**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)
Mari had a restless first night in the fairy tale world. The chill of Shiro's words kept her up, squeezing her heart and angering her at the same time. It didn't help that she was still reeling from the strange vision she'd experienced in the yard. What it was and why she had it remained a mystery to her, no matter how much she mulled it over.
But hopefully, it wouldn't matter soon, she told herself. She just had to keep training so she could hurry up and kill Queen Haggar. Just ignore the visions and weird voices, ignore grumpy Shiro, and kill the witch. Then they'd all be out of here and back to normal in no time.
The next morning, after bracing herself to face the paladins, doting and otherwise, Mari came downstairs to an empty house. Well, almost empty. Takashi stood in the kitchen, frowning in deep thought as he watched the four space mice dance wildly around a cloth-covered basket that had been set on the table. His face immediately brightened though upon seeing her.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," he teased. His smile was warm and light, so much more welcoming than Shiro's scowl. "How'd you sleep last night?"
"Fine," she lied, pulling up a seat at the table. "Where is everybody?"
"Coran and Scarlett went into town to visit the apothecary," he explained. "They think they might have something that will help with your memory loss."
Mari stifled the urge to roll her eyes. "And the other paladins?" she asked.
"Keith spotted Haggar's huntsman, Lotor, and his henchwomen in the area. He and Shiro took the others to fight them off."
She sighed. Great. So Lotor and his generals were here in this strange spell world too…
…Wait. That didn't make sense. Why would Haggar trap the empire's prince, her boss, in this world with them? Was he a part of her wicked plan to finish them off? Or was he just some sort of illusion?
"Stay with us!"
"Her vitals are dropping fast."
"I'm injecting it now!"
A shiver ran down Mari's spine as the memory of her friends' words replayed in her mind. Something didn't feel right about all this. About this world, about Queen Haggar and Huntsman Lotor, about the seven paladins…about any of this. And the more she thought about it, the more her head hurt and the knot of dread in her stomach grew.
Was this maybe…not a spell cast on all of them by Haggar?
"...and Shiro told me to stay back and protect you and the house," Takashi continued, pulling her out of her spiraling thoughts. He set a breakfast of bacon and slightly burnt eggs in front of her before he took a seat. "Now it's just the two of us."
Mari stared long and hard at her plate, her heavy and churning thoughts dwindling in the face of the eggs and bacon smiley Takashi had constructed just for her. "Yeah…" she murmured, poking at her food with a fork. "I feel like it's been a long time since it was just us."
"I guess it has been a while," he agreed. He smiled and watched her fondly as she ate. "It's hard to get some one-on-one time with so many people living in this cottage, huh?"
"They don't need you."
Mari grimaced, stopping mid-bite as the voice from the mountains called out to her again. She paused, glancing at Takashi to see if he'd heard it, but it was clear he hadn't as he continued to talk to her, unbothered and unaware of her rising unease.
"I'm sorry we can't live in a more comfortable place," he was saying, his expression tight as he took in the surroundings of their humble abode. "I wish more than anything that I could take you back home right now."
Mari swallowed her piece of half-chewed bacon. "Home?"
He smiled sadly at her. "You know, back to the palace."
"Oh. Right…"
"This isn't real, Mari."
The voice had decided to speak more today, it seemed. Her grip on her fork tightened, frustrated that she couldn't determine if this mysterious, disembodied thing reaching out to her was friend or foe, telling the truth or lying to trick her into falling into a bout of paranoia. She shoveled another forkful of eggs into her mouth, determined to ignore it for now.
"What's with this basket?" she asked, pointing to it. The mice were still running around it, and they chirped in delight as she mentioned it.
"Oh! Shiro brought that back from the market this morning," Takashi said, reaching to remove the cloth covering it. "Said he saw them and thought of you."
The contents within the basket were revealed to be round, shiny, and snow-white fruits with red stems. The sight of them made Mari's breath hitch, and she was suddenly assaulted by the same throbbing head pain from yesterday. Her vision swirled and voices flooded her ears, transporting her to a different time and place.
"Thank you, Miss Mariko! My people have waited many a decaphoebs to live freely on our home planet."
A short and skinny alien with deep violet skin and a baggy black cloak wrapped around her person was gazing up at Mari with big green eyes. They sparkled with admiration, her tiny mouth a triangle of a smile.
"Now that Voltron has freed us from Galra rule, we rejoice in sinking our toes into the familiar soil once more," the little alien gushed, delightedly shifting her bare feet in the brownish-green dirt beneath them. "These supplies will surely restore the muscles on our bones and nourish our crops."
She gestured to the pile of crates sitting next to a docked cargo ship. Many more folk of the same species were giddily transporting the supplies down a path that led to a small village that resided next to a thriving field of scraggly red trees. The Galra facility that sat in the distance was dark, abandoned by its previous commanders.
"It's no problem, Chief Grimhel. I'm glad we could help," Mari said, granting her a small grin. "Do you need any more help settling in?"
"I think not, Miss Mariko. We do not wish to trouble you any further," Chief Grimhel adamantly stated with a shake of her head. "We do not want to keep you from your paladin companions."
Mari's smile fell. "Don't worry. They won't be waiting on me," she admitted, sad but sure of this truth.
If Chief Grimhel noticed her change in demeanor, she didn't show it. Instead, she waved to her attendant, who dutifully brought over a bowl of pure white fruits with red stems.
"Please, as a token of our many thanks for your help, take these sions!" she insisted, thrusting the fruit into Mari's arms. "They are the sweetest fruits our orchards have to offer! Coran the Mustached Man will surely know how to best prepare and enjoy them."
Then as soon as it had begun, the vision was over and Mari was back in the cottage.
"Sions…What – What are they doing here?" she stammered. She rubbed at her eyes, struggling to refocus on the basket of fruit on the table.
"Sions? I've never heard of such a thing," Takashi chuckled. "They're apples, silly! They're your favorite, remember?"
Mari frowned and blinked at him. "Apples?"
She glanced at the basket again, only to nearly fall out of her seat. The alien fruit had disappeared, replaced with freshly picked and gleaming red apples.
"The mice have been squeaking over them ever since Shiro brought them in. I don't know what they're saying, but I assume they're excited," Takashi said, watching the mice tumble and twitter. "I was thinking we could make something with them. Hunk has his recipe book around here somewhere…maybe we can make a pie?"
Mari grimaced at the suggestion. The famed fruit from the Snow White tale had finally made an appearance, but whether these ones were safe to consume or not remained unknown.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she decided, warily regarding the basket of tempting and succulent goodness.
"Hey, my baking skills have improved since we came here," he pouted at her, almost pleadingly. "If we follow the recipe exactly, we can't go wrong. Besides, it'll be a nice surprise for the others when they come back."
She didn't know what to be more worried about: the possibility of the apples being cursed, or having to consume her brother's baking. Sure he could cook a few things fairly well in real life. But he was an awful baker. She couldn't count how many times he'd tried to make Christmas cookies and birthday cakes all on his own at ojiisan's, only for smoke to fill the air as charred bits were pulled out of the oven. As great as Takashi Shirogane was at many things, working in the kitchen was just not one of them.
"No, no, I don't mean that," she said, waving away his concern. She pointed at the apples, guiding his attention back to them. "It's just…what if they're poisoned or something?"
Takashi hesitated. "I know you and Shiro haven't always gotten along. And I know you're just being cautious after what you've been through," he began slowly, choosing his words very carefully. "But he would never do something malicious like that. I've known him forever, practically since I was born. He's on our side, I promise you that. He would never hurt us or put the team at risk."
Mari frowned at him, skeptical. He simply smiled back, soft and helpless and oh so trusting and kind. He was so patient and gentle with her. He was always willing to listen to her troubles, getting a better understanding of her worries before soothing her with calming words. And most of the time, his advice and reassurance proved to be sound, right in every way. She sighed, her heart clenching as she felt herself caving in the face of his brotherly warmth.
"What do you guys think?" she asked, addressing the mice. "You able to sniff out anything suspicious about these things?"
The four mice curiously sniffed the basket and its delicious contents before nodding in agreement with one another.
They smell good to me!
Not poisoned at all.
Perfectly good apples, yep, yep!
MAKE US THE APPLE PIE!
Mari let out a huff of a chuckle at their enthusiasm. "Okay, okay, fine," she relented. "I guess it's safe."
The mice clapped in triumph and Takashi beamed. His joy seemed to light up the entire room as he began to prepare for their baking session, leaving her to finish her breakfast. She stared at the apples, struggling to shake her lingering fear.
The Evil Queen in the Snow White tale delivered the poisoned apples to the naive princess herself. Yet Haggar was nowhere in sight. Shiro had been the one to bring the apples back, and he hadn't even stuck around to make sure she received the gift that was supposedly meant for her. And after he'd done all that complaining about her being tricked by Haggar and weighing down the team, Shiro couldn't have possibly gotten himself fooled by the witch, right? Even if he hated Mari, he cherished his team of paladins more than anything. He would never bring back food that could potentially harm them. Besides, Takashi trusted him. And Mari trusted Takashi.
For now, she would trust that the apples were safe. And maybe, just to be extra sure…she would sneak a taste of them first before anyone else could. As much as it disturbed her, this was her role in the story, after all. To taste the apple and fall into a sleep like death.
But the princess wouldn't sleep forever. The paladins wouldn't give up on her like that, right? That's just not how the story went. Someone would wake her up if she succumbed to such a curse. Then they would all be reunited, their bond made stronger than ever to take down the Evil Queen.
They'd found Hunk's cookbook and its recipe for apple pie. But even with the simple and easy to follow step-by-step directions, the two siblings struggled with their baking project.
As expected, the kitchen became a mess within the hour. Dirty dishes were strewn about the table and piled in the sink. Apple peels and splotches of batter littered the floor. Flour dusted their noses and just about every other inch of the room from a mild flour-fight Takashi had teasingly incited and Mari had indulged in. Giddy woodland animals gathered on the windowsill from the forest, drawn in by her laughter and his humming before the mice shooed them away.
When they decided to get serious again, Mari kept Takashi away from the apples, assigning him with the task of making the pie crust. She carefully cut the fruit, sneaking a slice from each apple when he wasn't looking and testing it for poison. With each bite, her heart raced, fearing for the moment her breath would suddenly escape her and she'd fall over unconscious. But it never happened. She felt right as rain, not a single evil curse from a wicked queen afflicting her. The apples really were safe to consume, she realized, and she let out a relieved sigh.
She dumped all the slices she could fit into a pot she'd found and began to boil it over the stove. Then she set aside a plate of the leftovers, nibbling on one apple wedge thoughtfully as she waited for the simmering fruit to soften.
"Do you remember when we used to make egg rolls together with ojiisan?" Takashi asked, drawing her attention to him.
She blinked at him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to remember something like that in this strange world, considering he didn't remember much else from their true past.
"Of course. How could I forget that? It was our family tradition," she said, finishing off the last of her apple slice. She smiled to herself as she recalled the memories of their youth. "You'd always overstuff the first rolls. Then they'd fall apart during cooking."
"And you'd try to eat them right out of the fryer. Ojiisan had to stop you before you burned your hands and tongue," Takashi laughed. "Those were some of the best times."
"They were," Mari chuckled in agreement.
She paused, watching him as he neatly pressed his finished crust into a pan. He was grinning, happy and free without a single worry weighing on his mind to turn his hair white. Sensing her stare, he cast her a smile, delighted just to be there with her. It felt like it had been so long since she'd seen him like this…Not since before he disappeared during Voltron's fight with Zarkon.
She knew people changed after such traumatizing experiences – she'd be a fool to think her brother hadn't after all the hell he'd been through. She knew he was tired and stressed from managing the paladins and overseeing the growing coalition. She knew they all had their own jobs to play in ending this war, including her. But despite all this, she couldn't stop her fragile and emotional human heart from yearning for happier, more peaceful times with him.
Maybe she was just lonely and this was selfish thinking on her part. But was it really too much to ask for him to look at her every once in a while? She just wanted her older brother, her most important person…to acknowledge that she still existed in his life.
"I miss those days," she admitted quietly, the words slipping from her lips before she could stop them. "I miss when we weren't so distant."
"Distant?" Takashi repeated. The light in his eyes was innocent and puzzled, purely ignorant of the depth of her inner turmoil. "What do you mean? We've always been together."
Mari smiled ruefully to herself. Of course he didn't know what she was talking about. He didn't even remember who they truly were. He wasn't himself in this world, after all – he still believed he was the beloved Crown Prince Takashi Shirayuki, and that she was his silly little sister who was suffering from a bout of amnesia brought on by their stepmother's dark magic.
She sighed, turning back to her boiling pot of apples. "No, it's nothing," she said, brushing away his confusion. "Never mind."
Almost thankfully, Takashi didn't question her, and they wrapped up their baking attempt. After Mari dumped their apple filling into the pan, he finished it off with a lattice crust on top before they placed the whole thing in the oven to bake. They stood back with a tired but satisfied "Whew", only to grimace as they surveyed the mess.
"Well. This is gonna be a pain to clean," Mari stated flatly, watching as the mice wrestled on the table and covered themselves in a fine layer of loose flour. She snatched the plate of extra uncooked apple slices before they could roll right into it. "And we've still got a lotta leftovers to deal with."
Takashi shrugged. "Well, nothing says 'healthy snack' like apple slices," he said, granting her a helpless smile as he plucked up one and brought it to his lips.
The crisp CRUNCH as he bit into it sent a shiver down Mari's spine. He chewed and swallowed, and an ominous feeling washed over her. Then like a light switch being flicked, the room darkened as clouds passed in front of the sun and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. The joy illuminating Takashi's features disappeared, the color in his cheeks rapidly draining. He grabbed at his throat and began to cough vehemently. The mice squeaked in alarm as he stumbled, leaning heavily on the table and desperately gasping for air. The sheer fear in his eyes as they met Mari's was like an icy spike being driven into her soul, and her heart nearly stuttered to a halt.
"Mari…" he choked out, his voice unbearably thin and quivering. "Don't…eat…those…"
Then all at once, his brilliant warmth and light was snuffed. His eyes slid shut and his legs gave out. With a final breath, his body crumpled. Dropping the plate of apples, Mari scrambled to catch him before he could hit his head against the hardwood floor.
"Takashi!" Panic made her entire body tremble, her breath quick to become ragged in her rising anxiety. She cradled him in her arms, her mind reeling a mile a minute as she struggled to process what was going on.
He'd eaten an apple. The poisoned apple that had been meant for her, the Princess Snow White. How did this happen? Why did this happen? She'd sampled all the apples, and nothing had happened to her. She was so sure none of them had been poisoned or cursed. She'd been so sure they were safe.
No, no, she couldn't worry about that now. She had to help Takashi. She wouldn't lose her brother again, not if she could help it.
A prince broke Snow White's sleeping spell in the story, waking her with the pure magic of True Love's kiss. And Mari was right here, a princess filled with honest and true sisterly love for him. She could save him. She could fix this.
Mari tentatively brushed his dark hair from his peacefully sleeping face. He already felt so unnervingly cold and still beneath her touch. She swallowed thickly and took a deep breath to steady herself. Then she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his brow.
She pulled back and waited with bated breath. A beat of silence passed. Then two.
Nothing happened. Takashi didn't even react to her kiss. He wasn't waking up.
Why wasn't he waking up?
"Your Highness!"
Mari jumped as Coran, Scarlett, and the other paladins suddenly burst into the kitchen, returned from their respective tasks. Their eyes immediately locked onto the fallen prince and the apple slices scattered along the messy floor, their expressions contorting in horror at the realization that something was very, very wrong.
"Takashi!" Keith rushed forward, practically pushing past the others. He dropped to his knees across from Mari and took the prince in his arms, desperately shaking him. "Takashi, wake up!"
"What's wrong with him?" Hunk asked, his voice tight with fear. He and the others quickly gathered around, fretting over him, save for Shiro who stood frozen in shock at the edge of their group.
"I don't know. He – He's not waking up," Keith stammered, his brow furrowed and his teeth clenched together in a vain attempt to keep his cool.
Pidge had removed Takashi's gauntlet and her fingers were pressed against his wrist. "I-I can't find a pulse!" she reported, unable to conceal her fright.
"Is it magic? Did Haggar attack?" Lance wondered, eyes ablaze with fury as he glanced expectantly around the room.
"No, she hasn't been here at all," Mari croaked, a bubbling mixture of anger and guilt and confusion pooling in her stomach. This was wrong. This was all wrong! None of this was supposed to happen!
"They don't need you."
Her shoulders hunched as the words echoed in the air. They made the cottage shake, rattling the dishes and making the wood creak and groan. Outside, the sky grew darker, casting the room in dreary blues and grays. Quiet bursts of purple lightning flashed across the clouds, long jagged fingers that pointed towards the mountains. No one else seemed to take notice of this strangeness though as they continued to hover over the crown prince.
"Allura, please, you must revive him!" Coran begged their resident mage.
"I'm trying!" Takashi's hand was clutched in her own glowing palms, but despite her efforts, he remained unconscious. "My magic isn't working!"
Scarlett was silent as she placed a finger under his nose. She removed his chestplate and pressed her ear against his breast, listening for a long moment. When she sat back, done with her examination, her expression was grim.
"He's not breathing. I can't hear a heartbeat. And his body's already gone cold. …I'm afraid it's too late," she admitted, her voice thick with emotion. "He…He's gone."
A chilling hush slammed into them like a ton of bricks. Tears pooled and ran down cheeks, their bodies reacting before their minds could process the awful truth.
Keith inhaled sharply, his stubborn nature taking over. "No…No, no! Takashi! Wake up!" he pleaded, angry and desperate as he shook the prince. He even slapped his face, to no avail. "No, you can't do this to us! You can't leave us! Wake up, wake up!"
His body was heaving with rage and grief, his eyes wide and watery with panic. He was gripping Takashi's limp body so tightly, Mari was sure he'd lash out at anyone who tried to take him away. She had never seen Keith so terrified before, so on the verge of hysteric tears and overflowing anguish.
"Keith…" Allura murmured, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder.
"NO! He's not gone!" Keith snarled, shrugging away her touch. He choked on a gasp, struggling to keep the tears at bay. "There has to be something we can do!"
"I can't," Allura whispered, her voice heavy with sorrow and regret. "Even with my magic, I cannot bring back someone who is already…"
She sobbed and cupped her face in her hands, unable to go on as her mask of composure cracked and shattered completely. The room was deathly silent for a painfully long minute, the only sounds their mournful weeping and the rush of the wind picking up outside.
"What did you do?"
Mari stiffened at the sound of Shiro's voice. It was terrifyingly even and low, and when she pulled her gaze to him, his face was dark and full of contempt. He wore a glare of absolute loathing, meant solely for her. He waited expectantly for her response, his hands clenched at his sides as he tried to control his roiling fury.
"Me?" A righteous anger was quick to replace Mari's distress as she glowered back at him. She rose to her feet, incredulous and ready to defend herself against whatever horrible things he was prepared to spout at her. "I didn't –"
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"I didn't do anything!" she shrilled, and she hated how she'd flinched in the face of his impatient rage. "Something must've been wrong with the apples you brought! He ate one and then he just – "
"You're trying to blame this on me?" he snapped, once again brutally cutting her off. "You're the one who's been repeatedly tricked by the witch's schemes!"
"I didn't do this! I ate those apples myself!" she insisted. "I would never do anything to hurt Takashi, or any of you, for that matter!"
"You say that, but you haven't exactly been yourself since Haggar's last attack. You practically died and came back a new person…a different person," Shiro fired back, his furious eyes burning with an unwavering certainty. "And now, the first moment you're alone with the Crown Prince, we find you hovering over his dead body!"
He paused, screwing his eyes shut and struggling to control his seething breaths. When he reopened them, they were cold and unforgiving, containing not even a hint of the gentle warmth and love that the real Takashi Shirogane possessed.
"Are you even the actual princess? Or are you something else?" he demanded. His fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sword, tempted to unsheath it and point it at her. "Are you one of those demonic Druids controlling her body? Are you a changeling? Or are you the wicked queen herself?"
"I'm not!" Mari shouted, unable to stop her voice from rising and cracking in her escalating terror and frustration. "The fact that you're even suggesting such a thing is absolute bullshit!"
A bolt of purple lightning streaked across the sky, washing them in a brief burst of white light. The room was quiet once more as the blinding flash faded, the tension in the air growing thicker by the second. Shiro's mouth was pressed into a thin line, his distrust in Mari set in stone. No one else would look at her. Not even the mice, who were now huddled in Allura's lap, their tails and ears drooping in their sadness. Coran, Scarlett, Allura, Keith, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge…no one was coming to her defense.
No one believed her. And their betrayal was like a punch to the gut.
"Come on, you guys aren't seriously gonna take his side are you?" The question slipped out of her, trembling and pleading. "You have to believe me. I didn't do this!"
No one moved. No one answered her. It was like they hadn't even heard her.
"They don't need you."
The voice was clearer than it had ever been, almost whispering right in Mari's ears. It carried a familiar lilt, containing a much-missed warmth and comfort. It sounded sympathetic. Imploring. Desperate to get her attention, and begging for her to hear and heed its words. In that moment, it was the most welcoming thing in this entire fantasy realm, now turned cold and against her. She was almost tempted to follow it.
…Maybe she had always been meant to. Maybe this whole time, the strange voice from the mountains had been calling for her.
"It should've been you instead."
Mari's heart clenched painfully as the dreaded sentence that had become ingrained in her memory shook her out of her thoughts. It sounded even more horrible coming from Shiro, spoken from his lips, uttered in his voice. Her eyes stung and the heat rose to her cheeks as she turned to him.
"What?"
"I told you if anything happened to Takashi and it was your fault that I would never forgive you," he reminded her. Warned her.
Eerie shadows danced across his face as he took a threatening step towards her. Then another. And another. Her flight instincts kicking in, Mari stumbled back, forced away from Takashi and the others until Shiro's dangerous aura had corralled her to the door, left agape from their sudden entrance. He stood between her and his team, blocking them from sight, separating her from them.
"You aren't to be trusted. We don't need you," he growled, and his words were like scorching blades that cut right into her. His face was stony as he regarded her, his resolve set with this decision. "Whatever you are, just get out. GET OUT!"
A constricting, hollow sensation filled Mari's chest, threatening to steal her breath away and crush her. She numbly stared back at Shiro, the lump in her throat growing as the tears slid freely down her cheeks.
The voice was right. They really didn't need her. They never had.
"Mari…"
She took a step out the door, crossing over the threshold. Then she took two more, fully exposing herself to the storming winds and flashing skies and the soft rain as it began to fall. Shiro slammed the door on her, cutting her off from the remnants of her family and the people she'd thought were her friends.
Lightning crackled, illuminating the darkened land that was no longer friendly, no longer bright and pleasant, no longer a picturesque scene from a children's fairy tale book.
"Mari."
She turned and ran, pumping her arms and legs and pushing herself to the fastest she could go. Running through the rain as it came down harder. Running through the tears and the throbbing pain. Running right to the mountains, hoping to find an end to all of this.
**Check out my tumblr to see some cool art: pufftheninja