Chapter 42: Uncharted Regions(Keith's POV)

Keith sits on his bed inside his room aboard the Atlas staring into space. His kwami floats up to him.

"Don't you think what you said was too harsh?"

"Perhaps. But Lotor needed to hear the truth. That he was so blinded by the past that he couldn't allow the very thought of Honerva changing into his mind."

"But you could have worded it nicely."

"Aren't you the one that says to speak louder, and let that inner roar shine?" He teases his kwami.

Roaar huffs, folding her little arms, her tail swishing behind her, "Yeah, but….."

"I do admit I could have toned down my anger a tiny bit. But I was just so heated in the moment and the very thought that Lotor believed Honvera to be worse than Gabriel just set me over the edge."

Roaar floats to him and puts her tiny arm on his shoulder, "I know. What that man did was horrible."

He continues to stare at space. Then someone knocks on the door.

"Come in."

To his surprise Krolia is the one he sees after his door slides open. She looks hesitant to come in, but she does so anyway. The door closes and Krolia goes to sit on his bed beside him.

"So who were you talking to?"

"My kwami, Roaar."

Roaar floats up by his side. Krolia chuckles, "I had forgotten that you had a kwami as well as Marinette."

"Yeah, well we haven't had to transform that much… So did the others send you to convince me to join the meeting?"

"No, I just came because I heard what happened and sounded like you could use some comfort or support."

"And what makes you think you're capable of giving that?"

Hurt shows in Krolia's purple eyes, eyes like his. Except instead of white, her irises are surrounded by yellow.

"I….Well…. I'm your mother."

Shock runs through his system as he processes those words. She's his mom. Though that makes sense since that creature on the boat said he smelled like Galra. And it would be a valid reason for her to leave Earth behind. Anger then bubbles up inside of him.

"And you think now is a good time to come back into my life? That you're qualified to give me emotional support and comfort when you haven't been in my life! Heck I barely know you!"

"I didn't mean to insinuate that I was qualified to be here for you. I know I left you, but I had to, to protect you and your father! The Galra would have taken the Blue Lion if I hadn't left to report that it wasn't in that sector of space."

It was a good reason. But it didn't erase the pain that he went through. Believing that he wasn't good enough for love because she left him. Or the pain of being alone once his father died. Or the pain of being alone when Shiro was declared dead by the Garrison.

Taking a deep breath, he sighs, "I know you did it for a good reason. But it still hurts…. I never knew why you left in the past."

He then takes out the knife, the only memento he has of Krolia.

"All I had was this knife, it was the only thing I had of you. Father barely spoke of you. I assumed you left because you didn't want a family. That when I was born, you left because it changed your relationship with my father."

"I never meant to make it seem that way. I told your father to give that knife to you when you were ready. I wanted to stay, I really did, but I couldn't let the Galra Empire kill you or your father because of the Blue Lion."

"Well he died anyway."

"How?"

"Saving people from a fire when everyone told him not to go back in. He left me alone, just like you. If it weren't for Shiro…" he trails off, not wanting to finish that thought.

"That's just like your father. Always wanting to save people. To help others…. I know I can't make up for the pain I caused you, or the missed years we never got to spend time together. But…."

"I forgive you."

"Really?" Hope sparkled in Krolia's eyes.

"You left for a good cause. And I eventually found a family who supports and comforts me no matter what."

"Oh. I guess that means you don't need another mother in your life." Krolia then turns to get off the bed, but he grabs her arm.

"I never meant I couldn't have another mother in my life. Just that I found people who filled the void you left behind unintentionally. Like Sabine. She's a great mother to both me and Adrien, but I'm willing to have my biological mom in my life as well."

"You're giving me a chance?"

"Of course. You're my mother. You could have gone our whole lives without telling me. But you did tell me. Albeit rather late. But you still told me the truth. And I've noticed that you care for me….."

Krolia blushes, "You could tell?"

"You didn't exactly hide it very well. I just didn't know why you cared, because we were strangers. But now I know."

"Marinette and the others tried to pester me into telling you, but I also felt like we were strangers. And it would be weird for me to randomly tell you that you are my son. But I felt like now was the right time."

"We are about to enter a battle, that if we lose could mean the end of all realities as we know it."

Krolia nods, "Yeah….. You think it's all Lotor's fault that this happened?"

"Absolutely. He didn't give his mother the chance to reintegrate into his life when Luca told him she changed. Luca was only convinced that she was a monster at the Battle of Oriande."

"But Honvera is doing this on her own volition. Trying to replace what she lost. Isn't that just as bad as Gabriel Agreste?"

"No. Gabriel didn't even care for his son. And he had no excuse not to. He never forgot Adrien existed due to Quintessence or the Rift Creatures. And once he failed in bringing back his perfect family, he tried to get me to continue his work after he told us that he was doing it for his son's sake. Which is bullcrap."

Krolia's eyes widened, "He tried to get you to do his work?"

He nods, clenching his fists, "Yeah. He told me that I could wish his family back and bring back my family."

"Bring back…."

"Bring back my mother who left me, and my father who died in a fire. He told us that we were similar, that we both experienced so much loss and heartache. But at least I moved on, but he got stuck in the past."

Krolia brings him to lean on her shoulder. "I am so sorry I left you. But I had to, otherwise the Galra would have obtained the Blue Lion."

Leaning against her shoulder he says, "I know."

"But we should be getting to the meeting. We have to have all members present for this final assault so they all know what to do."

Despite his mother's attempts to make him feel better, he still feels angry towards Lotor. If he had just given Honvera a chance none of this would have happened. And he doesn't regret thinking that, because he knows what he saw in Honerva's memories. A mother who was extremely sorrowful at the things she had done, and desperately wanted her son back to the point where she searched for three whole years to find him and Voltron.

"I can't."

"Sure you can…."

"No I cannot. I'm still mad at Lotor and I'd rather not be in his presence otherwise my temper might get to me again."

"But…"

"If it wasn't for him Allura wouldn't be in a coma, or would have resorted to using the Rift Creature in the first place! Honerva is only doing this because her son didn't give her a chance."

Krolia stands at the open door, speechless. Sighing, she says, "I understand. I will tell the others you won't be coming."

Then she turns around and walks away."

Shiro's POV

"Where's Keith?" Shiro asks from where he is sitting at the meeting table. He was hoping when Krolia left, she was going to convince Keith to join them. But she has appeared alone.

"He said he couldn't be in Lotor's presence." Krolia bluntly states.

Lotor snarls, "I did nothing. That witch has hurt me more than I care to remember."

"But you saw Honerva's memories like Keith did. And now Keith has a difference of opinion. He still believes Gabriel is the worst."

"Why?"

Krolia sighs, "He revealed to me that after Gabriel had told him and I assume the others that he was doing this all for Adrien, he asked Keith to continue his cause and wish for his and Keith's family back."

Adrien shoots up from his chair and slams his fists onto the table. "What?"

"That's what he told me."

"But why would father….."

Krolia interrupts Adrien, "Because Keith also had a lot of loss. I had left him when he was still a newborn. His father also died. Shiro had been declared dead. And then he was ripped away from Voltron for no rhyme or reason. He experienced plenty of heartache, as much as your father did with losing your mother, Adrien."

Marinette asks, "Did you tell him?"

"Yes and he forgave me. I wasn't expecting it to be honest. After hearing what you told me about his stance on Gabriel, I wasn't sure if he would forgive me for leaving him. For making go through so much pain on his own. Or that he would need me in his life after what I did."

Lotor frowns, "He really did forgive you? Even after you've left him on his own for so long without you?"

"Yes."

"But he didn't forgive Gabriel?"

"Didn't you hear what Keith said to us after the mission?" Lance asks. "He told us why Gabriel is the worst parent in the history of worst parents. He killed Adrien in an alternate reality and he wasn't even fazed by it. And he punished Adrien harshly for running away on Christmas night. And Gabriel continued to justify his behavior because with Marinette and Adrien's miraculous this reality would have been erased when he made his wish with them. Making his actions in this reality null and void."

"Yeah. Master Fu and even Master Li Jie said that when someone makes a wish with the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses that it rewrites the world to accommodate for that wish." Kagami adds.

Silence fills the room. No wonder Keith hated the man so much. But he already knows that. Looking out at the door to the room, he wonders if Keith is doing okay. Adam squeezes his hand and gives him a look of comfort.

Grateful for Adam he returns to business, "Well we have a bigger problem to worry about. Honvera."

Pidge adds, "From what we've gathered Honvera's plan is find a reality…."

Gabriel's POV

Gabriel wishes Keith were in the conference room with the others, so he could know what their plan was. Then an idea flashes into his head. If he is indeed a ghost, than he could possess people. And if he possesses Keith than he could know what their plan is to defeat Honerva. He wasn't about to let Keith and that ragtag Voltron bunch destroy his…Honerva's chance at happiness, like the ragtag Miraculous team did to him.

Transporting himself physically to where Keith is, he sees Keith's plain room. Roaar his kwami is with him. Gabriel smiles, Keith seems distracted. Moving closer, he goes into Keith's body. At first the body fights to keep him out, but eventually he wins the fight and Keith's spirit has been subdued.

Taking off Keith's panjea bracelet, Roaar disappears. He grins, everything is going according to plan. Walking out of the room, and into the corridor he realizes he doesn't know exactly where the conference room is from Keith's room.

Dagnabbit!

But he presses forward anyway. How so many people could live in this maze of a ship is beyond him. Through trial and error he finds the conference room, where his son and the other ragtag bunch are.

Though it looks like they are finishing up. A man notices him and comes up to him. He notes that this must be the Shiro fellow Keith has a brother-like relationship with.

"Keith, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I am." His voice sounds just like Keith's. Though he is in his body, so that makes logical sense.

"Great. We're about to pull through our plan. Turns out that Lotor, since he trained in the techniques of Oriande, can wormhole us there while we let Allura rest. Only downside is that because she is the Captain of the Atlas the Atlas transformation can't be completed without her."

"Okay. And what is the plan?"

"I'll tell you once we get into our lions and are where Honvera is supposed to be."

He has to stop himself from gnashing his teeth. Instead of showing frustration, he feigns liking that idea.

"Sounds good."

"Then come on."

They walk through the corridors together and Shiro says, "I understand you don't like Lotor very much. But that doesn't mean you can't work with him."

So that brat Keith dislikes Lotor, interesting.

"I…."

"Stop right there. I know you think this whole situation could have been avoided if Lotor gave her a chance. But we don't know that for sure. It simply seems like she just stopped waiting for him to come around."

Gabriel tries to keep his grin from showing. So Keith figured it out before the rest of them, even though they all went into Honerva's mind. And no one believes him. Interesting, interesting.

"But you all saw what she was like. She desperately tried to find him and reach out but Lotor refused at every turn. She didn't simply stop waiting for him to come around."

"Keith…."

"It's true. If Lotor had at least talked to her, and told her off instead of giving her the false hope that his mind could be persuaded she wouldn't have been so crestfallen when she realized he wants nothing to do with her!"

That was a lie of course. He did push her to get her happy ending somewhere else. But he did tell her that Lotor refused to talk. Perhaps eventually she would have made the decision on her own to go to an alternate reality to fill the hole in her heart without his persuasion.

But she deserved to have a son who loved her, and didn't think she was a witch.

Looking back at his relationship with Adrien, he wishes Adrien could see that he was doing it for them. For their family. To be whole again. To be perfect. But Adrien only sees his neglect and his overprotectiveness. But he was doing it for Adrien's own good.

And Keith should understand what it's like to live without a mother. It's painful. And Adrien needed his mother back. Still needs her so she can guide him. But he will never get the chance, as he's dead. A ghost. Shiro finally replies, "I guess so. But you're being a little too harsh. Honerva treated him horribly…."

He snorts, "Right. 'Honerva' treated him so horribly. You forget that she forgot her former life and was doing as corrupted Zarkon commanded. You can't pin the blame on her when it wasn't her fault. Zarkon was the one who made them go into the rift that made them forget their previous lives. It could have been a whole lot worse for him if Honvera remembered who she was and still treated him so horribly."

Just like you, Keith whispers into his ears, but he ignores it. He didn't do anything wrong. He shoves Keith's conscious back down. Keith is still a brat even if he figured out what the rest of his friends haven't.

"But she still…."

"I don't want to hear it, Shiro. You think she's all evil and no good and I don't want to hear any of it."

"But…"

"No buts! Honvera has tried to reconcile with Lotor, but did he give her the time of day? No! So you can't exactly blame her for being so depressed that she thinks" he silently adds and I think to that statement, "going through another reality will fill the hole Lotor left in her heart."

Silence falls between the two of them. Good, Gabriel thinks, he cannot stand that the others refuse to see what Keith of all people saw. That it is Lotor's fault. Sure he and Honerva did not have to take it to this extreme, but he wanted Honerva to get the happy ending she and he deserved. Being with their families again. Being whole again. Something he could never achieve.

When they reach the hangar, Hunk asks, "Shiro are you…."

"I'm fine. Lance tell Keith the plan." And with that Shiro stalks off and goes into the Black Lion.

"So the plan is that we are going to wormhole to where Honerva is and take her by surprise. The MFEs will act as support along with the Atlas when Honerva's remaining Robeast's come out to play. While Voltron will take on Zethrid's mech and beat it like we did before." Not a very foolproof plan. Because they don't know that they have a different mech that will pave the way to the reality Honerva needs to fill the hole in her heart. And that they need energy to fuse the two mechs together. Which Voltron, the Atlas and the MFEs will provide. Killing two birds with one stone. But instead he says, "Sounds perfect."

The other ragtag bunch head off into their lions and he does the same with the Red Lion. Once inside he lets go of Keith's body already learning the necessary information. But before he can teleport he can hear Keith growl, "How dare you possess my body you filthy…."

"Ah, ah, ah. None of that. Besides, I had to."

"To get information for her? I know it was you now who convinced Honerva to do this."

"It still is partly Lotor's fault for not letting Honerva talk to him. Or giving her a second chance. If he had I wouldn't have suggested this drastic measure to her."

"You're just projecting onto her. She isn't like you!"

"She's close enough. And don't worry I'll be back in a jiffy to make sure you don't spill what you know."

Keith growls, but he disappears and through their shared bond, Honerva now knows of Voltron's attack, without him having to say anything. Poofing back in front of Keith who is about to tell on him, Gabriel repossesses Keith.

Now to make sure Honerva sticks to the script.