Something about traveling between universes was debilitating. There was no energy expended for her part, but it felt like she'd just run a marathon. Granted, there was the whole being kidnapped, used as a hostage, then bringing Lotor back to life. Still, when they'd left Arus she was merely tired; now she felt like she could sleep for half an eternity. If Keith weren't carrying her on his back, she was sure she would have collapsed the moment her feet touched the ground.
They had materialized in the same corridor they'd encountered that reality's Lotor, now lacking any signs of the struggle between the three of them. A mere blink of the eye later, Kosmo disappeared with their prisoner, likely to deposit him in a secure chamber until they could decide how to deal with him. She'd saved the prince's life to protect the other Allura from a lifetime of guilt. Now, however, she couldn't be sure she would muster the same compassion in the face of their current challenges.
Keith must have had the same thoughts. "You know, we should probably turn him over to the Blades," he offered, unbidden. "I don't think we should concern ourselves with his fate."
Allura merely nodded, her chin tapping against his shoulder as her nose nuzzled his hair. It was sticky and matted from his fight, smelling slightly of sweat. Satisfied with her response- and perhaps with knowing she was still conscious- he began to move through the maze that would carry them to the bridge of the castleship.
They'd only gotten part of the way there when the thunderous echo of hurried footsteps approached. Based on the sound, it was likely only part of the team. Allura could only guess who it was since she couldn't see through Keith's unruly mane. She certainly lacked the stamina to lift her head far enough to confirm who it was.
"You're back!" rang out a fatherly voice, strained from the events of the... wait, how long HAD it been? "Oh, thank heavens you found Allura!"
"What did you do to her?" Another familiar voice, with its familiar accusatory tone. "Why is she on your back?"
Forward momentum stopped abruptly, tension emanating from Keith that she could feel even through his heavy armor. "I'll fill you in later, the Princess needs medical attention." Keith's voice was less gruff than usual, his request sounding more like a plea. "Coran, contact Shiro and ask him to meet up with us at the holding cells."
"About that…" Coran's voice trailed off as if he couldn't decide how to finish his thought.
Lance's shrill timbre broke through the quietness. "He's already there, Keith. You could have told us he's still messed up! He's not even the real Shiro, after all!"
Keith's feet started to move again, his agitation apparent in the change of his gait. "He was fine when I left! What did you do to him?"
"Could you two stop fighting for half a tic and concentrate on the situation we're currently in!"
Allura was shocked at the volume she was capable of speaking, considering how little breath she felt in her chest. She expected Keith to slow his pace, if not stop entirely. Instead he moved faster, his breathing more labored than before. Lance didn't fight to stay ahead, now matching their pace to just a step behind, which allowed her to see him for the first time since they arrived. His head faced forward, shoulders squared, but she could see him stealing glances in her direction every few steps.
Regret welled up in Allura's chest. She knew she'd used Lance as a shoulder to cry on, despite knowing how he felt about her. He was a good friend, of that she had no doubt, but no more than that. She'd confused pity for affection, gratitude for attraction. Now she had to deal with the fallout of her misunderstanding.
Not now. Later.
Closing her eyes, she rested her head on Keith's shoulder. There was too much to untangle here, and- in her state- she was more apt to cut the string instead of gently pulling it apart. No, right now she needed a plan to stop Haggar and save Lotor.
When they arrived at the medbay, Keith helped ease Allura into a chamber. She wouldn't need long in there and tried to convince him to wait for her, but he insisted that she take the time to recuperate completely. He and Coran promised to delay any decisions until she was fully part of the discussion, and Allura gave her blessing to have them interrogate the prisoner in her absence.
Coran shooed a defiant Lance from the room before the healing pod closed, giving Allura the briefest of moments with Keith. Once he was certain she was comfortable, he leaned in to place a light kiss on her crown. It was tender, like the one she'd witnessed in the other Allura's reality.
The first time Allura was placed in one of these, she was there for millennia, but it only felt like a day. She didn't dream, or at least she didn't remember having any dreams. No, it was as if- in the blink of an eye- the landscape of the control room had changed. But that had always been a sort of comfort since it could have easily turned into a ten-thousand-year nightmare.
This felt different. The peaceful aura was gone. Soon it became apparent that the crystals that powered the castle had absorbed the power that emanated from the rifts, and now that energy was coursing through her body.
Flashes of scenes from her past raced through her mind. They were jumbled: images of her learning to wield a sword as a young girl intermingling with those of her flying the blue lion. Some, however, she struggled to recognize.
There were visions of people... locations... even fights that seemed to be from someone else's memories.
Initially, she believed these to be from the Queen of Arus, who had visions of their future just as she did her own. The visions were in the first person, however, and Allura struggled to confirm which of them might be her own.
The ones she knew weren't hers were the ones that hurt the most. The other reality's Keith holding his and his wife's newborn son. The smell of dust lingering in the air as the Queen danced in the rain with her young daughter. Walking the streets of Arus to greet her citizens, flowers falling like confetti at her feet.
A happy and fulfilled life. A life the Princess of Altea has never known, maybe never will.
Allura lost track of how much time passed. Her body was healing, but her mind was crumbling. The princess gasped in shock as the pod swished open, the final vision still fresh in her mind.
This is what he didn't want me to hear.
Stumbling from the chamber, Allura quickly glanced around the room until her eyes fell upon Lotor's mangled body.
She had purposefully stayed away. The others encouraged it. Pidge had only given a brief description, none of which prepared Allura for what she was seeing.
Purple skin melted to expose muscle and bone. White hair mottled with ash and blood. Lotor's once handsome face contorted as if to shout obscenities at the gods themselves. Should he live, he would never experience a day free from pain, never move under his own accord. Were it not for the beeping machines with their tentacles suctioned to the rare smooth surface, she'd have been convinced he was dead.
Once again, she grimaced at the thought of having kissed this villain. And yet, she pitied him and his circumstances, a childhood of unthinkable horror. While it didn't absolve him of his crimes, it gave her pause when she considered simply pulling the plug to end his life for good.
No, that's not who I am, remember?
"Princess, are you awake?"
Pidge's voice snapped the princess back to reality. Allura tapped the communicator on her wrist to bring up the screen. Usually, Pidge's nose would be prominently in the center of the viewer; instead, the green paladin stood aside to give Allura a clear view of the team.
"Keith filled us in on your experience in the other reality. Are you okay?"
Although she wanted to be vulnerable and tell them just how scared she'd been, Allura decided instead to spare them her feelings. Inhaling sharply, she put on her best confident leader smile. "I'm good. Now let's get ready to take down Honerva."
Everyone but Keith nodded emphatically. His eyes were drawn towards the holding cell where- if she were to guess- the clone of Shiro was being held. She'd yet to learn precisely what happened after Keith rescued him, and she was going to learn the truth before making any concrete plans.
He seemed to have the same idea, pulling her aside when she arrived to meet the team in the processing area outside the castle's dungeon. Once they were out of earshot of the team, details of how the clone had gone mad and attacked Keith emerged. Allura was certain he was playing down the danger he'd been in but decided those details could wait until another time.
Now she just needed to know how significant a threat he was, and how to prevent further danger to the team,
"How is he now? Does he seem to be under Haggar's control?"
Keith paused, his eyes closed slightly as he took a deep breath. Once they opened, they were locked onto her own. "He's been deactivated."
"Can we reactivate him?" she blurted, realizing how ridiculous she sounded the moment the words left her lips. "I mean, can we save him?"
Keith smiled at her response, his hand patting her shoulder to reassure her despite his answer. "No, Coran has tried everything. I love your optimism, though."
Allura felt a bit sheepish and wanted to pull away, but instead wrapped her arms around his waist in an attempt to comfort him in return. The strength of his heartbeat was somehow reassuring, the sound similar to the cadence of a drum. This was the rhythm to which they'd soon be marching into battle.
Once again, the princess was struck with a vision. A vision where the cadence halted and a far more disturbing sound rose in its place. A vision of hundreds of Alteans being sacrificed at the command of Lotor himself, their cries of agony echoing off the walls of a seemingly endless corridor. A vision of other Alteans marching large metal beasts into battle with Voltron,
He must have sensed something was amiss, his hands moving to her shoulders to pry her away. One quick study of her face seemed to confirm his suspicions.
"I reacted that way too," he started, a memory that seemed to emerge from his distant past. "For two years I- I saw so many horrible things. I barely slept because of them."
Allura looked up, her eyes meeting his with cold resolve. "We need to kill Lotor. Both of them. Now."
The red paladin's eyes grew wide, obviously taken aback at her sudden shift in diplomacy. She'd just saved the older Lotor's life, after all, so why would she suddenly decide to end it?
Allura wondered that herself. Before now? She'd have never given in to such an urge, with or without reason. Despite being painfully aware of how deadly war could be, the idea of murdering someone who was not an immediate threat never was an option. She'd seen Keith cut down the enemy many times in the heat of battle but understood the urgency of the situation. It wasn't surprising to see his concern with her about-face.
Yet, she'd said the words herself. And she meant exactly what she said.
"We still have to stop Haggar. We need him for that," Keith responded once he realized just how serious she was. "Not that there's much chance she'll be happy seeing the state that he's in right now."
Mulling over the thought that had crossed her mind upon seeing the mass of flesh that was left of Lotor, she decided to pose the question to Keith to gauge his response.
"What if we switched their bodies?" She wasn't sure of her capabilities, despite having practiced many times on Altean creatures as a child. Eventually she'd been able to move the Space Mices' consciousnesses from one body to another to amusing effect. The Princess had even seamlessly changed them back, confused but unharmed.
His reaction led her to believe he had faith in her proposal. "Do you think the witch would buy it? The other one looks much older."
Allura turned towards the doorway leading into the dungeon, pondering the question. Indeed there was a physical difference: the Lotor they'd once had so much faith in was markedly younger and, if she were honest with herself, far more handsome. Still, despite his wrinkled flesh, the elder prince was the best option they had at the moment.
"We'll tell her it's the side effect of over-exposure to the quintessence," she asserted, turning to nod in Keith's direction. "And I think I know how we can convince him to play along."
A sharply raised eyebrow indicated that he was curious to hear her plan.
Keith knew whatever Allura was planning would probably be a challenge in itself. After all, the idea of ripping the very soul out of one body and exchanging it with another seemed impossible in itself. But convincing Haggar that he was the only one affected by the quintessence? Granted, it had happened to Honerva and Zarkon, but they'd been infected with the creature that moved between realities.
Still, something had to be done before they reached their destination.
"We'll connect both of the Lotors to the Black Lion's consciousness," Allura started, "and let you and Shiro find a way to bind the Prince of Doom's soul there."
"Sounds like a plan," he answered, his voice resonating with conviction. "Let's go tell the others."
As they returned to the team, they could hear bits of the conversation between the blue and green paladins.
"We need the castle to worm-hole to the base where the Alteans are being held," Pidge argued, her cheeks flushed red with frustration.
Lance was having none of it. "Allura needs it to reach Oriande. We'll take the lions to get to the colony so-"
"You'll take the castle, Keith and I will take a space pod." The argument immediately stopped as Allura spoke; Lance's mouth hung agape. "Time is of the essence here, so let's reconvene in the briefing room to discuss the details."
The walk was eerily quiet. Keith could feel eyes boring into the back of his skull, likely a mix of curiosity and concern. He knew he looked terrible based on the pains he felt shooting through his body. Still, his concern was primarily for Allura. Her wounds had healed, but it was obvious her thoughts remained bloodied and bruised.
Allura was always the toughest of the bunch, rarely letting her emotions get the better of her. Most of her life was spent living through loss. It was something he was all too familiar with himself, losing his father at a young age and only recently learning that his mother was still alive. That alone required ignoring their true feelings.
That had nearly cost him everything, most importantly Allura herself.
Looking over to her, he could see the muscles in her jaw tensing, the conviction of her eyes steeled and focused. If she bore any scars of her past, they'd been expertly hidden away under her carefully forged armor. Until the battle was over, she was in the fight.
The other Keith had warned him of her death. For a painfully short period of time, they seemed to have changed that fate by escaping the pull of the black hole created when they blew up the rift. Slav had calculated that the event horizon surrounding it would have lost them somewhere between two and five years, which would have been devastating for a universe left unable to defend itself.
The universe was his second biggest concern; Allura was his first. Keith had always kept his feelings for her neatly folded away; he'd brushed aside the hurt he felt when she rejected him for his Galra heritage, but he understood it so- instead of lashing out- he decided to work to earn her trust. Reeling in the pain of her rejection was a side effect of his love for her, thus his decision to leave her side to get her out of his mind for a while.
It wasn't successful.
For two years he was haunted by her. Long unable to see her, to tell her how much he missed spending time with her, merely surviving the day-to-day. He distracted himself by getting to know about his mother and his past while admittedly enjoying the absence of Galra attacks. Every sleep delivered an anachronistic snapshot of things that once were, of things that were to come. Many faded with the rising of the sun; some clung like a cloak of darkness. The dreams of Allura that stayed with him he held like an unsent postcard, each one bearing a simple message.
Wish you were here.
So when he saw her merciless before the other Lotor, weakened from the lower levels of quintessence in that reality, he thought for a moment that they hadn't changed fate. After all, he had no reference as to what was going to transpire. Part of him regretted not having taken an extra moment to speak further with his older self. He needed to know how to stop that cruel fate. Failure was not an option.
The team had gathered around the conference table: Keith was at one end as the leader of Voltron, Allura was at the other as the leader of Altea.
"The Altean colony has been hidden in a warp in the fabric of time and space," Coran started, bringing up the location on the holochart. "To reach them quickly and safely, we must open a wormhole to access the planet they're held on."
"I still say Allura needs it more," Lance growled under his breath at the assertion. "Oriande rejected all of us, so how is Keith going to protect the Princess if he can't get past the creepy lion head that tried to kill the rest of us?"
"Need I remind you," Pidge answered with annoyance, "that we failed to wormhole? And we know that none of us can get in, leaving Keith as the only potential option."
"Are you suggesting Keith is better than the rest of us?" Lance retorted, his fist slamming hard against the table as his eyes flashed in anger.
Hunk turned to his former classmate, placing his large hand on the other man's shoulder. "Lotor was allowed in, you know," he offered reassuringly. "So it's not as simple as being better or worse."
Lance slumped back in his chair in defeat. Despite missing out on the experience, Keith still understood the frustration of being left behind in favor of that deceitful prince. Perhaps he wasn't going to be accepted at Oriande, but he was willing to die trying.
While the decision the team reached might not have been a consensus, the lack of other options set the plan in motion.
As Keith climbed into the Black Lion's cockpit, he thought back to his encounter with Shiro as he returned from rescuing what turned out to be a clone. He was frustrated with himself for having forgotten that Shiro's spirit now rested within the virtual plane of the lion's consciousness. The man who had saved Keith as a child now depended on that same child to bring him back to life.
"We're ready to start when you are." crackled Coran's voice over the intercom. "Both Lotor and, erm, Lotor have been connected to the castle's communication crystal."
Keith took a deep breath to calm his mind. Before, he'd been pulled into the lion's consciousness by Shiro's will alone. He had no idea how he'd get there otherwise, let alone bring the two Lotors with him.
"Shiro, if you can hear me, I really need your help right now. I need to see you again." Saying it out loud made Keith feel rather ridiculous, as if he were talking to a ghost.
Technically I am though.
A long silence followed. His fingers tightened around the gears as sweat formed on his brow. Once again he spoke the request, his voice bold but broken at the same time.
"This is stupid. We're wasting precious time!" The voice from the com bounced around the cabin, assaulting Keith's ears from every angle.
"Lance, if you don't shut up and let him concentrate, I swear to-"
"Guys might want to check this out! I think it's working!"
Keith wasn't sure what Hunk meant by that, but it didn't matter. On his end, he'd failed. He slumped in his seat, his head falling forward onto the control panel. Once again he was of no use to the team.
"Shiro, I'm not sure what you think you're protecting me from anymore," he mumbled angrily. "But you don't have to protect me from myself. I'm not that guy anymore. I'm the pilot of the black lion. This is my duty."
A sharp flash, like lightning through his skull, suddenly immobilized him. When he lifted his head, he noticed his surroundings had changed. The scenery was sparse, with sharp edges against a dark backdrop. It felt like he'd been pulled into one of the old video games his dad would play at the local arcade. Yet, he recognized it immediately.
"You don't have to tell me that."
Whipping his head around to look over his right shoulder, then his left, Keith struggled to locate the owner of that familiar voice. No matter what direction he faced, there was nothing but the digital landscape in his sight. Dread began to seep in as he pondered the meaning.
"I'm still here," the voice continued. "I've just lost the ability to materialize. Most likely used up too much energy the last time."
"Then why…" Keith began, pausing a moment to calm himself before continuing, "why did you waste so much of it bringing me here?"
It was odd that, even though Keith was currently not in his physical form, his body was trembling with rage. He knew Shiro was struggling here, yet Keith had the gall to demand so much of him. If anything happened to his friend, he'd never be able to live with himself.
"What makes you think it was me?" The response wasn't a rhetorical one; it was genuine curiosity. "You do realize your bond with your lion is considerably stronger than mine ever was, right?"
"The lion chose you first." Keith countered half-heartedly.
"It was waiting for you."
"I didn't want it to." Another lie, even if it was an innocent one.
"You were born to do this."
Shiro was always good at making Keith challenge himself, but never had he lost something during the process. Shiro was always several rungs up the ladder, never knocked off by Keith's accomplishments. Taking over as Voltron's leader was a bridge Keith never thought he'd have to cross. Shiro was his brother, his mentor; Keith felt the guilt rising in his chest as he began to acknowledge the truth.
"I know." was all he could say at this moment. "But you were so happy, and the team trusted you, and-"
"And you earned what was given to me without question."
"You were the perfect pilot! We knew you didn't make mistakes. You were a hero to the cadets in the academy after all!"
"Which was because I was dead."
Keith's blood ran cold. "Why would that matter?"
"Because I wasn't around to prove myself otherwise."
That was it. Keith's eyes widened at the realization. He'd thrown away the opportunities Shiro had given him because he was scared of being alone. And yet that's just how he ended up, with nobody to look up to and nobody to look up to him.
"I just wanted to find you," he admitted, his voice just above a whisper. "There was no way you could be gone."
"Well, look at me now," Shiro chuckled. "Oh, right, you can't even see me can you?"
Keith gritted his teeth, trying hard not to be angry at Shiro's dark humor. After all, he was the one whose soul was trapped here. "I'm going to find a way to fix this." He didn't know how it might happen, at least not short of a miracle, Still, he was going to manage it whatever it took.
"It's not so bad here," Shiro countered, his voice sounding lighter than before. "After all, I've got company."
"Oh, um, okay..."
Keith's head began to spin as he looked around for anything that looked remotely human. Company? Had Shiro begun to lose it here in this wasteland of zeros and ones? Or did the lions truly have their own personalities that could communicate directly with them on this plane?
"I believe he's referring to me."
The cold, gravelly voice that chimed in from behind was unmistakable. Immediately Keith's hand went to his blade which, to his astonishment, hadn't made the jump to the realm he currently occupied. Panicked, he instinctively swung his right leg as he spun around, hoping to catch the speaker by surprise with a swift kick to the chest.
It didn't land, or it did but essentially passed through the body. Keith stumbled slightly, taking a moment to regain his composure.
"What is he doing here?" he growled, his shoulders curled forward as if he were preparing to wrestle his opponent to the ground.
"It's okay," Shiro insisted. "We're on the same side now."
The statement caused Keith to straighten a bit, but the look of disgust still masked his face.
"I'll never be on the same side as the man who destroyed Altea."
"He didn't destroy it. That was the monster that possessed him. This is the real King Zarkon...and he wants to help us."