Chapter Text
9 MONTHS AGO
He took off down the hall after the sentry.
He had an important piece of intel in hand, twisting through the hallways. Keith could hear Shiro call his name, but he ignored his warnings. Bayard in hand and shield up, he followed the sentry down the hall.
He tried to stab him with his sword and catch up to his speed but the mechanical warrior was always one step ahead of him. The exhaustion of the last few days clung to his shoulders and made him lose momentum. He tripped over his own feet and almost ran into any wall near him.
Come on! Just a little bit faster. If that Intel were to get into the galra's hands, they were screwed.
With a final swing of his sword, he cut through the sentry's neck. The soldier dropped the device in his hand and fell limply to the floor. Keith breathed heavily, leaning down and picking up the circular device. It seemed no harm was done to the object. He took a deep breath and pocketed the gear.
It was best he got back to the others and make sure they got the valued information. This might finally be their answer to why -
" ARGH!! " Keith screamed in pain as the sensation of scalding water ran through his veins. He fell to his knees in agony and clutched at his right arm, the blinding stabs resonating from there. He shook violently, his vision blurring around the edges.
Keith searched his surroundings, desperately trying to find the source of the pain. His eyes fell upon a shadowy figure in the far corner. Her voice was muffled, but she was saying something into a device. Her gleaming yellow eyes locked with his and a gruelly smile crossed her face. Not long after, he heard the march of soldiers growing louder and louder.
He took hold of the wall and pushed himself to his feet. His throat was scratchy and he felt dry. Black spots flickered in front of his view and the only emotion he had was fear. Keith coughed from the dry sensation of his throat and moaned in pain. His lungs burned in protest of his breathing.
He slumped back to the floor, feeling weak. Almost... vulnerable.
A group of sentries rounded the corner and upon sight, aimed and fired. Keith brought up his shield in time. The shots knocked him against the wall and Keith screamed. It felt as if his spine snapped. In his dizzy haze, he thought it did.
Reality was slowly slipping from his reach. It was like holding water at this point. The cyborgs got closer and closer, their insignias and guns melded together, growing bigger by the second. Keith felt tears sting at his eyes and with one final stretch of reality -
He screamed.
PRESENT DAY
Shiro shot up in bed.
The scream ripped through the hallways and bounced off the walls. He could already hear the hurried footsteps of the others outside his door. He threw the blankets off himself and nearly ran into the door in his haste. His feet led him to Keith's bedroom where he could still hear the muffled crying of the red paladin.
Without hesitation, Shiro opened the door and headed for the bed. Keith was curled up in himself, shaking and sobbing. He kneeled next to him and lightly tapped his arm. Keith jumped, looking up at him with wide eyes. To Shiro's relief, they were normal.
Keith took a while to register Shiro's face before he lunged forth and hugged him.
"It's okay, Keith," Shiro mumbled into his hair. "It's over. It's okay."
8 MONTHS AGO
"Commencing Gladiator; Level 13," Allura called over the comms. The ceiling opened up and a gladiator fell to the ground with a resounding clang. Keith raised his sword in case the gladiator decided to dive forward. He saw the others do the same in the corner of his eye. The gladiator stood straight-backed and looked them all over. "Your lesson today involves teamwork and strategy. You must work together to get passed the gladiator. On the other side of the room-" a panel rose from the across the room. A line cut between them and the gladiator - "there is important intel. Get the intel to your side of the room, and the mission is successful.
"You have thirty ticks to prepare yourselves," Allura said before she signed off. Keith huffed. No matter what he tried he could never get past this one. He's seen Shiro defeat this level countless times before but he was never able to crack the strategy himself.
"Alright, team! Let's talk strategy," Shiro turned toward them, drawing Keith's attention immediately. "This gladiator has a double eye. He can tell what is happening from both sides. So what we have to do, is outsmart him. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge will take his left side; while Keith and I take his right." Well, that was a little embarrassing, to say the least. He could've at least noticed the gladiator had the infused peripherals of a human being. The four of them nodded affirmatively. "Pidge, you are gonna have to slink away from the team slowly but surely. Grab the intel and rejoin the battle."
"Gotcha," Pidge said with a smirk.
"If the gladiator figures you out, we'll cover you," Shiro said. "But let's just hope this works out."
They turned back to the waiting gladiator. They walked to the line crossing between them and stood ready. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge to the left of the gladiator while Keith stood to the right with Shiro.
"Initiate mission!" Coran called over the comms cheerily.
The five of them darted forward, splitting into their respective sides. Keith and Shiro tried to cause more of a distraction on the right to give Pidge her time to sneak past.
Keith used his sword to the best of his ability. Striking when seems necessary and repelling the staff from hitting him. Shiro used more calculative techniques, watching the gladiator's actions with a watchful eye. Keith felt strangely dizzy at the sight. His blood growing hotter as if he was getting a panic attack. Pidge finally swiped the intel and slinked back to the group.
Shiro's plan seemed to be strategizing well. But Keith struggled to stay a part of it. His head spun as quick as a top and his vision went fuzzy and cleared too quickly for his mind to bear. He tried to ignore it but all his body wanted to do was rest.
Stay in the battle! He warned himself. But the dizzying exhaustion became roaring pain. His mind struggled to function. All of his thoughts got scrambled or sounded backward. A scream of white noise bubbled in his head and he knocked to his knees. He was begging. Pleading for noise other than this!
Please! AnYThING bUT ThIS!!
Keith screamed. Trying to drown out the noise. His eyes stung and his head pounded. He heard a distant voice scream in the distance and felt shadows crowd his figure. Something heavy rested on his shoulder and Keith's screaming drowned out into a whimper.
5 MONTHS AGO
When Keith got back into battle again, he couldn't focus. His aim was off, he kept crashing and he struggled to obey orders. Keith has always had pride in his piloting skills but now he felt ashamed and embarrassed. It felt as if he never flew a ship in his life. It felt as if he never even made it into flying school.
He crashed into anything in his way because he couldn't maneuver fast enough, despite Red being the fastest on the team. He could never shoot a gun but he was at least decent with his lion. Keith has shot Green in the spine nine times now. Pidge would almost certainly need a cryo-pod if he hit her in the face with his fire again.
His breathing escalated into hyperventilating. He was doing things wrong, the team was frustrated with him! Why couldn't he remember how to connect with Red?
Lance screamed in surprise and dodged Keith's horrible aim at a fighter ship. "Focus, Keith!" Lance screamed angrily. He could practically see Lance fuming on the other side of the comms.
He was going to retort but he couldn't think. His mind went blank and he zoned out for a while. He shook his head and took a look at his surroundings. He... forgot that they were in a battle. "I..." Keith faltered, his voice was slightly shaky from stress. "I can't."
3 MONTHS AGO
When he got out of the cryo-pod, he fell into Pidge who was trying her best to keep him steady. "Whoa there, dude," she lightly scolded. "Lay off the cryo air, would ya?"
She was trying to brighten the mood. Get his mind off the fact that he messed up again. He shook his head. "S-sorry," he stammered out, stumbling back to use the pod as support.
Pidge pouted at him, clearly dissatisfied with her failure. She lightly punched his shoulder with a soft smile, "Hey, if it makes you feel any better - we might have a lead on what happened to you."
His eyes sprung wide and he stood tall with enthusiasm. "Really? What is it? How do you know? Do you know how to stop it? Can you stop it?" The questions left his mouth within seconds, pleading for answers to all of them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Pidge held her hands up to calm him. "We don't have all the answers yet and we're still trying to figure it out. Besides, we first need the word from Shiro. See if he wants you to know anything yet." Keith slumped in defeat immediately after that, looking off to the side so he didn't need to face the green paladin. "Take a rest and get dressed, k? Maybe we'll have your answers when you wake up."
Keith nodded silently and left before she said anything else.
-
Keith needed four vargas alone after the meeting with the other paladins.
He felt narcissistic looking into a mirror for a half-hour, mulling over everything he saw. He was in slight denial that his quintessence was being used for experiments in a ship galaxies away from them. It seemed impossible. They weren't completely sure yet, but this was their biggest bet of what happened that day.
The hooded figure's piercing yellow eyes still stuck in his mind. Her smirk tearing across her face as the pain in his limbs increased. His skin always seemed grey, ever since the incident.
He felt more and more worthless as the days went by. He kept it all to himself though.
Red wasn't as fast as she used to be. Maybe they were extracting her quintessence through him? He set the mirror aside and laid his face in his hands. He wouldn't be able to bear that weight on his shoulders. He never wanted anything to happen to her.
There was a soft knock at his door and Keith slowly straightened himself. "Come in," he mumbled, unsure if the person even heard him.
Shiro came inside, his soft concerned looks making Keith feel even worse.
"Hey, buddy," Shiro said quietly, taking a seat next to him on the bed. Keith avoided his gaze, staring down at his greying skin. "You feelin' okay?"
It's not like a space witch is slowly draining the life out of me, Keith thought to himself. "I'm fine."
Silence came between them. The only sound was the distant engines in the castle walls. After a few more dobashes of silence, Shiro sighed and spoke up. "Look. I know this is... scary to think of and you don't want this happening to you. No one would want this to happen as far as I can think. But we're gonna find a way to resolve this, just as we always do. And everything's gonna be fine."
"We shouldn't push the mission aside just cause I'm too weak to pilot a lion," Keith tried to protest but Shiro silenced him easily.
"You are part of this mission just as everyone else on this team," Shiro spoke in a voice filled with authority. The tone Keith struggled to ever disobey. "We need to put an end to this war but we also need to have faith in each other. This is just like all the other hardships, there are just a few more twists and turns to it. We are gonna figure this out and resolve it. You are not weak, the corruption is just making you think that way." Shiro's voice softened into a more brotherly tone. "You mean just as much as everyone to this cause. We need you and you need us. Understood?"
Keith stayed silent for a while. Head turned away, firmly avoiding Shiro's gaze. He knew Shiro was right, but he didn't want to feel like a burden. He didn't want to be in the way.
"Yes, sir."
2 MONTHS AGO
In all honesty, Keith wasn't too hyped to be under the force of magic again. Especially by someone who had little experience. But if this was his way out of this stupid quintessence loss curse, he was all in. Suffice to say, Allura was offended by his hesitance but didn't say anything about it.
Keith was pretty sure he would die in this room. Or come out with a second head. Then there would be more problems to settle.
Coran and Ryner assured him it would be alright but Lance's tales of the shrieking plant still haunted his mind.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Keith questioned for the fifth time that day.
Allura lowered her hands with a pout, "Of course."
Keith crossed his arms, "Then why are we in the training deck for this? With Coran readying a healing pod? And Shiro monitoring from the box?" He gestured toward the room gazing over them, where Shiro's silhouette stood.
Allura paled slightly, "You weren't supposed to hear that..."
Keith sighed in frustration, "Yeah, that's reassuring."
Allura took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "We've been working on this for a while and this is our only solution. The healing pod is in the case that it doesn't work and Shiro's here to make sure it goes fine. This is our only option right now."
Keith raised an eyebrow at her, watching her skeptically. He finally caved after a while's staring contest. "Fine. Let's try it, I guess."
Allura held her hands ready and Keith took a deep breath before standing at her mercy. She closed her eyes in concentration and threw her hands out. Light blue sparks jumped from the tips of her fingers and Keith flinched as it connected to his chest.
A hard tug came in the back of his mind, making him hiss in pain. His thoughts jumbled and his blood started heating up. The start of white noise echoed in his skull, growing louder and louder. He clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the noise. It became unbearable, the noise hissed in his ears and his skin turned hot.
The last thing he heard was the echoing scream bouncing off the walls of the training deck.
1 MONTH AGO
After last time's incident, Keith tried his best to find a different solution. But Allura finally came back to him with a bit more experience and Keith made his dreaded trip to the training deck. He wished it would go fine this time.
This time, the entire team and Ryner stood in the box with Shiro. That was really reassuring. While walking past the med-bay, he noticed Coran readying a pod again. Keith didn't want last time's events coming back to him.
Keith - once again - stood before her and relaxed. It'll be fine, he told himself. It'll be fine.
Unlike last time, gold sparks jumped from the tips of her fingers and shot into his stomach instead. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. His stomach swirled with nausea and his entire head felt heavy. Keith's body immediately rebelled and he threw up on the floor.
-
After six fails, Keith laid face down on the floor with a tired, "No more."
"This is the last try, I promise you," Allura said. "And this one is guaranteed to work."
Keith miserably turned on his back and glared at her, "That's what you said of the last four."
Allura held out her hand and Keith grudgingly accepted it. She pulled him to his feet and Keith stood ready again. One last try, one last attempt to get rid of this stupid curse. Allura closed her eyes and Keith decided to follow her example.
A burst of electricity entered his body and a yellow line shot before his eyes; a different purple line curved off the edge into a dark plain. Keith jumped in surprise and Allura retreated from the alchemy spell. "Oh quiznack, are you alright!?" Allura cried in alarm.
"I - I'm fine," Keith mumbled. "Just didn't expect that."
"Should we..." Allura looked unsure of her question but proceeded. "Should we try again?"
Keith mulled it over for a second and nodded. "Y-yeah."
Allura returned to her position and closed her eyes. Keith was a bit hesitant, but he decided to follow her act. The shock of electricity entered his body again and the line became more prominent. Yellow and blue twisted together, a purple lining leading off into the distance. A hot pink line lead from somewhere else.
He had no clue what all these symbols meant but he knew that it hurt like hell. He clenched his teeth and tried not to jerk away.
Blinding pain shot throughout his entire body and the lines disappeared.
-
When Keith fell out of the pod, Allura was there to catch him. She also didn't stop hugging him. "A-Allura?" Keith said in confusion as she squeezed out whatever quintessence he had left.
"I'm so sorry I had to hurt you like that!" She cried into his shoulder. "But it's over now I promise."
"Wha...?" Keith faltered. The blinding pain of before came to the forefront of his mind. The lines of yellow, blue, purple and pink. "I-it's over?"
Allura pulled away with a kind smile. "Yes. We did a few tests while you were in the cryo-pod and I used some of the alchemy as well. There's no link to Haggar anymore."
Keith's limbs failed him immediately. Relief flooded his system and as he fell forward. Allura caught him in another hug. No more pain. No more pain! He didn't need to go through that depressing cycle ever again. "Thank you, Allura." Thank you, thank you, thank you!
The pain was finally over.
The cockpit was empty and the Bayard left in the lion.
"Shiro?"