It seemed like hours before he realized someone was calling him. He opened his eyes and stared up into the star filled night. He view of the heavenly bodies was soon blocked by a soot covered, slightly singed Allura.
"Allura." A painful coughing fit shook through him. With Allura's help, he was able to sit up. Tears fell down the distraught girls face, smudging her pale skin even further. Besides some singed hair and ripped clothes she seemed all right.
"Allura, calm down." He looked around and realized why she was so upset. The forest was knocked down. There were no better words to describe it. All the trees were flatten and stripped bared. The meadow was completely charred. Smoke was still rising from the blacken earth. In the distance, he could see the Castle of Lions all lit up and on full alert. He groaned inside. He'd wanted to find Allura before anyone realized she was gone. They must have been frantic; Keith could imagine how mad Coran was going to be.
Anger began to rise in him. They had told her time and time again not to go out by herself, but she just wouldn't listen. He had to wonder what went through her head? Sometimes he thought that Allura wanted to get caught by Lotor; that she enjoyed being pursued. Keith shook that thought out of his head. He was being too hard on her. And no matter how headstrong she was, she didn't deserve Lotor's kind of attention. He was only glad that Lance spotted her sneaking away or…
Lance!
He frantically looked around for his friend. He found him right in the middle of the destruction. He almost missed him, he was covered head to foot in black ash. He got up on shaky legs and staggered over to him with Allura right behind him. He knelt down and felt for a pulse. He nearly sobbed in relief when felt a weak beat. Lance's clothes were burned right off his body. Keith checked him over for injury, but surprisingly there was none.
"Is he all right?" Allura had calmed down and was now kneeling beside him.
"He's alive, but unconscious."
"Lotor hit him with something, some laser I think. He was aiming it at me and Lance…he shielded…" The tears began to fall again. Keith squeezed her shoulder in comfort.
"It's all right, Princess." A low rumble made Keith look up. He saw Yellow and Green Lion streak across the sky. Seconds later they returned and began circling them.
"Thank the Gods." Allura sighed and stood up.
"Hunk or Pidge will be able to take Lance back to the castle," he said. He checked his friends pulse one more time, not liking how weak it sounded.
"What about him."
"What about who?" He looked where Allura was pointing. Damn, he forgot all about Lotor. He quickly walked over to the body and checked for life signs. He was alive and in pretty much the same condition as Lance, except for some nasty looking burns on his left hand.
"Is he alive?" Keith looked up to see Allura staring blankly at Lotor. He wondered what was going through her mind.
"Yes, but his pulse is weak." Keith could see Hunk and Pidge landing where ancient trees once stood. A second later, Hunk and Pidge were climbing down and running towards them. It was that moment that weariness threatened to overwhelm him, but he refused to give in. He had a wounded friend, a captured enemy and a hysterical princess to take care of first. Then he needed to find out what the hell just happened.
Whatever it was, he thought, it certainly isn't over. It was going to be a long night.
The ship sped its way towards Arus.
"How much further," the woman asked the pilot.
"A couple of hours, ma'am." A couple of hours. She couldn't believe it. After twenty four years of looking, she will finally meet the Lost One. She smiled sadly. No he isn't lost anymore, she thought. She had a location and more importantly she had a name. In a couple of hours her long nightmare will end. She could see the glowing blue-green planet in the distance. She also Saw the powerful glow of Soul Fire blazing across the planets surface, lighting up the spiritual realm like a beacon. Such power. She began to think that the end of one nightmare will mark the beginning of another.
"Is there anything that you can do?" Allura stared down at her friend.
"I'm sorry, your highness, we've tried everything." The doctor checked the readings again. "We just don't know why he not responding to any of the treatments. According to the readouts, he shouldn't be in a coma." Allure just nodded not really listening. All she knew was that Lance was dying, and it was her fault. Oh, the others had told her over and over again that she wasn't to blame, but she knew it was true. Lance got hurt, because she walked foolishly into Lotor's trap. A trap that any idiot would have caught onto.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to sooth the throbbing headache she had. She had it since that horrible night and nothing she took could relieve it. Maybe this was her punishment, an eternal migraine. She looked at her friend and felt the tear return. Lance looked worst than yesterday. His skin was paler the sheets that covered him; dark smudges ringed his eyes. He was deathly still; only the barest movement of his chest indicated that he was alive at all. Allura took his hand, trying to ignore how cold it felt.
"I'm so sorry." How many time had she said that. How many times had she put her friends in danger? "Never again." She leaned down and kissed Lance's forehead and left the room. As she closed the door, she saw Keith rounding the corner. She quickly went the other way. She sighed, he was the last person she wanted to see.
"Allura, wait." She sighed, he was the last person she wanted to see. He trotted over to her. His kind eyes were full of concern.
"How's he doing?"
"The same." A look of pain crossed his face.
"And how are you doing?" She couldn't answer him at that moment. The emotions closed her throat, wanting to be released. For three days now, she hadn't cried, only walked around in a strange numbness. She didn't understand what was wrong with her, and now she could feel all threatening to burst forth and swallow her up. She felt a strong hand take her arm and lead her away. Keith guided her to an empty medical room. There, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. It was too much and she broke down. Sobs ripped through her; it was only Keith's steady presence that kept her from fall to the floor.
"It's all right."
"No it's not. It's my fault. It's all my fault." She tried to say more, but it all came out in sobs. It took a while for her to calm herself. By then she was physically and emotionally exhausted. She pulled away slightly and saw the larger wet stop on Keith's shoulder.
"Look, I ruined your shirt." Keith only smiled and wiped her tear stained cheek.
"You looked like you needed it." He sat Allura down on the empty bed and took her hand. "Now tell me why you think this is your fault."
"Isn't it though? If I hadn't left, I wouldn't have been caught by Lotor. Lance wouldn't have been hurt. He wouldn't be…dying."
"He's not dead yet. The doctor's will find out what's wrong with him-"
"There's only one person that knows what wrong with him and he's in no condition to tell us." The coldness in her voice shocked both of them. Lotor was the cause of all this, he was also responsible for Lance's condition. He was in the same condition as Lance, it was like his body was slowly shutting down.
"Allura, don't beat yourself up over this. Yes, you made a mistake, but that's all it was, a mistake. Everyone makes them."
"Please! Don't try and make me feel better. You can't tell me that I am not responsible for what happened. I saw it in your eyes that night." She saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. Before he could deny it, she continued.
"You're right, everyone do make mistakes. But when I make mistakes, people die. I was just too self-centered to realized that until now." Keith was about to say something when both their communicators went off.
"Allura."
"You Highness, we have an unauthorized transport entering our area. They say they're from the Planet, Elysia and ask permission to land." Allura's heart began to jump. Planet Doom had been strangely quiet these past three days. That was unusual considering that Zarkon's heir was being held prisoner. This may be an attempt to rescue him.
"Have they told you what they wanted."
"They wish to speak to you, My Lady." I'll bet, she thought.
"Stand by." She looked at Keith, who'd been listening. "What do you think?"
"Elysia is at the other side of the galaxy. It must be very important or…"
"Or it's another trap," she finished. She bit down on her bottom lip.
"I think we go see whoever's on that transport." Keith stood up and held his hand out to her. "We'll just keep our toes." Allura nodded and took his hand.
"I'll call Coran and tell him to tighten security."
"And I'll get Hunk and Pidge. Whatever trouble may come up. We'll handle it better together." Keith squeezed her hand, and she was able to smile for him. Keith let go and went to find the other members of Voltron. Allura contacted Coran to let him know what was happening. She ordered him to triple security in the castle. It may have been unnecessary, but she wasn't risking anymore friends' lives.
The Elysian shuttle landed thirty minutes later under the watchful eye of the castle security. Keith, Allura, Hunk and Pidge were at the landing pad. Flowing curves and gentle arcs gave the ocean blue shuttle an almost shell-like appearance.
"I heard that there are no 90 degree angles on Elysia. They say that it's bad luck." Pidge had to raise his voice over the roar of the engines.
"Yeah well, I heard that they are a hybrid of cats and humans." Hunk eyed the shuttle suspiciously.
"And I heard that they eat babies on the full moon, but that doesn't mean it's true," Keith said. "Now is not the time to gossip. This may be one of Zarkon's traps." The shuttle touched down and it's engines shut off. A strange silence fell over the landing pad when the doors finally opened. An old woman in a red and yellow dress stepped uneasily off the shuttle. She was being helped by the pilot. Forgetting their suspicions for the moment, the four hurried to her side. She smiled up at Hunk as he took her arm and supported her.
"My, my, my. Strong and polite, I like that." She laughed softly, seeing him blush. Then tension left with the sound of her soft voice.
"You'll have to forgive me. I've been traveling nonstop for three days. The trip has taken a lot out of this old body." She let Hunk lead her inside the castle. Allura blinked in surprise when she saw that the woman's eyes were a gold color. Not only that, but the pupils were vertical slits, like a cat. The woman caught her staring and winked. Despite her throbbing headache, she had to smile. Though the body looked frail, those eyes burned with life and experience. They entered a small lounge room nearest the landing pad. Hunk guided the woman to the couch and helped her to sit.
"Would you like anything to drink?" Keith asked.
"Do you have Uleniam tea? That would be nice." Keith nodded and mumbled into his communicator.
"Now ma'am-"
"Please call me Amy. Ma'am make me feel my years."
"All right, Amy. We'd like to know why you are here."
"You are a direct puppy, aren't you." She laughed. "Well then, I can be direct too. I'm here to see Lotor." The tension returned at the mention of that name. Allura looked closely at the woman. Could this be Hagar in disguise or a ro-beast?
"I'm sorry Amy, we don't know what your talking about," For the sake of security, they had kept Lotor's capture a secret. Only Arus and the Galaxy Garrison knew of it.
Oh come now young man, I know he's here and I know he's dying. I also know that your friend is hurt as well." There was a collective gasp of surprise at the woman's words. Allura stood and walked over to the woman.
"How could you know that?" Allura felt a chill run down her spine. Her headache was getting worst.
"Because, my dear, I am Lotor's grandmother."
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