**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)
Ever since she'd been cast as Snow White in her fifth grade play, Mari had hated the princess and her fairy tale. She'd hated the fact that she was cast solely based on her appearance. She'd hated having to sing twittering love songs. She'd hated the obnoxiously bright and frilly dress.
She'd hated Prince Charming, especially when he'd tried to actually kiss her during rehearsal. She'd been relieved when she'd been demoted to a member of the choir, her supposed "punishment" for trying to beat up the Prince.
Mari hadn't thought about Snow White and her story for a long time until now, but it came as no surprise to realize her loathing for the princess remained unchanged. Not only was Snow White beautiful and pure of heart, but she was incredibly naive and wimpy, in Mari's opinion. In the original tale, she hadn't just nearly died to the poisoned apple – she'd fallen for her stepmother's wicked spells twice more before, and had almost been killed by a poisoned comb and a far-too-tight ribbon, or in some story variations, a laced bodice.
Out of all the stories out there, why did Mari have to be in this stupid fairy tale? Out of all the characters, why did she have to be the silly princess who was so easily tricked despite nearly losing her life each time? Why did she have to be stuck here, in this…well, in whatever this was?
Mari boiled it down to two options. One: this had to be a dream. A very, very vivid dream. Or two: this was some sort of new spell cast on their team by Haggar in an attempt to take down Voltron. And somehow, it had affected everyone's memories except for hers. It would certainly explain why they were all acting so weird, and why she couldn't remember how she'd gotten there. If this really was a trap of Haggar's, then it was up to her to get everyone out.
But how was she going to do that, exactly? Did she have to kill the Haggar in this world? According to Allura, Queen Haggar was her and Takashi's stepmother. She'd taken over the kingdom and had driven them out of the palace, forcing them and the other paladins to live in a cottage hideout along the base of the mountains. And now, jealous of the people's loyalty to the Shirayuki siblings, she was hellbent on killing her and Takashi. She had already made two attempts on Mari's life. It was only a matter of time before she turned up and tried to strike again, no doubt with a poisoned apple.
Having kicked out Takashi, Allura, and Scarlett to compose herself and collect her thoughts, Mari silently swore to herself she wouldn't fall for such a dumb trick. She was going to destroy that damn witch and get them all out of here. For now, she just had to wait and get ready to face her.
Tugging on her boots, Mari grimaced as she took one last look at herself in the mirror. Then she threw open the door of her room and marched down the hall to confront whatever awaited her in the rest of this strange cottage.
"We need to move locations!"
Mari froze at the top of the stairs. That had been Keith's voice. He had been caught up in all this too, it seemed. Did that mean Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were here as well? She soundlessly crept down the steps, listening in on the not-so-hushed conversation going on below her.
"Haggar's already found her twice," Keith continued, not even bothering to hide the irritation in his voice. "It's only a matter of time before she tracks her back to this place, if she hasn't already."
"I've told you we can't, Keith. The next closest safe spot is on the other side of the mountains, but they're too dangerous to go over this time of year. The peaks are too stormy," Takashi reminded him. "We have no other choice but to wait until the winter months pass."
"Then we need to fortify this place more," Keith pressed.
"Allura's already put up her strongest barriers around the property." That was Pidge. "As long as we're careful and stay inside them, Haggar can't touch us…in theory."
"So…now what?" That was Hunk. "Are we just gonna keep her in her room? Make sure she doesn't go wandering in the woods?"
"She's not gonna like that." And that was Lance.
Yep. All five paladins were here. Plus Takashi, making six. And the supposed seventh paladin…
"No. We'll continue her training, just in the yard. When the time comes for us to face Haggar, we can't have her weighing us down."
Mari stiffened. That had been Takashi again, yet…he sounded so different from before. There was a harsh edge to his voice, cold and lacking the familiar comfort it usually held. It reminded her of her mother's voice when she got angry. Curious, if not a bit nervous, Mari ran down the rest of the steps and was met by the surprised stares of her teammates. Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Scarlett, Coran, and Takashi, all sitting around a large table, along with…a second Takashi. Or rather, the seventh paladin, Shiro. With the tuft of white hair and the scar stretching across his nose, he looked exactly like the current Shiro they all knew and loved.
She couldn't help but gawk at him sitting side by side with Takashi. They really were two separate people who looked exactly alike. It was like they were twins. Or clones. If it wasn't for Shiro's scar, hair, false arm, and purple-accented armor differentiating him from Takashi, she was sure she would have trouble telling them apart. Shiro's scowl deepened as his eyes locked onto her, his gaze icy and very much like her mother's indifferent glare. He said nothing though as the others stood, relief and delight flooding their features upon seeing her.
"Princess!" Pidge exclaimed, her grin dispelling the serious shadows in her eyes.
"You're looking better," Lance noted, smiling as he gave her a once-over. "How are you feeling?"
Beneath their intent stares, Mari self-consciously folded her arms over her chest. "I'd feel a million times better if I wasn't here," she grumbled.
"Coran said you lost your memory," Hunk said hesitantly. "Is it true? Do you really not remember us? Do you remember me?"
Mari sighed, her heart aching at the sight of the overflowing worry in his deep brown eyes. "I remember you, Hunk. Just…not like this," she admitted, gesturing vaguely to his person, yellow-accented armor and all.
A series of squeaks drew her attention to the table where the four space mice sat. They hopped down onto the floor, scurrying over to her and scaling her body until they perched on her shoulders.
"Great. You guys are here too, huh?" she muttered.
Yeah!
Why wouldn't we be?
I'm glad you're awake now, princess!
I'm hungry. Can you make us a pie?
Mari startled at the flurry of chittering voices in her head. She blinked at the mice, her jaw dropping. "What the – I-I can hear you guys talking!"
Of course!
Always have been able to.
You're the only one who can!
Can you make it apple flavored? These guys think we can only live on bread and cheese, and it's getting very dull.
Mari stared at them in disbelief. First she was a princess, and now she could talk to the space mice? Did she and Allura just swap positions and abilities? Did she have other magical Altean powers? Could she change her size and appearance too?
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," she wheezed. She scooped the four mice into her hand and approached the table, gently setting them down. "What, can I make birds and squirrels do the chores for me now, too?"
"Ah, there's no time for you to be chit-chatting with your forest friends," Coran said, striding over to her side. "I will take care of the chores. You need to rest, princess. You aren't well."
"I don't need any more rest, Coran," she insisted with a roll of her eyes. "I'm fine."
"See, this is exactly why I said we need to move," Keith huffed. "Look what that witch's magic is doing to her. She's losing it."
"You guys are the ones who are losing it!" Mari snapped back at him. "I'm saving our asses from this weird world. We need to kill Haggar."
A tense beat of silence settled over the room as her words hung in the air.
"...Kill Haggar?" Hunk repeated, almost incredulous.
"Since when are you one for violence?" Lance wondered with a frown.
"It's not that simple, Mari," Takashi gently piped up. "Haggar is incredibly powerful."
"We could certainly defeat her together as one," Allura admitted slowly, glancing at the other paladins. "But she's too quick and cunning. She's sure never to fight us when we're all together."
"And you're proving to be her easiest target," Keith said, crossing his arms over his chest out of habit.
"Then train me or whatever, like you said," Mari pressed. "Let her come after me. Let's lure her out and sneak attack her."
Another long moment of silence dragged by. The paladins exchanged uneasy looks before turning to Shiro, their apparent leader besides Takashi.
Shiro's frown remained unwavering as he regarded her. "You've changed," he finally spoke, his tone even and unimpressed. Whether he meant it as a good thing or a bad thing, Mari couldn't tell, but his expression softened as he pulled his attention away from her.
"Fine. Get on with your training then," he decided. He warmly patted Takashi on the shoulder before peeling away from the table and bringing their meeting to a close. "I'm going on a perimeter check. Everyone else, hold down the fort."
"But Shiro!" Coran began, ready to argue, but Shiro wouldn't hear it as he opened the front door to leave.
"Amnesiac or not, she seems physically well. If she still wants to fight with us, then let her," he said, casting the fretting advisor one last stern look. "The more fighters we have against Haggar, the better. The last thing we need is to lose a battle because she's too incapable of defending herself."
Then without another word, he exited the cottage, the door thudding shut behind him with a loud THUNK.
Mari scowled at where he had once stood. Shiro had been tired and stressed and acting rather cold and snippy lately in real life. But this Shiro…he was so much ruder. Harsher. Very much not himself, not the brother she loved and had grown up with. And yet the alternative, Takashi, wasn't quite her real brother either. He was kind and patient and warm and endlessly loving, yes. But he was too worried and passive and seemed to lack the strong and commanding leadership of the real Takashi Shirogane.
Neither Takashi nor Shiro in this strange world were the brother she knew. Had Haggar's spell somehow split his consciousness in two?
Before she could ponder it any longer, Keith reeled in everyone's attention.
"You heard him, guys. Let's get to work," he ordered the paladins.
The others stood at attention, a newfound determination burning in their eyes. "Yes, sir!"
"I am not training with this."
Mari grimaced as she gripped the broadsword, its weight and length awkward and unfamiliar. She and the other paladins had moved outside into the open, grassy green yard, when Keith had promptly placed the blade in her hands. Takashi, Lance, Allura, Hunk, and Pidge sat off to the side, watching as Keith scowled at her.
"You've been training with that since we came here," he said, and there was no missing the irritation in his voice as his impatience grew. "You asked to train with a sword."
"And let me guess: I sucked at it?" Mari presumed. When he didn't answer, she stabbed the tip into the ground and leaned on the hilt. "Okay, forget what past me said. Past me is stupid. I'm not good with swords and I never will be."
"You can't say that when you've hardly tried," he insisted.
"You'll get better in no time, Mari," Takashi encouraged her from the sidelines.
"Yeah! You have the best swordsman in all of Voltron training you," Hunk pitched in. "Well, besides Shiro and His Highness."
Mari sighed, refusing to pick up the blade again. She couldn't afford to waste time learning how to wield a new weapon. If she was going to fight Queen Haggar, she wanted to do it with a weapon she was already familiar with.
"Can't I try something different?" she asked. "Say…a staff?"
Keith raised a doubtful brow at her. "A staff?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I think you'll find I'm much better with that than any sword."
"You can't be serious," he snorted, and she bristled.
"Do you have a staff to give me or not, hothead?" she snapped.
"Hothead?" Lance whispered the nickname. "Since when do we call him that?"
"Fine," Keith relented with a shrug, ignoring him. "But you're only making it harder on yourself."
As he disappeared inside the house to find her requested tool of choice, Mari chucked her unused blade to the side. She tapped her foot impatiently, bringing her gaze up to the fluffy white clouds drifting by above. She couldn't wait to get out of this weird spell world. She hoped the Olkari were doing alright in their absence. The sooner they all snapped out of this, the sooner they could all go back to building the coalition. The paladins could go back to doing their air shows and parades and liberation missions. Scarlett could continue working on her secret project. Shiro could go back to managing Voltron. And she could go back to her missions…alone…without them.
Mari's heart sank a bit at the realization. They all had a role to play in the war to stop the Galra. Hers just happened to be separate from the others. It wasn't as important as freeing an entire planet or boosting their morale. It wasn't as crucial as developing new innovative tech for their forces. It wasn't as grand as leading an entire rebel army. It was small, simply completing solo missions that anyone could do.
"They don't need you."
Mari stiffened at the sudden voice. It had been faint, echoing from the nearby mountains. She frowned at the dark peaks, waiting for it to say more. But the air was silent, and none of the paladins seemed to have heard the noise, if their unbothered smiles were any indication. Just as she was wondering if she'd imagined it, Keith returned with a retracted staff.
"Here," he said, pulling her from her thoughts as he placed it in her hands. He moved several paces away before he unsheathed his own blade, standing at the ready. "Let's see what you can do with that."
A smile tugged up the corners of Mari's lips, the dark clouds dissipating in an instant. It had been a while since they'd sparred. He'd been so busy with his Blade of Marmora training and paladin work, after all. Time to see if he'd actually improved.
Her heart beginning to race with a nervous, yet familiar excitement, Mari elongated her staff. She expertly twirled it, eliciting surprised oohs and aahs from the five watching paladins. Even Keith's eyes widened in surprise.
"Huh. So you can wield that thing," he mused with a smirk.
"Been training with this since I was a kid," she reminded him. She thrust one end towards her opponent and granted him a smirk of her own. "So don't cry when you lose."
The fire in his eyes blazed hotter at the challenge. "We'll see about that."
Without another word, they lunged at one another, and their brawl commenced.
Mari and Keith sparred for much longer than they expected to. Their rounds went from best out of three to best out of five to best out of seven, both of them vying for the most wins. By the time Takashi made them call it quits, the sun was setting and they were both exhausted. They slumped against the side of a tree, panting heavily to catch their breaths.
"I won...that last…round," Mari said, throwing him a triumphant grin.
Keith swallowed thickly and shook his head. "No…you didn't," he insisted. "It was…a tie."
"Man, your staminas are freaking insane," Lance muttered, handing them each a cup of water.
Hunk hummed in agreement. "Who knew the princess was so strong."
"Or that she was just as stubborn as Keith," Pidge added, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose as she regarded the ragged pair.
Mari sipped her water gratefully, relishing the cool and refreshing sensation of the liquid trickling down her parched throat. "I've always…been this way," she assured them, and Takashi chuckled as he ruffled her hair. She took another long swig of water, watching as the sun lowered on the horizon and washed the thriving land in warm golds and oranges.
"You really have gotten better with your swordsmanship. Don't gotta worry about you falling behind with paladin training," she decided, throwing Keith a small smile. "Guess I can thank Kolivan and the Blades for that."
He frowned at the, apparently, unfamiliar names. "Who?"
She sighed and shook her head. "Never mind."
Before he could question her anymore, Coran popped his head out the cottage door. He wore a frilly pink apron over his advisor's attire, and it was covered in fresh splatters and charred marks from an unknown source.
"Oh, good! You're all done with training for the day then?" he inquired.
"We just finished up, Coran," Takashi confirmed.
"Perfect timing! Dinner's ready!" he reported, a pleased grin making his eyes crinkle. "I've made us a hearty stew. Get washed up and come on in!"
Smiles fell and a collective groan sounded from the paladins.
"Aw man, I forgot Coran was on dinner duty tonight," Hunk pouted. He held his stomach, already looking ill.
"If Haggar's magic doesn't kill us first, then his cooking definitely will, one of these days," Pidge muttered, just as unenthused as him.
Still, despite their trepidation, the paladins reluctantly dragged themselves to their feet and trudged across the lawn towards the water pump to do as they were told. Downing the last of her drink, Mari stood to follow suit.
She had hardly taken a step forward when she suddenly froze in place, inhaling sharply as her head throbbed with a terrible, stabbing pain. Voices sounded in her mind, echoing and loud, yet so very distant at the same time. Images flashed across her vision, fuzzy and black around the edges. She clutched at her ringing ears, screwing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth as her thoughts were filled with noise.
"Come on, come on…Stay with us!"
Keith – the real Keith she knew and trusted – was leaning over her, his eyes wide with sheer panic. He was wearing his Blade of Marmora suit. He must've just returned from a training mission.
"Her vitals are dropping fast," Pidge reported from somewhere out of her field of view. The faint sound of beeping in the background dropped and she gasped. "My systems are barely picking up a heartbeat!"
"Coran, do something!" Lance shrilled. He was holding Mari's hand, but she could hardly feel it. No warmth came from his fingers. Or perhaps, it was just her hand that was too chillingly cold, having become numb to such things.
"Just a few more ticks! I'm looking as fast as I quiznaking can!" Coran assured him, followed by the chaotic clanking of metal against glass.
"She might not have a few more ticks!" Hunk pressed, also out of her line of sight.
"Coran, I've found it!" Allura exclaimed. "It's this one, right?"
"That is correct, princess!" The fervent clinking and crashing ceased. "Oh, I hope this works…It is over ten thousand years old. We'll need to update and restock our medicine supplies as soon as – "
"CORAN!" everyone shouted, and Lance's grip tightened in his rising fear.
"Oh, what the heck! Everybody stand back!" Coran ordered, and when he entered her line of sight, he was holding a syringe full of a translucent red liquid. "I'm injecting it now!"
Mari braced herself for the sharp pain of the needle, but before it could come, the scene faded. She blinked, back in the fairy tale world, her mindspace quiet and devoid of the extra voices. Leaning against the tree for support, she took a shaky breath, her heart racing. Her entire body was trembling, thoroughly disturbed by the vision.
What had that been, exactly? A hallucination? Or an effect of Haggar's magic meant to throw her off her game?
"Hey! What's wrong with you?"
Mari nearly jumped out of her boots as Shiro emerged from the treeline. He was scowling at her, his hand alighted on the hilt of the sword hanging on his hip.
"Ta – Shiro…" she swallowed, struggling to regain her composure. "You're back."
"Why are you standing all dazed like that? Did you hurt yourself during training?" He moved closer to get a better look at her, his sharp, dark gray eyes raking over her quivering form. When he saw no visible injuries, he tsked. "You shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard if you couldn't handle the resulting pain. I'm not gonna carry you back."
Her own anger flared as she met his narrowed eyes. It burned hot in her core and it gave her the burst of strength she needed to face him. "I didn't hurt myself. And I certainly don't need you to carry me," she ground out. She straightened, standing as tall as she could before him. "How'd your perimeter check go?"
"It was fine," he replied coolly. He paused, watching the other paladins across the yard as they washed their hands at the water pump. When he looked at her again, his gaze was icy with an unbridled disdain. "It was made much easier now that our silly little princess isn't aimlessly wandering in the woods. See how much easier all our lives are now that you're starting to take our situation seriously?"
"What's your problem?" she snapped, unable to keep a lid on her rising anger. "You've never acted like this before."
Shiro stared at her, his brow raised in disbelief. Then he huffed, tired and exasperated. "Let me be frank with you, princess," he said finally, firm and honest and rather unkind as he turned to her. "I am not your brother. In case you've forgotten, I don't coddle you and fawn over you because it would be a waste of my breath. I don't put you on a pedestal like the others do because I don't think you deserve it. I may serve you, but protecting the future of this kingdom is my top priority. And as far as I'm concerned, the future of Voltron rests in the hands of the paladins and the Crown Prince. Not you."
The blunt harshness that Mari had become so accustomed to ever since they'd landed on Olkarion was dripping from his tone. It admittedly hurt to hear someone with her brother's face and voice say such mean and uncaring things to her. And yet, it was painfully familiar, reminding her once again of the way her mom had treated her as a child.
This isn't real, Mari tried to remind herself. His words can't hurt you. He's not the Takashi you know. And that's not his fault.
Still, the longer he glowered at her, the more Mari's blood began to boil. Her hands curled into fists at her side, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to punch him. She opened her mouth, ready to respond, when Coran emerged from the cottage again to hurry them along.
"Princess! Shiro! Come on, now!" he urged them, the other paladins already making their way inside. "It's time to eat!"
"Coming, Coran," Shiro replied, and the advisor ducked back inside. He gave Mari one last disapproving look before quietly saying, "I don't know why Haggar is targeting you. But if anything happens to Takashi or any of the other paladins and it's your fault, then I will never forgive you."
And with that, he brushed past her, ready to clean up and head in for supper.
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