Chapter 7
ALTEA – CASTLE OF LIONS
"We leave you all alone for one week and come back to find you've lost two paladins!"
"Welcome back, Lance," Allura said without looking up. "Did you two have a good time in Nalquod?"
Lance crossed his arms over his chest, staring down Allura while Hunk caught up after his long sprint through the castle. Hunk looked a little winded as he came to a stop next to his husband, his brows furrowed in concern as he noted the lack of people on the bright. It was just the two of them, Allura, and Coran.
"Nalquod was great, but that's not what we're talking about right now. What's going on, Allura? You sent that message about an accident with Katie and Keithir and them being missing and something about another reality and then nothing else!" Lance barely paused for breath, and as he talked his anger drained from his voice, leaving behind frustration and fear.
Allura stepped away from the console, leaving Coran to continue without her. "I am sorry we had to call you back like that. I will admit, we've been a bit panicked and were not thinking clearly. The situation is... complicated and we're trying to keep it as quiet as we can. It wasn't something we could fully explain through a message."
Allura took a deep breath and began to tell them everything that had transpired over the past three days, starting with the malfunction of the trans-reality extrapolator and ending with moving Pidge and Keith to one of the unused rooms so that, while they were still sharing a room, they could each have their own bed and space.
"We told Emperor Zarkon and Honerva, of course, as well as Katie's family and Travis. Everyone who has the knowledge to help is pitching in," Allura said. "Hunk, once you've settled back in, I'll take you down where they're working. Another set of eyes will certainly be of value."
"Anything I can do?" Lance asked.
"I could use a hand with coordinating everyone from here!" Coran piped up.
Lance looked a little discouraged.
"Pidge and Keith could use a friendly face. Someone they'll be comfortable with. I've been afraid of saying names to them, in case I mention someone who they are not on friendly terms with," Allura said.
It was far from ideal, but Lance could admit that it sounded better than standing around on the bridge, waiting for video calls. It still rang of busywork to him. Something for him to do for the sake of having something to do, while everyone else worked on the really important stuff.
He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Sure. I can do that."
"Shiro will join you once Koichi is down for his nap. I think he plans on taking Keith to the training deck today. We're hoping that since it was one of Keithir's favorite places, Keith will be the same." Allura sighed, glancing back at Coran before shaking her head and walking towards Lance and Hunk. "Pidge may want to join them, but if not, just make sure she doesn't stray out of the paladin wing. The fewer people who know about this, the better?"
"Shiro's not helping Slav?" Hunk asked, not in a manner that indicated confusion, but instead amusement.
Allura laughed gently. "No, he says that it's a matter a bit beyond his expertise, though he's willing to listen whenever I talk about it." There was a pause as she grinned at them mischievously. "And also if he has to be in Slav's presence, he's afraid he may throw something at him."
Lance laughed, feeling better about his role in everything, and patted Hunk on the shoulder. "Have fun talking science with Slav. I think I'm going to enjoy a nice, relaxing day with Pidge."
Hunk made a disgruntled sound. "Are you sure you don't want to trade?"
"Sorry, babe. Not a chance."
Lance playfully leaned in and kissed Hunk on the cheek, dancing away when his husband tried to grab him and retaliate. Allura covered her mouth to hide her giggling.
"How about I go ahead and get things back to our room, so you can get to work," Lance suggested.
Hunk blanched. "You don't have to do that. It wouldn't be fair to make you do all of the heavy lifting. I'll help you first. Like Allura said, I should get settled in first and then I can go help."
"It's four bags and they hover. Unless you think I'm too weak to pull them along with me?"
"No, of course not, but-!"
"Great!" Lance clapped his hands together and gave Hunk a bright smile. "Have fun, babe!"
He took off before Hunk could get in another word, mentally vowing to make it up to him later. Maybe with his free time, he could plan the Best Honeymoon Ever, since theirs had been interrupted. He could even pester Pidge for ideas! Sure, she wasn't the same as Katie, but he bet she'd have some interesting thoughts on it, all the same.
Unless she wanted to go to the training deck too. Then he was absolutely taking the chance to show off his superior shooting skills and impress them with his bayard's secondary form.
After that he could plan all he wanted.
OLKARION – CASTLE OF LIONS
Keithir had tried everything he could think of to communicate with the Red Lion. Meditation didn't work. The special headsets designed to heighten mental concentration didn't work. Begging the Red Lion for any sign that she could hear him didn't work. Sleeping in the cockpit didn't work.
He was at the end of his rope. He had been so sure that the Lions had the answers, but neither Red nor Green were willing to open up to them. Keithir was starting to think they weren't able to. Maybe the Lion-Paladin bond was completely different in that reality. After all, the others all looked confused when he and Katie tried to explain it to them.
Still, Keithir couldn't give up. He refused to. There was one last thing he could try.
He took a deep breath and knocked on Shiro's door. It slid open a moment later and Shiro greeted him, his voice coated with surprise.
"Is everything alright?"
"Nothings wrong, but I had a thought and I need your help to do it." Keithir waited a moment to give Shiro time to respond. When he nodded, Keithir continued. "I started to think, if your Keith can pilot the Black Lion, maybe that's why Red won't respond to me. She's Lance's Lion here, not mine. If I try to communicate with the Black Lion, maybe she'll listen."
"Are you asking for permission?" Shiro asked. "Because you don't need to. If you think that's what you need to do, then go for it."
Keithir shook his head. "I'm asking for your help. If both of us go to her and try to make the connection, maybe that will work. I would ask Lance, but I get the impression he doesn't like me all that much."
Shiro chuckled. "He does butt heads with Keith a lot. Sometimes to the detriment of the team, but there's still trust between them. If you asked for help, he wouldn't turn you away."
"He'd just lord it over me," Keithir guessed. It was what his Lance would do – had done, on the rare occasion Keithir asked for his help. And of course, the reverse was true.
"Only for a few months," Shiro joked with an easy grin. "Hopefully you'll be home before then. Keith would have to bear the brunt of it instead."
Keithir snorted in amusement. "I'd hate to be the cause of that."
"Do you want to do this now? I have time," Shiro said.
Keithir shook his head. "Kolivan asked to see me, so I shouldn't keep him waiting for much longer. Would later today be alright with you?"
"Any time you're ready."
Keithir thanked him and walked away with a lightness to his step. Even if it didn't work, at least he knew he was trying everything he could think of. Trying was better than sitting around and listening to Slav babble on about things that didn't make sense to him.
He met up with Kolivan in one of the smaller meeting chambers, where he also found Katie waiting for him. She greeted him with a smile and a kiss.
"What's going on?" Keithir asked curiously.
"There is a mission. One which I hoped to send Keith on, but you are equally as well equipped for this. I would trust no one else," Kolivan said.
Keithir frowned and looked to Katie in confusion. "You know about this?"
"I do," Katie confirmed. "You should listen to what he has to say before you decide."
What was so important that Katie thought the risk was worth it? Because it was a risk. A mission in the middle of a war. There was so much that could go wrong; too much that could go wrong.
"We have a spy stationed under Warlord Ranveig, who has reported the finding of a vial of highly unusual quintessence. Unfortunately, she no longer has access to it and says that Ranveig has used it to create a dangerous weapon. With the way things are going lately, I believe her position there is no longer safe. Your mission will be to get to her and convince her to return with you."
"Why me? There have to be other members of the Blade who could do this," Keithir said.
"You are the only one she will listen to." Kolivan didn't go into a deeper explanation than that and turned to the podium next to him, passing his hand over the top to bring up a holographic image of a Galra woman with short hair and markings on her face.
For a moment, Keithir stopped breathing.
She was someone he'd only ever seen in the pictures his dad kept, neat and tidy in a small photo album. There weren't many of them – Travis said that he worried what would happen if anyone else saw them, but the few he had were cherished by them both.
Keithir swallowed and reminded himself to take a breath. "Mom's alive?" He barely heard Kolivan's response. All he could focus on was how close he was to seeing her. For the first time, he could have a conversation with her; it was a chance to get to know her and learn more about his Galra lineage.
He wouldn't have another chance.
He glanced to Katie and her understanding gaze gave him the strength he needed.
"I'll do it, but first I need to know everything you have on this base and Ranveig. The fewer surprises I face, the better," Keithir said.
Kolivan nodded in agreement and got to work detailing all of the data he had, thanks to Krolia. Katie stayed by Keithir's side, asking questions of her own in support of her husband's choice.
It wouldn't be easy by any stretch, but Kolivan was certain they could draw Ranveig's attention elsewhere, which would leave Krolia in charge and alone in the base. It would be Keithir's best shot at getting in and out without detection. The real challenge would be convincing Krolia it was best for her to leave.
"When do I leave?" Keithir asked.
"Tonight."
Katie wished she could go along with him. If she could pilot the Green Lion, she was sure she could have tagged along using the active camouflage, just to provide backup in case of an emergency. She was sure Green could keep her and the baby safe.
She smiled and placed her hand over her belly.
While the delivery of the news had been far from what she had planned, she was glad Keithir knew. Intentionally hiding her pregnancy from him would have taken a toll on her, and probably would have made him worry about her more than if she'd told the truth.
"No secrets," she reminded herself of their old promise.
Katie took a deep breath and went on her way, hoping to find Hunk or Lance so she would be too distracted to constantly wonder where Keithir was or if he was in trouble. Her best bet was to start with the kitchen and broaden her search from there.
Surprisingly, neither of them were there. They also weren't in what Lance dubbed the "super cool hangout space" or in their rooms. She was sure they weren't out on a mission, but just in case, she headed towards the bridge.
"...like this."
"I don't you don't," Allura said, sounding tired. "But so far, all of the information he has given us has proven to be correct. I don't see why this should be any different."
Katie stopped in her tracks just before the turn to the bridge, listening to Allura and Lance talk. She frowned, quietly moving to stand against the wall and get as close as she could without being discovered.
"But why? Why tell us any of this after he tried to kill us in the past! There has to be something we're not seeing," Lance said persistently. "We can't trust him, Allura!"
"I don't trust him, but if Lotor is willing to give us information, then it is my duty to accept that and use it to our advantage," Allura said, her voice calm.
"Lotor!" Katie hissed under her breath, unable to stop herself. She covered her mouth with her hand, praying they hadn't heard her, but as footsteps came towards her she knew she was busted. Katie stepped away from the wall as they turned the corner and saw her.
"Can I help you with anything, Katie?" Allura asked politely.
Cursing herself for revealing her location, Katie shook her head. "I was just looking for Lance, but it's not important if you two need to talk."
"No. We're done here."
Lance frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but Katie beat him to it.
"You can't trust Lotor." She faltered slightly when Allura raised an eyebrow, recognizing a warning when she saw it. But she couldn't let it go. "I don't know what he's like here, in this reality, but if he's even a fraction similar to the Lotor I know, you can't trust him. He twists the truth to his advantage and manipulates everyone, making it hard to pin the blame solely on him. He makes you think he's helping, but it's only because he has something to gain from it."
"He's giving us information on how to defeat the Galra. How would that be of benefit to him?" Allura asked.
"It's hard to know with him. We didn't know, right up until we were caught up in his trap," Katie said. "He hid the Red Lion from us, and when Keithir and I got in the way of his plans, he plotted to kill us and destroy the Red Lion in one go. He didn't count on Keithir being her paladin. If not for that, I don't think we would have survived."
Allura had nothing to say in defense of Lotor after that. "I am glad you both survived. We will be cautious and continue to double check anything he tells us, but that doesn't mean I can ignore tactical information."
Katie bowed her head in understanding.
She hated it. Knowing that Lotor was being held somewhere in the castle. So much could go wrong with that, especially if the others were as divided as Allura and Lance on how to handle it.
Katie would have to investigate for herself.
ALTEA – CASTLE OF LIONS
They were still restrained to one room.
Well, that wasn't quite true. Allura told them they could go anywhere in the paladin wing of the castle, but all that consisted of was the kitchen, their bedrooms, and the lounge. It was nice to be able to get food on their own, but other than that there was nothing for them to do. Staying in their room felt like the safer choice.
Pidge ached to have something productive to do. To get her fingers on a keyboard or any piece of tech to tinker with. All of the visits were nice, but there was only so much company either of them could handle. Lance and Shiro dropped by around noon, and while it'd been fun to see what her friend would look like in another ten years, Pidge found herself struggling to make conversation with him. She was grateful that Lance came to see her and that he didn't take offense to her lack of desire to talk, and he'd even promised to bring a game to play the next time.
Keith's dad came by again, bringing with him a giant blue wolf, and after he was gone, Pidge's family arrived. She spent most of that hour crying from seeing them all together again, which started a chain reaction for all of them.
By the time it was just her and Keith again, all Pidge could feel was relief.
She flopped down onto her own bed with a groan and decided that moving was overrated.
"I've been thinking about something."
Pidge mumbled into her bedding.
"Are the Lions here made from the ore of one of those comets? The whatever-reality-bending one?" Keith asked.
Pidge frowned and pushed herself up into a sitting position. "The trans-reality comet? I guess they could be. We know that at least two of them existed, so why not more?"
"What if that's our key to getting home? I mean, Voltron is the whole reason we were able to cross over into another reality and get home the last time, so can't we just do that again?"
Pidge paused to think about it. "That's more of an idea than any I've had, but last time we had to know the exact point we breached through. You and I were in two separate places when we crossed over and there's also the machine to consider."
Keith didn't looked surprised or disappointed by what she was saying. "We'd have to form Voltron too."
That brought up a good point. Would they be recognized by the Lions? It was something worth looking into.
"Think we can convince Shiro to let us see the Lions?" she asked.
Keith grinned at her for the first time since their arrival. "I think I can manage that."
It wasn't much of a plan, but it was more than what they had before. Pidge thought they finally had something she could work with, and it was all thanks to Keith.