A/N: I know that it has been a few days, but I finally had some time to write this chapter. Again, I am a college student so chapters will be scattered for when I update. So, I hope you guys are enjoying the book. Please comment and Review.
Episode: "Stayin' Alive"
The Castle:
Allura sits on the middle stand of her control panel. She is waiting with the mice for her arrival at the Balmera. She is also waiting for her to contact them. She and the mice are playing Charades together. Suddenly, a call comes into the castle. Allura stands up on the podium to see Linna on the video com.
"Hey Allura!" She says to her friend over the com.
Allura stops for a moment and stares at her friend that has been gone for so long now. Allura just stares at her for a moment, but she can't tell where she is by the background. The background is completely white from Allura's view.
"Allura?" Linna tilts her head towards her with confusion.
"Linna..." Allura states with shock in her voice towards her friend.
"I am sorry that I haven't called since I left." Linna rubs the back of her neck towards Allura. "I have been training a lot, and it is really hard to find a signal here."
Allura notices some blue/black bruises that mark her arms. Allura wants to say something but Linna covers them up so Allura doesn't mention it. Linna smiles over the screen as she stares at the castle in the background.
"How are you?" Allura finally speaks a sentence to her friend.
Linna smiles at Allura with that question. "I am doing great. I have improved my skills so I am able to head back to the Castle if that is okay." Linna stops speaking at the thought of not being able to go back to the Castle.
"Yes," Allura answers her with a smile now upon her face. "You can come back. I miss you so much. Pidge misses you as well."
Linna chuckles at the mention of Pidge. "She is probably mad at me." Linna looks up to Allura in the eyes now. "So were you able to read the journals?"
Allura lowers her head at the thought of the journals. She takes a deep breath because she hasn't had the energy to read the last one. Number 4. She looks up to Linna with a smile before speaking to her.
"I have one more to read." Allura answers her.
"That one..." Linna whispers in almost fear to her. "I would have hoped that you would have read it already before allowing me back on the Castle."
"What do you mean?" Allura questions to her. "Please Come Back to the Castle! The Lions miss you! I miss you! Come back Linna!" Allura tries to order her politely. "Please."
Linna lowers her eyes to the ground when she answers Allura this time. "I should be there soon. I have the coordinates of the Castle in my ship. See you soon Allura."
The video cuts off at that. Allura stares at the screen when Coran's face appears in front of her. She doesn't even realize it so Coran begins the conversation.
"Allura?" Coran speaks to her. "Are you awake?"
Allura snaps out of her daze when she hears Coran's voice come through her ears. "Sorry." Allura turns to face him. "I am here."
"Good," Coran smiles towards her. "How are you, Princess? Are you almost at the Balmera?"
Allura keeps her calm face towards him. "I'm scheduled to arrive in just a few doboshes. I hope I'm able to find a crystal big enough for the teludav."
"Have you heard from the other paladins?" Coran wonders her as she appears to have smile now upon her face.
"I had contact with Lance, Shiro, and Pidge a little bit ago. They've located Slav." Allura informs him.
"What about Hunk and- and Keith?" Coran asks her about the other two.
"No word from them yet." Allura lowers her tone in worry.
"I have no doubt my scientifically accurate instructional video was of great help." Coran smirks while rubbing one of the ends of his mustache as he says that.
"I'm sure it was." Allura says with a disappointed look on her face. "If they collect enough scaultrite for the lenses, will your teludav structure be complete?"
"It's nearly done. The Olkari and I have been working on it day and night. It will be ready in time." Coran informs her.
"Oh, I hope so." Allura says to him with a sigh.
"What's going on, Princess? You sound worried." Coran wonders to her with worry now in his voice over the screen.
"I was thinking of my father. He gave his life to try to keep Voltron out of Zarkon's hands and now we have a chance to defeat him. I... I don't want to fail." Allura tells Coran with her eyes lowers towards the ground in fear.
"You know... Princess, your father would be proud of you. It wasn't that long ago we found out Altea had been destroyed, and Linna was with your father until the end." Coran speaks her with his fatherly tone again.
"I've never felt so alone." Allura lands on her knees now.
"Nor have I. And we could have easily given up. But we didn't. You didn't. And now look at us. We reformed Voltron. We freed the Olkari and the Balmerans, and now they're working alongside us." Coran speaks to her with confidence in his voice.
"You're right, Coran. We have allies. And that's what's going to defeat Zarkon. Oh!" Allura realizes that she hasn't told her about Linna. "I just talked with Linna as well."
"What?" Coran sounds shocked at the mention of her name. "How is she?"
"She says that she is fine. She will be here soon." Allura informs him. "She wants me to read the last journal though before she arrives."
"Allura," Coran lowers his tone to a fatherly voice. "If she wants you too, you should do it."
"I will after this mission. I am just happy to hear from her." Allura crosses her arms around her chest in a worried way towards Coran. "But Coran," Allura stops for a moment at the remembrance of the bruises that marked her body. "she didn't look good from the video."
"What do you mean Princess?" Coran wonders her with worry now in his tone as well.
"She has bruises that mark her body. She doesn't look healthy at all. It looks like she was being mistreated." Allura tells him with worry.
"Well," Coran remembers her last video. "She said that she didn't want to be there."
"Then why did she go?" Allura raises her voice towards him before lowering it back to him.
"Maybe she had a reason that she will tell us soon." Coran answers her.
"Maybe..." Allura says to him as she looks up to see that she is at the Balmera. "I will talk to you later Coran."
"Alright, Princess. Crack a squizzle on the Balmera." Coran says to her with his hand upon his head in saluting position.
"Thank you, Coran." Allura says to him with a smile upon her face.
Balmera: After the Battle
Voltron stands in the middle of space with their sword stabbed within the monster. They float there when the monster falls and explodes in front of them. Finally, Allura speaks over the intercoms.
"Great work, Paladins. Now return to the Castle so we can get back to Olkarion."
Allura hears the doors open behind her when she finishes saying that. She turns to see Linna standing there between the doorway. Slav lays upon the desk of Coran typing his fingers away like he is bored. Allura stares at her in the doorway, ignoring the tapping of the keys. Allura notices the long sleeves that cover Linna's whole body. She doesn't want anyone to see something.
"Linna..."
"Hi, Allura." Linna says to her friend as they embrace each other with a hug. "I missed you so much."
"Me too." Allura says to her friend before Slav interrupts the moment.
"Why is there a grand entrance on the 40th floor? And what's with all the ziplines? You have hover technology."
"Hello, Slav." Linna chuckles when she hears his annoying voice.
"Is that you Linna?" Slav wonders as he turns to see her standing before him. "I thought you died. How did you get out?"
"That's for another time." Linna whispers to him in response.
The door opens behind them again when the rest of the team walks into the main hangar. They all stop for a moment when they see Linna standing there before them. She lowers her head towards them though with disappointment.
"Um..." Linna says with a wave towards them. "I am back."
"Linna!" Pidge runs towards her and gives her hug. "You're back."
"Hi, Pidge." Linna states with a little flinch in her arms and legs. "It is great to see you."
"Where have you been?" Shiro wonders to her with a questioning look on his face.
"I have been with a friend. He is helping me with training." Linna informs them.
"Oh! So you are talking about that friend." Slav speaks to her. "You know that he shouldn't be in this reality. He needs to do 10 jumping jacks to keep this reality from going berserk."
"Slav." Linna turns to him with an annoyed look on her face. "This is the other friend that you don't know about."
"That sounds interesting." Slav turns and stands before her now. "I know basically all of your friends now."
"That's not true." Linna crosses her arms when Pidge leaves her side since Slav is so annoying. "In this reality you don't."
"Yes I do." Slav argues to her.
"No you don't. Because he is only part of this reality." Linna blurts out to him.
"He can't only be part of this reality unless..." Slav stares at her for a moment. "He is..." Slav looks at her again before shrugging it off when he realizes who she is talking about. "Oh! That one."
"You're so annoying Slav." Linna tells him with a slap to her face. "How did I survive again?"
"You did exactly as I told you." Slav answers her when he goes back to the keyboard.
Linna turns to stare at the others in the main hangar again. "What?"
"You know Slav?" Shiro asks her with a questioning look again.
"Of course she does." Slav yells towards them. "We were in the same prison together."
"Slav!" Linna shouts at him. "I didn't tell them that!"
"If you didn't, the chances of your survival in this reality will be 5%." Slav informs her but she just growls at him.
"Slav." Linna states to him in anger. "What did I tell you about me not caring about my percentage of survival in this reality?"
"That you didn't care because you were going to no longer exist in this reality once your mission is complete." Slav answers Linna with the most information in one sentence that she didn't want to hear.
"What does he mean by that?" Pidge asks Linna, turning her attention back to the group.
"Slav and I were in a Galra prison together." Linna sighs at the response and memories of the experience. She turns to look at Allura now. "That is why I wanted you to read the last journal before allowing me to return here."
"So you were a prisoner!" Allura states to her with worry. "How did you escape? Why didn't you tell me this?"
"Allura..." Linna lowers her tone of voice. "I have no memory of how I escape. That is why I left. I had to see someone that would help aid in my memories recovering process."
"And did it work?" Keith wonders to her now as he is still trying to recover his childhood memories.
"To a degree." Linna states to him before looking at the rest of the group. "I have one mission in this reality. And that one mission is the reason that I am still here. Once the mission is complete, I really have no idea what will happen to me."
"What do you mean?" Allura wonders to her.
"That's what I have been trying to figure out since I met her." Slav interrupts Allura. "She is different from the rest of us."
"I am not different." Linna states back to Slav. "I am an Altean just like Allura and Coran. I just have a mission. I don't understand you Slav."
"I don't understand you as well which is why I am shocked that you are still alive." Slav answers her with an interesting look on his face. "According to my calculation, you should be dead."
"What?" Everyone yells with question.
"Thanks Slav. That makes me feel great." Linna tells him as she looks at the Paladins. "I am going to head to my room. I don't feel well."
"Wait!" "Alright, see you soon." Allura interrupts Shiro before he stops Linna from leaving the room.
"Why did you do that?" Shiro asks Allura when Linna has successfully left.
"You noticed it as well." Salv speaks again to Allura.
"Noticed what?" Lance and Keith say at the same time.
"The bruises that mark her body. The poor fatigue in her face. She has been suffering for a while." Allura states to them when Slav lowers his head towards her.
"I remember her in the prison. She would get locked up so much that she could survive weeks without anything to drink or food to eat. She would stay to herself unless it was with me. I was the only one she talked to unless you count her dreams." Slav says to the Paladins.
"What do you mean by her dreams?" Hunk wonders to what Slav says.
"I remember her crying in her sleep, and it was about the same dream. I know its the same one because when she woke up, she would scream in terror and the guards would grab her to see Zarkon." Slav informs them. "Her dreams are very powerful. They allow her to see different realities some how."
"How do you know that?" Pidge questions Slav.
"Because she showed me before." Slav answers them.
"What?" They all say to him.
"How?" Keith asks him. "What was it about?"
"I am not to talk about it anymore." Slav answers them back when he resumes back to his typing. "If I were to tell you, the chances of her survival will be 0%. The chances of all of your survivals will be 5%."
"What?" Everyone says again and try to get Slav to explain it to them.
Slav ignores them after he says that last part though. He just lets them beginning talking about the lenses and returning back to Olkarion. He understands that Linna didn't want them to know, but he also doesn't want her to suffer through the reality that he witnessed when she showed him.
Linna's room:
She walks into the room with exhaustion on her face. She looks at the journals that scatter the room again. She shakes her head towards them before falling upon her bed. She looks at the picture upon her stand once more before falling asleep. She knows what nightmare will roam her dreams tonight. She will be ready for the battle to come.
"Please don't die Shiro when you face Zarkon. Please don't." Linna whispers to herself without realizing it before passing out in her sleep.