So, I did hope to do more on whumptober, but I decided to stop at Day 22 because this chapter took a while and with Nanowrimo coming up, I wanted to give myself a break. I used the main quote in this as well as 'Glass Shard'. No real warnings for this chapter.

4. Pieces Fall Together

"They never saw us coming, not until it was too late," Kolivan was explaining to the Paladins on how they had gained the upper hand in some of the Galran armies and how sometimes, confronting a battle head-on was not the best way to win. Pidge could understand this because via stealth, there was so much more information they could gather.

The DigiDestined had gone out to gather more information while they had chosen to stay inside the Castle of Lions. Partly because Allura was more comfortable the more people that were close to her and little Fala and also because there was a lot that needed to be discussed, given they had no idea who this enemy was and from where they were attacking.

"We do need more information," Pidge admitted. "Yeah, we know Lotor's back but that's not nearly enough to go off. He can't be working alone if the darkness is as strong as Allura said it was, so we need to find out what's going on. I can go with the Blade of Marmora if needed undercover so we can get more information."

"Won't it be better for Mullet to go since he's worked with them before?" Lance asked and from the look on his face, Pidge could tell her boyfriend was worried about her going alone, not that she could blame him. Things had been peaceful for so long that they had lost practice when it came to fighting. Lotor was back though, so they would have to get good at it again especially because from what it looked like from her analysis, this was a bigger enemy than anything they had ever faced before.

"No," Pidge said bluntly before Keith could speak. "Keith cannot stealth to save his life."

Keith scowled. "That's not true. I've worked with the Blades, and I can totally stealth, right Kolivan?"

"We had to cover you constantly when it came to stealth, you were far too emotional," Kolivan said simply and the pout on Keith's face was so amusing that Pidge couldn't help but begin laughing causing Keith to scowl even more.

"That's exactly my point," Pidge pointed out. "I know you're worried, Lance but I want to help, and I have a connection with Green still, so I'll get a message out if I need help, but we need information right now."

Lance shifted a bit, glancing over at Allura and then Keith before looking back at Pidge, sighing. "I know it's the right thing to do but just be careful, ok? Don't take on too much alone. You have a bad habit of doing that."

Pidge huffed. "I do not." Ok, so she did overwork herself but only as much as she could take. She knew her limits so why was everyone looking at her in such disbelief? She had way more self-preservation than Shiro did.

"You're not much better than Shiro or Allura, Pidge," Hunk said, rolling his eyes. "Even Keith has gotten better than you three."

Pidge huffed more at that. "I don't know what you guys are talking about." She turned back to Kolivan on the computer screen as they had arranged a video appointment with him due to having just returned from the mission. "Keep in touch, ok? And when you find out more about where the location is, let me know and I'll come with you to find as much information as we need to effectively know who our enemies are."

Kolivan nodded. "Affirmative. We will be in touch soon. If Lotor is back, it may take some time as he is not bad himself when it comes to stealth."

Allura flinched at that albeit her gaze hardened. "That's for sure. He's good at sneaking in places where he doesn't belong."

Pidge bit her lip at that but nodded. "That's true but he won't interfere in anything again, Princess. I promise." She clenched a fist. "We'll stop him in his tracks."

Stepping on a glass shard, Lotor crushed the broken remnants of it beneath his feet. He had tried to be kind to her – he had tried to persuade her with kindness, but this was Allura. She never did make it easy to bring her to his side. But this time…it got to him a lot more than he thought it would – seeing her so happy with Keith, seeing her with a small child – like she had no need for him anymore. But even being a mother now did not detract from her beauty – and he wanted her more than he had ever before.

"Ease up on those feelings," A dark voice spoke and Lotor scowled. It wasn't like he could help it as Lillithmon enhanced the feelings into something else. There had never been much of a difference between love and lust in his eyes. They were really one in the same. People just mistakenly thought love was something sweeter when both held those same desires.

Daemon was the one who had spoken though – and he was as opposite from love and lust as one could get. If darkness had a human form, Daemon was it and Lotor honestly found him to be a better version of his father in more ways than one. He was angry and wanted vengeance but unlike his father, he always had a plan, and his confidence wasn't fake but based on actual plans.

Lilithmon on the other hand just increased the feelings he had for Allura in more ways than one and in all honesty, he didn't mind keeping the two around with him. They could be useful allies once he had the universe under his control since they would only help him in balancing out his emotions of his love for Allura with the desire to have everything under the palm of his hand.

"Do you believe the DigiDestined would have doubts that you two are involved?" Lotor asked them and Daemon chuckled at him.

"They have not met Lilithmon in this form and we're just representations of the enemy," Daemon said simply. "The darkness that you see…we didn't create it. They did."

Lotor frowned at that. When he had returned, something felt different, but these words made sense. The fear of living beings gave way to greater power than they had ever seen.

"That's what the entity is made of," Lotor mused softly. "That is why King Alfor wished to destroy it when it corrupted my parents." The entity was darkness and they all added to it without realising it in the moment.