Dark Abyss

by Jack C. Trade IV

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! (Chapter 5, rewritten)

4. Chapter 4, Healing Hope

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 4, Healing Hope~

"I thought that would be more *yawn* interesting." Devine muttered sleepily, pouting a little as she rested the stolen weapon on the floor, letting it lean over her shoulder as it was half a foot taller than her current height. Titling her head to the side tiredly, closing her eyes she could feel the young Paladins staring at her in shock, surprise, and confusion with a dash of envy.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, eyes closed out of drowsiness as the young paladins looked at her. She could sense Shiro behind her, feeling puzzled and confused once he came out of his episode. His sudden burst of terror having reached her as she slept, making her act without thinking, not caring about concealing her secrets or plans upon feeling that dark abyss of dread again.

"What's the matter? Lion got your tongues?" She asked tiredly, as she felt her ear twitch in slight irritation, before they both perked up on top of her head at attention, something rough and warm was unsurely caressing the shell of her ear.

"Are these... real?" Shiro asked, as he stared at the white and gray triangles, that looked like stripped cat ears, on top of Devine's head. Having reached out curiously and ran his flesh and blood thumb over junction where the furry appendage met her skull, unknowingly pressing into a sensitive spot.

"Yes~." Devine moaned happily, shivering in delight as she purred, rubbing her head into the paladin's touch. Shiro blushed as the other ear twitched in delight, the woman glowing white before opening her eyes in shocked horror, realizing what was happening before grabbing hold of the Paladin's arm tightly.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Devine hissed at him angrily, prying Shiro's hand off her ear while blushing bright red. Covering her cat ears with her hands before sliding them down the side of her head, where her ears should have been, making pointed Altean ears appear instead.

"Aww, why is Shiro the only one who gets to feel them?" Hunk pouted as he and the others had been entranced by the furry appendages. "There not for touching Hunk." She told him flatly before she yawned tiredly, the furry ears appearing again on top of her head, hanging low as she closed her eyes in a moment of lethargy.

"They're back!" Pidge yelled excitedly as they approached Devine excitedly.

"Can I feel them, too? Please~?" the young paladin pleaded cutely as they watched the furry things twitch irritation as one golden eye popped open in slight irritation. "No, Pidge. I don't like them being touched." She responded to the teen as she ran her fingers threw her frizzy hair, trying to smooth it down. Her fluffy ears to lay flat across her skull in annoyance, no longer trying to get rid of the feline appendages that had appeared.

"I-i'm going back to bed." She declared with a slight growl, before the Alteans approached the combatants, Allura with a scowl on her face and Coran looking slightly dazed.

"Actually Miss Devine, I would prefer it if you joined us for dinner. Since you felt the need to defeat the Gladiator for the paladins, you should join in on their training." Allura responded with contained anger as she glanced at the twitching fighting machine, hands on her hips as she took a commanding stance to look intimidating, but Devine was not affected.

"It was too easy and outdated anyway. The basic Galra sentries now are a lot tougher than your so-called, Gladiator." Devine hissed out, the older woman handing over the bo staff to the princess in favor of combing her hair to tame it. The young paladins looked at her in disbelief as the princess let the staff fall to the ground, a heavy boom filling the quiet room from its impact on the floor.

"That thing kicked our butts and it was about to take out Shiro." Keith pointed out as Devine yawned tiredly, Allura then turned on the paladins.

"That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child! It defeated all of you, yet Miss Devine took it out unarmed in one blow!" Allura nearly yelled at them in disappointment. "You're not even close to working as a team, let alone facing Zarkon!" She finished, crossing her arms over her chest. Dread spread threw the younger paladins as Devine shared Shiro's worry for the teens before sighing tiredly.

"I'm gonna need some coffee."

'And Alcohol.'

Devine thought, Shiro looking at her with worry. Still abled to hear a few of the woman's thoughts at certain moments, but most almost seemed to be layered over several other thoughts at once.

~Voltron~

"Coran are you sure this is still safe to eat?" Devine asked as she drank her coffee, with a little space sweetener, some substance that tasted like heavy cream, and alcohol that Coran so wisely provided. She thought to question the advisor about the habits of the former Altean Queen but getting the makeshift Irish coffee in her system was much more important, the health and wellbeing of the paladins was a very close second at the moment.

"Of course! Altean Space goo never goes bad! Give it a taste." He offered the neon green jello like goo to her a bowl with a smile just as she finished her first cup of coffee. "Thanks, but I'm not drunk enough to try and eat it." She blurted out; whipping the cream off her upper lip with a finger before popping it into her mouth. Making herself another cup of the familiar drink with slight hesitation, making alcoholic cocktails was nearly second nature and became useful one too many times before. She could feel Coran's concern and disappointment, but what the advisor was concerned about confused her.

Coran left the kitchen with the 'food goo' leaving her alone to fix her coffee, leaving out the alcohol and other additives. Golden eyes stared into the dark drink inside the white porcelain like cup for a moment, her furry ears dropped down in a mix of nervousness and anxiety, taking a sip of the concoction, the bitter drink coating her tongue.

~Voltron~

"Ahoy, young Paladins! I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food for everyone. After this meal, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement, and twice on the astral conflux!" Coran yelled gleefully as he set out the food on the long table, green goo and odd colored cubes in bowls and on plates being presented for dinner.

The paladins carefully sat down, not to tempted to try the very strange food even Hunk had a problem eating. Devine came out of the kitchen and sat in the nearest chair, which was to Shiro's right at one end of the long table. She sipped her coffee calmly, leaning back into the chair to watch the entertaining show that was about to go down. The young paladin's looking at the 'food' with dread, showing how much they were still mentally children.

"Smells great, Coran. Thanks." Shiro thanked the Altean, trying to be the polite adult of the group as he leaded the others to at least try the food. Devine moved her coffee cup to sit in front of her on the table before Coran then pressed a small button; cuffs appearing around the Paladins' wrists, locking their writs to the one sitting beside them. Save for Pidge's right hand that was pinned to the chair and Shiro's left, that locked to Devine's right wrist, both their eyes widening in surprise as they looked at each other and then down at their cuffed wrists.

"Hold the phone!" Lance shouted in surprise, finding his wrists cuffed to Hunk and Keith suddenly.

"I saw a lot of solid individual performances today, but you're still struggling to work as a team. So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day. This also includes you Miss Devine." Coran proclaimed with a sly grin, Devine's furry ear twitched in slight annoyance as Shiro let her pull his left arm, so she could reach her coffee cup, her left cuffed to her chair.

"Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing." Hunk threatened as he scowled at the Altean male who was not intimidated in the least. "This one's a classic. You get to feed each other, like a pack of yalmors!" Coran explained excitingly, the reference to the wolf like creatures was lost as the younger paladins glared at one another angrily.

"Did this exercise really bring the original paladin's closer?" Devine asked skeptically, carefully sipping her coffee before setting it down, letting Shiro pull her arm closer without resistance. "Well… in a way yes. Yes, it did." Coran provided flatly, conflicted emotions coming from the orange Altean. While the paladins where trying to figure out how to eat the space goo halfheartedly, a lot of goo being spilled in the process made them look like toddlers learning to feed themselves.

The woman tried not to show her amusement when Shiro sighed tiredly. "Mind if I have a sip of that?" Shiro asked her semi seriously, his left hand reached for her coffee. Devine smirked and pushed it into his reach. "Only if you can handle your coffee black." She mussed letting the black paladin take her mug, feeling some slight embarrassment as he hesitated with taking a sip of the dark liquid. The Paladin visibly relaxed as he ingested the caffeinated drink, letting her have it back a she smirked at him, noticing half the mug was gone. Shiro let her move his left arm so she could drink the rest, only missing the light blush on his cheeks.

"See! This young Paladins, this is a prime example of team work!" Coran pointed out proudly as all eyes turned to their end of the table, Hunk looking at them in shock. "You mean Shiro and Miss Devine having an indirect kiss?" he asked as Coran and Keith looked at Hunk in confusion, Devine hid her amused smirk behind the mug as Shiro blushed at it being pointed out.

"What is... an indirect kiss?" Allura asked as she joined them, narrowing her eyes in suspicion at all of them, now dressed in her normal princess dress with her hair flowing free down her back, having walked in right after Shiro gave the mug back to Devine.

"An indirect kiss is when someone's mouth touches something that someone else's mouth touched recently. Like Miss Devine drinking from the same coffee mug Shiro did just now." Pidge pointed out as the Alteans and Keith gasped with eyes going wide in shock. Devine shook her head in amusement and Shiro's blush darkened as he didn't intend for it to happen.

"It's also called sharing, since neither of us can get up to get another mug of coffee." The woman pointed out with some bite to her tone. 'They still make such a big deal about indirect kisses? They really are just children.' She thought sadly as Shiro glanced at her before looking over at the younger paladins sadly. Allura taking the seat across from Shiro with a slight pout, willing down a small blush as Coran left to fetch the princess a plate. "Miss Devine, for future reference the head of the table is where the host is supposed to sit." Allura informed the woman seriously as Devine rolled her eyes. "I think we can drop most of the formalities, Allura. This isn't some high society tea party, it's just a casual dinner among teammates." The older woman reasoned, letting Shiro finish off the coffee as he caught on to what the woman was trying to do. Devine's furry ears perking up as the stripes turned a soft blue, Allura giving off a flash of anger, narrowing her eyes at the older woman.

"More coffee Miss Devine? Number one?" Coran interrupted, hastily placing dinner plates full of green goo before the two females, coming between them as he set another mug next to Devine's, filling up the two mugs with the dark liquid. "Thank you, Coran." Devine gave the mustached Altean a polite smile as Shiro happily took one of the mugs, Devine letting him grab it as Allura grabbed the other mug in curiosity.

"Coran what is this?" she asked her advisor but the older woman answered shortly after. "It's coffee, a drink that simulates wakefulness in the drinker, but it's-" Devine tried to explain, stripes turning yellow as Allura tried the hot beverage, taking a gulp before spitting it out. Without thinking the older woman summoned a shield in between the black paladin and the hot liquid that spewed from the Altean princess's mouth, gaging at the strange taste. Shiro looking disgusted and relived as he sighed once the shield disappeared, a gush of liquid falling to the table.

"-bitter." Devine informed the princess with a slightly amused smirk she couldn't hide, her stripes nearly blended with the rest of her fury ears as they glowed white, watching Allura trying to retain her poise.

"Hey Coran can I get a mug of that too?" Pidge asked, sighing as Keith pulled away control of their left hand, becoming frustrated with the red paladin.

"No. It's bad for your growth." Devine responded sternly.

"You and Allura are drinking it." The green paladin pointed out as the woman raised her restrained wrists as Coran cleaned up the spilled coffee.

"Well I literally have my hand's tied, so I couldn't stop her, and my back kills me enough as it is." She mentioned, straiting out her back with several small pops as her chest giggled, getting the table's attention as their mouths dropped slightly from the sudden, implied vulgarity, the boys blushing lightly as they observed her plump breasts. "I don't need to grow anymore." Devine hissed in annoyance, slouching as she tried not to bring attention to her chest, pulling her legs up to try and hide them, her stripes turning yellow as they lowered sheepishly. Shiro frowned as he noticed the woman looking away from the strange food nervously, not even attempting to try it.

"Next time we do this. I'm sitting next to Miss Devine!" Lance yelled in frustration as he glared at Keith, who had his hand stuck in Lance's bowl of food goo. "It's your fault!" Keith snapped at the blue paladin in frustration. "This is ridiculous." He grumbled as the red paladin yanked his arms closer, only pulling the blue and green paladins closer to him in the process.

"Ouch!" Lance cried out in pain as Hunk bit into his hand on 'accident', after Lance's hand hit the yellow paladin's face. "Sorry." Hunk apologized, not seeming very sorry as he glanced at Devine, who let Shiro control his left arm when she wasn't drinking coffee, the food goo before her going untouched.

"Do Earthlings ever stop complaining? Miss Devine, it's rude to not eat the food you are so kindly given." Allura reprimand the woman, eating her own goo, not having a problem at all with the taste that made the older woman cringe.

'How can she eat this?' Devine thought as she wearily eyed the goo, something in the back of her mind was telling her not to eat it.

"Allura, can't you just give us a break? Everyone's been working really hard today." Shiro sighed, scowling at the princess, not liking the way she was acting.

"Yeah! We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like…like…" Keith piped up, trying to think of a comparison before Lance chimed in helpfully. "Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" He yelled as Keith shot him a quick smirk. "Yes! Thank you, Lance!" Keith praised as Devine wiggled the fingers on her left hand in anticipation, testing the quintessence powered restraint carefully.

'Here it comes.' She thought as Shiro glanced at her in confusion.

"You do not yell at the Princess!" Coran yelled back, furrowing his eyebrows at the two Paladins, before the youngest of the group decided to speak up.

"Oh? The princess of what?" Pidge asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "We're the only ones out here, she's not our princess, but she's been acting more like a royal pain in the-!" Pidge was interrupted by some goo hitting their face. Allura glared at Pidge as she took a stance with a spoon now void of the goo she had sent at the Paladin's face. Coran looked at Allura, slightly shocked by what she had just done.

"Go loose Pidge!" Keith yelled, grabbing a bowl of goo with his right hand.

'And we're off.' Devine thought with a smirk, slipping her left hand from the deactivated cuff, just as Keith launched the of goo at Allura, only for Coran to block it with the table cloth, before swing a ladle filled with goo at the paladins. Devine having brought up a shield to block the goo.

"Oh! It's on now." Hunk challenged with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Being unable to use his hands he shoved his face into a large bowl of goo in front of him, inhaling it before lifting his head back up, squeezing his full cheeks to send the goo back at the Alteans who got covered in the goo and spit mixture over their shocked and disgusted faces.

The Paladins quickly took cover behind their chairs as the goo was flung across the room, Devine smiled as she protected herself from stray goo. Her energy going up as they took out their frustrations on the princess, or tried to, Coran was honorably acting as Allura's shield as the princess threw goo at the offending Paladins.

The older woman smirked as she carefully picked up some goo herself, flinging it at the princess once Coran was unable to protect her. Covered in more goo, Allura whipped her head over to Devine, who gave her an impish grin at being discovered. The princess glared at Devine before throwing goo in her direction, only hitting her shield as the older woman avoided being hit the Altean goo.

Over all it was a wonderful site to see and feel, the negative emotions being worked away into glee, happiness and relief once the room was coated in goo. It felt safe to finally bring down her shield as Allura took a seat with a tired sigh.

Devine looked at the Paladins proudly, as they all laughed at the mess they made. Closing her eyes, she slowly drank in the emotions, the paladins then noticed her goo free appearance, with gleeful grins, thinking of the same thing. They quickly picked up some goo before the woman opened her golden eyes wide to a volley of goo.

"AGH!" Devine screamed, cringing as the slightly warm food goo covered her as much as it did everyone else, making them all laugh harder. "You didn't think we would forget about you. Did you, Devine?" Shiro smirked, looking down at the goo covered female who franticly whipped away the goo with her now free left hand. Golden eyes turned to glare at him as her stripes became a light pink as they lowered to the side of her head, twitching in irritation.

"H-honestly I wasn't too keen on taking a shower before I took a proper nap." She admitted, but still gave them all a small smile. "But it's not fair since I didn't hit any of you." She added, glancing at a recovering Allura, still covered in the goo Devine had hit her with. The older woman made a mental note of the younger paladins aim not being as good as her's.

"Do you see what all of you are doing?" Allura asked, smiling excitedly as she regained her breath. "You're finally working together as one!" She pointed out as the Paladins looked at one another in realization.

"Hey, she's right!" Keith agreed, smiling as Lance looked at him with a smile. "I actually don't hate you right now." The blue paladin confessed, no longer feeling negative towards his fellow paladin.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked, looking excited.

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro suggested confidently.

"Yeah!" The younger paladins cheered at the suggestion before Hunk made himself clear. "Actually, I was thinking dessert. But, yeah! Let's do it!" He agreed none the less, lifting his arms in excitement, catching the others off guard as they tumbled to the floor.

Pidge pining Keith down to on top of Lance by laying over their legs, Hunk being pinned by half of Shiro and Devine's combined weight, the black paladin unintentionally pulling the woman down to lay on his chest. Shiro blushed as the pink and white ears slightly tickled his chin as they twitched nervously, making chuckle along with the other paladins who laughed at their sudden fall.

Devine tried to suppress a purr as she felt everyone's delight, only to abandon the idea once she felt Shiro's hot breath hit her ears, his chuckles turning into laughter that rocked threw his chest. Coran and Allura joining in on the laugh but the princess looked concerned as the older woman sparked pink and white.

~Voltron~

The lions flew out of the castle, with their paladins feeling more in sync then before. Coran, Allura and Devine standing in the newly revived field in front of the castle, green grass and flowers swaying in the breeze as the lions flew over them. Devine's eyes sparkled as she observed the lions flying in the classic V formation as she held back the lose strands of white hair that freely danced in the breeze from her face.

The Black Lion spear heading the formation. The woman felt something strangely warm sensation on her back, hearing the five Lions growl, creating a rainbow-colored trail with their glowing quintessence. She couldn't stop herself from grinning excitedly as she watched Obsidian retract her front paws into her sholders, Ruby and Peridot becoming arms as they attached to the black lion's shoulders, Sapphire and Topaz becoming the legs, attaching to Obsidian's rear paws before her mouth opened, revealing a human like face underneath creating the head as the black lion's yellow ears unfolded into a horn like head piece. The giant robot striking a rather heroic pose as the transformation was completed, carefully landing on the ground as the grass and flowers gently swayed from the displaced air, gently caressing the blue and yellow limbs.

"It's Voltron~! It's Voltron~! They finally formed Voltron~!" Devine chanted gleefully, unable to keep her feet on the ground, floating in the air giggling at the strange feeling coming over her, doing some flips and twist as she squealed happily in her childlike excitement. The Alteans looked up at the giant robot in relief and nostalgia with their feet firmly on the ground.

"I told you I could get them to do it. They just needed a common enemy." Allura mussed proudly, remembering when she had first seen the lions combine as a child, her blue eyes sparking with a glimmer of hope.

"It's true. Like the old proverb says, 'A man can be driven to do anything, if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him'." Coran worded sagely from behind Allura who scowled at her advisor before Devine flipped upside down in the air to his left. "I think you mean, 'A man can be driven to do anything, if given the right motivation.'" Devine commented as she grinned widely, her golden eyes sparking with as her furry ears twitched excitedly. "Or 'A man would do anything to please a beautiful woman.'" She added jokingly as she felt Voltron, not the individual lions, reach out and cress her quintessence and sooth her excitement.

'Wonderful job~, Paladins of Voltron.' Devine though calmly, unaware of the Paladins hearing her thought threw her mental connection to Voltron, her attention focusing on the gold and teal colored V across it's chest in confusion, the color seeming to appear inverted before she blinked, the insignia back to its normal coloring suddenly.

'What was that?'

~Voltron~

Once back everyone was back inside the castle, the Paladins almost immediately went to bed in their assigned rooms. Allura and Coran truing in soon after, leaving a still awake Devine to work off her access energy by exploring the castle a little more.

Entering the healing pod chamber to check on the rescued prisoners, the woman frowned as she spotted the youngest paladin among the occupied pods, back to the door. "Pidge?" She called out to the green paladin, getting no response as sadness emanated from their small form, sitting on the floor with their head down hyper focused their laptop.

"Pidge?" Devine called a little louder, still no response as she walked into the eerily quiet room. Her bare feet softly padding across the cold floor as she crouched down next to Pidge, spotting the infamous photo of the paladin with her brother, the Kerberos ship in the background.

"Katie." Devine called out worriedly, causing green paladin to jump in surprise before looking at the older woman, eyes wide and glossy with unshed tears behind the fake lenses.

"M-miss Devine!?" Pidge... Katie looked at her with surprise and fear.

"It's alright, I think only Shiro and I know who you really are, Miss Holt." Devine tried to assure the young girl with a small smile, but young paladin still looked frightened of her. "How... how do you know my name?" she asked fearfully as Devine hesitated before pulling out the carefully folded letter from her pant pocket, slightly creased from being hidden in her pocket for a while. Brown eyes locked on to the familiar scribble on the innocent looking white envelope, reading the familiar words...

To my precious daughter,

Katie 'Pidgeon' Sofa Holt

The young girl stared at it for a moment in shock, before snatching the envelope away, quickly ripping it open and fearing what she might find in the letter written in her father's messy handwriting. Her full name along with the nickname her brother and father had given her when she was a toddler.

"This was meant to be a farewell letter, should he die before seeing you again, but... I think you could use it as a little proof that your father is still alive." Devine informed her enviously as Katie read the letter carefully, brown eyes tearing up more as she flipped through the several pages Dr. Holt had written to her. Devine resisted her curiosity and neither opened nor read the letters the he had written out of respect. Her chest constricting her breathing as she let the young girl before her cry silently.

"H-he's still alive?" Katie asked, trying to wipe away her tears, nudging the unnecessary glasses out of place. "Yes, and I can personally assure you that he safe from the clutches of the Galra." She reassured her, giving her a soft smile. Carefully pulling off her glasses to wipe away the tears that where still escaping her eyes. The imprint on the glasses where of loving, family related emotions, put there by both brother and sister, Devine still feeling traces of Matt's quintessence in them.

"How can you say that?" Katie asked, as Devine chuckled in amusement. Replacing the glasses gently on her face, letting a white mist flow from her finger tips into the young girl's head, brown eyes turned white as she could no longer see the strange woman.

Instead, Katie could see her father in Galra prison garb, looking terrified as he seemed to look right at her with his identical brown eyes behind rectangular frames. His hair was longer and unkept, a mustache and chin beard having grown on his face during the months he was gone. His back pressing to a wall, trapped in a Galra prison cell.

When she blinked, Katie could now her father smiling, dressed in a strange white and blue coat, his hair cut, facial hair carefully trimmed, sitting down with a cup of coffee, smiling as he pushed four envelopes across the stark white table. Each one addressed to a family member and one with Shiro's name written in sloppy kanji, a tanned arm with lavender nails reaching out and carefully picking them up.

Upon blinking once more, the green paladin stared at the woman, who smiled at her knowingly.

"How else do you think I got those letters?" Devine asked, as she pulled her hands away from the shocked paladin, pulling back the sleeve of her jacket from her right arm, showing Katie her naturally tanned skin and lavender nails. Katie looked at her hands for a moment before tackling the woman to the ground in a desperate hug.

"Thank you." Katie uttered with relief as she burred her head into the older female's upper chest, Devine laying on her back, ignoring the sharp tinge of pain before gently placing a kiss on the young girl's head. The green paladin falling asleep listening to the woman's heart beat and feeling her quintessence wrap around her like a warm blanket.

~Voltron~

Devine smiled as she made her way out of Pidge's room, putting her to bed after changing her out of her casual clothes and into some cute green pajamas with alien sheep on them. Being careful, she reached out to brush the other quintessence signatures inside the castle, Hunk, Lance, Keith where out like lights, Allura was still in the first stages of getting restful sleep, and Coran was almost vibrating as his quintessence shook slightly from his snoring.

A cold chill ran down her back as she reached out to feel Shiro's quintessence, spiked with rising fear and panic. Worriedly, Devine quietly entered his room without knocking, spying the black paladin on the single bed, tossing and turning while fighting a former opponent in his nightmares. Slipping further into the room she walked over to the side of his bed before carefully calling out to him.

"Shiro? Shiro, wake up." She called out his name carefully, frowning worriedly as she watched his face wrinkle in phantom pain.

"T-takashi?" Devine called out his given name hesitantly, but the Japanese paladin seemed to be in too deep a sleep to hear her, Shiro let out a sharp cry of pain that startled her into biting her lip in worry.

'I could shock him... but that could make it worse... or... could slapping him help? Sorry, Shiro.' She thought remorsefully as she raised her right and smacked it across the sleeping paladin's face.

"AGH!" Shiro's cried out it shock and pain, gray eyes popping wide open, slightly glowing, as he bolted up from his bed, covered in a light sheen of sweat, panting heavy in shock from being woken so suddenly from the nightmare like memory. The fear that exploded from Shiro's body, brought Devine to her knees from them over whelming emotion, almost blacking out as her eyes briefly turned blue before returning to their glowing gold color.

"D-devine! Are you okay?" Shiro asked, noticing her in his room as he tried to calm down, seeing her visibly shaking in the dark room. "Y-yeah, are you okay? I could feel you having a nightmare down the hall." She asked him, willing away the fear by taking a deep breath, slowly exhaling it in a wisp of blue mist that harmlessly dissipated into the air.

"Y-yeah, thanks for waking me." Shiro thanked her tiredly, feeling the sting of her slap on his left cheek, covering his eyes with his hand to rub the tiredness from his eyes. Devine panicky racked her brain for a good idea to help him with the nightmares that didn't involve drugging him again.

"What... what was it about?" she asked cautiously, not getting up from the floor. She had an idea of what he had been dreaming about but wanted him to tell her to partly confirm her suspicions. Shiro was quiet for a while, Devine slowly got back on her feet, not wanting to startle the paladin anymore then he already was with any sudden movements. She let him gather his composure, almost expecting him to not answer her question and share his nightmare with her.

"I was... back with the Galra... fighting this massive alien." Shrio voiced tiredly, hand falling from his face, looking down and away from the woman, who still noticed the makings of bags under his eyes, even in the dark she noticed his need for restful sleep.

"What did it look like?" she asked carefully, Shiro's eye brows frowned in thought as he recalled his first opponent. "It had this strange orb on a stick for a weapon... and it was... throwing it at me..." he admitted to her, slowly recalling the image of the monstrous alien. The black paladin expected to feel terrified from the nightmare, but there was a wave of calm washing him gently. His gray eyes peeked at the woman next to him, her golden eyes glowing softly in the dark as she seemed to be looking at his right shoulder, slightly glad that he wore a light gray tank top to bed.

"Myzax, The Gladiator." She provided the name of the Alien warrior, Shiro looked at her in shock and surprise as the name fit into his memory somehow. "You... you know him?" he hesitantly, paling as a terrifying thought came to him as he looked at the woman hiding her scars with the jacket she always wore. "I've seen him fight in the arena before... well, not so much fight then..." she trailed off, half lying to him as she bit her lip. Thinking about how scared Matt had to have been, abducted by unfriendly aliens and forced to be sacrificed to the monstrous Myzax for pointless entertainment. Then Shiro seemingly turning on the young Holt, crying for blood as his friend injured him in an attempt to save him, risking his own life in the arena.

Devine could feel Shiro's panic, making her eyes widen in worry, reaching out with her right hand to gently up his injured cheek. "I don't usually give spoilers but... you did beat him pretty soundly." She mentioned to him with a soft smile, hoping to relive his fear as he looked at her hand in confusion, cupping his cheek and glowing a soft lavender as the slight sting left his cheek. Shiro blushed as he looked at her, giving him a genial, slowly retracting her callused hand from his cheek. Something about it made him slowly relax before her let out a small chuckle, returning her smile.

"I would like to believe you. Even if you are lying." He teased lightly as he saw her eyes widen in disbelief before pouting rather cutely as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not lying, Shiro. If you don't believe me, maybe you could ask the prisoners you saved. Only... keep in mind that..." she tried to tell him, biting on her lip unsurely as Shiro saw her hesitation as she tried to think of the proper words. "They... they didn't see what really happened either, only you and Matt really know what happened before the fight." She informed him sadly, shocking the black paladin as he stared at her in disbelief.

"How... how do you know that name?" Shiro asked, a bit nervous with her knowledge of certain things, even his given name. "I've met Dr. Holt. He... wasn't doing too well in the work camp, so we managed to get him out of the work camp safely." Devine confessed with a small smile, thinking of the eccentric scientist who was all too excited about meeting a friendly alien, after his experience with the Galra, it was like a blessing to also be rescued by the friendly alien, only the commander was still weary around any Galra.

"Where is he!? And Matt!? Are they okay? Are they okay?" Shiro asked desperately, grabing Devine's upper arms suddenly and pulling the woman into his bed rather forcefully. The paladin froze as he saw her cringe in pain, yellow sparks of fear pricking at his hands that had an unnecessarily tight grip on the woman, Shiro hearing something like bone cracking reached his ears.

"S-sorry. Are you okay?" he apologized, carefully removing his hands from her upper arms. His eyes traveling to her left arm that shook slightly. Devine carefully moved to sit on the edge of his bed, her right hand carefully placed over her upper left arm, right where Shiro's Galra arm had grabbed her. The black paladin paled as he realized what he had done, only to become shocked as there was a lavender glow around Devine's right hand. He stayed quiet as he watched the lavender glow, feeling himself calm down as the woman slowly flexed her fingers, not looking at him as she seemed to be healing her broken arm.

Neither said anything until the glowing stopped, Devine letting out a soft sigh of relief, letting her hand fall from her arm.

"Please... tell me they're alright... that they're safe..." Shiro begged her quietly, feeling guilty about hurting her with his galra arm, looking at it with shame as he pulled it as far away from her as he could.

"Dr. Holt is in hiding, but he's safely out of the Galra's hands. You might even have trouble getting him back to Earth though." Devine lightly joked, forcing a small smile as she felt Shiro's guilt as he looked at her like a sad puppy she just wanted to kiss and cuddle. "As for Matt... I only know that he's been busted out by a small rebel group." She explained carefully, not wanting him to hound her for sources or more details, having said to much and done too little to try and find Matt. Not when Dr. Holt would be in the most danger if he was left in the work camp, along with the other scientists forced to create new weapons for the Galra Empire.

"That's good... thank you, and I'm sorry. Is there any way I could make it up to you?" Shiro asked nervously, watching as her furry ears perking up at the offer before giving a small twitch. Her golden eyes wide before they looked away, the black paladin almost seeing a few sparks of pink.

'Can you just pet me, please~?'

Shiro blinked in surprise at hearing her thoughts again, something telling him that it wasn't Obsidian using the woman's voice. He smiled as she bit her lip, preventing herself from making the request out loud before she let out a disappointed sigh. "Don't worry about it, just get some-ah~hha~." Devine was saying before she felt his left hand gently petting one of her fluffy ears. The feeling of the warm appendage slowly running along the shell of her ear, made her blush before it got to the sensitive base made her shiver with anticipation as the black paladin gave it a light scratch with his blunt finger nails. The combination disrupting her thoughts as she leaned into Shiro's hand, purring blissfully at the strange and new sensation. Coming closer to the Japanese male too be able to wrap her arms around him as she cuddled into his chest affectionately.

'Cute.' Shiro mused with a small blush, Devine barely registering his thoughts, not caring as he ran his hand over her ears for a few ticks. At some point pushing him back to lay on the bed, while Shiro's blush deepened as she lay on top of him, purring softly even as he stopped petting her ears.

"Nyan~ don't stop~." She begged selfishly as she nuzzled Shiro's neck, making his blush darken but he still did as she asked. Her purring soothing the tense paladin as she didn't so anything more then cuddle up to him, a lot like a cat.

Shiro smiled softly as he ran his hand threw her hair, he carefully pulled the thin blanket from between them so that it could cover them both, feeling Devine starting to fall asleep while purring contently. It was a soft noise that lulled the paladin to sleep, along with slightly heavy, but warm and soft body on top of him. It felt familiar, a strange scent reaching his nose, but the paladin couldn't place what it was.

Both were drifted off to sleep, being pulled into a different world that resembled a savanna at night, five oddly colored Lioness approaching a vulnerable Devine.

~Voltron~

Devine felt herself wake up slowly feeling herself cuddling something pleasantly firm and warm within making her less willing to get out of bed. 'Just a few more minutes with the-' Devine's mind snapped into realization that the thing she was cuddling...was alive!

The scent of a thunder storm, sweat, and metal reaching her nose before she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar room, laying in an unfamiliar bed, with a very familiar quintessence physically pressed against her own. 'SHIRO!?' she screamed internally as her heart hammered in her chest, disturbing the peacefully sleeping paladin for a moment as Devine internally panicked and blushing bright red as she sparked pink.

Shiro just rolled onto his left side, his Galra arm wrapping around her waist under the blanket they shared, pining Devine between his body and the wall that was inches from her back. Trying to keep calm she carefully she lifted his arm off her waist before floating off the bed, giving off pink sparks as she reluctantly slipped out of the black paladin's arms. Part of her wanting to stay and cuddle with the sleep deprived Voltron leader for as long as she could, watching Shiro sleep for a moment as she hesitated with leaving.

Shiro's brow crinkled in confusion, searching for her warmth next to him even in his sleep, but he stopped searching as Devine pulled the blanket over his shoulder. Giving a quiet relived sigh she ran her fingers threw her messy white hair, quickly noticing two things. One: she was missing her favorite jacket again, and Two: Shiro's hands had left dark purple bruises on her upper arms.

"Crud." She cursed quietly, looking around the room for the jacket, quickly giving up before just quietly leaving the room. Only to freeze in fear as she noticed Katie was up and in the hall way, a glare on her glasses hid mischievous eyes, but Devine could feel shock coming from the young girl.

"You saw nothing." Devine quietly hissed as the green paladin smirked in amusement.

"I don't know. Seems like it would be something to share with the others~." The young girl mussed confidently, confusing Devine a little but she could feel the other's starting to wake up. "What do you want young lady?" the older woman asked in a low hiss, getting to the point.

"May I please pet your ears, Mommy~?" Katie asked politely, giving the woman some very cute puppy dog eyes. Devine felt her heart leap out of her chest at being called 'Mommy' by someone she viewed as a child, a weakness only few knew of.

'D-danm you, Doctor Holt!' she thought angrily before sighing in defeat.

"Fine, let me take a shower and dress first. Okay? Then I'll let you feel them as long as you keep your lips shut about this." She reasoned, as the green paladin thought it over before grinning. "About what?" Pidge asked innocently, as if she didn't see the older woman sneaking out of Shiro's room with messy hair, missing jacket, and bruises. Devine looked at the young paladin in surprise at the familiar phrase before smirking proudly.

"Good girl." Devine praised before disappearing into her designated room, Pidge felt pride in putting her father's information about the strange woman to good use... for herself.

~Voltron~

Devine sighed as she brushed out her long white locks, avoiding her fluffy ears that now had pinkish stripes decorating the white fur as she looked at her own reflection staring back at her from the vanity mirror. Going with black slacks and a baggy lavender t-shirt with the phrase 'Bite Me' written in an alien language, painted in a yellowish green color. Golden eyes glowing as they peered into the reflective surface, not recognizing the face that looked back at her, a stranger's pale face looking back at her with dull brown eyes. Disturbed by creeping thoughts she turned away and nearly screamed, noticing Pidge standing only a foot away from her suddenly.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking young lady!?" Devine nearly shouted in surprise as her stripes turned yellow, admitting a few sparks of the same color that arched across her skin. "I did, but you looked pretty distracted. I wanted to ask you about those crystals on your back and those scars. Shiro was thinking about it during our mind meld training. What happened to you~ Mommy?" Pidge asked as she looked at the woman with slight worry and curiosity.

Devine's heart pounded heavily in her chest at the title, as she didn't want to explain her scars to an outsider that seemed to be so mentally healthy.

"S-stop calling me Mommy. That's not gonna work every time if you keep it up like this." Devine lied, and Pidge seemed to know it. "Those Crystals... are the result of some painful gene manipulation." She admitted unsurely looking away from the green paladin, setting down the hair brush, trying calm down her racing heart, while also cursing the girl's father for writing about her little 'quarks'. She breathed calmly before looking back at Pidge. "You are to tell no one about what goes on in this or Shiro's room. Am I clear Miss Holt?" she instructed, narrowing her eyes at the girl who only grinned at the unintentional opening.

"Crystal Clear~." Pidge took the set up happily as she saw the woman give her that openly surprised look her father mentioned, taking it to mean she had stunned the woman into genuinely snorting before letting out a small chuckle of amusement.

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?" Devine asked, smiling at Pidge as the younger female was looking at the large furry appendages move, and the stripes change color, going from yellow, to blue, before turning pink. "Are they as soft as they look?" she asked as Devine slipped off the bench and onto the large fluffy white rug that took up half the room's floor space.

"Come and find out for yourself." The woman offred as the green paladin happily and carefully reached for the feline ears. Devine shivering at the small, cold hands but let the young girl pet her ears for a few moments as she plotted her revenge, purring as the green paladin's feminine nails scratched behind her ears.

~Voltron~

Four Paladins entered the main deck, fully dressed in their armor, ready for another day of fighting the Zarkon and the Galra Empire. The Alteans smiling proudly before the princess spoke to them.

"Now you are starting to look like true Paladians, but... where's Pidge?" Allura asked, confused as she did not see the smallest paladin.

"Eh? I saw him go into Devine's room before we left for a shower. I would have never thought he would go for an older chick, but her name isn't divine for nothing am I right?" Lance voice as he nudged Shiro, who blushed lightly. The black paladin remembering that he had fallen asleep to Devine's purrs as he pet her. The strange tangy sweet scent, the soft warmth of another living body and slightly heavy weight on his chest had lulled him into an odd dream he already forgot. Waking up alone in bed with Devine's jacket, proof that she had been in bed with him.

"I'll go see what they're doing. We can still squeeze in some training before we have whatever is for lunch." Shiro announced, about to leave the main deck when Pidge ran into the room as a blur of green before tackling the black paladin.

"Shiro help me!" Pidge cried out fearfully as she clung onto him, stunning the whole room.

"Pidge! What's wrong? Did something happen?" the older paladin asked worriedly as he felt Pidge shake before lifting their head to look at him. Shiro was stunned speechless as he looked down at the green paladin. Pidge's hair was pulled into two cute chestnut brown poufs on the side of her head, black lines streaking down her cheeks from the still fresh mascara on her darken lashes, a light dusting of some peal pink blush on her cheeks, and a soft yellow green colored lipstick ran messily across her full looking lips.

"Whoa, did you go through her make up or something?" Hunk asked, confused as the other paladins took in their comrades made up face.

"Why did you put on makeup?" Keith asked confused as Lance smirked at the easy opportunity. "You look like a girl. All you need now is a dress~." He teased but small the small paladin pale in terror.

"No!" The green paladin yelled in destress as they quickly pulled her short hair out of the hair bands, ripping out a few strands of hair in the process. "Miss Devine was putting this on me for petting her ears, but I saw her-" Pidge was interrupted as Devine walked, more like floated, into the room, looking to cheerful as she glowed softly with delight, her hands behind her back as she grinned widely.

"Oh~ Pidgeon~ why did you run off like that? Your nails are still wet, and I haven't even put the top coat on yet~." She practically sang as the older Paladins looked at Pidge's nails, seeing how they now matched to the coat of the green lion. "Shiro, make her stop!" Pidge pleaded, dunking behind the Japanese male for safety, the other's watched in amusement as their leader sighed, trying to suppress a small smile of amusement.

"Alright. Miss Devine, that's enough. Pidge is too young for make-up, and we have training to do." He reasoned with her as the woman giggled floating over to him in her enjoyment. Then flying over him to hang upside down behind the green paladin who gave a swak of surprise.

"Your gonna need these, Pidge." Devine mused cheerfully, pulling out Pidge's glasses and a bag of make-up remover wipes from behind her back. The young paladin took them quickly before getting rid of the make-up on her face urgently. The older woman flipping up right in the air, brushing her hair away from her grinning face.

"I'll go get lunch ready and leave you to your training." Devine mused as she let her bare feet touch the oddly warm floor, letting her mind wander as she left the room. 'I wonder how the Arusians are doing. Hope they didn't get too scared from all the training.' She thought of the cuddly, snail like aliens that inhabited the planet, grabbing he favorite boots she left the castle and in the direction of the Aurian village.

~Voltron~

"Hello? Anyone here?" Devine called out worriedly, walking into what seemed to be an abandoned village. Looking around with only her eyes she couldn't see anyone, using her quintessence to create a low wave threw the ground, she could feel them cower in fear in their little huts.

"It's okay! I come with word from the Lion Goddess!" she shouted with a tinge of guilt as got almost all of the Arusians to pop their heads out form their various hiding places with a few soft whispers spreading among those still hidden.

"The Lion Goddess? Her divine herald returns to us!" yelled one Arusian as the small creatures swarmed around Devine excitingly before the Chief came up to her, annoyance hidden behind his smile as he raised his hands in welcome.

"Oh! Devine herald~! What word has the Lion Goddess sent you to deliver to us?" He asked as Devine gave him a cold smile, trying not to alarm any of the villagers. "The Lion Goddess apologizes for any fear or damage her awakening may have caused the village and the people of Arus." She reported curtly, the chief smiling in confusion as news flooded threw the village.

"There is nothing to forgive; we praise the Lion Goddess for what she has given us threw her noble lions." The chief voiced, slightly nervous as he prompted several Arusians to come forward, each carrying baskets filled with food, cloth, toys, and even art.

"Please Divine herald, deliver these gifts to her as our tribute for her protection." The chief asked with confidence, Devine looking down at the baskets before looking around at the villagers carefully. "Will giving this away negatively affect your village?" she asked, feeling some sadness and shock go threw out the village as the chief gasped.

"N-no Devine herald! The lions have given us a bountiful harvest, our women weaved the finest cloth that is worthy of touching divine feet, even toys and art offered by the young ones as well!" He exclaimed as the baskets where presented, to her one by one for inspection.

Some of the food she could take, seeing that all the Aruians where all well fed and healthy since the last time she visited them. Making a mental note to test them for their compatibility to be ingested by humans at least. There was a lot of cloth, while it wasn't of poor quality, it wasn't as luxurious as the cloth already in the castle's sewing room, but she could take to make her own little projects. Then came the toys, a small smile of amusement bloomed on her face as she saw the childish offerings before her eyes spotted familiar white hair from under another toy.

Halting the Arusian carrying the basket, she plucked a familiar doll from under the other toys. The villagers froze in fear as they saw the doll's hair, looking identical to Devive's white locks that shimmed with other colors in the Arusian sun.

The doll was made from scraps of fabric, each a different shade of brown stitched together neatly to from the body. Two yellow crystals for eyes gleamed back at the woman with its mouth stitched into a joyful smile. An off white cloth that was once a handkerchief was stitched together with lavender thread to crate a crude dress for the doll that held a hidden secret, making Devine's eyes narrow in suspension.

"Who offered this doll?" she asked calmly, feeling the imprint of its true owner, but the woman could clearly remember who she had made it for. A little Arusian girl was shoved before Devine, the chief frowned at her in disappointment, shaking his head. She looked scared as tears started to spill from her eyes, trembling before the doll was offered back to her, Devine giving an understanding smile.

"The Lion Goddess wishes for this to be returned, as she will not accept gifts that were forcibly taken from another." The little girl gasped as she took the doll back, giving it a relived hug. "Thank you again, Miss Devine Herald." The little girl bowed to her before disappearing into the other villagers, away from the children who glared enviously at her.

"Please let the children keep their toys, their art will be enough to please the Prin-Lion Goddess." Devine corrected herself, trying to maintain the illusion she had unintentionally taken. "I will need your bravest warrior to come with me to meet the Goddess and her lions." She announced as the Arusians gasped in shock, all of them turning to look at Klyzap, who was frozen in shock along with his little sister who hugged her returned doll closer to her chest.

"As the Lion Goddess wishes!" the chief yelled as everyone cheered, except for Klyzap who was shaking in fear, holding his sister tighter before Devine approached them with a soft smile as she extended her hand to him.

~Voltron~

"It's going to be okay Klyzap. The Lion goddess is nice and so are her lions. The only one that maybe a bit hostile is the red one, but he's not going to hurt you, I promise." Devine spoke to the frightened Arusian as he carried the papers that where children's art work, and she carried everything else as they were making their way to the castle.

"T-thank you Miss Devine Herald, I will protect you on your joinery back with my life! My sister also thanks you for returning her doll." The Arusian voiced feeling relived as his sister's only toy was returned, after some bullies took it in jealousy.

"No problem. I gave it to her as a gift, as much as I gave you that sword." Devine giggled as she noticed the dagger like sword at the Arusian's hip. While it was made out of a jagged black stone it's sides and points where sharp, holding a smooth red sphere where the wooden hilt met the blade, the image of a roaring lion inside of it. The two continued to talk as they were unaware of being watched, three golden eyes and one red eye watched them get closer to the castle, before the Arusian stopped a few feet from the grand entrance.

Klyzap taking in the beautiful site, having only ever seen the castle in its dormant state, now it was alight with glowing teal panels along it's pristine white exterior looking other worldly. Devine chuckled as she saw him fall onto his back trying to see the top of the castle, while in the distance she could see the paladin's training. Lions coming together to from Voltron in a display of color before becoming this reality's greatest symbol of hope.

Then there was a loud boom as the Symbol of Hope lost its balance. Devine couldn't help but burst out laughing at the amusing site, not holding back her amusement as she floated in the air with joy.

~Voltron~

"This looks like a normal human lunch, right?" Devine asked her self as she looked at the what she had prepared for the humans so far from home. Several small golden yellow rolls made with the Arusiuans' recipe, almost directly from the oven as they cooled on the counter. Some cooked, redish-brown oats topped with a few small berries and naturally edible orange flower petals in several bowls, several oval shaped slices of purplish meat that was cooked and seasoned to be consumable by humans, some scrambled mint green colored eggs, and freshly squeezed juice that was a light blue in color, and some pinkish colored tea prepared for the liberated prisoners.

"It almost looks like a rainbow." She mussed before carefully arranging the rolls onto two large serving plates before leaving for the dinning room just as Coran's nose lead him into the kitchen. "Ah ha! So this is the source of that captivating aroma." The Altean eyed the rainbow of lunch with interest before getting an idea. "This is all nice and well but I think I can whip up something a little more hearty for the new paladins." Coran grinned proudly before pressing several buttons on to goo dispenser.

~Voltron~

"Great job training, guys. We're really getting the hang of forming Voltron." Shiro praised as he and his team walked into the dining room, having all worked up an appetite forming Voltron.

"Seriously, how far do you think my lion kicked that broken alien ship? Must have been like a mile!" Lance booted happily as he took a seat at the table which was already set for each paladin save for the food they could all smell in the kitchen. "Yeah, that'll come in real handy when the Galra challenges Voltron to a soccer match." Keith added sarcastically as he took the seat next to Lance.

"Hey! I did something cool and you can't handle it. I get it." Lance smirked knowingly as the red paladin as he took off his helmet with a stylish move. "Your kick ruined our balance and we fell because of you, Lance." Keith accused with a slight glare at the other boy after removing his own helmet. "That falling part was Hunk's fault." Lance accused, pointing at his large friend on the other side of Keith. "Hey!" Hunk cried out in an accused tone, pulling off his helmet before grabbing one of the warm rolls on the table.

"All right, save your energy for fighting Zarkon." Shiro reasoned as he broke up the small fight between the three young men as he took off his own helmet, taking a seat at one end of the table, his nose picking up the smell of Devine's cooking when Hunk happily bit into one of the rolls.

"Oh~ so good. I wonder what Miss Devine's cooking is as good as this." The yellow paladin voiced as Lance and Keith curiously took a roll, taking a small bite before eagerly devouring the small morsel and reaching for another. "Hey, you two. Leave room for your actual lunch." Shiro lightly scolded, taking a bun for himself and taking a curious bite. 'DISGUSTING!' the Black paladin jumped at the sudden thought and wave distress coming over him, nearly choking on the bread before the kitchen doors opened, Coran walking in proudly with a covered dish.

"Ahoy, Young Paladins! How was the Voltron workout?" He asked cheerfully, setting the dish down on the table as Hunk drooled in anticipation of more of the woman's food. "Good, is Miss. Devine okay?" Shiro asked unsurely as Coran seemed to puff his chest out in pride. "Of course, she just tried a bite of an Authentic, Ancient Paladin lunch! She was completely floored by its exotic taste." The Altean boasted as he removed the lid to expose his creation. The paladins cringed they saw what looked like more of green meteorite with tubes of yellow goo floating inside it.

The site of it alone made the paladin's queasy when they heard the kitchen doors opened again, Devine looking terrifying with her wide eyes turned yellow, elongated fanged teeth bared, her hands turned an unnatural blueish gray with her nails glowing a toxic purple color, an early black mist surrounding the woman as she glared at Coran, who seemed to pale at he looked at Devine in utter horror as she slowly approached the orange Altean.

"Coran... you are here by BANNED from ever cooking ANYTHING, ever again." She hissed sternly as smokey gray lighting was added to the black mist, looking almost scary enough to give Zarkon nightmares.

"WHAT!" Coran squawked in shock, the younger paladin's cheered hesitantly, but Shiro looked at her worriedly as she took several deep breaths with her eyes closed, before the paladin got up to approach her slowly.

"Are you okay?" The eldest paladin asked, watching as the mist faded away before he got near enough to touch her, holding out his arms incase she fell from how much she was shaking. Devine nodded as her hands returned to normal slowly, closing her eyes as she covered her mouth uneasily. "I think... I got it out of my system,... but... I've lost my appetite." Devine told him, her voice scratchy before she walked over to 'The Paladin Lunch' slamming the dome back over the culinary abomination forcefully without opening her eyes.

"I'll have you know, this is packed with nutrients needed for healthy growing younglings. I've cooked for Princess Allura for years, and she's perfectly fine eating my cooking." Coran defended his cooking as Hunk grimaced as he noticed how pale Devine had turned as her head quickly with a sickening crack, eyes still yellow as the black mist returned.

"You serve that same foul-smelling concoction to your princess!?" she hissed, before coughing by the strain to her vocal cords, the mist quickly disappearing again.

"Of course! That's how you know it's healthy!" Coran boasted as he opened the lid, breathing in the smell like it was an assortment of flowers. Lance cringed as he held his nose and Keith placed his hands over his mouth and nose at the smell. "Coran, you just got me hooked on that goo and now you're switching it up?" Hunk asked as he crinkled his nose at the smelly dish. Devine slamming the lid back on it as she glared at Coran angrily, baring her teeth.

"If you try and feed this to any of them, I will leave you coated in salt, and tided down for wild Yalmors to lick ALL your skin off. Am I clear?" she threatened as the Altean bolted to the other side of the room quickly in fear, the human paladins where confused yet relived at her very effective threat. "R-right! No need to act like a mother Yalmor protecting her young." Coran shivered in fear as Devine sighed and took a seat in the nearest chair to groan painfully as her head hit the table.

"Coran, we're on a planet with fresh herbs, spices, and whatever else Miss Devine has found that we could eat." Hunk explained, getting another roll to bite into. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to head to the kitchen and spice things up. No office miss Devine but your cooking is a bit too simple." Hunk added as he got up to march to the kitchen before being stopped by the woman pulling seeming from her jacket pocket.

"Hunk, you'll want this." she held up a small yellow notebook, offering it to a confused Hunk as he opened it, eyes widening and sparking with happiness as he looked at her. "I translated it into your Human language, so it should be helpful with identifying the plants with room to take down your own notes." She sat up to give him a soft smile before the large paladin picked her suddenly into a massive hug. "Thank you, Miss Devine! I will put it to good use right now!" Hunk beamed as he let her go, dashing into the kitchen eagerly, missing Devine slap her hand over her mouth to keep her stomach down. Something about Altean space goo remined her of the seafood allergy she had back in her reality.

"Coran, are you and Allura almost done fixing the Castle so we can leave this planet?" Shiro asked, changing the subject as Coran pouted about his cooking. "I feel like we're sitting ducks here on Arus."

"Hmm, just about. In the meantime, try to get your minds off those duck seats you're so worried about." Coran suggested as the black paladin noticed they were short one Pidge. "Where's Pidge?" Shiro asked as he was sure Devine was alright. "Checking on the rescued prisoners in the infirmary again." She informed him, feeling the youngest paladin a few levels away, having tested her sensory limits to stretch at least a mile away from her center, corrupted quintessence slightly limiting her ability.

"Yes, they should all be waking up soon." Coran agreed and tried one last time to get the Paladins to eat his cooking.

"Open the hatch, food lion coming in!" Coran got a spoon full of the goo, imitating the pretend airplane parents often used with babies or toddlers, on Shiro. While according to the human calendar he was technically the youngest paladin at age 6, he was also the oldest at age 25. Devine snorted in amusement at Coran's attempt being up that small fact, Lance and Keith also shared her amusement but Shiro was not impressed as the smell reached his nose, fully understanding Devine's harsh reaction to it.

"No. Just... no." The paladin responded firmly before backing away slowly from the Altean to escape from being force feed. "Shiro there's a tray of warm tea in the kitchen, could you take it to the infirmary for our guests? I'm sure there still plenty scared but tell them it's from 'The Healer'. They'll understand." She helpfully subjected as Shiro seemed relived for the excuse, but was a bit confused by the strange title she had mentioned as he left.

'The Healer?'

~Voltron~

Hunk happily rushed back into the dining room with the lunch Devine had originally made for them long with more food that looked and smelled very appetizing. Placing one of his concoctions in front of Devine who blinked in surprise. Even if she knew he was a good cook in the first place, she wasn't hungry after Coran's abomination assaulted her taste buds. Lance and Keith where practically drooling over their plates, ready to dig in, but were stopped by Hunk as he gave them a firm glare.

"Hold up! Miss Devine gets first bite, since she saved us from Coran's cooking." He reasoned, making the other two paladins pout but wait for Devine to take the first bite.

"You boys can go ahead and eat; I don't think my stomach can handle anything right now." Devine explained, trying not to remember how bad it tasted before she quickly swallowed it, and actually tasting better as her body forcefully retched it as soon as Coran left the kitchen.

"All the more reason for you to eat Miss Devine~. I used some herbs for soothing tummy aches in this one just for you." Hunk beamed happily pushing a plate of sweet smelling food closer to her. Devine was unsure of what to do other then try a bite of the large paladin's creation, but she couldn't force her self to eat so soon after the violent wave of nausea. Hunk picking up a spoon and held it up to her lips temptingly, giving her an adorable pout with his pleading chocolate brown eyes reminded her strongly of an adorable yellow tabby cat.

"Please~?" he asked innocently, as Devine felt a sharp pang in her heart as she opened her mouth in shock, only for the yellow paladin to insert the thoughtful meal before she closed her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise at the flavors hitting her taste buds.

"Well?" Hunk asked, looking excited as he watched as pink sparks, arching into little pink hearts as Devine froze as she tried to measure her response to the yellow paladin's meal. "Doesn't that usually happen around Shiro?" Lance questioned in confusion before the woman pulled the spoon from her mouth and swallowed the food.

"It's wonderful~, Hunk." Devine smiled with honestly as her stomach begged for more loudly, making her blush with embarrassment, and Hunk beamed with pride. "Thank you. Now you guys can dig in." as soon as Hunk gave them the go ahead, Keith and Lance practically inhaled their lunch as if they hadn't eaten in two days, stuffing their faces with it.

Devine chuckled at their appreciation for Hunk's cooking, the yellow paladin's own confidence and happiness was refreshing to feel after so much worry and panic was coming from him before. It eased her mind and stomach enough to finish the food and some of what Hunk had lovingly prepared, just at a slower pace than the two young paladins, his emotions having leaked into the food in a way she didn't often feel in any reality...

The love for friend.

The only dark cloud in the room was Coran sulking in the corner when the princess walked in for lunch. "They like the paladin lunch!" Allura responded happily watching Keith and Lance wolf down the food, Devine eating with them at a more polite speed as she sparked small pink hearts with everybite.

"I don't want to talk about it." Coran huffed, holding his head up with his arms crossed, confusion the princess before she shared the good news. "Any way, I just got the final nebulon booster working. So we should be able to leave Planet Arus tomorrow and take the fight to Zarkon." Allura told them her grin widening in excitement before the alarms rang and red lights flashed in warning.

The Pladian's stood up, ready to get to their Lions, Lance slurping up the noodles in his mouth as Allura waved her hand to bring up a holographic screen that showed the outside of the castel, Klyzap trying to be stealthy as he approached the doors, hiding behind rocks and bushes as well as he could. "What is that?" Keith asked in confusion as Klyzap yelled, his sword at the ready as the gem embedded in it glowed softly. "I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a local Arusian." Allura guessed, as they stared at the screen watching him pop in and out of view cutely.

"His name is Klyzap, he's the bravest and only warrior in the nearby village of Arusians." Devine informed them as she finished her food before pulling out stacks of childish drawings form a bag she had left under the dining room table. "They are the ones who gave me this in tribute to Voltron." She told them before pulling out a random piece of art work to show them.

It was a rather childish drawing of Voltron battling the Galra battleship, and Devine could feel the excitement and admiration the child put into it. "Well you are our liaison, so nice liaisoning." Lance commented as he smiled at her looking threw more art work and pulling out one of the blue lion that seemed to be well drawn and detailed.

"Ohh~! Can I have this one?" he asked grinning with glee as she nodded. "Sure, we can go to the village so be sure to tell them you like their work." She mused pulling out more to show the others, Hunk's eyes glittering at the strong image of Topaz plowing the dirt, and Keith glanced at the image of Ruby prancing around in the fire.

"He's so cute with his little dagger~" Hunk gushed at Klyzap who poked his head out to check for hostiles. "Doesn't look too dangerous." Lance mussed as Keith summoned his bayard, suspicious of an attack. "You never know."

"But he's adorable." Hunk chuckled at the red paladin before Lance chimed in. "Hey, maybe we can knit him a little sweater!" he joked in amusement. "No Keith. Alteans believe in peace first, so let's go and welcome him to the castle." Allura looked worriedly at Keith. "I'm not taking any chances. Not with that weird glow on his weapon." The red paladin said stubbornly as they all went to go greet their guest.

"It's alright Keith, I gave it to him, as a kind of symbol of friendship. Besides he barely knows how to use it, and you two are about the same age really." Devine told Keith who didn't look convinced.

"Did you make it into a sword too?" he asked scoffing before he stumbled a little in surprise, feeling his hip get bumped by the woman beside him. "I did, so relax. The Arusians are primitive but peaceful people. No need to cause a fuss out of nothing. Right?" She asked, smiling at him before they made it to the castle doors. Devine biting her lip as she thought of the outcome she was familiar with and the truths she now knew about the Arusian king.

~Voltron~

"Greetings, brave warrior Kylzap. We know you're there." Allura stated in a friendly tone as the Arusian was hiding in a bush, feeling scared as the princess looked to Devine for guidance, but the woman simply stood next to her.

"Kylzap? It's okay, please come greet the Lion Goddess and her Lion Paladins. She has been waiting to meet you." Devine smiled at her friend encouragingly. Klyzap poked his head carefully out of his hiding place with a small blush of embarrassment, before narrowing his eyes at Keith who was glaring at him. Jumping out of the bush the Arusian banished his crude weapon at the red paladin, trying to look intimidating.

"Aw~" Hunk cooed at the little creature who was trembled slightly in fear.

"Drop your weapon!" Keith yelled, jumping in front of the two females with is bayard brandished against the little creature. "No one takes Kylzap's special weapon!" The Arusain yelled, pointing it at the red paladin, even as he shook in fear of the larger creatures that outnumbered him. "Keith, put that away!" Allura ordered in shock as Devine pulled Keith back by the ear.

"Put your Bayard away Keith. Kylzap is a friend of mine." She scolded him, letting go of his ear as his weapon retracted in favor of cupping his injured ear. Devine then approached the Arusian who still had his eyes on Keith, weary of the strangers with her. "He is the red one you spoke of Devine herald?" Klyzap asked as she smiled and nodded in confirmation. "Yes, he is. Now allow me to share their names with you then." Devine said calmly as he lowered his weapon, eyes landing on the other dark haired and tanned female, looked at her with surprised wide eyes before bowing low to the ground before Allura.

"No! Kylzap is not worthy! He is a bad follower of the Lion Goddess for abandoning her Devine herald!" he yelled shamefully as Devine gently pat his head in reassurance.

"Devine herald?" Coran questioned with an eye brow raised. "Lion Goddess?" Hunk asked with a confused blink as Devine pulled back some moss to show them the carving on the rock, depicting a woman with a lion's head wielding a sword was carved deep into its surface.

"The Lion Goddess. According to their ancient tales, she protected them from invaders long ago, before being split up into five pieces. Four of which left Arus to protect other worlds, her head remained on Arus and was set to sleep inside the castle until she was needed again." Devine briefly explained the over all story, having learned many stories involving 'The Lion Goddess', before pointing at herself. "I introduced myself as Devine, the herald of The Lion Goddess but they kinda... just thought I was divinity too." She confessed sheepishly as Allura looked curiously at the Arusian.

"What makes you think you're not worthy of sharing our names with you?" Allura asked looking down at the creature that still had his head bowed in respect.

"Destruction was everywhere. In the past few sun's, fire and ice has rained from the heavens, a giant winged beast flew overhead, an entire forest re-grew from nothing!" Kylzap exclamed, gesturing with his hands to the Lion's training space before glancing at Devine. "And Kylzap… ran in fear from a fallen giant. Abandoning the Devine herald." He admitted guilt fully, as the rest of them processed the new information.

"I think he's talking about Voltron." Hunk whispered to the others

"Yeah, I think we all got that." Lance broke it to his friend.

"But you came back, didn't you?" Allura asked the Arusian who nodded. "Y-yes, the Devine herald has been nothing but kind to Klyzap and Moontow, even giving us gifts for nothing in return." Kylzip informed as he held up his little sword again. Letting the smooth red stone glow in the light as the dark red lion insignia could be seen inside it.

"Then please, bravest warrior, take us to your village so that we may meet our neighbors." Allura asked softly as Kylzip looked at her with amazed wide eyes.

"What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?" Keith asked, not too happy about their launch being delayed. "Part of the paladins' mission is to spread peace and diplomacy. Arus has been our host for 10,000 years. These people deserve our thanks for sharing their world with us for so long." Allura explained to him before smiling fondly.

"My mother always told me to do things right, not quickly. You make fewer mistakes that way." The princess mussed fondly as the red paladin still looked unsatisfied as her huffed. "Fine, I'm going to be on the training deck." He huffed, about to walk back into the castle before Devine spoke up.

"You're coming too Keith." She said sternly, making him stop in his tracks and look at her confused. "What? Why?" He questioned before she grabbed his hand in an abnormally strong grip that she could nearly drag him into his lion.

~Voltron~

"So how long have you been held captive by Zarkon?" Pidge asked one of the aliens, each one having emerged from the healing pods fearfully, before realizing they were safe upon seeing Shiro and little Pidge. Their shoulders wrapped in warm blankets and being given the welcomed pink tea Devine had prepared for them.

"Some for years... others decades. It's hard to tell as time becomes a blur." The gray alien said forlornly, cupping his tea in his cold hands to warm them up. The others doing the same, a few taking small sips of the liquid, Shiro helping the last one from the pod and handing the orange alien the last tea cup.

"Then you must have been there when my dad and brother arrived. Sam and Matt Holt?" Pidge asked hopefully, wondering what and where her missing family member's where. "I never knew their names, but I certainly remember the other two earthlings that arrived with Champion." The gray alien told her, looking over at Shiro who was confused by the unfamiliar title.

"Champion? Why do you keep calling me that?" he asked, genuinely confused much to their disbelief. "You really don't remember? Unbelievable..." The gray alien sighed with a slight huff as the other's looked at him pleadingly. "You were a legendary gladiator, undefeated in the ring... you defeated the infamous Galra gladiator, Myzax." He informed him, the black paladin only recognized the name from Devine the night before, his eyes widen as he realized she had been telling him the truth! "That was the day you earned the name Champion." The alien smiled, thinking Shiro was remembering his victories. "I was there, as was the young earthling. We were all prisoners forced to fight for the entertainment of Zarkon." He and the others shivered at the name but still looked hopeful.

"That day you were set to fight Myzax, a vile beast many thought could never be defeated. We would have inevitably been slaughtered against that monster. Not even The Healer could save us from a painful death." He mentioned, Shiro growing more curious along with Pidge, but stayed quiet as the alien continued. "This, Matt, was the first of us set to fight, but fate had other plans... you were so thirsty for blood... you injured your fellow earthling." He informed Shiro, shock and horror flowing through his body as more of Devine's words came to mind.

"You attacked my brother? Why?" Pidge asked, glaring at Shiro, feeling betrayed as he looked confused and shocked, not able to recall more from his lost memories. "No... It can't be true. Devine said they don't know what really happened, Pidge. That only Matt and I know the real truth of what happened." He tried to reason with the young paladin, who didn't look convinced by his words, and neither did the Alien informing them of what had transpired. "I was there, we all were. Who is this Devine you speak of? What makes them think we do not know what happened before our very eyes?" he asked, looking insulted as Shiro was also confused about the woman's information about himself and his friend.

"She's... our liaison, and also the one made this tea for all of you. She told me to say it was from, The Healer?" he informed them unsurely, making them all gasp, eyes widened looking at the tea in reverence now.

"The Healer? She is here as well? Alive?" he asked, looking very shocked and happy as Pidge and Shiro looked at each other in confusion. "Yes?" Pidge answered as the aliens visibly relaxed. "This is wonderful! The Healer and The Champion! Together in one place again! Zarkon surely stands no chance now." He mused looking excited as the others started to whisper franticly to one another, before Shiro spoke up.

"Hold on! What are you talking about? Was Miss Devine with you too?" He asked, wondering if that was where the woman got her scars. A cold chill running threw his body as he thought of the empath being anywhere near a Galra prison, let alone forced into a cell, to feel all the negative emotions from the other prisoners and Galra.

"She was a druid. One that would infrequently venture into the prisons, healing a few captives behind the back of the Galra guards, able to make the sentries do her bidding with a wave of a hand. She was searching for something, or rather... searching for you, Champion." The alien informed, looking up at the shocked paladin.

"What makes you say that?" Pidge asked, curious as the alien drank some of the pink tea slowly before answering, a small smile on his lips. "At first it seemed like a delusion. Druids in the prisons are not normally a good sign... this one however, was healing a few, very lucky captives for what seemed to be once a phoeb. It wasn't until after you defeated Myzax, that she started to appear for every one of your matches. Healing your every wound until-" the alien stopped, looked at Shiro's right arm.

"Until I lost my arm." He concluded, clenched his prosthetic fist that felt like his own limb, but wasn't at the same time. The gray alien nodded seriously. "Yes... Sshe could only stop you from bleeding out in the arena, even cutting off the arm of the Galra commander who took it from you. Before Zarkon himself intervened..." He told them, Shiro shivering from the feeling of absolute terror spreading threw out his body at the emperor's name. A blurry image of something glowing a familiar bright white and purple above him came to mind, leaving him more confused about the history he had with the woman.

"After my brother was injured, where was he taken?" Pidge asked hopefully, trying to get information about her missing sibling, but the alien was quiet for a moment, giving the green paladin a sympathetic frown. "I know not..." he confessed as Shiro realized something.

"That ship we were held captive on. It crash landed on this planet, it should have logs of prisoners, some information about Matt and Commander Holt." Shiro reasoned as he felt himself become even colder, walking out of the infirmary briskly to find the ship wreckage. "Wait! I'm coming with you!" Pridge cried out and followed him out of the room as the group of aliens drank their tea, softly discussing their uncertain future.

~Voltron~

"Stop your pouting Keith. It wouldn't hurt you to become a bit more diplomatic." Devine hinted as she was inside Ruby with him, Allura having decided to take three of the five the lions to meet with the Arusians as soon as possible and to show them the Lions up close. Allura and Coran where with Hunk inside Topaz, and Lance lagged a bit behind pouting about being by himself with Sapphire.

"I'm not pouting." Keith corrected, looking annoyed as Kylzap was staring at him oddly, irritating the teen. "What?" he snapped, looking down at the Arusian who blinked at him in confusion. "You are one with this beast?" he asked as Keith raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" the red paladin answered unsurely as he heard Ruby growl at being called a beast.

"She likes to be called Ruby, but I like Red better." Keith told him as he felt Ruby purr and then Devine touched his shoulder, giggling. 'I love both names, my Paladin~. I want to keep them~.' Keith heard Ruby whine as he looked at Devine before down at the Arusian village where they landed half a mile away to avoid blowing away any huts.

Once in the village the where greeted happily by many of the cute little Arusians before the king stepped forward, all of them looking very happy. "Oh! Great and beautiful Lion Goddess, I am the King of the Arusians. We are both grateful and honored to have you grace our village with your blessings. Please accept our new Dance of Divinity your divine Harold has taught our young dancers!" the King announced happily as he clapped his hands, signaling for three young Arusians to approach, each holding a stick with some ribbon attached to the end. Devine blinked in surprise but smiled as the familiar Arusian girl waved happily at her. The music started and the three started the dance, all while feeling the confused stares of team Voltron.

"Hoorah!" The Arusians cheered as the drummers started with a powerful rhythm as the girls threw the multi colored ribbons into the air before catching them and making the ribbons flutter in circles above their heads, then to their right, before jumping threw them and spinning them on the opposite side as they tried to balance on one foot. Devine noticed the malice form one of the other dancers as the stick from her ribbon smacked the other girl in the face. "Ouch!" she cried out before falling to the ground, dropping her ribbon that made the villagers gasp in horror.

"Moontow, are you alright?" Devine asked as she approached the little girl who trembled in fear as she looked up at the older woman. Tears in her eyes as the king frowned at her mistake. "Please, there's no need for this." Allura tried to be modest and friendly, and not be worshiped by the primitive beings, the king nodded solemnly as Devine sparked yellow from what would come next, kneeling down to let the Arusian cling to her.

"The Goddess has been displeased. Start the sacrificial fire, we must throw ourselves in!" The king shouted before pointing at Moontow who clung to Devine tightly. "Starting with the ruiner Moontow!" Allara eyes widen in shock as the Arusian's lit a large fire, Mootow clung to Devine for dear life as she cried loudly.

"NO! No Sacrifices!" Allura and Devine yelled out as the older woman hugged the crying Arusian protectively, growling at the king for even suggesting it, before delivering the excuse she had come up with for this moment.

"What the goddess means is that, your happiness and wellbeing are her greatest joy. The Dance of Divinity is not meant to be performed perfectly by mere, mortal children." Devine explained, as the king narrowed his eyes at her, but the other arusians seemed to understand that reasoning, putting out the sacrificial fire.

"Then will the Divine herald proceed with the dance?" the king asked, Moontow was confused as she heard Devine's heart beat loudly in her chest before the sighed nervously. "O-of course. I would be delighted to." Devine swallowed down her fear and embarrassment, the made-up ribbon dance she did one night was coming back to haunt her.

"Yes, that's a much better alternative." Allura agreed as she looked at Devine who pulled out a longer stick with a ribbon attached to it, looking nervous as yellow sparked across her body.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out as she walked to the area they had cleared for the dancers, stepping back a bit as Devine was a bit taller than three Arusan children. The drummers started up again as Devine twirled the stick; the ribbion that looked white at first was actually shimmering with color in the sun light. Like the children before her she twirled the ribbon it a circle before gracefully jumping threw it, switching the stick to her other hand and spinning it in a circle only it took on one color... lavender.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Hunk asked as Devine twirled the ribbon over her head as she twirled on one foot like a ballerina, the tip of the ribbon igniting with lavender fire, making everyone gasp a she incased herself in a fiery cone before making a series of quick spins and jumps that had everyone staring in awe.

"How does her hair not catch fire?" Lance noticed as the flames had licked at her white locks but didn't burn them before Devine grabbed the tip of the stick between two fingers before sliding them over the still burning ribbon, transferring the fire to her hand, but it didn't seem to hurt her skin either. Cupping the fire in both hands tenderly, she brought it to her lips as she gave the flickering purple flames a gentle blow as they grew before turning into lavender sparkles that filled the air before she tossed the rest in the air freely before giving a deep bow, the Arusian's following suit.

"O-oh, my! Please, please, rise. Thank you for that, but I am not a great being worthy of your worship." Allura strutted, an over whelming feeling coursing through her body she wasn't familiar with. "I accidentally put you all in danger, I should be apologizing, not be worshiped. I am Princess Allura and these are the Paladins of Voltron. Although we originally came from different worlds...and have very, very, very different traditions, we wish to live alongside you as friends." The princess tried to reason; nervous without her father there to guide her threw the diplomatic talks.

"But the Robotic Angel... and the Divine herald are they not signs of your godliness? Of your blessing and wrath?" The king asked, pretending to be confused, Devine becoming slightly irritated with the princess confusing the Arsuains even more.

"Voltron? No. In fact, that mighty robot is here to protect you." The princess explained, as she felt more confident suddenly. "Let it be known that Voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!" Allura announced in a proud and hopeful tone, the Arusian's cheered, welcoming their new protectors with open arms and hugs. Devine smiled as they were practically covered in arusians hugs. Moontow hugged her happily this time, along with three other smaller Aruains that seemed too young to know about Moontow and her brother.

Giving a soft chuckle Devine hugged them back, the little arusians giggling from the pink sparks she admitted, positive emotions feeling wonderful... but there was still one dark little cloud among all the sunshine.

"Is something wrong Keith?" She asked worriedly, looking up at red paladin who was just watching the hug fest nervously, yet it seem a part of him wanted to be included.

"I... just don't hug strangers." He admitted to her, looking away before she smiled and detached the little arusians from herself reluctantly. Walking over to the sulking Paladin before wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. Keith blushed bright red at sudden hug as he felt the woman's large assets pressing into him with a strange warmth and softness.

"W-what are you doing?" Keith asked nervously, becoming afraid to move as he saw her smile from the corner of his eye, resting her chin over his right shoulder with little difficulty as they were the same height. "You said you don't hug strangers, but I'm not a stranger to you right?" she mused with a smirk as Keith was approached by Moontow and the three little ones.

"Hello Mr. Red Lion tamer. I am Moontow, and these are Uno, Dos, and Cuatro. Does that mean we can hug you too?" Moontow asked excitedly as the paladin looked confused. "Well they're not strangers anymore, right?" Devine mussed as Keith looked unsure of being hugged by more 'strangers' but he didn't get to respond as the Arusians happy hug him anyway.

"Um? Wow... you guys sure are cuddly." Keith noticed as he placed a hand awkwardly on the small Arusian's head, a bit of joy bursting from its body. "Thank you." The Arusian voice was deep like a male, making Keith's eyes widen in unexpected shock. Devine couldn't help but chuckle at the young paladin's confusion and enjoyment of so many hugs.

Only her mirth vanish as a dark chill ran through her scenes like a sharp blade.

'Corrupted quintessence.' She thought fearfully as she looked up into the sky... dread washing over her as the Robeast coffin entered the atmosphere.

"Miss Devine?" Keith called to her, confused as he felt her hold on him tighten after hearing her voice in his mind, his eyes looking up into the sky in worry. "What is that?" He asked her but Shiro's voice came over on their com links.

"Team come in! We need backup now!"

"What's going on?" Keith asked worriedly Devine being close enough to hear the older Paladin's voice from his com but a loud rumbling sound and shaking ground answered his question.

"Myzax?" Devine questioned, slightly hoping it was Shiro's first opponent and not some other ro-beast Haggar had created instead.

"Oh no. We've got to get back to our lions!" Keith shouted as he broke away from Devine's hug as the Arusian's started to panic. "Everyone get inside and stay down!" Allura directed as she and Coran herded the Arusians into a safer area.

"I'm on it!" Hunk yelled as he joined the evacuation only for Devine to step in front of him, with a disapproving look. "Hunk. Get into Topaz, Voltron is needed again." She told him as he looked scared, only for Keith to grab the collar of his yellow paladin armor, making Hunk cry tears of fear and frustration.

~Voltron~

Devine could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she helplessly watched Votron getting pummeled by the ro-beast. Allura, Coran, and the whole village of Arusians where in the caves on the outskirts of the village. Their fear not helping the empath's concentration as she tried to give them some calm, but the vast amount of corrupted quintessence being so close made it painful.

"Shiro, please remember..." she pled, watching Voltron nearly destroy the village in its fall before narrowly avoiding that situation. "You can do this... just remember." She pleaded, pressing a hand over her hammering heart, unaware of the crystals on her back glowing threw her shirt. A few Arusians looked at her in aww and confusion at the glowing wing like pattern, Coran and Allura to occupied by the Arusian's king to pay it any attention to her.

"You've beaten him before, you can do it again. Please remember..." she pleaded, closing her eyes as she tried to reach out to Shiro threw Obsidian. Only to get a vision of the orb heading right for her face and hit her on the chin.

"AGH!" Devine cried out in surprise as she found herself on the cave floor with dozens of worried Arusians gathered around her. "Are you alright Devine Herald?" Kylzap asked looking at her worriedly, his sister holding her doll to her chest behind him. "Y-yeah, just lost balance there for a bit." She assured him, slowly sitting up as she looked at the entrance, no longer able to see Voltron or the ro-beast.

"Shiro, please remember." She pleaded as her ember eyes glowed in the dark cave along with the crystals on her back.

~Voltron~

'... please remember' Shiro heard Devine's voice in his head, telling him to remember something, but he didn't know what he needed to remember only seeing clear a vision from his dream, the sound from the orb triggering something in his memory.

"That sound...I-i remember this monster, from Zarkon's prison. I know how to beat him!" Shiro realized feeling his lion purr softly, dogged the incoming attack just in time. "Listen! There's a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon, and every third time, that orb needs to charge up. That's this monster's weak point and our time to strike." He informed his team with determination.

"Okay, so what do we do in the meantime?" Hunk asked nervously as they watched the orb charge up. "Defense!" Shiro shouted as the orb headed towards Voltron again. "Pidge, we need that shield!" He yelled as Voltron lifting his left arm in time to deflect the orb, everyone groaned at the force behind it, the orb returning to the ro-beast before rounding back at them.

"That's one. Two more to go!" Shiro shouted with determination, slowly remembering his fight with Myzax, but he was also seeing another's memories. Seeing himself fighting Myzax in the arena from a far, but not from the stands.

The orb came at them again and smashed into the shield, Voltron skidded across the ground from the force. "We can't take much more!" Hunk yelled as Votron shook around them and the orb rebounded against the shield for a second time. "Last one! Everyone brace for impact!" Shiro warned, the orb hit the shield for a third time, causing it to break apart. Voltron kneeling as the two parts of the shields landed at its sides, the orb returned to recharge.

"Now!" Shiro yelled as the Red Lion arm was thrust forward to a powerful laser blast, hitting the monster directly in the chest, creating a large dust cloud around it. Seeming defeated but as the smoke cleared, the monster stood back up seemingly unharmed by the attack.

"It didn't work!" Pidge cried out in dread as the other Paladians started to become fearful. "So now what?" Lance asked nervously as the newly charged orb hit Voltron, making the robot fall into its back. Shiro got the image of himself being pushed back, desperately gripping something that looked like a sword, a phantom pain shooting threw his right arm and going up to his shoulder blade.

"When I attacked it before, I had a sword." Shiro told them, suppressing the sudden pain before Hunk shouted urgently.

"Orb! Orb!"

He warned, but it was too late. Voltron was slammed into the dirt by the orb once again before it returned to the robot ready to strike again. "We can't take another shot like that!" Pidge informed them. Keith felt a strange warm sensation flow threw his body into his right arm, as the Bayard slot opened in front of him. "Guys! I think my lion's telling me what to do." He told them, remembering what happened with Devine.

"Well whatever it is, better do it fast! He's about to fire his third shot." Lance exclaimed as the orb came back, Voltron put up its arms to block to take the hit but was knocked over the small mountains, jolting the paladins inside.

Voltron slowly stood back up as the Robeast charged at them, leaping into the air with the orb ready to finish them off. Keith slammed his Bayard into the console and turned, a warm feeling flowing through each Paladin's right arm.

Ruby and Peridot's heads slammed together as a light shined between their fangs. Ruby unsheathing a sword sliver and lavender blade form Peridot's mouth. Then in one quick movement, the blade sliced through the robeast as it was still in midair, within a flash the robeast landed behind Voltron, sparking dark purple along where it had been cut before exploding form the fatal blow.

~Voltron~

"YES! VOLTRON SAVES THE DAY AGAIN!" Devine shouted suddenly, raising a fist into the air in excitement. The Arusians looked at her in startled confusion, before hearing the distant explosion, turning to see smoke from a distance, and Voltron standing victoriously as they gasped in amazement.

Allura and Coran looked at her and the each other in a silent conversation, looking confused and worried about what they were seeing on the woman's back.

A glowing white emblem of Voltron.

~Voltron~

"Here are the coordinates to a nearby refugee camp where you'll be safe. From there they should be able help you find your families." Devine smiled at the gray alien who looked at her in reverence, she could also feel the other's giving off positive emotions upon finally meeting her without the druid disguise. The empath couldn't help but greedily drink the emotions in as she handed over the coordinates to a well-hidden refugee camp. She tried to keep such information to help reunite families, help out a few rebels, and put the irrelevant data the Blade of Marmora collected to good use.

"Thank you, Healer. We cannot even begin to repay your kindness." He said with a smile bowing low to her and the others who allowed her to speak with them.

"Please, just get back to your loved ones safely. I'm sure your wife and children will be more than happy to have you back Mr. Xi." She mentioned with a smirk, seeing the gray Alien, Xi, looking at her with open mouth shock as the other's gasped loudly as she addressed Xi by name.

"I- i... am a father?" he questioned as the others seemed excited at the news. "Is it a boy, or maybe a girl?" he asked nervously, looking Devine in the eyes for the answer, the empath only smiled, putting a finger to her lips and winking mischievously.

"No spoilers~, you will just have to see for yourself Mr. Xi." she teased as he laughed softly, happy tears coming to his eyes.

"Thank you, for everything. We never dreamed we'd see our families again... but you gave us all hope. You gave the universe hope." He said before boarding the Altean escape pod that was more like a small ship.

The others walked away after the ship left the Castel walls, but Devine watched the pod until it left the atmosphere standing outside with her back pressed into the castle's exterior as she looked up, thinking about Xi words taking a deep breath, raising her right fist to the stars.

"In fearful day, in raging night.

With strong hearts full, our souls ignite.

When all seems lost in the war of light.

Look to the stars, for hope burns bright."

Devine recited the Blue Lantern oath by heart, softly laughing as she felt nothing but clam wash over her from reciting the familiar pledge. It had helped her threw her pervious life a few times, resonating with her more than the Green Lanterns oath about the power of Will. There was another Lantern oath that spoke to her... but it was a part of her she hoped to never show the Paladins or the Alteans.

Reaching out to them carefully, she could feel that Shiro was with Pidge, possibly telling her what really happened with Matt. She felt relief flooding threw the two of them. Devine slowly breathed out a blue mist, laying down on the ground to watch the unfamiliar stars for a few more moments.

---

A.N.: I am I a dork/nerd for knowing the blue lantern oath? Sure the green lanterns got the literal power of Will but I have always been more fond of Hope, then again Blue is one of my favorite colors. Finished watching Voltron Season 6 and I am so shook by some of it. Gave me a few more interesting ideas but they will not effect where I intended to take this story.