The Best Laid Schemes of Mice and Men [Best Laid Schemes]
Summary: AU. After learning of Matt's death, Pidge wasn't the same. Every bone in her body was for getting her father, her last chance at achieving her goal, back. So when the Paladins decide not to trade Lotor for Sam, she takes matters into her own hands.
Little does she know what that choice will cost her.
Notice: This will be the last post until at least Easter. For Lent I have decided to give up fanfiction. I hope to see you afterwards!
Warnings: Very dark torture, graphic violence, angst, sorrowful AU crap, Pidge is depressed, not the happiest ending… But no Paladin dies, platonic stuff, also I'm sorry for writing this…
Timeline: Blood Duel, obviously. Some moments after Reunion.
Disclaimer: Voltron is not this depraved, and therefore it is clearly not mine.
The Paladins' lives altered permanently when Pidge left to find her brother.
Every one of them remembered that day vividly. It had started as peaceful as a Paladin's life could get: complete to-dos on Olkarion while Pidge was elsewhere in the universe. Other than the minor anxiety Lance and Hunk had felt for their younger 'sister,' life had gone on. At the end of the day Shiro had decided to contact the Green Lion and see what she was up to.
He had received no response.
"Maybe she's just not available, now," he had said, though he was clearly worried. "I'll check back in an hour." And he did, only to encounter the same result. In fact, for the next six hours they had not seen nor heard of Voltron's Green Paladin.
However, at midnight metallic claws landed next to the Castle, casting an eerie lime glow through the windows and waking up Lance and Hunk. The scene had been especially ominous due to the lack of noise the feline made. No roars of greeting or purrs of comfort, just simply silence. The boys especially recalled the chill that had swept through their veins: The strange feeling that something was terribly wrong.
The two sprinted out, calling out for their friend joyfully, and in spite of creeping suspicion crawling down their spines. They exclaimed with credulity at the sight of a small silhouette in the pale green fog, and darted over with the speed few others could manage.
"Pidge! Did you find your brother? Where is he?" Hunk's words seemed to fly through Pidge's ears. Lance knew something was awry just by looking at her. She didn't even move, like she was completely oblivious to the happenings around her. Only when the Red Paladin looked closer did he notice that her face was dark and covered in disbelief.
"Pidge," he whispered, daring to step closer. Even Hunk had quieted down now and was watching his comrade intently.
Small arms grasped his torso and a head pressed against his chest with a sob. She was crying. Her entire body trembled, and the Green Lion roared out in anguish, and Lance felt very, very sick. No way, his mund blubbered. She didn't deserve this.
"He's dead!" She wailed into the night. "Matt's dead!" Pidge broke down, crumpling to the floor. She clutched her face and weeped there, before the two boys who could do nothing but watch as their whole world began to break.
Pidge had not left her room for a month.
Each Paladin had tried to lift her spirits in their own way, all had failed. Shiro had knocked on her door the first day and asked how she was doing, but received no response. Allura had gone about similar methods, with her own diplomatic twist of course. No success. Coran had offered to tell her an interesting fact on technology, all he heard was silence. Heck, even Keith had taken time off of his duties with the Blades to give her some gorgeous majorelle flowers, but the door would not open.
Lance and Hunk would visit everyday to drop off cookies, but dared not knock. Often they heard a faint puling from behind the barricade when she didn't know they were there. It had been a dark month for the team. She only finally left when they were called to an important mission to free a planet from the Galra.
Time passed, and things began to return to as close to normal as they could get, Pidge being still in a state of prolonged grieving. Lance would crack a joke, and she would smile, at least for the briefest of moments. She participated in activities half-heartedly and spoke only when necessary. While the primary goal of the Paladins was to free the universe from Galra control, the secondary goal was without a doubt to bring Pidge back to her exuberant self. And they had gotten close.
But then Zarkon had torn everything apart again.
/\/\/\
"My father has held the universe in a death grip for millenia," a cool, arrogant voice proclaimed. "But he sees it slowly slipping from his grasp, because of your efforts and because of mine." Clawed fingers clenched and unclenched while orange eyes remained fixed on the onlookers outside his cell. Lotor spoke with an air of confidence, and the Paladins watched him with genuine consideration.
Well, except one.
Pidge glared at the egotistical, self-righteous Galran prince with disgust. She burned with vexation, both at her friends and at the snobbish prisoner that stood between her and her father. Make the wrong move and her last chance of returning with a living family member was at stake. The Paladins needed to give Lotor to Zarkon for Sam. How could they even consider not giving him up? The answer was obvious: Lotor had to go.
"With our forces combined we could provide the greatest threat Zarkon has ever faced," he continued. "He knows we could topple his empire, so this is his attempt to tear us apart. But united, we could forge a new path, open doors to new worlds, and crush the tyrannical ways of an old regime."
"A regime you ran," Pidge countered, full of spite. She turned to the other Paladins. "We can't listen to him!" She yelled. "He's just trying to save his own skin!" It was clear, wasn't it? Why was everyone so blind?
"It's true," Lotor avowed. "If you return me to my father, he would surely see to my demise, and with his most legitimate threat to the throne removed, he would only grow stronger." She detested how he twisted her words into his own argument. It made her skin crawl.
Pidge glowered, careless for his plainly transparent phrases. "One less threat to Zarkon and one less threat to us," she growled.
Lotor ignored her and turned to Allura. "Your father, King Alfor, once stood side by side with Zarkon and protected the universe from harm. There was no foe the Paladins of old couldn't defeat." His gaze grew slightly dejected. "Sadly, that time of peace has been lost, but together we can find it once more." Allura blinked with a flicker of hope, a flicker of hope that did not go unnoticed by Pidge.
"Princess, imagine a new generation that could lift the mantle of peace!" Pidge wanted to rip his tongue out so he'd shut up. "The children of King Alfor and Emperor Zarkon, you and I, a royal alliance between Altean and Galra-"
"How 'bout we don't imagine that!" Lance interrupted at the first sight of a potential menace to his one-sided relationship.
"Lies!" Pidge spat. "Every word is a lie!"
"And what of Zarkon's lies?" Lotor voiced, to Pidge's surprise. She shivered at his stare, an evident spark of loathing. It was no secret that he disliked her; she was advocating for his death, after all. "You think he'll return your father as he says? You think the corrupted leader of a ruthless empire will be true to his word? He wants more than just me."
"You think he'll double-cross us," Shiro registered with thoughtful cogitation.
"I think he'd do anything to rid himself of me and claim the Lions of Voltron," Lotor asserted.
Allura paused, ruminating. "An alliance with the Galra… Could end the war…"
Pidge burned with a fiery rage.
"What?!" Pidge snapped incredulously. Her eyes blazed with fury, now centered on the Altean princess. This was not happening! This couldn't happen!
"It's not ideal," Allura uttered, not daring to look at her friend's repudiation. "I don't like trusting the Galra, but this could be the best option."
"No!" Pidge would not accept it.
"Pidge, think of the lives we could save!" Allura requested, though her expression showed pity for the young Paladin, the young Paladin who had endured so much loss. "Think of the countless worlds we could free!"
"Think of my father!" The small girl yelled. Everyone in the room saw it, all the emotion, all the pain and disarray since the truth about Matt was uncovered, was coming loose. They knew she was at the breaking point, and most of them also knew she wouldn't be able to stand the final decision.
"I know you're hurting, Pidge," Allura consoled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We can get through this! The loss of Matt does not need to determine your entire future. We can still get your dad back! You can still be happy!"
Pidge exploded.
"I will never be happy!" She screamed, smacking Allura's hand away violently. "The Galra have taken Matt, and now they'll take my dad, too!" She pointed an accusing finger at the prisoner inside the enclosure. "This might be our only chance to get my dad back! Lotor's the obstacle! We can never trust a duplicitous, scheming, hubristic liar! We need to do this!"
"Don't play into Zarkon's hands!" Claws slammed against the cell.
"That's enough!"
Everyone turned to Shiro, stunned by the sudden outburst of rage, especially since the Black Paladin was fairly level-headed in tense situations. Now, he was vehement, eyebrows creased incandescently. Lotor leaned back and folded his arms over his chest, completely unperturbed by the situation at hand. It made Pidge want to bite him.
Shiro turned to the furious teenager beside him. "I'm sorry, Pidge," he whispered gravely, to her astonishment. She dreaded the words before he even spoke them. "Commander Holt was a great friend of mine, but… We can't risk everything to get him back. It hurts to say it, it really does, but we have to keep Lotor." The Galran prince looked pleased. Pidge, on the other hand, was in a state of hysteria.
"No-No!" She panicked. Tears began to blossom in the corners of her eyelids. She was disoriented, a feeling of deep betrayal beginning to creep inside her skull. The flashed came in: Of Matt, of Sam, of an ecstasy she had lost forever. The images, they were beginning to fade. All she remembered was the weeping, and the horrible feeling of despondency, beside a black grave.
"Pidge," Allura extended an arm toward her.
"Don't touch me!" The Green Paladin jerked away. Her mind hollered treachery. Tears ran down her face at a constant rate. She was running before she even knew. To where she did not know, she only wanted to escape that cursed room. She only stopped when she had reached a wall, far from anyone else, all by herself, secluded.
Her fists banged against the partition with a pained sob. Pidge fell to the floor and curled up. Her small arms wrapped around her head, providing protection within the barricade of her own form. She didn't look up at the thundering of footsteps, signalling the approach of a friend.
Or, what was once a friend.
"Pidge," Lance breathed, "Are you okay?"
She replied with a low moan. He knew the answer.
Lance sat down next to her. "You're in hysterics!" He exclaimed. "We're going to get your father back! I don't trust Lotor as much as you, but now we have a chance of stopping this whole mess! Then everything will be okay!" He embraced her in a tight hug. "It's going to turn out just fine."
No, it's not, she thought, though she lacked the strength to say it. I don't think it will ever be okay again.
I might lose my dad, too.
That was when she got an idea.
A crazy idea. A mischievous idea. An idea that the other Paladins certainly would not like. An idea that would get her in big, big trouble if she was caught. But her longing for her father called her to such extreme actions, and the need to retain her last inch of sanity.
Pidge cracked a smile once she was sure Lance was gone.
If she was smart, and she definitely was, she could pull it off. Already her brain was working out delinquent little tricks she could carry out to make sure no one caught on. It was ingenious.
She would trade Lotor for Sam on her own.
/\/\/\
"Hunk!" This is really good!"
The Paladins sat in the dining hall, chowing down on burritos Hunk had prepared for lunch. The ingredients he used had been from a planet they had recently visited that Pidge had particularly liked. It was clear he had made it to cheer her up, even if he didn't state it openly. The team had been under a lot of stress, and Hunk believed that food was the best way to calm everyone down. That was his plan, at least.
Pidge had other plans.
She watched her friends carefully while pretending to take bites of burrito. Normally she would have felt guilty for using such a generous act in her favor, but so much was at stake. Hunk would understand when she had her dad back, she was sure. Then, it would all make perfect sense.
"So, do you like it?" Hunk asked her nervously, unaware of her carefully dropping pieces of his meal into a cloaked trash can next to her.
"Yeah, it's great!" Another piece fell into the bin. She could not eat any of it. No, that would ruin the entire plan, and her father would be farther away than ever.
Why?
On the same planet Hunk had retrieved the ingredients for the meal, Pidge has discovered a mysterious lapis flower that emitted a strange glow when subjected to darkness. She had taken one back to the Castle of Lions for study and had uncovered another strange property: It could cause anyone who swallowed it to fall asleep. She hadn't thought she would need to use it, and especially not on her friends.
Well, drastic times call for drastic measures, she reassured.
"AHhhh," Coran yawned, blinking. "I'm starting to… Feel sleepy…" His eyes were beginning to close. Pidge watched speculatively. Maybe she had distributed more of the flower's powder than she had thought. It didn't matter, the plant wasn't harmful in any way, and that just meant she had more time to complete her tasks.
"Me… To…" Lance said, before face-planting onto the table. It took only seconds until everyone but Pidge was senseless on the table, leaving her the only one awake.
She wasted no time.
She ran up to the holodeck and tapped on the screen until Zarkon's repulsive face appeared, emotionless and calculating as always.
"Deal," Pidge growled, getting to the point immediately.
"Meet me on planet Zertha in the the Si-Vim quadrant in two hours," the genocidal Emperor hissed. "Do not take your fleet, and you will not see an ambush on my part, either."
Zertha, the Green Paladin reflected. I could get there in time.
"Okay," she agreed, shutting off the connection. As much as she hated dealing with Zarkon, the tyrant who had gotten her and her family into this mess in the first place, it was the only way. Her father's safety was the most important thing. She could not lose him too.
Pidge walked down to Lotor's prison chamber briskly, making sure she recognised the thump of the cuffs in her pocket. The Prince looked up at the click of the door, to see a small form moving toward him with no company at her side. She saw the twitch of his eyebrow right when he noticed something was amiss.
"You're going to trade me, aren't you?" Lotor asserted. Pidge was not surprised that he had figured it out so easily. He was smart, maybe not as smart as her, but certainly smart enough to piece together facts. His stare remained on her while she removed the cuffs and aimed her Bayard at his chest cautiously.
The barrier fell down and left the prisoner exposed to the room. He did not move when the cuffs clicked onto his wrists, only glared down at her. She circled behind him, green light sparkling threateningly.
"Let's go," Pidge ordered pitilessly. Her Bayard pressed firmly between his shoulder blades, not deep enough to pierce skin but getting the point through. The shaking of her fingers signified that she was afraid, even if she tried not to show it. "Zarkon's waiting."
"In spite of all your intelligence, you are truly a fool," Lotor hissed, even while moving in the direction she led him, and his doom. "Do you think your team will ever forgive you for this? You're a traitor, conspiring with the enemy. Your decision will cost the lives of thousands."
Pidge blinked. Was he right? Maybe this was a bad idea born out of sheer desperation. The quick decision of someone who had lost all hope. The choice of someone who had drugged and tricked her own friends for personal gain.
Maybe this was wrong.
She wouldn't leave her dad in Zarkon's hands.
"I'm no traitor," Pidge growled. "I'm taking advantage of an opportunity that the others were blind to."
"Then you're a coward," Lotor sent back. "A coward too paranoid to confide in her own friends, and instead chose to deal with a genocidal maniac. You don't deserve to be a Paladin."
Her face burned red.
"And after what you've done, you don't deserve to live."
The two reached the Altean pods and climbed aboard. Pidge had chosen not to take her Lion in risk of Zarkon ambushing her, in spite of saying he wouldn't. While she agreed to the Emperor's deal, she was open to the possibility that it was a trap. Her father was the most important thing, but she wasn't willing to risk a Lion of Voltron unless absolutely necessary.
Dusty tan slopes and spiked mountains greeted her once she had landed. The planet Zarkon had chosen was fairly close to the Castle of Lions, so it had taken only ¾ a varga to fly in on the Altean shuttle. The planet was ominously quiet, an uncanny reminder that everything was not okay. The ship she flew in was the only movement in the desolate plane.
Pidge stepped out from the ship, scanning the landscape. The clotted atmosphere was obvious, and the wind noticeable, but she did not see a vessel, much less a Galra one, anywhere. She was right on time, wasn't she? And Zarkon had been the one to decide upon the location. Why wasn't he here?
As if on cue, purple lights illuminated the sky above, faint but notable. As they grew closer, they became more blinding, until she had to squint to see a dark ship land in front of her, scattering dust throughout a 30 foot radius.
He had arrived.
The door to the shuttle slid open, revealing the silhouette of a burly figure covered in grey armor. Heliotrope eyes bore down on her. Noting every move. Determining the danger she posed. Pidge was staring face to face with the most deadly tyrant in the universe's existence, all on her own, and without backup.
This might not have been the best idea.
There was no going back now.
"Bring me Lotor." The Emperor's deep, rumbling voice echoed through the misty terrain. Despite her slight anxiety at the situation, Pidge still managed to keep a straight face. She would not give her enemies the benefit of knowing she was afraid.
"Show me my father!" Zarkon shifted to the side so she could see him, hunched over in between Ezor and Acxa. His shaggy hair clung over his face so she could not see his eyes, the eyes she recognized. His sad state made her lungs twist in guilt. Sam should never have left for Kerberos.
Zarkon's gaze quickly reminded her of the task at hand.
Pidge pressed a button held in her hand, unlocking the shuttle doors and releasing Lotor from his prison inside. The Prince made no attempt to escape. He simply stood motionlessly, prepared for the grim fate about to befall him.
"Go," she ordered, noticing her father had begun to move. He was coming. It took all her willpower not to run and embrace him and kiss him, after so much time had passed. She dared not move until the two captives had passed, but once they had she could hold herself no longer.
"Dad!" Her muscles sprung free, she was jogging toward him, because he was here, and alive, and she had finally found him. At last, after so much searching, so much blood, sweat, and tears, he was in front of her. She leaped, prepared to wrap him in a tight hug.
"Dad!"
Her hands wrapped around nothing.
Instead, she tumbled through thin air, crashing into the sand, with no father held firmly in her arms. Pidge whirled around to see the form she thought was her father flickering, before he had completely disappeared. Her stomach knotted suddenly.
It had been a trick.
She had played right into Zarkon's hands.
Her father was not free.
"No!" She screamed. "No-No! We had a deal! We had a deal!" Her Bayard appeared in her fingers and turned on. "Give me my father!" She wanted to murder Zarkon for his slander, though…
It was to be expected… Wasn't it?
Lotor had been right; she was a fool.
"If you want this Earthling returned alive, you will forfeit Voltron to me immediately!" Ezor grabbed her real father and placed a gun behind his back. Sam looked at his daughter in horror, the expression also plastered onto her own face.
No.
No! No!
This couldn't be happening!
Pidge turned to Lotor, or where he had been, with pleading eyes. But He was gone. Zethrid and Acxa had taken him inside. He only possible ally could not help her. This was wrong! This was so wrong! She couldn't lose Sam, too!
"Please-Please don't. Please, no!" She begged, panic tearing through her spine. She felt stupid, asking the enemy for mercy, but that feeling was overcome by inconceivable terror. She couldn't let it happen! He couldn't die!
"Last chance, Paladin," Zarkon uttered, disregarding her desperation. "It was foolish of you to come alone. Your only way to ensure his survival is to hand the Lions over to me." Pidge quivered. Her entire world was crumbling into pandemonium.
Not Dad, too!
I can't give up the Lions!
Everything will be ruined!
This will cost everything!
She could not decide before Ezor began to power up her gun, preparing to end poor Sam's life.
Time slowed.
A finger grasped the trigger.
A hand gestured to fire.
The prisoner whispered her name.
Magenta light burst through his chest, and Sam collapsed to the floor, completely lifeless.
Pidge didn't move. She wasn't sure she could. Everything was frozen in place: The unbelieving eyes of her father as he fell to the earth, the entrails that splattered over everything, Zarkon's heartless gaze, Ezor's amused snicker. She just stood in dismay, watching her father's once living body topple to the sand.
"Dad?" She whispered, stepping forward. That step became footsteps, then a jog, then a bolt. She fell to his side, careless of the gore that soaked her legs, or that her hands were clutching the arm of a corpse.
"Dad, please!" She sobbed. She grasped his bloodstained torso and pulled him up to her chest. "No! Please, wake up! Dad, wake up!" She buried her head in the crook of his neck, her tears mingling with the grume that coated everything.
Mo one answered.
No one woke up.
He was gone.
"Knock her out," a deep, male voice growled, though she dared not look up. Something hard smashed her skull, followed by a sharp sting, a pained gasp, and a fall into the gaping, tenebrous trench of unconsciousness.
/\/\/\
"Is she waking up?"
Pidge groaned, blinking from the bright light that shone down on her. It was blinding, a light so glaring that it took time to discern the strange blobs of color that hovered above her head. The shapes were currently unidentifiable to her, yet they screamed danger.
She choked out the first word that came to mind. "Dad!" She pulled and tugged fearfully, though she quickly uncovered that something strong was binding her in place. Where was she? Why was she restrained? Where was her dad?
And why did she feel a sinking tug in her chest when she thought of him?
"Dad!" She called a second time, her throaty holler ricocheting throughout the chamber. She yanked at the holds that seemed to be around her wrists, torso, and ankles, only to encounter the sharp tear it had on her skin. She grimaced, opening her mouth for another yell.
"Make her shut up!" Someone growled.
Pidge shrieked as pain shot from her cuffs to her bones to then spreading throughout her entire body. She jerked at the chains with all her power, despite her weakening muscles, and her burnt skin, and the agony, the horrible, gut wrenching agony.
What was ticks felt like doboshes.
The pain stopped. She collapsed into the stone bed she was shackled to, panting heavily. Her world was coming into view, sight having been awoken from the suffering. She pulled herself up as far as she could through the stinging and manacles binding her down, to instantly spot Lotor's generals.
Er, ex-generals.
Panic surged through her. Her eyes darted around the room, terror eating her alive at the sight of the purple walls and lights, the familiar technology she had hacked into so many times, the malignant faces. It hit her instantly: She had been captured by the Galra.
No-
This was possibly the worst thing that could happen to a Paladin of Voltron.
They were going to interrogate her.
She was not going to come out of this the same… If she even came out at all…
Memories flooded back in. She thought of Shiro, with a scar over his nose. Shiro, who on average nights woke up screaming. Shiro, who couldn't remember barely anything about his time as a prisoner. Shiro, who had lost an entire appendage.
Shiro, who had unquestionably not come back unscathed.
And now she was here, in his place, about to experience the very same torment that had scarred his mentality. No, the torment was going to be far worse, because she was a Paladin of Voltron, enemy no.1 to the Galra.
Lotor was here, destined for death, when it wasn't his fault.
It was hers.
And her father… No… Her father…
He was dead.
"You murderer!" Pidge turned to Ezor, who was smirking at her from her left. "You deranged, black-hearted murderer!" She squirmed in her chains, recklessly trying to break free so she could strangle the-the psychopath! "You killed him! You killed my father!"
"Aw, she's so cute when she's angry!" Ezor squeaked, clapping her hands together.
"And when she screams."
Zethrid motioned for Acxa to turn on the electricity, resulting in another screech from the poor writhed uncontrollably, her strength taken once more. Every place where a metallic band touched her skin was charred, some even creating veins of dark vermillion. It was alarming.
She fell, breathing heavily. The pain… She had never felt anything as horrible, as heinous, as nauseating. She couldn't stand it.
But even the torture was not as harrowing as the loss of her father.
And the fact that her choice had played a major role in his death.
"Poor thing!" Ezor soothed. A hand grasped the captives chin and she tried to pull away. Pidge bared her teeth and snarled much like a feral creature, her eyes ablaze with animus. "That hurt, didn't it?" The general moved on without waiting for a response. "We just have a few questions. If you give us the right answer, we won't hurt you! Wrong answer…"
She gestured toward the control panels, where Acxa had her fingers held firmly in place. The small Paladin shivered. She didn't want to have to endure that again.
But she would never give in.
Not if her life was on the line.
She would not make the same mistake twice.
"Where's the Castle of Lions?" Zethrid questioned.
"Not here."
A crackle of energy, a stinging pain, a sharp cry. Pidge gasped, her throat constricting from the affliction.
"Wrong answer! Where is the Castle of Lions?" Louder and harder was the voice this time.
"Isn't it a bad idea to use all of your vocabulary in a single sentence?"
Another zap, this time a few levels more powerful than the last.
"We can do this all day, Paladin," Zethrid said, though the look on her face spoke otherwise. Pidge guessed the general had thought she no longer had any spunk left in her after her dad was lost. "It's all up to you."
"If I throw a stick, will you leave?"
Pidge enjoyed watching Zethrid's face go red like a tomato, managing to chuckle even in the midst of her pain. Ezor seemed to also be fairly entertained. Pidge was a lot of things, and second to her intelligence she prided her snarkiness the most. It was her favorite tool against enemies, especially particularly hot-headed ones.
The infuriated general literally shoved Acxa to the side, leaving the controls completely available to her. She grinned at the captive.
And then pushed the slider to the highest notch.
Pidge was unable to even scream.
All she could do was let out a high pitched whine from deep within her throat. Her windpipe was tightened and in flames. And her left arm, which had pulled in the most electricity through her movement, burned entirely. Her skin was actually bubbling, becoming a wet shade of dripping blood-red. And the smell of burnt flesh was overwhelming.
The energy finally shut off.
Pidge wasn't sure she could breathe.
Everything hurt, most of all her arm. Oh quiznak, her arm… She vomited immediately. Her skin seethed and bled and blistered. It was the worst sight she had seen in her life.
"So, are you ready to give me your answer?" Zethrid growled, eyes blazing murderously. Pidge was sure the general would snap her neck had she not been a prized Galra prisoner.
"I-I-h-hope you d-d-die."
The general slammed her fists on the board and stomped out of the room without another word. Her two comrades followed slowly behind, and Pidge was alone.
A single tear fell down her cheek. "Dad," she whispered."I'm so, so sorry."
/\/\/\
Her second group of visitors were two sentries, carrying food and water. They gripped her neck and jaw violently, forcing her mouth open as if she couldn't eat on her own. The water poured in between her lips, cold as ice but so very comforting, predominantly because of the stinging burn in her left arm.
The same could not be said about the food.
It was disgusting. The food was pale brown, mushy sludge that resembled over-baked porridge that a dog had peed on. She gagged as it was forced down, regretting every time she had cursed Coran's cooking.
/\/\/\
Her third visitor was a Druid.
She shivered as he entered, an elongated body with the recognisable sinister white mask and several pairs of yellow eyes. The Druids were literal manifestations of a child's nightmare. And being right in front of one, about to become his victim, was absolutely terrifying.
"Paladin…" The spellcaster's voice slithered. "Are you ready to give the Galra the answers we've been looking for… Or should I coerce you to?" The mystic energy at his fingertips crackled, menacing a painful experience if she resisted.
"No," she breathed, unable to come up with a sassy remark in the presence of the literal night-terror. She had met so many people who had encountered these fiends, and not come back quite sane.
Without waiting a moment longer, the Druid pressed his palm to her forehead. Pidge was filled with immeasurable pain. Memories flowed by like a flooded river. Her mind was completely open for this monster to read. Her personal thoughts, dreams, tragedies, all in his claws.
She was staring up at a bright light and two loving faces. They smiled down at her with tear rimmed eyes as her fists reached for the brilliant radiance. She squealed playfully, lifted into the arms of a mother who loved her more than anything else.
She was leaving her mother.
She was in her bedroom, embracing a brother who had just achieved his dreams of joining the Garrison. He smiled at her, and she at him, both happier than the average person could imagine.
She was sobbing, clinging on to a black grave.
Watching with awe as her father told her about stars and supernovas and black holes, and how they all worked scientifically to build the magnificent universe. She sucked in every small bit of knowledge she received with fascination. He smiled warmly, and it was such a lovely sight.
She was watching, wide-eyed as her father was murdered, all because of her.
She was a cadet.
She was a Paladin.
She was happy.
She was staring at a smug Lotor.
She was smiling as she flew him to the meeting point.
She was falling into the darkness, forlornly trying to grasp the unreachable light.
The Druid broke free, causing her to let loose a final cry. All her thoughts were mixed, trying to resettle her logic. The demonic Galra only looked, without mercy, without compassion.
"You are sad, small one," the monstrous entity hissed. His claw stabbed into her skin and carved the Galra symbol, completely ignorant of her gasps of pain. "I almost pity you. So young… And yet so much loss. It's too bad you did everything wrong."
The Druid withdrew his claw, not dripping with crimson blood. "The Galra thank you for the help you have given," he said almost mockingly. "You have aided us on our path to winning this terrible war." And he left.
Pidge looked morosely at the symbol on her shoulder. It was permanent: She knew because of how deep it was and the violet glow it emitted. If she ever got out of this hellscape… She would never be able to forget her experiences.
She wouldn't have scarred had it not been for her choices.
Had she not been so naive Lotor would not be destined for the Galra's version of the Gallows, if he wasn't there already.
If she had been more thoughtful, Zarkon would not have classified information in his hands.
Had she not been so reckless in getting him back… Her father would still be alive.
It was all her fault.
/\/\/\
Pidge was in another room.
She wasn't bothered by the change of scenery, or the fact that she had been dragged by her burnt arm to get there. These were Galra, after all.
She wasn't irritated by the fact that Zethrid was staring at her with bloodshed in mind, in fact, it made her happier.
Heck, she wasn't even worried that Lord Zarkon was standing a few feet away from her, with an entire ensemble of Druids at his side.
No, what worried her was that Lotor was lying on the floor, beaten and bloodied, and that she was holding a gun.
One of the sentries that wasn't holding her by the shoulders had handed it to her a few moments ago. She knew that ray guns were aimed at her back from the light that shone behind her.
"Kill him," Zarkon ordered. "And maybe I won't use the information I've gained to massacre the Paladins."
Pidge shivered, picturing the mangled dead bodies of five people scattered across the floor, each one recognisable by a single glance. She knew Zarkon would kill them if she declined to kill Lotor… But would he do the same thing either way like in the deal with her father?
Yes, She knew instantly. He may have tricked me once, but I know now.
Zarkon was a fool to hand me a weapon.
Pidge spun around, pushed her guards to the side, and shot Zarkon right in the chest.
Shots were on her instantly. One lazer hit her in the shoulder and caused a brutal burn, but she persisted. She was fueled by hatred for the Emperor, who had taken her father, her brother, and wanted to take her friends, too.
She wanted revenge.
She his reign of terror to end.
She wanted him to die.
The room was in a frenzy. Sentries and Druids stumbled to reach the furious teenager, but none could quite touch her in the midst of the chaos. Zethrid and Ezor were more focused on escaping, likely due to the fact that the unleashed Paladin had a tooth to pick with them, too.
Zarkon tried to get to his feet, bleeding deeply from his chest. His eyes were locked on the small Paladin approaching with loathing. She knew he did not want to die, and would not fall easily.
But she wouldn't stop until she was dead, or his blood was on her hands.
"You shouldn't have done that, you little insect," he grunted. "It'll be your end."
"Only after you meet yours."
Pidge lunged forward and landed a punch to her opponent's wound, causing a distinct bark of pain. Left unguarded, Zarkon grabbed her incinerated arm and flung her across the room. He was on her before she could get to her feet, smashing a fist to her gut.
She was momentarily disoriented, but regained her footing in ticks and managed to dodge another punch. She slammed the butt of the gun against his face, cutting his eye and showering blood. Zarkon roared, out of both pain and rage, and before she could react had grabbed her neck and lifted her into the air.
Pidge struggled to break free from his armored fist, but failed to even harm the Emperor. He was too strong. There was a reason he had reigned for over 10,000 years.
At least she would be with her family.
"Pidge!"
Both Zarkon and the Paladin-to-die turned to see Lance (who had been the source of the call) next to Hunk, and a group of Blades including Keith. Never had Pidge been so thankful for them.
And for the distraction they created.
Her feet lifted up her fallen gun and brought it to her arms before Zarkon could turn. And, in a flash of light, he was killed in the very same way Sam was, and his tyranny was finally put to an end.
Pidge blacked out before her friends could reach her.
/\/\/\
The Paladins' lives altered permanently after Pidge had been tricked by Zarkon.
Every one of them remembered that day vividly. Lance, Hunk, and Keith especially remembered seeing Pidge for the first time in several days once she had killed Zarkon. The room covered in massacre, a small body crashing to the floor, the thud of feet as they darted forward, all of it forever trapped in their minds. So was Lance's exclamation of despair, a son from Hunk, and Keith's scream of rage.
Pidge did not deserve to find her brother's grave after having so much hope.
She did not deserve to watch her father brutally murdered right in front of her.
And she certainly did not deserve to be so violently tortured at such a young age.
She had lost her youth.
When she woke up again at the Castle of Lions, her comrades noticed that she had completely changed. Despite their best efforts, Pidge simply would not forget her mistake, with the deep burns along her arm and cut symbol on her shoulder. No Altean alchemy or magic could heal those wounds, and even if they could, the scars on her heart still remained.
This time she didn't leave her room for six months.
Time passed, and Pidge started to hang out with the other Paladins more often. It was where she was happiest, among them, and she had figured out that time spent alone brought back terrible, vicious memories. Sure, she still flinched when passing by Lotor in the hall, and often had the most macabre of night-terrors, and constantly grieved the loss of Matt and Sam, but it made her see things in the world she never expected to see.
Pidge was slowly filled with zest. Once she finally left her room and was able to see what killing Zarkon had done to free the universe and bring joy to the innocent, she began to smile. She saw beauty in the world the other Paladins couldn't see, in nature, in people, in life. In fact, this further strengthened her bond with the Green Lion, and brought her to a deep connection no one thought possible. And after experiencing such great loss of people she cared for, she did whatever she could to protect her living friends from harm, and to spend as much time with them as possible.
She fought for peace and the universe's future with so much passion and hope, a hope she had lacked after finding Matt's grave. The other Paladin's could hardly believe such a change of behavior, but the change was welcomed with gratitude.
At first it was difficult, but she moved on.
/\/\/\
Kind of similar in resolution to the last one-shot, but whatever.
It's not surprising that I am suddenly in need of hugging Pidge…
Because help her.
This chapter went much longer than the average chapter (maybe) should.
And I enjoyed writing it, including every dark twist.
God please help me…
Also, if you didn't read the note above, there will be no chapters until Lent is over.
You can still send me requests, though.
Have a lovely daAAAayYYyy!