrio quickly turned around to make himself stop staring at her scared upper body. Seeing what almost looked like redish-pink scales covering her upper back under her top, but he had also noticed the strange white stripe like scars on her sides and hips.
"S-sorry! I was just making sure you where alright. You ran out of pretty quickly and..." Shiro trailed off, unsure how to ask about what he thought heard her say. "I'm fine, the imprint on this suite was just getting to me." she told him, it was slightly true after all, seeing small glimmers of what could be a space version of Beauty and the Beast, minus the Stockholm syndrome of course.
"Was it really that strong?" he asked, a little curious about her strange powers and it's effects. "I was wearing the whole suite, so... it was a little over whelming." She admitted as Shiro chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you don't find me that attractive." He mused, not seeing her eyes widen in disbelief at his words. "N-no. I find you very attractive." she admitted to quietly for the paladin to hear her. 'I just can't do anything about it.' She thought with a tired sigh.
"Why not?" he asked, surprising the woman who thought he hadn't heard her. "I'm... really not supposed to be here, but I wanted to be one of the first to see Voltron from in 10,000 years. Getting to attached to any of you is...was not a good idea. I'll eventually leave to work towards my own goals." She admitted, biting her lip as she thought about his time in the Galra arena, how she had gotten so close to him in secret. before his destined escape to Earth. Yet, that time was locked away deep in his subconscious, where it would possibly never come out.
'I messed up.' Devine thought sadly, as Shiro carefully took in the information she had admitted, thinking. Trying to remember what happened before his return, several heavily blurred images entered his mind but he shook his head to clear them away. "That doesn't matter. You're here now and we haven't been able to form Vol... tron..." Shiro trailed off as he turned to look at her back, getting a better look at her back, the 'scales' changing color from the redish-pink to yellow, to green, to blue, and then purple, looking like it a rainbow was embedded into her back as an idea struck him.
"I think I have an idea. You've piloted Ruby before right?" he asked, a spark of interest, Devine's golden eyes blinked as she shyly looked at him threw some stray strands of her white hair, giving him a hesitant nod as he stared at her for a tick to long.
'That's kinda cute.' Shiro mussed with a soft smile before Devine eyes widen in shock, her face glowing bright red as she had not seen the Paladin's lips move to speak. Shiro's voice was unmistakable to her sharp ears, her mind summoning plausible explanations before realizing that Josh Keaton couldn't possibly be in space with them, but the Black lion was.
"OBSIDIAN!" Devine yelled suddenly in realization as smokey gray sparks arched around her body, startling and confusing the black paladin who couldn't hear the black lion's teasing remarks and amused cackles.
~Voltron~
The Lions where lined up outside the castle once again, Peridot, Obsidian, Sapphire, Ruby and Topaz all facing the desolate landscape they had created during their training.
"Was this place like this before we came here?" Hunk asked nervously from behind Devine, who had changed into her normal clothes, including her black jacket. Sitting in his seat onboard the yellow lion she had named Topaz, doing something on the screens he couldn't understand because of the unfamiliar, alien characters on display. "No. You guys plowed through a lot of trees, trampled grass, and scared off quite a few of the locals during training." She told him, smiling at the image of the far off trees. A yellow grid was overlaid onto the compacted ground, Topaz helping her find where the dirt needed to be loosened to allow anything to grow there again.
"So... how is letting Devine pilot our lions gonna help us from Voltron? Not that I'm complaining or anything." Lance admitted, excited to eventually be alone with a beautiful woman in his lion for a bit. "She's piloted Ruby before, and she can talk to our lions. Maybe it's her connection that will help us." Shiro pointed out; still confused by the earlier argument she had with his lion alone in the hanger. If he hadn't known better, he would think she was crazy, scolding Obsidian for something Devine assured him wasn't going to happen again... hopefully.
"It's worth a shot, and while I'm at it, we can give back to Arus for its great service." Devine suggested as she firmly grabbed the controls for Topaz, who sounded like Hunk when she gave the lion mecha a playful boop on the nose.
'This is so exciting! Can we show my paladin my cannon? Oh! And my claws?' Topaz asked excitedly. Devine chuckled at the yellow lion's eagerness to bond more with his/her paladin, who was looking confused by the woman's amusement of the lion noises he was hearing. "Sure, Topaz. I'm up for showing them a little teaser trailer for all of your abilities. Will that alright with everyone?" she asked, getting confused looks form the paladins as they appeared on Topaz's screen.
"YES!" Pidge yelled, eagerly bouncing inside Peridot, the other Lions purred in agreement, happy and excited at being able to show off to their new paladins.
"How about you, Hunk?" She asked as Hunk looked unsure of what to really say. "Um? yeah, go for it." He frowned before they took off, Hunk grabbing onto the pilot chair fearfully as the back of his left hand made contact with the woman's left shoulder, turning the lion noises into words.
'Don't be scared. You will always be my precious paladin~.'
"Huh?" Hunk asked, confused as he looked at the woman who didn't look like she said anything as she concentrated on piloting the Yellow lion as if it was second nature to her, and it seemed like lion mecha was...purring? Devine started Topaz into a steady run across the landscape, her paws slamming and scraping across the surface to break up the dirt before the claws came out, plowing through the compacted dirt to stop the momentum Topaz had built up running, doing it several more times before its tail whipped the ground, letting out a startling thunder crack as it hit the hard layer of rocks just below the dirt.
"What was that!" Hunk asked, startled as he looked around for the cause on the monitors, seeing only what looked like birds and other animals fleeing the forest in fear, placing a hand on Devine's shoulder before he heard her voice inside his head.
'Sorry, that was me.'
The large paladin looked at the woman who noticed his confusion.
"That was Topaz speaking to you, I just act as a sort of translator for the lions. We needed to scare the wildlife a bit before we pull out a few trees, so Ruby doesn't cause any unnecessary damage." She explained to him as she had Topaz up root a few trees from the dense forest, almost carelessly chucking them across the barren landscape closer to the castle.
"Miss Devine? What are you doing?" Hunk asked as he watched the large lion carefully walk threw the dense forest, but then carelessly up root a random tree before tossing it. "Pruning the forest and creating a natural fire barrier so Ruby can safely lite it up as much as she wants." She informed him as Topaz uprooted one large tree and tossed it far away, just a few feet from the other lions.
"And... done. Want to see her weapon now?" Devine asked in amusement, Hunk hearing the lion speak up eagerly.
'Yes! Yes! Stick it in! Please my paladin, stick it in~!'
The large paladin was confused as Devine suppressed a chuckle at the unintended innuendo before making her request clear. "Your Bayard, stick it in that slot and twist it so we can show you just how big her cannon really is." She mused, as Topaz reviled her bayard slot, waiting to be filled. Hunk was still confused but did as she told him and twisted it as the cockpit lit up with golden colored lights.
Near the castle, other Paladins watched with wide eyes as a large cannon, nearly half the size of the Yellow lion, appeared on its back taking aim at an unseen target. "Where was that when we needed it!" Lance yelled in outrage as the massive cannon charged up a shot. Watching as the lion's claws braced itself, extra claws anchoring it securely to the ground before it fired a massive golden beam of energy that streaked up uselessly into the air, only... the Paladins were shown a rather massive asteroid that had come very close to the alien planet, before the golden beam ripped threw it like it had been wet paper.
"Woah~." Hunk expressed his surprise, eyes sparking with interest at the power of the cannon before removing his Bayard, looking at in wonder. "Can I do that?" he asked the woman in the pilot seat. Devine shaking her head as she pulled her hands away from the controls, before tucking them into her jacket pocket. "Not for a while I'm afraid, and my time's up." The strange woman got up from the chair oddly quick before a communication to the red and blue lions were opened. "Keith, its Ruby's turn. Lance be ready with Sapphire, your gonna be needed to keep everything from burring." She told them with a nervous smile. The red paladin could feel his Lion purring with excitement, as Hunk piloted the yellow lion back.
~Voltron~
Keith watched with mild interest as Devine made a few calculations on the console, still confused about the way she had greeted the red lion, pressing her forehead to it's nose before Ruby would open her mouth to let her inside. "Now for an intentional burn." She mused grabbing the lion's controls carefully making her run forward, the red lion's tail turning into a flame thrower burring at the uprooted trees and the thick foliage of the forest.
"Hey! There could be someone still in there." Keith argued as he grabbed her shoulder and was shocked at what he suddenly heard.
'BURN FOREST! BURN! HAHAHA!'
Quickly Keith retracted his hand as he looked at Devine with slight fear, having heard her voice... enjoying the act of burning the healthy and innocent forest. "I'm guessing you understood our little Pyro kitty." she asked, glancing at a confused Keith in amusement before going back to task of setting the forest on fire, within the limits she had set with the yellow lion before hand.
"She... sounded like you." He told her as Ruby pranced around the burring fire happily, Devine having a bit more difficulty controlling the guardian of fire. "Only because the lions use me as a sort of medium, you hear her purring?" she asked and the young man nodded. The sound was almost shaking the entire cockpit, the vibrations going up his legs an warming his entire body noticeably, it only confused Keith more when she held out her hand to him, the lion standing among the flames around them.
"Then hear what she has to say?" she offered as Keith looked at her hand hesitantly before taking it, the purrs almost instantly turned into words.
'Fire burn and smolder, while this kitty gets no older. Come and play we'll shout hurray! All threw out your days~!' Devine's voice sang happily before Keith pulled his hand away, the voice sounding like purring again. "Oh-kay? That was weird." Keith voiced as Devine chuckled at the little song the lion had sang in her happiness. "She's really happy. Care to try out your Bayard now?" she asked as the slot opened like it did for Hunk, but Keith hesitated as he watched the flames lick at the lion's legs harmlessly with a frown. "Isn't this a bit to much already?" Keith asked, amazed but also worried about the huge fire she had started.
"Hmm, possibly. We can stop here if you're-" Devine was saying before the red lion started to move on her own, taking to the air. "What? Ruby, no!" the woman yelled as she grabbed the controls, trying to restrain the lion's movements to the ground. "I thought you could pilot the Lions!" Keith yelled as he tried to brace himself as Devine fought the lion for control, only to be thrust into the air spinning like a top and dash around randomly in the air. Making her two passengers tumble inside the cockpit "Only as long as they let me have control. I'm just not so great in the AIR!" she coughed as Keith fell into her lap, elbowing her in the stomach as he reached for the controls. Only to make the red lion face plant in front of the others lions, before flipping onto her back as the other's looked on in shock and slight amusement as the red mecha cat had it's paws bating at air uselessly.
"Wow... she's a worse pilot than Lance." Pidge commented, watching the red lion wiggle a little before getting back on it's feet. "Hey!" Lance took offence to it, now a little worried about Sapphire and himself as the woman came out of the red lion's mouth.
~Voltron~
"Are you okay Lance? Isn't this uncomfortable for you?" Devine asked out of concern, after giving the blue lion a small kiss on the nose to be let in, Lance had her sitting between his widely spread legs to give her wide hips room between them. Her back to his chest with arms wrapped around her waist tightly as he rested his chin over her right shoulder. The position would have been provocative and unconfutable for both of them, if she had seen the Cuban as more desirable, or more then just a young boy.
"Nope, perfectly fine. We don't want you to hurt your pretty little head again right?" Lance mussed in her ear, getting no reaction besides an eye roll as she grabbed the Lion's controls.
'You just don't want to go tumbling around my cockpit when she loses control of me.'
Devine's voice pointed out, Lance narrowed his eyes in confusion as she did something on the monitor he couldn't understand, but her lips didn't move. "Did you just say something?" he asked her and Devine shook her head, not looking away from the screen that changed into the image of the sheer cliffs just before the castle. "No, that would be Sapphire using my voice." She informed him as Sapphire spoke up again.
'Don't worry your pretty little head my paladin. We are not gonna be flying~.' Sapphire purred happily as Devine stirred the blue lion to take a running start towards the castle's edge. "Hope you brought some swim trunks, Lance." Devine joked as she made Sapphire jump off the cliff the castle was embedded into, going into a daring dive into the far away water below as a high pitched scream was transmitted form the blue lion before it disappeared into the water.
"Devine are you alright!? We heard a scream coming form the blue lion." Shiro was first to ask, appearing on the blue lion's screen looking terrified and pale, only to be confused by what he saw. Devine cringing in mild pain as she cradled her right ear, Lance had wrapped both his arms and legs around her middle, his normally tan skin was a few shades whiter. "N-nope, can't... breathe... Lance." She wheezed out as the blue paladin removed his appendages from her slowly as Sapphire lazy floated threw the water, all types of sea creatures swimming around the massive blue lion that scattered once her golden eyes lit up to illuminate the dark deep water.
"S-sorry, didn't want to be scared after that huge fall. Haha!" Lance tried to play cool but Devine could feel him shaking with fear with out her empathy gift. "Relax, Sapphire is one cool cat." She joked lightly as Sapphire obeyed her controls, swam around the water, scaring some of the ocean life as Sapphire froze it with the ice beam in her tail. Lance quietly admiring the alien fish that dared to get close to the lion, unafraid and even swimming with the mecha cat for a bit. "Okay I think that's enough ice for now, let's get to the sonic cannon~." Devine smiled as Sapphire's bayard slot opening up as she purred.
'Yes! Now it's time for me to save the day!' Sapphire cheered happily as Lance let out a relived laugh.
"I was thinking the same thing Safiy~. Let's do this!" Lance agreed, plugging his bayard in the slot and twisting. A cannon that resembled a large tuning fork appeared on the back of the lion. "Cover your ears, because it's about to get loud." Devine warned as the cannon fired, shooting the sonic cannon as the water and chucks of ice where blasted upward into the sky over the castle, drops of water and ice, extinguishing most of the fire. As the some of the ice broke up and melted into a fine mist that refracted the light from the sun, creating a massive rainbow around the lions and the castle, stunning the paladins as they took in the red, yellow, green, blue, and purple rays of light coming together to form a beautiful rainbow.
"Whoa~. You are literally the coolest kitty in the universe!" Lance praised, getting a happy giggle from both lion and the female in front of him.
'Thank you, My paladin.' Sapphire responded happily as her paladin smirked. "Please, call me Lance. We are so gonna be best buds Safie." He asked as Sapphire became ecstatic as she roared. 'Of course, my Lance~.' She purred making Lance blush, holding Devine a little closer, unintentionally comforting the woman who's hands where shaking as she made the lion shoot out of the water, her grip tight on the controls until the lion was on solid ground.
~Voltron~
"What kind of powers does Peridot have? What about weapons? Defensive measures? Do you have to always touch the Lion's noses? Is it some sort of access code? Are you the only one who can use it?" Pidge asked eagerly, as Devine barely entered Peridot's cockpit, having drawn a five pointed star inside a circle on the lion's nose to be granted access. The Green Paladin let Devine take the pilot's seat , since being smaller and shorter then the woman would make lap sitting a little uncomfortable.
The older woman smiled at the youngest paladin softly, trying to decipher all her questions and appropriate responses.
"She has the powers of knowledge and nature. Her weapons are mostly plant based, but it may change. Peri is probably the least armored, but arguably the third, fastest of all the lions. No, I don't think so. It's more of a form of greeting then an access code. Your free to try it with the other lions, but I don't think it will work the same way." Devine answered the questions as she sat in the pilot seat, several screens popping up at once as her golden eyes quickly took in the information before her fingers started imputing new information into the lion.
"You can sit in my lap to see for your-self?" She subjected before Pidge readily sat in her lap, a big grin as Peridot's purrs turned to words in the paladin's mind.
'You planted seeds in the ground before hand. Very cleaver, Little Cub.' Pidge blinked in confusion as they heard Devine's voice in their head, but also about the comment, presumably Peridot, had made.
"Seeds? Little cub?" they questioned as Devine showed Pidge the small mounds of dirt closer to the castle that didn't have ashes of burnt trees or tilled soil. "Just a bit before all of you woke up. I planted some seeds near the castle to give the land some life back, and with Peri's help it would be that much quicker." She explained as she gave off green sparks as she smiled. Pidge looked at her, confused by the green sparks the woman admitted as the Bayard slot opened eagerly.
"For more information, please insert one green bayard." Devine joked as Pidge eagerly did as she asked, inserting the green bayard and twisting... only to get no response from the lion. "Isn't... something supposed to happen?" Pidge asked, disheartened before twisting the bayard back and pulling it out to take a look for anything that could be wrong with it.
"Peridot?" Devine questioned the lion, as the lion used Pidge's voice in her mind.
'My paladin does not understand the universe like we do, little cub. If you wish to show them... then you must do it yourself.' Peridot explained, making the woman hesitate before Pidge looked back at her, holding out the green bayard. There was a slight damper on their eagerness to see the lion's power, despite the large grin on their face.
"Will you show it to me, Mommy?" The request broke the woman's already weak resolve as she took the bayard with a soft smile, before planting a small kiss on the young paladin's forehead, Pidge blinking in surprise as pink sparks arched into a small heart shape upon contact.
~Voltron~
The other paladins watched in amazement from their lions as Peridot fired a small cannon the size of her head, admitting a green light that hit what remained after the fire sink into the soil and reach for the sun as they grew quickly into trees, bushes, flowers and grass that colored the barren landscape they had created. While inside the castle the two Alteans there shocked into disbelief at what they saw grow before the Castel of Lions.
"Those trees... those flowers... those seeds are..." Allura watched with wide eyes that brimmed with tears. "Altean foliage! Where!? How!?" Coran shouted in shock as they both recognized the familiar flora of their lost home, the growth extending outwards as the Altean flora mingled with the native Arusian flora peacefully. The princess's eyes were on the purple flowers that boomed rapidly in front of the castle, extending into the revitalized forest.
"Juniberry flowers...I thought I would never see them again." she whispered to her self as a single tear escaped her eye as Coran connected to the green lion. "Miss Devine!" Coran called out, the two grinning in excitement on screen. "Yes, Coran?" Devine questioned, trying not to draw attention to her hand pulling out the green bayard, she had a suspicion about what he wanted to ask.
"Where did you get those seeds?! Altea was destroyed, along with all it's beautiful flora and fona!" he asked franticly, but Pidge answered him egerly. "Peridot has a data base filled with BLLIONS of different plant life forms, so she can shot and grow just about any kind of them! Did you guys know that!?" the excited paladin asked, as the two Alteans looked at each other in shock, confusion, and worry. Not having been aware of several abilities the lions had, but Devine strangely had known of.
~Voltron~
Exiting Peridot and making sure the Altean flora would be okay in it's new environment, Devine approached Obsidian without having to do a special greeting. The lion lowered and allowed her inside without further prompting. The woman gulped nervously before entering the lion's mouth, the purring only getting louder as she entered the cockpit, just as Shiro moved to get out of the chair.
"Stay. I'm going to have to sit on your lap since... Obisidian is the guardian of the sky, and I'm not a very good pilot in the air." Devine blushed as she stopped Shiro from getting out of the chair to let her pilot. "Alright, but are you gonna be comfortable sitting in my lap then?" he asked slightly joking, sitting back down in the pilot's chair before being surprised that she actually sat in his lap, making him lightly blush. She wasn't as heavy without her suit, dressed in more casual clothes, Devine wasn't very heavy but she wasn't light either, she weighted... comfortably in his lap.
'No.' Shiro was confused he heard her voice in his mind, as he watched her grabbed the controls of the black lion. The warmth of her body seeping threw his paladin armor, pink sparks coming off her skin he could feel her back stiffen ageists his chest as the black Lion moved forward slowly, the other paladins watching with interest as the lion mecha seemed to move like an actual lion stalking it's prey.
"How well do you think Obsidian is gonna fly with Miss Devine at the controls?" Pidge asked, a little worried and amused for the black paladin. "I'm sure Shiro would help her out. I don't think we'll see the black lion face plant any time soon." Keith piped in, feeling Ruby share his feelings with no words only a low, displeased growl. "Dude they all have names, use them." Lance smirked as Sapphire seemed to agree with him as she purred happily. "I'm just curious why Obsidian has those wing things on her back. Do Altean lion's have wings?" Hunk voiced as his lion was softly purring, the yellow Paladin wishing he could understand Topaz again. "What do you think his weapon would be?" he asked before everyone realized something important.
"Shiro doesn't have a Bayard." Keith informed with a confused frown, the black lion let out a massive roar before crouching and taking to the air in a giant leap "Anyone got a camera? I wanna film this." Lance mused as he watched the lion fly even higher into the sky before becoming confused. "You think Shiro will realize she can't show him the lion's weapon?" Pidge asked, curious as the other's remained quite while watching the black lion that hovered high in the sky.
Inside Obsidian's cockpit, Shiro's large hands where gently placed over Devine's on the controls. "T-thanks." Devine squeaked out, admiring how warm Shiro was even threw her clothes and his armor, he was gently guiding her hands on the controls as they did basic flying formations, spreading the pollen to encourage new foliage to grow. "No problem. To bad I don't have my Bayard." He chuckled softly before the image of a black and white Bayard entered his mind. 'What was that?' Shiro questioned before he heard Devine chuckle and purr into the shell of his ear.
'Your bayard, my paladin~.' Shiro gulped as her voice sounded seductive before he realized it was the black lion speaking to him, and not the blushing woman in his lap. "It's still out there Shiro, when we find it. We'll grab it. In the mean time, I think Obie and I know a little go around for now." Devine told him as the Bayard slot opened, waiting for input. "H-how?" Shiro asked as she slipped her right hand from under his Glara arm, and placing her hand over it. Both their hands glowing two different shades of purple that seemed to swirl together as they moved around their hands. The light moving into Shiro's palm, turing white to form something that was shaped like a bayard. Devine's fingers rested on top of the strangely warm prosthetic, as if it was still flesh, gently pressing on the knuckles to make his fingers grasp what looked to be a colorless, white bayard.
"Here goes nothing." Devine voiced nervously as she semi-controlled the robotic arm, jammed the while bayard into the slot, twisting it as the black lion's cockpit lit up with bright purple lights, activating it's hidden power as their hearts beat loudly in their chest as they raced to match the other's rhythm.
~Voltron~
"WHOA! You guys seeing this!?" Lance asked as the other paladins stared up at the black lion as the red fins on its back opened up, several lavender colored diamonds spreading out to form bird like wings, the air around it blowing strongly as the clouds disbursed letting the sun shine on the flora below. Then the show began as the black lion arched backwards into an elegant arch, falling to the ground doing a few flips where her tail touched her nose, before smoothly stopping a few miles from the ground and flying over the flowers and trees, snow white pollen was stirred up in the down draft that followed the lavender wings. Making the lion look more like a shooting star as it twirled and twisted in the air like it was dancing.
"So... does this mean Voltron has wings too?" Keith asked as they all watched the lion do aerial tricks with inhuman elegance, the red paladin briefly doubted Shiro was making the lion do such... girly movements. The other's where speechless as they watched Obsidian slowly approach them, paws patting the ground, as dainty as a giant mecha lion could, the wings slowly dissipating as she got closer, a firm breeze blowing over the other lions as the wings deactivated and the black lion took an elegant bow after her performance.
~Voltron~
Devine sighed as she had felt the Obsidian slowly stop draining her quintessence, something the lion needed to activate the wings without the proper bayard. Stretching out her stiff back, letting her head lay fall back onto Shiro's chest, feeling a little drowsy form the drain, and from what her hazed mind could tell, the black paladin felt the same way as he was slumped forward resting his chin on her shoulder as he panted for air.
"That was... wow..." Shiro voiced, not sure how to describe the odd feeling, he could almost feel the wings sprout form his own back. Devine's quintessence flowing threw his arm and into his body to... mix with his own, gently guiding it into his prosthetic into a bayard that felt so real before channeling it into Obsidian threw the placebo bayard.
'Almost as good as sex~.' He heard her voice purr in his mind, his face going bright red as he processed the words. 'What!? Obsidian?' he questioned mentally as there was an amused chuckle. 'Did you enjoy that, my paladin?' her voice purred in his mind, confused as he glanced at the woman, not seeing her lips move to speak as her eyes slowly shut as almost falling asleep.
"Do the Lions have to use your voice?" Shiro asked unsurely, making Devine jolt out of her half asleep haze. "I-I don't think so. I hear each of your voices from your lions." she explained tiredly, shutting her eyes again as Obsidian explained. 'It's a matter of preference. Don't you like hearing her voice purring in your ear, my Paladin?' Obsidian asked, amused as Shiro shivered from the pleasant but strange feeling that surged threw his entire body.
"Obie, stop it." Devine reprimand, able to hear and understand the lion's words to her paladin, but also feeling how strange Shiro was becoming form her words.
'Why~? I'm not the one being the Bad Kitty here~.' Obsidian mused, using Shiro's voice in her mind. The paladin feeling the warm tingles threw his armor as he blushed when she shifted in his lap, her soft hair brushing across his chin as she stopped leaning on his chest. A strange sweet smell making the human paladin's mouth dry and his body to become rigged with realization downing upon him.
'Crap!' Shiro though as he felt himself react, like any male would with an attractive female just sitting his lap, it wasn't helped by the fact that he had been unable to take care of himself in the Galra prisons.
'See~ you're seducing my paladin all on your own.' Obsidian teased as both of them stiffened with bright red blushes invading their complexions.
"OBSIDIAN!" they both yelled at the lion who only chuckled at them in amusement. 'Why not just-' Obsidian was saying before Devine quickly stood up from Shiro's lap, leaving him to only able to hear lion noises and Devine unable to look at the Voltron leader after what Obsidian had almost said to him. 'It wouldn't hurt to have a little fun with my paladin~.' The lion reasoned with Devine, only she said nothing as she made her way out of the cockpit, much to Shiro's confusion and disappointment.
~Voltron~
Devine was quiet as Coran had them all gathered in the training room again, white and blue headsets on the paladins to project their surface thoughts but opened their minds up for the other's to look deeper. Thankfully Coran thought it was more important that all five of them bonded without her in this instance. "Now the most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron. Let everything else has to fade away. This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no lies, no secrets between paladins." Coran instructed as he linked their minds threw the head sets.
As Devine looked on tiredly from where sat slightly away from their little pentagon circle, a worried frown formed on her lips as she saw Keith thinking of his home back on Earth, abandoned in the desert without him or anyone else to care for it anymore. Lance with his large extended family: his mother, father, aunt, uncles, Grandmother, several cousins and his siblings. Hunk was thinking of food, and the muffins she had made making her crack a small smile. Pidge was thinking of possibly the last happy moment she had with her brother Matt before he left for Kerberos. It confused the woman how anyone could see the two as a couple when the two siblings looked so much alike. Shiro however was different, startling her as she saw her own back, half undressed from the purple paladin suit, her scared and crystal decorated back exposed for the other's to see briefly before it quickly changed to the Kerberos ship before it's launch.
She could feel the Altean's eyes on her, questioning and worried as she looked away uncomfortably, hoping no one would ask about her back before Coran's focus shifted back to the paladins. "Relax and open your minds. No walls, No, lies, no secrets between paladins. Come on, everyone, clear everything." Coran guided them. "Now, focus on forming your lion. Bring your lions together and form Voltron." The others pictured their lions slowly coming together to from the giant robot, but Pidge's mind flickered from Peridot to the picture and back.
"Good! Keep focusing! Only one more to go!" Coran encourage as Devine could felt the young paladin's unease with opening their mind to others as she watched the Peridot's image flicker in and out of concentration. "Pidge, stop thinking of your girlfriend!" Keith snapped, glaring at Pidge as he concentrated on Ruby. "I wasn't! Hunk was rooting around in my head!" the green paladin accused angrily as they tried to bring back the green lion while trying to protect their own mind.
"I thought we were being open." Hunk defended.
"You can look in my head hole if you want to." He offered, unhelpfully.
"Everyone has to be able to look into everyone's head holes!" Coran yelled, cutting off the argument before Pidge could respond. "Clear your minds!" the Altean instructed as everyone tried again, the holograms were all coming together to form Voltron. "Good! Almost there, now. Form Voltron. Yes!" Coran yelled in excitement a little too early as the green lion disappeared again, replaced by the image of the two siblings.
"Pidge!" Lance yelled accusingly as the green paladin stood up before throwing the head set on the floor in anger. "I'm done with this! I don't like everyone grubbing around inside my head!" Pidge shouted in frustration. Devine was tempted to pull out the letter she had stored in her pocket, the green paladin's real name on it, but she knew it could derail a lot of future plans and events.
It was best to keep it a secret, presenting it as a very last resort... or not at all.
"Oh, come on, guys. We were just starting to get the hang of this." Shiro voiced, disappointed in the others for looking in Pidge's head without proper permission, then again, the youngest paladin shouldn't be hiding anything from them as they needed to form Voltron again. "I'm just... I'm just tired, okay? And Miss Devine, already fell asleep." Pidge sighed tiredly, looking over at the woman who had fallen over into a dead sleep, laying on the floor, even drooling a little as everyone looked at her in confused shock.
Shiro looked at her worriedly as he took off his head set. "Okay. Let's take a break for now. Showing us our Lion's abilities must have taken a lot out of her." the Voltron leader reasoned worriedly before Coran easily picked the woman up into his arms, gently cradling her as she slept. "Yes, activating the individual powers of the lions would drain the paladins of old as well. I'm impressed she activated Peridot's bayard at all, but it's much more draining for a novice pilot or non paladin." the mustached Altean explained as he looked down at the sleeping female with a strange look that made the black paladin uneasy as he stood up from the floor and approached Coran.
"I'll take Miss Devine to her room to get some sleep and you can-" Shiro was saying, moving to take the sleeping woman from the Altean who only held on to her tighter and narrowed his eyes at the Japanese young man who frowned in what looked like annoyance. "Not to worry Number One. I'll make sure this little one gets to bed, you all just relax and I'll bring over some refreshments in a dobadash." Coran insisted as he swiftly exited the training room as the younger paladins watched the odd display. Shiro watching the two Alteans disappear form his site as a strange feeling over came him.
~Voltron~
Coran let out a relived sigh as the door to the young woman's assigned room closed behind him, still a sleep in his arms, a caring smile was growing under his mustache as he walked over to the large bed, fit for a princess, laying her down on the soft mattress. Giving a displeased moan as she turned to her side in discomfort, her back to the male Altean who let out a small chuckle before moving to remove her shoes. Having a bit more trouble with her jacket, but he eventually got it off of her as she rolled onto her front, her backless purple top exposing the pattern Shiro had accidently seen before.
"Could it be?" the Altean asked, a hand cautiously reaching out to touch the white crystals that gave an unnatural shimmer in the dark room, creating a very familiar pattern centered around a rather large white crystal that was just below the base of her neck. "No. She died before this war even began, and... she acts to different for the princess." the altean advisor reasoned quietly to himself before he caught site of the juniberry flower on her night stand, still just a bud that wasn't ready to bloom. Coran frowned as he looked down at the young woman, gently running a gloved hand over her head as she seemed to smile at the affection, sparking into a strange shape the Altean didn't know the meaning of before he pulled away to leave.
~Voltron~
Coran passed out some juice box things to the paladins as they sat on the floor of the observation room, the mood in the room feeling less hopeful as the Altean realize Devine had also been trying to keep the paladin's sprits and energy up, sacrificing her own for them in more ways then one. "You have all been working hard. It's time to relax a little before trying again." Coran suggested as he handed out the drinks, Devine not preparing a snack this time seemed to dampen their sprits further.
Luckily the juice didn't taste too weird unlike the goo they would have to try and get used to.
"Why are all of you just laying around?" Everyone looked at Allura as she entered the room, hands on her hips the mice on her shoulders as she glared at the paladins. "You're supposed to be training! Not sitting about drinking juice boxes." Allura yelled at them disappointed as she looked at each of them. "Where is Miss Devine? She could use a bit of training herself." she added, looking a little angary for some reason.
"Princess, Miss Devine has gone down for a little nap and the Paladian's are taking a well deserved break. You know you can't push them too hard." Coran informed her, but it did not please the princess. "What do you mean 'Can't push them too hard'!?" she huffed, getting frustrated by the lack of progress the paladins where making. Concluding that Devine had been manipulating and distracting them form actually forming Voltron, intentionally or unintentionally she didn't know for sure.
"Get up you lazy lumps! It's time you faced The Gladiator!" Allura commanded as Coran looked worried as the Paladin's gave her looks of annoyance or sounds of their unhappiness with her. Shiro possibly being the only one who didn't display his annoyance outwardly.
~Voltron~
"In order to defeat the Gladiator, all five paladins must fight as one." Coran instructed the paladins that where once again in the training room, the princess overseeing their training with Coran. Down below, the paladins had their bayards out, scanning for the Gladiator, but Hunk was the first yo let out a yelp of surprise as the large Altean robot dropped from the opening just above his head. A bo staff in its hands as it shifted into a battle stance as its single blue eye flashed before lunging at the large paladin without warning.
"Whoa!" Hunk activated his bayard quickly, firing in its direction haphazardly but completely missed hitting it. Giving the Gladiator a chance to get close with its staff to sweep Hunk's feet from under him before zapping the yellow paladin in the chest with one end of the staff. Defeating the large paladin with ease before Pidge ran at it, bayard on the attack.
The Gladiator however blocked the attack easily with the staff before easily knocking the small paladin off to land on top of their fellow, defeated, paladin.
Lance took a literal shot at The Gladiator as Pidge was defeated, only to have his shots deflected as the robot came at the long range weapon user, hitting Lance in the side. To his credit Lance kept trying to hit The Gladiator and his shots got deflected before his rifle was knocked out of his hands, leaving him open to attack as the robot hit the blue paladin on his head and stomach, winding Lance for a moment or two before it turned to deal with Keith's 'surprise' attack. Deflecting the red paladin's sword rather easily before turning back to Lance, hitting the recovering paladin in the head once more before flinging his body into Keith's like a rag doll.
Then it turned to Shiro, who's bionic arm glowed dangerously as The Gladiator dashed at him about to strike ageists the black paladin who froze as he stared at the incoming attack, a memory of Zarkon's face flashed threw his mind, making him freeze reflexively in terror. "Shiro!" Keith yelled worriedly as he tried to get Lance's body off of him to save his mentor, only for the staff to be caught by a clawed hand.
Six pairs of eyes went wide as a low BOOM echoed through the room, the robot tried to process the sudden appearance of a new combatant. Devine's ember eyes where half closed with strands of white hair slightly in her face, slender fingers grasped the staff firmly, electricity ran threw the staff to try and shock her into letting go, only to make her white hair frieze and glow slightly.
The Gladiator detected no weapons on the woman who was bear footed and without her trusty jacket, the lavender top hugging her body as her long white hair flowed down her shoulders and back. The Gladiator tried to pulled its weapon away only to be yanked forward and revive a open fist to the chest. The woman's hand sparking with unnatural black energy as her nails sunk into it's armor, making the droid twitch before all it's internal power was drained, falling onto it's back in a useless heap.
Defeated.
A.N.: Re-written and will soon be posted on A03 with extra content.