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Keith flew toward Altea, the dark void of space all around him.
Coran called all the paladins to see the complete build of the new Castle. This was a big deal for them. A copy of where the paladins first became. Where it all started. He hasn’t seen the team in some time, so this was an exciting experience. Keith broke through the atmosphere of Altea and watched the fields of Juneberries far beneath. Greens and pinks blending into the dirt like a beautiful paradise. His eyes travelled to the marble statue of Allura, her stone hair billowing in the air; paladin helmet tucked under her arm. Even if it was just stone, Keith felt the courage and strength of Allura’s usual aura. A small smile tugged at his lips at the sight of her.
“Hellooo?”
A chill ran down Keith spine and he froze. He turned toward the voice, only to see Hunk shrugg sheepishly. Keith sighed and turned back toward the large room they gathered in. It looked almost like an ancient ballroom.
“By the size of the lion,” Pidge spoke up. “I expected these steps to be bigger.”
Keith was about to agree when he heard a hard clash of some kind from above. He jumped and looked up at a bright blue light, illuminating the ceiling cracks. The light reined down on them, making everything outside the diamond shaped mass foggy. Keith’s heart beat quicker as he saw a blue light travel up from his toes, higher and higher. He caught the distant voice of a woman echo through the room, “ Hold, for identity scan .”
“Why are we here?” Shiro called out, scanning the area like someone would grant him with the answers. “What do you want with us?”
The light around them flickered and faded, and two large torches lit up with a blue fire. Keith gasped in surprise as he saw more and more lights flare down a long hallway. “I guess we’re going that way,” Pidge said, looking at Shiro for clarification.
Shiro nodded in agreement. “It might explain why we’re here. But be careful.” The others nodded in agreement and they took cautious steps up the stairs. At their slow pace, it felt like forever. As they got higher, Keith noticed a dark hallway; not all the torches were lit. They walked into the hallway, toward the darkness before them. Pidge yelped and he fell back into Keith, who quickly grabbed his arms to steady him.
Lance and Hunk seemed to have jumped back as much as Pidge and Shiro held his prosthetic in a tight fist. Pidge swallowed and pushed away from Keith. “They - er - they light up when we get closer. F-false alarm.” Keith noticed two new lights illuminated and kept walking behind the clearly embarrassed Pidge.
Hunk let out a nervous whimper and cautiously called out, “Hello?”
The five of them walked through the hallways, following the string of flickering torches. Apparently, Hunk’s idea of ‘stealthy’ was call ‘hello’ every few seconds. Numerous times Keith spun on his heel and hissed at him to ‘ shut up ’ but settled for clenching his teeth and pointedly ignoring him. They walked down another flight of stairs and saw a door down the small hall. Shiro pushed past Pidge and approached the door with caution. The door opened when Shiro got close enough, revealing another large room.
Shiro nodded his head toward the room and the rest walked inside. Two strange looking blue cylinders stood next to each other and there were various holes spaced out around them, but they were all patched up. Out of the corner of Keith’s eye, he saw Pidge approach a panel in the middle of the room. “It’s… some kind - of control room.” He laid a hand on the surface of the panel but retracted his hand as soon as it made contact. Keith noticed a blue light springing from the surface.
“Wh-what’s it doing?” Hunk asked, hugging his arms closer to himself.
The five of them jumped as a loud clang echoed behind them. Hunk dove behind Shiro, who raised his prosthetic in a fist again. Pidge raised his fists and so did Lance. Keith pulled his blade from his belt and stood at the ready. Nothing seemed to happen. The only difference in the blue cylinders were the lights at the bottom of their podiums. Keith made out hazy silhouettes in their midst. “Are these guys… dead?” Hunk asked nervously.
At Hunk’s words, a white missed swirled around the glass of the first cylinder and it slowly started to disintegrate. “Get ready!” Shiro cried to the others, raising his fist higher. Hunk clumsily did the same.
The glass disintegrated and the white mist swirled away, leaving a woman in its place. She had long stark white hair that reached her waist and a blue dress that reached her toes. Purple pearls hung from her ears and a golden, glowing crown clung to her forehead. Her eyes snapped open with a gasp and she reached out, “Father!”
She tilted forward, clearly not balanced. Lance dove forward and caught her on instinct. She groaned and pushed herself to her feet in a daze. She blinked a couple of times and looked up at Lance. From what Keith could tell, her eyes were different shades of bright blue and she had seemingly pink pupils. She studied Lance’s face with drunk concern. As for Lance…
“Hello,” Lance said, grinning at the woman in his arms.
“Who are you? Where am I?” She asked, scanning her surroundings.
Lance looked a little displeased at her reaction but settled for a flirtier grin instead, “I’m Lance,” - he winked - “and you’re right here in my arms.”
Her eyes dragged back to Lance and her eyes widened. Her hand reached out a bit and she whispered in bewilderment, “Your… ears… ”
The grin melted from Lance’s face and he cocked up an eyebrow, “Yeah…?”
The woman’s face contorted in disgust, “They’re hideous, what happened to them?”
Lance’s mouth gaped in disbelief. “N-nothings wrong with them!” he stated defensively. The woman’s eyes trailed over the others in the room, ignoring Lance’s protests. Her eyes widened at the others’ presence. “They heard exactly what you -”
The woman grabbed Lance by the ear and pushed him to the ground. “Lance!” Hunk shrieked in shock. The alien pulled on Lance’s ear and scowled at them, “Who are all of you!? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?”
“A giant blue lion brought us here!” Lance cried out in pain. “That’s all we know!”
Her grip tightened. She looked at the rest of them, “Why do you have the blue lion? What happened to its paladin?” Shock and fear crossed her features and the light blues in her eyes darkened. “Unless…” She let go of Lance, leaving him to face plant on the floor. “How… how long has it been?”
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shiro said, his fist lowered and he gestured at the rest to do the same. Keith sheathed his blade and crossed his arms. “Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we could help.”
Hesitation came across her face as Lance pushed off of the floor, holding his ear in agony. When she finally spoke, it was cracked with emotion, “Princess…” She cleared her throat and stood with more confidence. “I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea.” She walked forward toward the panel they stood at a moment before. “I need to find out where we are, and how long we’ve been asleep.” She placed her hands on the panel and it lit with a blue light. A screen widened in front of Allura and she pressed a few icons and symbols.
“Okay,” Pidge said. “That’s how that works.”
They heard a gasp behind them and turned in surprise. Keith saw another man with pointed ears and markings under his eyes. He had orange hair, a bushy moustache and an alien outfit that fit tightly to his body. “Enemy combatants!” the new man cried out and jumped from his pod. He aimed a kick at Lance who jumped out the way with a yelp. The man punched and slapped at thin air uselessly before he hissed, “Quiznack!”
Keith raised an eyebrow. Quiznack?
“You’re lucky I have a case of the old sleep chamber knees,” the man snarled, twirling around. “Or I’d grab your head like this -” He twisted his hands in demonstration “-wrap you up like so; one, two, three -” he snapped his fingers. “Sleepy time.”
Lance got a challenging smirk on his face and Keith turned away. He watched Allura tapping a few more symbols and icons before her eyes widened in horror. “It… it can’t be.”
The man turned away from Lance, “What is it?”
“We… no,” Allura put a hand over her mouth. “We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years.”
“What!?” all of them exclaimed.
“Planet Altea -” Allura choked on a sob. “And all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed.” The man looked down in shock. “Coran, father… father is gone. Our entire civilization…” She looked at the floor. A mix of anger and sadness on her face. Keith wasn’t sure if he should say anything or try to comfort her so he stayed back. “All because of… Zarkon.”
Shiro gasped and his face turned pale. His prosthetic instinctively raised to his scar. “Zarkon?”
A more hostile expression reached Allura and her head snapped up, “He was the King of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people.”
“I…” Shiro looked down at his arm. “I remember now... I was his prisoner.”
“He’s… still alive?” Sadness crossed her face again but she shook her head and glared. “ Impossible ,” she hissed, her hand clenching into a fist.
Shiro shook his head in disbelief as well, “I - I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron.”
A bitter laugh arose from Allura, “He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him,” she glared at them with determination. “And that's exactly why we must find it before he does.”
“Keith, m’boy!” Keith looked up at the King of Altea. His thick cloak billowing behind him as he held his hands out in welcome. “It’s been a while!”
“Hey, Coran,” Keith replied, returning the soft smile. “How are you doing?”
Coran shook his head, “I’m fine, don’t you worry. The others are already here. You were running a bit late. We got worried.”
Keith smiled nervously, “Yeah. Had some things to clear up before I came here.” He turned around and faced Allura. He noticed all the lions sit before her, eyes dark. “They’ve been like that ever since the statue was built.”
Coran followed his gaze and nodded, “Yes. They’ve been… unresponsive. I’m sure they’ll come around. But come on! There is much to see.”
“Greetings. We know you're there. No harm will come to you.”
The little… thing hopped from the bush, brandishing a sword. He had curly horns on the sides of his head and green pants. A thick, heavy tail limp behind him. Hunk smiled, “Awww!”
Keith pushed back the other paladins and the alteans, “Wait! He could be dangerous.” He raised his Bayard staring down at the little creature. “Drop your weapon!”
The creature snarled and pointed its weapon at Keith’s chest. “No one takes Klaizap's weapon!”
Keith smirked at the creature. So, it was expecting a challenge. “Keith, put that away!” Keith glared at her before putting his Bayard away and stepping back. “Please, kind sir, accept my most humble apologies.”
“Huh?” the creature’s eyes widened in surprise and it lowered its sword. “I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors. Our village is over Gazrel Hill. I come seeking answers as to why the Lion Goddess is angered with her followers.”
“Followers?” Coran asked in bewilderment.
“Lion Goddess?” Hunk cocked up an eyebrow.
Klaizap - the thing’s name was - nodded and pointed to an stone Keith hadn’t noticed there before. “The one the ancients spoke of.” A tiger with robes and two staves. Okay, weird .
Allura smiled kindly, “What makes you think she's angered?”
Klaizap stood tall, “Destruction is everywhere. In the past few suns, fire has rained from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky.”
Hunk leaned closer to Lance and whispered loudly, “I think he’s talking about Voltron.”
Lance rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I got that.”
Allura chuckled, “You have not angered the Lion Goddess.”
Klaizap looked up at her with a frown, “How can you be certain?”
Allura gestured to herself, “Because I am Allura-” and gestured to the Castle of Lions. “And this is my Castle.”
Klaizap gasped in shock and knelt before her, “Lion Goddess.”
Allura looked a bit taken aback but smiled nonetheless, “Please, bravest warrior, take us to your village so that we may meet our neighbors.”
Keith looked at her in surprise, “What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?”
“Part of the paladins' mission is to spread peace and diplomacy. Arus has been our host for 10,000 years. These people deserve our thanks,” she smiled down at Klaizap who crossed his arms in satisfaction.
“And this, used to be your room, Keith,” Coran said, opening a new door. “That reminds me! Will you be staying the night? I already asked the others.”
Keith looked around his room. It looked exactly the same as it did before. “Sure. Why not?”
Coran smiled. “Great. It is always a pleasure to have more company.” A certain sadness sparkled in Coran’s eyes but he took a deep sigh and clapped his hands together. “Well! Let’s move on, shall we?”
Keith hesitated but agreed. He walked behind Coran with the other paladins, moving down the hall. Keith maneuvered toward Lance, “Hey, Lance! How’s the farm holding up?”
Lance shrugged, “It’s fine. What about the Blades?”
“You know, going around the universe, meeting new people,” Keith shrugged. “You know, the offer is still up. Whenever you feel like your ready you could…?”
Lance sighed. “I know. And I told you, I’m still considering it. I’ll… I’ll get back to you.”
Keith nodded and looked away from the gloomy man.
"Okay, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up. But, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners."
Shiro sighed, “Coran, we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations."
"Yeah!” Lance said in an upbeat tone of voice. “And then we can just be like, 'Knock-knock.'” he knocked Hunk’s head. “'Who's there?' 'The avenging fury of Voltron, son!'"
“Fascinating!” Pidge said, sliding her hand all over the cylinder and looking at the most minor details. “So, how exactly does this work?"
“As the memories are extracted,” Coran started to explain. “They're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands."
"When I go,” Lance said, crossing his arms and looking dreamily at the tech. “I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship."
Keith glanced at Lance before returning his gaze to Coran, “The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane."
“Oh, yeah?” Lance said defensively. Keith glanced back at him. “Well, the amount of information you have, Keith, could be…” Lance faltered.
"... Yeah?" Keith cocked up in eyebrow.
"Uh... it's less than what I have!" Lance finally yelled before he crossed his arms with a smug smirk.
"Oh, good one, Lance!" Hunk cheered on, pumping his fists in the air.
Shiro sighed, sounding tired. “So this is how you incorporated King Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?" Pidge asked excitedly next to Coran.
"Precisely, but it's never been attempted before on an unwilling participant,” Coran stood back and the cylinder he was tinkering with started generating… nothing.
"Uh, is this what's supposed to be happening?" Hunk questioned.
Shiro stood tall, looking up at Sendak. “Let's give it some time.”
Keith walked into the dining area that night. All the others were already seated there. Shiro, Hunk and Pidge were in deep conversation with Coran while Lance sat a few chairs away from the rest. Keith sighed and walked toward him. “Hey,” he said, taking a seat next to him. “What are you doing sulking here?”
“I’m not sulking,” Lance said, poking at his food.
Keith smiled, trying to brighten the mood, “Well, your face says otherwise.”
Lance sighed and sat back in his chair. “It’s just… weird, y’know? Seeing the Castle again. Everything just feels…”
“Different?” Keith offered.
Lance sighed. “Yeah. It’s just a copy of the other one. Our home. It… it’s not the same.”
Keith nodded in understanding, “I know. It’s hard to have to start it all over, but there’s one thing that doesn’t change.”
“Yeah?” Lance looked up at him.
Keith ruffled Lance’s already tousled hair. “We all still have each other. So, come on and sit closer to the team.”
Lance chuckled and grabbed his plate. “Fine, I’ll socialize more.”
Keith laughed as he followed close behind him.
“Go loose, Pidge!”
Allura gasped as Keith threw the plate of food goo toward her face. Before it hit it’s mark, Coran swooped in and blocked the plate. He grabbed a lapel topped with goo and shot it right back at them. It hit all the paladins in a straight line. Hunk shook his head, a smirk on his face. “Oh, it's on now.” He shoveled as much food goo in his mouth as he could and spit it at the alteans.
It hit them and Keith suppressed the urge to gag. That isn’t fun. The two aliens shook their heads and grabbed bowls of food. Before Keith realised what was happening he was hit square in the face. Pidge tugged him back behind the chair and gestured toward the food goo filled plate. Understanding crossed Keith’s face and - as soon as Allura jumped up from behind the table - they grabbed the plate and tossed its contents at her face.
She gasped in surprise and directed a spork-full of goo at their face. It hit Pidge shoulder with a SPLAT. They went on like that for a long time, tossing food goo all around the room. Soon, there was nothing in reach to throw and Allura slumped back in a seat. Everyone exchanged looks and Keith felt laughter bubble from inside his chest.
Everyone started laughing. “Enough!” They all stilled, attention toward Allura. “Do you see what you're doing?” She smiled up at them. “You're finally working together as one!”
Keith smiled in realization, “Hey, she's right!”
Lance mulled it over before he smiled at Keith, “I... actually don't hate you right now.”
Hunk smirked at the rest of them, “You guys thinking what I'm thinking?”
Shiro pumped his fist in the air - taking Hunk’s fist with him - and grinned, “Let's go form Voltron!”
“Yeah!” Everyone cheered.
Hunk timidly glanced around the table, “Actually, I was thinking dessert…” Another smile worked its way onto Hunk’s face. “But, yeah! Let's do it!”
Pidge lost her balance and stumbled back, pulling Keith and Lance down with her. Hunk and Shiro tripped over their turned over seats and they all started to laugh again.
This was the Castle of Lions.
But not the Castle of Lions that they all grew in.
Not the Castle of Lions they used to fight against Zarkon.
Not the Castle of Lions they became Paladins in.
Not the Castle they all got drunk in when Hunk used nunvil instead of oil.
Not the Castle where they ate paladin lunch when Hunk got sick.
Not the Castle where they would fight against simulations.
Not the Castle Keith and Lance struggled in to get to the pool.
Not the Castle When It Was Just Them.
And maybe one day, in the far future, they could call this home. Just like they have the first time.
“Come on, girl. I need you.”
Pidge got a sad smile on her face at the memory. “I’ll miss you, Green.”
“C’mon, boy. Come back to me.”
Hunk felt tears roll down his cheeks but he nodded in understanding. “See you again soon, Yellow.”
“No one commands the Black Lion!”
Shiro stared in disbelief before he felt the tears reach his eyes, “Been a while, Black.”
“Good kitty, let’s roll.”
Keith smiled, a sob threatening to choke him. “I love you, Red.”
“Maybe you just have to knock.”
Lance felt tears roll down his cheeks as his marks began to glow. “None of this would’ve been possible if it weren’t for you.”
With one last roar echoing across the fields of Altea, the lions shot into the sky and disappeared beyond the clouds, into the starry sky.
~~ Form Voltron