Hello! Romelle, for whatever reason isn't in the character selection in the story creation. She's one of the main characters though! I loved season 6 of Voltron, but season 7 and 8 made me so angry. Like many other authors, this is my attempt to rewrite the flaming ball of garbage that was season 7. Complete with Allurance angst, Romellura fluff, and quintessential madness! Hope you enjoy!
1- Avalanche
Allura lumbered away from the Lions and her team, forcing her feet to push her forward. Each step felt as if she were trudging through the thick, black mud of the Bogs of Dalänadel. Momentarily, she was transported there in her memory. Her feet sodden with death and decay. Lotor's betrayal was the thick, sogging goo that coated her feet. The stench of Altean remains seeped into her memory, coating her tongue. It burned her throat like the acidic fog over the bogs and she gagged, catching herself on a boulder before landing hard on her rear. She heaved dryly, then spat, trying to rid her mouth of the taste. Allura dropped her dinged, white-silver bun against the rough surface of the rock and looked tearfully up at the crystal blue sky.
The sky betrayed her: so clear and unencumbered. Even with their victory over Lotor and Shiro's resurrection-although she was beyond thankful that he was alive-she felt a storm swirling violently in her breast. It was sort of panic that clawed at the inside of her chest: a symptom of the sorrow she felt for leaving Lotor behind. No words could express her fury when she learned of the Altean colony and his unforgivable actions.
She had been tricked. He'd posed as a calm, gentle, clandestine leader, concerned only with harnessing the quintessence so that the Galra would no longer have to brutally extract it from planets. His cause was not ignoble. He was different from his father in that aspect. Emperor Zarkon was a perfect, power-hungry menace to the universe who easily won the hearts of Galra soldiers with his tyrannical tactics. There was a time Allura would have said it was simply in the Galras' nature, that it was simply how they were created. Perhaps there was a part of her that still thought that. After all, in Lotor's presence, she'd had the thought more than once that his peaceful Altean nature seemed stronger and more prominent, which endeared Allura more to him than she cared to admit. As much as she hated to admit it, she still harbored feelings of animosity towards the Galra, but she at least was able to exclude those who she knew were on the side of freedom and peace, like Keith, Krolia, and other soldiers in the Blade of Marmora. She thought Lotor would be one of the people she could trust. However, in their battle, it became abundantly clear that he possessed the same crazed lust for power his father did. The only difference was that Lotor's lunacy was hidden behind a carefully crafted wall of twisted half-truths, omitted details, and well-placed compliments.
Allura laboriously hugged her knees to her chest. Scraping her tongue with her top teeth she spat once more, finally ridding her mouth of the acidic taste of bogs and death. She tightened the grip of her arms around her knees and squeezed her eyes shut. Lotor deceived everyone. He'd deceived her. The team never fully trusted him. Only after she had vouched for him on multiple occasions did they stop their objections. Regardless of the tender, caring, affirming words Lance supplied while they were alone in the castle's flight deck, it was her fault Lotor was able to build those ships. Everything that happened today was because of her unwitting participation in Lotor's master plan. She clenched her jaw so tightly that her teeth pressed each other deeper into her skull. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she sucked in a gasp through her strained lips.
How could I have been so stupid? Allura had a feeling from the very beginning that Lotor wasn't quite everything he claimed to be. But she tried to take comfort in what Lance had said earlier. Lotor did everything perfectly. He always knew the exact words to say to make her heart sore with hope, to quell her doubts of his intentions, to seduce her mind and heart into his affections so that he could easily execute his plans. There was a reason he went after her so single-mindedly: she was a voice of reason on their team, a leader whom the paladins looked to. He went after her because of her position, not because he harbored true feelings for her. Or perhaps he had? Even though he lied about almost everything, she couldn't help but believe his declarations of love were earnest. Though, that could have been another tool of manipulation. After all, judgement was so easily clouded when one was-dare she say-in love. Because for the brief moment, she had been. Or at least dangerously close to falling into it. Perhaps infatuation was a better word? Regardless, he had deceived her. He'd made her believe that he was honest and true, and that he loved her. That was the part that hurt the most. There was now no way she could believe even one single utterance that ever came from his mouth. Even if he was telling the truth about loving her, he'd lied about so much that there was no way she could ever know for sure. And now that he was dead, there was no way for her to ever find out.
She swallowed hard, then her chest jumped up with a sharp intake of air. She played right into his hands, even though at the beginning she knew something was amiss. Her instincts were something she'd come to rely upon. But Lotor knit a seamless disguise for his true intentions with his silver tongue and allegedly noble deeds. Allura believed actions always did speak louder than words, and Lotor used both to win her to his side. Despite all the blame she placed on herself for furthering his agenda, it did not compare to the guilt and shame she felt for allowing him into her heart. He played her as he would a pawn in a game of shanik'ja. She had stumbled on Shiro and Coran playing on the castle mere movements ago. Shiro had said it was just like an Earth game, chess. Looking back at everything now, she saw that at every step, Lotor was the hand controlling the board, using her like he would a queen. She had played her part in his plan flawlessly: dubious like a love-struck yupper that clung to his every word and will.
Allura's body felt like a metal coin pressed into a piece of dry ice, vibrating wildly while her spirit screamed in agony, much like the rapidly cooling piece of metal. She pressed her knees into her arms as she hugged them with all her might. She tried to keep her tremors under control, but her hands still shook. No breath passed through her lips as hot tears streaked down her cheeks and quivers of grief ravaged her. A gentle hand graced her left shoulder while Allura fought against every excruciating sob. Her chest convulsed as the comforting hand sent warmth into her spirit. Finally, she eased air passed her lips and allowed herself to relax a bit. The person sat down next to her, still not moving their hand from her shoulder. Slowly drawing breath, her frigid spirit thawed, and after a few ticks, she mustered up the courage to glance at her comforter.
Coran's familiar, ocean-blue eyes sparkled with sympathy and concern. Hurt welled up in her again as his pained expression softened, his mustache drooping slightly. She threw her arms around his shoulders and wept into his neck. She wanted to scream and wail and curse the name of the man who exploited her. She hated him. And yet his death—the way they had to leave him in the quintessence field—wracked her soul with grief. Guilt also plagued her spirit, and was compounded by the fact that she had the audacity to still care, in a strange way, for the deranged man. Allura could not bare to let the rest of her team see just how much his death and betrayal shook her, even though one could argue it was to be expected. In time, perhaps, she would be able to. But words could not even begin to describe her bitter regret. All she could do was cry on Coran. She pressed her mouth firmly against his shoulder, muffling the sounds of her outcry. His essence sent cool waves of comfort while he caressed her head and rubbed gentle circles on her back. She couldn't see the faint, electric lavender glow that emanated from the two of them; her eyes were too tightly shut. But she could feel Coran's quintessence like a salve on her fresh wound as the two coalesced their energies together, sharing in the grief so that neither of them had to bear the full brunt of it.
After about half a varga, her tears finally abated and the glow faded from the two of them. She sniffed, wiping her nose and eyes with her fingers and offered her companion a tight-lipped smile in wordless thanks. Coran merely nodded at her.
"Do you want to go face the others, or would you like me to sit with you for a little while longer?"
Allura glanced down before leaning into her mentor again and loosely hugging his waist one last time. "Thank you, Coran." She then released him and signaled that she was indeed ready to return to the others.
He smiled, mustache curling gently upward as he helped her to her feet. "My pleasure, Princess. If you ever need anything, I'm always here for you."
While Pidge was trying to send out a signal to Earth, Romelle decided that she'd make her rounds and try and get to know the paladins a little better. Especially the Princess, whom she seemed to have lost track of in her quest to speak to the other Paladins. Currently, the young Altean was making her way to the Blue Lion to see if she could find her there. It was a fairly safe place to assume the woman would be. Romelle was rather drawn to Allura, which she thought that made sense considering the royal Altean was one of the remaining pieces of the ancient culture. Although, since she and Coran were both alive, could it technically still be considered ancient?
Well, I suppose it would be, considering they were frozen for ten hecta-phoebs. Wait, hecta-phoebes? Wouldn't that be ten hundreds of deca-phoebs? That only makes one thousand. So it would be ten chilia-phoebes. Ten thousands. Romelle rolled her eyes. Or you could just make it simple and say one myria-decaphoeb. Or better yet! Ten thousand deca-phoebs!
Romelle shook her head at herself. Why she had trouble remembering the solid base of their number system irked her, but she decided to blame her confusion on the flurry of events that had happened in the last quintant, not counting the time it took for her, Krolia and Keith to meet the other Paladins. It was considerably more adventure than she was used to. Discovering the truth behind Lotor's conspiracy, traveling across light years of space to witness a galactic battle between two giant robots and one castle, could be described as an hair-raising, anxiety inducing, altogether terrifying experience. Terrifying in terrific sort of way though. It was not that Romelle was particularly fond of the experience, rather there was a sort of excitement and invigoration she felt knowing that the menace who enslaved her people was gone. It was about time that putrescent canker with a god complex got what was coming to him.
Romelle turned her mind away from all thoughts of her home planet and allowed them to wander to the many, much more pleasant things she'd learned about the others on the team since she boarded their ship.
Coran reminded her of a firecracker. Talking to him was like waiting for a lit fuse to run out. She never could predict what exactly was going to come out of his mouth, but it was almost always loud, strangely witty, and very educational when she could actually understand what he was talking about. The man was like a ticking time-bomb of wild information.
Then there were the other Paladins. Lance, their sharp-shooter could crack a joke at just about anything. She had to admit, his sense of humor did make it at least a little easier to come to grips with what happened. It also helped that Hunk was right with her anytime she expressed her shock and dismay at their situations, he was just simply "used" to doing what these space rangers did on a regular basis. Then there was Pidge. She could already see how the Green Paladin's logical mind and quick wit could be extremely helpful. The only time Romelle had heard her speak for any length of time was when she found information pertinent to helping their mission. So she seemed, if nothing else, extremely intelligent and reliable.
Mission. Listen to me. I sound like a regular agent! She helped the paladins defeat Lotor, and now she was helping them in their fight for peace in the universe. Or at least, she fully intended to. Romelle chuckled to herself out loud. "You'd be proud if you knew where I was, Bandor. Don't worry. I'm going to help fix this mess and help spread peace in the universe."
"Did you say something?"
Romelle let out a yell, springing around to see the Altean princess. "Oh! Quizzak! You scared me," she giggled.
Laughter bubbled up from Allura's throat. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked. Her voice then dropped a few pitches as she started to regain her composure. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Romelle couldn't prevent the embarrassed heat from rushing into her face as she continued laughing with the other woman. It was only a few more ticks before they both calmed down and Romelle could speak again. "I, uh, I guess I'm going to have to work on that, aren't I, if I want to be a space ranger with you lot." She took a deep breath and regained her composure, mostly. "Where did you even come from?"
Allura let out one last melodic giggle before answering. "I was walking down the ramp while you were coming up."
Romelle grabbed at her neck and nervously massaged the muscles. "Oh, uh, that's embarrassing. I didn't even see you. I'm really going to need to work on that, then. Either that, or you're just stealthy by nature."
"Perhaps, but aren't all Alteans? We are shape shifters all," Allura chuckled.
Romelle slapped a hand to her forehead and let out a single bark of laughter. "Oh! Well yes! Of course they are-we are. Uh, you do have a point there."
"So, were you looking for something in the Blue Lion?" Allura asked, thankfully not commenting on Romelle's lack of grace.
"Oh, I uh, yes! Well, someone, actually. And it seems I have found them!" The heat started to ease away from Romelle's cheeks. "I figured it'd be good to get to know all the paladins a little bit better. Besides, you're also the Princess of Altea, and I may or may not be absolutely fascinated about your home world and culture!" her hand gestures escalated, achieving new heights of dramatic flare as she continued to speak. "I've always been curious as to where we came from, what the ancient Alteans were like. From what I understand they are the ones who built Voltron, and were the only planet to resist Zarkon's tyranny! Those are the people I want to learn about. The ones who face the danger for the good of others! Not the ones who believe only the ideas they are spoon fed." A thought occurred to Romelle just then. She immediately dropped her increasingly animated gesticulations, taking in a deep breath and grabbing at the back of her neck as she shot the princess an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I can get a little excited."
"Well, your excitement is appreciated. I'm glad to see you're passionate about helping Voltron. I would be happy to provide any answers you seek," Allura said gently, her eyebrows raising and knitting together gently. Profound sadness lurked in her eyes, and in the single wrinkle that appeared between the princess's brow, but Romelle was too excited by the prospect of finally getting answers to her questions to notice.
"Really?" Romelle gasped. She hadn't been expecting such a forthwith answer, especially with all her rambling. In her excitement, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Can I ask you a few questions, now then, while we wait?" she regretted the query instantly. Surely the princess would be off-put by her aggressive curiosity. At least, that's how many Alteans treated her back on Pollux.
"Of course. I'd love to share the knowledge of Altea with you." Allura smiled.
"Oh! Alright!" Romelle expclained. The princess's response sent ecstatic electricity buzzing through her body, and she quickly searched her mind for one of the many questions that had been bouncing around. "Um. What to start with? Oh! Here's a good one. What was Altea like?"
Allura paused, putting a delicate finger on her chin before speaking. "Would you like to go sit down?"
Romelle gave one fervent nod and followed the princess into the Blue Lion. "Lead the way."
The two Alteans talked as they walked up the ramp into the blue lion. Allura began with the basic structure of Altean society, the nuts and bolts of their philosophy of peace. Romelle nodded, listening attentively to the older girl as they entered the Lion's hull.
The stark differences between their governing bodies and cultural customs were intriguing to say the least. Romelle admired that the primary directive for the Ancient Alteans was knowledge and understanding, rather than blindly following a false god. In fact, they did not worship gods, but honored the Ancients. Their own people who came before them and set the quintessential building blocks for their society. She marveled at the way Allura described their views about seeking understanding when it came to other peoples' customs for their own betterment. Pursuit of knowledge of oneself and others drove people to understand differences and accommodate those differences lead to the prosperity for every inhabitant on Altea. That would have been a nice ideal to grow up with instead of the isolationist mindset of fear her people held so dearly. She took comfort in knowing that her Ancient Altean ancestors had a more inclusive philosophy of life. It made her feel much more connected with her people. Back on Pollux, she'd felt so isolated. After her family and friends were all taken from her, she would have been willing to do anything to get them back, but everyone around her said that it was "such an honor," that they got "chosen for the New Colony." No one would help her. "It simply wasn't the way," they'd argue. It also didn't help that the only two others who would have been at least sympathetic to her worries had been stolen away and sucked dry of all their quintessence, as she'd recently learned. She grimaced as the image of Petrulius, shriveled and devoid of all live flashed in her mind's eye. She tried to hide her anguish it best as she could, fearing Allura might take offense at the disgusted and grief stricken expression that crossed her face. If the Princess noticed, she didn't say anything, only pausing for a thoughtful silence before continuing her explanation.
As wrongly her people may have treated her, she couldn't exactly blame them for the way they acted. They were being manipulated into subservience; into a narrow mindset that made blind faith an easy solution. Romelle was the only one who doubted Lotor enough to actually ask questions. It got her in trouble more times than she could count: accosted, shunned, alienated and mistreated for believing something different than what they had been taught from birth.
And now, here was Allura, explaining the exact opposite concept as a foundational ideal in Ancient Altean society. Finally, someone who she could relate to. Someone who understood standing up for a just cause.
It was interesting. Both cultures held a strong sense of duty. While New Alteans were faithful through and through to their savior and god, Lotor, which made Romelle sick to her stomach, the Ancient Alteans had every dedication to understanding one another, as well as other peoples. The strong sense of resolve to live and die for these reasons was the commonality between the two; and while she detested one, she decided quickly that she loved the other. Romelle finally felt proud of being Altean. For decades she had rejected nearly every part of her home culture and society, to the point where she wanted to be anywhere but Pollux. Anything but Altean. And here she finally was: socializing with another Altean who just told her that she and Voltron would fight to protect anyone who was oppressed. They would be able to fight for her people.
Romelle smiled as the melodious cadence of Allura's voice became softer and the conversation shifted more towards the natural aesthetic of the lost planet. The princess sat down on a couch they had strapped down in the Blue Lion's hull. Romelle sat across from her on the same couch, crossing her legs underneath her and turning her whole body to face the princess directly. A small smile came across Allura's lips. Romelle felt a surge of warmth that seemed to emanate from the silver-haired Altean. Her tone softened to a melancholy, almost-whisper as sorrowful nostalgia painted itself on her copper skin.
"Altea was a beautiful planet," she said. "Clear, blue skies, vibrant green foliage. During the warm phoebs, the lands behind Altea's castle was the most beautiful vibrant green you could ever see…" Tears cast a sheen in Allura's eyes as she glanced down at the floor. Romelle couldn't imagine the grief she must have felt. Or perhaps, maybe she could? The atrocity Lotor had committed against her people was... and they weren't just her people, were they? She bet the princess considered them hers too.
A quiet moment went by before Allura spoke again. "My favorite time was right after the rains when the juniberry flowers would bloom. The smell would just saturate the air all over the countryside. I used to sit on my window sill, basking in the warmth of the sun, just breathing in that sweet air." The princess sighed happily, slumping down and turning her gaze to the ground as a tear fell down her cheek. "That was my favorite place in the universe."
"Wow," Romelle whispered. "I wish I could have seen it."
Allura breathed a small laugh as she brought her gaze up to Romelle's. "Me too," she said. A look flashed quickly on the princess's face as if she was surprised by her tender-hearted admission.
Romelle gave a soft smile, her thoughts wandering to her home planet. Sure, most of the people on Pollux were narrow-minded and difficult to be around at the best of times, but that didn't mean she wasn't fond of the place; she had grown up there after all. She used to spend hours admiring its beauty.
"On the planet where I was raised, everything was green all deca-phoeb round. My family lived not far from the river. There, I used to spend vargas out there with my brother, looking for dollywoggles." Romelle laughed lightly, recalling the days of her childhood. "He and I would run down to the water and play there all quintant if my mother and father would have let us." Her expression fell, recalling bittersweet memories. "But, when my mother and father were taken into the other colony, Bandor and I, well I would go there to get away from everything. I did a lot of my thinking about Lotor there. That's also where I met Krolia and Keith. I guess you could say it's a pretty significant place in my life." Romelle shrugged and smirked a little.
Allura leaned against the arm of the couch and turned her body towards the other Altean. "You guess?" An amused smile passed across her lips.
Romelle laughed. "Well, that may be a bit of an understatement. If not for that place, I wouldn't be here with you and the Paladins. It's not every day you get to take down the insane, power-hungry psychopath who effectively enslaved your people for millennia," Romelle said, shrugging a shoulder.
Allura gave a half-hearted chuckle before pain streaked across her face. "I'm... so sorry for what Lotor did to you and your people," she said with sorrow shining in her eyes.
"What are you apologizing for? It's not like it's your fault," Romelle answered. "Besides, we've both lost the people we loved to the Galra Empire. Now we get the chance to avenge them. I know it won't bring the lost back, but at least we can make sure that future generations don't suffer the same fate."
The heartache on Allura's face melted and gave way to an expression of hope. "Yes. That's right." A comfortable, warm silence passed between the two as they exchanged looks of understanding.
Suddenly, Keith's voice came over the comm, making Romelle nearly jump out of her skin. "Allura, are you and Blue ready? We have to leave as soon as possible."
"Ready, Keith. All checks out here," Allura replied almost immediately not even glancing to look at the receiver. She was still looking straight at Romelle who had jolted so hard, one of her tucked legs was now on the floor, ready to push herself from her seat should the need be urgent.
"Good. Meet down in front of the Black Lion and we'll figure out how we'll split all the passengers. Over and out."
Allura's comm went silent as she blinked a smile at the other woman. "I-I would very much like to continue this conversation at a later time if that's all right with you?"
Romelle turned her surprised eyes on the princess before regaining her senses and nodding her head. "Uh, yes, of course!" The thought of reconvening with the princess sent a warm buzz of electricity through her mind. The gentleness in Allura's crystal blue eyes was welcoming as she cast a meaningful glance at Romelle. What exact meaning could be behind it, Romelle could only guess. Perhaps it was their shared hardships that brought on that look of grateful understanding? That seemed the most likely of answers. Regardless, she knew the princess took, at least, some small enjoyment in her company, even if it was only a few short doboshes. It made a sort of pride swell in Romelle's chest.
"Come on, let's head down," Allura stated as she stood up gracefully from the couch.
Romelle hopped up and lost her balance briefly, flailing her arms above her head before she stuck them out to her sides to catch herself. "Right!" she chuckled nervously, doing her best to draw as little attention as possible to her fumbling limbs. "No time like the present to get on a year-long voyage through space! … How long is an Earth year again?"
Allura let out a small giggle. "Pidge said a year and a half. The journey will take roughly one deca-phoeb, give or take a few movements."
"Oh, right, thanks." Romelle grinned and began walking down the ramp to the rest of the group. A wave of bravery then came over her to ask one of the questions that had been burning in her mind ever since the team decided to move on. But before she could stop herself, words were already falling out of her mouth. "I've got a lot to learn if I'm going to be helping you all on missions. I don't suppose you could, maybe, train me along the way?" Romelle asked tentatively.
Allura looked surprised at her. "Train you?"
"Well, yes!" Romelle gesticulated widely as they continued walking. "If I can be of use to you all in some way, like when we go down to the surface of planets and whatnot, I want to be ready to help! Not just be dead weight."
Allura thought about it for a moment, shifting her gaze upwards to the sky. "I suppose that would be a good idea, wouldn't it? It would be ideal to have more people on the ground able to provide relief. I'd be happy to offer assistance."
"Yes!" Romelle clenched a fist and pumped it in victory. "Oh! Sorry. I mean…" she cleared her throat. "Thank you, Princess Allura." Romelle bowed, bringing her hands up in front of her face and touched the heels of her palms together, curling her fingers in the shape of a chalice.
Allura stared wide-eyed at her. "That's—"
Romelle suddenly became self-conscious and dropped the gesture, standing upright. "Is there something wrong?"
"No! Nothing! It's just… That was the traditional Altean greeting of peace. I haven't seen that in… since Altea was destroyed."
The younger woman was taken aback slightly before she smiled. "Well, I guess it's good to know that your culture survived. In some ways, at least. Where I grew up, we did it as a sign of respect for teachers and leaders."
Allura's eyes shone with happy nostalgia. "It was our honorable greeting. It is only right for me to return it." Allura put the base of her palms together and curled her fingers gently before giving a small bow.
Light pink flushed across Romelle's cheeks and her lips slightly parted. Allura, the Crowned Princess of Altea, the highest ranking person she'd ever met was bowing to her in the typical sign of respect for worldly authority. No. Allura was doing as a sign of peace, just as she had said, Romelle reminded herself. Knowing that still didn't make it any less shocking. And it didn't keep her heart from beating faster.
Allura brought her head back up and have a gentle smile. "Perhaps you could tell me more about what became of my people."
Romelle could hardly contain her excitement, her face flushing red now as she bounced slightly on her toes. "Then it's settled! You train me, and teach me about your customs, and I'll tell you about Pollux! The good parts, though. Minus Lotor's influence, living there wasn't all bad."
Allura nodded as a smile spread across her face and hummed in appreciative agreement. This entire conversation had gone exceedingly better than Romelle initially hoped and she had a difficult time not skipping next to Allura as the two made their way down to meet the rest of the team.