HAUNTED CASTLE

The hangar was dead silent save for the steady clicking of Pidge's keyboard and the rhythmic percussion of Keith's feet. He sat on the edge of the Green Lion's paw and kicked his feet as they dangled below him, a deep clanging sound resonating in the hangar each time they made contact.

"Will. You. Knock. It. OFF!" Pidge seethed through tightly clenched teeth. "Some of us are trying to focus!"

"Oh, sorry."

"What are you doing here anyways?"

"Bored." He answered with a groan and let himself fall backwards against the lion's leg.

"Don't you have a project for Ms. Possum you can do or something?" the little gremlin waved their arm dismissively at him.

"Ms. Proxa." He snickered "and ya, but I don't feel like doing it. That's why I'm helping you."

"Oh, is that what you call this? 'Helping' must have a very different meaning in Galran." They chastised and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Touché, Gremlin."

"Don't call me that." The swivel chair abruptly spun around, allowing the two paladins to face one another. "I'm still a ways away from being able to access the programming of this Galra Crystal. But I wont need your help till I'm in. Until then, get out of my lab." Keith rolled his eyes and let out a groan, sitting up straighter on Green's paw.

"You know, as the arms of Voltron, we really should be spending more time together hanging out, bonding, and what not." He teased.

"Right you are, Number 4!" Coran's sudden appearance had both of them jumping and Keith let out a rather undignified hiss, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling in alarm. He mentally kicked himself for letting his guard down and not continually monitoring his surroundings like he was trained to do. "It seems our legs are quite the team already, you have a lot of work to do to catch up!" Pidge huffed and spun back around to finish working on the crystal and as much he hated to admit it, the challenge was something he had a hard time letting slide.

Pidge hunched back over their keyboard, not bother to look at either of them as they spoke. "I think we're close enough. Besides, we each know secrets about the other that no one else knows." He gave the Green paladin a quizzical look at their comment, and with a groan, the other took pity on him and elaborated. "Me know you Galra. You know me Holt. Secrets."

Keith rolled his eyes again. "Gee, thanks Tarzan. That clears it right up."

Pidge shrugged. "Just get out of my lab already, Number 4." He winced at the smirk on their face. They knew his height was a sore spot, Galra were taller than Humans and he was short for his age even by Human standards. But he wasn't the only one touchy about their size.

"Sure thing, Number 5." The Green paladin scowled back at him in response and he grinned wickedly, lithely jumping down from the lion's paw to land gracefully on the hangar floor.

"I knew these names would catch on!" Coran exclaimed with glee. "Come along then Number 4, I could use some help activating that Galra Commander's pod."

"OH, I wanna come too!" Pidge shouted as they lunged from their desk and bounded after them.

On the way they had picked up Lance and Hunk from the kitchens, and eventually Shiro who had been meditating in the lounge. Everyone was now gathered outside Sendak's pod, with the exception of Allura; the Altean princess, having been deemed too weak from healing the Balmera, still required significantly more rest to replenish her energy levels.

Coran set to work immediately, connecting three round electronics to the pod and pulling up a command screen on the accompanying tank. "Ok, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up. But look, I have to warn you; this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners." Keith could tell the man was uncomfortable with the process, but it was the princess' orders and he followed them diligently.

"Coran, we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations." Shiro countered, remaining calm and composed as ever.

Lance, on the other hand, immediately chimed in backing up Shiro in his usual exuberant style. "Yeah, and then we can just be like, 'Knock-knock' 'who's there?' 'The avenging fury of Voltron, son'!" Keith rolled his eyes, not even bothering to acknowledge him. With arms crossed over his chest, and his weight resting on his hip, the Red paladin was the picture of indifference.

"I, for one, am against this. Forcing your way into someone's mind against their will is just plain wrong." He caught the slight tensing of Shiro's shoulders, but there was no way Keith was backing down from his belief. Coran shot a sympathetic eye his way, clearly in agreement, but continued his assignment regardless. Keith huffed in annoyance. He understood why Shiro would advocate for this, but what he couldn't understand was how the Princess had so easily agreed. She of all people should understand the danger they were playing with. It seemed so reckless to him.

They stood for a few more dobashes, Pidge eagerly drilling Coran for information as to the mechanics of the memory extraction process, while the system was activated. Allura had already completed most configurations the other quintant, so all Coran needed to do was boot it up. It took a while, like several vargas, before Keith finally gave up waiting.

They had started out standing in a group watching the pod, but by now they had all migrated into their default poses. Coran was tapping away at the tank's controls checking and double checking their settings, Pidge was standing in the middle of room tapping a foot in obvious boredom, both Lance and Hunk had taken to sitting on the floor, and Keith was leaning against an empty pod with his foot hitched and arms crossed. Only Shiro remained unmoved. The Black paladin stood resolute in front of the pod, arms crossed and back straight, as he stared down the Empire Commander with an unwavering intensity.

Keith yawned and stretched his arms, kicking off from the empty pod, and addressing no one in particular as he spoke. "Well, I can't wait around anymore. I'm going to hit the training deck." He walked out of the strangely dim room and made his way to his promised location.

Taking off his jacket and tossing it to the side, Keith began a series of stretches and pre training workouts. A little light jogging around the circumference of the room, some 'jumping jackets' as the humans called them, and a custom mix of Blade and Garrison stretch poses. After sufficiently warming up Keith activated his bayard, ready to begin. "Resume last training sequence." He commanded.

{ Identify }

The honey sweet voice of Altean tech echoed through the empty room. "Keith Kogane" He responded quickly, waiting for the AI to recognize him and begin.

{ Welcome: Red Paladin }
{ Resuming: Training Level 18 }

He barely had time enter into his stance when the gladiator dropped from the ceiling with its sword drawn. He managed to be beat the droid within 15 dobashes, but it wasn't perfect; he'd received a blow to his left shoulder that he should have been able to block. Keith reset the level and tried again, this time managing to avoid all strikes, and thus deeming the round successful. "Start training level: 19" He commanded and the droid beeped twice before lunging into a new series of attacks.

He was now on his ninth attempt of training level 19, a total of 3 vargas spent without stopping, and he was exhausted. His score was steadily increasing but it still wasn't perfect, and he refused to move on until he could beat the level blindfolded. The droid lunged for his head and Keith ducked, swiping around behind it to catching the incoming blade at the last possible moment. The incredible force of the blow sent him tumbling across the training deck floor and he jumped to his feet only to be met with another swift blow. Huffing out a heavy breath, Keith decided to call it quits.

"End training sequence." The droid advanced. "End training sequence!" It drew its sword, the light in the centre the droid's head turning bright red. "END TRAINING SEQUENCE, NOW!" He hollered as the sword came crashing down. Instinct and training kicked in, his own sword rose to block the attack but his reactionary grip wasn't secure and the bayard flew from his hand, landing across the deck floor. A kick, far too fast and powerful for level 19, sent him tumbling once again.

Grunting, Keith jumped up and charged for the bayard, ducking smoothly under another attack, and sliding between the droid's legs. In one fluid motion he grabbed the bayard, rose to his feet, and took off in a sprint for the exit; sealing the door behind him. Finally safe, he rested his back against the panel and panted as he tried to regain his breath. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. His gut screamed at him and not a second later the blade of the gladiator pierced the door gap. The eerie red blinking light in the centre its head making him incredibly uncomfortable.

The droid pried the doors apart and, with little effort, walked right out of the training deck its programming was bound to. Everything in him was screaming that this was wrong; the gladiator was programed to never leave the training deck, no matter what. The moment it came to the doors it should have powered down, but not this time. This time it was chasing – nay, attacking him through the halls of the castle.

Keith ran with little regard for where he was headed, focusing his attention on the still advancing training droid while attempting to maintain his footing, and watching his periphery. It was too difficult, he could feel the hold on his more Human features slipping and after a particularly close call, he decided to let go. The moment his eyes changed back, the hall brightened considerably, nearly blinding him until they properly adjusted. The colours were more muted and the difference in his depth perception, coupled with the fact that he was still running at full speed, made him queasy but it was worth it. The boost to his periphery and the ability to better track motion made it easier to see the droid's strikes coming.

He turned down hall after hall, skidding around corners and ducking to avoid attacks, all while desperately trying to think of a more permanent solution. He couldn't just run forever after all.

"HELP! HELP! HEEEEEEELP!"

{ 11 … 10 … 9 … }

There was muffled shouting, robotic counting, and constant banging coming from the hall ahead on his right. Ducking under another swift blow, Keith spun around to block the return of the gladiator's sword. He ran backwards as he attacked back, years of training and a natural grace allowing him to do so with out stumbling. A solid kick sent him flying against the airlock door with a hard thud that he felt in his chest as the wind was knocked out of him.

"KEITH!" The muffled screams sounded through the door and the robotic voice continued to count down. He turned his head to lock eyes with a terrified Lance; panic displayed prominently on his face while tanned fists continued to bang against the door.

"What are you doing in there?" He yelled back. Lance opened his mouth to reply but immediately pointed out the approaching sword. Keith ducked to avoid the blow and stuck out with his own weapon, stepping away from the airlock to dodge another too-strong kick.

"I need help! Because if you don't get me out of here right now I'm going to be sucked out into space!"

{ Doors Opening }

"I'M GETTING SUCKED OUT INTO SPACE!" Lance panicked, rushing for a ledge to grab hold of. The airlock immediately opened and Keith could hear the rush against the internal door as the room's pressure began to drop, soon it would become a vacuum. Lance continued to scream, Keith couldn't hear his voice but he could very clearly see the boy's expression. Using his bayard to block another blow, he managed to rush the droid and, utilizing his momentum, pin it against the airlock door. He used the tip of his red and white sword to hit the button, and immediately dove out of the way as the pressure difference pulled the droid out into the void of space.

He waited a tic until the corrupted gladiator was outside the castle before rising up. Leaving his hips and legs pressed tightly against the frame, Keith leaned inside the open door and reached out his hand for Lance.

"Keith! Keith, come on!" The Cuban urged as he was hauled back inside the safety of the Castle of Lions. The moment the other's body was fully inside Keith hit the lock button, sealing the airlock and ensuring they were no longer at risk of being sucked out into space. His exhaustion caught up with him all at once and the young Galra collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath. If it weren't for his Human genes he never would have had the stamina to continue that fight.

"What were you doing out there?" He asked, rounding on Lance the moment he had enough air in his lungs to do so.

"Who was that guy?" Lance yelled back, turning to face him.

"He was trying to kill me!"

"Well is he the Castle? Because that's who's trying to kill me!" It was as if they shared a light bulb, realization setting in at the same time. Both boy gasped and rushed to their feet, running down the hall towards … nothing!

"Lance … where … are we … going?" He panted as he ran, the earlier exhaustion coming back in full force. A few tics worth of rest was not nearly enough after what had now amounted to almost 4 vargas of non-stop combat.

"Medbay!" The substantially less winded Lance yelled over his shoulder. "Keep up, Mullet." Keith groaned but took the bait as usual, pushing himself past his own limits. He was one hundred per cent going to collapse when they reached their destination.

"Ahh, Number 3, there you are! I was just about finished here. 'Bout to move on to the teleduv next, come along, I could use the extra set of hands."

"CORAN! No time for that! The Castle has gone kooky, haywire, bat-shit bananas! I told you it was haunted!" Lance practically screamed across the room. The door closed behind him and Keith dropped - straight to the floor, not an ounce of energy left in his body. He lay there with his arms outstretched as he heaved lung full after lung full, his aching muscles screaming at him almost as loudly as Lance currently was. Keith had him tuned out, his eyes screwed tightly shut to block the too-bright lights and the rapid pounding of his own pulse was the only thing he could hear. "Keith? Are you even listening to me?"

"No." He deadpanned, not bothering to move even so much as a muscle. An exasperated Blue paladin groaned and kicked him in the shoulder. "OW! What the hell, Lance!" He shot back, eyes flying open as he barred his teeth in anger.

"Ok, so you have the fangs to match the freaky ass eyes. Coran! Keith's been poisoned by the Castle's ghost!" Lance hollered before gasping. "OR, Keith's been possessed by the ghost!" He slapped his clammy hands on either side of Keith's face, leaning in real close and pointedly spitting out "Sal de él, malvado fantasma alienígena" with enough venom to make Keith squirm.

Feeling the pressure in his chest from the knee currently pressed there, an incredibly flustered Red paladin turned to Coran for help. The Altean merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head – eliciting a groan from the pinned down boy. Keith let out a breath and shifted his eyes back to rounded purple set in white and Lance breathed a sigh of relief.

"Woah, man I didn't think that would work! Holy shit I just performed, like, an exorcism or something!" Keith rolled his eyes and shoved the other off him.

"I'm not possessed moron." He spat back.

"Well not any more! Father McClain just freed your ass!"

"Father? What are you talking about, Lance? You're not my dad." Keith dismissed as he got back to his feet.

"What? Nonono, 'Father' Keith." The black haired boy just stared back at him. "You know, like Father Karras and Father Merrin from 'The Exorcist' … no? Seriously, did you grow up under a rock?"

"On an asteroid to be exact!" Coran unhelpfully chimed in and Keith couldn't hold back the snarl.

"Can we PLEASE talk about this later when the castle isn't trying to kill us?" He hissed through clenched teeth, and turned to see an incredibly pale Lance. Rolling his eyes, Keith continued. "I'll explain everything later, just – right now we need to focus."

"Right, yeah, ok. Uh – so what, what do we need to do?" Lance stammered, shooting his eyes over at Keith every few tics.

"My guess is the Castle is merely malfunctioning, probably a side effect from that Galra crystal being hooked up to the main systems." Coran answered, twirling his moustache as he deliberated.

"Great, so we need to go find Pidge and get them to disconnect the crystal."

"Ah a solid start Number 4, but unlikely to reverse the damage already caused. We may need to reboot the whole castle!"

"Even the engines?" Keith clarified and Coran nodded. Quiznak, this was bad. "If we do that we'll be at the will of any nearby source of gravity, just drifting aimlessly. We wont even be able to get our lions out if we're attacked."

"This is true, but it's the only way to purge the Castle. FULL SYSTEM REBOOT!" He shouted with a fist in the air as if it were some sort of battle cry. Keith rolled his eyes yet again and groaned, letting his head fall back.

The three of them walked the halls with purpose, Lance still sneaking sidelong glances every few tics until they reached the Green lion's hangar. The door opened and twin thuds could be heard just beyond it. Pidge and Hunk were lying on the floor of the hangar with science equipment scattered all over the place, as if it had been thrown down from the workstation.

"How can you guys be taking a nap while this Castle is trying to kill us!" Lance accused, immediately on edge and redirecting his frustration into anger.

"Taking a nap? We've been floating around in Zero G! You know how scary that is?" Hunk pleaded. Pidge groaned and cracked their back.

"That's not scary, that's FUN!" Lance countered. "I was almost ejected into space!"

"Well I got attacked by killer food, and that's the most horrifying thing you can imagine! The stuff of nightmares! It'll haunt me to my grave!"

"Well, I had a robot trying to kill me!" Keith cut in. Almost immediately, the lights started flashing red and an alarmed sounded, blaring loud enough to nearly deafen him and he slammed his hands over his ears. "UGH, Coran, why is that so loud?" He complained before a worrying thought settled into place, something in his gut screaming at him to check on his brother. "Wait, has any one seen Shiro?"

The group rushed for the room where they had left their Black Paladin with Sendak's pod. Coran opened the door and disabled the alarm as they entered. The room was just as dim as before but some one was missing.

"Shiro, are you ok?" Pidge asked with concern as they approached him. Keith looked at the empty pod station and frowned.

"Where's Sendak?" He asked.

"I – I had to get him out of here." Shiro looked up at them, locking eyes with Keith, and he saw the absolute panic and sheer terror on the man's face. "I was hearing his voice, he – he can't be trusted on this ship." The man stammered and Keith felt his heart break for him. They should have known better, he should have known better than to leave Shiro alone with the Commander. Sendak may not have been directly responsible for what happened to him, but he knew Shiro would superimpose his face onto those who hurt him. It was reasonable, it was logical, Sendak was an Empire Commander and it was the Empire who'd hurt him. But he knew it was more than that, deeper. Sendak was Galra, and Shiro was terrified of the Galra.

Keith hung his head and looked over at his team. What was he going to do? He couldn't just tell them, what if Shiro had a panic attack? He had been able to calm him down last time but Keith seriously doubted he'd be of any help this time. What about Hunk and Lance? Or Allura?

"It is the ship! I got stuck in a cryo-pod, then in an airlock." Lance responded. "Keith got attacked a robot, and Hunk and Pidge got attacked by food. It's been a weird morning." The Cuban finished and another alarm fired off, luckily this one was substantially lower in volume.

"What? How is that possible?" Coran puzzled as he looked at the screen, the Altean words 'Wormhole jump initiated' displaying prominently.

"The ship is starting a wormhole jump." Keith announced. "What's Allura doing?"

The door to the bridge opened and he wasn't surprised in the least to see the Princess, still in her nightgown, standing at the controls with a dreamy glaze to her eyes. Leaving the dim room had helped shake Shiro from his terror and pulled him back into the present, back into leader mode. Their valiant Black Paladin rushed into the bridge ahead of the pack.

"Allura, what's going on?" He demanded.

"We're going to Altea. We're going home." She answered and, ok yeah, Keith had not been expecting that one. "My father is taking us."

They rushed the bridge in an attempt to reason with Allura but a particle barrier rose around her; the very one she had used to trap Sendak. The angry visage of King Alfor appeared on the screens, surrounding them all as his booming voice echoed through the room.

{ Stay away from my daughter! }

"Uhhh" Hunk whined, cowering slightly behind Lance, and Keith could feel him starting to freak out.

"Allura, wake up!" Shiro commanded but it had no effect, the dazed princess continued to stare out the front of the ship as if she hadn't even heard him.

"The crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. It's taking over!" Coran deduced.

Suddenly, the entire room was washed in a brilliant red orange glow as the castle exited the wormhole and a volatile star appeared before them. "We're headed straight for a star and it's about to explode!" Pidge announced.

"Father, I can see Altea." Allura's voice was dreamy and faint, whispered through her fading energy. Coran pleaded with her, trying to break through the hallucination the AI was creating. They went back and forth for nearly a dobash before he was able to convince her and break the spell. Allura gasped when she came back to reality, staring at the star with fear in her eyes. "That's not Altea." No shit. He thought.

"When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system." Pidge supplied. "Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here!"

She tried, Allura moved for the controls but Alfor's AI zapped her, sending her flying backwards into Shiro's arms as the particle barrier locked her out. She pleaded with him, begging him to turn them around but in the end there was so reasoning with the corrupted program, everything seemed hopeless. Until it glitched, cracking to reveal the real Alfor as he instructed them to disconnect him. The AI glitched over and over, trying continuously to pull Allura back into delirium, but she was strong.

They slowed the castle with their lions, buying the princess the time she needed to release Alfor's memories from the castle, destroying his AI, and severing the connection to the systems. It didn't take long for Coran to have the Castle turned around while Allura opened a new wormhole to safety.

They gathered on the bridge. "I'm so sorry about your father princess." Shiro placed his hand on Allura's shoulder and offered his comfort, Hunk chimed in as well and they all nodded in agreement. She smiled at them, her face falling into one of despair as the reality of her loss truly sunk in.

"Thank you, but that was not my father." She squared her shoulders and rose to her feet, standing proud and tall. "The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be here with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us, and his legacy is Voltron."

Keith nodded. He looked the princess in the eyes and smiled. "His legacy is more than just Voltron, princess. I grew up learning stories of Alfor the Great, wise and noble leader of the long lost Altea. None of us believe for one tic that that corrupted version is any reflection of the man he was." The words barely made it out of his lips before the Altean princess wrapped herself around him.

"Oh, Keith, thank you!" She cried into his shoulder and he stood there, too stunned to move; too shocked to react.

"Uh, you're welcome?" The uninvited contact was making him nervous and uncomfortable. Galra were very touchy, but only amongst those who were family or with their mates. Allura was neither of those things and Keith felt himself starting to squirm, desperately craving distance. Coran picked up on his silent pleas, placing a gentle hand on the princess' shoulder and guided her from his embrace. Keith immediately let out the breath he had been holding.

Coran was clutching Allura by her shoulders, speaking to her softly as she nodded along, occasionally wiping a tear from her cheeks with his thumb, and eventually pulling her in for a tight hug. It was sweet; he watched them and felt a pang in his chest as he realized just how much he missed his own family. Tears were prickling at the corner of his eyes but he forced them away, squaring his shoulders and turning his head to find the others.

Hunk and Pidge were animatedly explaining how they'd had to fight off the food goo to a laughing Shiro. Keith watched them for a tic before turning around, a very close grimace startling him. He jumped back and let out a faint hiss at Lance who was still a maximum of an inch from his face, glaring down at him. "What the hell, Lance."

"Stop stepping in on my princess!" The Blue Paladin whispered back.

"Your princess?" He asked incredulously, crossing his arms in defiance.

"Yes, MY Princess. I saw her first."

"Dude, I'm not 'stepping in' on anyone. I'm not interested in Allura."

"Then why were you flirting with her?"

"I – what? No, I wasn't flirting! Stars, Lance! I was comforting her, you nimrod." Lance looked at him with clear suspicion, unable to believe his words. They stared each other down, neither willing to back off, until finally Keith threw his arms in the air. "You're so – ugh!" He literally growled, causing the other boy to flinch.

The room suddenly lapsed into silence. Coran and Allura looked at him with concerned expressions, Hunk and Pidge were staring wide eyed, but Shiro had gone pale. "What's going on over there?" he croaked, his voice cracking slightly on the words.

"Beats me, Keith just freaked out!" Lance betrayed. "OH! Maybe he's still possessed."

"Possessed?" Hunk asked warily, nervous eyes flitting over Keith as though he were afraid the raven-haired boy would attack.

"Yeah, yeah – his eyes went all weird and he had these fangs! It was freaky. The castle ghost totally took him over for a bit!"

"Lance, there was no ghost." Pidge adjusted their glasses as they condescendingly corrected him. "And Keith wasn't possessed."

"That's what I said!" He confirmed, shooting a glare in Lance's direction.

"Then what's with the eyes?!"

"He's not fully Human, remember?" Pidge rolled their eyes behind giant spectacles. "He told us this back on Earth." Realization seemed to dawn on Lance and he blushed significantly, mumbling 'oh yeah' under his breath so quietly that Keith was certain he was the only one who could hear it. Sure, Alteans had incredible hearing, but it was nothing compared to the Galra and even though Keith was only half Galra, he was standing close enough to pick it up.

He looked around the room and saw Allura holding her head in shame. "Keith, I am truly sorry. I did not know. If I – If I had known, I would never have pulled you into an embrace without your permission. The others all seem to enjoy contact and I misguidedly assumed you were the same." She lifted her eyes to meet his own. "Please, can you forgive me for my lack of decorum?"

He stared back at her, mouth hanging open. What was he supposed to say to that? If he brushed the incident off it would make her feel better, but he knew she would understand just how severe of a misstep she'd made when she eventually found out he was Galra. Would she be mortified? Would she be angry that she had even apologized to him? Or would she simply not care?

"Looks like has stopped working." Pidge interjected, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Lance added. He folded his arms across his chest and unconsciously did his best impression of Keith. "I mean - it's just a hug."

"Yes, well to you Humans a hug is nothing, just a friendly embrace. But touch has different meanings to different species." Coran looked over at all the paladins, even glancing at Allura briefly. "For example: back on Altea we regarded hugs much the same way you do. But for other species, such as the Burr or the Parfoogians, touch is reserved for intimacy only. While other species keep touch between family members."

"Well, what about your species." Lance directed, throwing Keith under a spotlight he did not want. Coran and Pidge didn't come to his rescue this time.

"We – uh, we reserve touch for families and - and mates." He stuttered, suddenly feeling his mouth go dry.

"Mates?" Allura asked with an odd inflection to her voice.

Pidge nodded, elaborating and making Keith mentally facepalm. "Mates are like spouses, significant others, partners."

"I know what 'mates' are Pidge, thank you." The princess condescendingly spat back at the young paladin. "It is a term not commonly heard, not many species refer to their partners as 'mates'." She turned her glare back on him. "Most that do are either primitive or uncivilized." And he recoiled at the implication.

"Ouch." Whispered Pidge under her breath and the room hung in a heavy silence. No one dared to speak for several dobashes, especially not Keith.

"Well?" Allura prompted, cutting the silence and adding to the mounting tension. "Who are you really?"

In an instant Keith went from meek to defiant. Rising to her accusation and feeling the hair on his neck bristle. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then another. When he finally opened his eyes again, they were narrow purple slits set in a brilliant golden yellow sclera. His lips were pulled back far enough to show off his sharp teeth and Keith tucked his hair behind his ears, revealing the slight point at their tips as he stared the princess down. "Who am I really?" He asked incredulously, voice laced with indignation as he rose to her challenge. "My name is Keith Kogane, I was born on Earth like the other paladins, but was taken away by my mother when I was 3 deca-phoebs old after Earth's Galaxy Garrison learned of our presence. It was no longer safe for a half alien child to be raised on a pre-contact planet so we left to let my mother's people raised me. My father is Kolton Kogane, a fireman and ex Garrison fighter pilot. My mother is Krolia, of the Blade of Marmora, a rebel organization fighting to destroy the Empire from the inside. I am half Human and half Galra." He paused to take another deep breath and process the round of gasps from everyone not named Pidge or Coran.

"I am a trained Blade of Marmora Operative who was sent to Earth to protect the Blue Lion of Voltron from the Emperor. I met the other paladins while undercover, but couldn't tell them anything because it would have blown my cover and put me at great risk of being discovered. I tried to tell everyone back at my dad's cabin but – it was too hard after we had just rescued Shiro from the Garrison." He turned to face Shiro, noting the lack of colour on the man's face and the slight tremor in his prosthetic arm. "Shiro, it was one of our members that helped you escape Central Command. His name is Ulaz and he is a good man. I cashed in a favour with one of the rebel leaders, a woman named Te-Osh, to get Matt out as well. We couldn't get Mr. Holt, he had already been moved and my sources don't know where. Pidge and I have been trying to track him down."

"Pidge?" The princess whirled around to look in absolute shock down at the tiny Green Paladin. "You knew?"

"Yes." They answered honestly. "I've known for quite a while actually. I figured it out before Sendak took over the castle."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lance asked, his voice shaky.

Pidge merely shrugged. "Wasn't my place."

"If we are confessing things, then – well, I'm afraid I must confess that I also knew about Number 4 was Galra." Coran added and Allura looked as though she had been kicked in the gut. "I'm sorry princess, I couldn't betray his trust like that. As Number 5 said, it wasn't our place to say anything."

"When – when did you learn of this?" Her voice sounded more hurt and betrayed than anything and Keith realized Coran had been right; he should have come forward a long time ago.

"Since the paladins arrived. The castle ran a genetic scan when they first entered and, as the others were off gathering their lions, I confronted Keith about his results."

"Coran, we will talk about this later." She spoke to her father's advisor rather harshly before the princess turned her ire on him and Keith drew on every single moment of his Blade training to stand tall and resist the urge to wither under her powerful glare. "Out, everyone. Leave us." She commanded, her eyes ever leaving Keith's. Pidge glanced over in his direction but he gave her a curt nod, confirming that he was fine. It took a dobash or so, but eventually they all left the two of them alone. It was Keith and Allura, alone on the bridge, no one to back either of them up.

He had been facing the door, watching the others leave and when he turned his head back, the sharp sting of her open palm across his face sent him reeling. Instinctively his hand came up to rest against his burning cheek and a small whine escaped him, one he hadn't made since he was a very young kit. Keith took a stumbling step back and looked up at the princess in shock. She almost seemed to grow in stature right before his eyes – actually, she was getting taller. Alteans had the ability to modify their appearance, and she was making herself a full head taller than him as an intimidation tactic. He rolled his eyes at her and crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his weight to the left side of his hip.

"Allura -" he began, only to be immediately cut off.

"PRINCESS Allura!" She seethed. His natural confrontational attitude was begging him to call her out, she wasn't his princess, but his gut urged him to be respectful and it had never let him down. So he listened.

"You're right, my apologies. Princess Allura, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just – I was scared of how you'd react."

"How I'd react? To finding out there's a Galra living in my Castle, flying MY FATHER'S LION?" Her words sent a shiver through his spine and, coupled with the responding growl from Red in his mind, it created a very odd sensation. She must have felt it too – or maybe the growl wasn't just in his mind, her face visibly paled and she let out a huff. "I supposed there's nothing that can be done about that. The lion's choose their paladins and I can't – we need you to stay. But you are not welcome. I will be limiting your clearance in the castle. I don't want a Galra anywhere near the archives, or our food, or our main systems."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Princess, if I was going to sabotage anything I'd have done it by now. I'm NOT connected to the Empire; I was raised in the Blades. We fight against the monster the Emperor has become, we fight to free the people he has enslaved."

"You think a few Galra rebels will convince me?"

"A few? Our entire organization is Galra. Thousands of us, risking our lives to take down the Empire. We've been fighting this war for millennia!"

"And yet you have nothing to show for it." His breath hitched and he took a wounded step back. Looking up at her towering form, he felt his heart sink.

"We have a grave yard that covers an entire planet to show for it." Keith wrenched his gaze away from her, looking down at his tightly clenched fists. "You lost your entire race, your planet, your culture to Zarkon – but so did we. Daibazaal was destroyed, my species is nothing like we once were; our culture has been replaced by propaganda. In the Blades we try to preserve the old ways but it's hard when we're all soldiers. Our numbers drop faster than they naturally replenish." She didn't say anything; he chanced a glance in her direction and saw that she was watching him, a complicated expression on her delicate features.

Something stirred within him, and he saw it reflected in Allura's eyes. With a deep breath, he tried another approach. In his terribly inept Altean, he broke the silence. "We learned a great deal about Altea too." Her eyes shot wide and he saw a glimmer of hope, pressing on he pulled on every single one of the Altean lessons he hadn't paid attention to. "Ms. Proxa, my instructor, insisted that we learn about the great people of Altea. She said that we could learn from them and become better diplomats ourselves by learning their ways. Your ways." He took another breath, her face was starting to soften and she had returned to her natural height. "I grew up on stories of Voltron, how the mighty lions were built by the great King Alfor of Altea to fight for peace and unity, how Voltron was as much a symbol of freedom as it was a weapon."

"The Galra were our allies a long time ago." She spoke quietly, looking him firmly in the eyes. Though the utter hatred had faded away, her gaze was not friendly. "A Galra paladin betrayed Volron once, how do I know it wont happen again?"

"I am not Zarkon." She gasped at his bluntness. Knowing he was about to launch into a rant, he switched to his native Galran and watched her wince upon hearing the language. "Zarkon was once a great man and a noble warrior. He was a valiant leader and beloved Emperor until the quintessence field corrupted him. The monster that sits on the throne and calls himself our Emperor is not the Zarkon your father knew. He died a good man, what came back – the Emperor can't even be called 'Galra' any more. The quintessence of Sendak's crystal corrupted King Alfor's AI, and it was quintessence that corrupted the Emperor. The Galra – my people, we aren't inherently evil, you can't just slap a label on all of us that says 'Big Bad Galra' and be done with it. Some, like Sendak and Prorok, are undyingly loyal to the Empire, they believe in Galran superiority and the quest for power. But others, like our Leader and my mother and the rest of the Blades, are not. We fight against tyranny, against the hate and corruption."

She raised her hand in front of her, signalling him to stop and he obliged. "Keith I, I need to lie down. I'm still very tired and this news is – well, it's taking all of my energy to stand here. I will sleep on this. I will think on what you have told me and I will tell you where we stand tomorrow. In the mean time, contact your leader as I wish to speak with them." Her voice wasn't harsh or rude, but it wasn't kind either: neutral. He gave her a curt nod and a grunt of confirmation.

"Do you need assistance?"

"Call Coran." She ordered and he did. He made his way to the Red Paladin console and messaged for Coran to return to the bridge. It didn't take long, maybe 5 dobashes, before the ginger man came respectfully into the room. He exchanged a careful look with Keith, spoke calmly with the princess, and bid him goodnight as he escorted Allura out of the room.

Keith sat back in his chair. Red was purring in the back of his head, and a massive weight had been lifted, but he still felt like shit. The situation with Allura was up to her now, there was nothing further he could do or say and she would come to her own decision. Hunk and Lance were going to be easier, he knew Pidge was probably talking to them, explaining everything and bringing them around. But it was the look Shiro had given him; one of absolute terror and unrestrained horror that was haunting him now.

They were so close back on Earth, Shiro having gone out of his way on countless occasions to make Keith more at ease, to help him blend in, and to cheer him up. This was going to take more than a heated discussion, more than some rationalizing to fix. It would probably require space, and time, and an outside force. Someone who had been hurt by the Empire like he had, someone who had also thought Keith was Human, and someone who was close enough to be considered a confidante; someone like Matt.