Hey, everyone! Allura here with a brand new story that came to me while I was inspired and rewatching Voltron because that is what happens with my wonderful mind sometimes. Thank you so much to 'coolgamer' for betareading this chapter for me and hope you guys love this too. Warnings, well I suppose experimentation is a thing but that's canon. So far, that's the only warning.
1. A Fine Line
"Keith!" Shiro had tried calling out to his brother as something overrode the controls again but in the excitement of defeating Zarkon, his voice went unheard, and his heart sank. He knew what this was, and he knew even Black would not be able to protect him, no matter how much she was trying. She was doing her best to push Haggar out, to not let her take him, but he knew she would. The space witch was one of the strongest aliens he had ever met and defeating her was no easy feat.
Black, you won't be able to protect me. She's too strong. Shiro thought to his partner who he had started to consider a friend in the past few weeks.
'Don't say that Shiro!' Black thought back to him fiercely. 'You're my partner, I'm going to do my best to protect you, no matter what.'
I know her. I know how she works. But I want you to promise me something. Protect Keith, no matter what happens. He could hear her protests. She didn't want to give up on him either, but he couldn't focus on that anymore as a sharp pain overtook his senses. A part of him wished he could have believed Black. But he knew. His surroundings in the Black Lion began to disappear. He made one last attempt to reach out to his partner, but nothing worked. The pull was so strong that he landed on the ground, wincing as his head collided with it upon impact. The cell was still familiar to him even though it had been a whole year since he had been trapped with this witch. But why now? Was it revenge for them defeating Zarkon? Or just revenge against him in general?
The ground was metallic and as he rubbed the area around his elbow, he could feel something wet. Was that blood? Of course, why did he think he wouldn't sustain any injuries from this? He sniffed the air and could smell something burning, almost like charcoal but he didn't have long to think about that because screams soon filled the air and he immediately moved to cover his ears. The druids were torturing someone else, ruining someone else's life with nightmares that never ended. He may have drowned out the noise of it, but it didn't change the fact that he knew what was happening.
But what could he do? Without the Black Lion, he was no longer the Black Paladin anymore. The others would have noticed he was missing by now so he may not have to hold off Haggar for too long. But were they ready to face her? She was strong, stronger than even Zarkon, and she was intelligent too, she would not make it easy for them. The screams were beginning to die down, so he slowly uncovered his ears. Bad idea because footsteps came closer to him. He recognised those – she always had feather-light footsteps but even now, he could tell them apart from others.
His fists clenched and he forced himself to his feet but stumbled as another sharp pain ran down his body as he crumbled to the ground. This was not good. How did he get so injured? Had she done something to him? He had been fine when he was in the Black Lion then how had this happened? Her magic was far more advanced than anything he had seen before – she was alien, yes but even so. This just felt like something more.
"Looks like you've gotten weaker, Champion," The words were calm, but he could hear the taunt and the iciness of her tone sent chills down his spine. He knew what she was capable of, the Paladins had only seen a small part of it because she had injured him and sent those creatures to him as a reminder of where his position stood with her.
"No," Shiro said, surprising himself especially when he knew it might take the Paladins some time before they found him. "I've gotten stronger. I became a part of Team Voltron and the powers you gave me? I'll use them against you." She may have enhanced him to be her personal weapon, but he was not going to sit back and allow her to play him again. A part of his brain nagged at him, reminding him that she was stronger, that she had always been stronger than him, but he didn't care. If he broke, he may not be able to even stand anymore.
Haggar's expression twisted into an ugly smile, of which only the smile could be seen because she was still wearing her hood.
"Will you now?" Haggar asked him. She raised a hand, twisting it. Shiro gasped, feeling his breath start to cut short as he was lifted off the ground, he struggled but no matter what he did, he could not break free. His vision began to blur – was she going to kill him? It wasn't like he could tell her he was going to listen when he couldn't even speak. Just as quickly as she had lifted him, she dropped him back on the ground, causing him to groan. His head pounded as his vision still swam before him and he bit down on his lip hard, causing it to trickle blood. It allowed him to focus on something other than Haggar being in power.
"Make this easier on yourself," Haggar said calmly. "I would hate for your brother to suffer the consequences of your little rebellion."
Shiro sucked in the blood that dribbled from his lip and would have ignored her, but his breath caught in his throat at her words. He could handle whatever Haggar had planned for him – he had dealt with her for a year, after all. But Keith…despite being a Paladin, he was still very much innocent to how horrible this war could become with monsters like Haggar. Maybe this war would eventually steal that innocence, but he wanted his brother to keep it for as long as he could.
"Leave him out of this," Shiro's voice shook slightly although he forced it to steady. He couldn't let her know how he really felt. She was going to break him, he knew that much and this time, with Keith being in space, he knew he was going to let her. Keith wasn't safe anymore, none of the Paladins were – and if Haggar were to discover Keith being half-Galra, he would have to give her even more incentive that he was better. The thought made his stomach churn – to degrade Keith in her eyes, he would have to make himself become the ideal that she wanted.
"That is not up to me to leave him out of this," Haggar returned calmly. "The other Paladins will eventually fall to their doom but if you cooperate, you can delay it just a little bit longer. After all," She reached out, grasping him by the chin. "Isn't that what a leader does?"
The way she said 'leader', the taunt was clear, but it didn't make her words any less true. He did think Voltron could find a way to beat the Galra, but this was war. No matter how strong Voltron was, people died in war. And there was no real guarantee for any of them making it out of this alive.
"If you leave him out of this, I'll listen," Shiro said, legs shaking slightly, and he had to fight to not fall to his knees and pull away from her. "Isn't sparing him worth having your Champion back?" He hated resorting to this – she was manipulative, but he was telling her what she wanted to hear. You could have been our greatest weapon. The fury was so clear that he could hear it replay in his mind. He heard the words as if they had been only spoken yesterday to him. Haggar watched him closely and he kept his expression clear of any emotion. Being in a military school had taught him how to hide his emotions – even if being a prisoner of war had gotten in the way of that because it was impossible to stay quiet when basic human rights were taken away. Remember your Garrison training.
"You were always worth it, Champion," Haggar returned calmly, releasing his chin, and waving her hand again. This time, it caused handcuffs to appear around his wrists, binding him and a spiked collar to appear around his neck. The spikes pointed outwards, so they did not cut into the skin, but he was sure it did something to ensure her control. That was all it was about, after all. Control. She had always liked being in charge, flaunting her power and being on top. Being intelligent gave her the advantage of doing just that. His cell door was opened.
"Follow me," Haggar instructed him, and he did so. Walking made him wince a little, feeling as if his legs were made of lead with each step that he took. It made no sense. She hadn't attacked him, then why did his whole body ache as if he had been a victim of several attacks? She hadn't even experimented on him…yet. His head was beginning to pound again and as he took another step, he stumbled.
"What…what have you done to me?" He spat out; the venom clear in his tone as he addressed her. Forget about not showing emotion, he deserved to know if he was going to be her little toy again, he needed to know this. She ignored him though and kept walking. He knew he should just force himself to follow but his legs felt like something incredibly sharp was stabbing into them constantly and whenever he walked, it was as if the sharp object sunk deeper into his skin. However, he could not see her anymore – had she left him in the middle of nowhere? That was not like her. She was up to something but what? Physical force wasn't in her usual methods of torture unless she ran out of everything else. His answer came soon enough though because his surroundings changed at that moment to a room with different types of syringes and liquids of strange colours in them. Some were purple, others an ivy green and just the sight made Shiro feel sick. Her powers must have grown because he did not recall her having the power to teleport him like this.
"I'm sure you have been wondering why you are feeling weaker, more tired even before I have run an experiment on you," Haggar said calmly as she gestured for him to lie down on the slab. "You will get the answers you seek."
Shiro hesitated but Keith's image flashed in the back of his mind and the hesitation was gone as if it had never been there in the first place. He moved to lie down, pushing down the bile that arose in his stomach as various tubes were attached to his arms. No matter how much he convinced himself that he was used to it, being a trophy still stung. It wasn't anything new because if it wasn't Haggar, it had been the Garrison, but it kept others safe even if it took away his choice.
"The reason you have been feeling weaker is I have been using the Black Lion's connection to Zarkon to take your quintessence too," Haggar said simply. "You are not a reliable one, Champion. But the weapon I create from your quintessence will be. He will exist only to do my bidding."
Shiro felt a chill run down his spine. "Weapon…what…what are you talking about?" He could feel his energy weaken even more with his blood going into the different tubes, but he forced his eyes to remain open. He couldn't fall unconscious, not yet.
"He will be a clone of you, with your body and abilities but his mind will be similar to the Centries," Haggar responded. "But you need not worry yourself with that. He is there to ensure you do not fail."
Shiro could feel his breathing begin to pick up and for the first time since this war had started, he found himself grateful as Haggar's sedation took hold and his world faded to black.
Haggar was Altean…Shiro was gone, and they had managed to defeat Zarkon. Despite everything that happened in the last couple of hours, the thing that Princess Allura kept coming back to - Haggar was Altean. Their powers were different yet similar at the same time. Managing to block the attacks from the other woman to the point where none of them hit her even though she had easily defeated a Blade member beside her was still a surprise to even her. Why was an Altean doing something like this though? Why was she harming so many people, supporting Zarkon like this? Alteans were meant to be preservers of life. And she was destroying so many lives with her smaller actions, only caring about what she wanted.
"Are you alright, princess?" Coran's voice brought her out of her thoughts as she was sitting in her room, and he had just come through the door.
Allura pulled her legs to her chest, resting her head against it. "I'm not sure." She didn't like lying to Coran, he was one of the few people that understood her the most and was the easiest to talk to. "I feel like everything I have ever known is being questioned the deeper we go into this war. After Zarkon's betrayal, I hated the Galra. I never trusted the Blades but learning that Keith was part-Galra changed my perspective on that. He proved to be nothing but kind and loyal in the end. But now, Haggar is Altean, and she's hurt so many people and destroyed lives. I don't understand."
Was she naïve? Had she been far too sheltered before this war had begun? To see things as black and white just because of her own experiences. Then why did it hurt? It had been a relief seeing Keith, knowing there could be good even amongst the Galra and making a pathway to understand the Blades. What their mission was and the fact that they were giving their lives to ensure this war ended just as much as the Paladins of Voltron wanted it to.
"War is complicated," Coran agreed softly. "It allows people to change perspectives. It's a lot easier to choose a side when the world isn't in a war because people reveal their darkest sides. The Galra may have thought positively of Zarkon once too because he wasn't always like this. He would have never been a Paladin if he was. But once he became corrupted, he sought only power. But it would be harder and take longer for people to understand that, so it was when it started. Making the choice between what is right and what is easy. It would have been easier for the Blades to simply support Zarkon. It was not the right choice, but it was most definitely the easy one."
"And Haggar? Why is she doing this?" Allura asked. She could explain Zarkon away as being power hungry, but the idea that an Altean could use the gifts given to them for such reasons made her stomach churn. Whilst she personally did not know all the history of how Altea came to be to how it is today, she had never known an Altean who had gone bad in her time. Until this moment.
"Good and evil exist everywhere," Coran said softly, moving to pull her into a hug. "Haggar is evil but that does not mean we all are. Just as there are good Galra, there can be evil Alteans."
It was simple enough when put like that, but it still stung that she was doing such things and she was powerful too. There was a time when she would blindly state that all Alteans were trustworthy, and they would never hurt another life while Galrans only took lives. But given recent events, the thought was a childish one because the war did not have such black and white definitions. And the war had taken a wild turn after the last battle. In more ways than one, especially since with Shiro missing, they no longer had Voltron to help them. This would be a problem if they did not find him soon. But how had he even just disappeared and that too from the Black Lion? Zarkon was gone, after all, so had he been captured or killed from the use of the bayard?
She frowned at the thought of him dying – she may have not known him long, but she had come to consider him as family, and she didn't want to lose any more family. She had lost enough in this war. She exhaled slightly.
"What do you think has happened to Shiro then?" Allura asked and Coran shook his head.
"It's difficult to say whether he's still alive and captured or if the battle took his life," Coran admitted honestly. "But we are looking into it. However, we should not just sit idle whilst we are looking for Shiro. The universe will need Voltron still. Zarkon may be gone but the war is far from over."
Allura nodded. She agreed with that and while her father had not been as military oriented as Coran was, he would always follow his orders too. Her relationship with Coran was a bit more friendly but she tried to follow in his footsteps how she had seen him lead during the beginning of the war. He was right then, and he was right now. Despite hiding most of his serious advice behind a façade of humour, keeping the morale high was also a military tactic. If soldiers fell into the depression that war brought then they would not be able to do what was necessary to win.
"We can do things side by side," Allura said softly. "I'm not sure how ready the Paladins are to replace Shiro, but we should at least get them to begin thinking about it." She knew it was easier said than done but they were the universe's only hope. They had to do their best given the circumstances. For all their sakes though, Shiro would be back with them soon. It was the best solution she had. If the alternative happened, she just hoped they could survive it somehow. Replacing Shiro would not be easy and if she was honest with herself, it was not something she wished to do.
Not again. This could not be happening again. He had just gotten Shiro back, they had spent so much time together so what had happened? How had his brother just disappeared? Keith stayed in the Hanger with the Black Lion but even she was quiet. He wasn't her Paladin so it was understandable that she wouldn't respond to him, but she had listened to him when it came to Shiro once, so maybe there was a way to communicate with her. She and Shiro had gotten so much closer when he and the others had been at Space Mall. But ever since he had disappeared, she had been quiet. All the lions had been silent – even Red although he could feel her rage sometimes. Keith had never minded the quiet – it had been calming but even he understood this quiet was more cutting. Black was in a sitting-down position, staring straight ahead as if looking at something he could not see. Was she trying to hint something to him? Was Shiro that way? Guessing wasn't the right way to go about this though. He needed to be sure.
"Please," Keith said, stepping forward, and pressing his head against the Black Lion since she did not have her shield up to him. It meant there was a way he could get through to her. She might be the only one who had some answers for him. "I need to know. Is Shiro alive? Where did he go? Please, Black. I need some answers." A tinge of desperation entered his tone, he needed to know. Even if the answer was one that would break him, it was better he broke now when he was alone than in front of the team. They were his friends, maybe but Shiro was family.
The thought of Shiro dying here made his stomach churn. After his father died, he had no one for so long until that moment when Shiro put a hand on his head, sheltering him. The moment he decided to adopt him. He had the other Paladins, but he couldn't do this without Shiro. He didn't even know he wanted to be a Paladin anymore if it meant going on without his brother.
'Keith, calm down' Black's voice almost made him jump and he stared at her. Had she really responded or was it just his imagination? He couldn't have a link with Black too, could he? He was already the Red Paladin, after all.
"I need to know…is Shiro alive?" Keith asked again. As long as his brother was alive, he could work with it.
'He was, he didn't die in that battle, Keith' Black spoke again and this time, Keith knew it wasn't his imagination and his heart flooded with relief at these words. Shiro was alive. Black sounded sure of that, and he may be a little hurt when they get to him, but he was still out there. Things would be okay, and they would go back to the way they were. He wasn't going to lose his brother again.
'He didn't die' Black repeated. 'However, the one who captured him, I am not sure you and the other Paladins are ready to face her just yet.'
What did that mean? They were the Paladins of Voltron, they could face anything – they had defeated Zarkon, after all as challenging as it was, it was still something they had managed. Then who was this enemy that they couldn't defeat?
"Who is it?" Keith couldn't help but ask. He could train, and get stronger, he owed Shiro that much to save him from whoever had captured him because there was no way in hell, he was leaving his brother trapped with the Galra.
'Zarkon's witch, Haggar' Black replied. 'She has a lot of magic, really dark magic on her side and while you are strong, you're not that strong' She sounded almost sad as she was saying this, but he hadn't known her long enough to be able to tell this.
A part of him wanted to fight this – they were Voltron. There was no way they could lose to anyone, no matter how strong they were. But Shiro would always want him to be prepared – he wanted them all to be prepared. And if Shiro was captured by Haggar, they wouldn't have Voltron to get them back. It was almost the same situation as when they had to go rescue Allura but more dangerous because then, they had a risk of losing Voltron. Taking Voltron to Zarkon was still not the best idea. They should have found another way to save Allura. But because of having Voltron, the Galra considered them to be somewhat of a strength even if that was the danger too.
He shook his head. Black said they needed to get stronger because Haggar was strong, and he understood that, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. He had seen how strong the Blade of Marmora were. It was one of the reasons he had decided to give up the blade because they needed powerful allies. He needed to talk to the others about this and see if they had any ideas on how to go about this. This wasn't something he could think of alone, after all.
"I'll be right back, Black," Keith said softly. He would ask Allura if they could hold the Paladin meeting. He now knew where Shiro was, after all, and that would have to be the start of it.