Hi everyone!
Once again, I'm so so so sorry for taking so long to post a new chapter! But before you guys kill me, give me a chance to explain:
I was originally gonna post this chapter in October, but I thought it would be cool to try out Inktober for the first time so I wasn't able to write anything because I would be so exhausted from drawing. (BTW Inktober is fun and all, but I don't see myself doing it again for awhile XD) And as for these last couple of months, I was trying to get this chapter out, but considering this entire chapter consists of two back-to-back episodes and I had to keep going back and forth to make things were right and making sure that certain changes I made made sense, I started getting a little discouraged and lowkey was beginning to sink into a writing depression. By the time December rolled around, I decided that I had to get this out before Christmas Eve and as od now I literally pulled two all-nighters just to make sure this was done before midnight. :)
And just a disclaimer, this may be THE longest chapter in this fic, so get ready to read yourselves into a stupor.
Also, since this is my last chapter of 2021, I have to tell you guys that since it took so long for me to do this chapter, I'm gonna be taking a break for a good month and a half in order to recharge mentally so I can be ready for the next chapter. That, and my mom doesn't want me to lift a finger during my birthday month.
But anyway, thank you guys so much for your patience and thank you to everyone who still reads this story and enjoys it. It always makes me happy to see you guys enjoying the story! I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and an awesome New Year!
Now, onto the chapter! XOX
"It is time to begin."
Lance let out a gasp as he found himself back in the familiar vortex that was the astral plane, having just synced his bayard with the rest of the team moments earlier. He could only look ahead at the bright portal of light in front of him as the swift streaks of light rushed past him and the other paladins. Every fiber of Lance's being wanted to leave, his mind being plagued with memories of the last time he was in the astral plane. The time where Shiro reached out to him and he couldn't do anything to help. But at this moment, he couldn't afford to dwell on the past, not when he had to focus on the task at hand of reaching Honerva's mind.
"Now what?" Hunk asked aloud to the group.
"Allura, do you feel anything?" Keith inquired to the Altean. The princess was silent for a moment before she responded.
"We must travel through that light!" she stated, determination etched in her voice.
"It looks so far away." Hunk observed, turning his head to Allura. "How do you know?"
"The entity draws me toward it!" She replied, activating her back booster and making her way towards the light and away from the team. The red paladin couldn't help but to bite his lip and clench his fist. He had already accepted that Allura was going to go full force with the entity to get to Honerva, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Frankly, he wanted nothing more than to knock her out and take her back to Atlas to have it removed, but he knew that that wasn't going to happen. Much to his chagrin, all he could do was watch from the sidelines and at least try to keep her from digging herself into a wormhole he knew she wouldn't be able to climb out of. And with that, he joined the rest of the paladins behind the Altean, making their way towards the gleaming light ahead of them.
In an instant, he and the team were transported into a speeding vacuum of light before immediately transitioning into much slower scenery, filled with stars.
"What is this place?" Lance pondered aloud. "It's like...it's like I can hear what the universe is thinking."
"Remember how the Olkari told me that everything is made of the same energy? I think it has something to do with that." Pidge suggested in response. Hunk shot a quick look at the green paladin.
"So, thoughts are linked across some kind of, what, cosmic connection?"
"Yeah, but I think we are the thoughts inside a network of other people's thoughts." Keith added. It was at this point that the red paladin started to regret not taking some of those migraine pills for himself.
"Oh, this is making my head hurt." Lance groaned.
"Yeah, I'm actually with Lance on this one." said Hunk, visibly agreeing with Lance's sentiment. Allura turned her head back towards the group.
"If we are to-" Allura started, but wasn't able to finish her sentence as she suddenly began screaming, the pain clearly evident. The team was startled by the princess' sudden reaction and quickly made their way towards her in an attempt to help her, only to be stopped in their tracks by their own screams. Lance gritted his teeth as he clenched his arm in a vain attempt to subdue the electric currents that were surging through his entire body. After a few seconds, the intense sensation slowly began to subside, leaving him to pant heavily as he slowly opened his eyes.. He looked ahead of him and saw Pidge and Hunk, their bodies stiff and motionless as they were clearly still reeling from the effects of the sudden sensation.
It wasn't long before the red paladin heard a low groan from next to him, prompting him to turn his head. His eyes widened as his gaze focused on his leader, who was hunched over, one of his eyes scrunched shut, and a hand atop his helmet.
His head...
With as much strength as he could muster, Lance glided towards the black paladin, placing a gentle hand on his back in an attempt to inform Keith of his presence. He watched as the aforementioned paladin finally opened his eye and turned his head slightly towards him, meeting his concerned gaze. Lance was so focused on getting a verbal response that he jumped slightly when he felt light pressure falling upon his shoulder. He looked down quickly and visibly relaxed once he noticed Keith's spare hand on his shoulder, making the red paladin look back up in time to see Keith give him a small nod.
He's okay. Thank God.
With that confirmation, Lance finally pulled his head away from the black paladin and turned back to the team.
"What was that?" Lance questioned, mostly to himself as he doubted anyone was recovered enough to give him an actual answer.
"It felt like cold water was running down my spine." Hunk stated, still spooked from the random sensation as his frozen body was left to float. Lance could only shoot his best friend a look of pity before he was blindsided by the princess' response.
"That was Honerva." Allura finally replied. Lance's eyes widened as he snapped his head towards Allura, scanning her face for any type of uncertainty to relieve the weight of her statement. And just as he unfortunately predicted, he found none.
"What?" he gaped. Allura turned her head towards the team as she attempted to explain.
"The entity inside of me is connected to her."
"Wait, then why did we feel it?" Hunk inquired. Keith turned his head towards the yellow paladin, making an active effort to do it as slow as possible as to not potentially set off another migraine.
"It must be because we're all connected through Voltron." Keith answered.
"Yes." Allura replied, prompting the rest of the paladins to look to her. "The psychic link between us is now shared with Honerva. The closer we are to her, the stronger that link." she finished, turning her head towards Lance. She was immediately met with a stern gaze from the red paladin as he continued to support Keith upright.
"And the closer we are to her, the more force she'll use against us." Lance argued. "This is too dangerous. Honerva can easily use the connection to find you, to find us." he critiqued, making a circular motion with his finger to symbolize the whole group. Allura shot the Cuban boy a firm look of her own.
"No, this is how we are going to find her." she shot back. Letting out a light sigh, Keith removed his hand from Lance's shoulder as he moved forward towards the Altean.
"This isn't just on you, Princess." the black paladin started. "From here on out, whatever choice you make affects the rest of the team. So if we're going to do anything crazy, we need to be smart."
The Altean's bright blue orbs surveyed the group, seeing the nodding heads of the other paladins in agreement with their leader. Allura closed her eyes and exhaled deeply through her nose in slight frustration before she opened her eyes back up.
"Fine. But I must learn how to utilize this energy to locate Honerva." Allura finally relented.
"Maybe if we concentrate, we'll be able to feel her energy. Then we can track it back to its source. Let's all focus." At his suggestion, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk closed their eyes. Before he could close his own, the black paladin turned his head back to Lance, who let out a light, weighted sigh before his blue orbs made contact with his purple ones. Keith could see the exhaustion and stress that plagued the red paladin's features and shot him a sympathetic look. In response, Lance gave him an attempt at a small, reassuring smile, a gesture that the black paladin felt the need to shoot back right before the red paladin broke eye contact to close his eyes. And as much as he wanted to make sure Lance was actually okay, the team had a job to do. And with that, Keith finally shut his eyes and let the aura take over.
As Keith continued to focus, he could feel a newfound sense of energy rush through him. Rush around him. And as he entered back into the black lion, it was as if that same energy reinvigorated the mechanical beast with a whole new power as it merged into Voltron.
But that invigorating feeling wouldn't last long.
"I can feel something, like an energy inside me.." Hunk stated over the intercom.
"It's the entity."
Out of nowhere, Lance felt what he could only describe as "flowing, uncomfortable dread" running through his entire body, and it seems as though the rest of the team was feeling it, as well. And of course, it was a result of the entity that he wanted nothing but to throw into the nearest extraterrestrial garbage can. And the longer he felt the entity, the worst that he felt.
"This feeling, it's like..." he started, but someone beat him to the punch.
"Like a dark realization is washing over." Keith finished for him. Lance couldn't help but to grip the lever he was holding a little bit tighter.
My sentiments exactly.
"It's like we're being pulled by a tether connected to our souls." Pidge illuminated. The paladins could only look from their respective cockpits as they glided slowly through the colorful wavelengths of light and space.
"We're getting closer." Allura announced firmly.
Soon enough, the team was met with what appeared to be an opening. Or to be specific, some sort of black hole. With baited breaths, they entered, immediately being met with pitch black darkness. Darkness that would soon be diminished due to the random cracklings of electricity before them.
"This way." instructed Allura. As soon as the words were spoken, the area was soon illuminated with a piercing, blue light, a stark contrast from the plethora of colors that surrounded the team earlier. The multicolored streaks of light now being replaced fluorescent blue constructs that resemble those of nerve endings found within a nervous system. Pretty soon, they were passing through the sparking, blue lights and back into the vacuum of space and stars, the sparks of electricity not too far behind. Once the coast was clear, the paladins separated from their lions, flying out the rest of the way until ultimately passing through the wormhole before finally landing on a dark, cold floor surrounded by random strikes of lightning. The moment that his feet landed on the cold surface, Lance knew that this could only go so many ways...all of them bad.
"Is this Honerva's mind?" Hunk inquired. Allura bent forward a little as she took a closer look through the floor.
"It's on the other side of this wall." she answered. As soon as she finished, some sort of creature swam beneath her feet, letting out a mild shriek and causing the princess and Hunk to let out a gasp. The rest of the team lowered their gaze onto the floor as they realized that there was definitely more than one dark creature below them.
"What is this?" Pidge implored, visibly disturbed at what she was looking at.
"It feels like...like these are the souls that Honerva has defeated and corrupted. It's terrible." Allura answered, devastated at the revelation. Lance shot a quick look of sympathy towards the Altean before he turned his gaze back to the wall below his feet. He may be pissed and hurt, but he wasn't heartless. He knew that seeing more of Honerva's atrocities firsthand would be devastating for the princess and this was just a prime example. And if Honerva was capable of doing something like this to innocent people, Lance didn't want to imagine what she would do to them should she catch them here. Hunk focused his gaze on the wall intently before looking back up at the group.
"Of course we're gonna have to get on the other side of the- What?" Hunk exclaimed, not being able to finish his sentence as he pointed below him. The rest of the paladins looked down at their feet. They were shocked and horrified as the very creatures below their feet transformed into hands, slamming their palms against the wall in a vain attempt to reach the paladins.
"Um, a-are they supposed t-to do that?" Hunk stammered in fear.
"If they do, then we are definitely in trouble!" Pidge panicked. It was at this point everyone started backing away from the center where they all stood, focusing their attention on the wall and following the hands' next move should they penetrate through the wall. Keith's eyes surveyed the wall below him until something told him to look at his side, prompting him to lift his eyes upward. His eyes widened as he saw some of the hands actually rising from the wall behind Lance, whom was completely oblivious to what was about to strike him from above.
"Lance!" Keith exclaimed, extending his arm towards the red paladin. Before Lance had a chance to turn his head, Keith grabbed his arm and pulled him out of his spot right near his side before the barrage of hands struck down, prompting the other paladins to jump back. Lance tried to catch his breath as he watched the hands slink back under the wall, possibly to prepare for another strike. He looked away from the scene and focused his gaze on Keith, whose gaze was still focused on the spot where the red paladin pretty much almost got smashed. Even with him having such a serious gaze, Lance couldn't stop his chest from feeling tight as he stared at the black paladin's face, transfixed on the way those purple orbs stared so intently. Every single nerve in Lance's body sparked from the way Keith was still holding onto his arm, his grip firm and secure and yet gentle enough not to bruise. If it wasn't for the situation at hand, Lance would definitely be blushing up a storm.
"T-Thanks, Keith." Lance exhaled shakily, prompting his leader to turn his head towards him, meeting his blue eyes.
"Don't thank me just yet." Keith replied, turning his head back to the wall of appendages starting to swarm the paladins. "I don't think they're done."
Lance immediately swerved his head towards the blue paladin, panic and urgency in his eyes.
"Allura, we need to get out of here!" he all but demanded. The aforementioned princess met his eyes, giving him a look of defiance.
"No, we must-"
Almost in an instant, another set of hands emerged from beneath the wall, clutching onto Allura's leg and ankles. By the time she felt their grip and the others made their attempts to reach her, all the Altean could do was let out a startled, terrified yelp before being dragged completely underneath the wall, prompting more of the terrifying hands to swarm.
"Allura!" Pidge screamed in shock.
"Pidge, watch out!" Keith exclaimed as more hands appeared, grabbing ahold of Pidge and immediately dragging her down under before she could even react.
"WE'RE DEAD!" Hunk all but screeched, attracting the next set of hands to grab him, as well, as he screamed in fear. Keith and Lance immediately ran to the yellow paladin, grabbing onto each of his hands in an attempt to set him free, but to no avail. Soon enough, Hunk slipped through their respective grasps as he became submerged in the wall, as well. It was at this point that the two paladins started backing away from the circle forming underneath him. Keith shifted his gaze to his remaining teammate.
"Lance-" he started, but the red paladin beat him to the punch.
"I know." Lance finished, summoning his bayard into its rifle form and getting into position as Keith was already holding his sword. They kept their eyes planted beneath them as the dark creatures were preparing for their next attack.
"You think we can take 'em all?" Lance questioned. Keith exhaled through his nose.
"I'm not sure, but we have to try." Keith answered, trying not to worry Lance any further. The red paladin chuckled nervously, panic slowly increasing.
"Is this the part where I ask you to relay a message to my family if I don't make it out of here?"
"No. This is the part where I tell you that we're gonna find the others and I'm gonna get you out of here." The Cuban boy's breath hitched at the statement, gripping the rifle tightly. In an instant, the creatures' hands sprung from the wall, charging towards the remaining paladins. Immediately, Lance pulled the trigger and blasted towards the onslaught of hands, blasting holes through most of them as they immediately disappeared with every shot that hit them. But even amongst the barrage of shots, some of the hands managed to narrowly avoid the blasts and continue their charge towards the red paladin, prompting Keith to step in front of him as he sliced at the strays.
Before Keith could land another slash, a couple of the hands grabbed ahold of his blade, halting his movements before tossing him a few feet away from Lance. Lance immediately saw this and turned his body towards the dark creatures, firing a couple of shots at them and getting them to disperse, but simultaneously causing more of the creatures to head towards him.
What's with these things?
Keith immediately got back up on his feet, blade clutched tightly in his hand as he tried to set his sight back on Lance. It took him a few seconds to find him, now trapped in the middle of a sea of hands trying to blast them away. A couple of them were already taking hold of him and submerging one of his ankles while he was doing his best to shoot them away. Keith gritted his teeth, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he became overwhelmed and got-.
Keith froze, realization washing over.
Shit...
Before he registered what he was doing, Keith felt his feet taking slow yet long strides towards Lance. His eyes remained focused as Lance continued to shoot, finally being able to blast away most of the creatures before focusing on the next wave in front of him. Seeing his chance, the black paladin all but sprinted, wielding his sword back with his arm before flinging it, causing the blade to spin into a moving pinwheel towards the creatures and slicing them in one go. By the time the blade reached the last arm, Keith already had an arm wrapped around Lance's torso, activated his boosters, and flew him and Lance up into the air, a good distance away from the wicked appendages. Seeing that the creatures remained on the wall, the two paladins allowed themselves to let out a sigh of relief. Keith turned his head towards Lance whilst the red paladin turned his own head towards him.
"Sorry about that. Are you okay?" Keith inquired, looking Lance over for any injuries. Lance shook his head, a tired smile forming.
"I'm good, thanks." he replied, activating his own boosters and opting to float next to his teammate. Once he did so, he looked back down to the creatures, whom were pitifully trying to find the two paladins. However, it wasn't until Lance looked back at Keith and did a double take between the two that he realized something was up.
"Hold on a second!" Lance blurted, causing Keith to jump slightly.
"Why are these assholes trying to drag me down but not you?!" he all but demanded. The black paladin merely sighed.
"I wish I knew."
"Well, at least they can't touch us from up here." Lance reassured, only to be interrupted by a shrill set of shrieks. Keith and Lance looked down at the wall to see the cluster of hands, moving and intermingling with each other as they started to swarm as they had done earlier. The uneasiness in the air prompted the paladins to move up just a little bit higher as a precaution. Suddenly, the cluster of creatures quickly submerged themselves back underneath the wall, the entire area now drenched in dead silence. Keith leaned forward as he squinted his eyes, trying to see if the creatures were really gone. It only took a few seconds before hie eyes widened.
"Watch out!"
Lance didn't get a chance to react as a cluster of hands extended from beyond the wall, grabbing the red paladin by the legs and waist as he started to get dragged down quickly back to the wall. The Cuban boy tried to pry off the hands, only to find them intangible and unable to be touched.
"KEITH!" he screeched in horror. The aforementioned paladin immediately lunged forward to his teammate, only to immediately get intercepted by another cluster of hands trying to stop him. They immediately lunged at the paladin, but Keith was too fast for them, impressively evading each hand that came across him. As he continued to escape the barrage, his eyes became trained on Lance, who was getting closer and closer to the wall as he continued to struggle. He gritted his teeth as he summoned his blade, slashing through the hands quickly and urgently until the area around him was clear and he immediately flew his way down to Lance, still struggling in a vain attempt to break free.
"Lance, hang on! I got you!" Keith shouted, prompting the red paladin to raise his head to look at the paladin above him. Keith made his way behind the scared paladin as he wrapped his arms around Lance's torso, trying to pull him away from the hands, but no amount of pulling could separate Lance from the creatures. Keith didn't know how long he had been pulling for but to him it must've felt like a lifetime before he felt his feet planting onto the wall, immediately releasing his grip around Lance's torso to grip his arm as he started to pull once more.
Lance could only moan in agony as he was now waist deep into the wall, more hands appearing to grab onto Lance's head and shoulders as they pulled him down. Keith could feel the strain within his muscles from the additional weight of the hands on Lance, but he couldn't afford to ease up now. Not when he was close to losing Lance. Dread started to fill Keith's bones as Lance was dragged even further, only being able to let out the start of a startle yell as his head was completely submerged within the wall, leaving Keith to balance merely on his heels as he leaned back, trying to use all of his strength and resolve to hang on to Lance's hand.
Don't let go, Keith...
Please don't let go...
Keith grunted as he felt Lance's hand starting to slip away from him. He tightened his grip to the best of his ability, feeling every single one of his fingers going numb. Suddenly, he lost his footing and lunged forward, catching himself on one hand as he was now on his knees.
"Come on!" Keith shouted, putting all of his strength now into his one hand. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead as he saw himself losing his grip on the red paladin's hand. His own hand began to shake as he tried to grip Lance's hand tighter, only for it to finally slip away from him as it sank underneath the wall.
No...
No.
"NO!" Keith screamed, eyes wide with fear as he immediately raised his hand and summoned his bayard into its sword form. He stabbed his sword into the wall, hoping to get any sort of penetration into the wall, but the wall was solid and didn't develop a single scratch from the point of Keith's blade. The half Galran gritted his teeth angrily as he rose to his feet, switching from his blade to his blaster.
"Come on!" he screamed once more and immediately pulled the trigger, shooting off several blasts against the obsidian surface. The black paladin continued to pant and grunt as the blasts continued, becoming more and more desperate to get through the wall and get to Lance and the others. But no matter how many times he fired, no shot was able to make as much as a dent against the surface of the wall. Keith could only look at the wall in defeat as the smoke cleared and he fell to his knees, surrounded by crackles of lightning that pierced through the sky.
Lance.
"I'm sorry."
Lance let out a startled gasp, panting as he tried to breathe for the first time in what felt like ages. He could still remember being pulled down beneath the wall by its creatures, almost suffocating as his head went underneath the wall to-
Where exactly am I?
Lance looked around, hoping to pinpoint anything familiar in this strange place but to no avail. All he could recognize was the ambiance of blue that surrounded him and him alone.
"Keith!" Lance yelled, his voice piercing the air. To his dismay, he was only met with silence. But in the same breath, he knew he was being too optimistic. The minute that the red paladin got sucked underneath that wall into this void, he knew that reaching his teammate was going to be practically impossible. As soon as he finished his thought, Lance's eyes grew in realization.
He wasn't the only one here!
"Hunk! Pidge! Anyone?" he exclaimed again, once again being met with the deafening silence. Lance could feel his anxiousness rising, feeling tense from the lack of response from the others. If he had to guess, the others were probably in other areas under the wall, so he would have to try to call them through his com link.
"Guys! Guys, can you read me?" he shouted once more into the air. But this time, instead of being met with silence, he was met with a sudden hit in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. He raised himself up onto his arms just in time to see a blue figure with glowing yellow eyes in the air above him, summoning his bow and arrow and aiming it right for him. Lance immediately activated his gun and fired at the figure, forcing it to dodge and land back on the ground. Seeing his chance, the red paladin rose to his feet and regained his aim just in time to see one of the figure's arrows heading in his direction before releasing a shot, causing the arrow to be thrown off course away from him.
Lance continued to open fire as he began to walk backwards, attempting to put distance between himself and the mysterious figure trying to kill him. With every arrow that the figure released, it would immediately get blasted away due to Lance's shots. But even with that, it didn't stop the figure from continuing their charge towards the red paladin. Lance wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep this up, but he knew that he needed back-up before things got any worse.
"Team! Something severed our connection!" Lance yelled, trying to keep his eyes on the figure before him as he came closer, making it harder for Lance to land any good shots to the arrows. It was then that the figure speedily ran behind Lance and fired another arrow, hitting the paladin in the shoulder as he winced in pain and turned around in an attempt to face them, but was only met with no one. He jumped as he saw something dash beside him through his peripheral before he felt himself get hit with another arrow in his other shoulder. The red paladin gritted his teeth in annoyance as he readied his gun, his eyes hard as he scanned the area around him, but he still didn't see anything...or anyone. He gripped his gun tighter in anticipation, knowing that the strange figure was most likely hiding from plain sight to get the upper hand.
Sure enough, when he lifted his head to look up, his shocked, blue eyes were immediately met with soulless, yellow ones looking down upon him. And before he could even react, the figure readied their bow and the last thing that Lance saw was a multitude of glowing arrows flying towards him.
Keith raised his sword once again, striking it down against the wall for what was probably the millionth time. Every time he struck down against the surface, he could feel the muscles in his arms throb in pain, screaming for him to stop. But his mind was screaming at him to keep going. To not stop for even a tick.
Because every tick that went by was another tick that the team was trapped.
The black paladin panted heavily as he gripped his sword tightly, his hands shaking from overexertion. He wasn't sure how long he had been slashing at the wall, but it felt way too long for his liking and it didn't help that he was catching his breath while the wall itself was relatively unfazed from the multiple slices and stabs it had received.
"There has to be a way in." Keith panted desperately., his brows furrowing in fear at the thought of his entire team staying beneath the wall. He focused his gaze upon the obsidian surface, hoping against hope to see or feel anything that could mean that his friends were okay, but nothing came. The half Galran could only shut his eyes as he continued to catch his breath.
"I can't feel them." he said quietly as he continued to catch his breath.
I can't feel him...
Lance felt his breath get knocked out of his body as his back hit the floor hard, causing him to tumble across the surface for a few seconds before coming to a stop. He slowly rose to his feet, trying to regain his breath. His blue eyes remained focus on the mysterious figure before him, whom didn't gain a single scratch on them to the red paladin's dismay. It was at this point that Lance decided to come up with a different plan, realizing that his whole "shoot first and run" schtick wasn't going to cut it anymore. The red paladin then lowered his gaze to the figure's bow, thinking back to the way they were fighting earlier.
They're an archer, so that means they handle their business long-range like me, Lance thought. Me putting distance between us just makes it easier for them to get their shots in...
"So I'll just have to close the gap." he said aloud, finishing his thought verbally as he stood up right, gripping his gun tightly as he prepared for his next move. The figure before him seemed to have sensed this as they immediately began their charge, prompting Lance to do the same. He gripped his weapon tightly as he ran as fast as his feet could carry him, putting an excessive amount of weight and force behind each step as to gain the high ground. He could feel his heart begin to thump rapidly in anticipation as he inched closer to the figure.
I can't mess this up.
Lance narrowed his eyes as the figure once again readied their bow, aiming it towards him as he continued his charge. After what felt like forever, the dark figure fired an arrow, thinking that the paladin was running into their own demise. Lance, however, was already prepared as he ducked and shifted his entire body to the side as he transitioned into a roll, maneuvering his body towards the figure's backside. Stunned at the sudden reaction, the dark figure didn't have a chance to turn around fully as Lance raised his gun and immediately released a series of heavy fire shots against the figure's back at close range, causing them to be blown back several yards away from the red paladin and subsequently causing them to lose their grasp on their bow.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Lance arose to his feet, his gun in one hand as he looked upon the disoriented figure, clearly recovering from being blindsided from Lance's attack. A part of him was shocked that his idea actually worked and that he didn't end up with a glowing arrow lodged in his head, but there was a smaller part of him that couldn't help but to do a small victory dance at the whole situation. However, the Cuban boy wouldn't have time to relish in his thought as the archer finally got back up, retrieving their bow and glaring at him. Lance merely looked back at the gun currently in his hand before looking back at the archer.
"Guess it's time to switch things up." Lance suggested to himself. As soon as he finished his statement, the gun started to glow and shift in shape. In a matter of seconds, the gun was gone and had now been replaced with his Altean broadsword, which he hadn't used since he first unlocked it. Lance wasn't all that sure if he could even carry himself with a sword given he was practically a newbie, but he was willing to try anything that would prevent him from being stuck with a million arrows.
But before he could get a chance to do any slashing, an off-putting and intense shriek rang out throughout the void, causing the red paladin to wince as he lifted his free hand to cover one of his ears. He focused his gaze on the figure, whom also seemed to be affected by the shriek as they became frozen in place. Then, to the red paladin's surprise, the blue lion landed before them, letting out a roar so strong and powerful that it made Lance shield himself from the gust of wind that followed. He returned his gaze to the mysterious archer, looking on in confusion as the darkness that covered them was being blown away. Once it was all gone, Lance could only gasp as the person behind all that darkness was revealed.
But not just any person...a paladin...a former paladin.
It was Blaytz.
Friend of Alfor and former paladin of the Blue Lion.
Lance's lion. And now, Allura's lion.
Lance was absolutely mortified. He couldn't believe that the person he had been battling this entire time was a former paladin of Voltron. The previous paladin of the Blue Lion before him and Allura, now trapped and corrupted by the person whose mind he and his team were attempting to infiltrate. Hell, just acknowledging that simple fact made Lance's blood run cold. Blaytz must've noticed Lance's hesitation because he immediately started charging him again, shooting a new arrow. Luckily, Lance snapped out of his stupor in time as he immediately summoned his shield using his free hand. He was more than ready to do some slashing, but given this new unforeseen circumstance, he had to make an active effort not to harm Blaytz and try to snap him out of his corruption with any and all swordplay being used against the arrows and not him.
The former blue paladin fired more arrows at Lance as he charged at him. Gripping his broadsword, Lance raised it and swung it before him, successfully slicing all the incoming arrows and using his shield to protect him from any strays. He then broke into a run as his shield connected against Blaytz, causing the blue paladin to have his bow compacted against his chest as Lance spun the two of them, immediately shoving the former paladin away with as much force as he could as to keep distance between them.
"Blaytz, stop!" Lance exclaimed. "You don't have to do this!"
Lance's exclamation fell on deaf ears as the blue paladin charged him once more, raising his arrow in an attempt to strike Lance head on. Relinquishing his shield, Lance brought up his sword and used both hands to hold it in front of him, making it clash against Blaytz's bow. Lance forced his feet into the ground, using as much strength as he could muster to push against the bow, wincing at the sparks flying out caused by the friction between the two weapons.
"Please! Remember who you are!" Lance pleaded, only to be met with silence as Blaytz appeared to be unfazed by the red paladin's plea. Lance would soon be thrown off guard as the blue lion let out a mighty roar once again, causing Blaytz's bow to glow and have several streaks of light appear from within it. Shocked, Lance backed away from the blue paladin and watched in surprise as Blaytz started to glow as well, several glowing lines forming on him before finally being consumed by its bright light. He remained basked in the light for only a few seconds before the light finally faded, leaving the archer a bit discombobulated as he held his head, clearly trying to pull himself together. Seeing that there was no longer a threat, Lance summoned away his sword.
"What...What is this place?" Blaytz asked the red paladin.
"Somewhere outside of Honerva's mind. She used her dark magic to trap you here." Lance explained. Blaytz paused as he quickly raised his head.
"Honerva." He gasped aloud to himself, clearly trying to process what had just been told to him. He immediately collapsed onto his knees, bowing his head, his face painted with an expression of disbelief.
"Are the visions from the Lions true?" Blaytz inquired. "Have we really been trapped here for ten thousand years?" Lance shifted his eyes away from the former paladin sadly.
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"And Zarkon?"
"He's dead. But don't worry, he never got his hands on any of the Lions." Blaytz let out a small sigh of relief.
"I see." he replied. "Well, it's a reassurance to know that Voltron has remained in trustworthy hands." He finally shifted his eyes upward towards Lance, surveying the young man who had seemingly fulfilled his role. After a moment, the blue paladin rose to his feet.
"So," Blaytz smirked, prompting Lance to turn his gaze back to him. "I take it you're the one whose been taking care of my Blue?" The red paladin drifted his eyes to the side as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I was. I actually pilot the Red Lion now." Blaytz's mouth formed into an "o" as he registered his words.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Apparently, Blue thought it was time for me to be a right hand." Lance chuckled, or at least he tried to. He shifted his head to the side to look at his former lion. "Good to know that she's still looking out for me." The blue paladin shot Lance a sympathetic look.
"Of course, she does! A bond like that doesn't just vanish. Besides, Blue was made to deal with wildcards like us. Or at the very least be used to ones like us." He quipped. Lance gave him a quick, small smile before he dropped it.
"Sometimes, I feel like she and Red are the only ones who are." Lance stated somberly. Blaytz raised an eyebrow in confusion before Lance continued. "Everyone always sees me as the screw-up or the goofball. Nowadays, I'm usually just cast aside since everyone thinks I get in the way. Everyone on my team can do something, whether it be hacking into gadgets or being really good with a sword. But...I can't do any of that stuff. But I must've done something right if Blue chose me." Silence filled the blue void between the two paladins until one of them spoke.
"People often overlooked me because I was different, but the Blue Lion recognized something in me, something others couldn't see. It saw the greatness within that even I did not." Blaytz responded, placing a hand on Lance's shoulder. "You, my friend, have greatness within you, as well. You remind me of myself in a lot of ways, and yet you're so different. You're a remarkable person and both Blue and Red are lucky to have you as their paladin. Thank you for saving me." Blaytz finished gratefully.
Lance paused for a moment before he gave his predecessor a grateful smile. Aside from Keith, he honestly couldn't remember the last time he had gotten any sort of acknowledgement of him as a paladin, especially from the team. That fact was especially true in the period of time where Lotor got somewhat close with...the team. So hearing this kind of praise from another paladin, the ORIGINAL paladin, made Lance feel a little good. And given everything that has happened, he wished that was a feeling he could experience more often. He was so caught up in his feelings that he almost didn't register Blaytz removing his hand and walking away from him, placing his hands on his hips as he looked up at the starry blue atmosphere above them.
"Now, what do you say we get out of here, eh? I don't think I can stay in this blasted place any longer." he asked jokingly, but with an edge of seriousness in his voice. Lance replied with a heavy yet playful sigh.
"Tell me about it."
Keith panted hard as lightning continued to strike down around him, his bayard long gone from his hand. No matter how many times he stabbed, slashed, or blasted, making any sort of dent upon the wall was virtually impossible and the black paladin was literally beside himself. Every single muscle and bone in his body was practically on fire and his lungs felt as though they were going to burst. And even with all of this, the wall remained victorious,,,and his entire team was still in its grasp.
Exhausted and defeated, the half Galran hunched over, his hands connecting with the ground as he grunted. This wasn't supposed to happen. The mission wasn't supposed to turn out like this. He wasn't supposed to be sitting here upon this wall while his friends were probably fighting for their lives. He was their leader and he was supposed to protect them, but he couldn't.
He was too slow to get to Allura and Pidge.
He was too late to free Hunk.
He had been able to protect Lance for a time, but he eventually failed. Failed him.
Then, almost out of nowhere, the black paladin began feeling a mild, throbbing pain forming in his head. Keith couldn't help but to scrunch his eye, wincing in pain. Not only was this pain unexpected, but it was the last thing that Keith needed given the current circumstances. And if Keith had to guess, it probably came from overexerting himself with the wall. But as uncomfortable as it was, he couldn't afford to dwell on it now. He needed to find a way through this wall and to his team and nothing was working. Keith inhaled deeply through his nose before he opened his mouth.
"HEY! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!" he all but screeched into the ground. "HUNK! ALLURA! PIDGE!" He panted momentarily before he gathered his breath again.
"LANCE! LANCE, ANSWER ME! SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING! COME ON!"
Keith could only shut his eyes tightly in anger and pain as his yells remained unheard and his headache more agitated. He closed one of his hands into a fist as it trembled, desperation and fear flowing through his veins.
"Please." Keith pleaded. But just as he thought his pleas were going to go unanswered, he was blindsided by the roar of a lion, prompting him to open his eyes and look down upon the wall. Something told him that the source of the roar didn't come from within the wall so he lifted his gaze upward and was met with a familiar face: the face of the Black Lion. Keith could only stare up at the lion in shock at their sudden reappearance, but that didn't make him any less glad to see them.
"You're back." Keith gaped. He would soon widen his eyes as he heard a plethora of roars behind him, prompting him to turn around and slowly realize that in fact all of the lions had returned right along with Black. He was so trapped within his own shock that he was completely blindsided by the sound of an all-too familiar voice.
"Keith?" the voice asked hesitantly. Keith whipped his head around (which was a really stupid move for his headache) quickly and immediately felt his heart stop when he saw who it was. He was actually standing before him, all in one piece and looking at him with genuine concern and relief. He gazed at the black paladin for a few extra seconds before a relieved smile appeared on his face and he ran towards him.
"Lance." Keith exhaled, shakily rising to his feet as he kept his eyes on the red paladin coming towards him. Before he knew it, Lance had his arms wrapped around him tightly, almost causing Keith to lose his balance and fall back onto the ground. Keith let himself exhale as he registered the feeling of Lance's arms around his neck and back and Lance's quick breathing on his neck. It didn't take long for Keith to wrap an arm around Lance's waist in response, hugging him back, allowing himself to smile and sink into his embrace.
He's okay.
"Are you okay?" the black paladin inquired, giving Lance a once-over for any wounds. The red paladin placed his hands on Keith's shoulders as pulled away, meeting his purple orbs.
"I'm fine." Lance replied. "What about you? Are you hurt?" Keith gave Lance a quick yet small, reassuring smile as he gently shook his head.
"I'm okay." Lance gave a smile of relief and almost instantly Keith forgot that his head was hurting, his hand still resting on the small of Lance's back, resisting the urge to graze his fingers up and down his back. And as much as he wanted to stay in this little bubble he and Lance were in, he knew there were more pressing matters at hand.
"Wait, if you're here, then where are the others?" Keith asked, confusion and concern laced in his voice.
"With any luck, they should be here right about..." Lance started, only to shift his gaze away from Keith and release his hold, prompting the black paladin to follow his line of vision. The two paladins were soon met with yellow, green, and pink silhouettes standing and glowing before them. They continued to glow for a few seconds before the auras surrounding the figures disappeared, revealing Hunk, Pidge, and Allura, completely unharmed with triumphant smiles on their faces. Relieved that his entire team was back in one piece, Keith couldn't help but to smile in relief.
"Now." Lance finished, smiling at the return of his friends.
"You guys are all right." Keith exhaled.
"Not just us." Hunk stated, nudging his head to the side. Keith furrowed his brows at Hunk's statement before turning his head, his eyes widening in shock at the four individuals standing before him.
"Wait, are they the..."
"Yep, the original paladins." Pidge answered before the question was finished. To say that Keith was floored would be a true understatement. There they were, the original paladins of Voltron standing before him with the strength, unity, and pride that Allura and Coran would describe to the team constantly. Keith's eyes shifted to the aforementioned princess and didn't miss the remnants of tears in her bright blue eyes as she smiled at her father, clearly happy to have been reunited with the father she hadn't seen in 10,000 years. And while Keith could never relate to losing a parent in the manner Allura did, he knew all too well the pain of losing a parent at such a young age, so he was pretty happy to see Allura get the chance to reunite with her father. But that being said...
How the hell was this even possible?
"But, how-?" Keith started to question, but Hunk answered swiftly.
"Their souls were trapped by Honerva's dark magic. When we came near Honerva's consciousness, our connection attracted them to us." Hunk illuminated to the black paladin. "Crazy right?"
"But we used the connection to free them." Pidge added on. "The Lions created a bridge, sharing old memories with new."
The moment Pidge finished her sentence, the paladins were struck with the sudden, electric pain from when they first started, causing all of them to grunt in pain. Keith could only grit his teeth as he held his head, the high-pitched ringing agitating his head further. Even though the pain didn't last as long as before, the pain was just the same. He slowly opened his eyes to see the rest of the team trying to shake off the pain, as well. He then shifted his gaze to Allura, whom was kneeling on the ground in pain with her father by her side.
"What's going on?" Alfor asked his daughter worriedly. Allura opened her eyes, pain evident on her face.
"Honerva's connection grows." the princess responded. "We are very close to her now."
"You hold a dark entity within you." Alfor said grimly. "Don't you know how dangerous that is? That's what led to Honerva and Zarkon's end." Allura rose to her feet, her father following suit.
"I know the danger." Allura replied, walking away from her father and lowering her gaze to the ground. "But now I have the power to stop Honerva. You had to make a difficult choice in war by sending the Lions away. I also made a difficult choice."
Keith watched as the former red paladin lowered his gaze to the ground, no doubt feeling as though he had failed to protect his only child. He shifted his gaze back to the blue paladin, observing her stoic stance.
"I'm not going to be afraid to use the power I have. We need to continue."
The silence amongst the paladins was deafening as Allura finished her resolve. They knew full well that the princess was about to go down a path of no return, but what could they do? Who were they to tell her to put this mission to rest? To get rid of the entity and find another way? They couldn't and they knew very well that she wouldn't, so all they could do was deal with it. Pidge and Hunk looked at the princess worriedly before shifting their gazes to the ground while Keith's purple orbs remained on her, his face stoic yet showing stress at her insistence. Something then told the black paladin to look beside him and he did, his purple orbs locking onto Lance and his heart immediately hurting. Keith felt helpless as he watched the helplessness and fear on Lance's face before it was contorted into that of anger and defeat, the young man's eyes drifting to the side as Keith took notice of how Lance bit the inside of his cheek.
"How do we get past the wall?" Hunk's question pierced the tense air, breaking Keith's focus off of Lance and onto Allura as she knelt down and placed her hand against the wall.
"It's...it's like I can feel her thoughts." she returned. "The way through is with the darkness."
"Honerva went mad, obsessed with darkness and power." Alfor cautioned.
"And now we must enter her mind."
And with that, Allura shut her eyes as her hand began to glow upon the wall's surface before its bright blue light grew and gleamed beneath the paladins' feet. The light suddenly burst into individual strands as they streaked across the wall, constantly maneuvering between the paladins as they zoomed past them and eventually creating an emblem. As the light began to encapsulate the group, Keith could only focus on two things: the pain on Lance's face and the growing pain in his head.
Keith grunted as he scrunched his eyes tighter, his hand firmly planted against the wall's surface. He could feel the inside of his head ringing profusely as screeching winds flew past him, his whole body vibrating from the force of the wind's ripples. And even though he was aware that the team was around him, the winds rushing past him were so loud that he could barely hear them.
Soon enough, the vibrations and screeching wind began to cease and Keith felt himself begin to still. Once he stopped moving completely, he slowly opened his eyes and kept his gaze on the ground as he waited for his head to stop ringing.
"Whoa." he heard Hunk gawk. "Wait, where are we?"
Keith finally raised his head along with the other paladins to follow Hunk's line of vision, immediately being met with what appeared to be a palace, along with a series of towers and buildings branded with the symbol of Zarkon.
"On Daibazzal." Alfor answered.
"It's pristine." Gyrgan remarked. "Last we were here, all was decimated."
"The landscapes of her mind must be made up of places from her past." Allura suggested. Keith tried to keep up with the conversation before him, but at this point his head was throbbing so badly that he couldn't focus on what anyone was saying, opting to stay quiet until he gained some sort of grip on the pain.
"Wait, hold up." Lance interjected. "If all this is some sort of Honerva thought bubble, then wouldn't she know we're here?"
"About 20 years ago, the Garrison was able to map the human brain." Pidge started to explain. "They used a ventral metatronic reactor to read the theramagnetic wave signatures of each of the subjects." Lance furrowed his brows, visibly tired of Pidge's intellectual rambling.
"Get to the point, Pidge."
"A person's mind is an endless landscape of constantly shifting thoughts and ideas. We must be hidden in the chaos." Keith looked at the green paladin skeptically, having been able to catch a good chunk of her explanation.
"Do you know this for sure, or is this just a theory?" he inquired urgently. Lance raised a brow at the black paladin as his ears caught the sharpness in his tone, something that the rest of the team seemed to either miss or ignore.
"Well, it's a theory, but if Honerva finds out we're in her mind, I have a feeling we'll know about it." Pidge answered.
"Good point." Hunk agreed.
"Allura, where are we going next?" Keith asked the princess, urgency still laced in his sharp voice. She closed her eyes briefly before she reopened them.
"The entity wants us to enter the palace." she defined.
As the paladins stood within the halls of the palace, Lance couldn't keep his eyes off of his leader. Throughout the entire trek to the palace, he was the only one to notice the way Keith's face would contort to a painful expression every few seconds or the way he would rub his temple or hold his head while no one was paying attention. And he definitely didn't miss how short and curt his responses would be whenever he was spoken to. Fast forward to now and the half Galran had separated himself from the team, whom were either conversing amongst themselves or taking in the halls they stood in. As he made his way towards the black paladin, Lance could see him pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Hey, man. Are you-" Lance started, reaching his hand out to place on Keith's shoulder.
"I'm fine." Keith replied sharply, causing the red paladin to recoil his hand as if he had just gotten burned. Lance's gaze drifted to the ground as he rubbed his arm awkwardly.
"Wait." Lance looked back up just in time to watch Keith turn around to face him, an apologetic expression in his eyes and a hint of swelling on his bottom lip. "Lance, I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
"No, it isn't. I didn't mean to snap like that. It's just...my head is killing me." Keith griped, his forehead now in the palm of his hand. Lance could only shoot him a sympathetic look.
"Yeah, I see that." the red paladin remarked. "Do you know when it started back up?"
"A little after we all got that shock when we felt Honerva. It started getting worse after you and the others got sucked beneath the wall." Lance's eyes widened at the revelation with worry and Keith almost immediately regretted opening his mouth.
"Jesus, Keith." Lance all but tensed. "You can't keep this stuff to yourself. For all we know, your head could be getting ready to fall off." It took all of Keith's will power to stifle a chuckle, worried that anything resembling a laugh could set off his head again.
"I highly doubt that. And I know, I know. Just didn't want to-"
"Worry anyone?" Keith shrugged.
"Well, you kinda failed at that, didn't you?" Lance asked sarcastically, prompting the black paladin to roll his eyes. Nonetheless, the red paladin gave a small smirk as he placed a gentle hand on Keith's shoulder.
"Look, just be straight with me so that I know you're okay. Okay?" Lance requested, his head tilted to the side. Keith gave him a short nod.
"Yeah, okay."
In all honesty, Keith wasn't feeling okay. In fact, his head had been feeling worse than before. Even though it was no longer filled with the obnoxious ringing, the repetitive throbbing pain seemed to be endless, pulsing every couple of minutes with every step that he took. But when Lance gave him his relieved smile, any semblance of pain Keith felt took a backseat. Instead of being zeroed in on the pain, he could just focus on those blue eyes and that gentle smile. And Keith knew the moment he got back on Atlas, he was going to be seeing more of those eyes and smile when he gets himself drugged up on more of that migraine medication.
Lance's smile, however, didn't go unnoticed. Throughout the duration of the two paladins' conversation, Allura's hard blue eyes remained trained on them, especially on Lance. She stood back and watched silently as he placed his hand on Keith's shoulder and spoke to him, prompting the aforementioned paladin to smile at him. A smile so foreign to the princess that she almost couldn't believe that it was real. But something that the princess could tell was real was the smile Lance gave to Keith.
Something the Altean hadn't seen from him in what felt like deca-pheobs. And it didn't make her feel good. Not too long ago, she was the one Lance was smiling at. But now, he could barely even look at her. He couldn't even be near her! And all because he saw her as...toxic. And it didn't matter how many times she tried to explain herself, he just wouldn't hear her. Quiznak, she wouldn't be surprised if he was always disagreeing with her just to spite her. Clenching her fists, she removed her eyes from the two as she walked away from the group, making her way towards a large set of doors that most likely separated her from Honerva. The Altean's eyes turned cold, newfound anger festering within her at the thought of the witch. She reached out her hand, ready to touch the door until a hand set itself atop hers. Surprised, Allura turned her head, immediately being met with her father's concerned face.
"Allura, please listen to me." Alfor started. "Alteans are life-givers. The entity you possess is a dark, ancient evil. It is not the key to winning this war."
"I understand your concern, but the entity granted us access to Honerva's mind." Allura replied. "Without it, your spirit would still be cursed."
"It you're looking for real power, the ability to become a true Altean Alchemist, there is a place you can train." Allura turned away from her father.
"Oriande, I know. I've been there and passed the guardian's trials."
"That's wonderful news. You were able to gain the power of Oriande."
"It isn't enough. That is why I must learn another method. The entity will guide us toward the answers we seek." The monarch could only stand there in silence as he tried to register the weight of his daughter's words.
"But at what cost?" he implored. But before his daughter got a chance to respond, they were immediately blindsided by a large glowing orb bursting through the doors, prompting the two to jump out of the way and the rest of the paladins to shield themselves. Soon enough, the floor underneath them started cracking and they all fell through into a void of light. However, they wouldn't stay in there for long as they were almost instantly transported back into their lions, the mechanical beasts snarling before shooting off. Suddenly, the mysterious orb shot from behind them and back onto the hand of a familiar foe.
"Whoa!" Lance exclaimed. "Where'd that thing come from?"
"Guys! It's the monster from Arus!" Hunk recognized.
"Form-" Keith started, but was immediately stopped by another rush of pain in his head, causing him to wince and hunch forward, groaning in pain.
"Keith, you good?" Hunk asked. The black paladin inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled before sitting back up.
"Fine!" he answered quickly. "Form Voltron!" Once the lions merged, the robot got into a defensive stance as it stared down the mechanical monster.
"Wait, where are the original Paladins?" Hunk asked aloud, looking out his screens for any sign of the original team. But before anyone could respond, the beast launched its orb towards Voltron, causing the robot to fly upward in order to evade it, only to end up getting hit anyway by a couple of new energy balls. The paladins groaned as the robot ricocheted from the hits.
"What the heck was that?" asked Keith, his eye twitching from the newfound pain caused by the Gladiator's attack.
"He couldn't do that the last time we fought him!" Hunk pointed out to the team.
"This is Honerva's mind! Anything can happen." Pidge shot back.
"Wait, does this mean she knows we're here?" Lance questioned.
"It appears she has guardians to protect her thoughts and memories." Allura answered.
As soon as she finished speaking, the Gladiator flung the three energy balls towards Voltron once again. Luckily, the paladins were able to form a shield and block one of the orbs, but they were unable to protect themselves from the barrage that soon followed after as the robot was struck several times, causing the shield to break apart and the paladins to scream from the force of the blows. Keith opened an eye, the other still shut in pain as he tried to recover from the blow and think of a plan.
"The original Paladins, they're still with us!" Allura reported. Before Keith could even question it, he watched as the spirits of the red, blue, yellow, and green lions emerged from Voltron and headed towards the sincline, blasting their rays at it in an attempt to distract it.
"Voltron, keep going. We'll hold off the beast." Alfor called out before his red lion let out a blast against one of the monster's orbs, giving the blue and green lions the chance to fire their own rays at the other two orbs.
"Thanks for the help, Paladins." Keith said gratefully.
"But where do we go?" Lance asked.
"Don't know. Any ideas, Allura?" A brief silence fell between the three paladins until Allura spoke again.
"Yes. I know what we must do." she answered, referring to the nearby wormhole that hung above the team.
And with that, Voltron summoned its sword and flew towards the wormhole, penetrating it and causing it to break open before consuming the robot and the paladins in its light.
When the wormhole was about to be hit, Keith almost immediately recoiled into himself, eyes tightly shut and head prepared for another onslaught of pain. So when the expected hard-hitting impact was non-existent and the pain never came, the black paladin was relieved yet weary, worried that they had fallen into another death trap. When he finally opened his eyes, he raised his head up and was met with the familiar pink hue of the Oriande sky.
"Is everyone okay?" Keith inquired, turning back to face the team.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm good." Hunk replied, his voice a little bit shaky.
"Yeah, I'm all right." Pidge added.
"Just a bit shaken." Allura replied, panting slightly. Keith then turned his head towards Lance, who still hadn't said anything.
"Lance, are you okay?" the black paladin asked cautiously. The red paladin nodded.
"I'm good. But what the heck just happened?" The paladins looked at each other for a moment before collectively turning their heads toward the castle of Oriande.
"These are traps, just like that monster." Pidge explained. "They're failsafes Honerva is using to protect her secrets from any unwanted intruders-us." Hunk immediately turned his head towards the green paladin.
"What? I thought the entity was supposed to be helping us." Hunk pondered.
"It's pulling us back to its source. Unfortunately, that source is being protected." Allura answered. Lance crossed his arms as he shifted his weight to one foot, irritation festering in his veins.
"Wow, the thing that is guiding us might get us killed. That's crazy." he deadpanned, choosing to ignore the annoyed side-eye from Pidge and worried side-eye from Hunk, along with the inability to witness the newly narrowed eyes from Allura.
"What we're looking for is in there." she said after a moment, facing the castle's doorway and starting her strides toward it, the rest of the team following. Lance stood back, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath as he tried to dissipate the newfound irritation he had suddenly developed. How many times had he pointed out that this entity was a bad idea and yet it fell on deaf ears? But he knew he had to keep himself together until the mission was over and THEN he could flip his lid about the whole situation. When he opened his eyes, he turned his head and saw that Keith hadn't moved, instead opting to stay behind and make sure Lance hadn't lost his head. It didn't take long for Lance to understand what Keith wanted to know, his alluring purple eyes looking at him with mild urgency and a familiar concern.
Are you good?
Lance nodded his head before lifting up his hand to make the "A-OK" gesture, causing Keith to nod his head in acknowledgement. The black paladin kept his eyes on Lance as the red paladin raised his eyebrows at him, his expressive blue eyes widening slightly .
And you?
This time, it was the black paladin's turn to shoot him the "A-OK" hand gesture, prompting Lance to nod back at him before the two of them walked towards the doorway where the team was already preparing to enter. Within the first step, the team were sucked in, zooming through the empty halls until they were met with a doorway bursting with white light. As they past through, they were immediately transported into what could only be described as a desolate wasteland, the skies dark, dismal, and bleak as streaks of lightning struck the ground and booms of thunder roared in the air as the paladins stood on a large area of rock separated from the rest of the ground.
The paladins collectively raised their heads to the sky as a bolt of lightning struck down, only to reveal the image of a little girl with her mother, laughing gleefully. A few seconds later and another bolt of lightning would cascade downwards, this time showing the girl and her mother from the front, their smiles bright and jovial. Even with these images, it didn't take too long for the black paladin to figure out who the little girl was supposed to be,
"Honerva." Keith said darkly. Right after he finished saying her name, a bit of thunder boomed loudly, a big flash of light gleaming afterwards that caused the paladin to shield his eyes. Once the light faded, he looked back up to the sky in time for another lightning strike, this time showing a young Honerva and King Alfor in their youth, appearing to be studying magic.
"Father." Allura said sadly. "These must be her memories."
As more streaks of lightning flashed through the sky, more of Honerva's memories started to reveal themselves. Her during her studies. Working alongside Zarkon. Her eventual marriage to Zarkon with Allura's parents and the paladins in attendance, looking on happily. The couple's discovery of quintessence and the eventual fall of Altea. The paladins could only look on in shock as they watched the scenes unfold before them, witnessing the paladins of old taking on Zarkon's forces before seeing Blaytz get shot in the back and carried by Trigel.
"Where are the Lions?" a corrupted Zarkon demanded, his sentries surrounding his former comrades with their guns ready to fire at the slightest move.
"They've been destroyed." Blaytz answered, evidently lying in order to preserve the Lions. Zarkon, however, saw through it.
"You dare lie to me?" he threatened, his pupil-less yellow eyes staring down the blue paladin. Trigel rose to her feet, carrying an injured Blaytz alongside her as she stared Zarkon down.
"It's the truth." she spoke. "You'll never see your Lion again." A dreadful silence plagued the air between the paladins and their former friend before the former black paladin finally spoke.
"Neither will you." he said menacingly, moving to the side to reveal Honerva, who back then went by the name of Haggar, her face hidden from the paladins. Without hesitation, she summoned a dark blast and hurled it straight towards the paladins before fading to white.
The paladins could only stare at the sky in horror, their eyes still taking in what they had just witnessed.
"She...She killed them." Pidge stammered, clearly still in shock.
"What she did to them was terrible." Hunk scorned. Lance lowered his gaze to turn to Allura, his horrified expression turning into one of sadness as he saw the way Allura's eyes were glistening with tears. There was no doubt in his mind that her seeing the final fate of the paladins would hurt her tremendously, but actually seeing her in tears definitely hurt him and if things weren't so tense and if he wasn't so hurt, there would be nothing stopping the red paladin from giving her a hug.
"I always assumed they sacrificed themselves, but I-I didn't realize what that entailed." Allura said tearfully, shutting her eyes as a tear streamed down her face. Pidge lowered her gaze to the ground somberly.
"That's how the original Paladins ended up trapped here. She took their quintessence, trapped their minds inside her consciousness." she illuminated. "It drove them mad."
"He was the leader of Voltron. And he just turned on them." Keith said, anger evident in his tone.
"That is why we must destroy Honerva." Allura fumed, using the entity to wield its powers in her hand. Lance turned his head towards her as he looked at her incredulously. Was he hearing this right? Did she actually use the word DESTROY? It was official: Allura was going on a downward spiral and the red paladin was not having it.
"Allura, tell me you're not actually going to destroy Honerva." Lance criticized. The aforementioned princess narrowed her eyes as she moved her gaze to him, almost making him step back from how harshly she glared at him.
"Yes, I am. This is the only option." the princess reproached. Lance shook his head, his gaze turning stern.
"No, it's not. And you know that." Lance criticized, stepping towards the Altean. The princess finally whipped her head towards the red paladin, her bright blue eyes holding the power of a raging blue inferno.
"Honerva has taken everything and everyone I love! I need to do this!"
"And then what?! Killing her is not going to make you feel better and it's not going to fix everything! It won't change anything!
"It will change everything! Once I get rid of her, the Alteans will be safe and free from her rule and influence."
"So you mean to tell me that if you kill Honerva, you won't have a single regret?" Lance gauged. Once he saw that Allura didn't have a comeback, he pressed on.
"Allura, come on. You have to know that the farther we go, the closer we are to a potential death trap. And after what we just saw, Honerva is not gonna let us out of here alive. We may very well end up like the original paladins, and that was all because of the entity. The same one inside you right now. You need to get rid of it." he finished. Allura held her hard gaze on the Cuban boy for a few seconds before she turned her back to him, her glowing hand now clenching into a fist.
"If I lose the entity, then we lose our connection to Honerva. The entity stays." she replied, her tone final as she walked away from Lance and the rest of the paladins.
Lance couldn't help but to grit his teeth, his hand clenched into a fist as she walked away. He honestly couldn't tell if she was being genuine or being petty, but either way he was pissed. Allura is practically walking herself into her own demise and either doesn't realize it or doesn't seem to care, and Lance didn't want to sit back and watch. And the harder he tried to fight against her flawed logic, the harder it was for him to not lose his shit. At this point, every interaction Lance had with Allura made him feel like a guitar, with his emotions and stability as the strings. From as early as the non-kiss during their date to as recent as their fight in the meeting room, there was always a string within Lance that was being broken, one by one. And right now, the final string was being continuously plucked and plucked ant it was only a matter of time before the final string broke and Lance would lose every sense of reason. So for now, all he could do was take a deep breath and keep it moving. As he inhaled deeply through his nose, he felt a gentle hand being placed on his shoulder. The red paladin didn't bother turning his head to find the culprit as his body seemed to register the familiar touch, his body relaxing and radiating warmth as he finally exhaled through his mouth, opening his eyes just before being consumed by light once more.
"Aw...now where are we?" Hunk whined.
Once the light cleared, the paladins found themselves among a series of purple and grayish vines protruding from the ground and sides, intertwined with each other and preventing any sort of light from shining through. Keith had only been in there for a few seconds, but he suddenly acquired a newfound sense of dread and the pain in his head slowly returning. Nevertheless, he knew that he wanted to get out of there, but first he needed to know exactly what he was dealing with it.
"Stand back." Keith warned, moving Lance to his side so he was out of the way and a nearby Hunk moving, as well. Once they wee out of the way, the black paladin summoned his sword and slashed one of the vines. Little did he know that one he did that, he proceeded to see flashes of Honerva, from her leading the Altean colony to her appointing the now deceased Luka to pilot one of her sinclines. Once the images ended, Keith and the team were left stunned.
"The deeper we get into her mind, the more recent the memories." Pidge illuminated, already making a quick conclusion from the situation.
"Good." Allura remarked coldly, pulling out her bayard and summoning its tiny blade before slashing away at the vines in front of her, shocking the paladins at her impulsive action and triggering more of Honerva's memories, this time of her on Oriande and her using the sincline. Both Keith and Lance were hesitant to cut anymore of the vines, but upon seeing Allura and the rest of the team start their onslaught, they already knew they were in for a losing battle so they just summoned their respective bayards and joined the team in destroying the vines. As more of the vines were destroyed by the paladins, more of Honerva's memories continued to flash before them, each one more recent than the last. By the time the last vine was slashed, the paladins were then transported to an empty grey void, no vine to be seen.
"Pidge, any idea what part of her brain we're in now?" Hunk asked.
"No, I'm not sure." she replied. Suddenly, the air was pierced with Honerva's voice.
Wait...Voltron. Voltron!
Honerva's dismorphed voice bellowed through the void, the loudness piercing the paladins' ears and causing them to scream in pain. It was as if her voice had weaved its way into their heads and the space inside only served to amplify it. Each of the paladins dropped to the ground and gripped their heads in pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain that Keith was feeling, the displeasing voice of Honerva and the horrid vibrations and screeching that followed in his head making him feel as though he was about to have an aneurysm.
My son...I will find you. This flame represents Lotor. Son, I will find you. The end for anyone who dares oppose me.
"Keith, give me your hand!" The black paladin registered Lance's voice in his right ear and without bothering to open his eyes, extended his corresponding arm towards him and felt his hand being grabbed firmly by his teammate. Meanwhile, Allura had summoned the energy of the entity to shield herself from the noise.
Rise and avenge my son. And my Altean...
"Lance, grab my hand." Allura instructed, reaching out her hand to the red paladin. Lance hesitated for a moment, feeling wary about the entity's power. But a tight, painful squeeze from Keith's hand made him relent and he grabbed the princess' hand, feeling a weird energy rush through him. And while it didn't eliminate the noise or the pain completely, it had definitely dimmed the pain in his head by a little bit. He turned his head to see the entity's power flow to Keith, encapsulating him in the same blue glow that covered him and Allura. He felt a tiny bit of relief when he saw Keith finally open his eyes and turn his head to Hunk, extending his hand to the yellow paladin.
"Hunk, over here!" Keith exclaimed to the paladin next to him, prompting Hunk to meet his eyes and grab his hand, spreading the energy to him, as well.
"Everyone, feel the energy of the entity within you." the Altean advised, reaching out her other hand and grabbing Pidge. "Don't fight it. Let it guide you." As the team let themselves be guided by the energy, they collectively closed their eyes and focused on the energy rushing through their bodies rather than the vibrations rocking their bones as Honerva's voice was the last thing they heard.
...deeply coiled in traditions of evil that tempt us. Voltron and Galra will pay for what they did to my son.
When Keith first woke up, he had been half expecting to be caught in another scream attack. He definitely wasn't expecting to wake up in a field of juniberries with his head still pounding. He slowly tried to move his body up off the ground, his legs shaking as he tried to force himself up only to be stunned by a sudden sharp pain in his head that caused him to drop back to his knees. The half Galran started breathing through his mouth, trying to shake off some of the pain when he saw a pair of feet before him, making him lift his head slightly to meet Lance's concerned gaze as the red paladin crouched down to meet him.
"Hey. You still with me, buddy?" Lance asked softly, placing his hand on Keith's arm and stroking it. Keith let out a light scoff.
"Yeah, I think so." Keith groaned. "You?" Lance let out a humorless chuckle.
"I'll be better once the place stops screaming." he quipped. "Come on, let's get you up." Keith held onto Lance's arm as Lance steadily raised the black paladin to his feet, going slowly as to not agitate Keith's head further. Once they were both on their feet, Lance waited a couple of seconds to make sure Keith maintained his balance, which luckily he did and smiled when he felt Keith gently squeeze his arm before letting go. A silent thank you. The two paladins then heard a heavy groan, prompting them to turn their heads and find Hunk stirring awake.
"Huh?" they heard Hunk let out, watching him sit up groggily.
"Oh, man." he groaned out. "Oh, boy. Whoo that was rough. Ah!"
At Hunk's exclamation, Lance, Keith, and the rest of the team followed Hunk's line of vision and looked ahead. They were left in awe as they took in the scenery before them, observing the gigantic moon that hung low behind the mountain terrains, the dark purple clouds cascading across the sky as the peach sky transitioned into purple. With the tranquil scene and the patch of juniberries, this place kind of resembled-
"Altea!" Allura gawked. "It looks different."
"This must be the way Honerva remembers it. It must be a place she holds dear." Pidge remarked. "We should be close." Lance couldn't help but to sigh, causing everyone except for Allura to turn their heads to him.
"What's with you?" Pidge probed.
"Why do I have a feeling this is the part where some kind of weird, freaky thing is gonna attack us?" Like clockwork, a sudden thump on the ground caused the paladins to shout in surprise, shielding themselves from the dust that sprung up from the impact. Once the dust cleared, the paladins looked up and were met with something they had taken down long ago: Zarkon's mechsuit. Lance paled once he realized what he just summoned.
Shit...
"Ah! Does that answer your question?" Hunk squeaked, shrinking in fear as the mech raised their sword. Despite the pain in his head, Keith knew he had to act.
"Find safety! I'll distract it!" he commanded. Lance immediately turned his head to the black paladin as if he had grown two heads.
"What? No way!" Lance started, turning his head back to the team. "Everybody go!" he instructed and the team activated their boosters and moved out of the way, leaving their leader and right-hand man by themselves. Keith whipped his head to Lance, causing him to wince from the accidental, harsh movement.
"I told you to go." Keith argued, only for Lance to shake his head at him.
"Not when you're like this. You need back-up." Lance replied. Keith hesitated and looked at Lance for a moment before finally nodding his head before they activated their boosters and headed towards the mechsuit, staring up at them.
"You were their leader!" Keith exclaimed. "They trusted you, and you betrayed them! You don't deserve the Black Lion!"
"Um, Keith? How about NOT dissing the giant robot that could kill us with their giant sword?" Lance gulped, his shaking pupils looking at his leader. Much to Lance's dismay, the mechsuit raised their sword once more, swinging it down towards the two paladins. Realizing that he had little time, Lance lunged and grabbed Keith, summoning his shield and holding it up above them in a vain attempt to shield them from the impact. But right before the sword could land on the pair, they were suddenly shielded by a bright, white light, stopping the sword in its tracks. Suddenly, the black lion appeared in the field, letting out a mighty roar towards the beast. And then one by one, all of the other lions appeared and roared as well before glowing together and heading to the sky, immediately forming into Voltron and landing before the mech.
After a pause, the mechsuit armor launched an energy chain from their wrist, whipping Voltron in the face before wrapping it around the robot's waist and sending an electircal shock to them, causing the paladins to scream in pain. Keith could feel his head burning as the shocks went through him.
"Hunk, shoulder cannon!" Keith commanded, his voice laced in pain.
"I can't! Ah!" Hunk screamed in pain.
The mechsuit brought Voltron back to the ground, relishing in its enemy's pain as Voltron was brought to its knees, covered in electricity. Suddenly, a large blast came crashing down between the two robots, freeing Voltron from the energy chain. Once the light dimmed, it was revealed to be the lions of the former paladins, unleashing their roars against the mechsuit. Then, unexpectedly, Voltron began to glow in white as it was lifted off of the ground as the spirit of the lions returned to it, giving the robot enough new power to form a spell and blast the mechsuit with enough power to send it to its knees.
"Form sword!" Keith yelled immediately. Once Voltron formed the sword, it lunged towards the mechsuit and stabbed it through it stomach, causing a large explosion of light. The mechsuit laid motionless on the ground until it started to glow a purple hue, the mechsuit armor fading away and revealing the spirit of the black lion.
"Uh...guys?" Pidge called out, bringing everyone's attention to the scene before them as a bright light beamed before the black lion and revealed the figure of a person. And once the light had dimmed, the figure was Zarkon. The Zarkon who led the paladins of old and hadn't been corrupted by quintessence.
"Zarkon?" Alfor said, completely gobsmacked. Allura stared angrily at the Galran as Voltron began to glow, separating into the individual spirit of the lions as they drifted down towards the former leader of Voltron, the paladins of old standing before their comrade and friend.
"Alfor. Blaytz." Zarkon called out fondly. "Gyrgan. Trigel." His eyes shifted and caught sight of Melenor, Alfor's wife, not realizing that it was her daughter Allura, whom was looking at the former paladin with rage with the rest of the team behind her.
"Melenor? What are you doing here?" Zarkon questioned, his vision of Melanor suddenly shifting into Allura.
"Melenor was my mother, and you murdered her!" the princess scorned. "You've killed millions!" She ran towards the Galran, grabbing the sides of his head, summoning the power of the entity through her hands as his pupils disappeared and he screamed, thunder booming around them. The paladins were taken aback and were immediately alarmed at her sudden action, Lance especially.
"Allura, what are you doing?" Lance exclaimed.
"Reminding him of all the suffering he's caused." Allura snarled. As she maintained her hold on Zarkon, she displayed to him all of the things he had done. Every single one.
Murdering her father.
Destroying Altea.
Imprisoning slaves.
Betraying and killing his comrades.
Conquering planets and draining their quintessence.
As Zarkon began screaming in pain from the memories going into his head, Allura would be lying if she said she didn't feel some sort of satisfaction. After all this time, she had Zarkon right where she wanted him. She finally had him on his knees suffering as she exposed him to every single cruel thing he's done to her and others. So he could feel the pain that she's felt for 10,000 years and onward. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough for him to feel her pain. She just wanted him to feel pain. She gripped his head tighter, relishing in the new screams that erupted from Zarkon's throat. This was it. This was what she needed. To hear him scream and feel him writhe in pain. There was nothing here to stop her. There was nobody here to stop her. She could see him suffer. She could finally get her revenge. She could-
"STOP!"
Suddenly, she felt hands grab her by the shoulders and pull her away from the former black paladin. The princess was completely blindsided, almost stumbling but able to maintain her balance. Once she was still, she angrily raised her head to find the person who pulled her away and who she saw just made her angrier: It was Lance and his face was a mixture of shocked, disgusted, and fed up.
"It's over!" Lance snapped, the tone of his voice making his team jump. Allura started taking strides back to Zarkon in attempt to finish what she started, but Lance stood in between them, blocking her path.
"Stay out of my way, Lance!" Allura bellowed. "I'm not finished with him!"
"Yes, you are! We don't TORTURE our enemies!"
"Are you defending him now?" she asked darkly. Lance's head recoiled, practically offended at the accusation before he stood back straight.
"You know I'm not, Allura. But you are taking things way too far now."
"No, I'm not! He killed my father and destroyed my home! He did that! All of it!"
"No."
Lance looked back and Allura looked ahead to look at Zarkon, on his hands and knees most likely still reeling from the pain of the entity and the weight of his past actions.
"I'm sorry, I...I didn't realize what I-" he whimpered, but Allura interjected.
"You knew exactly what you were doing." Allura refuted, angry tears filling the corners of her eyes. You deceived and betrayed your friends and allies!" Lance could only stare down at Zarkon as the former paladin's tears streamed down his face, the Galran breathing heavily.
"The Quintessence...it blinded me. And you all suffered because of it." Lance turned his body around and walked forward, stopping a few feet in front of Zarkon. Despite what everyone may think because of what he just did, he wasn't going easy on Zarkon. Even thought the Zarkon before him was the Zarkon that was loyal to his friends and Voltron, he was well aware that he became the Zarkon who made his friends and countless other suffer.
"Do you regret what you did? Are you truly sorry for what you've done?" Lance inquired, his voice firm and calm.
"Yes." Zarkon replied, his voice quivering.
"Well now's your chance to prove it. If you're here in Honerva's mind, that must mean you have to protect something. You need to tell us what it is." Zarkon finally raised his head towards the red paladin.
"I don't know. I...I'm sorry." That answer didn't satisfy the princess.
"What are you protecting?" she yelled, standing as far as Lance would let her towards Zarkon.
"I don't..." Zarkon started, before he looked to his right and turned his head, prompting everyone to look, as well. "That moon. It is a moon of Daibazaal."
"He's right, that moon is not of Altea." Alfor concurred.
"That is the source." Allura added. Suddenly, something triggered the black lion and caused it to roar, catching all of the paladins off guard before it released a blast from its mouth and shot the moon in a direct hit, causing it to explode in a yellow inferno and leaving yellow orbs of light to drift onto the ground. One of those orbs proceeded to land in Allura's hand, prompting her to look back up at the now moonless sky. It was then that more images of Honerva started to flash throughout the sky. Aside from the images of her and Zarkon working together, there was then an image of Zarkon and Honerva, uncorrupted with Honerva holding a newborn Lotor, his cries playing throughout the area and another image of Zarkon and Honerva looking over their empire.
"No. It's impossible." Allura remarked, an image of Zarkon playing with a young Lotor appearing before her, complete with Lotor's laughter.
"They're her deepest desires." Zarkon illuminated, his eyes fixated on the visual of him, Honerva, and Lotor as a family. "Everything she hopes to achieve."
"How could she possibly hope to achieve any of this? Zarkon and Lotor are both gone." said Hunk.
"Unless she's going to use Lotor's ship to pierce through realities and find the one where she can live with her family." Pidge answered. Hunk turned back to face the green paladin.
"Is that even possible?"
"Not without destroying all other realities in the process." Pidge's revelation caused the paladins to look at each other worriedly. If Honerva hadn't already appeared to be a threat before, she definitely became more of a threat now. Unexpectedly, a sudden zap rung through the field and triggered a strong gust of wind to rush past the paladins.
"What's going on?" Lance asked worriedly.
"She knows you're here!" Zarkon exclaimed above the wind.
"How?" Hunk asked aloud. But before he could even get a response, it was delayed by a blood-curdling scream. Everyone looked to find Allura clutching her head before falling to her knees, her face plagued with pain.
"Allura!" Pidge shouted in shock, immediately running and crouching at the princess' side while the rest of the team stood in shock and concern. As Pidge gently held on to her, Allura started panting in pain as Alfor ran to his daughter's other side.
"Allura?" Alfor asked worriedly, only getting a whimper from his daughter in response.
"What's happening to her?" Lance inquired, standing a little bit behind Pidge. Regardless of what happened, seeing Allura in pain is the last thing Lance ever wanted to see.
"The princess holds the entity within." Zarkon answered, prompting Lance to look up at him while the former black paladin looked ahead the dark vortex in front of him. "Honerva controls it now."
"Everyone, get to-" Keith started to command, but was immediately stopped by stabbing pain at right at the very front of his head, causing him to yell and collapse onto a knee before groaning in pain repeatedly. The pain this time around was completely different from before, for the inside of his head felt like it was engulfed by fire.
"Keith!" Lance screamed, immediately rushing to his side and noticing the way his hand was gripping the ground beneath him and how his eye was twitching more violently than before. With as much energy as he could muster, Keith turned his head back to the team.
"G-Get to your Lions!" Keith was able to stammer out. But right after he finished, every single one of the lions disappeared, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
"Where did- Ah! Where did they go?" Keith grunted out.
"You're in her mind. She's more powerful here." Zarkon replied. All of a sudden, the purple sky that surrounded the paladins suddenly switched to yellow for a few seconds before returning back to purple, only to be accompanied with an intense boom as the rocks that laid on the ground were suddenly lifted into the air and thunder and lightning crashed around them.
"What do we do?" Keith asked aloud, one of his eyes now tightly shut as the pain shifted behind it.
"There's nothing you can do but accept defeat." Zarkon said defeated. Keith looked back at his predecessor, staring up at the sky as if ready to accept his fate.
"No! We won't give up!" Keith blurted before attempting to lift himself up from the ground. Seeing this, Lance took Keith'a arm and placed it around his shoulders, pulling him up and turning them both around so they could face Zarkon completely. Zarkon's eyes grew wide as he looked at his successor, surprised at how adamant he was to continue fighting despite his ailment.
"That's your Galra lineage. It's what makes you a great leader of Voltron." he remarked. "You and I share that trait. But look where it has led the two of us. My desire for unlimited Quintessence was the catalyst for 10,000 years of destruction. Your quest to save the universe took you into the mind of a psychopath."
"Yes, to gain the knowledge of what she's doing. And now we know."
"Yet you still don't know how! She's too powerful." Alfor suddenly rose from his daughter's side, his eyes meeting his friend's.
"Zarkon, Honerva may be more powerful than each of us alone, but the strength of ten Paladins working together as one is the strongest force in the universe." Alfor attested, making Zarkon walk towards him.
"The Lions are gone, Alfor. Voltron is gone forever." he responded. Despite the pain, Keith shook his head at Zarkon's claim.
"No, Voltron isn't gone. Voltron is within each and every one of us. We're bonded to it, and to each other." Keith stated, turning his head to Lance as he finished his sentence and prompting the red paladin to shoot him a proud smile.
"We have one last chance to set things right, but we cannot do it without you. Ride with us one last time, Zarkon. As everything rumbled around him, Zarkon raised his head, placing his eyes on the black hole that was sucking up everything below it. With no time to waste, he summoned his bayard, morphing it into his sword and raising it to the sky.
"Form Voltron!"
Upon his call, the current paladins returned to their lions, the spirits of their predecessors guiding them as their lions returned to the current ones and formed into Voltron. Once transformed, the giant robot activated its boosters and speeding towards the black hole. But before they could get any closer, several bolts of lightning sprung from the whole and hit Voltron head on, causing the team to yelp in pain as the robot was flung back. Keith gritted his teeth as his hands gripped the controls tightly, the pain in his head becoming excruciating due to the electricity and his entire body feeling like it was getting fried. Back in the red lion, Lance wasn't fairing any better, the force of the shocks automatically reminding him of the Omega Shield. With one eye open, he gazed painfully at the hole before them, wanting nothing more than to pierce through.
Pierce, Lance thought. And that's when it hit him.
"Keith! I k-know what to do!" Lance grunted over Keith's intercom, clearly feeling the pain from the shocks as well. "When you're ready, we're gonna try to fly towards the hole and I'm gonna use my saber. And when I say 'now,' put your bayard in the slot. Okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Okay." the black paladin panted out, summoning his bayard and holding it until Lance's signal.
"Alright, guys! Get ready!" Keith shouted over the com link to the team. Despite the pain, everyone waited with baited breath for Keith's call. Once a few more seconds passed, Keith was over the com again.
"Let's go!" And with that, Voltron activated its boosters and flew as hard as it could to the hole, disregarding the lightning as they went up. Immediately, Lance summoned his bayard with as much strength he could muster and forced it into its slot, twisting it and summoning the saber. With the addition of the bayard, more electricity came at the red paladin and caused him to yell out more, but he still kept his determined, blue eyes on the black hole in order to give Keith his signal, hissing as he did so. But the moment they were close enough, he drew a deep breath and yelled.
"KEITH, NOW!"
With a powerful, pain-induced yell, Keith closed his eyes as he forced back his bayard and planted it into its respective slot, twisting it hard as the saber now became engulfed in raging flames. In an instant, Voltron lunged the blazing sword forward and pierced it into the hole, causing rays of light to gleam from the cracks and a ring of light bursting through the sky before the team was covered by light.
Before they knew it, Pidge and Hunk woke up, realizing that they were no longer being shocked by lightning. They looked through their screens to find that they were back in space. Back in the real world. And the relief that they felt was immeasurable.
"We did it!" Pidge cheered.
"Yes! Yes." Hunk smiled, feeling blessed to be out of that hellhole.
"Allura, can you believe it?" Pidge asked happily, only to not get a response. Pidge's smile immediately dropped when she remembered Allura's painful episode and got worried.
"Allura?"
"Allura, are you okay?" Hunk probed anxiously. A few seconds of silence permeated the air before the two paladins heard a low moan over the intercom.
"Hunk?" Allura rasped out. Pidge and Hunk immediately let out a sigh of relief.
"Jeez, Allura! Don't scare us like that!" Pidge reprimanded lightly, just happy to know her friend was alright.
"Are you okay, Princess?" Hunk asked, still a bit worried. Allura sat up in her seat as she tried to shake herself out of her stupor.
"I'm alright, Hunk." she answered, grateful for Hunk's concern. "I feel a bit better, actually."
"And the entity?" Pidge inquired cautiously.
"I think it's gone." the Altean answered honestly, a small smile gracing her face. As much as she relied on the entity, Allura was more than relieved to be rid of it after the excruciating pain she felt once Honerva got ahold of it. Pidge couldn't help but to chuckle.
"Well, I'm sure Lance is breathing a sigh of relief right now. Right, Lance?" Pidge quipped, expecting to hear Lance shout at her over the com but hearing nothing in return. The green paladin, however, wasn't fazed.
"Okay, Lance. Allura already gave us a scare so don't jump on the bandwagon, okay?" she cautioned, only to be met with silence once again. It was at this point the other two paladins started to get worried.
"Uh, Lance? You good, buddy?" Hunk asked over the com.
"Lance?" Allura asked meekly, a bad feeling washing over her. At this point, Pidge started getting a little agitated.
"Lance, this isn't funny! Keith, can you tell him to cut it out? Keith?" Pidge questioned, waiting to hear a response from the black paladin this time around. But he didn't say anything either.
"Keith? Lance? Are you okay?" Hunk panicked. "Are they okay? Why aren't they saying anything?!"
"Guys, say something!" the green paladin pleaded. Feeling her heart beating out of her chest in fear, Allura clenched her fist as she shouted over the com link.
"Keith, Lance, do you copy? Please respond!" Allura begged. "Keith? Lance? Lance!"
There was no response.