"Seriously man! Out of everyone on this ship, I've healed you the most! Can't you go one day without being reckless and getting yourself hurt?!" Lance scolds as he was, once again, healing Keith's injuries. Only this time, it was so bad that Lance had forced Keith into a tub of water, in just his swim trunks, to properly heal him.

"Sorry." Keith said dejectedly. After the trials of Marmora, along with awakening his blade, and finding out that he is part Galra in the process, the Red and Black Paladins returned to the castle, along with the Blade of Marmora leader, Kolivan. After meeting the Princess, Kolivan informed them that his spy from inside of the empire told him that Zarkon has become aware of their presence and they need to move fast to stop him once and for all.

So they got right on it, with Ulaz's help as he had woken up, and Lance healed any remaining wounds on the Galran. Although Lance had also noticed Keith acting odd, and all he had to do was poke him to find that Keith had major injuries. The Blue Paladin sighed rather loudly, then proceed to drag the Red away to heal him. So here they were, Keith sat in a bathtub of Water, and Lance healing him.

"Hey Lance," Keith suddenly spoke. "Do you think Kolivan was telling the truth? Did Zarc really just brand us as his? And these powers will just ruin our lives?" He asked. Kolivan had proceeded to explain to the other Paladins and Alteans what he had told them about Zarc and his gifts to them. The Alteans had strongly reprinted his words, but the Galran insisted he wasn't lying. Honestly, it was still kind of bothering Keith, especially with Zarc apparently having entered his mind.

"I'm not sure man." Lance replied. "Hold your breath, I'm going to fix your face now." He then warned. Keith took a breath and Lance proceed to incase his head in water and concentrated. The water glowed crystal blue and after a few minutes, Lance released Keith's head. The Red Paladin took a deep breath as the Blue one finished cleaning him up.

"I mean. He seemed nice, and he did help you during the Marmora Trials right?" Lance confirmed as he helped Keith out of the tub and handed him a towel to dry off. He then went to empty the tub as Keith used to the towel to dry himself.

"Yeah, but that's just it. It was happening in my mind. That means that Zarc is connected to us somehow. If he can enter my mind, what else can he do? More importantly, are these powers more of a curse than a gift?" He asks as he finishes drying off and wraps the towel around his waist, having slipped off the swim trunks. Keith was so unsure. Zarc had given him great advice, but was it really sincere? Did he actually have a ulterior motives?

"You know," Keith looked at Lance as he had finished draining the tub and walked over to him, holding some Altean sleeping robes. "I think it actually depends on the way you look at it. I mean, these powers can be dangerous, but we're able to control them. As long we don't go overboard, we won't hurt anyone." He said. "It also relies on how we use them. Like example here; I'm healing you." He added.

"Yeah, I guess." Keith said as he took the clothes. He then looked at his hand. "Hey, Zarc said something to me, and I want to know if it's true. He told that fire was the element of passion, destruction, but also life. You're sort of the expert in this field, so I was wondering if you knew about this." Keith asked. Lance looked surprised, but smiled and sat down, inviting Keith to join him, which he did.

"Yeah, I know a bit. In Avatar each Element has their own meaning, and even season." The Blue Paladin. Yeah Keith was little annoyed at yet another Avatar reference, but if he learned anything, it's that the show does include actual philosophy in their premise.

"If I remember correctly; Water's season is Winter, very fitting as technically snow and ice is frozen water. Water represents change, purification and healing. Air's season is Autumn, or Fall, as that is the time when the winds are the strongest. Air, or Wind, represents freedom and spirituality. Earth's season is spring, as that is when the Earth is fully abundant. Earth represents both strength and substance. 

"There wasn't anything regarding to Nature/Plants, but I would say its season would also be spring as that is when nature begins to sprout. Nature would most probably represent growth and intelligence, it seems to fit considering Pidge. Finally, Fire's season is summer as that is the time when it is the hottest. Fire does in fact represent passion/desire and destruction, but also life and warmth. It gives as much as it takes, in the end." Lance finished his monologue. Keith was astonished by the detail and structure.

"Thanks Lance. That makes me feel better." The red Paladin admitted. "And thanks again for healing my wounds. I was battered by those guys, now there's not a scratch on me." He smiled at the Blue Paladin, who smiled back.

Keith opened his eyes to found himself in a dark place. He looked around, but couldn't see a thing. Suddenly he was enveloped in a red glow, as bursts of flames surrounded him. He was panicking as the flames moved closer, thinking back to Kolivan's words about how flames will consume him. He frantically tried to find an escape, but found he trapped within the flames. He was in full blown panic as the fire was closing in on him. He was panting as the heat rose, then he thrusted his arms out and suddenly the flames froze.

Keith stared at the fire was still and no longer moving towards him. He then heard a growl, and turned slightly and looked up to see the Red Lion above him, then saw other lights lit around the area. He could make out a violet light with a figure standing in it with wind swirling around them, and the Black Lion above them. Then a blue light with swirling water around another figure, and the Blue Lion above them. Then a green light with a smaller figure with vines and plants growing around them, with the Green Lion above them. Finally there a yellow light with a larger figure surrounded by rocks and the Yellow Lion above them.

That's when Keith noticed a hooded figure in center of them all, and there colored streaks of the light that connected them to the figure. The figure looked up at Keith, and all he could see were glowing golden eyes. Behind the behind the figure suddenly stood a taller being enveloped in a silvery glow. The hooded figure looked directly at Keith and mouthed something and the Red Paladin heard words.

"We are all connected in the end."

"*Gasp**Pant**Pant*" Keith gasped as he awoke back in his bed onboard the castle ship. He remembers after he talked to Lance the Blue Paladin left, while he changed into the bed robes and went to sleep in his room to rest up. "*Groans* What a weird dream." He muttered as he rubbed his head. It wasn't necessarily a nightmare, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either. He then went back to sleep.

The next day, the Paladins, Alteans and the Blade of Marmora were gathered on the Castle bridge and were all discussing their plans of defeating Zarkon. Well almost all of them. Hunk had conked in his seat and was currently still sleeping.

"What! What'd I miss?!" The Yellow Paladin shouted as he finally woke up.

"Oh, nothing important. We've just figured out how to defeat Zarkon." Lance answered from next to Hunk.

"Really? I dozed for ten minutes and you guys already figured out how to defeat the forces of evil?" said Paladin asked.

"You've been asleep for three hours." Pidge corrected him from his other side.

"I think we've got something here." Shiro spoke as he was looking at a holographic image of Zarkon's ship. "It's dangerous and there are a lot of moving parts, but if we can coordinate everything just then-"

"Zarkon's rang with be over, and the savagery that has poisoned our universe can finally be cleansed." Kolivan finished for him. "You've done it Shiro." He says addressing the Black Paladin who was standing next to him.

"We did it together." Shiro said as he held out his hand to the Galra, who took it.

"As long as we all stick to the plan, it should work." Allura stated. She still did not like the idea of working together with the Blade.

"It will work. And perhaps, then, you'll understand that not all Galra are as bad as Zarkon." Kolivan said back, fully aware of Allura's distrust in him and his group.

"I hope not." The princess muttered to herself as she cast a look at Keith.

"Ulaz, you were right to trust them." Antok said to the Galra right next to him.

"You nearly sacrificed everything to bring us together. For a moment I thought we had lost you, than Lance brought you in, and even then you were barley holding on back there." Shiro recounted to when Ulaz nearly died.

"I was lucky, but luck will only go so far. We must now take down Zarkon. Once and for all." The Galran replied, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"So what's the plan exactly?" Hunk asked as he joined the others.

"The plan is amazing!" Lance spoke up and proceeded to explain. "First, we infect Zarkon's ship with a virus. Then we make a huge wormhole and lure Zarkon inside of it, zapping him a bajillion light-years away. Then, when he pops out on the other side, all like, "Why isn't my ship working?", Voltron will kick his butt!" The Blue Paladin finished he explanation with some fighting sounds and moves.

"Wow. So, this is it." Hunk said as he looked at everyone in the room.

"I guess the only question is, when do we strike?" Pidge suddenly asked.

"As soon as we build a teludav big enough to wormhole Zarkon's ship." Coran answered as he pulled up the schematics of said teludav.

"Oh, man. The teludav again? Does this mean we need more scaultrite?" The Yellow Paladin asked.

"That's just one of the many things we'll need." Allura answered him.

"Am I, uh, Am I sensing a trip back to the space mall here?" Hunk asked hopeful.

"I'm afraid not." Coran replied, and Hunk deflated. "This is going to take a lot more scaultrite than we can ever find in any Unilu shop. For this plan to succeed, we're going to need to split up. We all have a task to do." The Royal Advisor explains. "Keith, Hunk, you'll be in charge of getting the scaultrite. If any one of us fails, the entire plan fails." He instructed.

With that the team split up. Keith and Hunk took the Yellow Lion to get the scaultrite, apparently they had to get it from a weblum. Which was apparently a giant space worm, or something along those lines. While Lance, Pidge and Shiro took the Blue Lion to go to some Galran prison, to get a super genius called Slav to help with building the teludav. Coran was heading to Olkarion to start working on the machine, and Allura was making her way to the Balmera to get a crystal in order to power it.

"Why does Allura get to take a leisurely visit to the Balmera while we have to fly into the belly of a giant space worm to get scaultrite?" Hunk complained.

"You heard Coran. Building a huge teludav isn't easy. Everyone has a job to do and this is ours." Keith said to the Yellow Paladin.

"Yeah, but I always get the worst jobs." said Paladin complained. "Go to a Galra-occupied planet to get my lion. Go to a Galra-occupied Balmera to get a crystal. Go into the belly of a beast with the Galra alien team member." He listed off.

"I'm not an alien." Keith reprinted, annoyed.

"Well, you're kind of an alien. You're way more alien than me. You're at least some alien. I'm-I'm none alien." Hunk rambled.

"Let's just concentrate on the job here." Keith sighed as he moved right behind the Yellow Paladin's seat.

"Yeah. Was-Was your mom the alien? Your grandpa? How Galra are you exactly?" The Samoan asked.

"I don't know." Keith answered.

"Did the Blade of Marmora, like, teach you the secret handshake, or something?" The Yellow Paladin asked.

"No. No one said anything." Keith replied getting annoyed.

"The Blade of Marmora... They're real tight-lipped, aren't they? I get that your society is secret, but is everything secret?" The bigger teen commented.

"Okay, look, it's bad enough that Allura hates me now. And it's possible that the powers Zarc gave us might not be what we thought they were. So, can you just lay off?" Keith retaliated, now really annoyed at this point.

"Allura doesn't hate you. You just need to give her to accept the fact that you're Galra, the race that destroyed her entire planet and all of her people." Hunk to encourage, than realized what he said. "Oh, yeah, she might hate you a little bit." He said. "And besides, Zarc seemed nice when we met him, and he did help you during those Marmora trials right?" He asked.

"Yeah, but what if it was all an act, and that was happening in my mind Hunk. My mind. And I think I had a dream about him last night. That means he has access to our consciousness." Keith retaliated. He swore the hooded figure in his dream was Zarc, but he had no idea what that strange being behind was.

"Well, yeah, but like I said, I think he was trying to help you." Hunk insisted. "Besides, Zarc is apparently a space legend, and often times legends have varying facts about them. Some true, some false. Heck even Coran and Allura don't know all of them." He added.

"I guess." Keith said. "Though, while in that place, Zarc told me he was actually one of many. The Pendulum holds Zarc's memories, and the Gauntlet holds Zarc's power. Is what he said." The Red Paladin explained.

"Wait, so does this mean that there have been multiple Zarcs then?" Hunk asked. "Oh, so maybe this whole "power leads to misery" thing was actually about a past Zarc, not our Zarc." He suggested hopefully.

"I guess." The Red Paladin replied. "L-let's just watch the video Coran uploaded and stay on task. We need to find out how to collect this stuff." He added. Hunk did just that, and their mission officially began.

AN: So yeah, I'm not gonna write about when Hunk and Keith are in the Weblum. So I'll just skip ahead to the when the rest of the Paladins go to Beta Traz in the next chapter. See you then guys.