Queen of Altea.

A title that you wanted to forgot since eons ago. You never saw yourself as someone that could lead people, or inspire others. You abandoned everything related to your mother and heritage after her death.

Unlike Allura, you weren't fully Altean. Your birth was far more complicate than just saying King Alfor was your father. And all because of what your mother were. Yet, the Galra Empire seems to keep your title at heart, to the point it was almost becoming an obsession. Zarkon wants to eradicate completely Altea and anything related to it. Adding to his madness his need to become immortal and live forever.

The witch and her druids led you through the ship, all the while having a close eye on you. The cuffs around your wrists would certainly give you bruises later, and the worst it yet to come. If you didn't act quick, it would the end and everything the Paladins and Allura accomplished would be for nothing.

You were brought inside a large room with a window that gave a view on the space. The stars weren't shining brightly as they should to in this system, and you were suspecting there was a particular reason for that. Your eyes wandered to the figure standing alone, just a few feet away from you.

With the same red cape draped over his shoulders like 10 000 years ago, Zarkon didn't change one bit if not for the glowing eyes.

Haggar advanced forward, and the druids pushed you to follow her. Without facing you, the grim voice of Zarkon resonated in the air:

"Queen (y/n)"

"Zarkon" you gritted your teeth.

"However, I suppose you don't go with this title anymore...With Altea destroyed and the last of your people..." he continued, finally turning around.

"Voltron will stop your tyrannic reign and put an end to your empire!"

"No, it will only make me more powerful. Your father knew that as well as I. That's why he led me to believe he destroyed it all those years ago. But now, your new Paladins and the princess will come for you, and they will deliver Voltron to me, and along with it and your existence, the key to unimaginable power"

"You won't use me as some kind of power source for your madness!" you snarled at the emperor. "Princess Allura and the Paladins won't be stupid enough to come all the way here!"

The expression on his face morphed to something sinister, and the air around you grew colder. Haggar raised her hand, and your body shook with tremors. You released a cry of pain, falling on your knees as your skin glowed a blue color.

The witch smirked, obliviously pleased by what her powers could do to you. You felt drained after she released you, your weak form connecting with the ground with a loud thud.

"Princess Allura would never abandon the last of her family, wouldn't she?" Zarkon tilted his head, watching you writhe in pain.

"She....doesn't know....anything...." you panted.

"Even if Voltron doesn't come to you...We will"

You lifted your gaze to look at the fiend in horror, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Before you could protest, the druids lifted you by the arms and led you out of the room. 

┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙    

You were left alone in a room, strapped to some kind of machine with complicated designs. While you didn't know what the device served for, you guessed that it will be used to pull out every bit of power you had in you.

You struggled against your binding, a huff escaping you when you realized that you wouldn't be able to get out. The only door in the room opened, and the witch entered with five druids following behind her. They took place on the glowing spots that encircled the machine while Haggar walked to stand in front of you.

"While you aren't pure like your mother was, your Lumen heritage is still flooding through your veins" she spoke. "Fortunately, you being also Altean will play at our advantage. While I will extract your essence until nothing is left, you will still live. Your cells will regenerate themselves, and then we will start the process over and over again"

"What's telling you that my quintessence will be efficient? Like you said, I'm not fully Lumen" you retorted.

"Your essence cannot be soiled by the genes of another heritage. However, certain traits of a Lumen will be lost. And it will continue like this for your descendants until it completely disappears. Though, the essence can be corrupted if some factors are met. But I thought you already knew all about that before hand..."

"I guess corrupted by what came off from your experience, Honerva? " you spat, and the witch narrowed her glowing orbs at you.

"I do not go by this name anymore. And it will in your best interest to remember that" the old woman replied venomously.

A loud sound came from the machine, and you screamed in pain when shocks went through your body. You could feel every muscle throb violently while the device salvaged the energy left in you. From the side, a strange container slowly filled itself up with a glowing blue liquid.

Sweat ran down your face after the machine stopped, leaving you a panting mess and chest heaving rapidly.

"It extracted 45% of the body's cells" a druid in the far corner stated.

"Ready the XCR344 for another extraction. We want everything this body has to offer" ordered Haggar, walking out of the room.

After she left, a druid advanced toward you, and lifted a hand to your face. You recoiled with a snarl, not wanting this filth to touch in any way. It didn't seem to mind your reaction, simply placing its hand on your cheek.

It turned your head on one side to another, examining silently your features. Finally, the druid released you and stepped away.

"We cannot extract the cells anymore. The body could risk a deterioration and take more time to regenerate" spoke the druid, earning a glance of its comrades.

"The priestess demanded a second round of the machine. Are you disobeying her orders?"

"She needs to be alive too" it retorted back. "If we could take the cells from her corpse, then we would have no need to keep her alive. Will you take the risk of killing the sample? "

It seems to shut up the others. The druids left the room one of after the other, leaving you alone in the darkness. The only thing considered as a 'light' would be the container filled with your Lumen's essence. 

At this right moment, you almost wished for the others to rescue you. Yet, you knew it was for the best for them to stay out of it to avoid fighting Zarkon. They were too weak to engage such battle, and Voltron coming here would be suicidal. Your thoughts moved to each one of the Paladins, along with the princess and Coran.

But they lingered mostly on Keith. The distance between you two will affect the bond, even more if he wasn't aware of the secret 'relationship'. Being soulmates didn't necessarily have the same definition as most people think it is. For Lumen, it was a different concept. 

The two shares a bond, and can merge their bodies and minds together. However, for a Lumen it meant a potential candidate to have a descendant. It isn't usually for love or affection, or a way to say the two will be together until the end of their days. Not a 'true love'. Of course, it happened several times that two Lumens could fall in love with each other, but those were rare.

In your case, you weren't really sure if you felt something for Keith. You got flustered sometimes, but the thought of love never crossed your mind. It was a chance that the two of you weren't merged, because it would mean that you two would become one. When merged, the soulmates share each other thoughts if they are close to another, the same for the feelings.

But also an omnipresent body. If one received a wound, it will share it with its other half. If one die, the two dies. The rules aren't attributed if they aren't merged, but the other will never be able to settle down with another partner if its soulmate dies.

"By dying here, Keith won't meet the same fate as me" you whispered, but frowned when you realized something.

Back at the Balmera, both you and Keith fell unconscious at the same time. And back at the Castle, you could actually feel everything that was going on with the Red Paladin. Your heartbeat quickened, eyes widening and mouth parting.

"Could we have...started to merge?!" you shouted to yourself. "No, impossible...Unless, he was..."

Your face reddened considerably. A possible way for two soulmates to merge together would either work by accepting the deal or showing signs of affection. The first case couldn't be the reason, and as for the latest...

You don't really remember if Keith even showed any desire to get closer. Though, you knew the young man wasn't one for those kinds of things. You concluded it was impossible, but not a risk you were willing to take.

Your eyes wandered to your shackles, tugging on them to see their resistance. The Galras' technology changed over the millenniums, and you were pretty sure that you would have to rip your hands off to get out of these.

Suddenly, red alarms blared loudly, and the next thing you knew, you found yourself on the ground. The shackles got deactivated by an overload of their energy. But how?

The doors opened, and a Galra made his way inside. You narrowed your eyes at him, standing up quickly. However, you weren't quite recovered from the experience and you were left wobbly on your feet.

"I am not your enemy" stated the Galra, his hand in a stopping motion.

"How can I be so sure? What's going on?" you demanded, still on your guard.

"The ship is under attack. Voltron came" he explained.

"What?!" you exclaimed, eyes wide like saucers.

"Unfortunately, they activated a barrier to keep them in, and even with their main ship they will not be able to pierce through it. The witch and the druids are with Zarkon, and no soldiers are roaming in the hallways. You can escape by using one of the pods-"

"Why would you help me?" you cut the Galra with a frown. "What's telling me that you aren't simply leading me to a trap?"

"The Paladins aren't the only ones fighting the Galra Empire" he answered simply. "If you stay here, Zarkon would be advantaged in this war. And if he manages to capture Voltron at the same time...Well, I guess we don't want to find out"

The Galra walked to the exit, and gave you one last look behind. That's when you noticed the strange blade he was carrying:

"I will disable the barrier while you escape. But you will have to make it quick" he stated before leaving.

You rushed to the doors, surveying the hallways for a few ticks, and then trying to find an exit on this damn ship. You were going to give a long lecture to Allura for her reckless behavior if you ever got out of there alive.

A few doors opened and sentries came out of them with their weapons, aimed at you. You gritted your teeth, and charged at your opponents. You slid across the room while dodging their fires, and managed to get a hold on one sentry.

You rid of its weapon between its hand, and destroyed the head with the heel of the gun. You then targeted the other sentries, and fired. They fell down one after another, until no enemy remained. Your weapon now useless, you discarded it at the same time the door in front of you opened.

Your heart skipped a beat as happiness filled you to see the Yellow Paladin holding his bayard.

"Hunk!" you shouted.

"General! I'm so glad to see you're okay!" he smiled, but sweated when he caught sight of your murderous look.

"Why did you all bring Voltron straight to Zarkon's central command?!"

"I-I t-told them it would be a grave mistake!" stammered the poor man, lifting his hands in surrender. "But Allura and the others wanted to save you at any cost. And me too, your Highness!"

You froze at his words, raising a brow at the last part.

"What do you mean, 'your Highness'?" you repeated.

"Isn't it what we are supposed to call you? Coran told us" Hunk replied sheepishly, and you facepalmed hard. Of course the old man would tell them!

"We don't have time for this. We have to get out of there-Wait, where's the Black Lion?!"

You were answered by the sounds of Shiro groaning painfully through the helmet's transmitter. You snatched Hunk's hand and led him behind you:

"We have to save Shiro!" you declared.

"W-Wait!" Hunk cried out, stumbling behind.

"Hey, Hunk! Did you get her?!" shouted the voice of Lance.

"Yeah, but there was a change of plan!"

You followed the coordinates of the Black Paladin through the small map given by Coran if they ever ended up in trouble. Even more useful in a place like this. Shiro's position led you to a large room filled with sentinel ships.

The young man was sprawled on the floor, holding unto a wound he received on the hip by the witch. Haggar had summoned multiple copies of herself, but you were able to find the real one.

"Which one?!" said Hunk, his eyes searching wildly.

"Haggar!" you snarled as the witch prepared herself to land another blow on the Paladin with her magic.

You opened your palm, and a blue sphere made of quintessence appeared. You fired it at Haggar, who stopped short before earning the blast.

Both Hunk and Shiro stared at you in surprise while the witch fell on the floor a few steps away from them. She gritted her teeth at you, before disappearing in thin air.

You ran up to Shiro, helping him to stand up by propping his arm over your shoulder:

"What was that?!" exclaimed the Yellow Paladin.

"We leave immediately!" you stated, bringing Shiro out of the room.

"Huh, where's the scary lady?" panicked Hunk.

"Hunk! Now!"

"Yes, yes!!"

  ┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙      

After climbing inside Hunk's Lion, the Paladin gave you and Shiro a trip to the Black Lion, who was laying in a crater inside Zarkon's ship.

Shiro explained to you how his Lion wasn't responding to him, and your worries for the connection between the Black Lion and Zarkon became true. However, since they have saved you, there was no need to stay here.

Only, you haven't seen Keith and the Red Lion at all. Shiro shared your same thoughts, and went to search for him.

"He's over there!" you pointed.  "But what is he doing?!"

The Red Lion was immobile to where it stood, Zarkon hovering it with his bayard. Though, he didn't have the time to make his next move that Shiro fired his laser at the enemy.

He took this moment of distraction to gather Red in his Lion's mouth, darting for the Castle.

"Mission complete!" cheered Lance.

"Can we leave now?!" asked Hunk, not reassured in the slightest.

"We are ready, Princess Allura" spoke the voice of Shiro in the comm. 

"All right, Paladins, time to get out of here!" stated Allura.

You took this time to slide inside the Red Lion, and your heart throbbed at the tired-looking Keith. Your breath in caught in your throat when he sent a look at you:

"Good to have you back" he smiled, and your cheeks reddened.

"Yeah....I'm glad too" you offered a smile.

"Helloo? Why there's no wormhole yet?!" demanded Hunk.

"The Galra barrier is jamming our ability to create one!"

The Galra had completely surrounded you all at this point. You decided to put your trust in the Galra from before, and the next thing you knew, the barrier faded down.

This left the others to stare in surprise, dumbfounded by what just happened:

"The barrier has disappeared!" said Pidge.

"Who cares? Wormhole!" shouted Hunk.

Princess Allura opened a portal, and the Caslte of Lions passed through it. However, before it closed, you felt a surge of darkness following behind you.

A reddish purple color engulfed the portal, the ship shaking with tremors.

"Coran, what's happening?" demanded Shiro.

"The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised. It's breaking down!" answered Coran.

"What does that mean?!" inquired Lance.

"It means we have no control over where we're headed!"

The Castle shook again, and this time sent the Lions flying outside. The Paladins all yelled as they vanished through the temporal rift, all communication now gone.

"No...The Lions are gone..." whispered Allura, bullets of sweat rolling down her forehead.