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! Just one chapter left after this one!
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Chapter Twelve
Keith slowed as he entered a dark but wide corridor leading into the arena. There were no doors that could be seen along the corridor walls and the lighting was very sporadic with most of the light coming from side openings at the end of the hall where it exited into the arena. He had seen the brown robe turn here and he expected the arena would be the location for their showdown. Fitting. He had not been through this entryway, but he had touched the walls and asked for truth and he knew this was the way he should go and where it led. When he was done with Haggar, he'd move on to the castle to finish off Zarkon… and his children if they were also there. Keith raised a shield in front of him as his eyes were not ready for the brightness in the arena.
As he stepped in, the walls of the arena shook and the sand floor vibrated with a missile that was probably directed at the hanger they had left not long before. Keith doubted that the arena would be targeted when there were too many other military options still available. Directly in front of him, in the middle of the arena, was Haggar. She stood with her staff held in both hands as she faced him. The only feature he could see distinctly inside the dark shadows of her hood were her yellow eyes that seemed to glow.
Keith walked about ten yards into the arena and moved to the side so that the open corridor was not directly behind him. Haggar turned her body as he moved to her left.
"We finish this here, witch. You and I. No one to interfere. No robeast to wear me down before you have your turn."
"I don't need a robeast, Prince of Arus." Her staff was still in a guarded position.
"No… I'm not the Prince of Arus at the moment. He's here, but even he agrees with me on this." Obsidian said the words softly and with a smile as he took a step forward.
The point of Haggar's staff dropped and yellow fire burst from the crystal at the tip. But Obsidian had thrown up his shield and the fire flowed off to the sides and dissipated into nothing. He continued to move forward in ground-eating strides as Haggar began to take small steps back. Soon she dropped her staff in order to bring both hands up and began conjuring a spell, but Obsidian broke into a run and was soon directly in front of her. She had waited too long. Obsidian's left hand grabbed Haggar's right one as his own right hand disappeared inside the cowl to grasp the thin neck that was rarely seen. Haggar made choking sounds as her left hand grabbed at the hand that was around her neck.
"Now we end this, and you pay for the part you played in my parents' deaths." Obsidian's eyes were dark and fathomless as he stared at Haggar as he sent his magic and power into the hand around her neck. Yellow magical flames licked up his arm as Haggar tried to respond to the attack. But he was too powerful; fueled by the years of hatred and inability to avenge his parents this dark version of the Arusian prince poured his destructive magic into Haggar until she began to wither and then completely disappeared as a cloud of ash and the robes she had worn fell to the sand below.
The Sorcerer of Arus soon joined her on the ground, exhausted for the moment with burn marks on his arm.
The robes and the Sorcerer lay together on the white sand. The ash that had been Haggar laying there as well and sometimes moving with the wind that was in the arena. This sight was striking indeed, but what it more incredible was that outside of the six foot area that contained them, the sand had to turned a glassy black… which looked incredibly like obsidian.
.**********.
The young lieutenant walked quickly to keep up Sven who was on his way back to the hanger bay. He had left Dova in charge of the escapees and to provide details to the Poseidon crew who had come to assist and debrief them. He didn't have time for that, but he did have time to give Romelle a hug and informed the senior officer who had come to take her directly to the Admiral. He couldn't tell her everything that he wanted to, but he told her he would be back soon and that he would find her. Indeed he would. There was no way that he wasn't going to let her out of his life. But right now, he had a teammate to rescue and he was concerned about what had happened to him after the ship cleared the hanger. His thoughts were broken by the lieutenant.
"Sir, I think it would be best if you waited on going back to the planet and went to the admiral instead."
"I'm afraid I don't have time for that. Dr. Dova will be able to provide an accurate recounting to the admiral until I return." Sven's steps never slowed, even as he heard a loudly expelled breath from beside him.
"Then you need to pause for just a moment, Commander. The admiral thought you might head back out directly, but there is important information about the attack and rescue you need to know." The lieutenant's steps carried him several paces forward before he realized that the commander had halted.
"Rescue?"
The lieutenant returned to stand in front of Sven. "The Alliance was already looking to do a rescue or exchange of prisoners after the attack on Ebb, but when Prince Keith was taken, they moved up the timeline. Not because he was a prince," the lieutenant hurriedly said, "but because it was obvious that the Voltron team on Arus would be going after him."
Sven's gaze became intense, "The lions are here?"
"They entered the system just as you were boarding the ship. Three of the lions will assist with the battle while two go to the surface in an effort to find the prince." Realizing that the commander needed a little more information, he added, "A replacement pilot was sent and is flying with the team."
Sven nodded and then began his steps again toward the hanger bay.
The lieutenant didn't even try to follow, he just called out, "Check with the hanger chief, your ship has the code to contact the team."
Sven waved his arm in the air in acknowledgement and continued toward the bay. His mind was whirling with what was going on.
.**********.
Allura jumped to the ground and laid a gloved hand on Black Lion. "We'll be back soon with him. I promise." She wasn't entirely confident of that, but she felt better saying what she did instead of "We'll bring him back if we can." They had to remain positive. They had done a scan for Arusian life signs, but Terran, Baltan, Arusian, and several others were too similar in a rough scan to pinpoint. So they had done a scan for the life signs that the Alliance had for Haggar, who often masked her readings. Her readings showed that she was in a building that escaped slaves had called an arena so the two Lions landed as close by as they could.
Lance came at a jog to her side, a laser rifle across his shoulder and a blaster in his hand and one on his hip. She had two blasters of her own plus a med-kit pack on her back… just in case. Lance looked at the mapping unit that was attached to his left forearm. He looked ahead of them and said, "This way," and then continued at the jogging pace he was doing previously. Allura fell in behind him. He was the leader of the group even if she was Keith's fiancé. And there was no doubt that he was the better shot.
They avoided the hanger bay that was off in the distance and continued over the uneven ground that was on the opposite side of the arena. It was undeveloped and therefore was untargeted by the Alliance and not defended by the Drules.
As they approached a wall, they scanned for an entrance but there wasn't one. Lance moved forward and set charges that he pulled from the holster belt. He then jogged back and triggered the blast that left an opening big enough for them to step through. What they found was an unlit corridor with Drule written on it in what appeared to be directions.
There was light coming into their corridor about twenty yards to their right so they headed in that direction. When they exited the lit hallway, they found they were indeed in an arena and down in front of them was the floor of the arena.
"Keith!" Allura called out as she saw him laying in a pool of white sand surrounded by black glass. She also noticed that brown robes were near him. He was unmoving as she ran down the steps. Lance was right behind her as she vaulted over the low retaining wall and onto the glass which shattered as she landed. Lance landed in his own shattering of glass and they both looked around them.
"I don't think this was here before," Lance said as he looked at the glass.
"I don't think so either," Allura said as she looked down. Thankfully, the glass-like material had shattered into cubes instead of shards so they didn't risk injuring themselves as they made their way carefully to Keith.
Allura dropped to her knees beside Keith and rolled him onto his back as Lance kept watch for Drule soldiers.
"Keith," Allura said as she touched his face and then looked at his arms which seemed to have superficial burns on them. "Keith, wake up. Keith!" He wasn't responding so she took off her med-kit and looked for a spray for the burns. After locating it, she carefully sprayed his arm. It was a pain-reliever and healing balm that would help but it did sting when it was first applied.
Keith hissed after she had begun spraying his arm. Then his eyes opened, and he saw Allura's face. "Allura."
She quickly dropped the bottle in the backpack and leaned over him.
"Glad you're awake, buddy," Lance said as he continued to scan the area.
"Keith!" She leaned over in excitement and kissed him gently on the lips. She felt her bond with him flare with life, but it was still small.
He hissed with what seemed like pain and put a hand gently on her shoulder as she leaned back. "You are a threat to me," he said softly and closed his eyes. "But we can sort this out later," he said as she looked at him puzzled. "I'm more Obsidian now than Keith."
Allura leaned back until she was sitting up and Lance glanced down and looked more closely at the robes and then saw the staff.
"Did you kill Haggar?" Lance asked. This time, he didn't scan around, his eyes were on the man lying in the sand.
Keith sat up, favoring his right arm. "I did." He reached his good arm up to Lance who grabbed it and pulled him up. Keith leaned over and picked up Haggar's staff as Allura stood beside him. "I need to go to the castle and finish this with Zarkon." He started moving in that direction when Allura grabbed his left, less-injured arm.
Allura was thankful that he stopped. His right arm was pulled into his chest while his left hand held the staff. But she moved to stand in front of him. She felt that she needed to push things. Waiting to 'sort' this out later might mean she'd lose Keith to Obsidian.
"I'm not a threat to Keith," she said softly. "Keith is who he is and is the Prince of Arus and the Sorcerer as well. I know that he is still in there." She put her hand on his chest and felt his heart beating rapidly beneath. She knew that Obsidian wasn't really separate from Keith. He was just the darker nature brought to the front of his consciousness. "Obsidian is a part of him. A part that makes him who he is." She shook her head in a negative fashion and stepped so they were almost touching. She put her hands on both sides of Keith's face and looked directly into his eyes. "But you don't belong in control. Keith does." With that, she stood on her toes and pulled Keith's head down to hers and pressed her lips to his. It only took a few seconds for him to respond and he dropped the staff and used both arms to pull her to him in a passionate kiss.
Thankfully, no Drule seemed to want to come to this area. The magic here had probably been overwhelming, but Lance realized that the battle would soon find them. "I know that you guys needed to do that." He looked over to them and saw that they were still kissing. "Guys, we got to go!" This time they broke apart. Allura looked like she knew what was going on, but Keith appeared a little dazed. "Keith? Is it you?"
Keith let go of Allura and gave a nod. Then he stepped over and picked up the staff. "It's me." He looked around. "Where is the ship? I can guide us out best."
Lance smiled and said, "No ship. We brought the Lions." He pointed the direction and said, "They are over in a section of undeveloped land."
Keith nodded, his eyes straying to Allura for a moment as she picked up her medical bag. "I can get us there quickly."
Lance held out his blaster by the barrel to Keith but Keith shook his head no. "I don't need it." He glanced at the robes and then back to Lance who got the message.
"Then let's get you home, Keith."
The three set off at a jog with Keith leading the way and Lance bringing up the rear.
They hadn't gotten far when they saw a group of Drule soldiers who were headed to the hanger bay from the castle. But seeing the three they stopped to open fire.
The three friends pressed tightly against the walls on either side of the door they had opened.
Lance looked across to Keith and Allura. "We'll need to close and disable this door. We can go back out the way Allura and I came in."
Keith's eyes darted to the doorway. "I could take them out," he said slowly.
Allura pulled on his shoulder so that he turned to her. "No. You won't. That is a last resort for us." She looked to Lance who had just fired a few shots back at the Drules and then back to Keith. "Can you use your magic to disable the door and then shield us if necessary?"
He stared into her eyes for a moment and then nodded his agreement.
"Do it!" Lance yelled as he fired off a few more shots.
Keith backed off from the door and then triggered the panel to close the door. Immediately, he sent blue fire into the door and for good measure sent the flames down the seam where the doors met, welding them together.
"Great!" Lance said and then started back toward the arena.
"They may call it in," Keith said. "I may still be a high priority. We'll need to watch for them ahead of us if they come down one of the connecting corridors."
Lance started to slow as they reached one of the intersecting tunnels. He looked carefully in both directions and then led the way across. "Will do. The faster we go, the better."
They were nearing another intersection when a group of Drules came from the intersection behind them. Keith threw up a shield as Allura and Lance returned fire. As they continued to back up, a familiar voice came from behind them. "Drop to the ground!"
Deciding it was a good idea, the three did as they were told. A grenade lobbed over their heads and rolled into the soldiers who scattered. When the smoke cleared from the explosion, a barrier of rubble blocked the soldiers from coming after them.
"Follow me!" Sven called as the three rose to their feet. Sven jogged slowly until the group caught up with him. Lance and Allura were surprised to see him, but not Keith.
"You came back for me," Keith said as Lance and Allura were asking questions.
Sven ignored the other two for a moment as he asked, "Did you expect less?"
Keith smiled as he replied between breaths, "Not from a friend."
Sven returned his smile and then told his two subordinates that it was a long story. It really was time to go home.
