"Your highness?" a man called out from the doorway.
"Yes, doctor?" Shiro said. His eyebrows furrowed and he immediately stood up from the cluttered desk he sat at.
"The king. There was doubt, but… he has a chance of pulling through"
Shiro answered with a nod. "Thank you for informing me, doctor".
The man was about to leave when the prince called out. "Has my mother yet to be told?"
"I shall inform her now, your highness". He left the room.
The news of hope was a slight consolation, but the way it was presented really disturbed Shiro. He'd been the first told. Not the queen. Almost as though he were already king. The first in charge.
Shiro sighed and crumbled back into his seat. He clutched his head in his hands as he hunched over the desk. He was never one to curse- the rules of propriety and his gentle nature forbade it- but he couldn't help but think of something Pidge once said about 'shit hitting the fan'.
And yes, indeed, shit had hit the fan.
And in the midst of it all, she was taken from him.
That said, Shiro knew she wasn't his to own. She was a free spirt, and her disappearance was anything but her fault.
But the selfish part in him was upset with her. She had left him in his time of need.
This side of him also growled in distaste when he thought of his mother. Always pressuring him. Forcing him to get married in a matter of months.
It was all too much, especially with the war going on.
Shiro had been trained since birth to rule one day, but now when met with any problem in the kingdom, all he felt was anxiety. To the eye, he knew what to do. He was in control. But inside, he felt that control was slipping through his fingers like sand.
Lotor looked down at the sleeping girl, pulling his hand back from caressing her cheek. She'd wake up soon. It was almost morning.
He ordered a servant to escort the lab-rats to Pidge's room, while he retreated to his own study. The last thing he wanted to do was be there when she woke up. She was going to hate him. Probably even more after talking to her family. Lotor supposed he'd just have to find a way to make it up to her.
He sat on a smaller sofa surrounded by bookshelves. Slowly, his head leaned to the side and his body was slumped up against the armrest. Maybe he'd just close his eyes for a couple minutes…
A half-asleep Lotor groaned and raised his arms to defend himself from the book he was being hit with. Was that Pidge? Did she come here to get even? Did-
"Lotor, wake up, you dipshit! You're way past the beauty sleeping!" someone yelled, now trading the hitting with violently shaking his shoulder while screaming in his ear.
The prince, now wide-awake, sat up straight and saw who the aggressor really was. "Oh. You're Nyma" he mumbled to himself, somewhat relieved.
"Clever observation" Nyma sneered. She got straight to the point: "King Zarkon wishes to telelink with you". Lotor opened his mouth to confirm the linking place, but Nyma beat him to the unasked question "Your chambers"
Lotor nodded and went alone on his way. He snorted a bit at the thought of Nyma. If anyone else treated him with the tiniest bit of disrespect, he would make sure they regretted it. But he and Nyma had known each other since diapers. They grew up together, she having been the daughter of a high-ranking Galra commander. Never would they have been friends if there was a choice, but the closeness of their families sort of forced them into dealing with one another.
He thought it would be strange to call Nyma a friend, but then again, it would also be strange to say that they weren't friends. The two were generally comfortable around each other, which was rather apparent, but did they enjoy each other's company? Lotor couldn't really answer that.
He wouldn't know, due to being an only-child, but he thought maybe that she was like a sister? He wondered what Pidge's relationship with her own brother was like. That thought caused a twinge of pressure in his chest.
He felt that Nyma was more of an equal. And that said something because he only felt that way about a small handful of people in the Galran Kingdom, such as with his generals. Yet he still knew in the back of his mind that, as a royal, he had power over even them. His father was a whole different story…
Before their most recent meeting (which was almost four months ago), Lotor hadn't been in contact with his father for two years. There had been a sort of… falling-out between them. The Galra Kingdom had just begun warring with Altea.
"We'll hit here first" King Zarkon said, pointing at the greatest Altean defense zone on a map hastily spread on the table. "Sendak, prepare troops for an attack"
"Yes, your highn-"
Lotor interjected. "You can't be serious! Sending our best troops immediately to their best weaponized zone? We need to-"
"Silence" the king warned.
But Lotor would not let something of this importance slip so easily. "This plan relies only on brute strength. We'll be sacrificing our best on a tactless mission".
"You're but a boy. You know nothing of the ways of war" Zarkon growled through clenched teeth.
"Father, I'm seventeen and have extensive training" Lotor reasoned.
Zarkon turned to Sendak. "Leave us" he ordered. Once the room's door closed behind the commander, only a father and son remained. He brought his attention back to Lotor. "Don't embarrass yourself, boy. More importantly, don't embarrass me".
"Just listen to me!" Lotor retorted, frustration laced his words.
"You're the one who needs to listen, fool! You've no experience. All you do is mess around all day, and I'm sick and tired of the act. Your behavior is out of line for that of an heir to the throne" Zarkon growled, becoming angrier by the second.
"Mess around?! That's what you think I do all day? I've been studying and training! I know what I'm talking about, unlike you!" Lotor countered. He only realized that he probably shouldn't have said that last part right after the words passed through his lips.
At that, King Zarkon lost his temper. He violently gripped his son's shirt collar and snarled "You'll shut it if you know what's good for you". He bore his sharp teeth. "I dread the day you come to rule. You're no son of mine" he growled menacingly, yet lowly, which was even worse than plain out yelling.
King Zarkon released Lotor from his hold, pushing him back as he left. The prince stumbled a bit. Once he regained his footing, he shakily exhaled, the breath gradually speeding up with anger. Lotor's hands were fisted tightly. His knuckles were white.
"Fine" Lotor said to himself. "You want me gone? Good, I don't want to stay here for another minute". He hurried off to his chambers to gather a few things before leaving.
He forcefully pulled at a knob and skimmed through the drawer's contents. He fished out an item and saw the fingernail crescents imprinted into his palms from clenching his fists so tightly as he held up the object: a button strung onto a loop of string. A piece of trash to others, but treasure to him.
He reminisced on the day it was made:
A young Lotor sat at his nursemaid's feet while she was seated in a chair and patched up the holes in a pair of the boy's trouser knees. He was amused for a while with a small dragon figurine, but he soon got curious and peeked into the sewing box he was told not to touch, because it had 'sharp things' he could injure himself on. While she was busy with sewing, Lotor sneakily got a good look at everything in there. Scissors, fabric, thread, some pins, etc.
But what really caught the young boy's eye was a bright yellow button, around the size of a smaller coin. One might think such a simple thing would not interest a child so much, especially when there were many others much fancier and with designs.
But there was something about that button… and Lotor wanted it. He cautiously glanced back up at the nursemaid, who was still intent on her sewing. Once the coast was clear, he reached his hand in and…
"Ow!" the boy cried out, quickly retracting his hand as though he had touched a hot stove. In the other hand, he cradled the pin-pricked finger.
The sound definitely got the nursemaid's attention. "Lotor, honey, are you okay? Let me see" she said as she got down on her knees to bring herself eyelevel to him. She gently grabbed his hand and spotted the small dot of red.
She pulled the boy up and led him to a sink, where she had him run water over the spot. She then wrapped a small bandage around the digit before looking him in the eyes with an exasperated sigh. "Dear, you know not to touch the sewing box".
Lotor hung his head. "Sorry, Maria" he mumbled out.
"Just remember this for the future, okay?"
The boy simply answered with a nod of his head.
"What were you trying to get, anyways?" Maria asked, cocking up an eyebrow with a slight smile.
"A button. The yellow one" Lotor answered, perking up a bit.
Maria peeked into the box. "That one?" she asked.
"Mhm"
"Do you still want it?". She laughed at the excited nods the boy responded with. Maria retrieved the button. Then she got some string from the bottom of the box. "Here. Now you won't lose it" she said, slipping the button on and finishing with a firm knot connecting the two string ends.
Lotor beamed as the nursemaid put the homemade necklace on him.
His fist clenched around the necklace, which he then swiftly slid over his head and hid beneath his shirt.
Lotor grabbed a few other things, such as smaller weapons and a few strange-looking devices, before heading out. The window would be the best option. No one to ask him what he was doing.
Lotor had retreated deep in the woods, where he set up camp for the night. It was still evening though, so he decided to get a head-start on his planned work. He grasped a small radio-wave-interceptor he brought from home and stood up, hoping to pick up on some information. About the notice of his disappearance, for example, but he also wouldn't mind getting some information on the war.
Sure, he ran-away, but that didn't mean that he didn't care about the fate of his own kingdom. If need be, he would come back.
He actually hadn't thought too much about his whole escapade, which was surprising because he usually had a well-thought-out plan for everything. He cringed a bit, thinking that everyone back home would think he was being a dumb, overreacting teenager, which he guessed wasn't completely false…
The radio picked up on something, but it was too fuzzy for him to decipher the words. He started moving to higher ground.
He thought he could hear someone talking, but it was rather faint. The signal must have been too weak.
"Come on, guys!" sounded the voice, a lot louder and clearer than before.
Lotor was starting to think it wasn't coming from the radio.
Before he could make himself sparse, a large-framed female almost ran into him. Definitely fast for her size. The two both stood gaping at each other, only a meter apart.
"Zethrid, slow down!" said someone behind her. The voice seemed to bring the girl to her senses, and she caught the prince by surprise as she charged and threw a heavy punch. Lotor's reflexes kicked in, and her intimidating fist barely missed him. She continued to throw punches while Lotor continued to dodge.
A smaller figure with almost pixie-like features appeared from the trees. "Zethrid, who is this?!" she yelled, yet unhesitatingly joining in the fight. This girl moved with excellent speed that Lotor struggled to keep up with.
Lotor saw another figure slip out of the densely packed trees, again, seemingly coming out of thin air. This one wore a hood and had a cat perched on her shoulder. Unlike the other two, she slowly stalked around the scene before trying anything.
Another seemed to appear out of nowhere. Not even as in coming into sight but literally just seeming to appear behind him. This one tried to hit him on a pressure point, but Lotor blocked the hit and skillfully jumped back from the three.
The fourth one fought with great precision. Honestly, they all seemed to be worthy opponents. Lotor was beginning to think they might actually win this fight.
"Give me space" the fourth one commanded, pulling out a spear to fight him. The others, without weapons, followed her orders but made sure to circle around so that Lotor wouldn't be able to escape. The prince swiftly pulled out his dagger. They circled around for a bit, trying for shots a few times. She had the advantage with a longer-range weapon, but he was a highly trained warrior. When she swung, Lotor was able to knock the spear out of her hands. Using her shock against her, he twisted them around so that he held the knife to her throat.
The hotheaded one- Zethrid? He thought that's what they called- started for Lotor, but he responded by pressing the knife a bit closer to spear girl's neck. "I wouldn't do that if I were you".
Hothead growled lowly and was pulled back by the pixie swiftly, who spoke up. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
Lotor's eyes grew wide in surprise. He'd almost forgotten that he was no longer in the heart of Galra. His existence was generally unknown to those outside. It was better that way, he guessed. "I think that's something I should be asking you" he said.
Pixie spoke again. "Excuse me?! YOU attacked US!"
Lotor's eyebrow raised in slight amusement. He looked at Hothead and snorted. "I wouldn't be too sure of that"
Pixie looked confused, but it was not she who spoke next. Spear had finally caught her breath. Lotor felt her straighten up a bit. "Zethrid?" she questioned sternly.
The Zethrid chick furrowed her eyebrows and expressively waved her hands around. "He was near our camp! He's probably a spy!"
"Why on Earth would I want to spy on you?" Lotor said.
"Can it!" Hothead snapped. She glowered at him. "Then what were you doing?"
"Trying to get a radio signal" Lotor said in an unamused tone. Good Lord, what was with these people?!
"…Oh, uh, sorry then" Pixie said.
Hothead grunted in acknowledgement. "Fine. We're not going to do anything to you. So let her go"
Lotor gave a pant-like sigh and withdrew his blade, letting go of his hold on the girl, who tore away from him as soon as she could. She joined her three friends and looked him over with her arms crossed. "You out here all alone?"
"None of your business" he said. Lotor then scanned the four's faces. "But obviously you aren't".
"We never got a name" she responded, ignoring his comments.
"Lotor. Yours?" he asked, looking at them all to indicate he wasn't just speaking to Spear.
Pixie answered. "I'm Ezor. That's Zethrid, Narti, and Auxia" she said, pointing out each girl.
'Ah, Pixie: Ezor, Hothead: Zethrid, Cat Lady: Narti, and Spear: Auxia' Lotor mentally noted.
"I'd say pleasure to meet you, but you just tried to kill me, so…" Lotor said.
Now, Lotor barely remembered how or why he teamed up with the four, but he could honestly say it was probably one of the best decisions he'd ever made.
The five had some good times; ransacking cities, stealing, just doing their own thing for a couple years. Throughout that time, somehow, he had ended up becoming the head leader of the group, replacing Auxia, though she became more of the unofficial second in command.
But then, his father called out to him for the first time since. Lotor followed the orders and came back begrudgingly.
It turned out that the king's health was at a severe low: there was always a price for using dark magic, and Zarkon had overdone it bigtime whilst the war went on.
And the Galran king's price just happened to be his physical strength.
The man was almost unable to be recognized when Lotor looked upon his corpselike body. The last two years, his own use of magic had been slowly killing him, yet it was also the only thing keeping him alive.
At least physically.
Lotor dreaded talking to him today.
There was the door. Right in front of him. The prince finally pushed aside its weight and came to a large mirror hung on an otherwise barren wall. The mirror would have looked completely normal had it not been for
There was the door. Right in front of him. The prince finally pushed aside its weight and came to a large mirror hung on an otherwise barren wall. The mirror would have looked completely normal had it not been for
There was the door. Right in front of him. The prince finally pushed aside its weight and came to a large mirror hung on an otherwise barren wall. The mirror would have looked completely normal had it not been for the eerie purple smoke coming from the glass.
Lotor walked up to it. "I am present, father".
His own reflected image into that of a dead man, who grinned wickedly back at him… "It's been a while, son"