AN: It's been months I know, sorry! Thank you for your patience!
Edit in last chapter: I tweaked the very last scene a little. There's not a spikey alien with duel swords coming out into the ring. Sorry about that. But I came up with something else. XD
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The Galra had a gladiator ring ten thousand years ago.
When Allura was older she learned about its history. It began during peacetime as a way to relieve tension for the soldiers. After fighting pirates and bandits for so long it was difficult for a highly militaristic nation to stop honing their skills for intense battle. It started off as a training arena. Challengers were completely voluntary. It soon grew to the point that they needed to expand it. There were seats for young soldiers to watch and learn. Visitors were allowed to come as well.
Female gentry were not allowed to watch.
The rule was Altean but it did not stop just because they were on another planet, much to little Allura's displeasure. So she sat indoors with her Queen Mother Melenor sipping tea. She was young and ignorant of what the arena was exactly. All she knew was that her father and Coran were allowed to go and she was not.
Their handmaiden brought their own Altean tea set. The Galra did have herbal drinks and pots but they weren't nearly sophisticated enough for Alteans. King Zarkon was beyond taking offense to something so frivolous. Queen Honerva was too busy in her lab to be bothered about it.
"Sit up, Allura dear."
She sighed but did what she was told. "I want to go."
"Absolutely not." Her mother lightly patted her mouth. She already knew what her child was referring to. "It is fighting for no practical reason. Very primitive."
Their hand servant refilled the Queen's teacup.
"Papa fights."
"When he has to. This Galran sport." The Queen wrinkled her nose. "There's no academic purpose."
The door to their suite opened. Allura brightened and slipped off her seat.
"Papa!"
"There's my Juniberry!"
She laughed as her father tossed her up into the air. Coran closed the door behind them. Allura peered over at him once her father had her safely in her arms. Coran had one hand hidden behind his back. He caught the child's look and tutted.
"May I help you princess?"
Allura's face broke out in a smile as she held out her hand. Coran chuckled as he brought up his empty hand to gently grasp her hand to kiss. She giggled as his mustache tickled the back of her hand.
"No!"
"Princess!" Coran put his hand to his chest in mock hurt. "You reject my affections?"
Alfor paused in greeting Melenor to looked at his wiggling daughter. "She knows you have something Coran."
"Well!" Coran bent down to her face. "What if it's for your mother, hmm?"
"No," she confidently declared. "For me."
Melenor softly tittered behind her hand. "You spoil her Coran."
"She's the next ruler of Altea," Alfor smiled as Coran presented the gift. "She deserves all the gifts the universe can offer."
Allura's eyes were wide as she took the dark metal figurine.
"This is a replica of Incroa." Coran rubbed his mustache. "She's currently undefeated in the ring."
Allura's small fingers traced the grooves in the metal for her armor. There was a long spear in one hand and a circular shield in the other. Although she was crouched she held her head up high in clear pride. She looked like she could take anyone in a fight.
"Coran," Melenor frowned in disapproval. "That is not an appropriate gift."
"Altea has female warriors as well, love," Alfor calmly said.
"Warriors and gladiators are not the same th-," Melenor abruptedly cut off in a coughing fit.
"My Queen," the hand maiden was by her side with a handkerchief.
"Melenor."
Alfor passed Allura to Coran. The small girl looked on with slight fear.
"Coran, mama -"
"She's getting better Allura," Coran soothed as he rubbed her back. "It just takes some time. Would you like to hear what I saw today?"
The girl kept the figurine against her chest as her chin rested on Coran's shoulder. Her small hand fisted his vest in a moment of insecurity. She nodded her head instead of speaking. He felt the small motion.
"It went like this," Coran said in a light tone.
He continued to talk as he took them out of the room.
Allura came to with dread in her heart.
She didn't forget seeing her father's murderer. She sat up quickly but was stopped by a tether. The line glowed purple. If it had simply been metal she could have broken out of it. She tested her cuffs but they did not break. The witch must have enhanced it. At the reminder of that cloaked figure Allura lifted her bound hands to her forehead.
Her diadem was indeed gone.
The very symbol of her lineage, heiress of the Altean throne. One of the few pieces of the Altean royalty still in existence. A rising panic started to build. Her training kicked in automatically. She started to breathe purposefully in her nose and out her mouth. In. Out. In. The feeling was still there but it wasn't growing. Not right now. That was the best she could do in this moment.
"Hello!"
She looked around the low lights. In Shiro's memories he was always in cells with other prisoners. That made her realize something else. She looked down. Her space suit and earrings were gone, replaced with a black one piece with a sorry excuse for a purple shirt. A prisoner's outfit. I didn't change. Nor did she recall someone changing her outfit. That fact made her feel vulnerable in a way she never felt before.
"Can anyone hear me?!"
Her voice cracked a little at the end. She put her hands up to her forehead and focused on breathing. She saved Shiro accepting that she was dooming herself to be in the hands of the enemy. But she didn't think it'd be like this.
Did you expect a guest room with a window? she caustically thought to herself. No. She wasn't foolish to have thought that. A cell, yes. But being stripped and changed into prisoner clothes involuntarily, with no recollection of it? No. I had not thought of that.
Her ears twitched. There were metallic steps.
Sentries.
Her head shot up as the witch's words floated back. The tentative mental dam of her panic was starting to splinter. Surely...they would not send me there. The sentries were outside her cell. The metal door slid open. She couldn't stand up. She hated that her tether was so short. Sitting down made her feel small.
There were three sentries. Two came on either side of her. The third transferred the tether from the wall to its hand. Immediately she tried to wrench it out of the sentry's grip but the other two were in motion. One held her arms while the other snapped something around her neck. She gasped as the cool metal band forced her to lift her head up. It was right against her skin. She tried to wiggle free but her body felt strange.
"What did you put on me?"
She didn't expect an answer. They kept going with what they were programed to do. She stumbled as she was forced to walk.
"Wait."
She was going down a long, barely lit hallway. There was shouting in multiple languages as they walked by. The situation. The corridors looked too familiar to those in Shiro's memories. Breathing was getting harder to do.
"Where are you taking me?" she nearly whispered.
"Silence," one of the sentries chimed to the cells, completely ignoring her. "Or be punished."
The ruckus quieted. One cell did not. A sentry was sent to handle it. She heard an electric sound and a whimper. Then it was all quiet. She was brought in front of a large metal door. It was just a door. Only a door. Yet her composure was crumbling.
The door slid open slowly. The roaring of the crowds came immediately. It only fueled the symphony of panic in her mind. She thought of Gopi's cold body. Shiro's night terrors. His missing arm. The scars that were cut into his flesh. Pidge's missing brother and father.
"There's been a mistake!"
She struggled. They pulled her along effortlessly. She tried summoning her strength but it was not there. She reached deep down inside of her for the warmth of her gift but it would not come.
...The collar.
Her strength she could understand but how did they manage to dampen her Altean magic? Her people have been gone for ten thousand years. They would have to be familiar with it and she knew for a fact that Altean alchemy was a weakness of the Galra.
But she did not have time to think about it.
They were almost to the opening at the end of the tunnel. She didn't try bargaining with the sentries. They were mere machines and metal. She dug her heels but only succeed in nearly falling over as she was dragged along.
No. No no no.
Alteans didn't participate in meaningless fights. They were peacekeepers, not warmongers. They only took up arms to protect life. But you're different, her mind murmured. You've longed to fight since you were a child.
"Release me!"
She tried harder. She pulled at her arms. Tried to break her cuffs through force alone. It did nothing except bruise her wrists. She let out undignified grunts and yells.
The following happened in a matter of seconds.
The tether was gone. Her hands were no longer cuffed but the collar remained. A sentry gave her a knife. And she was shoved out into the arena. She fell into the dirt. The coarse grains bit into her palms as she sat up. It hit her all at once, then. There would be no sudden waking up. No one there by her side to tell her it wasn't real, it was all one terrible nightmare.
This was happening.
She was going to fight.
Pidge and Hunk were already sifting through the information they got from the ship. Until then, the rest could only watch the feed. Shiro breathed in deep to control himself.
She'll be fine.
That was the second time he thought that. She has super strength and training. She was a lot better off than Matt and himself. But remember the blaster? his mind whispered. You had to show her how to hold that. She had blushed as he fixed her hand placement. He remembered thinking how wrong it looked to see that weapon in her hands.
She can do this.
He forced himself to remember her standing tall during drills, commanding them like a CO with confidence and self assurance...except. She didn't look like that in the holoscreen. Her front was dusty from having fallen in the dirt and her eyes were wide - instead of drooped with sleep when she first woke up or lidded when he dared to touch the crescent marking on her cheek. He couldn't help the thought. He was quick to snap back as she shifted something from her left hand to her right. He felt his jaw drop a little.
They gave her a knife.
"Oh gods," he rasped out.
There were rarely female gladiators in the ring so there were only a couple of things they were going to do with her but the knife was a dead give away. On cue, the lights around the arena dimmed out. Torches were lit around the darkened grounds. The feed lightened so it was visible but he knew it wasn't so in real life. Allura stayed standing there in confusion.
"What is this?" Coran murmured. "This isn't what the Galra used to do."
Shiro ignored it. He could only feel his body tensing the longer she stayed still.
"Run to the middle," he bit out tightly. "Now."
Allura was straining to see.
The torches only made the outer ring easy to see. She couldn't see the crowd but she most definitely heard them. She wasn't certain if she preferred not being to see them. Her ears caught the sound of doors being opened across the way but the crowd made it hard to hear anything else.
She stayed where she was and lifted the knife up in defense like she knew what she was doing. Except she didn't. Not with this weapon. Not in a real life situation. Her heartbeat was a thundering sensation in her chest. She also never not had her strength or access to her energy.
Can I go through with this?
...Did she have a choice?
There was movement along the edge. She turned to the right. If it weren't for her ears she would have missed the rapid motion on the left that needed her attention first. She side jumped instinctively. Her eyes widened as she stared at a large creature with massive fangs.
"What?"
She thought she was fighting fellow prisoners. But this also made things a little easier. It still went against everything she was taught. However -
There was a snarl behind her from the darkness. She yelled out as she blindly rolled away. She didn't catch what it looked like. I should have paid attention! Did it have long claws? A tail? Spikes?
"Ah!"
The tail of the first creature hit her, knocking her off of her feet.
The video feeds were light enough for her team to see.
One animal looked like an overgrown lizard with fangs. The second one that launched at her was some sort of feline with jagged stripes. They looked severely underfed judging by their protruding ribs.
"Beasts?!" Coran choked out.
Shiro gripped the control panel.
"Why run to the middle," Lance frowned as he responded to Shiro's comment. "Wouldn't that be the worst thing to do?"
"To hid?" Keith ventured.
Shiro shook his head. "There's probably weapons in the darkness."
"What?!" Lance yelled out. "Then why did they give her a puny knife!"
To make her feel helpless. Small. A reminder that she was the Galra's entertainment, not a warrior. They only armed the deserving. He clenched his metal hand. 'Your strength,' Sendak voice sneered in his head, 'is not your own.'
"Only the fearless are rewarded," Shiro settled for. He turned to Pidge. "Anything?"
"We're trying," Pidge tightly said without looking away from her screen.
Her ribs took damage.
Alteans were fairly sturdy so she didn't think anything was broken. Even so. She gasped out as she quickly got back to her feet. She never killed animals before. Altean diet had animal flesh in the beginning of their history, before their ancestors learned how to forage the vegetation around them. Hunting was not part of their culture anymore. They were diplomats and explorers. They merely took up arms when trouble entered their part of the universe, like most planets did.
But Altea no longer exists.
Their culture was now made up of two people. And they were more fighter than diplomat now. No. We are still diplomats. It wasn't difficult to let those errant thoughts go. Fighting for her life was more than a distraction from contemplating such things.
She strained her ears to hear but the crowd was too loud.
One of the beasts came nearby. She ducked. Then bent nearly backwards as the lizard's tail came around. She wasn't falling for that again. I just need to see this as training. She put her paladins through plenty of obstacle courses. She fought the Gladiator often enough. She felt sweat along the side of her face. The Galra had taken the idea of their training bot and manipulated it for conquering.
Altea empowered the Galra.
The lizard rotated around and scurried at her with frightening speed. She backpedalled fast, trying to keep an eye on both but the feline had hidden in the darkness. Out of habit, she tried to bring out her quintessence to expand out and find the creature hidden away. She flinched as the collar let out a low level electric shock.
She forgot about that.
Think! The arena of today was a form of entertainment. Why would they only have the outer ring visible? Why create so much dark space in the middle? She turned suddenly to avoid the feline's claws. She winced as her cheek was cut and her ribs protested. She swung her knife in an attempt to scare the beasts away, if only for a moment.
Shiro would know.
He fought in the ring plenty of times and survived. She tried to think of something useful he'd said. Her mind was frantic though. Patience. Patience patience...She scooted so her back was to a wall so nothing could sneak up on her.
He had mentioned something.
In a previous fight. His first one. When he fought Myzak, he said the sword had been wedged in a pillar. She looked into the darkness up ahead. Did they hide another weapon somewhere? The set up now made her death inevitable. That couldn't be the entertainment they are searching for.
Unless being torn apart is the entertainment.
She shook that thought out of her head. Killing her from the onset made no sense. She could trace the lions and that is what Zarkon wanted. They threw her in here as punishment for trying to attack their emperor. It was a reminder of her situation.
There had to be something in the darkness.
"Ancients," she hissed out.
She didn't have time to be searching blindly in the dirt. If I had access to my quintessence I could create light. But she couldn't. She needed to stop thinking about what she didn't have.
Wait...
She ripped off the useless purple shirt and wrapped it around the knife. She breathed in suddenly. There was motion from the left and the right. She braced herself and waited, waited -
She jumped high, pushing off the back of the feline for more height. The creatures crashed into the wall. She thrusted her knife into a torched dish along the wall. The shirt instantly caught on fire. She frowned as the heat was already licking at her hand.
She ran into the darkness.
The shirt was burning up. She went to what she thought was the center and looked around. Behind, she could hear the creatures moving.
"Come on," she breathed out impatiently.
She rotated around and around. She stepped on something but the shirt was starting to curl around her hand. She dropped it involuntarily and went to her knees to search where she had bumped into something. She felt chains. Some other metal item. She hissed as she knicked her finger on something. It felt too small. She needed something useful. She picked up a long, rectangular device.
Is this -?
The creatures disappeared into the darkness with her. Her makeshift torch went out. Her fingers fumbled over the device. Her finger pressed into something. She quickly adjusted her hold as a purple energy blade appeared.
"Ah!"
The feline jumped on her suddenly. The blade was in the dirt. She squirmed under it as she used one forearm to press against its neck and the other hand to reach for the device. It snarled in her face. She could feel its hot, rancid breath each time it snapped its jaws for her. She yelled out as it slipped from her forearm. She moved her head away. It caught her bun in its mouth. It tugged at her hair. Her scalp was on fire but she now had the blade in her hand.
I've not killed a living creature.
They shot at ships and cruisers but personally, face to face...Alteans were diplomats. Those with her abilities were healers, in tune with the life forces around them and the universe. She hadn't completed her training to connect that deeply but her natural abilities allowed her to connect with the Balmera and revive it.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
But she couldn't afford to die. She brought the blade up and into its throat. Hot liquid hit her instantly. The volume of the crowd increased dramatically. The smell of the blood and singed fur overwhelmed her.
Oh gods...!
She used her feet to kick the dying feline off of her. She had closed her mouth thankfully but it was on her face. Don't think about it. Just move! She quickly swiped at her eyes to get the blood off.
The lizard wasted no time.
Its tail grabbed her by the torso and squeezed. She screamed for her already abused ribs. Her head snapped back as her hair was still stuck in the feline's mouth. She sliced through it, relieving the pain from her scalp then swung down.
The cut tail wiggled around her torso still.
"Uh!"
It repulsed her but she kept moving. This...this was much more intense than what she imagined it to be like. The blade glowed in front of her face then she thrusted forward to extend what she could see. Then swung side to side. The glow lingered a couple of ticks after each swing. She saw the lizard's open mouth a tick before it could bite her forearm. She used two hands to slice diagonally in its mouth.
It let out a piercing shriek.
Only fight to protect.
What she was doing right now was for the Galra's entertainment. There was no honor in this. It went against every aspect of Altean culture. Her eyes were wet as she forced herself to push on and on, cutting further into the beast but it wouldn't quiet. Please die. I don't want you to be in pain. But it wouldn't die. Her ears were ringing as its pained sounds increased. She felt shame for wishing this creature to die already.
"I'm sorry," tumbled out of her mouth. "Forgive me. Please, forgive me."
She threw her weight forward. The shrieking abruptly stopped.
She slid the energy blade out of the lizard. She yelled out as she was knocked off her feet. Frightened at the motion she clambered back onto her feet and jabbed where she assumed its body was. She felt her blade sink in. She jabbed over and over. Her breath was a little erratic as adrenaline and fear pushed her to do this, to make sure this creature was truly down. She could feel the tears coming out of her eyes.
Mother wouldn't be able to look at me.
The crowd's yelling increased with each jab she did. Pushing her on. Rewarding her for her savagery. There was a blaring horn. Then the arena lights were on fully. She stumbled backwards. Her cut hair fell into her eyes. Her lungs dragged breath into her body as the life and death situation was still crashing down on her. Her eyes adjusted to the new lighting and her heart froze.
"No..." the blade fell out of her stained hands.
In place of the lizard was a humanoid girl bleeding blue.
There were a lot of things Shiro didn't remember.
But his first fight in the arena was definitely something he recalled in vivid detail. The roaring crowds, the sound of crunching dirt beneath his feet as he stumbled out, the smell of something foul deep in the dirt and walls around him. His heart thudded as loudly as the alien sounds around him. He knew then, that even if he survived this bout and somehow escaped...a vital part of himself would be left behind in the ring.
As he watched Allura drop down to her knees and pull the girl's body into her arms, he felt another part of himself die along with her. I'm sorry Allura. There was another body in the prisoner garb where the dead feline used to lie. I'm so, so sorry.
"They were shape shifters," Coran choked out as he sank to his knees. "Oh, princess...!"
"Shiro."
He breathed in suddenly. His right hand relaxed its grip on the edge of the control panel. His eyes were stinging. He turned to Keith who was looking at him with drawn eyebrows. They all were looking to him except Coran. They were horrified. They needed someone to tell them a lie.
"She'll be fine," Shiro calmly, neutrally said.
Keith's eyes darted to the control panel. There were five finger grooves imbedded in the metal.
"...How?"
He turned away. "Pidge, please hurry."
"Shiro?" Lance rasped out.
"I'll be back," he curtly responded.
The bridge door slid behind him.
The sentries pulled her away from the body.
Allura didn't fight their cold hands. Not even when they pulled her to some sanitation station and hosed her down. Hot air blew at her in place of a towel. They walked her back to her cell. She didn't flinch when the metal door slid into place.
'Do you swear,' her father's voice boomed in the ballroom as she knelt before him, 'to uphold the values of Altea, to look after its citizens, to seek knowledge only for the good of your people, to connect with other planets in goodwill, and extend the prosperity of Altea to those that could benefit from it?'
'Yes, King Father,' she looked up at him in determination. 'I swear to it. I believe in our people. I believe in Altea.'
She sank down where she stood.
'Then rise, Princess Allura,' her father smiled widely. 'Rise, my beautiful heir.'
She curled into herself and wept.
Shiro stood clutching the sink as he tried to get a hold of himself. He already splashed water onto his face several times. New drops came down the sides of his face. He just let the liquid drip off of him.
"This is your fault," Coran said behind him.
He kept his head bowed down. "It is."
"That should have been you out there," the older Altean thickly choked out, "not her."
"I know."
"No," Coran sharply shook his head. "You don't know."
"I'm so sorry," Shiro half whispered. "I can't fix what happened. If I could I would. Instantly." He let out a shaky breath, toweled off his face, and then stood up straight. "But it will not destroy her. She's stronger than that."
"She is," Coran agreed and then looked down. "And also isn't. Not in the way you're implying. Allura was born in the golden age of Altea. She was never in combat. Never had to take life like she did today." He shook his head. "Her essence is pure. And so much easier to taint."
"We'll get her through this Coran. I promise."
Coran closed his eyes. "We can't even find her."
"If Pidge and Hunk can't find the base," Shiro put his hand on Coran's shoulder. "Then we'll have to move onto the next plan."
"Which is..."
"To get to Zarkon, we need to give him something he wants."
"...No. Allura wouldn't -"
"It'll be a Trojan horse situation. Highly risky but a sure thing."
"Why are we speaking of horses?"
That jolted Shiro a little. "It'll be a trick," he rephrased.
"That's a terrible idea."
"It's not our first plan," Shiro clarified. "But it is an idea."
Coran opened his mouth to retort. A shuddering sound brought his eyes to Shiro's vest pocket. Platt's ears peeked out. They could see them trembling. Shiro sighed and used a finger to stroke his head. The trembling took a while to subside.
"That's not a good sign," Coran murmured.
"No," Shiro quietly said. "Come on. Let's see if they found anything."
"...Shiro."
The Black Paladin paused by the doorway.
"I'm sorry. I don't want you in the arena either. It's just hard. I've already lost Altea and Alfor -" Coran turned his face away. "I can't lose Allura too."
Shiro's expression softened. "We'll get her back."
"...Careful." A faint smile appeared on Coran's face. "I might start to believe you."
Shiro half smiled. "Then I'll say it over and over again until she's back home."
"Home." Coran smile was now visible. "Yes."
It wasn't planet Altea. But this ship, the princess, these paladins - in the vastness of space and the entire universe - all them made this home. He hadn't truly appreciated that until now.
Now that he was in danger of losing it again.
With the loss of her home and father, Allura thought she was already broken.
She didn't think she could shatter much more except with the failure to take down Zarkon. But the gaping wound in her heart just ripped open more. She clutched her hands over her chest as she quietly wept.
Those girls looked so much younger than her. They were probably frightened. Terrified of dying so they steeled themselves when they first got here. That was her mistake. She didn't know how to steel her heart in a situation like this. She was painfully new and it cost other people their lives.
"Why did I have to come?" she bitterly asked herself.
If she hadn't inserted herself on the scouting mission to begin with none of this would have happened. But those girls...they were already here. They would have fought someone else. Killed others or be killed themselves.
"What should I have done?" she whispered.
If she had known early on, would she still have fought? I could have tried to speak with them. Come up with an escape plan together. That was a possibility...but highly improbable. If words had power in the ring Shiro would have been able to talk himself out of there early on. He was an excellent speaker, though a little informal in his speeches at times. Their deaths in the ring seemed inevitable whether by her hand or someone else's.
"Are you crying?"
Allura whipped her head up to see the witch in her cell. She quickly sat up and glared at her. She hated not being able to use her gift.
"What do you want?"
The witch's eyes glowed as she peered at her. "Do you mourn those beasts?"
She couldn't help but respond. "They were people."
A smile appeared on the witch's face. "You didn't think they were when you slew them."
Allura felt her throat tighten with emotions. This is a game. Do not rise to it. She needed to steer the conversation elsewhere but not to Voltron. That would be even more dangerous.
"Where is my crown?"
The witch studied her for a moment and then lifted a clawed hand up. The crown materialized in a smoke of black. Allura shuddered as she looked at the once bright gem. It looked dull in this light. She couldn't help but see it as her own essence.
"I can give it back to you."
Allura frowned.
"Not Voltron," the witch hummed as she easily read her expression. "I'm not interested in that ancient machine."
Allura's frown deepened. Then what does a witch like her want? Black smoke engulfed Haggar. Allura looked around. She instantly shivered as something cold and dark grazed her back. Clawed fingers were around her neck, right above the collar. Allura lifted her head up so she wouldn't be choked.
"I want," she crooned in her ear, "my champion."
"He's not yours." Allura gritted her teeth. "He belongs to himself."
"You don't believe that. There's no need to pretend." Haggar let out a low, raspy chuckle. "His quintessence clings onto you rather thickly, highness."
Her nails dug into her palm as she withheld the urge to retort back. The claws pressed. Allura let in a sudden breath as something dark probed her mind. It was cold and poisonous - it made her essence shrink back from it. She threw herself forward to disconnect. There was a stinging along her neck from the claws. The witch stayed where she was.
"Champion flies the Black Lion," Haggar murmured to herself. "How interesting."
"Stay away from him," she hissed out.
"Does he know?" The witch's amber eyes stayed on her. "Or were you too afraid to tell him who truly controls it?"
"I'm warning you -"
"Threats are not very Altean." Haggar chuckled in a raspy sound. "How low you have fallen, Princess of Altea."
She threw a fist at the witch. Haggar disappeared in a black swirl.
A large figure crossed its arms on the bridge.
"I wanted more blood," the general huffed out.
"Go back," another female voice sounded out. The colorful female next to the larger one hummed as she did what she was told. "Stop. Now zoom in on the prisoner."
The holoscreen was blurry and then cleared up.
"Those are Altean markings."
"But weren't they killed like a bazillion decaphoebs ago?" The one in front of the control panel turned back when she heard footsteps retreating. "Where're you going Acxa?"
"To inform Prince Lotor."
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AN: So the fight was broadcast in a wide net to goad the paladins (as a reminder since it's been ages lol). I'm playing around with Allura's abilities and in relation to her culture. And then how Galran culture is like in comparison.
Ok, so how was there not more between Haggar and Allura especially after she finds out Haggar's race? It's just mentioned sporadically and then comes back into play in the end of the series. Maybe just as a build up? But *sigh* idk. I'm just going to drop it. Canon is what it is.
But it doesn't mean I can't explore it here. XD
In real life there were female gladiators in the Colosseum but they either fought animals or each other. From what I read, gladiatrices stepped into that life more than their male counterparts (who were mostly slaves I think) as an alternative to marriage or just so they can become financially independent. But because it was fighting for people's entertainment they weren't viewed in a good light and were basically outcasts for life.
Some of these fighters were slaves though. The knife and fighting in torchlight (at night) was totally a scenario they'd throw captured women and children into. Brutal!