Chapter 25
A/N: alright! Once again I just own the story and OCs involved, nothing else is mine sadly. But, I can now happily say we're onto season 3 of Voltron.
"Bold is intercom."
/commlinks/
Telepathy/dreams/flashbacks
Debris from their last battle floated aimlessly around them as Keith flew Red through again, desperately looking for Shiro as he checked the scanners. Behind him, Yorak hovered cautiously, his shell twitching and spinning occasionally as he tried to help his Guardian through his grief.
"Keith…" he began.
"We're going to find him, Yorak. He's not gone, I know it. I'm not giving up on him."
Yorak deflated. Keith was as stubborn as he was loyal to his loved ones, it was one of his most notable traits, one of the many reasons Yorak had for knowing that he was being meant to be his Guardian. But like any lifeform, Keith had his flaws. His loyalty and devotion to his loved ones was practically blind. For them, Keith would live, die, and repeat as many times as it would take.
After Shiro vanished from the Black Lion in their last battle, Keith had practically become incorrigible, using every spare moment he had to search for their missing teammate. He hadn't eaten for three days and hasn't slept since Shiro vanished. And it was affecting him more than what he'd let on. In training the Gladiator began to land more hits when previously it had usually had.
The ghost was certain the other paladins knew something was off too, they'd almost beat Keith in the last training session. They almost never did that. Besides, they couldn't be so blind to fail to notice the dark bags under the Red Paladin's eyes, how they would never see him at meals or any other time besides training, or missions, or diplomatic stuff; the latter was a rare event in general.
Yorak gave an audible sigh, turning to face Keith. "There's nothing here."
The young man's shoulders slumped and his grip tightened on the control's shaking with the effort as Yorak felt his Guardian's growing anguish. He caught the sound of a sniffle, and could see a light sheen over Keith's eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Keith barely kept his voice from cracking as he held back a sob, "Coming back to the Castle, Coran."
-.-
"Do I really have to wear this?" Jaz questioned tugging the collar of a dress Allura lent her. It was a bright magenta color, reminding the Awoken girl of her mother's hair. The neckline was low and the sleeves ended in gold cuffs, matching the tight corset around her waist.
"It is best to look presentable for diplomatic events," Allura chided sniffing her own gown.
Jaz narrowed her eyes, "I'm well aware of that, I grew up in the Awoken Royal Court remember?"
"Precisely why you shouldn't be complaining," Allura said and the other woman huffed grumbling something in her mother tongue as she put her hair up into a messy bun, letting a few loose pieces hang down. "Jaz, does this smell musty to you?"
The door opened and Coran raised an eyebrow as he walked in on Jaz sniffing Allura's dress. Both women froze and stood up straight. "Your dress smells fine Allura," Jaz stated.
"Sorry you had to see that Coran, it's just been a while since we've needed to look presentable," Allura apologized as the advisor entered.
"The Cubserions just declared independence after a thousand years of oppression," Coran waved off, "so they probably won't notice"
"Then why do we need to groom ourselves up like a L'jewo?" Jaz grumbled struggling to clasp the golden, jeweled collar around her neck.
Allura winced in sympathy as she fixed her hair. "This is going to be a serious diplomatic meeting."
"I've seen plenty of diplomatic meetings conducted in armor."
"Well, seventy-percent of diplomacy is about appearance," Coran said helping Jaz put the piece of jewelry on, "twenty-nine is manners, decorum, formalities, and chit-chat."
"Then the last one percent is the serious business about fighting for the freedom of the universe?" both girls deadpanned.
"Yes. Oh, and I forgot hors d'oeuvres. And that's at least two percent, so I'll have to recalculate—"
Jaz slapped her hand to his mouth, "Let's just forget the math."
Allura turned to face them, "We just freed these planets. Do you really think they're ready to come together and face the Galra?"
"The motivation for revenge is a strong one," Jaz shrugged.
Coran shook his head. "I don't think it's a question of wanting to fight back, but of believing that it's possible. It's up to you to give them faith."
"No pressure."
Allura slouched, looking down sadly, "It should be Voltron."
"We can't always put the fate of the universe in the hands of a giant weapon," Coran spoke. "At least, that's what your father believed."
-.-
Keith sat quietly on the far end of the couch as he waited for the rest of the Paladins to join him so they could prepare for the "diplomatic meeting" Allura was insisting they attend. A waste of time in his opinion. That time would be better spent trying to find Shiro, not sitting behind a table for talks he was barely going to participate in anyways.
Sighing, he got up and began pacing, trying to think of where to search next. He'd checked the battle grounds more then ten times. He'd even gone back to Arus and the Balamera just on the slight chance he could've been teleported there or something considering what he saw Black do in the battle. Could the Black Lion have teleported Shiro back to Earth? It was a possibility, he'd have to check Fallen pirate communication channels. There'd be chatter if Shiro suddenly reappeared on Earth or in the Reef. Maybe he should check the planet they crashed on after the first assault on Central Command, sure it was absolutely infested with Hive, but now that Shiro knew what those looked like he could've ended up there. Or was there somewhere else he could've gone?
Keith stopped dead in his tracks. What if he was back with the Galra? Zarkon still had a connection to Black in the final battle. Could he have forced Black to teleport him? If so, where? A random Galra warship? Central Command itself? A secret base? The possibilities were endless, each result being worse than the last.
Flopping onto the couch, he put his head in his hands. How were they going to do this? They didn't have Shiro, they couldn't form Voltron, the universe was in danger and his brother was still nowhere to be found. Why? Why did it have to be Shiro? Why couldn't it've been him? Keith could handle it, he could escape and find a way back. He was someone who was meant to be expendable.
So why did the universe insist on taking away everyone else who wasn't?
The door opened and he sat up straight. Looking down at the floor, Keith made sure his regular scowl was in place before he looked up to see who entered. It was Katie, furiously typing on her laptop, which she learned how to make hover at somepoint, when he wasn't sure. She unceremoniously threw herself across from him, not glancing up as she continued typing, probably looking at another lead on her missing family.
It was easy to tell who entered next because Allura and Jaz were debating on something about diplomacy and fashion. Keith felt his hand tighten around his arm, why were they doing that? Just having a normal conversation like nothing was wrong? It wasn't like they were missing a vital piece to their team or anything. The whole conversation made his blood boil. He could almost imagine something like that from Allura, given how harsh she'd been with them all in the past and how determined she was to destroy the empire at seemingly any cost. But Jaz…he never thought she'd betray Shiro like this. Talk about politics in fancy dresses while he was missing. She hadn't yet tried to help him with the search, no one had after the first few weeks. Coran helped every now and then, but even now it was sparingly.
They were all moving on as if Shiro hadn't even been apart of them at all.
The door opened again, and Keith glaced up through his bangs, surprised to find Hunk and Lance. Normally they'd be louder than Jaz and Allura; now they were dead silent, taking their seats looking worried. Had they failed their mission to free Puig?
"How was the Puig mission?" Allura questioned.
"We totally saved the day," Lance smirked sounding more like himself.
Hunk nodded, "Yeah, we got to try some of their food too. They haven't totally figured out their flatbread situation, but what they do with those centipedes is just out of this world."
"And they're totally ready to join the fight against the Galra," Lance continued.
"Nice."
"We brought back a few of their leaders to join the coalition."
"That's splendid!" Allura clapped. "Excellent work!"
Lance pulled out his phone as he started scrolling through photos. "You know, I gotta say, this is what's it's all about, freeing the people, lovin' the ladies, then bombin' down the road again looking for adventure Voltron-style."
Keith's head snapped up at that. Biting the inside of his cheek, he could taste blood as he kept his mouth shut. He wanted to throttle Lance. How could he just forget that they were currently missing a paladin, a teammate, their quiznaking leader?! Keith had been starting to think that his fellow paladin had finally started to grow up, but it seemed like he'd been wrong. Lance was just as self-centered as he'd been when they started this nightmare. All he cared about was the glory and the rewards of war. He didn't stop to think about what they'd done. How many helpless priosoners had they murdered when destroying Galra cruisers? How many civilian casualties were there when they fought on a planet? How much blood was on their hands? If Lance thought about that, then maybe he wouldn't take pride in those parades he was so insistent be thrown in their honor.
Maybe he'd be more focused on finding Shiro rather than boosting his own ego.
Hunk cleared his throat, pulling Keith out of his thoughts as he looked to the nervous Yellow Paladin, "That brings up one little issue. They all want to see Voltron, only we don't have Voltron anymore."
Keith scowled glaring at the floor. "We don't have Shiro anymore either," he spoke up, "in case you forgot."
They all flinched at the harsh edge in his voice, refusing to meet the gaze of the Red Paladin. Allura was the first to respond, "It may be difficult for us all to accept, but it is time to think about finding a new pilot for the Black Lion."
Jaz froze as she sensed a crackle of energy. Looking to Keith, she could see his eyes glowing almost red with rage as he shot to his feet. "I'm going to find him! Shiro is one of a few people who'd never give up on me. I'm not giving up on him."
He whirled on his heel, walking away. "Keith," Jaz tried standing up. Her friend didn't even glance back as he stormed from the room to continue his search.
-.-
Haggar stood silently watching the emperor as he remained unresponsive. He had yet to show any indication of waking from his coma resulting from the damage done in his final battle with Voltron. Which was probably for the best considering many of his injuries were still healing. She had yet to perfect the ways of Guardian healing to handle this degree of damage. Their power was something kept infuriatingly close to heart.
She turned and glided from the room, meeting the druid waiting for her. "No one is to be allowed in Emperor Zarkon's chambers," she ordered.
"Vrepit sa."
They turned and moved to their station to guard the chamber. Anything Lotor had prepared would not be able to get past her underlings thankfully. This way she could focus most of her attention of identifying which of the Voltron Paladins was the elusive Guardian.
A trump card of that caliber could not be afforded to be left on the side of their enemy.
The mere question was: which Paladin? From what she could tell when she managed to glimpse some armor going over the edge of the main engine room control platform, and the quintessence shield, she was dealing with a Titan. That thankfully narrowed down the options, immediately eliminating the Green and Blue Paladins. The former had the nature of a Warlock, while the latter's was that of a Hunter.
Leaving three options: the Yellow, Red, or Black Paladins. It was obviously not her Champion, she would've identified it right away during their experiments. Macidus said it was the Red Paladin, however, had he truly faced a Guardian, he wouldn't have escaped alive. There was also the detail of that one being a half-breed. No Galra, no matter how tainted their blood, had ever been chosen to be a Guardian. But, his quintessence was volatile enough to hold the possibility in comparison to the other paladins.
The Yellow Paladin was a viable candidate as well. Over eons of research, she'd seen the protective, often kind natures of the fearsome Guardians, Titans most of all. They devoted much of their lives to defending those who couldn't do so for themselves. Those who threatened that would be met with a wrath said to be wielded by gods. That certainly was in the Yellow Paladin's nature. But then again, it was also in the Red's.
She just needed a way to determine which one it was.
"Excuse me."
Glowering at being interrupted, she turned to see who dared bother her at this time. "What is it Commader Throk?"
He gave a salute, "Would it be possible to speak to Emperor Zarkon today? Another planet was lost to the rebellion and I feel he must be informed."
"Zarkon is fully briefed on all imperial matters. He certainly doesn't need your input."
"Of course. It is just I fear if we do not take decisive action soon, the Empire will crumble completely. Rebel activity should be crushed with our full might before more planets are inspired to fight against us."
"Lotor has arrived at headquarters at Zarkon's request to take command of the empire," she lied coolly. "Under Zarkon's guidance of course."
"Lotor?" he gasped. "Why is he not at his father's bedside?"
She snarled, "Zarkon needs no one by his bedside, least of all you!" She began striding confidently away, she had bigger things to worry about than a lowly commander.
-.-
"It is an honor to have you all here together," Allura smiled as they sat down for the meeting.
"I had the biggest bunker back on Puig, but it wasn't nearly this nice," a horned leader with dark skin, a blue beard and yellow and power-blue marks complemented.
A small green lizard with little frills spoke up next, "Well I spent the last decade sleeping in a spiny thistle thicket. You look wonderful though Princess. I'm glad I put on my best tarp."
"Welcome everyone, welcome," Hunk greeted as he walked into the room wearing an apron over his armor and holding a tray. Setting it down on the table he looked to the delegates with a wide smile. "I've prepared a few Earth canapes for our distinguished guests to enjoy while we talk galactic diplomacy."
The representatives oohed and ahhed as they took samples.
Clearly ready to start, Kolivan stood up. "The Blade of Marmora has gathered this intelligence," a map appeared on the center of the table, "since the fall of the Taken King, the Galra Empire has become the most massive ruling force in the universe. The sheer size of the empire is almost incomprehensible. It seems like it could rule another ten-thousand years."
"What about these orange parts in this sector?" Pidge questioned.
"That territory is currently under the control of the Cabal Empire," Jaz supplied twirling her glass lazily. "Fortunately, last I checked it's locked in a perpetual civil war as Emperor Calus and Dominus Ghaul fight for power. Furthermore, the empire's borders have failed to expand past the infamous Krein system."
Keith smirked slightly as the representatives looked relieved and the other Paladins looked confused. Seems his people were still fighting back after all. Wonder who was winning?
Kolivan cleared his throat. "However, we are beginning to see signs of increased rebel activity from within the empire," he continued areas of the map starting to turn blue.
Allura stood up, "We have a strategy to bring these forces together, free more planets, grow our numbers, and accumulate an army that can defeat the Galra in major battles." The map disappeared as Allura's gazed locked with the representatives, "But without your help, it will be impossible."
"The forces will all fight behind Voltron, right?" the electronic voice of a slim purple alien questioned.
"Yes, where is Voltron?"
"T-The people you see before you are the Paladins of Voltron," Allura nearly stuttered, "together they pilot the mighty lions that form the great warrior."
"Excellent! Can they form Voltron now?"
"Uh, well…"
"Voltron isn't a party trick," Jaz replied cooly. "I'm afraid using it for a mere display will waste precious energy that could be used to fight the Galra Empire."
"I'm certain it can't be that bad," the Puigian pressed.
"We can't form Voltron ok!" Keith snapped. "We can fly the lions, but Voltron is not happening."
Allura laughed nervously, "I'm afraid Lieutenant Jaz and the Red Paladin are correct. They can't form Voltron right now, but—"
"But nothing," Keith interrupted, "Shiro's gone. He flew the Black Lion, and until we find him there is no Voltron!"
"The lions are still a substantial fighting force," Kolivan added, "and this Castle is also a considerable weapon."
"Let's not forget Allura and Jaz's magic," Coran piped up.
The Blade's leader nodded in agreement, "The Blade of Marmora is willing to help."
"My people have been enslaved for centuries by soldiers who loo exactly like you."
"Yes," the Puigian agreed, "Our people have heard the legend of how Voltron defeated Zarkon. That is what gave them hope. What are we supposed to tell them now?"
Keith slammed his fist on the table, hard enough to make Hunk and Pidge jump as cracks spread under it. "Tell them to stand up and fight for themselves! We can't be everywhere at once and Voltron is GONE!" Standing up, he stormed from the room, leaving a deafening silence in his wake.
He was going to look for Shiro again.
-.-
Keith stood in front of the Black Lion after yet another fruitless search after his previous theories failed to pan out. What in the universe could he possibly be missing? There had to be a clue, something to tell them where Shiro was. Running a hand through his tangled locks, he tried thinking of anything that could possibly be useful.
At the entrance to the hangar, the others stood glancing between themselves looking for who was going to talk to the distraught Red Paladin. Only for Jaz to shove past them as she walked up to Keith, her boots softly echoing in the silent chamber.
"Hey."
"Hmm."
Treading carefully, Jaz slowly placed a hand on her old friend's shoulder; half-expecting him to slap it off, the other half expecting him to collapse from exhaustion. "You aren't the only one who misses Shiro, you know." She looked at Keith, frowning as he continued to stare at the lion. "We'll find him, along with the others. But we can't stop fighting the empire either; he wouldn't want us to do that for his sake." Glowing violet eyes glanced her way and Jaz clenched her jaw as she caught the fury in them. "Keith, I know what he meant to you, heck, he's like family to me too, but Takashi wouldn't want you running yourself ragged looking for him, I mean, look at yourself. When was the last time you ate? Slept? He wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."
"I'm not giving up on him."
"I'm not saying you have to, but right now, you aren't thinking straight."
She realized she said the wrong thing as the Titan bristled, whirling on her with a snarl. "I'm not thinking straight?! Last I checked I was the only one still looking for Shiro! Even you gave up on him Jazmyne!"
"We all miss him too," Lance said as he and the other Paladins said joining the pair. "I remember the thrill of meeting him for the first time when we rescued him and Jaz from that Garrison hospital."
"I grew up with Dad and Matt telling me stories about him," Katie added. "He was a legend at our house."
"The guy taught me everything I know about being a pilot," Hunk remarked, "which isn't much, but that's more on me."
"You're not the only one hurting, man," Lance said. "We're all right there with you. But you know he would be the first one to tell us that we have to move on."
Keith looked at Lance dully, he knew they were right. But that didn't mean he wanted to agree to it. Shiro was going to die one day, Keith knew that, even if he didn't have the disease currently eating away at his body, eventually he'd die of old age; leaving the immortal Guardian behind. All of them would, it was inevitable (with perhaps the exception of Jaz due to the ridiculous lifespan of the Awoken people).
He just didn't want to believe it would happen this soon.
"Keith," Allura spoke up and he turned to look at her, "I know exactly how you feel. But our mission is bigger than any one individual. Even those who are completely irreplaceable."
It wasn't the first time he'd heard those words, nor would it be the last. "I know." Turning back to the Black Lion, he clenched his jaw. "It's time to figure out how to reform Voltron."
