Chapter Thirty-One:
"And you… You are Princess Allura, are you not?" The boy—the Altean boy—said.
Allura nodded dumbly, stunned.
There was another Altean… How was there another Altean? She had thought she and Coran were the last.
The boy suddenly lowered his head into a bow.
"My name is Caelum Lyrason of House Anthiok, Your Highness." He said. "It is an honor to serve you."
"I… Thank you… How?" Allura whispered. She shook her head some, clearing her head. "Never mind. We can discuss that later. I need to get back to my friends, now."
"Of course," Caelum said, getting to his feet, holding out his hand for Allura. "I will take you to them right away, Your Highness."
"You do not need to call me that," Allura said as she accepted his hand, allowing him to help her stand.
"You are my princess. Unless technically you are now my queen and should be Your Majesty?" Caelum said, brow furrowing. "I admit, I was very young when Altea fell, so I do not know exactly where what remains of the empire stands rank-wise. Especially legendary lost princesses."
"I do not know either," Allura admitted. "I was three years from being of age when Altea fell, and I am not sure if years in the cyropod count." She gave him a sad smile. "Or if any of it really matters at all."
Caelum gave her a smile, a lot more brighter than hers.
"I can assure you, Your Highness, it matters a great deal." He said.
"Even if what you say is true, please, call me Allura."
"If that is what you wish, Allura," Caelum said. He pulled her over to his bike, pulling out a key card for it. "Alright, now let me get you back to your friends, the Paladins of Voltron, correct?"
Even as the engine began to hum, Allura heard something from behind them, footsteps. She turned, already on guard, but relaxed at seeing familiar blue and white armor.
"Lance!" She called out, waving at him.
But even through the visor on his helmet, she could see that Lance's expression was not one of relief or friendliness. It was even less so when he lifted his bayard, eyes narrowed as he aimed it at Caelum, who still held Allura's hand in his.
"Let her go. Now." Lance ordered in a tone of voice that Allura had never heard him use before. And frankly that frightened her.
"Lance, it is alright! He is a friend!" Allura said quickly.
"I promise you, Paladin, I mean no harm to the Princess." Caelum said.
"Then let. Her. Go." Lance said, making no indication of lowering his rifle.
"Lance, I command you to drop your weapon at once!" Allura demanded.
"Allura, if you want me to order me to do something, you need to be behind my bayard to do so." Lance said. "And this guy has ten ticks. Ten. Nine."
Caelum dropped Allura's hand, and she rushed over to Lance's side. It was only then that he relaxed, still not lowering his bayard, and Caelum wisely lifted both hands in the air.
"Sorry to disobey a direct order, Princess," Lance said, not looking at her. "But, honestly, I'm more afraid of what Coran would do to me if something happened to you."
Frankly, Allura could not blame him.
One of her first prominent memories was sitting between her parents' thrones, playing with dolls. Her mother sat with a book while her father stood in front of a display with Coran by his side, the two in deep discussion. She had no idea about what, but she did remember her mother saying,
"Allura, my little darling star, come here for a moment."
Allura took her favorite doll and crawled into her mother's lap, cuddling in as the two silently watched Alfor and Coran.
"I want you to know something, my dear," Queen Nova had whispered into her ear, gently stroking Allura's hair. "On Altea, your father is the most powerful man. He is one of the most powerful men in the universe. On his command, thousands of soldiers and ships move. With his blessing, dozens of treaties and trade agreements are made each day, strengthening our people. It is your father who the entire planet is devoted to.
"But, you see Uncle Coran? He is the strongest man on Altea. Perhaps the universe. It is your Uncle Coran who has the entirety of your father's trust. In turn, Coran is completely devoted to us, your father, myself, and you. Your father may command armies, but it is Coran who will tear a ship apart with his bare hands if anything were to happen to you. He does not require direction in this regard. Your uncle is the sweetest, kindest, friendliest, loyalist man I have ever met. But the best way to cross him is to try to harm any of us. Your father protects Altea, but it is Coran who protects us, little star. Do not forget that. And I pray—just as your father does—that someday you will rule with someone like Coran at your side. Do you understand me, Allura?"
"Yes, Mama," Allura said, nodding her head.
Allura had heard about what had happened between Coran and Shiro following her capture by the Galra, and knew that Shiro had gotten away lightly. She was determined to never put her Paladins through something like that again.
"Lance, I would like you to meet Caelum. Like myself and Coran, he is Altean." Allura said. "Caelum, I would like you to meet the Blue Paladin, Lance of Earth."
"It is an honor to meet you, Paladin of Voltron." Caelum said, bowing.
"He's Altean?" Lance said, lowering his bayard some. "Like, for real or is this anything like the time Coran had to call out that traveling side-show for trying to pass off a Venerbat with a cardboard horn and dyed fur for an Altean Smorevat?"
"For real." Allura clarified.
"So… Uh… What do we do with him?" Lance asked. "Leave him or…?"
"I would like to come with you." Caelum said. "If I get any say…"
"I would like you to come, if for no other reasons than I have many questions." Allura said. "Can your bike carry three? And what about your ship?"
"It can indeed carry three persons, but I do not have a ship. I hitch-hiked my way here." Caelum explained. With another sweeping bow, he gestured towards his bike. "Climb aboard, Your Highness, and I promise I will escort you back to the rest of your Paladins safely."
Allura climbed onto the bike, with Lance getting on behind her, one hand still on his bayard while his arm went around her waist. Caelum climbed on in front of Allura, looked over his shoulder, and grinned.
"Hold on," He said.
Within a few ticks, they were at the hanger bay, where the Paladins, Tali, and Lani were simultaneously on guard and anxiously watching a seething, pacing Coran.
As soon as Caelum stopped the bike, Allura hopped off and ran to Coran who pulled her into a hug.
"Are you alright?" Coran asked, releasing her from the hug to look her up and down for injury.
"I'm fine, Coran," Allura insisted, giving him a reassuring smile.
"When I heard the explosion…" Coran said. He couldn't finish his sentence and pulled her back into a hug.
"I'm fine, but we should continue this conversation back at the Castle," Allura said. Coran reluctantly released her again, nodding. Then, his eyes landed on Caelum.
"And who is this young Yupper?" He asked.
"Caelum Lyrason, of House Anthiok, sir." Caelum said, bowing once more.
"Dude you are going to break your spine doing that…" Lance said. "Let's get your bike in and get out of here. Hunk, come give us a hand here, will ya?"
Allura then turned to her other Paladins, particularly the three who had been in the tavern. The right sleeve of Keith's shirt had been either burned or torn, and he had some cuts and burns. Shiro's cybernetic arm seemed to be flickering. Pidge looked to be in the best condition with just a scrape on their cheekbone. Keith and Pidge would likely not require healing pods.
But Shiro's arm… Well, she had no idea how long that could be out of commission. Hopefully not for long.
She was relieved to see that Lani and Tali had escaped any harm, with the exception of being covered in dust and soot, and Coran's costume was the only thing that was burnt.
A short time later, they were back at the Castle, with Shinji waiting for them in the pod bay, his book tucked under his arm. He arched an eyebrow.
"I asked you to come back in one piece, not with a plus one." He commented.
"Blame the bounty hunters." Pidge said. "Not us."
"How about I go set new coordinates, and then we all settle into the lounge." Allura said.
"I'll go get the med-kit," Hunk said, heading off in one direction.
"And I'll go get my tool kit…" Pidge said, heading off in the opposite direction.
A short time later, everyone had changed into clean clothes and was sitting in the lounge, where introductions were quickly made. However, Pidge and Shiro almost immediately got into an argument because Pidge was trying to get Shiro's arm fixed while Shiro wanted them to get their cut cleaned.
"Shiro, it's fine. It's still going to be there when I figure out what the problem is." Pidge insisted.
"And my arm's still going to be busted when you finish getting that cut treated." Shiro pointed out.
"My cut is not currently a safety hazard," Pidge pointed out, now gesturing towards Shiro's arm with a screwdriver.
"Allura, please pull rank on these two," Hunk asked as he dug through the medical kit. "Otherwise they'll just keep arguing over who's turn it is to be a self-sacrificial idiot tonight."
"Pidge, let Hunk treat your cut. Lance and Lani, start cleaning Keith's injuries. Coran and Tali, will you please start taking off the plates of Shiro's arm?" Allura said. She turned to Caelum. "As for you, start talking."
"Where should I begin, Your Highness?" Caelum asked, arching a pale-blue eyebrow.
"By heeding my request to call me Allura, and with explaining how you survived the destruction of Altea." Allura said.
Caelum nodded.
"As you wish." He took a deep breath. "I honestly do not know much about the events that led to the fall of Altea. I was a very small child at the time. My mother was an ambassador to Norviel in the Pixlea System, meaning at the time, my father, mother and I were living off-planet. My grandfather arrived for a visit, and it was fortuitous that he arrived when he did. A member of the King of Norviel's staff came to my mother, saying that Altea was destroyed, and with a warning that Emperor Zarkon was seeking to kill all Alteans.
"My mother… We tried to flee to my grandfather's ship, but the Galra found us. They killed my mother and severely injured my grandfather. He managed to make it to the ship, which my father piloted after putting my grandfather in a healing pod. However, in the escape, the ship was badly damaged. We managed a wormhole jump, but it wasn't enough… The ship was going to crash and he could do nothing to stop it."
Caelum's eyes closed.
"My father… He had a plan. He put me into a healing pod alongside my grandfather. He told me that he would find the safest spot on the ship to stay in, and then he would let me and Grandfather out once the ship had crashed. When I woke up… When I woke up, thousands of years had passed, and scavengers had found me and Grandfather, awakening us on board their ship. From data gathered from the ship, my father could not have survived a massive hull breach that sucked out all the recycled air. His corpse would have either have been sucked into the vacuum of space or eroded into dust centuries before we came out of stasis."
"How awful." Allura whispered.
"So these scavengers rescued you?" Shiro asked.
"Yes. We were lucky that they took pity on us afterwards." Caelum said. "They let me and my grandfather live on board with them until we figured out a safe place to go."
"And your grandfather?" Coran asked, pausing as he set aside a plate of Shiro's arm. "Is he still alive?"
"Yes, sir." Caelum said. "He is."
"So, it is just the four of us Alteans who are still alive, then." Allura said.
Caelum smiled.
"Oh, no, Princess. I am very pleased to inform you that you are mistaken." He said. "There are many, many more Alteans, waiting for the Lost Princess to return."
"There's more Alteans?" Lance said, eyes wide as he looked over at Caelum.
"How?" Allura asked.
"By the time Grandfather and I met them, these were the second and third generation of survivors." Caelum explained. "Many of them, like myself, the children of ambassadors who were not on Altea at the time, and managed to escape. A vast majority of the settlement, I would say about ninety percent, are of noble blood, which aided in their evasion of the Galra Empire."
"Settlement?" Coran whispered.
"There are more Alteans!" Allura said excitedly. "Where is this settlement? We must go there immediately!"
"Well, hold on there, Princess, I'm jumping at the marthogol to see this settlement for my own eyes, but I think we should ask a few more questions." Coran said. "Starting with, why were you at that Tavern tonight?"
"I am one of the members of the settlement who regularly leaves for supplies and information." Caelum explained. "Over the last few months, there has been more and more rumors about the return of Voltron, as well as the Lost Princess of Altea. There had always been rumors that Princess Allura survived, but no one could ever prove it."
"There you go, Keith, you helped prove that an intergalactic conspiracy theory was the truth." Lance said as he finished wrapping a bandage around Keith's arm. "You can check that off your bucket list."
"It doesn't count because I didn't know about it at the time." Keith said. "But I've got a lot of supporting evidence for the mermaids that the American government is using to spy on the Russians. So I will still have one theory proven in my lifetime…"
"Yeah… Anyways. Lost Princess of Altea." Hunk said. "And Voltron. Lots of gossip."
"I admit, I did not take the rumors seriously until the bounty appeared." Caelum said. "I began loitering in that Tavern months ago, trying to get leads and information. My goal was to find the Lost Princess first, before bounty hunters did."
"So you must have been who we were looking for in the first place." Pidge commented as they settled into a position to work on Shiro's arm.
"Caelum, do you have any idea who could have a bounty out for Allura?" Shiro asked.
"None whatsoever, Black Paladin." Caelum said. "It is most distressing. However, I can assure you that the settlement will be a safe place. Zarkon has not found us yet."
"It is the 'yet' that we're worried about." Keith said.
"To be honest, we all are. As I said, I am one of the few who frequently leaves and goes back to the settlement for supplies. Even others with the ability to shift are afraid." Caelum said. "But, I think, with the return of the Princess, morale will definitely improve. Alteans were meant to be travelers, and yet we have some who have lived their whole lives in the settlement, and I am not just referring to the children."
"Do you think any of these settlers would want to fight Zarkon?" Shinji asked.
"That I do not know." Caelum admitted. "I believe there might be some. But I cannot give a number."
"I would like to see this settlement for myself, though I also recognize that my motivations are fairly selfish." Allura said.
"It's not selfish if it means that we have potential new allies." Coran pointed out. "We can't do another wormhole jump so soon, but we can work our way in that direction, barring any immediate distress signals."
"Sounds like a good plan." Shiro said. "Any objections or concerns?"
There were none, however, Pidge made a small triumphant noise as Shiro's arm stopped flickering.
"Found the problem." They commented. "Tali, hand me the welding tool, will ya?"
Tali passed the tool over and asked,
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, this piece just got knocked out of place. What was holding it in place broke off, from wear and tear basically." Pidge explained, carefully sticking the tool into the crevice of Shiro's elbow. "It's a design flaw, really. Putting something like that in the elbow. It's right in that funny-bone area. You know, where you hit your elbow and your arm basically goes numb and tingles? Except instead of a tingling feeling, it's hindering the ability to fully turn the quintessence components on and off. So you get enough hits to this area, it breaks loose."
They removed the tool and said,
"Alright, Shiro, on and off, please."
Shiro's arm lit up purple, then he turned it off.
"Feel alright?" Pidge asked.
"Yeah, feels great, thanks, Pidge." Shiro said.
"You said that the limb is powered by quintessence?" Caelum said, brow furrowing. "I do not believe I have ever seen it that color…"
"I was a prisoner of Zarkon for a year," Shiro explained. "During that time, the Witch Haggar fitted me for the arm."
"The quintessence is enhanced by Haggar's magic. That's why it's got the different color." Hunk added. He frowned suddenly and moved over beside Pidge, who was about to start putting the plates back on. "Hang on, Pidge, I want to give it another look."
"The repair?" Pidge asked, brow furrowing.
"No, the quintessence tubes. You mind, Shiro?" Hunk asked.
"No, go ahead." Shiro said, stretching his arm out, resting it across Pidge's lap, for Hunk to take a look at the clear tubes that glowed purple from the quintessence.
"I'm going to give it a gentle touch, but tell me if it hurts, okay?" Hunk said, grabbing a small probing tool. Shiro nodded and Hunk gently used the end of the tool to poke the tubing and then lifted it some. "It's weird. This stuff doesn't burn out. It's like a never ending fuel source."
"It'd be cool if we could get cars and stuff to run off of it back on Earth." Lance said. "That's got to be better than gasoline. A little more eco-friendly."
"Not necessarily." Coran said. "The quintessence still needs to be harvested. That involves literally sucking the life out of something living, such as a tree or other plant life."
"Defeats the purpose of being eco-friendly, then." Lani said.
"Something the matter, Hunk?" Shiro asked, noticing Hunk's frown.
"Not really, just… There's something a little different about this stuff than the other samples that we have." He said. "I dunno. Maybe what I'm seeing is just air bubbles? It's not a big deal, I just noticed something different compared to the stuff we have down in the lab."
"You have quintessence on board this ship?" Caelum said, surprised.
"No, we have Haggar enhanced quintessence on board this ship." Pidge said. Hunk gave them a nod, and they started replacing the plates. "Not much, and only to create our own weapons. We destroyed the rest. We have an expression on Earth, fight fire with fire. That's what we're doing."
"It seems like a lot of things would just get burned." Caelum said.
"Eh, so far, just our fingers." Tali commented. "But, you know, war, sacrifices must be made. Our finger have served nobly, going above and beyond the call of duty, our fingerprints somewhat permanently maimed."
"And some gave all," Shiro said as small whirring sounds came from his right hand as he wiggled the fingers there.
"I must admit, I am very surprised to have had two rumors confirmed as fact tonight: that Altea's last princess lives, and that a former prisoner of Zarkon is now a Paladin of Voltron. Well, perhaps that is three rumors, with Voltron's return." Caelum said. "May I inquire as to how this all came to be?"
The story was told, beginning with the Kerberos mission, and the abduction of Shiro, Matt and Commander Holt, then Shiro's return to Earth a year later, followed by the finding of the Blue Lion and how Blue took the Paladins to Arus, where the Castle—and, by proxy, Allura and Coran—was located.
"I am sorry to hear that your father and brother are still unaccounted for, Paladin Pidge," Caelum said. "I wish I had something to offer you. Perhaps I can ask some of my contacts if any information can be gathered about the occupants of the work camps."
"That would be great, thank you," Pidge said. "They have been transferred a few times, and probably more since I was last able to gather data."
"It's getting rather late, and we've had a rather adventurous evening," Allura said, standing up. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation tomorrow over breakfast. Caelum, I'll show you to a guest room."
The group split up for the evening.
Though tired, Pidge decided to stay up a bit later to finish up on a project. They weren't expecting to hear a knock on their door less than half an hour later, and especially wasn't it to be a wide-eyed, wet-haired Shiro.
"Something's wrong," He said, and that was when they noticed that Shiro was holding his right wrist in his left hand, the fingers of his right hand curled. "I can't get the fingers to move."
Pidge moved aside and ushered him in, sitting him down on the bed.
"What happened?" They asked as they got their tools.
"I was getting a shower and while I was washing my hair I realized I couldn't straighten out my fingers." Shiro said as Pidge dragged their chair over.
Pidge opened up a panel on the underside of the arm, frowning.
"Okay, I'm going to do a test of each finger. Let me know if it hurts or gives you any sort of discomfort." Pidge said. Shiro nodded. They frowned as they tried to force the fingers to move. "Well, good news is, I don't think it's an internal thing."
"It isn't?" Shiro said as they started to replace the panel.
"No. It sounds like the finger joints are a bit rusty." Pidge said. "Good news is, it's an easy fix, and you can apply this fix nightly, or someone else can."
With that, they went over and pulled out a small can of oil. They resumed their seat and grabbed Shiro's wrist.
"This isn't going to hurt," They promised. "Or be too messy. It might smell bad though."
With that, they carefully applied the oil to the metal joints in Shiro's fingers.
"Should we have been doing this before?" Shiro asked hesitantly. Pidge shrugged.
"Hard to tell. Even with the schematics and investigations Hunk and I have done, we're still figuring out new things." Pidge said. "Besides, truth be told, I like finding the flaws."
"You do?" Shiro asked, brow furrowed.
"Yes. Hunk and I are keeping a running list. Because on one hand—heh, hand, get it?—on one hand, this is a brilliant design. On the other hand, it is difficult to get on and off, which isn't healthy, and then there's little maintenance issues like this that accumulated over time. I'd love to throw all these flaws in the Witch's face someday. Speaking of getting this thing on and off, does it feel tight right now?"
"Yeah, actually, it does." Shiro said. "How did you know?"
"Research. Residual limbs swell overnight or during showers and baths or exercise." They paused in the second application of oil, looking up with a frown. "It hurts often, doesn't it?"
"It aches." Shiro said with a shrug. "I deal."
"Your self-sacrificial behavior is going to kill you one day, Shiro." Pidge said with a sigh.
"Duly noted." Shiro said.
Pidge told him to try moving the fingers, which actually worked this time. Pidge nodded.
"Alright," They said. "Like I said, easy fix. And, uh, well. It's even better because… Well, anyone can do it, but Tali is like a master engineer, so she'll definitely have no problem applying this nor will she mind the smell too much at night and—"
"What are you talking about?" Shiro asked, brow furrowing.
Pidge felt their face heat.
"Um, well, the other night… I kind of heard you and Tali talking. And then she and I talked a few days later. About the two of you. And she told you that she likes you. And you like her. So, um, yeah."
"I don't like Tali." Shiro said quickly. "At least, not in that way. And she doesn't like me that way either. What you heard that night, or at least what I think you may have heard… Well, Tali does like someone. And it's Matt."
Pidge blinked.
"Matt?" They repeated incredulously.
"Yeah." Shiro said, nodding.
"Matt. My brother Matt?"
"The one and the same."
"That actually makes the conversation I had with Tali make much more sense, but are you absolutely, positively sure it's Matt?"
"Yes, Pidge, it's Matt. Your MIA brother. My best friend."
"Huh." Pidge said, completely floored. "Who would have thought that a pretty, intelligent girl could actually have a crush on my nerd of an older brother."
"I think they'd do well together." Shiro said.
"Oh, they'd be incredibly adorable, no doubt about it. I'm just… Huh. Wow." Pidge said. They nodded. "Okay. I can process this…"
But now it was even more motivation to find Matt. They had already suspected that their brother had a crush on Tali, and now that they knew she felt that way about him… She had to make sure they had some sort of happily ever after.
And, maybe, they still had a shot at their own…
"So, uh," Pidge said awkwardly. "That means you're still looking for sleeping buddies, then, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Shiro said. "Why? You volunteering?"
"Well, um, yeah." Pidge said. "I mean, you're already here, I'm ready for bed, you look ready for bed… We should, we need to, sleep."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan." Shiro said. "And, Pidge? Thanks. For everything."
"What I'm here for." Pidge said. "Now get under the covers and scoot over. I'm going to bed an hour earlier than usual, that should tell you how exhausted I am."
"Or you're finally developing a healthy sleep schedule." Shiro retorted, but doing what Pidge told him to do.
Pidge scoffed as they took of their glasses and got under the blankets as well.
"I doubt it." They said, turning off the light. "Good night, Shiro."
"Good night, Pidge."
They both went to sleep feeling much more content.
But each was well aware that they kept squandering opportunities.
I refuse to do that again. Next available opportunity, I'll say how I feel. Shiro and Pidge each thought as they drifted off to sleep.