A/N: I do not own Voltron, its characters or settings. Anything new is mine!
Thanks to Yamotoforever and Starlette Rose for your reviews.
Yamoto: You almost always know what I'm going to write next…
Starlette: A blue wedding dress, huh? I'll have to read that story.
Lissa woke with a splitting headache. Her body was sore and she felt vaguely disoriented. After several moments of dizzy confusion, she came to the realization she was on a bed. She sat up slowly, mindful of her aching head, and looked around her.
She was in a strange room. Dark and opulent, it bespoke both wealth and a sense of black decadence. The bed she was in was enormous and could easily accommodate half a dozen people. The sheets were red silk, but the bed hangings and pillows were all black. The furniture in the room was similarly colored: predominantly red with black accessories.
Where in the hell was she?
She tried to slide out of the bed, but when she got to the edge she took one look down and realized she was about six feet off the floor. Normally she would have simply jumped down, but her head hurt and she was feeling queasy and oddly enervated.
She reached out to Fire Storm to ask him what was going on, but she felt…nothing. Lissa's eyes widened in panic and she tried again, searching for that bond that they had shared for years. She found nothing but a black, empty void. The link they had shared for years was gone.
No longer concerned about the distance to the floor, Lissa slid over the edge and dropped to the ground. Her feet gave out and she fell to her knees, her body felt inexplicably weak. What the hell had happened to her?
She closed her eyes and tried to recall what she had been doing before she apparently went to sleep or lost consciousness. In an instant everything came back to her: fleeing Arus, being captured by Prince Lotor, and being rendered unconscious by the same said prince. But what had happened to Fire Storm? Why couldn't she hear him?
"I'd take it easy if I were you," a grating, slightly high pitched voice called out to her.
Lissa looked up, startled; unaware there was anyone in the room with her. She saw a woman, tall and imposing, garbed in a strange cloaked outfit. The woman was hideous, with blue skin and gleaming fangs, but Lissa could picture a strange beauty behind the woman's twisted visage.
"Who are you? Why am I here?" Lissa demanded, unsteadily rising to her feet.
The woman laughed, the sound annoying and chilling, but her expression was not one of hostility. "I am Haggar, and you are here because you managed to defeat that lout Lotor in combat."
Lissa grimaced at the mere mention of the pompous man's name. "Where are my companions?"
Haggar eyed her for a moment and then shrugged. "I have no idea. Lotor brought you to Planet Doom last night, and you had no companions save one: a remarkably large reptile that is even now being held in the pits below Doom."
Lissa stiffened in anger. "If you harm Fire Storm, I will kill you myself."
Haggar held up a gnarled hand. "Peace, girl, I have no quarrel with you. Take up your complaints with Lotor."
Lissa shot her a considering look. "Are you a prisoner here as well?"
The witch laughed. "Not by any means. I come and go as I please."
Lissa' expression hardened. "Then you are a compatriot of Lotor and my enemy. I will not speak with you. Get out."
"Such a temper," Haggar chided her. "I am no compatriot of Lotor. I hold the man in contempt, but we do serve the same master, King Zarkon. I am not here on either man's behalf, but rather out of my own curiosity."
"Why should I believe you?" Lissa scoffed.
Haggar smiled. "Because I know something they do not. I know what you are, White Rider."
Lissa stiffened. "What do you intend to do with such knowledge?"
Haggar shrugged. "Nothing for the time being. I am here because I have heard much of the Legion of Light, but have never met any of its soldiers, and you are one of the elite."
Lissa was thinking she was a pathetic excuse for an elite soldier to have been captured so easily, but she kept that thought to herself. "Well, here I am."
Haggar ignored her mocking tone. "You undoubtedly are wondering why you feel so weak and disoriented. I have given you a potion that has sealed your psychic powers."
Lissa's eyes narrowed in fury. That at least explained why she couldn't sense Fire Storm. "You expect me to tolerate your presence here when you have used some…tonic against me?"
Haggar looked pain. "Please, child, refrain from insulting my work. I do not deal in tonics. The potion I gave you was quite strong and will last indefinitely."
Lissa was assailed by sickening doubt and fear. She had never been without her powers before, she felt incredibly vulnerable. She turned her back on the witch and said, "If you have come here to brag, you can leave. I have no interest in what you have to say."
"Ah, but I have a great deal of interest in what you have to say," Haggar replied.
Lissa glanced back at her. "Why should I deign to speak to you? You are my enemy."
"Perhaps by circumstance," Haggar conceded. "But I have nothing against you personally and in fact it might come to pass that it will be in my best interest if you were…elsewhere. I do not know for the moment, I am waiting to see what Zarkon will do. But in the meantime, I would like to know more of your powers, and your dragon. If you are cooperative, I will not tell Lotor and Zarkon the truth of your identity."
Ah, blackmail. Something Lissa understood because it was a universal thing. She regarded the witch with loathing, but she really had little choice. It seemed the woman already knew enough about her to cause her grief; she would have to assume the woman would hold her silence about anything Lissa told her. Still…
"I ask for your word of honor you will keep all we discuss secret from anything or anyone else," she demanded, her voice intense.
Haggar stared at her in astonishment. It had been…ages since anyone had been willing to accept her word on anything. People always assumed, quite correctly in most cases, that she was untrustworthy. She was surprised and oddly grateful that this girl somehow believed her word might be worth anything. She knew the White Riders were people of great honor; it seemed an honor itself to have her display such trust. With anyone else it would have been misplaced, but Haggar inexplicably felt it would be wrong to betray this girl. She reminded Haggar of herself, long ago.
"You have it," Haggar solemnly replied, and as she did so she waved her hand and created an enchanted binding on her words as well, so that she would be held to silence. "I have sealed my vow by my own hand as an act of faith. It cannot be revoked."
Lissa continued to look at her with suspicion, but she was tired and weak from standing up, so she walked over to a chair and collapsed into it. "What do you want to know?"
Keith and Allura reached the wreckage of Prince Ower's ship some time after Lance had already departed for Planet Doom. Allura knew the instant she saw the vessel that something terrible had happened, and when she noticed Lance was nowhere in sight, her feeling of dread increased.
"This is Keith of Arus, Pilot of the Black Lion, report your condition," Keith called out as they approached.
"This is Jens, Captain of the Falcris. We were attacked by Prince Lotor of the Planet Doom. He disabled our navigational and communications systems, as well as our main engines. We have only short range radio and life support systems right now."
"Was anyone killed?" Allura asked, her stomach sick.
"No one was killed, but a hostage was taken and Prince Ower has permanently retired to his bed from stress," Jens answered.
"Who was the hostage?" Allura whispered, though she already knew what the answer would be.
"Prince Ower's guardian, Lissa," the captain replied.
Keith stiffened and said, "One of our pilots was on his way to find this ship. He was flying a Red Lion. Have you seen him?"
"Yes, he was here a couple of hours ago," Jens answered. "He told us you would be coming."
"Where did he go? Did he leave to get you some assistance?" Keith asked in an unnaturally calm voice.
"No, sir. He said he was going to Planet Doom. I assume he's trying to rescue the hostage," the captain replied.
Keith swore under his breath.
The Blue Lion turned to face the Black Lion. "We need to stop him, Keith. He could be killed! One Lion can't take on a whole planetary defense system!"
"I know, Princess," he snapped. "But these people need help."
"I'll help them, Keith. You go after Lance. You might be able to catch him in the Black Lion, and you won't have my safety to worry about either."
Keith knew she was right, but he hated leaving her alone. Still, duty dictated he save his fellow pilot, and Allura was in no danger out here. She was a big girl, she could take care of herself. She had proven it countless times in the past.
"Be careful," he finally said.
"Me? You're the one heading into possible conflict with an entire armada. You be careful," she returned.
"I will. Get these people to safety, than assemble the rest of the team and head to Planet Doom. I might be able to catch up to Lance, but if I can't, I'll need some back up."
He cut communications and set the coordinates for Doom, swearing to himself. He'd known Lance was reckless, but he'd never suspected just how far the other man would go for his love. Keith supposed he should have known Lance might do something heroic to save Lissa. He'd done it himself in the past for Allura's sake. He couldn't exactly stay mad at Lance, it would be too hypocritical.
Allura sat and watched the Black Lion fly away until it was lost in the darkness of the Universe. She felt sick and scared and worried, for her new friend Lissa, her old friend Lance, and her beloved Keith. She was powerless to help any of them at the moment, but she knew they would be in her thoughts until she was with them again. The fastest way to get that achieved was to see the Falcris to safety and then round up Pidge and Hunk.
"Captain Jens, do you have any chains or other devices that could be used to tie your ship to my Lion?"
"I believe we do have some chains in the cargo miss."
"Excellent. Have them sent to the unloading area of the ship and I will put them in my Lion's mouth," Allura replied.
"Right away," Jens said, cutting the communications as he went to oversee the moving of the chains.
In a matter of minutes, the chains had been secured to various sections inside the ship, the cargo area sealed off so the unloading door could be left open with the chains dangling in space. Once everything was secured and the doors opened, Allura maneuvered the Blue Lion alongside the bottom of the ship, had the Lion capture the chains in its mouth, and began the flight back to Arus.
Lance watched as the Planet Doom loomed in his sights. Dark, forbidding and armed to the teeth. Despite his desire to charge in and save his lady, he knew such an attack would be foolish and most likely get him killed. He'd be no good to Lissa or the team if he was dead. He needed to sneak in past their defenses and try to approach the castle on foot.
He programmed the Red Lion's coordinates, choosing a deserted stretch of swamp for his landing area. He knew he'd be even more vulnerable to attack outside of the Red Lion, but if he planned on actually reaching Lissa, he had no other choice.