(~)

The group met outside of the borders of the village, where Florona and Plaxum handed the group some weapons in order to fight the Baaku. These weapons consisted of a grabbling hook with the ends resembling an actual fishing hook, spears that could shoot a net from its top.

"I'm sorry we could not supply you with more." Florona said, apologetically hanging her head. "I'm afraid Baaku has left us with very little to defend ourselves with."

"We'll make due." Keith said, taking the spear and sword in hand. "Thank you, Princess."

Florona pointed her webbed finger towards the farthest ends of the reef, directing her finger a collection of sea caves not too far ahead. "The Baaku resides in an underwater cave, on the far east side. He keeps our mother and our subjects within his treasures."

"If there is anything Baaku loves more than his treasures, it's himself." Plaxum said, folding her arms in disapproval. "He's always demanding we praise him for his greatness and beauty. Wether we like it or not." she said bitterly.

Lance swam up towards Plaxum, smiling flirtatiously. "Before I head off to vanquish the monster, how's about a kiss for good luck?" he then puckered his lips, awaiting for the mermaid princess to press her own against his. Plaxum irked back in disgust at the idea of kissing such a…peculiar creature without any scales or a tail. A small fish swam by, and thinking fast, she used it to kiss Lance. He opened his eyes, which widened in disgust. Allura and Pidge stifled a laughter at seeing Lance desperately wiping off the salty, wet taste from his mouth.

"Please, be careful." Florona said with grave concern, holding her hands close to her chest. "Very few have made it out alive, if at all."

"Geesh, no pressure." Hunk muttered under his breath.

"Rest assured, you will be reunited with your mother as soon as possible." Allura promised with confident determination.

The two mermaids bowed in gratitude not only for her promise, but for their bravery. With their weapons in hand, the team swam off towards the east, by passing a variety of colorful sea life. Keith inspected his waist, keeping the dagger tightly around his waist. If this monster was as interested in treasures as Plaxum described, them he would need to keep and extra close eye on it from here on out.

"So, what's the plan for when we find this thing?" Pidge asked as they swam along the vast underwater realm.

Keith's eyes darted back and forth, seeing that Lance, Hunk and Pidge were all eyeing, as if anticipating for something. It didn't take long for him to realize that they were expecting him to have an attack plan.

He came to a stop first before everyone else, already feeling very self cautious. "Um, well…"

"You do have a plan, right?" Pidge asked hopefully.

"Wait, why do I have to be the one with the plans?"

"You are going to be the pilot of the Black Lion, so that automatically makes you our leader."

Keith's first instinct was to protest against such claims, despite knowing perfectly well that is what the stone specifically revealed to them back on Arus. However, knowing the situation at hand, and the fact that everyone was already worried enough as it was, not to mention the really, really high stakes, Keith couldn't start an argument and dump this supposed leadership responsibilities on somebody else.

His mind drifted back to a when he was younger. While their parents were out shopping, Shiro helped Keith with his homework. The young boy often had a hard time with the other kids, but his parents wanted to make sure he had a good education.

Young Keith slammed his fists onto the table in anger. "I can't do it! It's impossible!" the pencil rolled on over to Shiro's end of the table. The older brother only smiled encouragingly and offered the pencil back to Keith.

"You'll get it."

"We've been trying for hours. Face it, I'm just bad at math."

"No, you're not. You're just frustrated. When you're frustrated you can't think clearly. It's like when you're swimming too hard, you slash the water all around and you can't see where you're heading. Remember, patience, yields focus. Just try, one more time. After this, we'll stop, I promise."

Keith took in a deep breath, eyes closed. "Patience yields focus." he repeated. Once he opened his eyes, he looked at the math problem once more. The more relaxed he was the easier the answer seem to fall into place. Once he finished, he handed the paper to Shiro. After a long pause, Shiro gave young Keith a thumbs up. The boy then cheered and leaped for joy.

"I did it! I really did it!"

"I knew you could."

Keith took in a deep breath, calming his senses before thinking of a plan. "Alright. We know the Baaku loves his treasures and is incredibly vain."

"He and Lance should get along swell." Pidge said, making Lance roll his eyes and cross his arms in annoyance.

"Oh, ha, ha! Very funny!" he said sarcastically.

"Don't forget its magic breath." Hunk said, "You know, the breath that turned people into statues?" Hunk froze his pod into a ridiculous position, pretending to be petrified. His unmoving body began to float up to the surface, leaving Lance to grab him by the leg and lowering him back to his level.

Keith pondered for a moment. "The mermaids mentioned that the Baaku keeps his prisoners amongst his treasures. So, if one group keeps him busy by showering him with compliments and praises, it should keep him distracted long enough for the second group to get the mermaids out."

"That's…not a bad idea." Coran said with a hint of uncertainty, "Still not entirely full proof, but it's a start."

"It should work." Allura said, "Plaxum did say nothing pleases the Baaku more than being showered with gifts and compliments."

The group carried on, the waters around them grew darker and darker the further they went. Down bellow were large skeletons of deceased fish, some as large as the humans themselves, while others were the same size as their ship. Lance, Hunk and Pidge were visibly horrified by the display, while Keith and Allura did a better job at keeping their composure. Tall sea rocks towered over them, appearing more like stalagmites rising up towards the surface.

As they swam, Lance suddenly stopped. He felt his head throbbing and a strange ringing went off in his ears. Keith stopped first, noticing his best friend suddenly rubbing his forehead, followed by wiggling his finger into his earlobe.

"Lance, you okay?"

"You guys hear that sound?"

Everyone else stared in confusion while shaking their heads. Then, Keith's dagger began to glow. He lifted the lid up from over the heart, witnessing its bright glow. It was then when Keith heard a similar growling sound as well.

"I hear it!" he said, "I think you're sensing the presence of the blue lion!"

"The blue lion?" Lance asked in bewilderment. "It's-it's here?"

"Only one way to find out." Keith replied and shoved Lance forward.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"You're the only one who can find the lion. Just listen to its voice and follow it."

Lance quickly swam away from Keith, waving his arms frantically underwater. "Hold it, hold it, don't push me! I'm new at this." Lance was silent as he held a hand near his ear, waiting for the sound from before to be heard again. Surely enough, the growling sound returned, this time stronger than before. He closed his eyes, and his mind he saw an underwater cave, colorful jellyfish and then a large cave, shimmering with priceless treasures, followed by the roar of a blue metallic lion.

Lance opened his eyes and gasped. "No way! The blue lion's inside the Baaku's cave! This way!" Lance swam ahead, and the others followed. Hunk, of course, was hesitant, and remained floating in place. Pidge swam back up, grabbing him by the collar and dragged him with her.

Lance followed the sound towards a collection of underwater caves, each near the other. Lance stopped for a moment, looking at every cave until he heard the growling sound coming from one of them. He pointed his finger towards it and swam ahead. The inside of the cave was, actually quite beautiful. They expected it to be dark and hard to see, but the sides illuminated with a radiant blue bioluminescent algae, and some shell-like crystals that grew from the side of the cave. Several colorful jellyfish swam by in the positive direction from which they were heading.

"It's almost like they're trying to get away from something." Coran said.

"We must be getting close to the Baaku's cave." Allura concluded.

"Oh, joy." Hunk sarcastically muttered.

Coran snapped his fingers enthusiastically, "That's the spirit! Nothing gets the old blood pumping like facing a hideous undersea monster!"

Hunk gave the Altean man a deadpan stare. "Sarcasm's a foreign language to you, isn't it?"

Pidge suddenly felt the cave floor growing smaller to the point where she could upright walk normally as if she were back on land. "The water's shallow here." she said. As they group walked on, they noticed that the cave was heading upwards, before long it felt more as if they were walking up a hill rather than exploring an underwater cave. At the very end, a bright light broke through the surface. They pushed themselves upwards and swam towards the light until they surfaced. The bubbles on their heads popped as a result, now that they could breath oxygen.

"Whoa…" was the first and by far only reaction they had to witnessing a large cavern, with a large shimmering pearl high above, emitting a radiant light, almost like a chandelier. Inside the were hollowed out shelved for which the Baaku had his many, many shimmering and dazzling treasures put on display. One would wonder why, since nobody else but him could see them. Which was most likely the intention.

Allura noticed her reflection on one of the bright shinny shells, tucking in some strands of hair behind her pointed ear. Hunk, for a moment, lost his sense of fear as he was overwhelmed with so much bling.

"Those mermaids were right. This Baaku guy really loves his treasure." he suddenly felt something against his back, almost like a hand. A cold, very, very cold hand. His eyes darted to his side and slowly, very slowly, turned his head around to come face to face with the frozen terrified face of an alien humanoid with gils on the side of its face.

Hunk screamed in terror as he jumped away, only to have his mouth immediately covered by both Lance and Keith. The trio took one good look at what Hunk was so afraid of, realizing it was a statue with a pearl-like surface. The statue depicted an innocent mermaid, screaming in fear with her mouth open wide. One arm was raised over her head, in a desperate attempt to shield herself, and one hand was partly outstretched, which was what Hunk had felt against his back.

Keith and Lance slowly lowered their hands from Hunk's mouth. Everyone gathered around the frozen mermaid with looks of concern. "Is she…dead?" Pidge asked hesitantly.

Allura placed her hand over the mermaid's shoulder, a bright blue aura radiated from her palm as she focused. "No. I can still feel her energy. She's alive, just frozen in a state of suspended animation. They all are."

"Um, guys….look." Lance pointed his finger up to the rest of the shelves, where in between several artifacts, was a frozen pearl statue of some random mermaid or merman, literally petrified in terror.

Allura held her hands close to her mouth, gasping in horror at the sight. Keith gave a look of genuine concern, as did Coran. "Oh, those poor, poor sea folk." the male lateen said empathetically.

Lance then noticed one particular object stood out amongst the rest. On a shelf, way up high, near the large pearl was a metallic object with blue outlines, sitting down on all four legs with a particle barrier around it.

"Hey, there it is! The blue lion!"

"Way ta go, Lance!" Pidge congratulated.

"And look!" Allura pointed towards something beside the lion, set on an open pink shell beside it, adorned with pearls and seaweed decorations. It was another mermaid statue, only this one had a long tail, far longer than most mermaids, with a fin similar to that of a dolphin, streams of long fins sticking out from her side and from her arms, resembling the sleeves of a gown. Fins emerged from her shoulder blades and her "hair" was stilled into separate sides, the ends styled around to the back of her head, and a V like object on her forehead. Like the rest, she too had a look of terror in her eyes.

"That must be the queen."

"But where's the Baaku?" Coran asked, looking around the cave.

"Out to lunch?" Hunk said with a shrug.

Keith lowered his tone, speaking in a half-whisper. "Now's our chance. Lance, you go up there and connect with the Blue Lion."

"How?" Lance asked, whispering back.

"Just stand before it." Allura said, "It will recognize you as its paladin."

"Once it's up and running, we'll gather the mermaids into it and get out of here before the Baaku shows up." Keith instructed.

Lance scaled the height of the cave. The blue lion, and the mermaid queen, were placed so high up he wondered exactly how long it would take him. The sound of growling rang in his ears, which inspired Lance to complete the task.

"Alright, let's get moving." he said and started climbing up the shelves, which were adorned with shimmering golden edges, and barnacles that were sprinkles with sparkling dust, the color of a white pearl.

One golden chalice fell from the shelf, landing on the floor. Allura cocked her head. "That's odd."

"What?" Lance asked, ceasing his climbing.

"The floor is made out of gold, and so is the chalice…why didn't it make a sound?"

Keith pressed his feet onto the surface of the floor from which he was standing, noticing that some parts of it didn't feel hard, but rather soft and almost squishy. The sound of breathing intensified and his gray purple eyes widened in horror.

"Guys, hide. Right now, don't ask questions." Keith ordered, trying not to rise his voice too much. The floor began to shake and rise. Traces of gold and pearls rolled off, this time making a sound once they hit the floor.

Coran led Allura, Pidge, Lance and Hunk to hide behind a large clam, complying as Keith nearly slipped and fell, dropping his spear once he was caught by what appeared to be large claws. Crab claws. Keith let out a terrified scream, even after he was caught and the creature uncoiled its long reptilian-like body, revealing multiple centipede-like legs. The beast was at least one hundred-feet long with brightly colored teal scales from the neck to its serpentine tail, and purple veins segmenting the length of the body. Two massive crab-like claws on opposite sides of the upper half of its body.

Its head resembled that of a seahorse, with frill-like structures on its upper jaw with a pair of rods underneath its bright red eyes, which had two purple stripes extending from them, continuing down to the snout, flanked on both ends by two long, purple colored barbels, making look as if it had a mustache. An assortment of golden scales, pearls and trinkets adorned its back, which had allowed it to camouflage itself with the rest of its treasures.

Keith felt the claw give his body a squeeze as the Baaku rose up, laughing sadistically while baring its sharp, pale golden colored teeth. Even traces of gold colored barnacles adorned his lower jaw.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" he said, speaking as if he had a New Zealand accent. He inspected the small, unusual creature he now held in his claw. Keith flinched when the Baaku neared its large nostrils closer to him, hovering over his head, taking in a good whiff. Keith's hair was partly risen upwards as if he were being sucked in by a giant leaf blower. The gigantic serpent shuddered in disgust.

"Erh! What are you and what are you doing here in the realm of-" the creature stopped for a moment, when he noticed that Keith's attention kept darting back and forth between the two eyes, which were placed very fawn away from the other, and with how massive the creature was, he didn't know where to place his attention to.

"Just pick an eye, I can't concentrate on what I'm saying." he said, "Just pick one, pick one!" Keith finally decided on the left eye. The Baaku cocked its head, examining the young lad. "You're a funny looking thing, aren't you?" he said, using his other claw to tug on Keith's leg.

"Hey, back off!" he exclaimed, swatting the claw away, though he was more than certain the monster didn't even feel it.

"Ooh, spunky too. I hate spunky!" The Baaku lifted Keith a bit higher, taking notice of something around his waist. He opened his claw a bit and noticed the dagger, and the blue lid that covered the heart. "What's this little trinket you've got there?" he asked, his second claw reaching out to touch it with the tip.

Keith reacted quickly and shielded the dagger with his hand. "Don't! It's from my brother!"

" 'It's from my brother!' " the Baaku taunted before lashing out, his breath smelled like dead fish it made Keith want to vomit. "I ate my brother! And it took about a weak because he was absolutely enormous. That's what he gets for marrying the girl I liked. Although, I did eat her eventually too, but she was just annoying. She kept whining and crying and yelling at me just because I killed her husband. Women, am I right?"

"What do we do?" Hunk asked, unsure if they should come out and save their friend, or if to stick to the plan.

Keith's eyes darted back and forth, not wanting to respond to that. The Baaku was indeed intimidating in size, power and in character, given he ate his brother and sister-in-law out of mere jealousy and spite, but at the same time he appeared to be more of a mentally insane, narcissist which, kind of took away a bit of his intimidating presence. Just slightly, but still.

Allura had already thought ahead and inconspicuously rushed towards a nearby mermaid statue to which to hide behind. She gave the others a hand gesture, telling them to keep going and retrieve the lion. Right now, getting the lion should be their first priority. Once they had it, they would be able to fight the Baaku and save the mermaids.

"Though, you would be an interesting new addition to my collection." the Baaku opened his mouther wide, tiny specks of silver began to manifest and merged to create an illuminating beam, aimed directly at Keith, who tried desperately to break free of the giant crab claw to no avail.

"Wait!" a voice called out, making the Baaku cease his magic, the beam disappearing, and he turned his head to see a peculiar creature, standing on two-whatever they were-much like the creature he had captured.

"Allura!" Keith exclaimed, scared for her well being.

The Baaku examined the new creature, cocking his head in curiosity. He then smiled. "My, aren't you a sight." he said, grabbing her with his claw and lifted her upwards. He held Allura close to his mouth, the princess tried to back away to no avail. She felt his teeth against the back of her head and felt her long waving sea foam hair suddenly fall back. He had undid her up-do.

"That hair. It's like sea foam, yet sparkly like a pearl." he said, suddenly becoming very, very, very interested in this creature.

Meanwhile, Lance and the others made their way up the shelves, hiding behind various treasures in order to reach the top. They used their spears and grabbling hooks to make the climb easier for them.

"Tell me, how did you get your hair to be so….shiny?" the Baaku asked Allura, who began felt very uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her, particularly her hair.

Hunk struggled to climb up one of the shelves, only to slip and accidentally knock down a few plates. Thankfully, they did not break, but they did make a small noise. Just as the Baaku was about to turn his head around to inspect, Keith quickly reacted.

"That's why we're here!" he exclaimed, reaching out his arms instinctively to get his attention. Now that he did, he rolled with the plan. "We've heard about the great Baaku from the villagers and, how magnificent and brave and…" he paused to try and think of another word to flatter the monster.

"Resplendent you are." Allura said, playing along with the plan, while the others continued climbing to the top. They picked up the paste. "You see, we come from a land were my kingdom is rich with glorious treasures. When we heard of you I thought, "There is no possible way there can be such a specimen more astounding as our treasures". So, we just had to know. How, did you, become so…"

"Fab…bulous?" Keith finished. He knew he wasn't the best actor, and judging by the look on his face, he feared he may have blown their chance. He was starting to believe that more and more when the Baaku stared down at them both with a death glare.

"Are you just trying to get me to talk about myself?" he sneered. Keith and Allura gulped, sharing the same fearful expressions. "Because if you are….I will gladly do so!"

The two went from feeling terrified to downright dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"In song form!"

"Huh?" Lance, Coran, Pidge and Hunk all tilted their heads in surprise and confusion.

"Is he serious?" Hunk asked, arching an eyebrow.

With his tail, Baaku tapped the pearl above his cave. The pearl automatically turned into a shade of blue, and the lights of the gold inside bounced off the walls, creating a shimmering disco-like effect. The cave started to look more like a night club due to the change in lighting. Keith, Allura and everyone eyes could only stare, still dumbfounded as the large monster began to sing.

Well old Baaku hasn't always been this glam

I was a drab little crab once

Now I know I can be happy as a clam

Because I'm beautiful, baby!

"Okay, this just took a turn for the weird." Pidge said with a deadpan tone.

"Who cares, let's just get to the lion before he gets to the second chorus!" Lance whispered sharply and continued climbing and Baaku continued his song, all the while showing off his long, shimmering body for his captives to admire. In reality, all they really cared about was keeping him distracted long enough for their friends to reach the lion.

Keith let out a terrified yell as the Baaku rose the half-Galra close to his face, as a way to mock him.

Did your brother say, "listen to your heart"?

Be who you are on the inside?

He then tossed Keith into the air, only to catch him in the same claw where he held Allura, giving him the freedom to move his other claw for the show. He now held them both by the back of their suits, dragging them around as he sang.

I need three words to tear his argument apart

Big brother lied!

I'd rather be…

Shiny!

Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck

Scrub the deck and make it look…

Shiny!

I will sparkle like a wealthy woman's neck

Just a sec!

Baaku held his free claw around his neck before making a "cutting" sound with his mouth as if he would break his own neck. Keith and Allura blenched and the princess gripped her neck at the sight. This creature really was sadistic, he talked about bloody murder as it he were chatting about about a picnic on a lovely day.

He waved his large claw around, showcasing the mermaid statues on display. The others quickly ducked behind various statues, taking on the their posses while hiding behind them. Hunk was lucky to have hid behind a merman who was as rounded as he was, and Pidge was lucky to have found one short enough to hide behind as well.

Don't ya know?

Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb

They love anything that glitters

Beginners, oh!

And here they are, are, are

Next to the brightest thing that glitters

Hah, fish be quitters!

I just love free stuff

I can never have enough

Baaku opened his mouth once again, the sparkling beam forming inside his jaw wide as he dangled Keith and Allura over his mouth, ready to turn them into statues to add to his collection. The others ceased their attempts to reach the lion, but it was too late. Baaku shot his beam directly at the two, engulfing them in a shimmering white light. The others covered their eyes from the brightness, unsure if to even look. Coran dared to open his eyes and gasped. The others stared wide eyes, as did the Baaku, only to see that the two were completely unharmed.

Bits of the white lights fell to the floor, while Allura's body gave off a sparkly pink aura, her arms protectively wrapped around Keith's torso. He opened his eyes, widening in surprise to see that they were still in tact. The Baaku blinked at this for he had never seen such magic that rivaled even his own. Suddenly, he became more intrigued. And by intrigued, he meant envious, for nobody should have that kind of power but himself.

Well, well, well

Little silver's having quite the sudden luck

You little sparkly, sparkly pretty one

Ooh, that's quite the performance

Love the look, love it!

So much that it's gotta be mine!

Baaku tossed both Keith and Allura into the air, catching only Allura with his claw, while Keith landed on the ground, hard on his back. The others had finally reached the top to where the blue lion was. Lance's eyes widened at the sight of the great majestic beast on the shelf. He felt a sudden tug in his chest, as if something were pulling him towards it. Hunk, Pidge and Coran approached the frozen queen, working together to lift her up while Lance stepped before the blue lion. He felt its golden eyes staring down at him.

From down bellow, Baaku kept on parading with Allura in his claw.

Yet I have to give you credit for my start

And your bright lights on the outside

For thanks to you, my power will become a work of art

I'll never hide

I can't, I'm too…

Shiny!

Keith spotted the spear nearby and duck and rolled just as the Baaku's large serpentine body came through. He pointed it directly at him, but the monster was too strong and only managed to grab the spear, taking Keith along with him. He tossed the young lad to one of the shelves, which was a disembodied lower jaw of some carnivorous monster, with its teeth rising upwards, serving as a prison with a wide open space above. Keith groaned as he rose up, seeing the Baaku looking down at him, still holding Allura, who kept on struggling to break free. As the Baaku moved around the cave, Allura grabbed any random object she could find within the cave and started hitting the claw with it in a desperate attempt to break free.

Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough

Strut my stuff, my stuff is so…

Shiny!

Send your armies but they'll never be enough

My shell's too tough

Now, play nice, dear!

Baaku took the object from Allura's hand with his free claw, much to her distain. She angrily slammed her fists onto the crab's claw, but he barely felt anything.

You could try, try, try

But you can't expect to win the fight

Against the golden knight

Nice name, right?

You can't beat someone so...

Shiny!

Baaku held Allura close to his mouth, this time not attempting to turn her into a statue, but instead to devour her. He believed that, if he did, then her power would be his as well. Anything to remain on top of the underwater food chain. Keith managed to climb out of the prison with ease, only to suddenly see a grabbling hook lower down to him. Looking up, he saw Pidge, giving him the thumbs up. He quickly grabbed the hook and was hoisted up to the others.

Soak it in 'cause it's the last you'll ever see

C'est la vie mon ami

I'm so...

Shiny!

Now I'll eat you, so prepare your final plea

Just for me

Your power is almost as...

Shiny!

You'll make me even more than…

Shiny!

Allura screamed as she was being lowered down to the Baaku's mouth. Her eyes widening in terror until a familiar voice called out to the creature.

"Hey! I've got something shiny for ya!" Lance called out with confidence, now inside the cockpit of the blue lion. The creature came to life, its yellow eyes glowing and the particle barrier around it disappearing. The lion activated its rockets and flew directly at the Baaku, snatching the princess into its mouth before diving back into the water and out of the cave.

"Catch me if you can, bottom feeder!" Lance called out as the lion made its way down the sea cave. Baaku sneered and dove into the waters, chasing after the robotic lion. His centipede legs creating holes into the side of the caves as he rushed after the lion.

From inside, Allura breathed in a sigh of relief, and was embraced by Coran. She was greeted by the others, who had managed to retrieve the mermaid queen in the process.

"You did it, Lance! You got your lion!" Allura congratulated him by patting his shoulder.

"Yeah. I think Blue and I are gonna get along just fine. Isn't that right, boy?" he patted the dashboard as if it were a cat itself. The lion purred in responce.

"What about the other mermaids?" Allura asked.

"We'll get to them, but first let's take down tall dark and tacky back there." Lance picked up the paste and the cave increased in size, allowing him more freedom to roam, with the Baaku right behind him.

"He's gaining on us!" Pidge exclaimed.

Hunk was already starting to feel sick, "Oh man! First we get chased by Galra, now we're being chased by a giant sea monster with admittedly good pipes! This is just not my day!"

The blue lion swam at rapid speed out of the cave, and the Baaku broke through. While everyone else was concerned, Lance had a wide smile on his face. "This is incredible! It's like, the lion and me are one in the same. And just look at how fast he can move! First time I've heard of a cat that does well in water."

"I know you're having fun bonding with your lion, Lance, but we do have a situation here!" Keith reminded him.

"Don't worry, Keith. I'm on it!" Lance had his lion turn around, open its mouth, and shoot a beam of blue light directly at the Baaku, hitting it on its shiny, gold coded back. Bits of it came shooting out, and fell to the ocean floor. This only infuriated the Baaku all the more. With a whip of its tail, he sent the blue lion back, nearly hitting a nearby rock, but Lance managed to quickly regain his balance. He was right, the lion was moving like a fish in its natural habitat. Then again, the blue lion was meant to represent the element of water, so there was that fact.

As the Baaku tried to attack the lion with its massive body, Lance's lion shot more beams directly at it. Lance heard the soft growls of his lion speaking to him, and an idea formed in his mind. Rather than shoot where the creature was, he would shoot where the creature was going to be. At just the right moment, he shot another beam at an open space, where the Baaku was heading. His body became incarnated in ice from the neck down.

"Wow! This lion's cool, just like me!" Lance said with a satisfied grin.

Unfortunately, the ice didn't hold Baaku for long, for he managed to smash it with his tail. Lance tried shooting again, but was then knocked off balance by its tail once again. Lance swam towards an opening between two cliffs, with the Baaku right behind him.

"You can't get away from me!" Baaku warned. Lance managed to get through easily, but the much larger sea monster became stuck, his head sticking out from the other end. "Oh, you can. You keep surprising me!"

Lance laughed at the monster's expense. "Ha, ha! Not so shiny now, are ya?" his laughter quickly morphed into a scream of terror when Baaku managed to wiggle himself free. "Oh, no, he's free!"

Lance had his lion shoot one last beam, but the Baaku narrowly missed it. Instead, the ray hit a nearby rock, causing it to come crumbling down. While Lance attempted to swim away, the Baaku enwrapped its body around him, sending the lion crashing down to the ocean floor.

The rock from above came crushing down, hitting the Baaku's tail, forcing him to release the lion. Baaku cracked the rock with his massive head as more bits of gold fell from his back, angering all the more. He set his sights on Lance, who looked back in terror. He was running out of ideas.

Just as he thought there was nothing left he could do, a blue scene appeared beside him. He rose a brow in confusion, but he sensed it was his lion telling him something. He knew the wise thing to do was to listen.

"Here goes nothing!"

The blue lion let out a mighty roar and a blue aura formed on its back, creating a sonic cannon, which sent a powerful wave of sound, stopping the Baaku in his tracks. He tried to cover his fish ears with his claws, but to no avail. The sonic wave made the entire area shake, and the rocks from above began to crack and crumble all around. Seeing his chance, Lance swam off, while more and more rocks came crushing down on the Baaku.

He looked up to see the lion swimming away. "Hey, hey!….did you like the song?" he asked, right before a rock landed on his head. More and more rocks came at him, followed by a massive one. That was the last time the Baaku was ever seen again.

Once out of harms way, Lance, along with everyone else breathed a sigh of relied. A huge bubble cloud emerged from the wreckage before clearing up. Hunk blinked in surprise. "Dude! You just dropped a sonic boom on him!"

(~)

The team returned to the cave, taking each of the frozen merpeople out one by one. Finding a safe space, they had each mermaid stand side by side, with the Blue Lion standing protectively beside them. Pidge tapped on one of the frozen merpeople. "So, how are we going to get them out of this?" she asked.

Allura looked at her hands, remembering that moment in the cave where her magic shielded her and Keith from the Baaku's spell. Her natural instincts took over and it protected her and Keith. Aside from some magical properties, an Altean's quintessence could also be used to heal when used correctly.

The Altean Princess stood before the merpeople, crunched down and placed her hand on the ground. With fierce concentration, a bright glow emitted from her palm, outstretching across the floor, reaching each mermaid and merman. Their pearl white bodies began to fade away in patches of bubbles. They blinked, wiggled their fingers, before finally moving their tails. Friend and families embraced, lovers kissed, and children cheered happily, swimming in circles with glee.

Last but not least, the mermaid queen was free at last. She gasped before smiling with relief and joy upon being able to move again. Once the process was done, Allura felt woozy and nearly fell until Keith caught her. Queen Luxia looked around, taking notice of the strange creatures before her. Keith helped Allura stand back up. She nodded her head, indicating she was alright. That healing process didn't take as much out of her as she thought.

"Who are you?" the mermaid queen asked.

"It's okay." Lance said, bowing in respect. "You and your people are safe now, your highness. Now, let's get you all home."

(~)

Florona sat dejectedly on the throne, her hands on her lap, while Plaxum sat on the throne's arm beside her. The oldest sister didn't feel right being the ruler of their kingdom. She always imagined it would be her mother who would one day bestow the crown upon Florona, not that she would be forced to take it when her mother was taken away from them against her will. She wished her mother were here. She wasn't ready to be queen, not yet, and even if she was, how could she enjoy it if her mother couldn't be there for her?

The mermaid guards swam up to the princesses, a look of shock and overwhelming joy was visible across his face. The two sisters swam outside the palace, only to see a large mechanical blue lion swimming towards them…alongside all of the missing merpeople whom the Baaku has taken from them.

Mermaids and merman swam down to the village, rushing back to their respected homes, hugging their loved ones, shedding tears of joy. Florona and Plaxum gasped upon seeing their mother swim up to them with open arms.

"Mother!"

"Plaxum! Florona! Oh, my darling girls!" Queen Luxia wrapped her warms around the two in a tight embrace. The young mermaids buried their teary eyes into their mother's shoulders.

As the royal family shared their heartfelt reunion, Keith and the others watched with content smiles. e shed a few tears. "Are you crying?" Pidge asked in surprise.

"Yeah, so what? A man's not allowed to cry?"

Keith, on the other hand, didn't exactly cry, but that didn't mean the tender moment between mother and daughters didn't touch him in some way. Unfortunately, it also reminded him of the fact that, unlike the others…he didn't have his actual family anymore. Allura took notice of this and wasn't sure what to say. She had a hunch this was what Keith was feeling, but she knew no words could make it any easier. Her fist instinct was to reach out her hand to grab his. Keith's face turned a shade of red at this and looked at Allura in alarm. The princess gave him a soft smile, which he returned. A tint of red could also be seen on her brown colored cheeks. For a moment, Keith felt his sadness melt away.

The moment, sadly, was interrupted when Coran swam up, in between the two, causing them to let go of each other's hands. The two quickly recoiled back in embarrassment, hoping he didn't see much. He wrapped an arm around Allura.

"Ah, isn't this sweet? I do love a happy ending!" he said, though judging by the look on his face, he really was just trying to keep the two of them separate. It wasn't that he thought Keith wasn't a good boy, but Coran was like an uncle to Allura, and he had watched over her since she was a child. Of course he would be protective about her being too intimate near a boy she had met a while ago. He would be sure to study the boy closely before deciding is wether of not he would be good enough for her.

Queen Luxia turned to her rescuers, bowing in gratitude. "I can't thank you enough for rescuing my people, and reuniting me with my daughters."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Lance said with a shrug, "It's kind of what we do."

The Blue Lion had a large net tied around its legs, carrying all of the treasures that the Baaku had hoarded inside his cave. The lion lowered the treasures down safely, each mermaid and merman collating what was rightfully theirs. The guards picked up a large closed shell, that once opened it revealed a pearl like beacon.

"Our energy beacon!" the young mermaid exclaimed with joy.

"Indeed." Queen Luxia nodded, placing a hand on her youngest daughter's shoulder. "It has been many years since we have used it. Now, with the Baaku defeated, we can rebuild or civilization and reach out to interstellar travelers once again."

Florona bowed to their heroes. "I wish to apologize. To be honest, I wasn't sure if you would make it or not. We have lost so much to the Baaku I was beginning to lose hope. How can we ever repay you?"

Lance swam up to her, smiling flirtatiously. "Well, there is one way." he winked.

Florona and Plaxum looked at one another, and shrugged before both kissing both of Lance's cheeks. He may not have been the most handsome creature they had ever seen, but he did help save their mother. It was the least they could do.

Naturally, Lance was very pleased with this. His face lit up with a dreamy expression and nearly floated up to the surface, only to be brought down by Hunk who pulled on his leg. He only shook his head while chuckling.

"Excuse me, Florona." Keith addressed to the oldest princess. "When we first arrived here, what was that weird pearl magic thing you did before?"

The mermaid gave him a kind smile. "It's an old mermaid technique my mother taught me. The pearl is known as the purest of all underwater gems. It can also reveal the truth in one's heart." he placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, noticing his surprised expression. "That's when I knew you could be trusted."

(~)

Sendak bowed his head before his ruler. Pressing his large mechanical arm over his chest while down on one knee. Zarkon sat on his throne, his loyal witch Haggar stood beside him. Both stared down at the Galra commander.

"You had one task." Zarkon said. "To capture the red lion, but instead you were bested by mere children."

"I assure you, Emperor Zarkon, I shall not fail you again."

"No. You will not." Zarkon rose his hand towards his guards. "Take him to the cell and await my orders."

"What?" Sendak exclaimed in terror. "No, your excellency, please, give me another chance!"

"Fear not, Sendak. You will have your chance to restore your honor. One way…or another."

When Haggar chuckled under her hood, Sendak became aware of what his plan really was. "No! No, anything but that! Please, no!" the commander pleaded for his life, which was very much unlike him. He would never cower in fear as he did now, but the fate that no doubt awaited him was far worse than death itself. The guards dragged him away, removing his mechanical arm in the process so he would not be able to fight back.

Once he was out of sight, Zarkon addressed his attention back to Haggar. "Have you managed to locate the heart yet?"

"The little brat managed to sever my connection to it. She is indeed powerful…" Haggar gave a crocked smile, "But not as powerful as I. Their luck won't last long."

"See to it that you find them. In the meantime, Sendak shall be of use to us yet." Zarkon turned to one of his officers, who stood on the right hand side of his throne. "Thace."

"Yes, Emperor Zarkon."

"I have just received word that the Olkari project has been going through some…delays recently. See to it the project is finished by this week."

"But, Emperor, are you certain that-"

"Are you questioning me, Thace?" Zarkon sneered.

The Galra soldier straightened himself. "No, sir."

"Good."

(~)

I did say this story was based on Moana. I can't say I will be using ALL of the songs, only the ones that fit, and I had this scene in mind from the get go when I started working on this. In the next chapter, we will get to see where the green lion is.