A/N: Hello! Sorry for the delay, work has been grasping most of my time, plus my phone likes to delete stuff. Anyhow, this authors note was supposed to be in the last chapter; however, I forgot it. But no matter. So, just to fill you all in in case this chapter takes a while, Keith has a sister! Rae finally told him the truth and this next chapter will go more in depth to their relationship as siblings. Oh, and then there was the surprise of Rae's special powers, which will also be covered more. This next chapter will shed light on a lot, so keep reading! Thank you all so much for your patience!
"Wait, so why didn't you tell me sooner?" Keith's curiosity made Rae smile. He hadn't changed hardly at all.
"I was waiting for the right moment. I wanted to tell you the moment I saw you, but that would've distracted you from your mission. Same for Cryskos."
He was still baffled by the news. "I have a sister...wait, so you're three years older than me?" She nodded, a soft giggle escaping her lips. "So, how were we as siblings? Did we get along or were you a bratty sister?"
Rae stopped and glared at him, smacking the back of his head. "I was not a bratty sister, I treated you like you were my own. And you'll see exactly what I mean." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the training room, the others following closely, trying not to laugh at Rae's actions.
As the doors opened, she placed him in the middle of the room. Coran said that he had devices to open the mind, and she wanted Keith to understand the past that was taken from him. Hopefully, it would help.
As Coran handed her the crown-like device, she placed it atop her head and sent a small shock through it to amplify its effect. In an instant, the room shifted to a different setting. Everyone gasped, not expecting to be engulfed in her memories.
The setting was a house. The walls were cream colored with a few pictures of a tall tan-skinned man with brown hair and eyes, and one of a little girl with uneven pigtails and two missing teeth, smiling brightly as a bird was perched on her finger. Keith walked around the room, gawking at how real it all looked. He was even able to pick up the picture of his sister, laughing at how she looked. "You were real proud to catch that bird, huh?"
Rae smiled at the picture. "I was indeed. I had just turned three and it just randomly landed on me, I thought it was the coolest thing."
An eruption of laughter sounded from down the hall, followed by the pounding of footstep as the tiny girl ran into the living room, twirling in her bright blue dress. She then took off back down the hall. Rae and the others followed the "little Rae" into what appeared to be a baby's room, where little Rae was on her tiptoes, with a stool under her, leaning over the crib. "Good mornin', Keith!" She smiled widely. The others looked in the crib and a collection of "awes" sounded as they gazed upon the adorableness of baby Keith.
Baby Keith smiled and squealed at the sight of his big sister. The group watched as Rae played with her brother until the tall man came behind her. "Now, Rae, what have I told you about gettin' him riled up this early in the mornin'?" His Texan accent foreign to the others' ears.
Little Rae pouted. "Sorry daddy." She stepped down from the stool and hugged the man. He hugged her back, then rubbed the fatigue from his eyes.
"I... guess you can play with him, but only for a little bit. At least until I can get breakfast ready."
The light that shined in the child's eyes at her father's sudden change of heart made the team stare in awe. They had never seen Rae like this, never thought they would. She was always so composed and held back, even when she laughed or smiled there was always a glint of something behind it. The closest she's ever come to showing a light like this was around Keith, which now made perfect sense to everyone.
Rae watched and smiled as her younger self picked the baby up out of the crib and carried him with slight difficulty to the living room to play. While everyone else was watching the two play and giggle together, Rae's attention shifted to the memory of her father. Seeing the man stop and think for a minute on what to make where his children would eat without much fuss made her smile, but it also brought sadness to her heart. The man before her has no memory that she even exists. It broke her heart.
She wasn't the only one watching him. Keith stood next to her, the same sad look on his face. "I miss him."
"I do, too," Rae replied as she wrapped one arm around her brother and pulled him into a small hug. It was probably awkward for him, but she didn't know what else to do. His mind must be reeling with questions, yet he does not speak, she thought to herself. "Maybe we can find him after all of this is over. I sure would like to see him again. It's been so long."
He nods and steals one more glance at his dad before the scenery changes and instead of a house, the group stood on fresh green grass, facing a playground.
It shocked everybody to feel the summer breeze and see bright blue skies with the fluffiest white clouds. The scenery resembled a painting with how gorgeous is was, and it took the Paladins a moment to grasp why they were here. It was another one of Rae's memories and apparently one she remembered a little too well as she turned as white as the clouds.
There on the playground was little Rae, a few years older, but still as cheerful and cheeky as possible swinging on the swing set. She leaped off, landing on the mulch with the grace of a ballerina before running toward the monkey bars and scaling them like it was nothing. She was almost as agile as the Rae now is, which Shiro found made sense as she had to have learned it from somewhere. He watched the girl carefully, hoping to understand why Rae didn't like this memory. All she was doing was running around and playing by herself. That is until she accidentally stumbled into three boys at least two years older than her.
She quickly apologized for bumping into them, but they were not so kind. "Watch where you're going, freak!" the blonde one shrieked as the dark-haired boy to his right shoved her into the dirt, ruining the pretty green sundress she wore.
"I…" she began quietly, not wanting to anger them further. "I said I was sorry." Tears brimmed her eyes though she didn't dare let them shed.
"You will be," said the little redhead who look an awful lot like Ron Weasley. He walked over and picked up a rubber ball, chucking it at the little girl's head.
A small "ouch" escaped her lips as she rubbed the spot of contact. This only made the boys grin and pick up anything they could find, throwing the objects at the girl. Little Rae couldn't move, so instead she curled into a ball, her forehead touching the ground as she prayed for the torment to stop.
The group stood and watched in horror, finally understanding why this memory was so tough for Rae to go through again.
As soon as the boys stopped and walked away, Rae ran the opposite direction finally letting the tears flow. The gang followed her back to her house where she barged through the door and ran up the stairs before her father could ask her what was wrong.
"Yeah," Rae started, rocking on her heels. "I was bullied a lot. I didn't fit in anywhere but at home, and I never liked letting dad or Keith see me cry."
"Well, I must've been really curious," Keith replied, pointing over to his younger self watching his big sister cry into her pillow through the crack of the door. A look of anger flashed across the kid's face, but to the Paladins it was too adorable to take seriously.
Rae frowned. "It still kills me that he saw me like that. He only knew me as his strong, loving big sis up until that moment."
Keith turned his head, a wide grin spread across his face. "Yeah, now all I see if a huge dork who is more impulsive than I am." In response, Rae stuck her tongue out at him, then punched him in the arm. He rubbed the spot, almost surprised that it hurt.
The setting changed once again, back to the park, but time had passed. Little Rae was doing cartwheels in the grass, but kept looking over her shoulder once she was right side up. Little Keith was on the swing set, begging his sister to push him as high as the other kids. She smiled in return and ran over to push him, only to be intercepted by the same three boys from before. Her smile vanished, and she tried to get past them. The boy on the far right grabbed her by her arm and shoved her to the ground.
Before any of them could speak or even laugh at her, little Keith shot out of the seat, stormed over to the boys and started yelling "Don't touch my sister!" The boys were stunned for a second before the biggest one stepped forward and punched the kid square in the nose, sending him to the ground in tears.
"You know," Rae began as an evil smirk appeared. "My dad told me that bullies were just people who messed with the ones that were actually stronger than themselves. They take pleasure in making their victims feel weak and useless, and the only way to stop them is to show them your strength. Let's just say I took his advice." Little Rae shook herself out of shock at the sight of her baby brother's bloody nose and got up. A glint of hatred crossed the little girl's face as she planted her feet and swung her fist with all her might at the boy, knocking his two front teeth out. "That's for hitting my brother!" The one on the right acted and punched her in the jaw, only to be surprised that she barely flinched and instead reared her foot back and brought it up between the boy's legs. Shiro flinched at the girl's ruthless action but overall was impressed. She fought with all the fury that her older self did.
The three boys, after begging for forgiveness, ran off in tears. Rae turned and kneeled in front of her brother, tearing off a piece of her shirt and stuffing it up his nose to stop the bleeding. "You were really brave, but you shouldn't have done that. You could have gotten worse than a bloody nose." She carefully wiped his tears and helped him stand.
"Sorry…" he hung his head and averted his eyes from her concerning expression. "I just wanted to protect you. You cried because of them and I wanted them to pay for making you sad."
"Oh, Keith," she pulls him into a hug. "That's probably the sweetest thing I've ever heard. You're my little knight. You'll always there for me, and I will always be right by your side to keep you from harm."
Little Keith frowns. "No, the princess isn't supposed to protect the knight, the knight is supposed to protect the princess!" He pushed himself away from her only to dust himself off before standing as straight and tall as a guard. "I am your knight, and no one will harm my princess."
Little Rae giggled. "But then what job does my prince have? I cannot become a queen someday without a dashing prince by my side."
"You don't need a prince. Boys are stupid." Keith looked almost jealous of the idea of Rae having a "prince".
She laughed and pat his head. "You and daddy are boys, you know. However, you two are smart and all I need. Other boys are stupid." She stood and wiped off her dress, then planting her feet into the ground while pride flashed in her eyes. "I will be the best queen there is, and I'll do so without any boy but my trusty knight by my side! All hail the queen!"
"All hail the queen!" Little Keith replied. The two kids then ran from the playground, laughing all the way home.
Lance started laughing. "Oh, this is too rich! Such a little cutie, weren't you Keith?" Keith blushed from embarrassment and went to punch Lance, but Hunk plucked him away.
"Lance, stop being mean. Keith, we talked about the punching thing. It won't help anyone."
Rae just shook her head. "That's his go-to move for any situation. He used to be more aggressive in one particular situation." She grinned almost wickedly at her brother, who looked ready to beat her, too. She laughed as the subtle tease once again made his cheeks pink and he finally looked away from the others.
The light mood suddenly darkened as the scene changed once again. This time everyone seemed cautious. Even Rae didn't know what was going on, until she saw little Rae pull her brother down the hallway, fear written all over her face. Just as the front door was kicked open, Rae ripped the device off her head and threw it on the ground, cutting off the memory.
"What was that?" Keith was confused. Who was she running from? And why did she look so scared? Could it be that that was the memory of her capture? Dozens of questions swam in his brain, but he knew by the look on her face, Rae wouldn't answer.
"Not everything is meant to be seen," she replied, then turned and quickly left the room before anyone could stop her. It was one of the most traumatic memories of her life, she didn't want Keith or any of the others to witness it. She also didn't want to watch the day her life practically ended again. It was too much, even for her
Her bed called to her and she could not refuse its warmth and comfort. She made her way to her quarters, changed into a simple purple nightgown, and crawled into bed. After engulfing herself in her blanket, she closed her eyes, but sleep did not repel the darkness.
She was in her house, her back pressed against the wall to conceal herself in the shadows. The sun was just started to set, which gave her a perfect hiding spot from the monsters. Keith was in her sight, hidden under the table, cloaked by the cloth that draped almost to the floor. He peeked his head out to whisper something, but she snapped at him to be quiet. There were monsters in her house and she would die before letting them get their hands on her little brother. Clutching her bow tightly, an arrow already notched, she waited.
Footsteps grew louder as the giant purple beings got closer, sniffing the air to try and find them, but due to the numerous open windows, it was tough for them to catch the scent of their prey. Rae was thankful it was cleaning day, otherwise they would have been sitting ducks. By the sound of it, there were four of them. That was four creatures too many, Rae wasn't sure if she could fight them all off, but she had to try.
Her heart stopped once two of the creatures snarled and turned, walking into the room she and her brother occupied. She tried her best to not shake in fear at seeing the large purple beasts up close. The more she looked at them, the more she noticed that they looked like her, or at least the one side of her. Her father always told her she was different, that part of her DNA didn't come from this world, so maybe she shared it with these creatures. Maybe that's why they were here, to retrieve her. She always joked that she was a princess, but maybe it was real, and these were royal guards, here to escort her to her throne. Even she rolled her eyes at her ridiculous hypothesis. There was no way that could be true.
Her mental beatdown on herself was paused when she noticed the beasts were walking toward the table.
Keith.
One of the creatures started to raise up the tablecloth, but Rae was quick to act. She pulled back on the bowstring and aimed, letting the arrow fly right through the creature's hand while it dug into the wood of the table. "Run!" She shot another arrow at the other beast, who caught it before it could embed in his shoulder.
Bolting out of the room, she made sure her brother was at her side as she tried to keep the monsters back. Her arrows ran out quickly; luckily, she had a backup. As the beast with the largest ears came toward her, she whipped out a small hunting knife her dad told her to use in case of emergencies and swiped it upright, slashing the creature's eye. He howled in pain and shoved her with more might than a bull, or so it felt, sending her through the wall and into the backyard. Keith ran after her, checking to make sure she was okay before grabbing the knife out of her hand and holding it out to distance the monsters.
The four creatures cornered them. One stood before the others, smaller with a feminine figure. She kept a mask on, shielding her face from the children. Pulling out a gun, she aimed it at Keith first. Rae moved to get in front of him, but the one with the missing eye held her back. "Let me go! Don't you dare touch him!"
The lady pulled the trigger, but instead of a bullet coming out like Rae had thought, a beam of light encased her brother, scanning him. The light turned red, and the lady shook her head before turning to Rae and doing the same scan. Rae had no idea what they were looking for, her and her brother both were different, she just could shift her appearance to look similar to these creatures. Keith thought it was the coolest thing and seemed to envy the shift, but Rae thought she was cursed by her mother.
Green light shined all around her, and the woman growled as if she was disappointed. The put the gun away. "Sendek, take her away. The witch has finally found the perfect subject." The lady spoke with such distaste that Rae cringed. Whoever she was, she didn't like Rae and it was made very clear. The one-eyed creature named Sendek scooped the child up and began to carry her off. Keith ran after Rae, kicking the beast to try and free his sister. The other two grabbed ahold of him, dragging him back to the woman. Rae started fighting Sendek's grip when the lady pulled out a syringe and drove it into her little brother's neck.
"No! Keith!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, making Sendek cringe. Unfortunately for her, he didn't loosen his grip.
"Hey!" A deeper voice shouted out. Rae followed the voice and found her father standing on the porch with a gun in his hands. The beasts snarled at him as he raised the rifle. "Get yer mitts off my kids!" He shot one in the leg, but before he could fire another shot, the woman snuck up behind him and drove another syringe into his neck.
Rae watched as her dad crumbled to the floor, mumbling curses at the woman. She ignored him and signaled for her team to follow back to their ship. Rae pounded on the creature's back, screaming and crying as her father and brother faded from her sight.
Keith leaped out of bed, startled by the screams echoing the hallway. He bolted out of the room, passing Shiro as he ran toward the screams. As he turned the corner, a tan-skinned figure slammed into him, sending them both to the floor in a pile of limbs. Lance immediately apologized, backing off quickly in fear that he angered the dark-haired boy.
Keith looked at him, confused. "What are you screaming about?" He and Lance had recently become good friends, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to at least punch him for interrupting his slumber.
The fear in Lance's eyes returned. "Oh yeah. I was running from the damn Red Queen!"
A soft giggle made Lance jump behind Keith, nearly shaking like a Chihuahua. Keith followed his friend's eyes, and standing in front of them was a hologram of a girl, about ten years old, encased in a pink-purple light. She stepped closer to the boys, still smiling and giggling. Keith held his dagger out in front of him in case the child was dangerous.
"Come on," the little girl chirped. "Play with me."
"We don't want to play, little girl." Keith's eyes never left the child, and he soon realized who she was, or was meant to resemble. "Rae, it's time for you to stop."
Lance leaned closer, almost whispering in the other boy's ear. "This thing has the whole castle under its control. Pidge is fighting computer cables, and Hunk got stuck in Coran's library. Even Allura is stuck, but I couldn't help any of them. That's how it found me. I don't know what it wants."
"Where is Rae," Shiro asked as he pulled the boys further from the hologram. The thing was freaking him out, and he didn't want to end up in a trap like the others.
Keith spoke in a whisper, careful not to tip the hologram off. "I'm pretty sure she's sleeping. You don't think she's doing this, do you?"
Shiro shook his head. "Not intentionally." He looked over to Rae's door, inching toward it carefully. The hologram caught on quick, unfortunately, and sparks flew from the body. Before it could strike, Shiro grabbed the two boys from the collar of their shirts and pulled them into Rae's room. He closed the door quickly to keep the creepy hologram out, only to turn and find an equally horrifying sight.
Rae laid in bed, bolts of quintessence springing from her body, zapping a few inches from Lance's feet. Shiro was careful, but hasty as he made his way to her and shook her awake, ignoring the shocking pain of the bolts. She woke suddenly, and darkness filled the castle. In the few seconds that it took for the backup generator to kick on, the four stood in silence. Shiro didn't know where to begin. His team was in danger because of one girl with strange magic. Keith's sister or not, he was wondering if bringing her on board was a clever idea after all. He cared about her, she was sort of like family to him, but the dangers of her powers could be too big of a risk.
The look on Rae's face once the lights came back on was the only thing to change his mind. She looked scared, nearly in tears as she looked from him to Keith to Lance. Shiro knew now that it was a nightmare that triggered the hologram and all the other weird stuff. He felt bad for her, knowing all too well how the PTSD worked, and there was no telling all she's seen and went through. He could only imagine the horrors she fell victim to.
Rae looked around, noticing small singe marks on Lance and Shiro's shirts. "I took over the ship, didn't I? Oh god, I'm so sorry. I'll fix anything that was damaged." She hung her head in guilt.
"Don't worry about it," Shiro replied calmly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He wanted to wipe the tears from her cheeks, but resisted due to the probability that Lance would call it a romantic gesture. "We'll leave you alone to try to get more sleep, but don't hesitate to come to me if your brain gets the best of you. I'm a good listener." And with that, he led the boys out of the room and retreated to his own quarters. The holes in his shirt seemed to grow bigger, so he stripped it off quickly before it caught fire. Just as he went to grab another shirt, there was a soft knock on the door. He opened the door, temporarily forgetting about the shirt.
Rae stood there, mouth agape as she stared at his bare chest. Shiro suddenly regretted his decision; nevertheless, he remained still, not wanting to be rude.
However, she didn't speak. Instead, she reached out, grazing her fingertips along the border of his robotic arm. He thought of moving her hand away, but she reacted before he could. "I'm sorry," she spoke softly, her voice filled with kindness and concern. Her eyes looked over the many scars, examining them before scrunching up her face in disapproval. Then, she wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him firmly. "I'm sorry," she repeated, this time her voice cracked, and he could feel tears against his skin. He was stunned. She didn't do things like this. It made him worry something was wrong, but for the moment, he hugged her back, hoping it would help.
"You have that arm because of me. That's why it glows whenever I'm close and use my powers. It's reacting to its source." Shiro pulled away from the hug, shocked by the dark-haired girl's words. "They had to test another human to see if I would survive the procedure, and they found you. Once the results came back from your experimentation they immediately started on me. It's my fault they took your arm."
He took a minute to process her confession. "It's okay. If I didn't have this happen, I might've never found the others and became the Black Paladin. Voltron might not have existed. It's not your fault either. You didn't tell them to chop my arm off, that was their choice." He wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled down at her. "Everything happens for a reason. It may have sucked being a prisoner, but I learned a lot from it. I'm a better man now because of it."
Rae smiled, then moved away from him, blushing softly. "Right, of course. Sorry…" She turned quickly and took off down the hall. Shiro stood confused for a moment, then shut his door and crawled into bed without another thought.
The next quintant consisted of cleaning and repairing the damage done to the castle. Surprisingly, most of the mess came from the paladins trying to get out of their confined areas. Shiro helped as much as he could, but Rae seemed to have everything taken care of. With a few swipes of her hand, she had the whole castle sparkling. Allura took a look around and was amazed by how clean everything was. "And I boosted the system, so everything will run much faster and stronger," Rae added with much glee. It wasn't often that she smiled, but she seemed proud of herself.
"I must say I'm impressed. Well done." Allura and Coran took their positions and the castle took off. The others also sat, gazing at their screens.
Pidge typed away at her keyboard, pulling up a picture of a strange-looking building. "While everyone else was asleep, I stayed up and was looking over more places for us to go, places with prisoners and I came across this. It appears to be a prison, much bigger than Beta Traz. I can't tell how many people are in there, but if we're trying to save those held captive by the Galra, then I say it's worth a search."
Everyone's eyes went to Shiro, awaiting orders. Shiro stood tall, not hesitating to answer. "I agree. Allura, Coran, get us to that prison. We'll scan it from a distance for entry points, then go from there." Allura nodded and the team prepared for the jump. No one was sure of what this prison held, but Rae had a feeling that it wasn't going to be an uneventful mission.
A/N: Hello again! Apologies for the delay yet again. I've been under numerous amounts of stress, and have had little to no free time. Regardless, I have finally completed this chapter. This one, as I said before, peaked into a bit of Rae's past, as well as showed a little bit how Rae's powers work. FYI, the Red Queen reference came from Resident Evil. I found it would be a unique touch. Anyway, the next chapter will introduce a very special character, and expand the Voltron universe. I will try to post another chapter by the end of the month if not sooner. For those still following, I appreciate your support and will try my best not to disappoint you all. Until next time!