Role Reversal ~ Part 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.
Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is DotU in flavor and is AU. You need to have read "Role Reversal" in order to make sense of this twist on the Voltron DotU universe. ;-)
Summary: Sequel to Role Reversal. What if Keith were the prince and Allura was the pilot? Please read Role Reversal before reading this one.
Author's Note: So, this story is the continuation of "Role Reversal" which was a challenge from the former KAEX group member, Cheetoy. In this case, Keith is the Prince and Allura is the Alliance pilot. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 7 years since I finished it. I've reread it several times since and it's one of my favorite stories. I decided that it was finally time to brush the dust off the sequel that I started writing when it finished. I scrapped the chapter and a half that I had written and began again. I hope that you enjoy learning the rest of the story.
If you have PM enable, I do reply back to reviews! :) A Thanks to all who are reading and an extra thanks to those who review!
**I'm afraid I haven't progressed far. I thought I would write more, but I just haven't. I will try to write more (lol, well, at least write since I haven't in over a month). My goal now is to get the story finished and if I have a few typos more than usual, that will be okay. :) I just hate unfinished stories! So, just know, I'm still here.
Chapter Seven
Sven and Romelle stepped quickly to the side after Keith released his magical blast. Only a few blue flickering flames entered through the cracks they were using as viewports. Their eyes met across the distance, the flames dissipating between them into nothing.
"His magic is much stronger than I realized," Sven said once the flames were gone.
"It's no wonder that Doom wants to possess him." Romelle carefully moved to look through the cracks again. Haggar glided into view for a few moments showing no hurry or concern. "They have tranquilized him."
"I would too if I were on the other side after just watching him use his magic to cut off a gladiator's arm. They don't want that to be them."
Romelle kept her eyes glued on the scene in the arena. "Do you think he's okay mentally?"
Sven glanced at her, "You think he isn't?" His tone questioning but not disbelieving.
Keith had now been taken off on a stretcher so Romelle turned to face Sven. "He's been with Haggar for several days being subjected to who knows what and now we just watched him ruthlessly dispose of two gladiators. Do you think he's the same prince you left on Arus? He does not seem to be the one that I met on Pollux. Has he lost control of his magic as he feared?"
Sven stood silently for a moment and then glanced at the fissures that allowed them to look into the arena and then he returned his gaze to Romelle. "I am not the same man that the prince knew on Arus and I'm sure you are not the same princess he met on Pollux." His words were not made to hurt, only to emphasize that they had all changed greatly in the months since they had both seen Prince Keith. "What I saw in the arena was a man trying to live. At least while he was fighting the gladiators. I won't fault him for what he did there. He did not do anything to cause needless pain. He did what he had to do to live."
Romelle nodded, accepting his reasoning. "And the magical blast that sent flames through the crevice and possibly into the royal box?"
Sven laughed, "You know as well as I, if the Royals had been injured, Haggar would have acted much differently. But I'm not sure if it was just anger or if he did it for a reason we don't know." He shrugged. "One thing is certain; he didn't know how to control the blast or he would have done it in a way that didn't leave him laying unprotected on the arena floor."
"Agreed. We need to rescue him and see if he can help us all escape." Both turned to walk back to the main area where they stayed.
"But we need it to be soon. You are right, we don't know what Keith is going through in Haggar's lab and if that blast was because he is becoming unstable, time is of the essence." Both were quiet as they moved into the narrow tunnels of darkness.
.**********.
Haggar glided silently beside the hover sled that carried the Prince of Arus. She could feel the nervousness of the guards who were controlling the sled and she caught glimpses of their hastily adverted glances in her direction. These two had never been in close proximity to her before and she knew that they had no wish to prolong the contact now. The prince needed medical attention and she did not want it to be in the arena facility that catered to the gladiators who fought there. Because of that, their trip was taking some time as he would be treated in the section of the castle that housed the royal apartments and the physicians who treated the king, the prince, and the princess. As soon as the hover sled was inside the medical room the guards looked to be dismissed and Haggar had no urge to keep them so she waved them away with a flick of her hand.
A female Drule dressed in a light gray lab coat approached Haggar and bowed. She then looked to the hover sled and waved over some orderlies who were in the room to move the sled. "Please take this man to Room 12." The orderlies complied with only a cursory glance at Haggar. The doctor and Haggar fell into step few paces behind the trio. "It shouldn't take me long to get the bloodwork completed and examine him for injuries. Do you want anything I find treated?"
Haggar nodded. "He has a cut across his back. I'm sure Princess Merla would appreciate it if you could make sure that it scarred as little as possible."
"It will be as you say."
"I don't expect you to find any other outward injuries other than bruising and perhaps some slight swelling."
The Drule, who was a doctor, turned with her first show of surprise. "And he took on two gladiators?"
Haggar nodded again. "And defeated them both; one of whom was Kurza."
This time the doctor's eyes widen in surprise as she watched the sled being pushing into room 12. This time when her gaze returned to Haggar it was with curiosity. "Should I look for something internally then? Something in the bloodwork?"
As the doctor and witch entered the small room, the orderlies were transferring Keith to a bed and putting restraints on his arms. When they were done, they left with less hurriedness than the arena guards.
"I don't know. The prince expended a large amount of energy and magic at the end of the competition; he fell to the ground unconscious." Haggar waved in his direction. "Because of his danger without the magic inhibitors on his wrists, he was sedated. I am uncertain whether he is still unconscious or just sedated."
"The guards used the standard sedation meds?"
"Yes. He was shot with two darts."
The doctor nodded. "It should be easy to determine if the medicine is still in him. With two dosages, he would not yet be awake under normal circumstances." Her eyes never left Keith. "I will keep you informed."
Haggar turned to leave but stopped. "If you see Prince Lotor anywhere in the area, alert me immediately."
The doctor turned to face Haggar. "My office is next to this room. I figured I might need to monitor the prisoner closely based on your interest. You will be notified if the prince is seen in the area." She paused and then added, "What of Princess Merla?"
"She is allowed unrestricted access."
"Ahhh," the doctor responded.
Haggar laughed softly and left the room.
.**********.
On Arus at the end of the gladiator battle…
The Voltron Force were practicing four lion formations when Allura cried out.
"Allura, what's wrong?" Lance called over the comm.
"I'm setting the auto-pilot to return to base… my head!"
"Team, everyone return. Coran, did you hear?" Lance turned his lion back toward the area where his lion was docked.
"I did, Lieutenant. I will have a med team ready for her return."
Allura came over the comm in a soft voice. "Please, you guys are waaaaay too loud."
Lance chuckled, knowing now that she was okay. "Fine, Pinkie. See you back at the castle." But he said this softly so as not to bother her already hurting head. The questions were flying through his brain though. Was this some random blinding headache that he knew she hadn't had before? Or was this related to Keith who had now been gone three days?
His shuttle stopped in the wheel area where all the shuttles docked at the base of the chutes. The lights and metal were the same as they had always been but now with added people making noise that usually wasn't heard in this area. Coran had the medical team come to this area instead of Control which was smart, considering that a ride up the T-bar with a blinding headache wasn't something that was recommended.
Allura was standing and refusing to get on the on the hovering stretcher that Dr. Gorma had brought. "I'm fine, Doctor. It's just a headache." She looked at the orderlies, Coran, and the team members. She put a hand to her head. "Truly, I just need something for the headache." She looked over to Lance, "And I'll be sure to brief the Lieutenant as I'm sure it was the strain of the dive I was in that helped bring it on."
Bull, Lance thought to himself but knew that Allura obviously didn't want to talk about whatever it was here.
Then Allura turned to the doctor, and gave him a small sad smile. "I just haven't been sleeping well…."
Gorma nodded quickly. He didn't want to stress the lovely pilot who was the prince's fiancée. "If you are certain-"
"I am," she replied confidently.
"I'll send Nurse Olga with something for your headache. You'll be in your room resting?"
When Allura looked uncertain how to answer, Lance stepped in. "I'll make sure she goes directly to her room after we talk briefly about what happened. We'll be in the conference room." Seeing Gorma's frown, Lance hastily added, "I promise that we will keep it short but I need to know about monitoring future practices as well as knowing what Allura can do if we are attacked."
Gorma's face cleared and he gave instructions to the orderlies and they moved to the elevator to return to the medical wing floor.
Coran started to ask a question but Lance interrupted him, "Let's all sit down in the conference room. Nurse Olga will be coming after all and I don't want her reporting that I was taking longer than I said to debrief the lieutenant."
Coran relented, but it was obvious he was agitated.
When they arrived at the conference room, Nurse Olga was there with a hypospray that she administered to Allura's arm and then left with another reminder about resting in her room. With a stern gaze at Lance, she left the room.
Everyone quickly moved to a seat and turned expectantly to Allura. She took a deep breath and said, "Something has happened to Keith."
"What-" Coran began.
"I don't know, I just know that for a moment the connection that I have felt… it was broken. That is all I can really tell you besides the fact that my head does hurt. I guess I've been concentrating on that link so much that when it suddenly went away, it shocked me. The headache was already receding when I arrived back with the shuttle but I thought saying that to Gorma might cause more concern than the headache."
"Agreed," Lance said as he sat back with folder arms.
"But the connection… it's back now?" Coran was obviously looking to what might be going on with Keith.
She smiled at the advisor and said, "Yes, it came back just moments after it left. I won't say that it's less of a connection but it seems a little more… I don't know how to describe it. Maybe, blurred?"
"Sounds like Kara needs to get here with those plans," Hunk said from the end of the table.
"When is she due again?" Pidge asked.
"Tomorrow," Coran said.
Lance scanned the faces around the table and stopped on Allura's. "As soon as she comes, we'll look over the plans and our goal is to get to Doom to free our friends as soon as possible."
"What if that's not the Alliance's plan?" Hunk asked.
Lance shifted his gaze to Coran, "Then we go to do Doom on our own." He saw the advisor visibly relax. Obviously the 'blurring' of the connection between Allura and Keith wasn't good. Waiting more than a week was probably not a good idea. Now, to see if the Lions would be willing to make a pilot change yet again. "No matter what happens, the Lions are going to need to accept a new pilot." He looked to Allura. "I'd like you to go to Black Lion and see if you can communicate. Maybe the bond you have with Keith will allow that. They need to know what is going on and we're going to need their cooperation."
Heads around the table nodded.
"I'll go now," Allura said as she stood.
Lance didn't move at all but just said, "No you won't. You'll go to your room and rest just as I told Gorma you would." When she went to protest, he said, "Keith said that he talked with them easily. But we don't know how it will be with you. I'd like you to go in rested with the best possible chance of making contact."
Allura paused for a moment but then nodded. "Later today then. I'll go to my room now." They all watched as she left. Each hoping that she'd be able to make the contact and praying that the Lions would agree.