After the first Galra attack on Arus in an attempt to get the lions, Allura sent us to do team bonding exercises. I was so excited (note the sarcasm). The bonding exercises consisted in getting to trust each other. I already did, growing up as a demigod means to trust anyone on your side, unless you are fairly positive there's a spy.
So far, it had been terrible. First, we tried out this head thingies that would reflect what we thought about most. We were supposed to think about our lions and make them form Voltron.
I was trying hard, but my mind always drifted over to Nico and Hazel. I wanted to know if they were ok, demigods could get attacked any second. So, naturally, the images of a smiling Hazel and Nico appeared in the image. Luckily, none of them noticed, they were too concentrated on getting their minds clear. I concentrated hard on Red, and the image gradually changed to my Lion.
That exercise failed. The next one was to trust each other to get through an invisible maze. It reminded me of the Labyrinth, where you didn't know where each corridor would lead you. I shook those memories away. Ultimately, that exercise failed too.
The next one were drones that shot you, we had to protect our teammates. I took out my bayard and it assumed the form of my Stygian Iron sword Hades gave me. I quickly slashed towards the drones. I saw Pidge fall through a hole in the floor. I continued to slash until one hit me in the back. The exercise failed, again.
Allura decided to get us to our Lions and connect with them. That one also failed, Shiro was the only one who managed it. Then, she fired the Castle's defenses at us so we could form Voltron, but failed again.
As a last attempt, she took us to the training deck and made us fight the 'gladiator'. It went for Pidge first, then Hunk, then Lance and Shiro, and lastly, me.
When it charged the whole scenery changed and I was back in the Manhattan Bridge, four other campers laid behind me, wounded. The gladiator turned into a dracanae. It charged towards me, but I was faster. I quickly slashed at it, but it didn't turn into dust. I was confused. I slashed again, this time on the chest, and it collapsed. My vision returned to reality and saw the Gladiator defeated in front of me while Allura and the Paladins looked at me in awe.
I stared at the Gladiator, if we had any battles and I got flashbacks, it wouldn't be good. If that hit hadn't landed, I would have used Hell Fire, and that would take some explanation.
"-ith! Keith!" I turned to Lance, realizing I had zoned out. "Wow, dude! Where did you learn that?!" Lance exclaimed.
"Learn what?" I said, getting into my I'm-so-clueless act.
"The awesome sword moves! It's like you've been practicing all your life!" Pidge added.
"I don't know, instinct? Before I entered the Garrison, I had to hunt to survive" That wasn't a lie; at the Labyrinth, Nico and I hunted for food.
"It could be from that. Nevertheless, outstanding work Keith" Allura turned to the others. "That was set for an Altean child, you need to train more"
After that, she let us go eat, handcuffed to each other! It ended up in a food fight, but we worked together so Allura considered it a good work.
The next morning, I woke up early and went to grab some breakfast. Then, I went to the training deck and viewed the levels. Level 1 was the easiest and Level 100 was the hardest. I started on level 1 and defeated the robot easily. I skipped the levels from 10 to 10, until I got stuck in Level 70.
Since they weren't monsters and you had to hit a specific spot on their chest for them to deactivate. It was harder, but I managed. I finished off the robots from Level 75 and went to drink some water. "Level 75 completed" I heard the robotic voice announce.
It was then I noticed that the rest would be arriving soon. I quickly went to the control panel in the room and hid my progress.
After lunch, I went to my room to IM Hazel. Knowing her, she would be worried because I haven't called her in a week. I opened the hot water and pointed a flashlight towards the mist. I hoped IMing worked this far.
"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering and show me Hazel Levesque at Camp Jupiter"
The mist formed Hazel's worried face. Behind her were the rest of the seven, Nico and Reyna.
"Hey guys" I called.
"KEITH! Where have you been, we've been so worried-" Hazel started but I cut her off.
"I'm fine. It's just something came up, that's all"
She relaxed a little, "What things?"
I decided to just go straight to the point, "Aliens are real"
Jason looked like someone had hit him with a brick (it wouldn't have been the first time).
"Well..." Percy started, "not the weirdest thing that has happened"
"Anything we should worry about?" Annabeth asked.
"Well, there is this race trying to rule the known universe, so in case they attack Earth, just hide in Bunker 9. Although I doubt they would be able to see through the mist"
She nodded.
"So you're in outer space now? That's SO COOL!" Nico exclaimed. "I mean, cool" he put on a disinterested face.
I chuckled. It reminded me of when he was a little kid. Now he was always gloomy, not that I can complain because I'm probably the same.
We chatted about the most recent events at Camp, such as how the Aphrodite Cabin shipped Lou Ellen and Cecil. If the Aphrodite Cabin shipped you with someone, you would most likely end up together *cough* Percabeth *cough* Solangelo *cough* Tratie *cough*. Anyways, we were making fun of Jason and the stapler when the Castle's alarms blared.
"Paladins, to your Lions! The Galra are attacking!" Allura's voice blared through the Castle.
"Sh*t. I have to go, call you later!" I cut the connection, put on my armor, and went to Red's hangar.
We defeated the ship pretty quickly, then went to the bridge.
"Good work Paladins!" Allura congratulated with a smile. "It's time for a bonding exercise!"
No's and why's were heard, but we went to the lounge room as she instructed and sat.
"Today, we will share about our childhood"
I mentally panicked. They can normally tell when I'm lying and the only reason the Garrison didn't ask for much detail was because Sam said he had already checked my information. I took a deep breath and proceeded to come out with a cover story. I didn't even realize everyone had finished already.
"What about you Keith?" Allura asked.
"Well, my mom left me and my father when I was a baby. I don't really know much about her. Then, when I was 7, my father died in a fire. They put me in the foster system, but I ran away. I found an old shack by the desert and hunted to survive. Then I managed to get into the Garrison and Shiro found me. Then, he went on Kerberos and I got expelled. After that, I spent all my time researching the Blue Lion's cave. Then the escape pod with Shiro crash landed. I went to find him and met Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. We went to the cave and a crazy pilot drove the Blue Lion through a wormhole. You guys know the rest"
"Hey, I'm not a crazy pilot!" Lance complained.
~time skip to a mission~
Shiro, Pidge and I were on a mission to get some Galra intel from one of their bases. Pidge was busy with the computer while Shiro and I stood guard outside the door.
Galra soldiers came in and saw us, so obviously, they attacked. Somehow, they managed to knock out Shiro. I didn't like it, but it was best. I then stuck the doors so Pidge wouldn't get out easily and I would know when she was trying to. I quickly summoned Hell Fire and threw it at the nearest Galra. He shrieked in pain before dissolving to ashes. I summoned more and the Galra ran away. Just in time, because as soon as they left, Pidge started to open the door. I quickly put the fire out and went to check on Shiro. I knew he was just knocked out because there was no death aura around him, but I had to keep up appearances.
"Is he ok?" Pidge asked once she managed to open the door.
"Yeah, just knocked out. But it'll best if we get back to the Castle to check just in case"
~time skip to after a mission when Lance, Shiro, and Keith were wounded but Keith was the last one standing and used his powers~
Third person POV
Shiro and Lance had gotten out of the healing pods a day ago. Now, the Paladins and Allura were in front of Keith's healing pod. Apparently, apart from a few injuries he had major exhaustion. As if he had ran for days without stopping. He was obviously having a nightmare since he kept muttering to himself and whimpering.
"I don't get this!" Pidge complained. "He was perfectly fine before the attack; he would at least have gotten out before you two" she said pointing at Lance and Shiro.
"Well, Keith did get rid of all the Galra back there, so it is no surprise he's exhausted" Hunk added.
"I don't like the way he's shaking, Allura" Shiro started. "Is everything ok with him?"
"It seems to be a nightmare" she explained. "The weird thing is that some of this injuries are not from any battle, probably from a younger age. Do any of you know anything?"
"We met at the Garrison, he never talked about his past. Apparently, he's an orphan. He was always defensive" Shiro explained.
"We have to do something about this nightmare. If he keeps moving it will interfere with the healing process" Allura informed us.
"Is there any way to see what he's thinking?" Shiro asked concerned. "Maybe then we will be able to help him"
"The heling pod should be able to project what he's dreaming about" Allura confirmed.
After a few ticks of typing, a hologram screen popped up in the center of the room. The sight was horrible.
It was the most horrible place any of them had ever seen. A younger looking Keith was chained to the ground and covered in blood and bruises. At his side, was an old jar. A man that could only be described as monstrous came into view.
"So, still won't cooperate, I see" Tartarus said.
Keith weakly glared at him.
"Let him go" he growled. Tartarus only smiled.
The scene changed to one where Keith seemed to be on the brink of unconsciousness. Tartarus seemed to close his eyes, and a scowl appeared on his face.
"Seems like your friends have made it to Rome" he spoke to a knocked-out Keith. "Put him with the other one" Tartarus ordered.
A giant appeared out of nowhere and tossed a barely awake Keith into the jar. The view changed to the inside. There was another boy, similar to Keith, seemingly dead. The boy opened his eyes and looked at his brother. He searched one of his jacket's pockets and handed him a seed. A pomegranate seed. Keith seemed to understand, and with one last look at Nico, he swallowed the seed and became so still and pale he might as well be dead.
The Hospital Wing became silent. All of them had felt it wasn't a dream, but a memory. They had tears in their eyes, none of them could imagine all the torture the Red Paladin had gone through. Then, their eyes got misty, and all they could remember was seeing something very bad, but not what it was.
Keith's POV
I heard blurred noises. I opened my eyes and heard the familiar hiss of a healing pod. I was caught by a pair of arms. I looked up and saw Lance.
I haven't noticed before, but I was shaking. The Tartarus nightmares had come back. "Happy thoughts, think happy thoughts" I repeated in my head. I thought about Camp, about my siblings, and how Nico and I would mess with the year-round campers in Halloween. I slowly calmed down and stood up.
After tons of I'm ok's, the rest left to do whatever they had to do. Later, we were eating dinner when suddenly Pidge shouted.
"I GOT A LEAD ON MATT!"
~time skip when they meet the Blades~
I was half Galra. I couldn't believe it. Now, everything made sense. The way the gods warily looked at me on Earth, and why my mom had to leave. Now I would be an outcast not only at Camp because of my father, but now at my new family, Voltron, because of my mother.
The team was shocked to hear the news. I knew Shiro didn't care, and I was thankful for that. Allura became a bit distant but I don't mind, at least she didn't insult me. The rest acted the same if you exclude they would sometimes glance at me whenever they referred to the Galra Empire. I acted as if I didn't notice, nor cared.
~big time skip~
The Blades and us had come up with a plan to defeat Zarkon. After completing the mission, we didn't find Shiro in his Lion. The familiar ringing in my ears came, and my eyes widened in realization. But something felt wrong.
I walked back to the Black Lion's hangar, and felt something coming from the lion. I looked at it and its eyes turned yellow, meaning it was awake. Then, I knew. The Lion had taken Shiro's spirit inside it.
~After Keith joins the Blades and is stuck in the Quantum Abyss with Krolia~
We had been here for almost two years. The rest probably thought us dead. We were sitting in front of the small fire we had made. I don't know why, but I decided to bring up my father.
"So, how did you two meet?" I asked curiously.
She looked surprised, but answered nonetheless. "I had crash landed on Earth, I hid in the shadows. As you know, Hades knows everything from the shadows. It was the year 1930."
"So you knew he was a god?"
"He told me when I was pregnant with you"
"Why- why did you leave?"
She sighed and met my eyes. "When you were one, another Galra fleet had picked up the Blue Lion's signal. I had to make sure they didn't arrive here. Your dad knew too, so he asked the cyclops to build an escape pod. He said that the three of you needed to stay together"
I didn't question who the other two were, it was obvious it was Bianca and Nico.
"I used it to get outside the atmosphere and snuck in the ship. Then, I erased all traces of the Blue Lion, so the fleet turned back. I messaged Kolivan, and told him the mission was successful" she finished. I nodded in understanding.
Just then, we arrived at some sort of planet near the abyss. We looked at each other, knowing we were going in there. I grabbed my blade, called for the Space Wolf, and prepared to leave.
~After he goes back to the Castle with Krolia and Romelle and are now heading to Earth and Krolia went to the Blades~
Allura transferred Shiro's soul into his clone's body. Luckily, it worked. We all were now heading to Earth. I couldn't believe it; I would see Nico and Hazel and Will and Kayla and the rest of the Seven! Heck, I would even see Clarisse again, I had missed her battle challenges.
We were a month away of reaching the entrance to the Solar System, when an all too familiar feeling started. I screamed. The only one in my Lion was Kosmo. He whined, concerned. The ringing was getting stronger by the second. Red had stopped moving, causing the others to stop too. I had been having dreams of the Galra reaching Earth, that must have been why someone died. There was no doubt on who it was, Adam.
The campers would have waited to analyze the enemy and get to know more about it. The Garrison would just follow protocol. I barely registered the rest of the team going inside Red, they were shouting something, but Kosmo was barking at them and holding them back. Then, I passed out.
I had a dream while passed out. I was at a fighter ship, a Garrison fighter ship. Adam was piloting it and attacking something. A Galra Cruiser, I realized. I didn't want to see what happens next, even though I already knew. I closed my eyes and felt everything explode, along with Adam.
I gasped and sat up. I was still in Red, thankfully, but on the floor. I saw everyone looking at me with worried faces.
"Are you ok?" Shiro asked.
What do you think?!, I thought.
I realized I was shaking. I didn't care, though. I gathered my energy and focused on my memories with Adam. Then, I thought of my father and the Underworld. Since I was a son of Hades, it was my way of saying that I wanted a specific soul to be put in my father's domain. The ones that died with him would probably end up there too, but it didn't matter. As long as I could see Adam again, at least in spirit form.
3rd person POV (a few minutes before)
After the Red Lion stopped, Shiro tried to contact Keith, but got nothing. They quickly found an abandoned planet and landed on it. Red seemed to catch on because she flew down too. Once she landed, her mouth opened, allowing the others to come in. They found Keith with his hands covering his ears and a look of pain. Kosmo was at his side whimpering. Once he saw them, he stood in front of Keith protectively and started barking at them.
"He's unconscious!" Shiro shouted. "Please let us help him!" But Kosmo stood his ground.
Keith started whimpering and everyone's attention turned to him. He kept murmuring something inaudible.
"ADAM!" Keith bolted awake. There were tears running from his eyes. He closed his eyes and opened them after a while. Kosmo licked his face while Keith hugged his knees. Then, he seemed to notice that the rest were there and somewhat composed himself.
"Why did we stop?" he asked.
"Keith," Shiro said with concern, "you passed out"
"We should get going" he sniffed, " the sooner we get there, the sooner we can take out the Galra"
"Keith, the Galra are recovering from all the trouble we've caused" Allura said.
Keith shook his head and ushered everyone out, then took off with Red.
Keith's POV
I needed time to process what happened to Adam, but there was no denying that he was dead. I felt tears threatening to fall again, but I quickly wiped them off. I put Red on autopilot and went out of the control room. I summoned Hell Fire to create mist and a rainbow formed. I quickly IMed Chiron.
The misty image showed they were in a Councilor Meeting.