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A knock came at the door.
“Come in!” said Allura as she sat up in her bed. She let out a gasp when the door opened. “Keith?”
“Hi princess, may I speak with you for a moment?”
“Um, yes, of course.” A hundred different emotions seemed to rage on in her head, and in her heart. They hadn’t been alone like this since he left for the Blade of Marmora. Then again, she had been avoiding him, in a way. The things he had said when they were lost in space still stung. Not only that, but, she and Lance had begun dating. Wait, why was that making her feel almost guilty?
“Thank you. Um, you remember when we were lost in space … how could you forget?”
“When you said those things about my father?” said Allura in a hushed voice.
Keith let out a sigh. “Yes, I … I want to apologize for that. I should have let you continue speaking, your father probably had said a lot of things that would have lifted our spirits right then, but instead I let my own feelings get in the way and snapped at you. It wasn’t right of me. And I apologize for bringing up Lotor. You were already hurting from that, and it wasn’t fair of me to open a wound that was trying to heal.”
“Keith, we were going space mad.”
“It still wasn’t the right thing to do. We are friends, we need to work together. We need to have each other’s backs.”
“Yes, we should. Thank you, for apologizing to me. Has it been on your mind this whole time?”
“For the most part. I don’t want this huge hole in our teamwork because of some horrid things I said.”
“I understand. I too should apologize.”
“Huh?”
“When I brought up how you left us?” Keith’s eyes seemed to widen. Allura knew she was doing the right thing, she could see he regretted that decision. “I was wrong, you were doing the right thing. By leaving, you became a stronger, more confident leader. You made a hard decision because it was the right thing to do for us, for the team. We have become stronger than ever before because of that decision. Unfortunately, we doubted you and your leadership skills. You have proven time and time again that you are a true leader. You are the rightful paladin of the Black Lion.”
Keith smiled softly. “Thank you Allura.”
Allura’s heart fluttered at the sight, but she quickly calmed it down before speaking. “You’re welcome Keith. Was there anything else?”
“Well, um, there … there was one more thing …”
“Allura!” Lance paused at the doorway as he glanced between Keith and Allura. “Um, am I interrupting something?”
“No, we’re finished. I was just leaving.” Keith walked out the door.
“But you said there was something else.”
Keith paused before turning around. “Well, um, if it’s not too much trouble, I wa … I was wondering if you could teach me some advanced Altean moves?”
“Oh, I’d be happy to! Lance, would you like to learn as well?”
“Oh, yeah, sure!”
“Great! What time were you thinking of training?”
Keith gave a slight shrug. “Uh, tomorrow after lunch, I guess.”
“That’s definitely doable for me,” said Lance.
“Wonderful! Tomorrow after lunch it is.”
“Thank you, princess.” Keith bowed before walking down the hallway.
Lance turned to Allura. “What else was he here for?”
“Oh, he was apologizing for what he said back when we were going space mad.”
“Oh,” said Lance as he glanced down.
“And … I apologized as well. You should too. If it weren’t for Hunk, I don’t know how we would have gotten out of there, not just alive, but to be still friends.”
“Yeah, I guess, I guess I should. It would help the team stay strong, I hope.”
“You hope?”
“Yeah, that’s why I came to see you. Have you noticed something’s off with Pidge?”
“No, not really. Why?”
“Because just now, I was going to ask her about borrowing her game console so you and I could play, but she was acting all weird about it. She knows I won’t destroy it! She put far too much time into it so we could play it! Not wrecking that!” Lance crossed his arms and let out a huff. “And then she was getting all irritated at me! I didn’t do anything!”
“Maybe it’s just you. She’s been acting fine around me,” said Allura with a shrug.
Lance threw up his hands. “Oh great, Pidge is mad at me, and I don’t even know what I did to make her mad!”
“Maybe it’s best if you just let her cool down for a bit before you ask her.” Allura rubbed his arm to comfort him.
Lance let out a sigh. “I guess that’s best. Unless, unless her family or Hunk knows why? I can ask them.”
Allura smiled. “There you go! How about you go do that. I’ll go ask Coran to help me with a training program for you and Keith.”
“Hey, you want me to find out if anyone else wants to learn?”
“Of course! That would be great! I’m sure Romelle would like to learn, among everything else we still have to teach her about Altea.”
Lance gave her a thumbs up. “Alright, I’ll go ask around and see if anyone wants to learn. Tomorrow after lunch, right?”
Allura nodded. “Yes.”
“Alright, I’ll ask around. See you at dinner tonight?”
“Yes, dinner sounds good.”
Lance pecked her cheek. “I’ll see you then.”
“See you then!” said Allura as he dashed out the door with a quick wave. She let out a huff and surprised herself by hoping that Keith would show up at the door again. She shook her head. Why was she thinking like that? She was over him now, just like she was over Lotor. She got over him so she could be with Lotor. But now Lotor was gone, and Keith was back, and boy was he good-looking. She squeezed her eyes shut. No, she couldn’t think like that, not about him, not anymore. She was with Lance now, and she was happy. Wasn’t she? She opened her eyes, she didn’t want to acknowledge that answer. Instead, she let out a huff and set out to talk to Coran.
The next day, Allura and Coran walked into the training room. Allura let out a soft gasp. Not only was the rest of the Voltron team there, but so were the MFE pilots, Romelle, Shiro, Veronica, Acxa, and Matt Holt.
“Is this everybody?” asked Allura as she and Coran approached the group.
“Yup,” said Lance before he greeted her with a kiss. “Figured it would be best to start off with a smaller group and with people you know.”
Allura smiled. “Lance, that’s so sweet of you.” She turned to the group. “Coran is going to give pointers as needed while I show you the moves. We’ll practice for a bit before moving on to the next move. We’ll be practicing for two hours …”
Hunk’s hand went up. “Two hours?”
“Yes,” said Allura.
“But Lance told us three hours!” blurted Veronica.
“That’s what Coran told me!”
“That’s because that final hour is needed to wind down after such a practice,” explained Coran. “It’s a customary Altean practice to sit down and relax for an hour, so I’m bringing in another Altean custom to help us with that. Hence why I won’t be showing you the moves.”
“Oh,” said the group.
“Ooh, I can’t wait! Can we get started now?” said Romelle.
“Yes, everyone, take a baton, please!” Everyone took a baton from the far wall and regrouped in front of Allura. She proceeded to show them several moves. Coran mainly focused on making sure Romelle got all the moves down, but he did help others as they needed. Once the two hours were up, Coran led the moaning and aching group to a lounge room where a table and fifteen chairs were set up.
“Oh man, I can see why you need an hour after all that,” said Lance as he sank into a chair.
“Yeah, no kidding,” said Pidge as she plopped down next to him. “I think my legs and arms have turned into spaghetti.”
“That’s the best description,” said Matt as he plopped down in the chair next to Pidge. “I don’t want to do a thing for the next twenty-four hours.”
Ina placed her head on the table. “I’m too tired to think.”
“I’d say something, but, I’m too tired to think too,” said James.
“How come you two are fine?” asked Hunk, glancing up at Keith and Acxa.
“Well, we’re both half Galra,” said Keith. “Galra have a pretty extensive training regime.”
“Right,” muttered Lance.
“Go figure,” mumbled James.
The others merely groaned.
“So, what is this Altean custom that Coran was talking about?” asked Romelle.
“Ta-da!” Coran placed a holographic map, figurines, and cards on the table.
Lance, Hunk, and Pidge all jumped up with excitement. “Monsters and Mana!!”
Allura gasped. “You were able to save it!”
“Well of course! Not going to let an old Altean game disappear into the winds of time. Besides, it’s one of my favorite games, why would I leave it?” said Coran as he fiddled with his mustache. “You three take a seat, and I’ll explain the rules.” Allura sat down next to Lance, Keith sat between her and Hunk, and Acxa sat between Veronica and James. Coran quickly went over the rules and helped each person create their character, besides Allura, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk. He was practically in tears when Shiro decided on a barbarian for his character.
“Alright, now that that’s done,” said Coran as he went to the empty chair, “we’re going to play this somewhat differently than how the paladins played before.”
“Huh?”
“How different?” asked Allura. Seven panels popped up on the board, separating the fourteen characters into groups of two.
“Each group is going to have to finish an important side quest before we can move on to the main quest.”
“Oh good, I’m with you, Hunk,” said Romelle as she let out a sigh of relief.
“Wait, why am I with Pidge and Allura’s with Keith?” blurted Lance.
“That’s just how this dice rolled, so deal with it or leave the game,” said Coran as he tossed a die onto the table.
“Ugh, fine,” said Lance as he sat back and crossed his arms. But a few minutes later, he was deep into the game, he and Pidge working together as quickly as they could so their characters wouldn’t die in the many traps Coran had set up in their side quest. The hour passed rather pleasantly, despite James and Acxa barely able to work together and Nadia nearly dying every five minutes. She was super glad Ryan was a healer, she needed every bit of knowledge his character had to stay alive. When the hour finished, Hunk and Romelle were the first ones to finish their side quest, followed by Shiro and Veronica, and then Matt and Ina. The others were either really close or not even close. But they had to pause the game so several people could get back to work. Shiro did suggest that Coran teach the rest of the crew Monsters and Mana.
“You know, that might not be such a bad idea. We could even have tournaments!”
“That’s actually not a bad idea!”
“Can I help with that?” asked Romelle.
“I’ll bake goodies!’ announced Hunk.
“Well then, looks like we’re off to a start. I’ll let you handle the details,” said Shiro.
“Yes sir!” chorused the three as they gave a salute.
Shiro smiled as he turned and walked out into the corridor. He glanced to his right, Lance and Allura were walking towards the dining hall, Lance’s arm around Allura’s shoulder. Lance just finished saying something as Allura laughed right then. Shiro raised his eyebrow. Something wasn’t right with that laugh, something wasn’t right with the way she looked at Lance. Had anyone else noticed? He glanced down the left of the corridor and saw a quick glance of Keith turning the corner. But Keith wasn’t fast enough, Shiro had seen the look on his face.
“Hey, Keith!” Shiro chased him all the way back to his room. Shiro reached his door right as it shut. “Keith, can I come in?”
Keith opened the door, a surprised look on his face. “What’s up?”
“I saw the look on your face,” Shiro said.
Keith blinked. “What look?”
“The look of someone who’s in pain because the person they’re in love with is with someone else.”
Keith’s eyes widened. “How?”
“I guess I looked at the right time. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Why?” asked Keith, his demeanor and tone turning cold.
“With everything you’ve done for me in the past few months, this is the least I can do.”
“Yeah, well, with everything you’ve done for me, that was the least I could do.”
“Come on Keith, we’re brothers, right? Let me help you. You were there for me when I mourned Adam.”
“Yeah, well, Adam’s dead, Allura’s …” Keith turned towards his bed, keeping his face hidden from Shiro.
“Allura’s with Lance,” whispered Shiro as he entered the room, the door closing behind him.
“Yeah, guess he can now say he was able to beat me at something.”
“He can’t say that, Keith, because he doesn’t know you love her.” Shiro placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder. Kosmo got up from his bed and walked towards the left side of his master. He rubbed against him with a soft whine.
Keith turned to Shiro as he patted Kosmo’s head, there were tears in his eyes.“It hurts so much. I want her to be happy, but it hurts to see her with Lance.”
“Actually, that might because she might not actually be happy.”
Keith glanced at Shiro in surprise. “What? What do you mean?”
“You were too far away to notice, but I saw them going down the corridor and, well, the way Allura looked at Lance … I don’t think she really is that happy in the relationship.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I’d say give them some time. They’ll figure out on their own if they’re going to keep at this or break up.”
Keith sniffled. “Yeah, sure.”
“Here, why don’t you stay here, I’ll bring some food and we’ll talk. How does that sound?”
“That, that actually sounds good. Thank you Shiro.”
Shrio wrapped him in a hug. “Of course, that’s what brothers are for. Now, don’t leave, I’ll be right back with food.” Shiro glanced at Kosmo. “Kosmo, don’t let him go anywhere.”
“Hey! I’ll be here!”
Shiro grinned. “Just making sure. I’ll be back soon!” He dashed out the door and towards the mess hall. As he neared the kitchen, he passed a sad and dejected-looking Pidge. “Pidge?” She didn’t seem to hear him, and if she did, she ignored him and continued on towards her quarters. “Great, do we have two love-sick puppies?” He sighed before continuing on towards the kitchen. He found Colleen stirring a big pot of soup.
She smiled at him as he entered. “Hello Shiro, what can I do for you?”
“Oh, um, did you notice Pidge?”
Colleen sighed as she nodded. “Yes, I’m making this soup for her, in fact.”
“Is she, is she love-sick?”
“You noticed too, huh?”
“Well, not only that, but, I have another patient.”
Colleen blinked. “Really? Two cases in one day?”
Shiro sighed. “So it would seem. I’ll order that they take the day off tomorrow.”
Colleen nodded. “Good, I was just going to ask if you can order a day off for Pidge. Now, if you don’t mind my asking, who’s the other patient?”
“Keith.”
“Oh?”
Shiro nodded. “Yes, and that’s kind of why I’m here. I was going to pick up some food and bring it back to his room so we can talk.”
“Would you like a bowl of soup for yourself?”
“If that’s not too much trouble for you, yes please.”
“Oh, not at all. I’m sure I’ve made enough for the whole crew.”
“Oh, by the way, where are Hunk and Sal?”
“They’re eating right now. They left not too long before you came in, in fact. They helped me get this soup together.”
Shiro sniffed. “Well, it does smell really good.” His stomach grumbled and he grinned sheepishly. “And I am kind of hungry.”
Colleen chuckled. “Alright, I think it’s about done. Can you get me some bowls please?” Shiro helped Colleen serve three bowls of soup. She added bread and crackers for each serving before they each grabbed a tray and headed towards the rooms. Shiro went to Keith’s room, and Colleen went to her daughter’s.
She knocked on the doot. “Katie? I brought you some soup.”
There was a slight rustling from behind the door before it opened to reveal a red-eyed Pidge. She took a whiff of the soup. “That … smells good.”
“Good,” said Colleen as she entered the room, “then I hope you’ll eat it all.”
“But, I’m not really sick.”
“Honey, being love-sick is almost just as bad.”
Pidge’s eyes widened. “You, you know?”
Colleen placed the tray down on the dresser before wrapping Pidge into a hug. “First of all, I’m your mother. Secondly, it’s not too hard to notice it. Shiro noticed it when he passed you on the way to the mess hall.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean for anyone to notice.”
“Apparently, and you didn’t even tell me about it. Why?”
“I, I thought it would have gone away by now, but, it … apparently hasn’t.”
“Of course not, if you’ve had a crush on someone for a long time, it could take just as long to get over it. And if you’re actually in love, well, all bets are off. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Lance will like you back.”
Pidge gasped as she glanced at her mom in shock. “How?”
“I just told you, I’m your mother, I notice these things. But right now, you’re just going to have to wait. Time will tell if Lance and Allura really love each other. Time will also tell if you really do love Lance, or if it’s just a crush.”
“What do I do in the meantime?”
“Be Lance’s friend. The reason why your father and I work so well together is because we’re the best of friends. Being in love is important for a relationship, but being the best of friends is equally so.”
Pidge sniffed. “Yeah, alright.”
“Oh, and Shiro did order that you are to have a day off tomorrow. Maybe it will help a bit.”
“I’d like that.”
About half an hour later, Colleen left the room with a pile of dirty dishes. She nearly ran into Lance on the way back to the kitchen.
“Oh man, I’m so sorry Mrs. Holt!”
“You’re fine Lance, I didn’t drop anything,” said Colleen with a smile. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Oh, Shiro just announced that Pidge and Keith have the day off tomorrow because they aren’t feeling too good. I was just wanting to check up on Pidge.”
“Oh, don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. She’ll be back to her old self after a good rest.”
“Oh, good. I had noticed she wasn’t her normal self, but I couldn’t ask her if she was alright. She always seemed so mad at me. But, I’m glad to hear she’s going to be feeling better soon.”
“Me too. Thank you for looking after Pidge.”
“Oh, no problem, that’s what friends are for,” said Lance with a smile. Colleen smiled sadly. “Mrs. Holt?”
“I’m sorry Lance, it’s just … Pidge didn’t have very many friends before going to the Garrison and becoming a member of Voltron. I just wanted to thank you for being one of those friends.”
“And I’m glad that we are friends. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go let the rest of the team know about Pidge. Bye Mrs. Holt!” Lance waved at her before taking off down a corridor.
“Oh, Lance?”
Lance paused and turned. “Yeah?”
“I’ve heard a bunch of stories saying that you were the dumb one.”
“Oh uh, yeah, about that …”
“They’re wrong.” Lance blinked as Colleen continued with a bright smile. “You’re obviously one of the few smart people, because you were smart enough to see how special my little girl is, when not many others did. Thank you.” Colleen turned and went towards the kitchen, leaving Lance stunned. “Now, if only you’d be smart enough to realize that you like Katie as more than a friend, we’ll be good,” she mumbled to herself.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Syaoran!” “Izzy, status report!” shouted Syaoran as he leaped into his chair. Izzy pulled up a screen. On it stood a dark forest with pools disappearing left and right. “Several realities are disappearing left and right from existence!” A woman appeared on the screen, bent over in pain. “Scheherazade!” Syaoran’s eyes widened with horror. “Please tell me there’s something we can do!” “Where’s . . . where’s Matthew?” she whispered before she winced in pain. “I’m here, Scheherazade.” A teen with red hair and blue eyes appeared. His face was stern. Syaoran seemed to shrink back. When Matthew was mad, watch out, retribution would be swift. It was never a good idea to trifle with the king of genies. “You need to get to the source of these realities, see what you can to save them. I sense that’s where the damage is being doing.” She let out a scream before falling to the ground. One of her guards rushed forward. The guard glanced at the screen, her eyes wide with concern. “Matthew, please …” “I already have the information we need. Antillia will take care of this, but alert the other islands to this dilemma. See what they can do to save their realities.” “See, that’s the thing …” “I know, it’s connected to Voltron, but, let’s not take any chances. There are a few of their realities connected to Voltron’s. We’re going to head to their reality right now and go from there. We’ll be in touch.” The screen went black. “Voltron?” said Syaoran. “Didn’t you say that was one of the groups of people we need helping us?” “Yes, and it looks like we now know why they will join us.” Matthew walked to the consul and placed his hand on it. A blue light emanated from his body and went into the consul. The next second, a large wormhole appeared on the screen. Matthew turned to Syaoran. “We’re going to need the Magic Knights in particular for this round, but have the other mecha on back-up, just in case.” Syaoran nodded as he flipped a switch on his chair. “Attention all personnel, red alert, we are entering a wormhole that will be taking us into a war zone. Magic Knights, Gundam pilots, and spaceships, battle stations.” An alarm began blaring throughout the city as people ran to and fro, getting into positions. Matthew turned back to Izzy. “Take us through.” Izzy flew the island into the wormhole. Syaoran stood up as everyone gasped. They had arrived on a very odd sight. There were battle cruisers and miniature planets not much bigger than Antillia emitting energy towards a large structure. The structure was sending that energy into another wormhole. “What are they doing?” asked Tai.“They’re trying to keep that wormhole open, but it’s not going to last.” “Can we get them all on Antillia?” said Syaoran. Matthew shook his head. “Not everyone will make it. Besides, we have our Deus ex Machina.” Izzy glanced at Matthew, unimpressed. “You?” Matthew grinned. “Well, me too. But, if this reality is in fact destroyed, all we have to do is get into the center of these realities and, with a bit of magic, return everything to normal.” “Oh, isn’t that nice,” muttered Taichi. Matthew scoffed. “You think? But first, we have to make sure that center isn’t destroyed. Let’s get some of these people on board, maybe they can help us track Voltron.” Syaoran pushed the button again. “All personnel, we are bringing people on board. If any happen to show up near you, bring them to headquarters right away.” Matthew glowed blue again as another wormhole appeared and a few of the cruisers disappeared from the screen in a flash of blue light. A bubble of blue light appeared in the room, disappearing to reveal three figures, two human, one alien. They glanced around stunned. “What? Where are we? Who are you?” Syaoran stood up and approached them. “I’m Syaoran Kinimoto, king of Antillia. We protect the multiverse.” “Well, the multiple multiverses,” quipped Matthew. He nodded at Izzy. Izzy steered the island towards the wormhole. “Not all multiverses are connected to yours.” Matthew shot them a grin as their mouths dropped. “Wait, where are we going?” asked the alien. “We’re heading to the center of this multiverse. We’ll be able to pinpoint Voltron’s location faster this way.” “And Honerva’s.” Syaoran glanced at them. “Who’s Honerva?” “Oh, I’m sorry, your majesty, let me introduce ourselves. I’m Sam Holt, this is Coran Smythe, and this is Slav. Honerva is the one who opened that portal, creating a tear through the multiverse. And …” he paused as he glanced at the screen as they traveled through the wormhole, “and our reality is now gone.” “Not for long,” said Matthew. “We get to the center, it can be reversed.” Sam glanced at him in shock. “Really?” “Well, yeah, how else did you expect Voltron to save the day?” Matthew shot them another grin. “But with using that much power …” “There is a price,” muttered Syaoran as he glanced down, recalling the price he had to pay to travel between a multiverse before Antillia. Matthew walked towards him and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I have an idea on how to do this, without losing too much.” Syaoran smiled at him. “You always know how to find the loopholes.” “Well yeah, the more people I can save, the better, and it’s better without draining myself.” Syaoran chuckled. “Syaoran, we found a few of our guests.” Syaoran turned, Kazune Kujou and Fakir entered the room with a group of people. “Romelle! You made it!” “Coran!” The two rushed into a hug. The other people in the group surrounded them and each gave a hug. Izzy interrupted the reunion with a gasp. “Um, guys, look at this.” Everyone glanced at the screen, and gasped. “Is that the center, and all the multiverses?” asked Tai, glancing in awe at the different strips flowing out from the bright center. “Yes.” “It almost looks like a brain cell,” said Izzy. “Whoa! One of them just disappeared!” shouted Tai. “Honerva,” said Coran. “We need to stop her!” said Sam. Matthew’s eyes widened and glanced at the group of people. His eyes narrowed. “Matthew? What’s wrong?” asked Syaoran, glancing worriedly between Matthew and the group. “Of course,” he whispered as he walked towards them. He raised his hands, and they began to glow blue. A blue light encircled several people in the newcomers’ group. “Wait, Matthew, what are you …” Syaoran paused. Everyone gasped as dark circles came out of each person. “The dark entity,” said Coran, his eyes widening. “No,” said Matthew as the dark shapes flew closer together into a larger lump. “These are part of a hive mind. Where’s the queen?” “What queen?” asked Sam. Matthew thought for a moment. He glanced back at the screen. “I think I know now.” “OK, but would you care to explain this time?” asked Kazune as he crossed his arms. Matthew shot him a grin. “Alright, I’ll tell you.” He turned and a blue light shot out from his finger, creating a force field around the lump of dark entities. “This creature can travel between the multiverse just as easily as I can.” “Wait, what?” asked Coran. “You can?” said Slav and Sam at the same time. “How is that possible?” asked a woman. “Honerva had to use a lot of power before she could open a portal!” “Do you know where she’s going?” asked Matthew. The woman’s eyes widened before she glanced down. “Yes, she’s going to a reality she deems as perfect, a reality where Lotor is alive.” “Oh dear,” said Matthew. “She’s going to be disappointed real quick. Her idea of perfection does not equal actual perfection.” “But, what does that have to do with the dark entity?” asked Sam. “Honerva could control these little fellas, right?” The group nodded. “Then the queen still resides within her, and I think I know why. Don’t quote me on this …” “Even though you’re usually right,” muttered Kazune. Matthew grinned. “I am, but, still, these creatures are trying to get into the center of the multiverse.” “And do what?” asked the woman. “Exactly what Honerva’s looking for, create a perfect reality. Again, according to their queen’s idea of a perfect reality. Instead of adapting to the reality they are in, they would rather destroy everything and create it according to their way. And then find out real quick that their idea of perfection isn’t perfect.” He glanced at the blob. “And we have to destroy them before that can happen. Of course, the only place we can destroy them is the very place they want to go.” “Wait, they can only be destroyed in the center of the multiverse?” said Syaoran incredulously. Matthew nodded. “How do you know this?” asked Sam. Matthew pointed at the blob. “They’re telling me everything. They’re no longer connected to their queen, so they’re actually quite talkative. Learning quite a bit that might help us defeat this creature.” “Isn’t there some way to make them change their minds?” asked Coran. Matthew glanced at Coran. “Really? You mean it’s never occurred to you that there are beings out there, that, once they’ve made up their mind, there is no going back? That they cannot and will not change it? The more powerful a being, the less likely they are to change their mind. No, we have to destroy these creatures before their queen gets here, and then destroy her.” “Do you have an idea on how to do that?” asked Syaoran. Matthew glanced at him, and a grin slowly grew on his face. “I think I do, and I’m going to need your help and the help of the Magic Knights. And I think this just might work out better than I had originally planned.” “Well, at least you didn’t foresee everything,” muttered Kazune. Matthew rolled his eyes. “I already told you I couldn’t.” “Even with all your phenomenal cosmic powers?” “Kazune, come on, stop being such a grouch,” said Fakir. “Why are you being such a grouch anyway?” Matthew glanced at Kazune and chuckled. “Don’t worry, I promise we’ll get to the demigods soon. This is more important right now. Besides, Peter’s with them.” “Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” mumbled Kazune. “Don’t worry, this won’t disrupt our schedule. We will get to them on time. We’ll check in with Scheherazade on their progress once we’ve gotten this taken care of. Does that make you feel better?” Kazune let out a little sigh as he seemed to relax a bit. “Yes.” “Good, because you’re going to have to be in charge.” Matthew glanced at the blob. “We have a big baddie to take care of, and we need Honerva to bring the queen straight to us.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“No! Please!” shouted Allura. The team watched with horror as Honerva made for the last strand of reality. A split second later, they were in motion, racing towards the strand, hoping against hope they would make it. Lance had the sword ready to block Honerva’s sword. Keith and Shiro both let out a yell as they pushed the merged Voltron and Atlas faster. They rammed into Honerva and pushed her away from the strand. Honerva yelled as she attacked the team. The team yelled in return as they blocked her attacks. She rammed her sword into the mecha’s side and began to push them towards the final strand. The team pushed back. Her tail whipped out and embedded itself into their chestplate, drawing power from them to gain the strength to push them further back. “If Honerva destroys this final strand, all of existence will go with it!” shouted Allura. The team yelled in determination, putting all of their effort into it. A blue light emanated from their robot, turning white as it faded away. They now had massive jets, and they used it to push Honerva towards the glowing center. Honerva yelled in frustration before the center enveloped them in a bright light. The paladins blinked, and the next instant, they found themselves standing on a pure white field, surrounded by a pure white sky. Before them crouched Honerva, unaware of the change, just yet. She let out a gasp as she straightened up and glanced around. Her eyes fell on the paladins and narrowed. “Where are we?” she demanded. “The connected consciousness of all of existence,” replied Allura. “You think you’re safe here? Soon all will cease to exist,” said Honerva. “You have to stop this,” pleaded Hunk. “All these worlds, all these realities, they deserve to live.” “Those realities were flawed and weak, living out the same pathetic cycle of war and pain.” Allura walked towards Honerva. “There is beauty in their flaws. I lost my father, my mother, and my planet in this war. But I’ve gained a new family, and a purpose stronger than any I could have imagined.” “Humans began very flawed,” said Pidge. “There were wars, hate, but with each mistake, they learned and grew.” “Now we reach out to other worlds,” said Shiro, “to pass on those lessons, and to spread them across the entire universe. Like your people once did.” “And with every new world touched,” continued Hunk, “the message grows.” “Every world, every reality,” said Keith. “We wouldn’t exist without the others.” “Our differences are what makes us stronger,” said Lance. “You think your words mean anything to me?” asked Honerva. “I’ve lived multiple lifetimes, and all of them filled with pain and loss. If I cannot experience the simple joys of life, why should anyone else?” Allura stepped forward and placed her hands on either side of Honerva’s head. Honerva let out a gasp as Allura’s quintessence went into her head. Images from Honerva’s youth appeared. “There was a time when you loved more than just your family. A time when your fascination with how vast the universe was, gave way to your desire to help and uplift others.” An image appeared of Allura and Lotor walking down a hallway. “You tried to help him,” said Honerva with a sense of realization. “He was happy. He deserved better, better than I could give.” “Lotor may have been misguided, but ultimately, he wanted to preserve life. Honor your son. Help me change this.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute there young lady.” The picture of Allura and Lotor faded away to reveal eight people, four boys and four girls. The redhead with blue eyes had his hands on his hips and was looking at the group intently while the rest of his group were looking nervous and shocked. Lance let out a yelp. “Where did you guys come from?” “We’ve been here, waiting for you,” said the teen. “Matthew just now decided to let you know of our presence. We still don’t know why,” said the blond boy as he crossed his arms and glared at Matthew. “I was waiting for the most opportune moment, and this seemed as good as any,” said Matthew with a shrug of his shoulders. “Yeah, uh-huh,” said the boy with brown, spiked hair as he too crossed his arms. “We know the game, Matthew. Why did you need to reveal us now when we know you were itching to reveal us earlier?” “Because now is the best time,” said Matthew as he shot them a grin. “Come on, Tai, you know how he is. He won’t tell us until after it’s all over,” said the blond boy with a roll of his eyes. “I know, Matt,” said Tai, “but if Syaoran told him to tell us, it might be different.” Tai and Matt glanced at Syaoran. Syaoran chuckled nervously as he glanced between Matt, Tai, and Matthew. “Please tell me this isn’t going to become a regular thing.” “Most likely,” said Matt. “Oh, definitely,” said Tai. “Eh, sometimes,” said Matthew with a slight wave of his hand. “I can still choose to say no.” “But, um, I am curious as why now, instead of before. You were mumbling the entire time they were here.” Matthew glanced at the Voltron team before glancing back at his group. “Oh, well, I mean, I was going to start with . . . what a boat load of hypocrisy.” He glanced back at the Voltron team as he crossed his arms. “I beg your pardon?” said Allura. “Huh?” said everyone else. “Uh, princess, you were the one who instantly threw Lotor across the room upon finding out what he was doing to your people. And, you were the first one to attack when Lotor came back in his ship. You remember that? I mean, I guess you could say you only figured out he was misguided once you finally cooled down long enough to think about it.” He glanced at Keith. “Looks like you were dethroned, you are no longer the hothead in the group.” “But, how …” began Allura. “How did you know about all of that?” asked Lance. “We are in the connected consciousness of all reality, I know how to get my intel.” “But, how, how could you do that? You’re only human!” blurted Allura. “Oh no he’s not,” chorused, Matt, Tai, Syaoran, and the girls as they shook their heads. “But you do have to admit, he is pretty good at acting as one,” quipped the blue-haired girl. “Aw, why thank you Umi,” said Matthew with a grin. Umi scowled. “Don’t even start.” “Then you really shouldn’t have said anything,” said the pink-haired girl as she crossed her arms. Umi sighed. “I know, Hikaru, I know.” “Wait, what is in there?” asked Allura as she pointed at the girl with red-orange hair and green eyes. She had her arms wrapped around a silver and glass cylinder. “I sense a lot of power coming from there.” “As do I,” said Honerva. Matthew chuckled. “Oh no, that’s Princess Sakura herself you are sensing, not her feather inside that tube.” “Wait, what?” blurted the paladins, while Allura nd Honerva gasped and stared in shock at Sakura. “How is this possible? She’s only human!” blurted Honerva. Matthew chuckled. “You mean you never thought of looking into Keith’s connection to quintessence?” They gasped and glanced at Keith. “I mean, come on, a boy, living alone in the desert, searches for something only he can sense? You’ve got to admit, that’s a bit odd. And maybe being part Galra has something to do with it, but, even then, not many Galra could do the same thing. So, has living in the shadow of the Blue Lion affected his sensibilities? Or can it be that human blood has a stronger bond to quintessence than you think?” Matthew pointed to his group. “I mean, Sakura is one of the strongest humans in the multiverse, followed pretty closely by Syaoran; Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu were chosen to pilot a robot as powerful as, if not more powerful than, Voltron; and Matt and Tai have unlocked abilities for their Digimon that not many others, if any at all, have unlocked.” “Wait, Digimon? What are Digimon?” asked Pidge. Matthew grinned widely. “Oh, you know, a digital monster, so to speak.” “Wait, what?” said Lance. “The Digital World is made up of data,” explained Tai. “It’s basically a computer brought to life, and all the data has been made into these creatures called Digimon.” “There is practically a Digimon for everything, too,” said Matt. “Whatever could have been searched up on the internet was made into a Digimon.” Pidge let out a gasp right before she squealed. “Really?” Matt and Tai grinned. “Oh yes,” said Matt. “Izzy’s going to be happy there’s another genius,” said Tai. “Can we go visit?” said Pidge. “Of course!” said Matthew. He held up his index finger. “But first …” He seemed to rise and began to glow blue. He aimed his hands at Allura and Honerva, and blue light shot out from his hands, hitting the two of them. The two yelled out. “Allura!” cried out the Paladins. “What are you doing?” shouted Lance as he pulled out his sniper rifle. “No!” cried out Matthew’s group. The Paladins glanced at them as they raced forward. “He has a good reason!” said Syaoran. “Care to explain?” said Keith threateningly, his sword ready. Syaoran looked him dead in the eye. “There’s another member to your party, or did you forget about it already?” “Forget what?” asked Hunk. “That!” Tai pointed at Allura, right as the dark entity was pulled out of her. She let out a gasp as she fell backwards. Keith, being the closest, quickly returned his bayard to his suit and dashed towards her, catching her before she hit the ground. Honerva, on the other hand, let out a scream right before she fell backwards. Shiro rushed forward and caught her. Everyone glanced at the two entities surrounded by blue light as they got closer to Matthew. They gasped in shock, and a bit in fear, as the dark entity taken from Honerva grew. Matthew let the smaller dark entity become absorbed by the larger one, but the two were still enveloped by blue light. “Will your force field hold?” asked Fuu. At that moment, the dark entity seemed to grow legs and a face. It rammed into the force field and tried to poke a hole with its legs before screeching at Matthew. Matthew glanced at Fuu with a grin. “Does that answer your question?” Fuu smiled sweetly. “Perfectly!” “Perfect,” said Matthew as he floated to the ground. “Shall I reveal its plan? Even though there was one major flaw in it.” “Release me at once, vile pipsqueak!” shrieked the dark entity.Matthew glanced at it. "What? You mean after ten thousand years, there's no crick in your neck?"
Matt, Tai, and the girls groaned while Syaoran chuckled nervously.
Lance gulped. “It-it can talk?” “Oh good, you heard it too. Thought I was going crazy for a moment there,” quipped Matthew. “You are crazy,” said Matt, completely unimpressed. Matthew shot him a grin. “Only because you know me so well.” “Release me!” screamed the dark entity again. “How can a mere mortal like you keep me imprisoned like this?” Matthew turned. They didn’t know what he did, but the entity immediately shrank back in fear. “What-what are you?” it said. “Something obviously more powerful than you,” said Matthew before turning back to the group. “A genie,” mumbled Tai. The paladins gasped as their eyes widened. “Aw, Tai, I wanted to keep them in suspense!” “Seriously?” said Matt with a groan as he rubbed his forehead. “Wh-what’s a genie?” asked Allura. “A powerful creature from Earth,” said Pidge in awe. “But, they’re not real!” Matthew leaned towards her. “Neither were aliens, yet here we are.” “But there are none on Earth,” said Keith. “This is true. We call a planet named Alixandria home now. There are humans there, among other races,” said Matthew with a sly grin. “There is no planet called Alixandria!” said the entity before shrinking back in fear as Matthew turned to look at it. “That is because Alixandria is not a part of these realities. They’re in a reality of their own, though they know of this one.” “What?” said Hunk. “How is that possible?” asked Honerva. Matthew nodded at Syaoran and Sakura. “Ever come across them in your search for the perfect reality?” “Um, no …” “Um, Matthew, she wouldn’t have looked for us,” said Syaoran with a nervous grin. “No, but I did.” Everyone glanced at Matthew. “I didn’t find either of you, nor any of the people you know. Basically, none of you should exist.” He glanced at the Paladins and Honerva. “Which means there are realities outside of your existence. People you would have otherwise never met, places you would have never set foot on. But we on Alixandria prefer to call these realities stories. And you are most certainly not the first to travel between realities. You are the first to get to your center, but others have come surprisingly close.” “But how does that thing tie into all of this?” said Tai, pointing at the dark entity. “It wanted to get as much quintessence as possible, and what better way than getting to the center, where it could have access to the quintessence of all the realities. And in the process, change the realities to its liking.” “But, destroying the other realities?” asked Matt. Matthew shrugged. “It figured that Allura would undo all the damage, and it was more than willing to sacrifice her to do it.” The Paladins gasped as they looked at the dark entity. “I knew it was a bad idea!” said Lance with a humph as he crossed his arms. “Uh, yeah,” said Matthew. “Allowing an entity you know nothing about into your body? Worst idea in the book of bad ideas.” He turned to Allura. “Why didn’t you listen to them?” “It would grant me the power …” Matthew groaned and rolled his eyes. “Oh, that line again. If something tells you that it could grant you the power to achieve your heart’s desire, or to defeat someone, first response is to run away. Of course, the creature didn’t want you dead yet, so nothing would happen to you, yet. But, if there’s anything humans should have learned by now, is that someone granting you power seemingly for free isn’t doing it for free, it usually means using you to gain something it wants, typically at the price of your freedom, by being a slave to it, or your death.” He glanced pointedly at Allura. “Your death, in this case, young lady.” Allura glared back. “I did what was the right thing to do, to stop Honerva. And I am no mere young lady, I am a princess! But you should know that.” Matthew scoffed. “Some princess, have yet to show an ounce of wisdom. But, I guess that’s most princesses for you, spoiled and naive.” “What?” shouted Allura, standing up and glaring deadly at Matthew. Matthew snapped his fingers in her face, a grin growing on his face. “See, here’s the thing. I’m not going to let you die. Why should I? There’s far too much for you to learn! I mean, come on, how do you expect to be your father’s future if you keep on insisting on stepping into the past? Dying now certainly won’t see his legacy come to fruition, now, would it?” Allura stared at him like a deer in headlights. “Wh-what?” “See, that’s the thing, you’re so hung up on your dad that you can’t see the family you have now. Another reason for you to stay alive.” Matthew placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her such reassuring eyes. “You are your father’s legacy, Allura. Don’t let all his hard work go to waste.” Allura closed her mouth as tears began to fall. “Go, join your new family, join your friends, become who your father knew you could be.” “B-but how? All the realities …” Matthew turned and pointed at the dark entity. “That started this, only fair it ends this.” The dark entity laughed cruelly. “Me? Return all the realities? You must be joking. I don’t have that kind of power.” It glanced at Allura and Honerva. “That’s why I needed them, knowing Honerva would resort to destroying all realities if she couldn’t have her way.” “A shame, really,” muttered Matthew. “I would have thought she knew better.” He glanced at Honerva, who glanced down in shame. “A reason for her to stay alive, to learn a lesson or two.” “Matthew?” “Yes Syaoran?” “Where does the Prin …” Syaoran paused when he noticed Sakura glaring at him. He shot her an apologetic grin before continuing. “I mean, uh, Sakura’s, feather come in?” Matthew held out his hand. Sakura opened the cylinder and Matthew took out the feather. “With this, I can bring back either one person or one planet.” “But, I can bring back Altea and Daibazaal …” began Allura, but Matthew raised his hand. “Then what will you have learned? That everything will go back to the way it was simply because you desire it? No, oh no no no. Not only is it the worst ending possible, but that will also create a far greater rift in the realities than you can imagine. Sure, you won’t notice it at first, but give it enough time, and it will eventually destroy your reality completely.” Matthew glanced at the feather before glancing at the Paladins and Honerva. “So again, one person or one planet. Which shall it be?” The group glanced at each other. Allura then locked eyes with Honerva. She let out a sigh before turning to Matthew. “Lotor.” The Paladins gasped while Honerva looked at her with surprise, and hope. “What? Lotor? Really?” blurted Lance. Matthew raised his hand. “If you’re so worried about Lotor coming in to steal your girl, the two of you shouldn’t even be dating. Relationships require trust, and if you don’t trust her to stay with you, get out now, because you’re not doing her or yourself any favors.” Matthew then glanced at Allura. “Are you sure?” “Yes, you’re right, we left him in the quintessence field, we didn’t even give him a chance to explain.” “In that, you were right, though, what he did wasn’t right.” “But we still didn’t give him a chance to explain, much less a chance to change his mind, or ways, and see that what he did was wrong.” Matthew smiled. “I see you are starting to learn, Princess Allura, very good.” He glanced at the others. “Are we in agreement, then? Give Lotor a second chance, not just to be with his mother, but to also atone for the crimes he has committed?” “Yes,” said Keith, without hesitation. Allura smiled at him. “Please,” whispered Honerva. “Yes,” said Hunk. Shiro nodded as he said, “Yes.” “Yes,” said Pidge. Everyone glanced at Lance. He was looking down, clearly not sure about his answer. “Hey, Lance?” Lance looked at Matthew. “Lotor should be the least of your worries, anyway.” He gave a wink. Lance blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Oh, you’ll find out. I can tell you this, Lotor and Allura are not meant to be together. But besides that …” Matthew moved his fingers across his mouth like he was zipping his mouth close, though his eyes sparkled with mischief. “Well, then, if that’s the case, then yes, let’s give Lotor a second chance.” Allura laughed as she hugged him. “Thank you Lance!” Lance returned the hug. “You’re welcome, Allura.” “Then it’s settled, the feather for Lotor’s life,” said Matthew as he walked towards the dark entity. “Wait, why is that feather so important to Sakura?” asked Keith. Matthew glanced back with a soft smile. “Of course you would ask about it.” “Huh?” “This is one of Sakura’s memories,” Matthew explained as he glanced at her. “And is a rather powerful object in and of itself. Now that most of the feathers have been returned to their owner, she has regained her power, and what a great power it is. We’ll explain later. Right now …” Matthew placed his hand on the force field surrounded the dark entity. “You might want to close your eyes.” The feather and Matthew began to glow, followed by the force field. The dark entity screamed, right before a flash of light eminated from them in a circular pattern. Everyone shut their eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter, and then, all was dark.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Keith’s eyes snapped open as he let out a shuddering gasp. He glanced around quickly, he was back in the cockpit of the Black Lion. He quickly glanced at his screen, there was space just ahead of him, while the Atlas and the rest of the Lions were next to him and the Balmeras, dozens of Galra ships, and Oriande were behind them in the asteroid field of what was once Altea. He brought up his communications.
“Is everyone alright? Shiro, Allura, are you there? Lance, Hunk, Pidge, can you hear me?” There was static for a moment before groans came over the line and Keith relaxed.
“We’re fine,” said Shiro.
“We’re here,” said Lance.
“We’re back!” said Pidge. “This is our reality!”
“Oh good,” said Hunk, “I was just going to ask about that.”
Keith realized one person hadn’t replied yet. “Allura,” he said in that soft voice reserved only for her. Yes, that talk with Shiro had helped him immensely, but, he still couldn’t deny how much he loved the Altean princess, and how glad he was that the genie didn’t let her die to save the universe. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine, for the most part. I just have this splitting headache.”
“We should get back to the Atlas and get you to bed. You’ve done a lot and need your rest,” Lance said firmly.
Keith pursed his lips into a thin line as he gripped the controls tightly. He had to get control of himself, he had basically told Lance he supported the relationship, but now that they actually didn’t lose her, he had this sudden urge to hold and kiss her. Yet, he couldn’t do that, now that she and Lance were going steady, and would probably continue going steady. He took a few breaths to calm himself.
“A good night’s sleep would do me a lot of good.” Allura’s voice came over the intercom, nearly causing Keith to lose control again. “But we should . . .”
“Oh, thank the ancients, you’re alright!!”
“Coran!” Keith could hear the immense relief in Allura’s voice. “Thank the ancients you’re alright too! Where are you? We’ll come pick you up . . .”
“Actually, your Highness,” came a voice they recognized, “we were hoping you would rest here, on Antillia.” Everyone gasped.
“Syaoran?” asked Keith. An image appeared on his screen of Syaoran, Tai, Matt, Sakura, Coran, Slav, Sam and Matt Holt, the Alteans, and several more people who were either sitting or standing in a control room.
“Matt, Dad!” exclaimed Pidge.
“Ooh, is that your daughter Katie?” a boy asked Sam as he walked towards the screen. He was wearing green pants, a black shirt, white boots, and a green hat with binoculars set on top.
Sam nodded as he smiled proudly at Katie. “That’s right, Zazu, that’s my daughter, Katie.”
“Nice! She’s cute!” blurted Zazu. Pidge let out an awkward squawk.
“Wait, what? You think she’s cute?” blurted Lance.
Matt crossed his arms. “You mean you don’t think so?”
“What? No, she is cute . . . I mean . . . that wasn’t what I meant . . .”
“Oh,” said Zazu, like he was deflating, “you’re her boyfriend, aren’t you?”
“Oh, no, Lance is going out with Princess Allura,” quipped Matt with a wave of his hand.
Zazu glanced between Matt and the screen. “Oh, so you’re like her older brother?” He scratched his head. “But Matt didn’t have a problem with it.”
Syaoran let out a chuckle as he stepped forward and patted Zazu’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Some brothers know to let their little sisters have some space, while others,” he glanced at Sakura as he spoke, “can get a little too protective.”
“Anyway,” interrupted Tai. Tai put his hands on the boy sitting down in the front of the screen. “Guys, this is Izzy, he’s our head genius and tech support.” Izzy chuckled nervously as he said hi.
“Hi,” chorused the Paladins.
“Tai, why don’t we let them get on Antillia before we start introducing everybody?” suggested Syaoran. “We don’t want to overwhelm them, there are a lot of people here.”
Tai chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. “You’re right.” He glanced at the screen. “You coming to Antillia, or do we have to pick you up?”
“Well, we would come to Antillia, if we knew where you were,” said Shiro. Keith checked his scanners. Shiro was right. Where were they?”
“Shiro’s right,” said Pidge, “I’m not picking you up on my scanners.”
“Neither am I,” said Hunk.
Izzy glanced down and let out a nervous laugh. “Hang on guys, sorry about that.” He pushed a button, and suddenly a rectangular-shaped object popped up on scanners, not far from where Oriande was situated. The Paladins gasped.
“How did you do that?” said Pidge excitedly.
“Magic,” said Tai, waving his fingers in front of the screen as he broke out into a grin. Syaoran and Izzy burst out laughing, as one by one, others burst out laughing as well. The Paladins’ friends and family could only watch with a nervous grin, unsure about what was going on.
“Sorry, guys,” said Tai’s friend Matt as he rubbed a tear from his eye. “That was the invisibility cloak, and in a way, it is magic.”
Tai nodded. “Yeah, I mean, it lets us avoid any and all scanners, no matter where we are.”
“Or how advanced each civilization is,” said Izzy.
Syaoran chuckled. “You’d better get here quick. It’s easier to explain when you can see it for yourselves.”
“Even though there are still things we don’t quite understand yet,” quipped Izzy. The others nodded, Zazu in particular bobbed his head rapidly.
Shiro chuckled. “Alright, give us a few minutes, and we’ll land.”
“Oh, right, we should send you that information too,” said Izzy as he quickly began typing on his keyboard.
“Izzy, are you feeling ill?” asked Syaoran worriedly.
Zazu scoffed. “Nah, we’ve just been chatting away with Slav and the Holts. Izzy’s got his mind on some sweet tech. Can’t say that I blame him.” Izzy grinned as coordinates popped up on their scanners.
“We’re on our way,” said Keith as they took off towards the island.
“Where do these coordinates lead us?” asked Shiro.
“We have some caves below us that the genies hollowed out for the use of ships and mecha,” explained Izzy as the team shortened the distance to the island.
“You have a forcefield around it?” said Pidge incredulously.
Izzy and Zazu chuckled, though Zazu replied, “Well, yeah, how else did you think we could breathe in outer space? That is how your ship works, right?”
“True,” said Pidge, “but to generate one that size . . .”
“Well, the Balmeras do something like that, maybe this is similar,” suggested Hunk.
“Just get here, and we’ll show you,” said Zazu.
“It really is fascinating,” said Sam.
Pidge chuckled. “Alright, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Good,” said Syaoran, “I’ll have the Magic Knights waiting for you in the docking bay. They’ll escort you here.”
Keith smiled. “That would be nice, thanks.”
Zazu let out a squawk. “What? I’m helping!”
“But, Zazu!” began Syaoran as Zazu dashed out of the control room.
Tai chuckled as he patted Syaoran’s shoulder. “Come on man, let him help. It’s not everyday he gets to meet a cute, smart girl.” He glanced at the screen, and winked at Pidge. Keith could see Pidge turning slightly beet red, but was clearly pleased with the attention. His eyebrow was raised when he saw Lance’s face, though. He didn’t seem quite that thrilled about it. Maybe Syaoran was right, he needed to give Pidge a bit more space. It wasn’t like she was a baby, after all. She had been in the thick of it as much as any of them, and had often proved that she could handle herself quite well. She definitely saved them plenty enough times. But Lance should know that, since she had saved him on multiple occasions. Keith blinked rapidly as he glanced back at the control room. Why did Matt Holt have such a smug grin on his face?
Matt chuckled. “Especially one who’s not taken yet.”
Izzy chuckled as a slight red color came into his cheeks. “That’s true.”
“Guys, they’re almost here. Why don’t we finish this conversation once they get to the control room?” said Syaoran. The group glanced at the screen.
Tai grinned. “You’re right. Better hurry it up then!”
Matt groaned but he grinned as he waved at them. “See you soon!”
“Bye!” Everyone else waved before the screen disappeared and Keith could see the bottom of the island getting closer. It looked like a very dark brown, inverted pyramid, with clearly enough space to dock several ships and mechas, as Keith noticed as they entered the cave.
“Whoa,” whispered Hunk in awe as they glanced around at the other ships and mecha stored there. There were people walking about. The crews of the ships and the mechas, and engineers, Keith figured.
“Those look like they were designed by humans!” blurted Pidge, already excited with the idea of toying with new machines.
“Archangel?” said Lance. Keith glanced over at Lance. The bold letters of the name came into view on the side of one of the nicer-looking ships. The people who were walking near the ship stopped to watch the group come in.
“What does Archangel mean?” asked Allura.
“Angels are like genies, I guess you could say,” answered Shiro. “Their primary job was to protect humans from evil forces known as demons.”
“Archangel was a special type of angel,” Keith took up the narrative, “they were bigger, more powerful, and like soldiers.”
“That’s right,” said Shiro.
“Hey, there they are!” said Hunk. There, not far from the Archangel, stood the Magic Knights, waving them over to an empty spot large enough for the Atlas and the Lions.
“Looks like that’s where they want us to land,” said Keith. “Let’s go!” Keith led the Lions over to the landing strip. They helped the Atlas dock before landing nearby. They exited the Lions and made their way towards the Magic Knights. Meanwhile, the crew of the Atlas filed out onto the platform.
Hikaru let out a squeal as she wrapped Keith in a hug. “My new big brother’s here!”
“Wait, what?” blurted Lance and Umi at the same time.
“You can’t just go adopting every guy you meet as your new brother!” said Umi, crossing her arms.
Hikaru blinked at her. “Why not? You can adopt that one as your new brother.” Hikaru indicated Lance.
“Hey! The name’s Lance.”
Umi snorted. “Seriously?”
“Oh, that’s right!” said Fuu. “We never introduced ourselves! I’m Fuu, this is Umi, and the girl still hugging your leader is Hikaru.” Hikaru shot Keith a sheepish grin before backing out of the hug.
“Well, I’m Allura, you’ve already met Lance, Hikaru was hugging Keith, this is Hunk, and that’s Pidge.”
“Hello!” they chorused.
“Who was the other fellow with you in the center of the multiverse?” asked Fuu.
“That would be me, Shirogane Takashi,” said Shiro as he held out his hand. He, Veronica, Iverson, and Colleen Holt approached them. Pidge and Colleen hugged each other.
“Ah, ohayo, Shirogane-san!” said Hikaru enthusiastically as she shook Shiro’s hand.
Shiro smiled. “Ohayo.”
“Uh, Shiro, why did you say your last name first?” asked Lance.
“What does ohayo mean?” said Hunk.
“Ohayo means hello in Japanese,” explained Shiro, “and it’s custom to introduce yourself with your surname first.”
“Oh,” said Lance and Hunk in unison.
“That is correct,” said a woman with reddish-brown hair and a grey uniform said as she and a few others approached the group. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but admire your ship. It looks so sophisticated.”
“Thank you,” said Pidge, “my dad designed it.”
The woman glanced at Pidge. “And where is your father?”
Colleen spoke up. “My husband and my son are in the control room of Antillia.”
“Oh, that’s right! The group of humans and aliens we brought on board! You remember, Murrue?” said the blond man in the group.
Murrue smiled. “How could I forget? Oh, and before I forget this, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Murrue Ramius, Captain of the Archangel.”
Pidge let out a gasp. “May we have a tour of the Archangel?”
“Maybe later,” said Fuu, “we need to get you to the control room.”
The blond man bowed. “Then allow us to walk with you, and we’ll talk the particulars of space travel and cool robots.” At that moment, Zazu came racing towards the group. He stopped to catch his breath.
“Made it,” he said between gasps of air. He glanced at Pidge and grinned. His smile faded when he saw the look on Pidge’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I, uh …”
“Oh, I said we had to get them to the control room. Pidge here wants to see all the tech,” said Fuu.
“Oh, that’s easily arranged,” said Zazu with a wave of his hand, his grin returning. “I’m one of the top engineers. I can give you special tour later, if you’d like.”
Pidge brightened. “Really?”
“What?” blurted Lance, but the two didn’t seem to pay him any mind.
Zazu winked. “You can count on it. But, I’m sure your dad and brother wouldn’t mind seeing you real quick before I show you everything.”
Pidge chuckled. “You’re right. Let’s go!” She and Zazu took off towards the doors.
“Hey! Wait, wait for us!” called out Lance before the rest of the group followed. Along the way they were introduced to the other crew members of the Archangel who were with them. There was Mu La Flaga, Sai Argyle, Miriallia Haw, Andrew Waltfeld, and Dearka Elsman. The group chatted gaily as they followed Zazu and Pidge towards the control room. They exited the cavern and entered a subway station. There was a train waiting for them. Zazu led them on board, where they each took a seat before the train sped off through the tunnels. Murrue explained that the subway was the primary mode of transportation on Antillia, but they also had a few vehicles and the indigenous wildlife were more than willing to lend an hand.
“Wait, what?” said Shiro.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Keith.
Andrew shrugged. “The wildlife here is pretty intelligent. The top bird here, the ignir, is one of the fastest birds in the universe and is very intelligent. We use them to carry messages to each other. They take their job very seriously.”
“And they do it very well,” said Mu.
“What does this ignir look like?” said Allura.
The group grinned at them while Murrue replied. “You’ll see when we get top-side.It would be easier to show you each creature than trying to explain them.”
“Though, be forewarned,” said Mu, “they might look like some creatures from Earth, and there are a few names that are definitely from Earth, but not all of them … let’s just say coming into contact with alien species like these has quite the thrill to it.”
“Uh, is that a good thing or a bad thing?” said Hunk.
“I don’t think you’ll ever be on their bad sides, so it’s a good thing,” said Mu with a mischievous grin.
“Mu,” said Murrue, “don’t frighten them.”
Andrew chuckled. “Anymore than they will be when they meet our fellow Antillians? Come on, Murrue, we should at least prepare them for what they are about to see.”
“Prepare us for what?” said Hunk with worry.
Mu leaned forward. “You will feel fear, inspiration, and awe at seeing these creatures, but we couldn’t have asked for better allies in the entire universe.”
Zazu leaned back in his seat. “Yeah, but, technically, Eleon’s the only one you’ll see when we get to the control room since he’s always posted there when Syaoran’s there.”
Hikaru chuckled. “That’s true. But that is because onii-san is the king and needs the best protection.”
“OK . . . what does onii-san mean?” said Lance.
“Onii-san means big brother,” said Hikaru.
“Because she’s adopted Syaoran as her brother,” said Umi with a sigh.
Fuu chuckled. “Well you did adopt Kurogane-san as your brother and I adopted Fai-san as mine.”
“That was because of Celes and Windam, and Hikaru adopted Syaoran-san because of Rayearth. But Hikaru is still going around adopting brothers!”
“And sisters!” said Hikaru cheerfully. She turned to Allura. “Would you like to be my sister?”
“I would love to. I never had any siblings,” said Allura.
“Yes!” Hikaru jumped out of her seat and nearly fell into Allura’s lap as she tried to hug her.
“Hikaru!” said Umi as the others chuckled.
“Oh, leave her be, Umi,” said Murrue as Hikaru returned to her seat, “she’s being very welcoming to our guests.”
“Who are Rayeath, Windam, and Celes?” said Keith.
“You mean what are Rayeath, Windam, and Celes?” said Mu. The paladins glanced at him questioningly.
“They’re called rune gods,” said Fuu, “because they have an animal-like appearance, but they are in fact mecha.”
“That can come together and form a larger mecha,” said Umi, “just like your Voltron.”
The paladins gasped. “Really?” said Allura. “Who made them?”
“That’s why they’re called rune gods,” said Murrue, “they are in fact powerful beings tasked with protecting others. No mortal made them.”
“A higher power?” said Allura. The others nodded.
“Yes,” said Hikaru.
Allura placed her hands together in her lap. “I think there’s a lot to learn here.”
Mu grinned. “You have no idea.”
“We can get started now. We’re here!” announced Zazu as the train slowed down to a stop. He grabbed Pidge’s hand. “Come on!” The two dashed off the train, followed by an almost dejected-looking Lance, a beaming Colleen, and everyone else. Zazu led half of the group into an elevator, while Murrue led the rest into another elevator. The elevators went up several floors surprisingly fast.
“Oh, boy …” began Hunk. He clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Hunk, don’t get all nauseous on us now,” said Lance.
“The ride’s actually pretty smooth,” said Pidge.
“How many cities are there on the island?” said Keith, hoping to keep Hunk’s mind off the elevator.
“Seven big ones, total,” said Hikaru. “There are houses that are in the wilderness, so to speak, but the shedu tend to live in the majority of those.”
“What are shedu?” said Allura.
“Eleon is a shedu,” said Zazu, “and you’ll see in just a moment.” He glanced at Hunk. “Just don’t … puke on him, please.”
Hunk smiled sheepishly. “I’ll try not to. I’ve been getting better.”
“That’s good to know,” said Fuu with a reassuring smile. “If you don’t mind my asking, do you know what causes it?”
“You mean besides his stomach?” said Keith nonchalantly as he crossed his arms. The others glanced at him in shock before Hunk burst out laughing, followed by Hikaru and Fuu.
“Yes, onii-chan,” said Hikaru between chuckles, “besides his stomach.”
“Since when did you become so funny?” said Lance.
“You think I’m funny?” said Keith.
Hunk nudged Lance. “When you stopped trying.” Pidge burst out laughing, followed by Allura and Hunk.
“Hunk! You’re not helping anything,” said Lance before crossing his arms and let out a huff.
“But I thought you wanted to be Loverboy Lance, not the Goofball,” said Keith.
“I do! I mean …”
“What’s wrong with being the goofball?” said Pidge.
“Well …”
Hikaru chuckled. “Matthew is a pretty big goofball.”
Lance glanced between her, Umi, and Fuu. “And?”
Zazu sighed. “Matthew’s always saying that goofballs are needed to keep the mood light. Without them, everything would just be all gloom and doom, and that’s not very healthy.”
Hikaru grinned. “Laughter is the best medicine after all. Especially after one’s been in a war.” Her friends nodded enthusiastically.
“Are you saying I should be the goofball of the group?” said Lance.
Fuu shrugged. “If that’s what you do best, then, yeah. Someone has to be able to make others smile.”
“What makes you think it’s such a bad thing, anyhow?” asked Umi.
“I never said it was a bad thing! It’s just … it’s just not my thing.”
“Why?” said Hikaru.
Lance opened his mouth, and paused. “I, I don’t know, really,” he finally said after a moment’s silence. “It’s just not my thing.”
“I think it’s because you’re the baby of the family,” said Hunk as he patted Lance’s shoulder, “and they really don’t take you seriously.”
Hikaru let out a sigh as she nodded. “I’m the baby in my family, so yeah, they really don’t take us seriously.” She glanced at Keith. “That’s kind of part of the reason why I like adopting brothers and sisters. My adopted family are more likely to take me seriously than my own family.” Lance let out a soft gasp. Hikaru grinned at Keith as she threw her hands in the air. “And I always pick the most awesome brothers and sisters!!” At that moment a bell dinged and the elevator doors opened. Hikaru turned as the paladins gasped. Another ding was heard and the second elevator opened. The Atlas crew gasped as well.
Lance let out a yelp. “What ... what are those?” Two creatures stood between them and the door to the control room, and they didn't look very friendly.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The first creature was a bipedal lion with four eyes and six wings that towered over them. Keith figured it had to have been ten feet tall, easily. He, at least, Keith figured it was a he since it had a mane, was dressed in Roman armor with a blue cloak and a spear that was as tall as the figure was. The second creature had the mane, feet, and tail of a lion, with the body and head of a horse, and large wings. It was completely black, except for its blue eyes. But of the two, it looked the less threatening.
“Eleon, what’s going on?” said Hikaru as she approached the two creatures.
The bipedal leonid spoke in a deep voice. “Verneo here sensed that his master is in trouble.”
“I told you we should have checked in on the demigods!” said a blond teen as he exited the control room.
“Kazune, please!” said Syaoran as he, Tai, and Matt followed him out. “They must not be in immediate danger, otherwise, Matthew would have acted!”
“The danger seems to have passed now,” said Verneo.
Lance squawked. “It, it can talk!”
“How do you know that it won’t come back?” said Kazune at the same time.
Verneo turned to look at Kazune. “I will let you know if the danger comes back.”
“Yes, hippogriffs can talk,” said Umi at the same time. “They’re the only animals on the island that can.”
Lance pointed at Eleon. “What about him? He looks like an animal!”
“And what of it?” said Eleon in a low voice, ending the sentence with a rumble that almost sounded like a low growl.
“Well, aren’t mermaids kind of the same thing?” said Hunk before giving everyone a nervous grin.
“In a way,” said Eleon, though his eyes never left Lance’s face. He turned his staff, and they could see nine different colored gemstones positioned near the top of it. He aimed the spear at Lance.
“Wh-what are you doing?” yelped Lance. The others quickly stepped in front of him, Keith in the front facing the spearhead.
“You are afraid,” said Eleon.
“Well yeah! You look like you’re about to stab me with that thing!”
“This is no weapon,” said Eleon.
“Well, you could have fooled me!” blurted Lance.
“The spearhead is made from a diamond,” said Syaoran. He grabbed Keith’s arm and slowly pulled him back. “A magical diamond. It grants Eleon the ability to read hearts.”
“The diamond that allows his majesty to rule Antillia was cut from the same geode as this one, meaning both are connected to hearts,” said Eleon.
“You have a diamond that lets you rule Antillia?” said Shiro, glanced at Syaoran.
Syaoran smiled. “Yes.” A purple magic circle appeared around his right eye, and a diamond materialized from his eye.
“What? How?” said Keith.
Syaoran gingerly touched the diamond. “Magic, of course,” he said softly. “It deemed me worthy of ruling Antillia, and I accepted the role.” The diamond disappeared, followed by the purple circle. “Though, I feel like it was a selfish reason, to keep the princess alive.”
“The diamond must apparently not think so,” said Eleon.
Syaoran glanced at him and shrugged. “I guess so.”
“You’re doing it for your girlfriend?” said Keith, almost as softly as Syaoran.
“That is so sweet!” said Hunk as he began to tear up.
Syaoran glanced at him in surprise before letting out a nervous chuckle. “Uh, thanks.”
“Ugh!” moaned Kazune. “Enough! We have the Voltron crew on board, let’s go check up on the demigods!”
“We have to wait for Matthew,” Syaoran said firmly.
“Where is he?” said Allura.
Syaoran looked at her for a moment, as if deciding on what to say. “He’s taking care of Lotor and Honerva. Apparently they are not yet worthy to enter Antillia.”
“If ever,” mumbled Kazune as he crossed his arms.
Syaoran glanced at him before letting out a sigh. “Alright, Kazune, we can’t go to the demigods, but we can check in with Scheherazade on their progress. Will that work for now?”
“I guess so, if it’s my only option,” said Kazune.
“It is for now. Matthew said there’s still quite a bit of work to be done here, taking care of the remaining Alteans especially.”
“Then let’s go check with Scheherazade and get these guys situated quickly.”
Syaoran placed his hands on Kazune’s shoulders. “Listen, I appreciate you taking your job so seriously, but the demigods aren’t the only ones who need your concern and care. I need your help here too.”
Kazune let out a breath. “You’re right.” He shot Syaoran a lop-sided grin. “Guess this is why the diamond chose you to lead Antillia and not me, huh?”
Syaoran shrugged. “I guess, I mean, you are usually more cool-headed than this.”
“You’re right about that too. I don’t know, I guess I’m just really on edge after that message we got.”
“What message?” said Keith.
Syaoran glanced at him. “One of the demigods is going to be in a lot of danger, but, we can’t make a move until we know exactly what that danger is and how we can fight it. So we’re doing what we can to help other people so we’re not constantly sitting around, twiddling our thumbs.”
“And where does this, Scheherazade, come in?” said Shiro.
Syaoran waved the group forward before walking towards the control room. He spoke as they walked. “Scheherazade is the queen of the fofi. Their job is to keep an eye on characters and make sure stories progress as they should.”
“What are fofi?” asked Allura.
Kazune gave a little shudder. “People who change their forms to become spiders.”
“What?” shouted the Paladins.
“Are you as scared of the little creatures you call bugs as much as Master Kazune is?”
“Eleon!” Kazune glared at the shedu, unphased by how much larger the creature was.
Eleon shrugged. “Would it not be better to tell them now so that they do not frighten you?”
“I guess,” grumbled Kazune.
Tai let out a sigh as he opened the door. “And that’s going to take some work, to get you unafraid of bugs. But, anyway, welcome to the control room, guys.”
“Matt, dad!” said Pidge as she and her mother reunited with the rest of their family.
“Yeah, how are we going to tell which one of us you’re calling for?” said Matt.
Tai glanced at his best friend. “We could use your surname, Ishida, you know.”
“Or we could go with your full name, Yamato,” said Syaoran.
“Coran!” Allura and Coran shared a big hug.
“I’m so glad you’re alright!” said Coran.
“We are too!” said the rest of the Alteans as they each came forward and gave Allura big hugs.
“Of course she is!” said Lance, puffing out his chest.
“Well, no thanks to you,” said Tai.
“Tai, be nice!” said Matt Ishida, whacking Tai’s shoulder. “It’s not like there was much they could have done if Matthew didn’t step in.”
“He does have a point,” said Shiro as he glanced at all of them. His eyes fell on Syaoran’s face as a soft smile appeared on his face. “And we thank you for it.”
Syaoran smiled in return. “It was our pleasure.” He turned to Izzy. “Izzy, contact Scheherazade please. Verneo says the danger has passed, but we want to check in with them.”
Izzy nodded. “On it.” He turned to the console set before him and pushed several buttons. A few minutes later, a woman with ebony hair and copper skin appeared on the screen.
“Syaoran, we were not expecting your call for some time,” she said with a questioning look on her face.
Syaoran chuckled nervously. “I know, but Verneo just came to see us saying that there was some danger around the demigods. It’s passed now, but, we wanted to check in, just in case.”
Scheherazade nodded. “Of course. We must make this quick, I am expecting calls from Oz and Coud to check on their next groups.”
Syaoran nodded. “Understood.” Scheherazade gave a curt nod before walking off screen. She came back into view with a thick volume in her hands. She flipped through a few pages before glancing at Syaoran.
“Hmm,” she said,” it doesn’t look there is anything to worry about. Besides, according to this, you have to wait a few days before getting to the Endless Woods.”
“The Endless Woods?” asked Shiro.
Scheherazade nodded. “Yes, Antillia’s next destination. Once they have finished getting you Paladins situated, they must go to the Endless Woods, a place where fairy tales live, and apparently Peter Pan can get old.”
“Oh boy,” said Izzy, “he’s not going to like hearing that.”
“I don’t like hearing it,” quipped Tai. “Something’s wrong if Peter Pan can grow old. He’s not supposed to!”
“Wait,” said Scheherazade. She flipped through the pages again. “I still can’t tell how they get to the Endless Woods.” She glanced back at the screen. “Maybe that’s the danger Verneo sensed, and if so . . .”
“Wait, what’s so dangerous about a portal?” asked Syaoran.
“If it’s the one I’m thinking of, it’s not so much the portals themselves that are dangerous, but the castle that houses them.”
“OK,” said Syaoran, “what’s so dangerous about this castle?”
“I cannot say, I do not dare risk waking the evil that hides in its dungeons. If I do, then Nico di Angelo would be in the greatest danger of his life.”
Kazune’s eyes widened. “Wait, then, is that the danger Aslan spoke of?”
“We believe so.”
“And how come Matthew didn’t tell us this?” said Kazune, shooting a glare at Syaoran.
Syaoran threw his hands up. “I don’t know!”
“Because the evil that resides in the castle’s dungeons is waiting for Matthew to make the wrong move. By residing in the castle, he has access to a lot of knowledge. Speaking of it even now is far too risky. We unfortunately found that out the hard way.” She glanced pointedly at Tai, Matt Ishida, and Izzy. They glanced down.
“Wait, you guys know what it is?” asked Kazune incredulously.
Tai sighed. “Yes, Matthew told us and Peter Pan about it.” He nodded at Scheherazade. “That’s when Scheherazade contacted us and told us the castle seemed to react to something, almost as if that evil was trying to wake up. Matthew’s kept his lips closed ever since, and so have we.” Tai glanced at the others. “Sorry for not telling you earlier, but we figured the less we said, the better.”
Kazune opened his mouth to speak, but Syaoran quickly raised his hand. “I understand.”
“You do?” blurted Kazune.
“Yes, I do, if this evil reacts to Matthew, or anyone, talking about it, then it’s best we let it sleep, at least, until all seven islands are completed. Then we can destroy it. That’s supposed to be the plan, right?” Syaoran asked Scheherazade the question.
Scheherazade nodded. “That is correct.” She glanced at Kazune. “And by keeping this evil asleep, Nico di Angelo is in far less danger.”
Kazune huffed. “Fine.”
Syaoran smiled. “Thank you, Kazune.”
Kazune rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Scheherazade chuckled. “Besides, shouldn’t you be using this time to get ready for them? It would definitely help relieve some stress off of them in meeting you.”
“Wait, you haven’t even met them yet?” exclaimed Lance.
Shiro glanced at Kazune. “Why are you in particular worried about them?”
“Because they’re demigods,” began Kazune.
Tai broke in with a grin. “Kazune here can hide it pretty well, but, he’s secretly screaming inside from being such a big fan of Greek mythology. And these guys are those myths come to life, literally.”
Scheherazade let out a gasp. “Oh! I need to go, Oz is calling. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Thank you Scheherazade,” said Syaoran.
“Always a pleasure, Syaoran,” she said with a little curtsy.
“Oh, no, please, you don’t have to curtsy, you’re technically a higher rank than I am!” Syaoran quickly said, clearly flustered.
Scheherazade laughed. “Very well. Goodbye, children.” With that, the screen went black.
“I’m not a child!” blurted Lance with a shake of his fist.
Syaoran chuckled nervously. “According to them, yes we are. Fofi aren’t considered adults until they’re twenty-four.”
“Guess that includes you,” Pidge told her brother with a mischievous grin.
“Hey!” said Matt Holt. Sam and Colleen burst out laughing, soon everyone had joined in the mirth.
Syaoran calmed down long enough to speak. “Well, that settles that. How about we take you on a tour of Antillia? And, your majesty?”
“Yes?” said Allura as Syaoran approached her.
“I have a proposition; since there aren’t that many Alteans left, I was wondering if you would like to rebuild your culture here on Antillia? When we get too large, we can always find you a new planet to live on.”
Allura’s eyes widened, but before she could speak, Pidge let out a gasp. “The Olkari! They lost their planet too! We need to help them!”
“And the Galra,” said Keith.
Syaoran nodded. “That’s why we’re here, we can help everyone.”
“Given the timeframe we have,” muttered Kazune.
“Yes, given the timeframe we have.”
“How long can you stay?” asked Shiro.
“No more than two weeks,” said Syaoran, “then we need to take care of the demigods.”
“Why can’t you go take care of them now?” asked Keith.
“And leave in the middle of helping you guys out? Not a chance,” said Syaoran with a shake of his head.
“Huh, you’re a better leader than Keith.”
“Lance!” barked Shiro and Keith at the same time.
“Wait a second,” said Tai. He and Matt Ishida glanced at each other before looking at Lance.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t worked on your insecurities about Keith being in the way of you becoming a better person?” said Matt Ishida.
Lance’s mouth dropped open as a squawk came out. Matt and Tai glanced at each other, shook their heads, and sighed.
“Man, you learned faster than that,” quipped Tai, “why hasn’t he learned it yet?”
“Maybe he didn’t have a Cherrymon to push the learning curve along,” said Matt with a shrug.
“That, or he’s dumber than I am,” said Tai.
“And you’re really not that dumb,” quipped Izzy.
Umi groaned. “He can be.”
Tai shot her a grin. “Just another one of my charming qualities.”
Umi threw up her hands. “Ugh!” The others laughed.
“So, wait, you’re the dumb one?” asked Lance slowly.
“Nah, he’s the leader and a natural strategist,” said Matt Ishida.
Lance pointed at Matt. “Then what are you?”
“He was the lone wolf and would do anything for his brother,” said Izzy. “Now he’s a musician.” The Paladins gasped.
“You’re like Keith!” blurted Lance.
Matt crossed his arms. “Wait, he’s a musician?”
“What, no! He’s the lone wolf and he’ll do anything for his brother, Shiro!”
“You both certainly have the look down,” said Coran, pointing out that Matt and Keith both had their arms crossed.
“Hey, what, ah, pfft, what’s crossing your arms got to do with it? Anybody can do it!” blurted Matt.
“Oh, you’re a hothead like Keith too?” said Coran.
“Hey!” blurted both Matt and Keith at the same time.
Syaoran laughed. “OK, you guys, knock it off. There are going to be people here who have some similarities, but not everyone’s the same.”
“Oh, so, there’ll be someone here who’s mother left them and they feel insecure about it?” asked Hunk.
Matt Ishida’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
The Paladins gawked at Matt, but Hunk spoke. “Wait, your mom left you and your dad when you were younger?”
Matt gulped slightly. “Uh, yeah. I mean I’m over it now . . .”
“At least you don’t hate her anymore for it,” said Tai, patting Matt’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Neither do I,” said Keith.
“OK, this is getting kind of spooky,” said Hunk.
“Why did your mom leave, if you don’t mind my asking?” said Shiro.
Matt rubbed the back of his head. “Well, they, they just couldn’t make it work. I, I found out they’re still very much in love with each other.” Matt sighed. “And I don’t think having me and my brother really helped the situation, though they do love us very much.”
“Oh man, that sucks,” said Lance. “Keith’s mom left to protect Keith and his dad.”
“Oh, well, that’s good.”
“Yeah, well, Syaoran only had a dad too,” said Tai. Keith blinked as he glanced between the three. He realized that Tai was taking the heat off his friend and admired him for it.
“But he was an adopted father, he’s not really my real dad,” said Syaoran.
“But dude, were you and Sakura really the only two kids there your age?”
Syaoran chuckled as he shrugged. “I don’t know, I was hanging around at the dig site a lot. And since I was technically the only child who was allowed into the castle, well, the Princess wasn’t as lonely anymore.”
“Sa-ku-ra,” came Sakura’s voice as she walked into the control room, her arms crossed. “How many times do I have to tell you to use my name? Losing my memories practically reset all the progress I made with you.”
Syaoran ran his hand through his hair as he began to blush and chuckled nervously. “Yes, well, sorry Pri . . . I mean, uh, Sakura. It’s going to take some time to get used to it.”
“Obviously.” She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling lovingly at him.
“What are you guys rambling on about?” asked a red-headed girl as she and another girl, this one with brown hair, followed Sakura into the room.
“Hi Sora,” said Tai.
“Nice skirt Mimi,” said Matt.
Mimi giggled as she grabbed Matt’s hand. “Thanks Matt, Tomoyo’s been busy.”
Everyone jumped as a little girl screamed and hugged Allura. “And I’ve found some new inspiration!” She glanced up at Allura. “You’re so pretty!!”
“Why, thank you!”
Syaoran raised his hand. “Uh, Tomoyo, that’s Princess Allura, and, we still need to discuss the future of her people.”
Tomoyo backed away and folded her hands. “That’s fine! I can work on her new outfits while you talk!” With that, she dashed out of the room, grabbing a girl her age who looked remarkably similar to Sakura.
“Tomoyo!”
“Come on, I need some help!”
The girl chuckled nervously before waving. “Hi, and bye!”
Sakura chuckled. “Tomoyo is really energetic.”
Allura smiled. “I can see that. It would be nice to have some new clothes.”
“Oh,” said Coran, “maybe she would like a few tips on Altean clothing. I’d better follow her and help.”
“Oh, I’d like to learn more about Altean fashion!” said Romelle.
“Me too!” came several Altean voices.
“Then you’d better hurry up and follow her, she’s pretty fast,” said Syaoran. Without another word, Coran and the Alteans quickly dashed out. Syaoran turned to Allura. “So, your highness, what do you say? Would you like to rebuild your culture here on Antillia until your people have gotten numerous enough to start a new planet?”
Allura glanced between Syaoran and the retreating Alteans. “I think, I think that’s a good idea.”
Syaoran smiled. “Wonderful. There are seven cities in total, including the capital. Each city already has a duke assigned to it. You may choose a city, but you will have to answer to the duke of that city.”
Allura nodded. “Sounds fair enough. Who are the dukes and their cities?”
“Well, I’m technically the duke of the capital, Antuab, as well as king of the whole island. Kazune here is the duke of Aicon, Kikunosuke is the duke of Aira, Fakir is the duke of Ansodi, Peter Pan is the duke of Ansesseli, Jack Frost is the duke of Ansolli, and Nico di Angelo is the duke of Ansalli.”
“Wait, what?” blurted Lance.
“You don’t have your last duke yet?” said Allura.
“You haven’t even met him?” said Keith.
“He’s already accepted the role?” said Shiro.
Syaoran chuckled nervously. “Well, he doesn’t even know he’s supposed to be the duke of Ansalli, so . . .”
Kazune let out a sigh. “Matthew says that the island has already chosen the dukes, he just had to ask each of us if we’ll accept the role.”
“And most of us did,” said Syaoran with a shrug. “Sure, it’s a bit early to know if he’ll accept it, but I’m pretty sure he will.”
“How can you be so sure?” said Allura.
Syaoran smile became sad. “Because there’s a library here that has all of our stories. Kazune and I read Nico’s story before we knew what it contained, so, we know about his story, at least. It’s a lonely one.”
Allura gasped. “That’s so sad.”
Syaoran nodded. “It is.”
“Wait, is our story here too?” asked Keith.
“Yes, but, once we found out that that section contained everyone’s stories who’s going to be here, or will come in contact with us, we instantly closed the door and locked it. We didn’t want anybody reading anything without the consent of the people in the story.”
“Well, you definitely have my permission to read my story,” said Lance.
“Mine too!” said Hunk.
“It doesn’t matter to me either way,” said Pidge.
“It’s fine with me,” said Shiro.
“I guess it’s OK,” said Keith with a shrug.
“Actually, it would be a great idea if I could show the Alteans my memories, they could see what Altea was like!”
“That sounds like a great idea, your highness,” said Sam Holt.
Allura glanced at Syaoran. “May we go get mine and Coran’s stories to show them?”
“Absolutely, but I must warn you, there is another book there that you cannot touch,” said Syaoran as he walked towards the doors to the control room. “The Book of Memories.”
“Why not?” asked Allura.
Syaoran glanced at them. “It only works if someone opens the book before you. The book gets the memories of the person who opened it first and shows it to the next person who opens it, often times without realizing it.”
“It’s how a few of us have accidentally found out about each other’s pasts,” said Matt Ishida, “without telling each other about it in our own time and when we were ready.” He and Syaoran shared a glance.
“We also have a really cool room where you can check out alternate realities,” spoke up Tai.
“Wait, what? I want to see that!” said Pidge.
Zazu shot her a grin. “I can show you, if you want. We don’t have to all go to the library.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m coming along with you,” said Matt Holt.
“A room where you can explore different realities? Now this I’ve got to see,” said Sam.
“Then come on!” said Zazu as he led the way out of the control room. The Holt family followed.
Captain Murrue chuckled. “We’ll go with them and make sure they don’t break anything.”
Syaoran chuckled. “Thank you Captain.” She and her crew bowed before leaving.
“I’ll go with them,” said Iverson.
“Hey, wait for me! I’m coming too!” said Hunk as he followed them out.
“I, uh, as cool as this library sounds, this room sounds cooler. I think I’ll join them,” said Lance. He kissed Allura’s cheek.
“Then I’ll go with you too,” said Veronica.
“But then, where will we meet up?” said Allura.
Syaoran pulled out a cell phone. “We can communicate with each other, don’t worry.” He looked at Lance. “Have Zazu contact me when you’re finished.”
“Will do. See you later!” Lance kissed Allura’s cheek again before dashing off after Veronica to catch up with the others.
Syaoran glanced at the remaining members of Voltron. “Anybody else want to do anything else?” They shook their heads no. “Alright, then, we’ll head to the library. Kazune, I know you are supposed to be meeting with Fakir and Kikunosuke later, but, can you keep an eye on the control room while you’re here?”
Kazune nodded. “We got it.”
Syaoran smiled. “Thanks.” He waved the others forward and, flanked by Tai and Matt, led them to the subway station. Sora, Mimi, and Sakura went with them.
“I have a question,” said Shiro once they were sitting down in the train.
“Yes?” said Syaoran.
“Voltron will have to stay with Antillia because the princess is needed to form Voltron,” said Shiro.
“Right,” said Keith with a slight nod of his head.
“And I need Coran to help with the Atlas,” continued Shiro.
“If you’re wondering about you guys staying here, you’re always welcome to,” said Syaoran.
“Actually,” said Shiro, “I was thinking of the families of the crew back on Earth.”
“You want to bring them with us?”
Shiro nodded.
“Sure,” said Syaoran, “there’s plenty of room. We definitely want more people living here. Just having us in the capital can be a bit, well, kinda creepy at times.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” said Tai. “Going into these empty cities, all ready to be lived in, and there’s no one there, can get a bit disorienting.”
Matt and the girls nodded vigorously.
“Well, then, that’s settled. May I recommend that, as soon as we’ve helped the Olkari, we head back to earth and pick up those families?”
“Sure.”
“And maybe drop off some supplies,” said Allura.
“Supplies? Why?” said Matt. Shiro, Allura, and Keith took turns in telling about the Galra invasion of Earth and how they saved Earth.
“Wow,” said Tai when they finished their story, “you guys have been busy!”
Keith scoffed. “It’s like we’ve been fighting nonstop and we’re just now getting a break.”
“Know the feeling,” said Tai as he, Matt, Sora, and Mimi nodded in agreement. The train slowed down to a stop.
“Oh, we’re here!” said Syaoran as he leapt from his seat, followed by his friends.
“Already?” said Allura as she, Shiro, and Keith rose from their seats.
“Well, yeah, you have been keeping us interested in a riveting story,” said Matt as they disembarked the train.
“Not that riveting,” said Shiro as they followed, “Keith left out a lot of details.”
“I don’t have to tell them every little thing,” said Keith as the group made their way out of the subway station.
Syaoran laughed. “No, you don’t have to, but a few details might be nice.”
“Syaoran just likes a good story,” said Tai, grinning knowingly.
Syaoran grinned. “Just books in general.”
Sakura chuckled as she wrapped her arm around Syaoran’s arm. “I think that’s the real reason why you were chosen to be king. You like learning and reading.” She kissed his cheek. He began to blush.
Tai laughed. “Careful Sakura, we don’t need him combusting on us just yet.”
“Don’t worry, I’m here. I’m the cool one,” said Matt with a grin as Mimi took his arm and Sora took Tai’s. The three couples burst out laughing as they exited the subway and into the afternoon sky. Shiro and Allura merely smiled, not getting the joke. Keith paid more attention to their surroundings, keeping an eye on where they were going, so he saw the library first. It was a rather small building, probably no more than twelve feet long, with walls made of white marble with black veins that gleamed in the sunlight. The roof and the doors were made from ebony wood. As they got closer, Keith could see that the doors had elaborate designs carved into it. There were roses all around the border of the doors, while images of knights, lions, trees, and princesses were placed around the doors, like it was trying to tell a story, a story long forgotten in the sands of time.
Syaoran let go of Sakura’s hand and approached the doors. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked them. Without thinking, Keith stepped forward and grabbed hold of one doorknob while Syaoran grabbed the other. Both pulled hard, and the heavy doors opened.
“Thanks,” said Syaoran.
“No problem,” said Keith with a nod. Sakura returned to Syaoran’s side and the two entered, followed by everyone else. The Paladins gasped. Inside, there were about a dozen bookcases made from the same ebony wood as the doors obscuring their view of the back wall, and there was tapestry after tapestry hanging on the side walls, each an elaborate and colorful tale. Each was unique and beautiful to behold, but Keith’s eyes kept darting towards the tapestry that showed five knights riding winged lions into battle. Was it a medieval depiction prophesying Voltron, or was it an alternate reality of the team?
“If you don’t mind waiting here for a bit, I’ll go find the books.” Syaoran’s voice broke into Keith’s thoughts. “I don’t remember where they are, I’ve only been in here a couple of times, and I don’t want anyone reading something they shouldn’t. I’ll be right back.” Syaoran walked towards the bookcases while Allura and Shiro turned to admiring and asking about the tapestries. Keith walked towards the bookcases. One small bookcase caught his attention, particularly the title of one book.
“Every Heart a Doorway?” he muttered to himself. He glanced between this bookshelf and the taller ones. “Why is this one on the smaller bookcase?” Since he didn’t touch the book, Keith thought it would be alright to ask Syaoran about it. He went to look for him, and paused when he found him. Keith watched Syaoran pull a book off the shelves, open it, and quickly thrust it back onto the shelf, eyes wide. He quickly rounded the far corner before Keith could step between the shelves. Keith let out a sigh before going after him, sneaking glances at names of books as he passed. He paused, the book Syaoran pulled out didn’t have a name on its spine. Keith blinked as he pulled the book out. Why didn’t this book have a name? On the front, there was just an engraving of a feather, similar to the feather that Sakura had in the center of the multiverse. Was this Syaoran’s and Sakura’s story? A quick peek would tell him. He opened the book, and blinked. The pages were all blank. What kind of book was this? Maybe he shouldn’t have opened it, but, he had to ask about this.
“Hey, Syaoran?” He glanced up when he didn’t get a reply, and gasped.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“A-ha!” Syaoran found something even better than Allura’s and Coran’s memories, though he did grab them too, he found a history of Altea. He stacked the three books in his arms and rushed back towards the front. He hoped this would help Allura and the Alteans a lot. Finding the books had taken him longer than he thought it would, considering he didn’t really know what he was supposed to be looking for, and that he had passed the books up twice, despite deliberately ignoring the bookcase where the Book of Memories was. He only found it by switching his search to look for Voltron, and then they stuck out like sore thumbs. But he had them now, that was all that mattered. “Princess Allura!” Allura turned to look at him, and blinked in surprise as he dashed past the bookcases towards them with a huge grin on his face. “Yes?” Syaoran handed her the books. “I found your memories, and this.” Allura glanced at the title of the book and let out a gasp, followed by a squeal. “This is is perfect! Thank you!” She hugged Syaoran. When she took a step back, there were tears in her eyes. Syaoran smiled warmly. “You’re welcome, princess.” “What is it?” asked Tai. Allura wiped a tear from her eye. “It’s the history of Altea. I never thought I’d see this again.” She opened the book to a few pages and laughed. “There’s Coran’s grandfather.” “And the Castle of Lions,” said Shiro, looking over her shoulder. The pictures showed the beginnings of the ship they had called home for so long. The remnants of which was now powering the Atlas. Shiro laughed. “Hey Keith, kinda reminds you of Coran, huh?” There was no answer. Shiro glanced around. “Uh, Keith?” The group glanced around. Where was the leader of Voltron? “Maybe he went outside,” suggested Allura. Shiro walked to the door and opened it. A loud creak resonated in the hall. “We would have heard that,” said Matt. Syaoran thought a moment. “When was the last time anyone saw him?” “When you went to look for the books,” said Tai. “He was looking at that tapestry while we were telling Princess Allura and Shiro about the tapestries,” said Mimi, pointing at the tapestry of the knights on flying lions. “I thought he joined us?” said Sora. “I thought I saw him walking towards us out of the corner of my eye. Didn’t think much of it after that.” Syaoran glanced at the path Keith would have taken from the tapestry to the others, and his eyes fell on the small bookcase. His eyes widened. “Oh no,” he whispered. “Syaoran?” said Sakura. “No no no no no!! Baka!” he shouted as he ran back towards the bookcases. “Syaoran!” shouted Sakura as Shiro, Matt, and Tai followed Syaoran. Syaoran led them right to where Keith was, the Book of Memories open in his hands and tears streaming down his face. “Keith!” said Shiro as he rushed towards him. “What’s wrong? Hey Keith, snap out of it!” Syaoran stepped forward and yanked the book out of Keith’s hands. Keith fell backwards into Shiro’s arms. He glanced at Syaoran. “I’m, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have . . . I’m sorry.” His eyes closed as he lost consciousness. The women showed up at this time. “Keith!” shouted Allura sa she raced to his side. “Keith! Wake up! What’s wrong with him?” Syaoran let out a sigh. “He’s, he’s processing my memories.” He pressed the book close to his chest. “And, and depending on how far he got, the other memories I received.” Matt placed a reassuring hand on Syaoran’s shoulder. “And my memories are the least of your concerns, right? You’re more worried about Fai’s and Kurogane’s memories?” “Hai,” said Syaoran softly. “But none of those are really mine to share.” He put the book back on the shelf. “I shall have to find a better place for this, but, for now, let’s just get Keith to the infirmary.” “Good idea,” said Shiro. Between the four guys and Allura, they carried Keith out of the library and to the train. When the train stopped, Sakura led the way to the infirmary. Sora and Mimi quickly explained everything to their friend and fellow Digidestined Joe standing at the front desk. He led them to an empty room where Keith could rest. No sooner had they put Keith down than Syaoran’s phone rang. He answered it. “Hai?” He listened for a moment. “Oh, hello Zazu, um . . . yeah, about that, uh, Keith, Keith opened the Book of Memories after I closed it, so, we brought him to the infirmary.” There was a pause. “Yes, you can meet us here. We’re in room fifteen. OK, see you soon.” He closed the phone and turned to the others. “Zazu will bring the others here.” “OK, now what?” said Shiro. “We wait,” said Syaoran as he sat down in a chair. He put his head in his hands and let out a sigh. Sakura went to him and began massaging his shoulders. Syaoran glanced up at her and smiled warmly, though sadly. She smiled at him before draping her arms around his neck and placing her head on top of his head. He grasped her hands and held them close. The sight warmed Allura’s heart and the desire to have such a relationship as theirs grew. But what she had with Lance didn’t even seem remotely close. She glanced at Keith. And seeing him lying there, helpless and in tears, made her heart twist into an aching lump. After all this time, even while seeing Lance, and after having fallen for Lotor, was she still in love with him? He let out a moan, and she was by his side in an instant. “Keith?” “No, wait,” said Syaoran. “Let him wake up on his own.” There was an agonizing silence while everyone waited for Keith to wake up. Syaoran seemed to grow sadder with every minute. He eventually let out a sigh. “He must have gotten to Kurogane’s memories.” “How did you get this Kurogane’s memories?” asked Shiro. Syaoran nodded at Keith. “The same way Keith got mine, and our introduction to the Book of Memories. There are apparently twelve copies of that book, one on the world we went to, one for each of the islands, and, well, I don’t know where the last four are. They were supposed to have lost all their powers, but, apparently, they haven’t. That’s all I’ve found out about them.” “Hmm,” said Shiro as he glanced back at Keith. “Is he alright?” said Lance as the rest of the team came into the room.“Yes, we just need to let him process my memories.” “How long will that take?” said Hunk. Syaoran shrugged. “It depends on how much he got.” Keith groaned as his eyelids fluttered open. “Keith!” blurted Shiro and Allura at the same time. He glanced between them. “Where’s Syaoran?” Syaoran rose and walked towards the bed. “I’m here. Did you want to talk to me alone?” Keith nodded. “Please.” When no one moved, Keith sat up and glanced at everyone. “Please, go,” he said more firmly. Syaoran nodded. “Yes, please go. This is confidential information.” “Come on everyone, let’s go,” said Shiro as he shooed everyone out of the room. Allura glanced back at Keith, a concerned look on her face. Keith smiled to reassure her, though there was a hint of sorrow to it. “Come on, princess,” said Shiro, holding the door for her. Allura let out a sigh before walking out of the room, Shiro closing the door behind her. Syaoran waited a moment before speaking. “What was the last memory you saw?” he said softly. Keith glanced sharply at him, his fingers fiddling with the bedsheet. His eyes widened in surprise as the pain, the sorrow, and the heavy memories made Syaoran look older than his nineteen years. He gulped. “I-I saw, I saw . . . listen, I am so sorry. You told us not to touch the books, and I did. I’m just, I’m so sorry.” “How far did you get?” Keith sighed. “I got . . . you had just found that library when you took the book from my hands.” Syaoran glanced at him in shock. “How did you get so far? I had barely gotten through Kurogane-san’s childhood before they took the book from me!” Keith shrugged. “I figured that if I could get through your memories to the present quickly enough, I could out of the book.” “Why, that’s brilliant!”Keith smiled softly and sadly. “Um, thanks. But I, I couldn’t help noticing some things.” “How could you not?” “Right, how could I not?” There was a moment’s silence, Keith particularly not sure what to say, even though he had seen Syaoran’s memories. But he had seen so much that reminded him of his own past. Maybe that was the real reason, he didn’t know what he could say to Syaoran, because he didn’t know what he could say to himself. “So, now you know that a monster is king of Antillia,” Syaoran muttered, breaking the silence. “What? No!” blurted Keith. Syaoran glanced at him. “But, you saw my memories, you saw what I did!” Keith got up from his bed and grasped Syaoran’s shoulders. “I also saw a young man taking note of his mistakes and trying to be better. And, someone else put you up to those things, you didn’t choose to do them.” Keith let out a sigh, and before he knew it, the words were tumbling out of his mouth. He told Syaoran of his childhood, of how he lost his father in a fire, what he felt during that time, of how lonely he felt until Shiro came along and believed in him. He also told him about finding Voltron, training with the Blade of Marmora, the time he got to spend with his mother, how that shaped him, how he led Voltron, and finished with a whispered confession of being in love with Princess Allura. “You and I,” began Syaoran, but he paused, his eyes wide with surprise. “Yeah,” whispered Keith, “you and I, we’re not that different.”“There are some,” said Syaoran. “Well, obviously, but we do have a lot in common.” “Yeah,” said Syaoran, tears filling his eyes,” yeah we do.” Syaoran broke out into the brightest smile Keith had ever seen. “And, and it almost feels relieving.” Keith smiled softly. “Same here.” “Keith!”“Krolia, wait!” came Shiro’s voice as he followed Krolia into the room. Keith rose. “Mom? Oof!” She wrapped him up in a tight hug. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?” She turned to Syaoran. “How could you put him in such danger like that!” “No, mom, it wasn’t his fault! He told me not to touch, and I, I still opened the book. But really, I’m fine.” Krolia took her son’s face in her hands. “Are you sure?” Keith smiled. “I’m positive. I feel great!” Krolia blinked. “Really?” “Yeah, Syaoran and I, well, since I opened the book, I found out that we have a lot in common.” “Oh? Like?” Keith glanced at Syaoran and smiled sadly. “Like, we both grew up without mothers and lost our fathers.” Krolia gasped as she glanced between the two. “Well, he adopted . . . “ Syaoran let out a gasp as Krolia hugged him. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” “No, you didn’t know,” said Syaoran softly before he returned the hug.“Like how similar, exactly?” said Lance. Keith shot him a look. “Similar enough. If he wants to tell you his memories, he’s free to do so.” Syaoran chuckled nervously. “No offense, but I think I’ve had enough of memories being shared today, thank you.” Keith shot him a smile. “That’s understandable. Again, I’m really, really sorry.” “You’re fine. Actually, were you looking for me, back in the library?” “Oh, yes, I had a question.” “Yes?” “What’s the difference between the books on the large bookcases and the books on that smaller bookcase? Why are they so far apart?” Syaoran let out a sigh. “Those books will only come into contact with us, they won’t live on Antillia. They will probably remain as allies, well, the majority of them, anyway. Matthew told me that a couple of those books are our enemies.” “Oh, I see . . . would Every Heart a Doorway be an ally or an enemy?” Syaoran raised his eyebrow. “Why that one?” Keith shrugged. “That’s the one that stuck out to me.” “Well, Matthew said that one had allies and a couple of enemies, and that it would be connected to Nico di Angelo.” “Maybe that’s part of the danger he’s going to be in,” said Keith.Syaoran eyed him. “Maybe . . . Keith, can I ask you something?” “Uh,sure.” “Are you sensing anything?” “Huh?” “You said that book stuck out to you, why?” “I,I don’t know . . . did it stick out to you?” “Yes.” Keith eyes widened. “Wait, what?” “Matthew had told me that because I’m supposed to have a connection with certain tales, that those would stick out more to me than others.” Keith’s mouth dropped. “Wait, do you mean, we’re, we’re connected . . . to the same stories?” Syaoran shrugged. “It’s a possibility.” “Practically probability at this point,” said Tai. “Especially if the same books stick out to you,” said Matt Ishida. “But, how does that work?” said Matt Holt. Tai and Matt Ishida shared a look. Syaoran crossed his arms. “OK, what else aren’t you guys telling me?” “Dopplegangers,” they blurted. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, first we find out there are different versions of us in alternate realities, and now we have dopplegangers? Please tell me I’m dreaming,” said Lance. “What are dopplegangers?” asked Allura. “Someone who looks exactly like you,” said Keith. “And if you see them, it means you’re going to die soon,” said Lance. “Well, not with these dopplegangers, as Matthew started to explain,” said Tai. Syaoran groaned. “He didn’t finish?” “What else is new?” muttered Zazur. “No, it was all part of the story about the castle. Apparently the castle was stationed on the world where the dopplegangers now live,” said Tai. “That was all he got to say before Scheherazade called,” said Matt Ishida. Syaoran huffed. “Of course.” “But based on what we’ve been noticing these past few months, I bet our dopplegangers had something to do with the castle,” said Tai. “Hence why Matthew is gathering us in particular,” said Matt Ishida. “Would that include us?” said Allura. Tai, Matt, and Syaoran nodded, though Syaoran spoke. “I guess so. Your story is on the large bookcases, meaning you’re supposed to be with us.”“But you do realize that’s a lot of people,” said Matt Holt. “Yeah, we know. The story is probably told in a series,” said Tai. “Now, if only we could get a hold of it,” said Syaoran.“Yeah, no kidding,” said Matt Ishida. “But what I want to know is,” said Lance as he pointed at Keith and Syaoran, “how are you two similar? You couldn’t be more different than night and day!”Syaoran glanced at Keith and glanced back at Lance. “What do you mean?”“Keith is so moody! And you’re, not!” Syaoran chuckled. “Well, based on what I’ve learned about Keith, that’s thanks to Princess Sakura. If it weren’t for her, I probably would have ended up like Keith, all moody and all. But she was determined to make me smile, and well, she won.” He glanced at Sakura with a big, warm smile. “And I am forever grateful for it.” Sakura grinned back. “Does that gratitude include marrying her?” “Tai! You’re almost as bad as Matthew!” blurted Matt Ishida as Syaoran’s and Sakura’s faces turned beet red. Tai grinned at Matt Ishida. “Well, why do you think the two of us get along so well?”Sora chuckled. “But not as bad as Matthew, because even Tai can get frustrated with him.” Tai snorted. “No kidding.”A loud, melodious ringtone startled everyone. Syaoran yelped as he quickly fished out his phone. “I am so sorry about that. I need to take this.” He answered it. “Hai?” There was a moment’s pause before Syaoran gasped. “He is? They are? Now?” There was another pause. “OK, we’re on our way.” Syaoran hung up and glanced at everyone. “That was Izzy. Matthew’s contacted us, he has Lotor and Honerva at Oriande.” The paladins and their team gasped. “What?” “He says we need to speak to them, now.” With that, Syaoran led them back to the control room.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Syaraon led everyone into the control room. Allura gasped when she looked at the screen. “Lotor!” Lotor smiled. “Hello princess. I take it you are doing well?” “Pretty well now, thanks to these people,” said Allura, indicating the crew of Antillia. “Yes, my mother informed of what the two of you would have had to do,” said Lotor, shooting a sly glance at his mother. Honerva saw the look. “Don’t look at me, it was all the dark entity.” “Most of it was,” said Matthew. “And since I’ve destroyed it, you two are going to have to make amends in its stead.” He glanced at everyone in the control room. “Something we’re going to need to talk about.” “Um, OK, are either of them able to come on Antillia?” asked Syaoran. “Well, Lotor might be able to soon, Honerva will be much later,” said Matthew. Syaoran raised his eyebrow. “Wait, if it was the dark entity’s fault, why can’t they come on Antillia?” “That’s why I said mostly the dark entity’s fault. They made some bad decisions all on their own.” “What?” said Allura and Coran at the same time. “Wow, to think that there was an entire planet this naive about evil, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure it’s king was one of the people fighting evil in the universe.” Matthew looked pointedly at Allura and Coran. “Oh no, it’s just that . . .” began Coran. “It’s just that, like in that alternate universe, you were hoping to stop evil and violence through whatever means necessary? Guys, please, come on, if the people of the universe aren’t allowed their freedom to choose between good and evil, they wouldn’t be able to choose to love. Love is a choice, a sacrifice, it’s not just feelings.” Matthew seemed to look pointedly at Lance, though his eyes seem to fall upon all the Paladins. “And I have a strong suspicion you already know exactly what I’m talking about, because you’re in love with someone, and you’re hiding it.” The Paladins glanced down. They did in fact know what he was referring to. Lotor looked at Allura before glancing down. “Maybe we could have the meeting here, if my mother and I are not allowed on the island.” “That’s a great idea! I was just going to suggest that once I was finished with berating these knucklebrains.” Matthew grinned at Lotor. “Don’t worry, you’re next. So, real quick, if you’re thinking about resuming your little romance with the Princess, well, I can tell you Lance is the least of your worries.” “Wait, what?” blurted Lance, his eyes widening. “But you told me that Lotor was the least of my problems!” “Exactly. And if the two of you are the least of your problems, what do you think that would mean?” Matthew’s grin seemed to grow wider as he glanced between Lotor and Lance. Lotor’s eyes seemed to widen with realization while Lance merely continued to blink in confusion. Lotor opened his mouth, but Matthew shushed him. “Come on, don’t spoil it. I want him to figure it out on his own.” Lotor kept his mouth closed, but he clearly wanted to say something. Meanwhile, Allura snuck a glance at Keith out of the corner of her eye. Was Matthew thinking that Keith was the one who would win her heart? No, it wasn’t possible. But then she realized with a start that, back when she had that dream where Lance and Lotor insisted upon her letting the entity into her, she had longed to hear Keith’s voice telling her that it was the wrong thing to do, to snap out of it. And now she longed for him to speak up, tell Lance that he was the one Matthew was referring to, or to sweep her up in his arms and kiss her tenderly. But he said nothing and did nothing. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and she looked away. “He’s obviously not going to figure it out,” muttered Lotor. “Hey! I’m not that stupid!” blurted Lance as he waved a fist at the screen. “That dumb genie means we have another competitor! I was just trying to figure who it could be!” “Hey! Would you look at that. Not so dumb after all, huh?” Matthew said with a wink. Lance blushed slightly as he ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, guess not.” “Good. Ready to come over here and chat for a bit?” said Matthew. Syaoran shrugged. “You tell me.” Matthew waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He snapped his fingers, and the Paladins, Syaoran, Matt Ishida, Tai, Coran, Slav, and the Holts found themselves around a table in Oriande. “Go ahead and take a seat, shouldn’t be long.” Syaoran took a seat. “We’re going to discuss what you’ve already decided Lotor’s and Honerva’s penances will be?” “Actually, I have decided to release my claim on the Galra throne,” said Lotor as he too sat down. “I figured my family’s run it long enough and terrible things were done in our names. We will help fix it from the sidelines, but a more capable leader would be better suited for the job.” He glanced at Shiro. “Someone like you.” “But not you, obviously,” said Matthew with a wave of his hand. Shiro grinned sheepishly. “Of course not.” Sam Holt sat down, followed by everyone else. “Then what would you be doing?” he asked. “My mother and I will travel the universe in Sincline and help rebuild what we have destroyed. We, unfortunately, will not be able to bring back the planets we destroyed. But we can help the people find new homes and help them adjust.” “We might even be able to help jump-start their scientific capabilities,” said Honerva. “You’re going to do all that for them?” said Coran. Honerva nodded. “We took a lot from the universe. It’s only fair we try to give that all back. Or at least, most of what we can. As Matthew said, not all of it was completely under the influence of the dark entities. And we still must atone for the damage the dark entities committed through us.” Matthew nodded. “Exactly.” “So then, what exactly did we need to discuss?” asked Keith. “How long you can help them and a plan,” said Matthew as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Well, we’re only going to be here for two weeks,” said Syaoran, “would that be long enough?” Matthew thought about it a moment. “You know what, I think so. That was easy.” Matt Ishida and Tai rolled their eyes. “Now, for the plan.” “Well, who’s had their planets destroyed, besides the Alteans?” said Tai. “The Olkari!” blurted Pidge. “The Galra,” said Keith. “And a handful of others,” said Lotor. “There would be more, had we not wiped out entire civilizations,” said Honerva softly. “That, that’s horrible,” said Matt Ishida. “Yes it is,” said Lotor with a sad nod. “Since you two mentioned the Galra and the Olkari, “said Matthew, pointing at Keith and Pidge, “we should concentrate on helping them in our two week window.” Syaoran nodded. “That’s a good idea. We can help establish the fact that Lotor and Honerva are truly going to help.” “I think the peoples of the universe will take longer to trust us than two weeks,” said Honerva. “We know, but it’s a good start,” said Tai. He shared a glance with Matt Ishida before looking at Matthew. “Maybe we could have Ken help them especially.” Matthew smiled with pride. “I wondered when you were going to bring him up.” Tai gawked. “Why couldn’t you have brought him up earlier?” he blurted. “And take all the glory from you? Nah,” said Matthew with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Who is this Ken?” asked Lotor. “Someone who knows quite well how redemption works, and how long it takes before the people you hurt can trust you again,” said Matt Ishida matter-of-factly. “He was also possessed by a dark entity!” blurted Tai, his eyes growing wide with realization. Matthew grinned as he placed his head in his hands. “Ah, so you’re starting to connect the dots now, huh?” Syaoran sat straight up in his chair, eyes wide. “But you said none of our realities were really connected! They wouldn’t have even met us if it hadn’t been for Antillia!” “Quite true, your realities aren’t, but your stories definitely are. And that dark entity is quite possibly one of them.” He glanced pointedly at Matt Ishida and Tai. “And one of the main reasons why they must be present for all of this, just like Kazune and Fakir must be present when Nico di Angelo fights for the people of the Endless Woods.” Syaoran eyed him. “What else aren’t you telling us?” Tai cleared his throat. “Um, Scheherazade thinks that Nico travels through the, um, uh, castle, to get to the Endless Woods.” That statement got flashing eyes from Matthew, and Syaoran and the Digidestined slunk back in their chairs. “Yes, I had figured as much. And as I’m sure Matt and Tai had informed you, my old enemy can become quite . . . restless when we speak about him or his dungeon.” “Don’t you mean more active?” said Matt Ishida. “Which is dangerous?” said Tai. “But seriously,” said Syaoran, “what else are you not telling us?” “Well, I’m not going to tell you about their pasts, right? There’s a reason why the Book of Memories is in that library. And if you’re squeamish about people finding out about each other’s pasts before they’re comfortable, then don’t come to me. Though it could certainly break that ice, like it did for you and Keith,” Matthew nodded in his direction, “and really get you talking about your similarities.” “What’s he talking about?” asked Honerva. Syaoran and Keith shared a look. Syaoran looked at Honerva. “A magical book that allows you to see the past of the person who opened the book before you. When you first open it, the pages are blank. But once another person opens it after you closed it, they, in a way, are transported to your memories.” Keith nodded solemnly. “Who saw whose memories?” asked Lotor. “Keith saw Syaoran’s memories,” answered Shiro when neither replied. “It helped you to connect?” said Honerva slowly. Syaoran sighed. “Yes, though I did want to come to trust him enough to tell him about my past, when I was ready.” “But I trust you and told you everything about my past,” said Keith. “That didn’t mean I was ready to tell you. Besides, we needed to keep it short.” Lance scoffed. “Yeah, you talked for hours.” Keith shot him a confused look. “We did? It didn’t feel like it.” Tai shrugged. “It was more like two hours. We got them doing other things while we waited for you to finish.” “Though Shiro was content to wait outside the door,” said Matt Ishida. “But you were all outside when we came out,” said Keith. Sam chuckled. “They did just show us around the hospital. No one wanted be too far away, just in case you needed them.” “Oh, uh, thanks,” said Keith. He glanced at Syaoran. “Though, I don’t think it was necessary.” Hunk shrugged. “Yeah, well, you never know if either one of you needed a shoulder to cry on, instead of each other.” “Well, we didn’t cry, so . . .” “You see, Hunk? They don’t really need us,” said Lance. “Uh, what’s eating at you?” asked Hunk. “Ugh, nothing.” Matthew chuckled. “He’s still concerned about his and Lotor’s competition, obviously.” Lance humphed and looked away. “But, I am glad to see those gears turning. You now realize that there’s two problems, for you, that is.” Matthew winked. “But, can you really call them problems if they’ll work themselves out? If you allow them, that is.” Lance glanced at Matthew before shooting a glance at Pidge and looking away again. Pidge blinked in confusion as she glanced between the sly grin of Matthew and the blushing Lance. “But, before we concern ourselves with romance,” spoke up Syaoran, realising quickly exactly what Matthew was aiming for, “we should get out there and help the Olkari and the Galra establish themselves on new planets.” Matthew pointed at him. “That we should. So, what should be our plan of action?” Tai raised his hand. “I think we should split up in two groups, one group focuses on the Olkari and the other focuses on the Galra.” Matt Ishida nodded. “I second that motion.” “Good idea,” said Syaoran. “And I vote that each group has a leader.” Pidge quickly stood up and raised her hand. “I’ll lead the group that helps the Olkari!” Hunk quickly stood up. “I’ll go with Pidge!” The rest of the Holt family stood as well. “We’d like to help as well,” said Sam. “So would I. I’ve worked with them before,” said Matt Holt. “I’m staying with my family,” said Colleen. Slav stood as well. “This will be fun.” Keith raised his hand. “Since my mother and Kolivan will definitely be helping with the Galra, I’ll head the team that helps the Galra.” “I’ll go with you, Keith,” said Shiro. Keith smiled. “Thanks, Shiro.” “Since it used to be my throne, I would like to help as well,” said Honerva. “As well as I,” said Lotor. “I’ll help with the Galra relief as well,” said Allura. “I’ll go with you, Princess,” said Coran. “Good, that settles that,” said Syaoran as he rose. “Keith, Pidge, you may add whoever you want from Antillia to help you.” “I want Zazu and Izzy!” blurted Pidge. She paused when everyone glanced at her in surprise. She grinned nervously. “Please?” Syaoran chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help.” “So-o . . .” began Matthew, glancing at Lance. “Every one of the Paladins is going to help. What about you, Lance? Are you going to help the Galra, or the Olkari? Make a wise decision, because either choice will change your life forever.” Lance glanced at Matthew, startled. He blinked at Matthew before glancing between Pidge and Allura. He glanced down. “I guess I’ll . . .” He let out a sigh. “I’ll help the Olkari.” “Yes!” Pidge quickly hugged him. “Thank you Lance!” Lance patted her shoulder. “Uh, heh heh, you’re welcome.” “Good! We’re just about set. We’ll get started in the morning.” Matthew pointed at each person. “You all need some sleep before we get started.” Pidge let out a yawn. “I think you’re right.” “But, I’m not tired!” blurted Lance. “Well, I can help with that. There’s this show called Eureka I think you’ll find interesting,” said Matthew with a wink. Lance groaned. “You mean boring?” Matthew’s grin widened. “Anything but. Just don’t watch the whole series in one night, alright?” Lance rolled his eyes. “Alright then,” said Syaoran, “we’re basically set. We’ll get started on helping the Galra and the Olkari in the morning.” “One last thing,” said Matthew, holding up his hand. He glanced at Lotor. “You’re allowed to come on Antillia now, but your mother is not. Would you like to stay here with her, or come see Antillia for the first time?” Lotor glanced at his mother. “I’d like to stay with my mother tonight, if you don’t mind.” Honerva smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Very well. We’ll be back in the morning. Good night!” With a snap of Matthew’s fingers, everyone else had returned to Antillia and there was an apartment ready for Honerva and Lotor to use.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The two weeks passed rather pleasantly, rather quickly, and for a few, with a better understanding of their feelings for others on the team. Lance in particular was perturbed by what his heart was telling him. It just wasn’t right, was it? And then something Matthew had told him before they left to take care of the Olkari and the Galra had just came back with a disturbing rush. Was Matthew right?
“Lance, are you alright?” asked Allura. The two groups converged before making their way back to Antillia, having decided to take the Lions. They had also just received word from Matthew that Honorva, who was now standing behind Allura with Lotor, was allowed on Antillia now, which could have also brought what he had said to Lance crashing into his mind.
Lance just smiled at Allura. “I’m fine.”
“He’s lying,’ said Hunk. “I’ve already asked him about it, and he said he’d only tell me when we had a ‘bit more privacy,’” said Hunk, using air quotes.
“Oh, it’s not something we could talk about?” said Allura, seeming a bit crestfallen.
“Oh no, I mean, uh, yeah, we can talk about it! I just . . . already promised Hunk I’d talk to him in private first.”
“Nah, that’s Lance-speak for, ‘it’s concerning the princess, and I don’t want to do something stupid.’”
“Hunk!” Lance shot him a glare.
“Guys,” said Keith with a sigh.
“Why couldn’t you talk to the princess about it?” asked Pidge. “You’re dating her, not Hunk.”
“Don’t you start too, Pidge!”
Iverson’s face appeared on the screen. “Hey guys, you’d better hurry it back, there’s still a few more things we need to go over before we leave.” He paused as he glanced at each of the paladins. “And, uh, did I interrupt something?”
“Yes, thank you,” quipped Keith.
Iverson raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”
“We’re almost to Antillia, we’ll talk to you after we’ve docked,” said Keith, emphasizing the word docked.
“Well, um, alright. See you all when you get here.”
“Right,” replied Keith before Iverson’s face left the screen. Let’s dock quickly,” said Keith. “Hunk, Lance, if you are going to have your little talk, make it quick. I don’t know how much help the Antillians are going to need.”
“Not much,” quipped Zazu from his spot behind Pidge. “We really don’t need it, but you're more than welcome to watch and see how it’s done. The more people who knows how to work Antillia, the better.”
“Well, I know what I’ll be doing,” said Pidge before turning and grinning at Zazu. Zazu grinned back. Lance grumbled. Hunk and Keith both glanced at Lance before looking at each other. Hunk shrugged. Neither one had an idea of what was going on with Lance. Keith let out a breath, it would be good that Hunk gets to talk to him, maybe he could make some sense out of all of this.
A few minutes later, the Lions had landed, and everyone was piling out, the Paladins last. Zazu waited for Pidge, and the two took off towards control center, Lance and Hunk following not far behind. Coran, Lotor, and Honerva waited for Allura to exist Blue, and the four talked as they walked towards the surface. Shiro waited for Keith to exit Black and asked him what the conversation had been about. Keith told him as they made their way out of the caves and to the surface of Antillia.
“Oh, that’s, that’s kind of odd,” said Shiro slowly.
“Right?” said Keith.
“And yet, it also makes sense.”
“Huh?”
“Well, there’s only two reasons, really, that Lance would want to talk about the princess with Hunk, alone. The first is he’s considering breaking up with Allura. The second, he’s planning on proposing to her.”
Keith’s spirits sank. “Most likely,” he mumbled.
“It’s a fifty-fifty chance, there’s still the other option, they break up.”
“I highly doubt that’s the case,” said Keith as he crossed his arms.
Shiro sighed and patted Keith’s shoulder. “You should give that option a chance. I mean, if you really think about it, it sounds like Lance is realizing he likes Pidge.”
“Oh, that’s right, Coran said you weren’t there either.”
“What?”
“Remember when you left to train with the Blades and, well, my clone piloted Black?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Well, Coran was telling me all about it, and how Lance was acting when Matt and Lotor showed interest in Allura. He seems to be acting like that right now with Zazu showing interest in Pidge.”
“But if Lance liked Pidge, why is he thinking about it now, when he’s going out with Allura?”
Shiro shrugged. “Well, sounds to me like no guy has ever shown this much interest in Pidge before, it’s always been Allura. Lance is apparently thinking through a lot of things now because of Zazu.”
“But, would Pidge like Lance back, though?”
Shiro started to shrug, then paused, and stopped walking, a sudden realization hit him like a bolt of lighting. Keith stopped and glanced at him in surprise and a hint of concern.
“Shiro?”
“I think she already does!”
Keith blinked. “Wait, what?”
Shiro glanced at him, a grin starting to grow. “You remember when we had that talk about you being in love with Allura?”
Keith ran his fingers through his hair. “How could I forget?”
“Well, when I went to the kitchen, I saw Pidge coming by. She must not have seen me, but she had the same look on her face as you did! And it was why Colleen was making the soup. Pidge is as love-sick as you are!”
“But what makes you think it’s Lance?”
“Who else is in a relationship?”
Keith’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped. He opened and closed it a few times before he could speak. “Pidge had a crush on Lance?”
Shiro nodded. “And now that Zazu is showing some interest in her she thinks she can finally get over Lance. But Lance must be thinking that he likes her too. And now he’s going to have to make a choice, Pidge, or Allura.”
“Wow,” said Keith as the two turned and continued walking.
“Yeah, I almost wish I could be a fly on the wall when Hunk talks to Lance.”
Lance and Hunk were only starting their conversation as they finally found a place where they could talk in private. For a rather empty island, there could still be a lot of people around.
“Wait, what?” blurted Hunk once Lance told him about his dilemma.
“Hunk, keep it down! I don’t need anyone else interrupting us!”
Hunk toned down his voice. “You think you like both Pidge and Allura?”
“Yeah man, I mean, both are great girls, but, what am I supposed to do? I’m already dating Allura, but, whenever that Zazu guy talks to Pidge, it really gets under my skin and I want to say that I’m her boyfriend!” Lance threw his hands in the air.
“Wow, man, you do have it bad,” said Hunk. He patted Lance’s shoulder. “But I think the main question you have to ask yourself is, which girl do you really love?”
Lance’s shoulders sank. “Matthew pretty much said the same thing.”
“Huh?”
Lance sighed. “Before we left, I saw Matthew. Well, I think he sought me out, but, he just said two things. The first thing he said was, ‘What is love?’, and the second was, “Who are you willing to sacrifice your life for?’ before walking away. I didn’t get to see him again before we left so I could ask him what he meant.”
“Well,” said Hunk, “the second question seems pretty straight forward. Which one would you risk your life for?”
“That’s the thing, I’ve already done it for both!!”
“Oh, right, you did.” Hunk rubbed his chin as he thought. “Well, he doesn’t know that, so he asked what he thought was the best question.”
“But what is love?”
“Maybe he doesn’t think you know what love is . . .”
“But I do!”
“I mean, are you basing it only on their looks and, well, technically Allura isn’t wealthy anymore, even if she still is a princess. But, are you thinking about who looks good, or who you really love?”
Lance grumbled as he crossed his arms. “I don’t like thinking that hard.”
“Maybe that’s why everyone thinks you’re the dumb one.”
Lance sighed. “Maybe, I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t want that Zazu kid around Pidge, anymore than I want Lotor around Allura.”
“Is there anyone you wouldn’t mind around Allura, or Pidge?”
“I don’t know,” said Lance as he threw his hands in the air.
“Come on, man, you can only be with one of them, you have to choose.”
Lance groaned. “I know, I just, I don’t know yet.”
“Then maybe you should break up with Allura until you do know,” said Hunk firmly, crossing his arms. He rubbed his chin. “Well, maybe there is a way . . .”
“What’s that?” asked Lance, hopefully.
“Maybe find out which one likes you back.”
“What? What if neither one does?”
“What? They not like you back? That’s impossible. You’re a ladies man,” said Hunk.
“But I’m not as smart as Zazu, or as cool as Lotor.”
“Maybe you need to show them exactly what you can bring to the table.”
Lance scoffed. “Yeah? Like what?”
“Well, you’re a good listener, you can make people laugh, and, well, you notice people.” Hunk smiled. “Especially when no one else does.”
Lance smiled softly. “Really?”
“Yeah, knowing someone will be your friend regardless of if you’re the smart one, the cowardly one, or the pretty one really means a lot.”
Lance burst into a grin. “I, I guess so, huh? Guess I do have something important.”
Hunk patted his shoulder. “Yeah man, that’s what we’ve been trying to tell you! You have a bunch of good qualities. Allura wouldn’t have said yes if she thought you weren’t good.”
Lance chuckled. “Yeah, guess you’re right. But, I still don’t know, Pidge or Allura?”
Hunk winked. “Why don’t we let them choose?”
Lance nodded confidently. “Alright, let’s get this over with . . .”
The two paused as interference seemed to echo in the streets, followed by a male voice.
“Excuse me, um, attention, calling all Paladins of Voltron. An important meeting is being called, your presence is required. Come to the council room next to the control room. Again, all Paladins of Voltron are to report to the council room . . .”
“What? You should have just said, ‘all Paladins of Voltron report to the council room’. That was really all you needed. I mean, you could include that it’s for a meeting, but . . .”
“Fine Tai, you want to do this?”
“Sorry, Sai . . . you could probably use a few lessons from Miriallia and Matt though.”
“Ugh, Tai! Get out!”There was something of a scuffle and some chuckling before a groan came over the speakers. “Sorry about that. Anyways, as I was saying, Paladins of Voltron, report to the council room immediately. Over and out.”
Lance sighed. “Well, guess Pidge and Allura are going to have to wait. Let’s see what this meeting is about.”
Hunk nodded. “We can try later. Antillia’s leaving tomorrow.”
“Right, come on.” The two took off towards the center of the city where the control center was. They took the elevator up to the control room, where they found Tai waiting for them.
“Oh good, you made it. Everyone else is waiting inside. Come on.” Tai led them to an adjacent room where the others were already gathered, along with Syaoran, Matthew, Izzy, Matt Ishida, Zazu, Lotor, Honerva, and a few Alteans, including Romelle.
“So, what’s going on?” asked Lance as he went to sit by Allura. He glanced at Pidge though and shot her a grin. She blinked questioningly at him.
“My mother and I have decided that we would like to stay and help this universe get back on their feet,” explained Lotor.
“Oh, that’s nice,” said Hunk.
“I can set up a device on the Sincline that will allow them to communicate with Antillia,” said Izzy.
“The what?”
“The ships Lotor and I built from the comet,” said Allura, a bit softly.
“We call them mechas,” said Tai.
“Oh, that’s what you call it?” asked Lance. Lotor nodded. “I thought you called it ‘Evil Voltron’, or something like that.” Everyone shot him a glare. “What?”
Hunk cleared his throat. “So then, why did we need a meeting?”
“Because a few Alteans are planning on going with them,” replied Romelle.
“And there are a couple of other things,” said Matthew, “particularly concerning Antillia. But we’ll get to that in a moment.”
They began the meeting, and they found out exactly what they had to discuss. Not only were there a few Alteans who were staying with Lotor and Honerva, but also how much could be said about Antillia to the populace. Matthew wasn’t suggesting that they couldn’t be told, but of how much could be told, simply based on the ears of their enemies. The others agreed and they came to the conclusion that the barest minimum could be said about Antillia. Lotor, Honerva, and the Alteans were to be in charge of communications between everyone and Antillia. They also had to figure out where their base of operations were to be, which was quickly decided upon to be at the Garrison. They also decided on three week intervals of progress reports.
“Very good then,” said Syaoran, “it looks like we’ve gotten everything settled.”
“Not quite,” said Matthew as he rose from his chair. Everyone glanced at him questioningly. “There’s one more thing. Hold on a moment.” He disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to their surprise.
“Wha . . . where did he go?” blurted Lance, glancing wildly around the room.
The doors slid open with a ding, and everyone glanced at the doors. Matthew stood in the doorway with a smug grin on his face as he walked back into the room, followed by three figures.
“Why did we have to come . . . Lotor!” Zethrid, Ezor, and Acxa stared in shock at Lotor as he stood up. Zethrid glanced at Matthew angrily. “I thought we told you we didn’t want to see him!”
“How can you be so sure we can trust him now?” Ezor asked, her voice much calmer than Zethrid’s, but her eyes never left Lotor.
“And his mother?” said Acxa, noticing Haggar.
“Both of them?” Zethrid just about roared.
“They don’t have the dark entities inside them any more,” said Matthew.
“How can you be so sure of that?” snapped Zethrid.
“Because I personally made sure of it,” said Matthew firmly, glancing at Zethrid. He held her glare until the full impact of his words hit her like a brick. Her mouth opened, while Ezor and Acxa seemed to look at him with eyes wide.
“But why did you bring them here if they made it well known that they had no desire to see me, or my mother? And how could I blame them after everything we’ve put them through?”
Matthew’s eyes seemed to fall upon Allura and held her gaze for a second before glancing at Lotor. “Because everyone deserves a second chance. The Alteans are giving it to the two of you, why can’t these three do the same?”
Zathrid sighed, but Acxa took charge. “Zethrid, Ezor, come closer.” The three huddled and talked about it in soft whispers. After a brief discussion, they turned and faced Lotor. “We will give Lotor a second chance,” announced Acxa.
Lotor gave a slight bow. “I thank you for the chance, though I would have understood had you said no.”
Acxa sighed, though she had begun to smile. “Well, loyalties can run deep.” Lotor straightened up and smiled softly at her.
“Well, I hate to break this up, but . . .” Matthew brought the three up to date on what had been decided. “So, you three now have a choice,” he said at the end of it, “will you stay on Earth with Lotor and Honerva, or travel with Antillia?”
“Acxa,” mumbled Zethrid. The three huddled again, but this little meeting was shorter than the first.
Ezor spoke for them this time. “We’ll go with Lotor and Honerva.”
Zethrid slammed a fist into the other palm. “Besides, I’ll beat Lotor up if he does revert to his old ways.”
Lotor chuckled nervously. “I’m sure you would.”
Shiro chuckled as he rose. “And I’m sure Iverson would be happy to have the back-up.”
“Well then, that’s all settled now,” said Matthew. “Looks like this meeting is finished. Do what you would like, explore the island, or whatever, we’ll be arriving at Earth tomorrow morning and leaving this universe tomorrow night.” Everyone rose and went their different ways. Lotor, Honerva, the ex-generals, and the few Alteans who were going with them set off specifically to explore the island, the others meandered throughout the island. Allura had been with Coran and the Alteans, but she left them to look for Lance. A lot had been on her mind recently. She found him chatting away with Hunk, Shay, and the Holts.
“Um, Lance?”
Lance turned to her and gave her a smile. “Oh, hi Allura! What’s up?”
“Can we talk, alone?”
“Oh, sure!” He turned to the others. “Catch up with you later!”
“OK, bye!” The group waved at the couple as they walked away. Lance waved back before turning around to keep up with Allura.
“So, um, what did you want to talk about?” asked Lance when she hadn’t said anything after they had left their friends.
Allura let out a sigh. “Lance, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, about our relationship.”
“Oh? Well, so have I!”
Allura stopped walking and glanced at him, an inkling of hope sparking in her eyes. “Really? You have too?”
Lance stopped and turned to face her. “Yeah, I have too. I’m sorry, Allura, I’ve been really, really stupid.”
Allura smiled softly as she raised her hands and held Lance’s face. “I think we both have been really stupid.” She kissed his cheek. “But I am glad that you were thinking about it too. It makes this so much easier on me. I know you like me a lot, and I know you’ve liked me for a long time.”
Lance grinned sheepishly. “That obvious, huh?”
Allura chuckled. “Actually the mice told me.”
“What? Those little tattlers!” blurted Lance.
Allura laughed. “They always tell me everything, silly! They are my mice after all.”
“Yeah, go figure.”
“But we are in agreement then, right? We should break up?”
Lance nodded, thought it hurt somewhat, in a way, it also felt freeing. “Yeah, I think so too. Still friends?”
Allura snorted. “Of course, how could we not? We’re still Paladins of Voltron, it’s best if we were.”
Lance chuckled. “You’re right, I just, I just didn’t want any hard feelings between us.”
“Oh Lance, there never could be any hard feelings between us, though your first attempts at flirting with me were pretty annoying.”
“Hey!” Allura laughed, but Lance looked at her seriously. “You, you really thought they were annoying?”
“Yes Lance, now that I’ve finally gotten to know you better, I can say that those flirtations weren’t needed at all. You’re a great man, the right woman will love you for who you are.” Allura smiled warmly. “I’m sure of it.”
Lance smiled. “Thanks Allura. The best of luck finding the right guy.”
Allura hugged him. “The best of luck finding the right girl.”
“You know, I’m wondering if I already have. She was there this entire time, and I didn’t see it,” said Lance as he pulled back from the hug.
Allura blinked in confusion before her eyes widened and she gasped. “Pidge?”
Lance squawked. “What . . . how?”
Allura placed her hands on her hips. “Well, what other girl has been with us since you woke me up?”
Lance chuckled nervously. “Oh yeah, right, sorry. See? I really am dumb, maybe I’m not good for her.”
Allura shook her head. “I think you two will be great. She’ll teach you new things, and you can keep her grounded. You’re not dumb, Lance, your brain just operates differently than the rest of us, but that’s what makes you you, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Yeah, but, I’ve gotta compete with that Zazu.”
“Oh, right, I forgot about him.”
“How can I compete with him?”
Allura shrugged. “I really don’t know, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’d better get started, though. Good luck!”
Lance smirked. “Right, thanks.” He turned to walk away, but stopped and turned back to Allura. “Oh, um, sorry, about Lotor.”
Allura raised an eyebrow. “What for?”
“That that’s not going to work out.”
Allura shrugged. “It’s fine, I don’t think it would work out anyway.”
“Is there, um, is there anyone else you can think of that, you know, you would like to go out with?”
Keith’s soft, smiling face flashed before her eyes. “M-maybe? I don’t know yet, it’s too early to tell.”
“Well, good luck with him.”
Allura smiled. “Thanks Lance.”
“So, um, see you at dinner? Not as a date, but as friends?”
Allura smiled. “Yes, as friends.”
“Great, see you!” He waved to her before he took off.
“Bye Lance!” She watched him rush back to the Holts, to Pidge, the smile widening. Yes, the two of them were perfect for each other. She turned, but right now, all she could think of was Keith. She jogged throughout the city, looking for him. She didn’t care if he didn’t feel the same way for her, or if it would take a while before he did, she was willing to wait. All she knew right now was that she did love him and she wanted to be near him.
“Allura?” Her heart just about leapt out of her chest as she turned. There was Keith, staring at her. He was standing in a line behind Shiro, who was now turning and waving at her.
“Hi Allura! What brings you over here?” asked Shiro as she walked towards them.
“Weren’t you with Coran and the other Alteans?” asked Keith.
She smiled. “I was, but I left to look for Lance.”
“Did you find him?” said Keith.
She nodded. “I did, and we had a good talk about our relationship. We were on the same page, so it went rather well. So we broke up.”
“Wait, did you break up the relationship, or the talk?” asked Shiro.
Allura grinned. “Both.”
“Huh?” The look on Keith’s face was priceless, he was totally shocked. But then Allura noticed the sly glance Shiro gave Keith and began to wonder if that really was a glint of hope in Keith’s eyes.
“Yes, we came to the conclusion that we weren’t meant to be together, so, we broke up. I’ve been looking for someone I know ever since.” Though she made sure to keep her words ambiguous, Allura looked directly at Keith.
“Well, we were just going in to see this movie called Aladdin. Want to join us?’ said Shiro.
“I would love to,” said Allura with a bright smile.
“Great! The show’s about to start, we’d better get in there,” said Shiro. Keith stepped aside and let Allura go in after Shiro. The trio walked into the theater, and Shiro let out a huff. “Well, there’s not many seats left. Guess we’ll have to split up. See you after the movie.”
Allura smiled. “Alright, see you.” She went further up the stairs, glancing over each row, looking for a spot. About the third row from the last, she found two seats on the other side of the stairs, separate from the main row. She sat down in the seat closest to the wall, not particularly interested in sitting close to anyone else. She thought about looking around for Keith, but she figured to let him join her if he wanted. She didn’t want to push for fear of being pushed away. She felt he had already done that to her twice, she didn’t know if she could handle a third time. She glanced up in surprise as a figure approached her little row. It was Keith.
“Shiro thought at least one of us should be with you to explain a thing or two, if you needed it,” he mumbled.
She smiled at him. “Thank you Keith, I appreciate it.”
He nodded and sat down next to her. She had to fight the squeal that rose into her throat. Here they were, sitting together, about to watch a movie. He leaned in. “It’s going to get dark in a moment, so we can watch the movie better.”
She nodded. “OK.” She let out a soft gasp when the lights dimmed. She felt a hand grasp hers, she glanced down as her eyes adjusted to the dark and saw that Keith had grabbed her hand. She whispered, “I’m not scared of the dark. This is actually exciting.”
“Oh, sorry,” mumbled Keith. He started to let go of her hand, but she gripped it. She could feel his eyes on her.
“That doesn’t mean I mind holding your hand,” she said softly. She heard the soft intake of air from Keith as she laid her head on his shoulder. “Can we please stay like this, for a little while?”
“Uh, sure,” said Keith. “The movie’s starting.” She glanced at the screen as it flickered to life. But she glanced back at Keith, his face illuminated by the light of the screen. He glanced at her and gave her a soft smile before kissing the top of her forehead. The two settled back and watched the movie, just enjoying the moment. They were unsure of where Antillia would take them after they helped the demigods or what the future held, but they were going to let that wait. This was now, and it was wonderful.