You ducked out of the room and sprinted towards the door to the next one with Gyro right at your heels, asking you where you were going. You ignored him, turning the knob one door down from Pidge's room and entering into Keith's living area. With a one track mind, you didn't bother glancing at the sleeping wolf and made your way into Keith's bedroom and opened a slot on the other side of the wall.
"Reed, what are you doing?" Gyro's voice sounded stony and became a echo as you opened the slot and sat down on the edge, before sliding down into the black lion's holding bay. Gyro was right behind you as you jumped up and glared into the eyes of the lion. "Reed!"
Red lights start to go off around the large holding bay, as well as a loud ringing sound. The paladins would be here any minute.
"This will be the last thing I ever ask of you, Gyro." You say, turning around to look at him. You suddenly wish you hadn't. The pure uncertainty and concern on his red-splashed face was enough to make you feel bad, but you had to ignore it. "I need you to open her up," you point at the lion, "and take us back to the place you last fought Lotor."
He doesn't hesitate to ask, "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"Yeah, Gyro. I can't let Lotor sit in there any longer."
"But the guys-" Gyro stops himself and doesn't continue, gazing into your eyes with his slim ones.
You'll miss them.
They never should've fought him in the first place. Never should have let it all go so far. There was no way someone's OC Blade of Marmora character would make it as emperor. There's no way anything in this fanfic could have worked in show. Not Sendak, not Honerva, not even the freaking Kuron scenes would ever come to life.
But we all had headcanons, didn't we?
So your last job...the last chapter, will be dedicated to the injustice of Lotor. The last plot hole we can try to cover up before this Friday.
Or the Friday that Voltron season 8 came out, to the future readers.
"You had a connection with the black lion once. Maybe you can do it again." You say finally.
"That was because of Shiro, though. He let me in." Gyro crossed his arms.
"You are Shiro, Gyro. Or just every amount as good. You can do this."
He breathes in deeply, silent for a few seconds. In the back of your head, the thought presses that the paladins could appear any second. Finally, Gyro looks at you with determined eyes.
.
"I knew it! I knew something was up!" Hunk says as he and the paladins ran down the long corridor, air splashing against their face as they hurried to the elevator. After quickly realizing that none of the entrances to the slides leading down to the hull were opening, they came to a quick conclusion that Raider had sabotaged them and had planned to steal a lion for however long now. That, or the architects here suck, Hunk had said.
"Shut up, Hunk!" Pidge screams with eyebrows furrowing in anger, hands bundled into fists.
"I didn't want to believe it either." Keith says from beside them.
"I can't believe they tricked me! They let me braid their hair and everything!" Lance pouts. "We were brunet buddies.."
Keith furrowed his eyebrows as Pidge put in, "Their hair isn't even long enough to braid."
"How do you know? They're always wearing a hijab!" Hunk says, and is confused when everyone comes to a stop and looks at him like he has two heads.
"Is it just me, or are we talking about completely different people?" Lance locked eyes with Allura and then Hunk.
"I don't know about you guys, but Reed looks very feminine to me." Hunk said furrowing his eyebrows.
"What? Reed looks about as masculine as me. They're my height!" Lance said.
"Raider's hair is almost as low cut as Shiro's, and they're pretty androgynous to me." Pidge cut in.
They stood in silence for a few seconds as they came to a realization. Allura balled her hands into fists, tightening her lips. Shiro could barely believe it. Had Reed been tricking them all this time? Does this mean they were right to be suspicious of them?
Lance groans. "I bet Reed isn't even their real name!.. Wait."
Amidst the sudden apprehension of everyone, Keith stepped forward. "We don't have time for this! We have to get to our lions." Keith takes on the leadership role, despite how much he feels like punching something, particularly himself.
The paladins nod, ignoring the disheartening feeling rising in their chest to go find you. When they finally reach the hull, the black lion is gone. There's a wide empty space where the lion once was and the back entrance out onto the cliff was open. A breeze blew in from the large entrance, but instead of the fresh breath of air calming them down, it stirred them up even more.
"I'll contact the Blade." Krolia says as she begins to head back inside.
Keith stops her. "No. They're already busy preparing for the Kral Zera. This was our fault. We'll handle this."
"Uh, I beg to differ. I had no part in this." Hunk put up a finger as if to make a point while he walked to the yellow lion.
Lance kept his head low as he retaliated with a disapproving voice, "Hunk."
"What? It's not our fault we were tricked. Again. A second time. A third time?"
Lance ignored him, turning to Shiro and Keith as the blue lion opened her jaws to him. "Come on, you can ride ride with me." They accepted, piling into the red lion and seeing a screen pop up on the side of the lion's eyes. A red dot was moving farther and farther from the group of red dots the paladins knew were them. "The red lion is faster so we'll head on first."
"We'll catch up with you." Allura agreed, and then they were off.
.
"This is it." Gyro said looking out into the deep mass of space. Nothingness. Nakedness. Only stars and vacant black were in this part of the universe. Even the blues and purples were gone. You were floating in a pure empty abyss. "This is all there is. Nothing's left, it all got sucked into the quintessence field."
"So how are we gonna get in?" You mumbled, leaning over his seat. After all this time, you realize you never really got to fly any of the lions.
"We need Voltron." He said. You both sighed.
Thinking about how you really didn't feel like waiting for the others to catch up, a few of you said, "Fuck this," and as if a bubble burst, a voice could be heard over the comlink along with the roar of a lion.
"What- What did you just-?" Gyro looked around in confusion, as if he was in a place he didn't know. You could only raise your eyebrows and shrug lazily, all cool like.
"Time skip."
He looked at you crazily for a solid second. "Is that another one of your fanfic things?" You nod. He turns back to the view of nothing, eyes wide and lips parted. "Reality really is a illusion... We're all fake, huh..?"
"I mean I could just be trolling you right now." You say.
"Raider!" Lance is screaming.
"Nothing is real…none of this really matters," Shiro's voice is distant, void as the plains of space. For a second you thought it was actually Shiro, but Gyro has this sparkling wonder in his eye that tells you immediately who it came from, as well as the fact that he was right beside you.
"Nah, don't think like that. You guys matter a lot to me, otherwise I wouldn't have come here." You look over your shoulder, as if you're gonna see them right there. Then you turn back around, place your hand over Gyro's, and slowly turn the black lion around to face Red.
"Raider!" This time it's Keith. "We don't want to fight you. Give us back the black lion."
"We trusted you, Reed!" Lance's heartbroken voice quickly switches to annoyance. His voice cracks as he shouts, "What the heck!"
"You won't get into anymore trouble if you just hand Black over. We can help you." Keith assures calmly.
"Is Reed even your real name?" Lance asks, not so calm. "Have you been lying to us this whole time? I thought we were friends!"
"Lance, Keith, stop!" And this time it is Shiro, and using your vision, you can see into the red lion and see the hurt look on Lance's face, the loss on Keith's, and the irritation on Shiro's, before he's focusing on the window of the red lion's eyes. It's like he's looking right at you. "Gyro."
Gyro's shoulder tenses up under your hand. You look down at him and his face has drained to completely white, aside from the scar over his nose.
"Gyro," he says again. "Gyro, you're there right? You don't have to do this." Gyro's hand tightens on the steer and his arm is starting to shake. His flesh arm. "You don't have to follow everything they say. You're your own person." He looks up at you, a sweat dripping down his forehead. You nod in agreement and squeeze his shoulder in reassurance. His hand loosens on the steer and he lets his arm fall into his lap. His shaking stops before it can even really begin. "Make your own decisions." A pause. "Likewise, if you think this is the right thing to do," A vision- Keith and Lance are both staring at Shiro with disbelief. "Then I won't stop you. I trust your judgement. I know you aren't a bad guy."
"Are you sure about this?" Keith asked Shiro. He nodded.
Gyro wants to say something, you can tell. But nothing is coming out of his parted lips. Lines are under his sparkling diamond eyes and his scar stands out over his white face and hair. He wants to say something so bad, but he can't find the words, so you try and say it for him. "If Gyro doesn't want to save Lotor, then neither do I."
No, but I really do!
Shut up!
For the love of God, please let's just save Lotor. We did not come all this way for nothing.
Not everyone can be saved. Also he's not worth it.
You take that back!
"I do." Gyro finally says, breaking you out of your thoughts. "I do want to help them. Reed may be the reason I have my own body, but they aren't the reason I'm here." Yes, baby!
That's my son!
There is not enough love in my heart for this guy.
M.
Eh. He's ok.
Tsundere much?
"If there's a way I can save Lotor like Raider saved me, then I want to make it happen. Not because they want me to, but because I want to."
Best bro. Best boi.
Ok, I guess he's pretty cool.
We stan a clone king!
We stan a Space Mom!
There's a brief moment of silence, and you guess the paladins are thinking of how to proceed. Gyro mutters over to you, so only you can hear. "Raider, do you know how this story ends?"
"Not really. I haven't read ahead." You reply, possibly lying. This could be the third time you've read this chapter, but it always feels like the first. Maybe. You don't know.
"Keep it that way."
That's my Space Mom! "Yes ma'am!" You salute. He gives you a weird look paired with a small smile.
"Ok, well you make a good point," Lance starts up again. "but Lotor's evil."
"You guys thought I was evil too, before I separated from Shiro."
"That's different!"
"How is that different?" Gyro retorts, temper starting to rise.
"Because you didn't kill millions of people!" Lance persists, to which Keith puts a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"It was not millions of people!" You defend. "Don't over exaggerate!"
"It's Lance. He never passes up the chance to be dramatic." Gyro contributed, to which Keith covers his mouth to stop himself from laughing and Shiro barks out a laugh. Lance sends them a quick glare before turning back to you.
"..Give 'em the ol' razzle dazzle." Keith silently mocked, but it wasn't silent enough, apparently, if you were able to hear it over the com.
"Was that a joke?" You humorously widened your eyes and put a hand over your heart, despite the fact that they couldn't see it.
Keith was done with jokes. Why did he even feel the need to joke around, anyway? What was it about you that made everyone laugh? "Whatever, can I get my lion back?" He crossed his arms, starting to get impatient. "Also, Raider, I don't think you understand how tall an order you're asking of us. We don't even know how exactly we got into the quintessence field, we needed Allura to guide us, and even then, why risk another black hole sucking up the entire universe over one guy you don't even know?"
A thought came to you at the same time. "What if I could close it afterwards?"
"You can't do that." Keith, Lance, and Gyro said in unison.
"Ah, ah, I can! It's called God-modding." You put your hands on your hips and straightened your back, proudly. Oh my fucking gosh, someone wanted to slap their own forehead.
Author, can we do that?
Nah, you can't do that.
Shit!
Gyro was looking at you with confusion. Your smile becomes awkward and you could figuratively feel a sweat go down your back. "Ok, scrap that. But what I can do...is...uh...what I can do is…" you thought for a moment.
A little bit more than a moment.
...Way longer than a moment should take.
Lance furrowed his eyebrows. "Well?"
"Hold on, I'm thinking!" You squinted at your phone screen, computer screen, tablet, whatever the crap you were using. Holy crap nuggets, what do I do? Holy heck is this what writer's block is like? What, what, what, what?
"Seriously?" Keith took a deep breath.
While you're thinking, the green lion comes in behind Red, followed closely by the yellow and blue lions. "What are you guys doing? Get them!" Pidge, sweet, baby, Pidge, number five, nonbinary or female icon? Who knows? It's Pidge! Everyone's favorite! Well, almost everyone, and she/they comes in screaming, ready for a fight.
Allura, the princess, the beauty, the original Space Mom, is right behind her, nothing but worry in her voice as she says, "Raider! Don't do it!"
Lance once again takes it upon himself to defend you. "Calm down! Nothing's happened yet."
"Huh? What do you- what?" Hunk stuttered, confused. "What do you mean nothing's happened yet?"
Oh fudge I think we're gonna have to tell them.
We're gonna have to tell them?
We're gonna have to tell them.
Keith sighs. "Ok, Raider. What's going on? Who are you? What are you?"
"Ehhh," You suck in air through your teeth. You're gonna have to do it, you decide. "Ok, so, uh," You click your teeth. "You guys, I'mma need y'all to come here."
"Huh?" Hunk makes a sound. Gyro is seriously considering leaving your side.
"Yeah, come on over, I gotta show you guys something." You wave your hand towards you as if they could see it. You tell Gyro to open the maw and he does, though he has no idea what you're doing.
As soon as the Allura saw you at the end of the corridor towards the eyes of the lion, she rushed you. The weight of her body knocked the breath out of you and the ground greeted your head with a hard thunk. Your wrists were in a tight grip and you thought about how sad it was that she couldn't even hurt you while she held you down. You just knew you couldn't move.
"Can we just go back to making jokes? That was fun." Oh my gosh, self, is now the time?
"Start talking!" She demanded, high-pitched and piercing.
"Allura, what are you doing?" You hear Keith exclaim as many footsteps got closer.
"Is this what you did to Lotor?" You ask, rhetorically.
Can't this be like Steven universe where we don't actually fight any of our foes and instead befriend legitimately all of them?
Hasn't that been what we've been doing this whole time?
"Explain yourself! Who are you?" She continues. Her weight is on your back, you guess, because you can't seem to turn around at all. She's really strong. You see at the top of your eye Gyro starting to come towards you and you stop him with a somewhat raised hand.
"Let me do this." You say. You relax underneath Allura, who gives no sign of letting up her grip. "My name is Reader. At least, collectively, our name is Reader."
"What? What do you mean collectively?" She asks, twisting your arm even more. You were glad you weren't able to feel it.
"Reed, are you sure?" Gyro asked, still ready to help you out of Allura's grasp if you needed it.
"I'm sure," you give up on trying to nod at him and continue on trying to tell your story as plainly and in context as you could. "I'm not real…. Well, you're not real. I'm the real one."
"...Quiznack, are you telling me they were crazy this whole time?" You hear Hunk mourn.
"No, like, for real. Allura can you let me up real quick?" You ask, starting to feel mentally uncomfortable in this prostrate position. She lifts up just a bit, loosens her grip, but doesn't get off or let go of you.
"You can explain from right here." She says in a stoic voice.
"Alright Kimberly Brooks." You roll your eyes, some of you. "I'm reading a book right now based on you guys and I can travel back in time using it." You explain. Another few moments of silence and then you hear the clacking of someone's shoes coming closer. Lance is looming over you and Allura, you see since you can finally turn your head, and his hand is on her shoulder. She lifts up and off you after his silent plea and you sit up on your rear end, rubbing your wrist like they do on TV. You start to explain a bit more, gauging their reactions. "It's like a reverse hive mind. All of the people reading this book right now are stuck in one body and whatever we feel like doing the most is what ends up happening. Some of the time, like when we punched Shiro and kinda kidnapped him," you whisper the last part. "One of us thought for whatever reason that the best choice was to hit him. Or, well," the person, or people, come in to defend themselves. "If our emotions get too...hard to control, it can affect what we do next too. Which was more how we felt at that time then..what I- we previously said."
They look at you with mixed emotions, but mostly like they want to find you a nice safe home to spend the rest of your life in a straight jacket.
"So you know exactly what we're going to do?" You read the line aloud just as Hunk says it. "How did you do that?" He's starting to freak out.
"Stop that!" You read but don't say.
"To answer your question, I can tell you what you're about to say exactly as you say it, because I'm reading it at the same time." You reply.
"So it's like a history book?" Lance and you say. His face screws up as you laugh.
"Yes, Lance, like a history book." You say, then turn to Allura. "Why should we believe you?" You say at the same time she does. "Do I need to prove it any more than this? Shiro," You turn to him and he meets your gaze, mind swarming with thoughts. "Before the mission to the other planet, I can never remember the name-" But someone can, "- The Kerberos mission! Yeah, that. Adam, that person, that person you know that I'm not gonna say aloud because possibly spoilers, separated from you right before it- that- the Kerberos mission, I know English." You correct yourself, stuttering with the amount of things going on in your many minds at the same time.
He's too shocked to say anything, His mouth agape. You move onto Keith.
"You two met when you were a child and you stole his car, you little rebel you," and then Pidge. "Actually all I know is that you had this secret code thing with your brother that helped you find him when you were at that gravesite place-?"
Pidge pulls out their/her bayard. "How could you have possibly known that?"
"Whoa," Lance and Shiro get in front of her/them. Your eyes widen for a moment, mildly surprised, before Gyro steps beside you in defense.
"They could not have known that from a book!" The green paladin scowls, thick hair bouncing as they/she struggled to get passed Shiro and get a good look at you.
"It got made into a movie!" You lie, then take it back. "Into a show. A documentary?"
"So you're saying you're from the future?" Allura elaborates.
You sigh. "Sure, let's go with that." Gyro has a hand held out for you and you accept it, grabbing onto his arm and pulling yourself up. "And Allura, I'm telling you now, Galzack is not going to work out as a good leader. I know Lotor betrayed you, but he doesn't deserve this. The future becomes awful without him as leader." We'll know when season 8 comes out.
And she thinks about it. She really thinks about it. You can see it on her face.
Please Steven universe, please bestow your luck on us, please!
Let's go the pacifist route on this one Frisk, we need your blessings!
And everything's up to Allura. The others will follow her anywhere, obey her any command. Not because she's their princess, but because she's their most loyal ally, the real leader, the entire reason they've gotten so far, their original Space Mom. Whatever she says, they trust, and they'll go for it with all they have. Keith would take her and Shiro's word over anyone else's, and Shiro had chosen to follow Gyro. Lance would do anything for Allura, even if that meant his worst enemy and rival in love would have to resurface again. And Pidge and Hunk? Well, they didn't want the universe to go to shit because of Galzack, so Lotor it is. He helped Pidge get Matt back, so he couldn't have been all that bad.
They really were influenced by your very being, weren't they? When you laughed, they laughed, and when you wanted someone safe and cared for, then they wanted someone safe and cared for.
The author must really, really, be bullshitting/crapping again. You smile to yourself.
Allura seems to come to a conclusion, minutes later. Her eyes are fierce, and her voice is calculated, carefully firm. "If it weren't for Lotor..there wouldn't be any Alteans left in the first place. And, as much as I hate to admit it, he was the only reason I was able to reach Orion and discover all the information my father left behind." A beat passes. "If we can find Lotor, and if he is still alive, then he will be under your care, Reader." She said. "You will be the one to get him ready in time for the Kral Zera, on the slim chance he is not completely insane, and then you will promise to no longer interfere with our lives.. and go back to where you came from."
The others gasped at that, but you nodded understandably.
But I don't wanna go though?
Too bad. Story's over.
I enjoyed the ride a lot.
It's not done yet..
"You can't mean that," Lance said, but the look on Allura's face said she did.
"I agree to the terms." I forced you to say.
No nononono I don't want to!
Time to go.
I don't agree!
I have things to do, you guys. Different fanfics to read.
"Then everyone," she met eyes with Gyro, who you forgot was standing right beside you. "To your lions."
"Oh my gosh, another life-threatening trip," Hunk turned around and started for his lion, resignation in his voice.
"Well, at least we don't have to risk Lotor's version of Voltron poking holes in the universe this time." Pidge said as they/she walked with him.
Lance and Shiro gave you one last look before leaving too. To your surprise, Keith gave you a smile before he walked passed you and Gyro, heading for the cockpit.
Huh, you grinned. Guess we finally rubbed off on him.
In the final chapter no less.
I don't know, he seemed fonder of us in chapter 1, didn't he?
The dude really just wanted his lion back.
"Don't worry. The black lion missed you very much." You jested.
"Yeah, you're never getting the chance to drive the black lion ever again." He said as he went inside. You and Gyro followed him.
"If you go, then where do I..?" Gyro asked you in a low tone after closing the door behind him.
You had no idea. "You'll live your life, Gyro. As your own person. Or marshmallow." You once again critique his choice of clothing. Wait, was that an Adventure Time reference? So many references today..
"Seriously, what's wrong with my outfit?"
"Nothing, dude. You look great."
"Form Voltron!" You hear Keith say, with no regard to your conversation.
.
Allura gets everyone to focus, even you and Gyro, and and you're both forced to hold onto Keith's shoulder as the process moves on. A white beam of light appears some distance away in the space, and at once, Allura forms sword and races for it, sword pointed forward and tip shining chivalrously.
And then you're in. You expect a blinding white light, but there's mostly navy blue space with clouds of white, like a Earth sky. You may have noticed it in season six's seventh episode, but there was some vacant space inside the quintessence field, and as that fight had gone on, the vacancy became even more apparent. There was more blue rivaling the white. Now you were sure that the quintessence was running out, yet no one else noticed.
Hunk shivered. "Oh, I hate this place."
"Let's get out of here quickly." Keith said and moved Voltron forward.
"Reed," It was Shiro. "can you see where he is? Using your prophetic powers?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, I can try." And so you did. You closed your eyes and let your visions come through. Rather than a vision, though, it was intuition. A pull on your heart, saying which way to go. "Straight ahead," You said. "A little to the left. Take it back now ya'll," Hunk groans and then you instruct, "Go a little faster, if you know what I mean." You added, unable to help yourself. A applause of groans and oh my gosh went around.
"Hey, I think I see him!" Hunk suddenly shouted half a minute later.
"You do? Where?" Keith asked, eyes searching the sea of quintessence right before he landed on the figure. You opened your eyes and there he was. The anti-voltron mecha.
They flew in closer so that they were right on top of it. It was completely still, floating through the space. No sparks, no sign of life aside from what Hunk picked up on his radar.
"Well I'm not going in there." Lance made sure to say.
Keith rolled his eyes. "No one's going outside Voltron. We're just going to pick him up and make our way back out of here."
Large metal hands grabbed onto a dead robot body, and, in only a few seconds, flew right out of a new portal out into the darkness of space.
.
Coran is the first to greet you guys when you land on Arus. Allura told him to go back and meet them there so that she could explain everything. She didn't want Lotor anywhere near the Alteans, even when he was unconscious. Pidge said it was like he was in some kind of coma. They needed to get him into a healing pod fast.
The only thing keeping him alive was the quintessence field. It must've flooded his entire system, Hunk said. Allura refused to see him, and Gyro seemed like he couldn't even physically look at him, despite how much he had wanted to help earlier. You didn't blame him, and chose to use your shape-shifting powers just this once.
You were about as tall as Shiro, and your skin was deathly pale with long, slick, black hair flowing straight down your back. Your jaw was strong and your eyes were upturned, but no one could tell what color they were. Keith said you looked like that all the time to him.
Coran was running toward you once you all left your lions. "Where'd you guys run off tooo- aahh what are you doing here? Alive?"
"He's in a coma, Coran. He can't hear you." You say, adjusting Lotor in your arms as you walk passed the older man to go to the healing room whatever-it-was.
"Who's that?" He asks behind you, talking to the paladins.
"There's a lot of things I need to explain to you," Allura said, right before you blinked.
.
After what little the mechanical healing could do for Lotor, it was then Allura's turn to cleanse as much of his mind as she could. It took a day, but with the Kral Zera coming in fast, they needed to do all they could. Allura understood that, and so she gathered her courage and looked Lotor in his unconscious face. White steaks trailed down his sunken in cheeks, just like his mother, but other than that, there didn't seem to be much difference. He looked calm, like he was resting in his coffin.
Wouldn't that have been something? She laughed bitterly at the thought. Going through all the trouble to get his body, just to put him to rest? Just to have a funeral? Ha, wasn't the thought twisted?
She laid the man out on a bed and placed her hands on his temples, and started her hard long hours on working him sane and awake.
.
When he woke up for the first time hours later, Allura had rushed out of the door before he could get even the slightest glimpse at her. Coran was the one to face him first, with Allura and Gyro outside the door, supporting one another as they listened in.
"I'm..still alive? How did I get here?"
"Yes, I'm quite disappointed too. You've gotten quite uglier since the last time I saw you." Coran kept his expression plain with one raised eyebrow, having felt the need to protect Princess Allura the way a father would, by threatening and humiliating any of the boys that had their eyes on her or broke her heart. He had no pity for the half Altean in front of him, even if you did.
"Nice to see you too, Coran."
It's a Christmas miracle that Lotor comes out alright. He has these twitches he can't fix, and he tenses up whenever someone comes near him. He doesn't like being touched, and some types of light seem to hurt him. His eyes, though..his eyes seem to have stayed the same. They glow a bit whiter, a paler yellow than before, but otherwise haven't changed at all.
Allura can't look at them. The first thing Lotor asked for was to speak to Allura, but he was told no. Every paladin he met again over the next few days were persistent in not letting the two meet, and Allura was serious in avoiding him. Until the day of the Kral Zera.
It was that morning when you were sent to wake him up in his own specialized jail cell, like the one he was put in during season 5. He accepted his confines like he felt he deserved it. He was passive at all times, even when the paladins showed blatant contempt for him to his face. It's like nothing bothered him, like he didn't feel anything. The first time you finally met him, he was standing on the balcony of his room, the first day he woke up, and his hair moved with the wind. He wouldn't turn around to look at you for most of the visit.
Coran told me you were the one to take me out of the quintessence field.
You gulped and made a sound of agreement.
"Why?"
You didn't answer for a few seconds, debating on what to say. Indecisive till the end, you thought. "I believe everyone deserves a second chance. Despite how cliche it sounds." And also you were super freaking cool! You don't say.
He was silent for a long moment, before saying, "You should have let me die…"
And when he looked at you, his eyes were glowing pure white.
But that's a story for another time.
You bastard, someone thinks.
You sneaky little author you. Setting us up for a sequel, eh?
Lotor got up from his bed, got cleaned up, dressed, and then was lead by you to the dungeon underneath the castle, where he saw Allura for the first time since the fight.
She was wearing her royal gown, and her curly white hair was down, but styled in a different way. A waterfall braid, you think it's called.
She's standing facing the inside of a locked cell. The door is made up of a strong metal and has intricate designs engraved into it that you can't see quite well. You tell Lotor to go to her and watch silently as they interact.
She doesn't turn to face him, just keeps staring straight ahead at the door. She is the first to talk, though. His eyes doesn't stray off the side of her face as she says, " Behind this door is a vault, and inside that vault is a ice statue with your mother inside it."
He doesn't look surprised. "I'm sorry I hurt you."
She ignores him. "Today- in a few hours, actually- you will be transported to the Kral Zera to once again claim the throne as Galra emperor."
"If I could take it all back, I would."
"After you obtain the position as emperor again, you will rule the Galra empire and work alongside Voltron and the Blade of Marmora to keep the universe safe, including all its people. Including Alteans."
"Have the Alteans come to know how wonderful you are? Do they worship you?"
She looks at him, face blank but blue eyes stone cold. "Voltron will be heading to the planet Earth to rebuild the Castle of Lions. You will stay here with the Blade watching over you, and if we hear anything of you going traitor, we won't hesitate to put you with your mother, do you understand?"
"I understand."
.
There was a perfectly timed timeskip so you didn't have to bother with all the pleasantries or political stuff. Galzack completely fucking disappears, and no one in the Blade know who anyone is talking about when asked about him. That's proof enough to the paladins that everything you said was real. Lotor claims the throne and says goodbye to his mother using only a long, dead stare.
The original paladins-the Galaxy Garrison kids- and you and Coran and Allura, as well as Keith's wolf and his mother, all make your way to Earth. It takes weeks, maybe even months, for them, but for you it only takes a few seconds. Everytime you wake up from a time skip during the ride, you tell Gyro about it, and he says he's able to tell when you are actually there or not based on how you talk and stand. You stutter, he says, when you talk. You repeat words, correct yourself, like a normal human. You move around and observe. But then sometimes you go completely still, you barely blink, you don't talk at all except to make some grunt, and that's when he knows you aren't truly there.
A cry of excitement grabs your attention. It's Hunk. "We're here! We're finally here!" Earth is in the distance and coming closer and closer. Cries of joy start racking out of the Galaxy Garrison kids, and the lions all race toward the big blue and green planet. You laugh with them with joy in your fictional heart. As you draw closer, you notice something though. The earth is replaced by a white circle, as if it had been cut out of a picture. You squint to see the lines of text as to read the story, but there's nothing there. It's just white. You look at the scrollbar on your device's screen and see you're nearing the end of the chapter.
"Uh, what is that?" Hunk asks, voice turning timid. "Are you guys seeing that?"
"What happened to Earth?" Lance exclaimed.
"It was fine just a second ago!" Pidge said, panic rising within all of them.
Your eyes go wide as realization hits you. "I… I think I know what it is.." You trail.
"What?" Lance and Hunk ask in unison over the com. Keith is looking right at you, along with Krolia, Gyro, and Shiro.
You take a deep breath, feeling your throat start to burn and your eyes start to water dramatically. "It's the last page." You don't know why you feel like crying, some of you. You're not a cryer. You don't know what you should be crying about. It's just a fanfiction after all, right? Right? "I have to go. This is it, you guys.." Your voice trembles and you cover your mouth, slightly embarrassed. Gyro and Shiro are looking at you with the utmost concern, not fully understanding you. To your surprise, Keith is the first to envelop you in an embrace. You let a few tears slip onto his shoulder, feeling uncomfortable and a bit guilty, but another part of you happy and fulfilled. You almost forget to hug him back and do it at the last second, patting his back somewhat awkwardly, before wrapping your arms around him in return. For some reason, he's incredibly taller than you. Shiro joins in second, and then Gyro last.
"What's going on in there?" Lance asks, feeling left out. "You guys better not be hugging in there! Hey! I want one too!"
"I'll give you air hugs!" You say as they all pull away, your tone shrill and breaking. "We have to end it here. It's time to say goodbye.."
"What?" Hunk asks in disbelief.
"Reader, tell us what's happening!" Allura pleads.
"The book ends here," you say and catch Gyro's torn face. "I have to go. We have to go."
Voltron is seriously ending, isn't it?
Maybe in a few years they'll make another one. Like, a new reboot.
Or you can read the comics.
No! It's not the same!
It really ain't.
"Go towards it." you order, and after a few seconds of hesitation, they do. "Goodbye, you guys. I love you. You all taught me so much, and I had so much fun! Really, you've helped me through a lot."
"Reed? Reed!" Lance's voice is the last sound you hear.
.
The whiteness they flew into turns into clouds and all together they can see land, a city, some dusty plain right next to it. They land on the ground and Keith looks behind him and sees that they're gone. Reed is gone. You are gone.
You can still see it, see Hunk say something with complete wonder and disbelief on his face, a smile starting to bloom, see Keith look behind him, searching for you, standing up and turning in circles looking for you, then bursting out the door to the hall. Gyro is frozen in place, eyes wide and meat hand holding onto his prosthetic, trying to support himself. Shiro looks around too, his eyes wide and panicked, until he sees his twin and tries to comfort him. Lance is smiling a bit as Hunk raises his arms into the air and Pidge whoops, but his smile starts to fade at the lack of any sound coming from Keith or Shiro, or...you for that matter.
He calls for you over the com, but you don't answer. Pidge and Hunk make their way outside their lions. Hunk kisses the dirt ground, then spits. Lance is still calling for you, and then Allura does too, getting worried. Coran puts a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head and leading her outside with everyone else.
Keith rushes outside, is stopped by a grinning Hunk, whose grin starts to fade as he sees the complete and utter panic on his face. Keith pushes away from him without force, and calls your name. Hunk looks like he's finally realized, and so does Pidge. Hunk joins in on calling for you, and so does Allura when she gets outside. Pidge runs into the lions, searching for you, you guess, and Krolia comes out holding Gyro with Shiro coming out behind her.
No one answers.
They all look up when they hear the sound of engines coming their way, Lance just making his way out of the red lion, and overhead, a ship flies by them, followed closely by a few others. They immediately identify the symbols on the ships, all of them dawning the logos representing the Galaxy Garrison.
It really was a nice ride. You guys have all be so supportive, thank you!
Next week, the week of the 17th, i will not be on the interwebs. I will be reading a lot, getting into the Spiderman comics, so I won't be checking comments, which i rarely get anyway XD but yeah that's all folks. Pray you enjoyed it. Go check out my big hero 6 fic if you want idk.