A/N: This chapter is going to be a little weird. So everything that happens in the show from season 5, episode 2 to episode 5. Everything that happens in those episodes happens in this book. I am just not going to waste my time on rewriting the episodes to add a few words. In episode 2, the team uses a hologram to confuse Zarkon that Linna was with them (To explain that scene). Throughout the episodes, Each member of the team tries the hardest to find Linna's location but nothing turns up. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
A/N: I am so sorry for the wait. I thought I published this but didn't. I also got caught with finals and I had to have surgery so I have been done for a while but hopefully, I will have more updates to come!
Season 5, Episode 6: "White Lion"
Castle of Lions:
Allura and the others stand around in the main hangar. Allura holds the key to finding Oriande. Allura can sense something within the stone as someone else held it before her. Someone that she knew but it was not her father. She senses something different. She stares at the rock before Pidge speaks.
"So, this magic rock is gonna guide us to this mysterious planet?"
"A land known as Oriande," Lotor corrects Pidge.
Coran chuckles at the mention of the planet's name. "I'm afraid someone's been rugging your wimble, Prince Lotor. Oriande is just an Altean folklore. It doesn't actually exist."
"That's what I thought Coran. But now, I have a feeling that it is quite real," Allura informs Coran.
"It is the birthplace of all Altean alchemy. The place where King Alfor and I suspect Linna learned the secrets that helped them create Voltron and where Allura will master those same secrets so that my ships may enter the quintessence field," Lotor announces to everyone.
Lance glares at Lotor, still suspicious of him. "And what makes you the authority on crazy Altean nonsense?" Lance points towards Coran as he says, "Coran knows more magic made-up gobbledygook than anyone I've ever met."
"Thank you, Lance," Coran smiles back at his comrade helping him out. "And I can assure you, King Alfor never mentioned anything to me about traveling to Oriande."
"In all likelihood, he kept it a secret from everyone." "Except for Linna." Allura interrupts Lotor as she senses the individual's presence on the stone.
"Yes, except for Linna," Lotor agrees with Allura. Lotor looks over at Coran. "Did King Alfor and Linna ever take any trips away from the castle?"
Coran pondered on this question. He remembers the times that Linna went on trips by herself. King Alfor would go on his own trip during that same time but they never went on one together. Or at least from what he can remember.
"No," Coran replies to Lotor. "They never left the castle together for any trip."
"They must have gone separate then to make sure that it stayed a secret. I have been researching Oriande for centuries, hoping to learn more about my Altean ancestry. Over time, I've managed to gather evidence from all over the universe that hinted at its existence. The most important hint was when I mentioned it to Linna. Her eyes showed me that I had come upon something," Lotor tells the team. "Now, thanks to Princess Allura, I will finally gaze upon its magnificence with my own eyes."
"Uh, aren't you a little busy running your empire to take a magical vacation?" Hunk wonders to Lotor as Pidge stares at him with disbelief that Hunk just asked that question.
"In order to transition the Galra Empire to a peaceful existence, I need to open up a pathway to the quintessence field. Once my people have access to unlimited energy, the old ways of the empire will be behind them."
"If this voyage is successful, the universe will finally be on the path to peace. " Allura states with a smile on her face.
"Well, let's find out where we're going," Shiro states to the group.
Allura stands in the circle as she feels the leftover power left from Linna using the crystal. She can feel her somewhere, asleep. She is waiting to be awoken by someone. Allura holds the stone up to reveal the map to the rest of the team.
"There, between those three celestial bodies. That's where we're headed," Allura tells them.
"Wait a tick, that's the Patrulian Zone," Coran announces to the group in worry.
"The what now?" Lance wonders what Coran said.
"The Patrulian Zone is a mysterious part of space where ships enter and are never heard from again," Coran pauses to add more effect to the words he just said as all the paladins feel a shiver up their spines. "Princess, that area has been deemed unsafe to navigate for ages."
"The perfect place to hide a magical world," Lotor replies to Coran.
"Or to crash and die," Pidge answers back to him.
'We will approach with caution." Allura answers them with determination. "Prepare our course, Coran!"
"Yes, Princess," Coran replies to her with worry showing in both his face and voice.
Oriande:
His presence lingers in the place surrounding him. He lives here with only one other visitor. A visitor that has been with him since she came to him for help. She has been asleep for several nights now even after he rescued her from their hands. He felt her suffering and the pain that continues to fight within her body. He walks over to the bed where he laid her to rest. He sees her body absorbing the quintessence around her.
"I warned you, child..." He whispers with worry in his voice as he senses someone entering his zone. "They are here..."
He turns his head to see her breathing traveling back to normal as markings cover almost half her body. He knows that this is her warning sign. These markings inform her of the time she has left. The time she has to complete her mission. He knows because he is the one that places them on her body when she pushes herself too hard.
"Allura..." His visitor whispers in her sleep.
He lays a hand upon her head as he senses her power fading. She is losing everything and does not even realize it. All she cares for is to help this person which he does not understand. He lays his head upon hers and listens to her breathing. She almost has enough energy to awaken herself. He waits for her to wake and tell him of her adventures. He wants her to spend the rest of her time with him but he knows that she will go back with them. She would do anything even die, to protect those people.
"I hope you know what you are doing..."
He kisses her forehead and slowly releases his hand upon her cheek. He walks towards the door as he feels his body transform back to its original form. He only uses his other form when she is here. He strolls out the door after looking back at his sleeping beauty before him. He senses the other people wanting to enter his fortress of power. He is the guardian. He waits at the border for them to try and enter. He wants to scare them away but he knows that they will make it in. They will do everything to get in. All he can do is to try and scare them. He wants to protect her and that is his only will to continue to protect this hidden world. It is all to protect the person that showed him that he can trust a person for once in his life.
Castle of Lion: Oriande
"We're approaching the Patrulian Zone," Coran states to the crew.
"What's that up ahead? An asteroid belt?" Shiro wonders with concern in his voice.
Coran stares at the objects that appear before them with worry hidden in his eyes. He can feel his heart sink with the fear that he tried to warn everyone about but was outvoted.
"No..." Coran takes a deep breath before answering, "It's a graveyard."
Everyone watches the ship pass over ships that are completely destroyed with no power. They are all damaged like something collided with them or they did not have the power to escape the area or realm around them. Coran could feel his heart stay sunken within his chest as he recognizes some of the ships. He shakes his head with disappointment within himself.
"What caused them all to lose power?" Hunk wonders to the group as he notices about all of the ships.
"No one knows..." Coran replies with an eerie tone as he tries to get the ship past all of the ships without disturbing their resting place.
Pidge starts searching the surrounding area for a source that maybe could have taken all of their power from the ships when she comes upon something within the magnetic field.
"I think we just found out," Pidge states to the group.
Everyone stares before the massive cyclone twisted upside down, glowing with an extreme amount of magnetic force. Everyone gasps with shock at the sight of it. No one speaks as they all take in the sight of it. Allura starts to sense something within her body. Her heart was moving her towards the cyclone before them. She feels like something is within the middle of the field that needs her.
"Is that some kind of super massive star?" Lance wonders to everyone as he breaks the silence and the connection that Allura was sensing.
"No. Unbelievable! It's a white hole!" Pidge replies to Lance.
Hunk chuckles when Pidge says that. "Whoa! Take that, theoretical physics!"
"Wait, what's a white hole?" Lance wonders.
"Well, unlike a black hole, which has massive gravity that sucks everything in, a white hole is an opposite body that shoots massive amounts of energy out from an unknown source," Pidge explains.
"Yeah, it's blasting this whole area with crazy high radiation." Hunk adds in.
"The energy must've fried those ships' systems." Shiro brings up the ships again.
"The wise stand beck from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre," Lotor whispers to himself. "The mystic becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same."
"Is that, like, a sone you're working on?" Lance groans towards Lotor because he still does not enjoy his company. "'Cause, it sucks."
Lotor rolls his eyes at Lance before explaining to the others, "It's a poem by an ancient Altean alchemist. I discovered it carved next to a cave painting of a fiery sphere. I never realized until now that it describes the route to Oriande." Lotor takes a deep breath before turning to see Allura and stating, "We must go into the white hole."
"Are you guys serious?" Hunk questions everyone's sanity, especially Lotor's. "We're navigating by cave poetry now?"
"How are we to go through the white hole?" Pidge joins into this crazy idea that Lotor wants them to do. "If we get closer, we're gonna end up like those dead ships there."
"We would become part of the graveyard..." Coran whispers to himself.
Allura stares at the white hole as she speaks her crazy idea. "We wormhole inside."
"Princess, NO!" Coran screams to her.
"Voltron can withstand forces other ships cannot," Allura replies to Coran.
"Are you sure?" Shiro wonders to Allura as he shoots from his seat.
"If this is the home of Altean Alchemy, then Voltron will make it through," Allura stands her ground.
"And what if it's just another nuclear explosion in space?" Lance worries about her decision.
"Then we're toast! Princess, I think you've taken this quest far enough." Coran tries to speak some sense to Allura. "Lotor is sending you to your doom." Coran eyes Lotor with suspension.
"Quite the opposite. It is a mission of life discovery." Lotor states to Coran with a smirk on his because he is not phased by what Coran is accusing him of.
"You need to zip it!" Lance orders Lotor while pointing a finger directly at him.
"Believe me, I would never ask any of you to do this if I didn't know..." Allura tries to reassure them. "If I didn't feel in my heart that it is true." Allura stares at the white hole. "I belong here."
Everyone stares at the white hole with fear but they know that they can't say no to Allura. She senses that presence again within her soul. She feels like someone or something is waiting for her on the other side of the hole.
"I am coming..." Allura whispers as they get ready to enter the white hole with Voltron.
Oriande: Allura and Lotor make it!
He walks to her side once again when he senses their arrival. He thought that when all of the power of Voltron was sucked dry, the intruders would leave but they came back. They were able to pass his barrier to block intruders from his world. He brushes her hair back behind her ear as he watches her breathing. He lays his lips upon her head before walking out and turning back to his true form to meet their uninvited Altean guests.
He walks gracefully towards the beginning of his temple. He stares at the two intruders that come to be judged by the great one. He roars to get their attention and leads them inside his temple. He walks past the room with the statues of The Life Givers. They will be their first task. He watches as the female succeed as he waits for them to arrive within his room. They stand within the entrance as he stands brightly before them.
"Now, what?" The female wonders.
"I don't know, but be prepared." The male answers. "We may yet have to prove that we're worthy to be here."
He leaves the room as it begins to collapse before them. He watches as he sees them move on to the next and final test. He stands face to face with both of them in separate spaces. He attacks each of them to see what they will do with his knowledge. As he faces the woman, he starts to remember the battle with his friend. They almost do the same as one another. He jumps towards the female as she lays herself before him to kill. He jumps through her as she has passed.
"Where am I?" Allura wonders to space before her.
"You have returned to the realm of your ancestors, The Alteans and the Life Givers who came before." A female voice appears through space.
"I wish to learn the secrets my father and friend knew, the alchemy that created Voltron," Allura replies to the voice.
"There is no need to kneel here." The female chuckles at Allura. "You are home, and the secret is already within you." The female voice smiles down upon Allura. "Rise, let us embrace you."
Allura stands within the light as she feels the knowledge that she has been given. She feels the warmth of someone embracing her. Allura opens her eyes to white hair in her eyes as tears fall down her eyes.
"Linna!" Allura screams as she holds tighter to the individual hugging her.
"Hello, Allura..." Linna whispers to her friend.
"What are you doing here?" Allura wonders to her as she faces Linna.
"I have been with a friend," Linna answers her.
"A friend?" Allura wonders when a man appears before her.
This man glows a light white shade with light blue. His eyes are a light blue light that feels like that see within your soul. Allura senses a familiar feeling with the man. His white hair falls back like a lion's mane.
"This is The Guardian or The White Lion." Linna intrudes him to Allura. "He is my Lion..."
Allura stares at the man that stands beside Linna like he is protecting her from something or someone. Allura stares into the man's eyes and remembers the lion's eye who judged her and Lotor.
"You are the lion from the entrance." Allura points out.
"Yes," The man replies.
"He is your lion..." Allura wonders about that.
"I am the white paladin," Linna replies to Allura. "He is my lion."
Allura stays quiet for a moment before saying, "Wait! We have to go see everyone! Come on!"
Allura tries to grab Linna's hand but the man has a hold of it. Linna looks at him with something within her eyes. Allura senses something. She can sense the bond between the two of them is stronger than any bond that she has felt between the other lions and paladins.
"Linna..."
"Allura," Linna smiles at her friend. "I have to stay here for a while longer. It is not my time to leave here. I want you to go back to the others and tell them what you have learned but..." Linna lowers her head for a moment. "I want you to be careful. There are things coming that I can't protect you from. Please don't tell anyone else that you saw me here. I will come to find you when I can."
"Linna..."
"Bye Allura," Linna smiles towards Allura as she and the lion disappeared.
"Linna..."
Castle of Lions: Power back on
"We never doubted you!" Lance shouts at Allura and Lotor.
"What was there?" Hunk and Pidge wonder.
"A great temple and a white lion," Lotor says to the group.
"Allura?" Shiro wonders to her silence.
"Nothing..."
Allura walks over to Coran and pulls him to the side. Coran stares at the Princess and knows that she has something to say.
"Coran, I saw Linna," Allura whispers to him. "I had to tell someone. Linna does not want anyone to know though."
"Why?"
"She said that she has to protect the temple for a little while longer," Allura answers him.
Allura did not realize that Linna wanted to test Allura. She wanted to make sure that she could trust her. However, Allura failed because Shiro overheard her and Coran's conversation. Hagar stares at her crystal ball with a grin on her face.
"There you are, Linna... I can't wait to see you again."