A/n: Oh, my goodness. I need to apologize for how rusty my memory of this episode is. I want to apologize in advance for not following the episode. Besides that, I hope you all enjoy! Love you all!!!
~✨Celestial✨~
•••••••••••••••••••••

During the journey back to the Castle of Lions, Hunk continued to pester Keith about being half galra. "I didn't just turn galra!" The violet-eyed boy bellowed at the yellow paladin. Hunk's eyes narrowed as he looked at his teammate closer. Keith meets Hunk's suspicious glance with a grimace. "Are you trying to see if my skin is purple?" 

Hunk looked away for a split second before looking back at Keith, trying to act innocent. "No."

"Yes, because the galra have invented a method where they can blend in with any race," Arcadia playfully comments. "They could look human, altean, olkari, any alien race in existence."

"Wait... really?!" Hunk gasped. "I knew it! Keith, change into your real form. I wanna see it!"

"I'm not gonna sprout purple ears and a tail!" Keith hissed back.

Arcadia snorted with laughter. "I'm just messing with you, Hunk. That's really what Keith looks like."

"Aw!" Hunk pouted, disappointed.

Out of the blue, the console beeps. Arcadia and Keith listen in as Hunk activates the transmission the yellow lion is receiving. "Hunk, Keith, Arcadia, are you there? Can you hear me?" Allura's desperate voice came over the comms.

Keith leaned over Hunk as he addressed her. "Hunk, Arcadia, and Keith here. What's going on, Princess?"

"You must return to the castle! I need you!" Allura cried out. Arcadia exchanges confused glances with the two boys. They were completely clueless as to why the princess was frightened.

"We'll be there shortly, Allura. What's going on?" Arcadia asked with narrowed eyes.

"That monster that attacked us on the Balmera before has returned!" She yelled in response.

The draconian's eyes widened. "How is that even possible? The Balmera crystallized it itself. Or maybe...?"

"What? Maybe what?" Hunk asked eagerly.

"It's highly possible the robeast escaped its crystal prison or someone could've freed it. Either way, it's our problem... again."

"Just get here quickly!" Allura yelled before the transmission ended.

"Geez..." The golden-eyed girl huffed. "I'll be deaf before the day ends if people keep yelling."

A wormhole opened and the yellow lion traveled through it, which transported them to the Balmera. On the other side, they were greeted by the sight of the robeast that attacked them on the Balmera.

Arcadia scowled when she stared at the magenta crystal lodged in its chest and the two shields on either arm firmer from the exact same crystal. She tilted her head with a frown. "I'm trying to decide if it's more frightening with or without its head."

Keith gripped the top of Hunk's chair, ignoring Arcadia's comment as he contacted the blue lion. "How did we beat it last time?"

Hunk thought for a second before answering. "We formed Voltron, then I stuck in my bayard and shot it with my blaster right in its arm lasers. But that didn't stop it so then we had to punch it and then Arcadia did this cool magic trick with lightning."

"So we're gonna need Voltron," Shiro concludes.

"But we only have two lions," Pidge stated the facts.

"Well, maybe we can form the legs and kick it while Arcadia flies around to distract it? Or she could shoot lightning at it. That usually works," Lance said, watching the robeast's movements. When the monster targeted the blue and yellow lions with its laser, Lance shrieked as he managed to dodge alongside Hunk. "Whoa!"

The laser had missed the two lions, but the two moons nearby weren't so lucky. It struck the two celestial bodies and destroyed them in an instant. The explosion was frightening, which worried the team as they watched it all unfold.

"That new laser is much more powerful. We're definitely gonna need all the lions and Arcadia," Shiro exclaimed after witnessing the explosion of the two moons. "Hunk, you distract it so we can fly into the castle. Once we get our lions out, we'll cover you so you can fly Keith in for Red."

Hunk quickly spoke up once hearing the plan. "Wait, wait, wait. I have to hold that thing off by myself?

"You have Keith and Arcadia," Pidge pointed out.

Hunk looks between Arcadia and Keith with a worried expression. "Yeah, but they're in here with me!"

"Not for long," Arcadia smirked. "Open the hatch, Hunk!"

The yellow paladin opened the hatch located on the lion's underbelly just as Arcadia stormed out of the cockpit. She heard Shiro yell at her to wait for them to form Voltron, but she shook her head. "No time, Shiro! You and the others need all the cover you can get."

Shiro sighed, knowing the girl was right. "Alright, you'll provide Hunk support while the rest of us retrieve our lions. We got to do this now before that thing fires its lasers again."

"Oh, quiznak," Hunk groaned.

"Cheer up, buddy. I'll be right beside you," Arcadia said as she leapt out of the yellow lion and transformed.

"Okay. Okay," he takes a few deep breaths. "You've got space dragon on your side. What could go wrong?"

The moment Arcadia transformed, the robeast took notice of her. It fired its lasers at her, but she dodged with ease. She mentally grimaced when she realized it was solely focused on her, completely ignoring the yellow lion. "Why do I have a feeling this thing remembers me?"

"Uh, maybe because its not attacking anyone else right now except for you?" Hunk pondered.

Arcadia flew close to the monster and inhaled deeply before releasing a powerful breath of fire. Hunk guided the yellow lion and attacked alongside the dragon, but he groaned when their attacks were doing no damage due to the crystals scattered across the robeast's body.

"Those crystals are blocking all of our attacks!" Hunk wailed.

"It's too dangerous to approach. We'll need Voltron if we want to inflict melee damage," Arcadia calmly said as she and Hunk dodged more lasers. They regretted it as soon as it collided with the castle's particle barrier, which vanished and left the castle vulnerable.

Hunk gasped when he saw the particle barrier was deactivated due to the powerful blow. "Oh, no! The castle is doomed unless we distract that beast."

"Guess we've got no choice." Arcadia flew close to the robeast, but she didn't engage. Hunk followed and both were able to grab its attention in full. It chased after them, which they used as a way to get it away from the castle.

"Good, it's chasing us," Keith said. "That'll keep it from firing its lasers at the castle."

"We need some help out here!" Hunk shouted into the comms. He gripped the yellow lion's controls tightly as the monster fired at him and Arcadia. They both dodged and weaved as they avoided being hit.

Unlike earlier, it was more persistent and wasn't holding back. One of the lasers nipped the yellow lion in the side, causing it to veer and slam into Arcadia. She growled, which was detected by the comms.

Hunk swallowed nervously as he contacted the dragon to apologize. "S-Sorry!"

"Just keep flying away, but not so close to me," she retorts. "If we crash into one another and that thing fire its lasers, we're done for."

Another round of lasers targeted them. They dodged and Arcadia could hear Keith's voice. "Bank left! Barrel roll! Nose dive!"

"Quit back lion driving!" Hunk yelled over the lasers, maneuvering his lion around and dodging.

From the castle came the blue lion. Lance contacted Hunk as he flew toward the robeast. "I'll distract it! Go get the red lion!"

"Oh ho ho, good timing, Lance!" Hunk cheered.

The blue lion charges its blaster before firing at the robeast. The monster turned its body slightly and one of its crystal shields protected it from the blast. Arcadia immediately flew over to Lance and used her body to push the blue lion out of the way when the monster readjusted its body and fired a laser at the lion. "Whoa!" Lance shouted in surprise after being pushed to safety.

Hunk maneuvered his lion closer to the robeast, it's attention away from the blue lion and now focused on the yellow lion. It fired a laser, which Hunk wasn't able to dodge in time. The laser made a direct hit, causing both boys inside the cockpit to scream.

"Guys!" Lance cried out as he watched the lifeless lion float in space and toward the Balmera.

Keith notices they were about to enter the Balmera's atmosphere, which triggered alarm bells in his head. At this rate, they would enter the planet's atmosphere and be dragged down by its gravity. "Hunk, do something!"

"I can't move! I'm hit. Nothing's working! Come on, boy. Come back to me." Hunk jerked on the controls of his lion, but it didn't respond.

Arcadia flew over to the yellow lion after hearing Hunk's cry and noticed a black blur in the corner of her eye. She saw it was the black lion. It was heading toward the lifeless lion as well. With hers and Shiro's combined efforts, they were able to push the yellow lion away from the Balmera.

The green lion emerges from the castle and flew into the fray. "We need to protect Hunk," Pidge said, her words directed toward Lance and Shiro.

"We've got him!" Shiro shouted as he and Arcadia continue to haul the yellow lion to safety toward the castle.

"I'm getting real sick of that crystal. Let's take it out," Lance spoke to Pidge.

The girl nodded in agreement. "On it."

While the green and blue lions engaged the robeast, Arcadia's attention was glued to the yellow lion. "Hunk, Keith, are you both alright in there?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Keith responds. "If it weren't for you or Shiro, we'd be hurtling toward the Balmera right now."

Arcadia stared into the yellow lion's lifeless eyes before releasing it and flying a few feet away. Shiro noticed and contacted her. "What're you doing, Arcadia?"

"A little shock might reboot the yellow lion's systems," she responded.

"Wait! We're still in here!" Hunk shouted before she could cast her spell.

"I know. Trust me, Hunk. You and Keith won't get hurt from my spell." Arcadia spreads her wings and flies toward the metallic feline. She landed on its back and sent a shockwave through it.

"I think it's working!" Hunk cheered as he saw the dash light up.

"I don't think so," Keith said as the console flickered and returned to its lifeless state. "It didn't work, Arcadia."

"Hmm... Maybe I should—"

Suddenly, the comms were brimming with screaming and groaning from Pidge and Lance. They had managed to distract the robeast, but it wasn't enough. The monster's sight was now set on the Castle of Lions. "Shiro, Arcadia, it's on its way to the castle!" Pidge yelled.

The black lion turns and targets the monster. "I got it!" Shiro proclaimed, chasing after it.

Hunk blinked a few times as he jerked on the yellow lion's controls once again. "Well, who's got me?" Hunk heard something and saw Keith about to leave the cockpit. "Where are you going?"

"I'll jump out and jetpack over to the castle," Keith answers stoically.

Hunk laughs. "Good one." He notices Keith's expression didn't changed and stopped laughing. "Wait, serious?"

Keith didn't reply and headed to exit the lion. As he did, he was greeted by Arcadia's large form. "I'll take you to the castle."

He simply nodded and felt as her paws wrapped around his body. She was very careful as she took ahold of him and headed to the castle to retrieve the red lion.

As Hunk continued to float around in his lifeless lion, Shiro, Lance, and Pidge faced the robeast and drew its attention away from the castle. One of the stray lasers headed straight for Keith and Arcadia, nicking her in the wing. She cried out and looked at her wing, noticing the webbing now had a hole in it due to the laser. She growled, glaring at the robeast.

"H-Hey!" Keith shouted once he assessed the damage to her wing after hearing her menacing growl over the comms. She craned her neck and peered down at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'll heal it soon enough."

Another laser strays their way. The dragon takes notice and quickly places a barrier around them. When the laser connects with the barrier, it absorbs the shock and shatters. Arcadia hissed, performing a barrel roll to dodge another laser.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something flying toward them. "Seems the red lion found us instead." She released Keith, allowing him to use his jetpack and fly to his lion.

Once Keith was safely in the cockpit of Red, Arcadia returned to Hunk. She landed on the yellow lion's back and tried a more powerful shockwave. She peered into the lion's face, watching as its eyes radiated yellow. "Hey, my lion's working again! I'm back, baby!" She heard Hunk chant.

"Glad to hear it, Hunk. Now, we've got a monster to take down." Arcadia unlatched herself from the yellow lion and flew toward the robeast.

Keith flew the red lion alongside Arcadia, firing his heat laser at the monster with a smirk. "Sorry I'm late, guys."

Seeing all the lions were gathered, Lance said, "Okay, let's form Voltron and take this thing down like we did last time."

"I don't think the robeast is gonna sit around and wait for us to transform," Keith retaliates.

"Keith's right," Shiro stated. "We'll need to think of something else.

"Hey, at least we outnumber those crystal shields," Hunk points out after a few more of their attacks were blocked by the shields on the monster's arms.

"Yeah, he can only block two of us," Lance said.

"I think I have a way to destroy the crystal in its chest," Arcadia chimed in. "All I need is an opening straight down the center."

"Alright," Shiro replied.

"We've got your back," Keith added.

Arcadia watched as all five lions engage the robeast. When she knew for certain it wasn't going to attack her, she casted the shadow incantation Coran had discovered in the castle's memories. Her eyes flashed from gold to crimson as her body was enshrouded in shadows.

"Now, Arcadia!" Shiro shouted as all five lions attacked simultaneously, creating the opening she needed.

She flapped her wings, flying as fast as she could toward the crystal embedded in the robeast's chest. Inches away from her target, her body transforms into a shadowy wisp and slithers into the monster's chest. Once inside its body, she releases her spell. The shadows engulfing her body ricochet outward into spikes, impaling the robeast from the inside.

The crystal shattered as the paladins watched sable spikes propel out of the creature's body in different directions, stopping its movements entirely. Arcadia emerges from its chest, now back in her human form. Once she was out of its body, the spikes shattered like glass before evaporating.

"That was..." Keith started, eyes wide as saucers.

"So cool!" Lance shouted, his own eyes glistening with admiration.

"It isn't dead, but its source of power is gone. Form Voltron and finish it off," Arcadia said. "I'm not sure how much longer it'll be incapacitated."

"Alright, team. You heard her. Form Voltron!" Shiro yelled.

"Yeah!" The four other paladins shouted in response.

Arcadia called upon her wings and flew to safety when Voltron approached the incapacitated robeast with its sword. She flew toward the castle, watching as the mighty defender took down the monster. She smiled as the assailant was impaled by Voltron's sword. Its body slid off the blade before exploding.

"Well done, everyone," Arcadia compliments the paladins.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Arcadia," Pidge said. "Y'know, that was the coolest spell you've casted so far! Anymore interesting ones?"

"For the moment, no. You'll have to wait 'til I learn more incantations," the older girl grinned. "I'm still an alchemist-in-training."

"No way. You're lying," Lance spoke up in disbelief.

"Trust me, Lance. If I was a full-fledge alchemist yet, my spells would pack more of a punch and I would have the markings to prove it."

"Ooh, can't wait to see that!" Pidge yelled excitedly.

Arcadia's smile grew at hearing the green paladin. Out of all the paladins, she had been the one who was most intrigued by her magic.

Suddenly, Allura's voice came through the comms. "Great work, paladins. Now return to the castle so we can get back to Olkarion."

The transmission ended and Arcadia rolled her eyes. "Still being childish, I see."

"Allura realizes we couldn't have done it without Arcadia, right?" Hunk asked his teammates.

"She's probably still mad at her for defending Keith," Pidge responded.

"It doesn't matter," Keith grumbled. "Let's get back to the castle."

<———————<<<<<<<

Aboard the Castle of Lions, Arcadia heard a rambling voice and followed it. "Why is there a grand entrance on the 40th floor? And what's with all the ziplines? You have hover technology."

"Well, you know what? Ziplines were quite fashionable 10,000 years ago," she heard Allura retort with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Slav continued to rant when Arcadia and the paladins arrived. She saw an irk mark protruding from Shiro's forehead as he listened to the alien. "Enough!"

Slav shrunk back at hearing Shiro's raised voice. "I was simply—"

"No! Just... be quiet for a few minutes. No calculations, no possibilities, just silence."

"We could always feed him to Arcadia if he gets too annoying," Lance suggested.

Arcadia eyed Slav, who, in return, eyed her with fright when he recognized her race from her features. She shook her head after analyzing him. "I'd rather not eat foreign objects. I would like to avoid a stomach ache."

"Allura," Keith called out to the princess. "Have you heard from Coran?"

"Yes," she replied, not even sparing a glance in the boy's direction.

From the corner of her eye, Arcadia glared at her best friend. Allura's childish behavior was causing her to become annoyed. Not even Coran was treating Keith as if he were the one to destroy their entire planet. The alchemist bit her bottom lip to keep herself from lashing out at the princess, knowing their anger toward one another would only be kindled. She crosses her arms, tearing her eyes away from Allura and taking a few deep breaths.

"So, we ready to pop through the wormhole and get back to Olkarion?" Lance asked, eyes focused on the princess.

"Yes, I've checked in with Coran and the teludav is nearly complete," Allura responds in a much chipper tone. It didn't shock Arcadia, but it caused her calmness to subside. "Hunk, thank you for getting the scaultrite."

"No problem." Hunk looks over at Keith and Arcadia, the boy sporting a stoic expression while the girl's eyes held a raging flame of anger. "You know, Keith and Arcadia were there, too."

The princess' response was to glare in the couple's direction. Coran stepped forward and spoke, switching the topic away from the duo. "We've made great progress while you were gone. And now that we have the scaultrite, we should be finished in less than a quintant."

Arcadia spun on her heels and left in a desperate attempt to stave her anger before they arrived on Olkarion. She meandered to the training deck and immediately summoned a docile gladiator when she stepped through the doors. She called out to the machine and it shuffled over to her at her command. When it was close enough, she placed her hands on its chest and tried to combine spells. "This is probably going to be messy..."

Whispering the incantation, Arcadia watched as spikes emerged from the gladiator. Unlike the fight with the robeast, they were crystal clear. She stepped away from the machine and snapped her fingers. The spikes retracted back into the machine and exploded. The gladiator was blown to oblivion, its entire body reduced to small pieces of shrapnel. She covered her face when a few pieces flew her way, feeling the sharp metal cut into her arms.

Once the explosion subsided and all was calm, Arcadia healed herself with a satisfied smirk. "I wonder..." She summoned ten more gladiators and eyed each machine as they stood in a line a few feet away. With a wave of her hand, all ten docile robots were impaled with the same crystalline white spikes. She placed a barrier around herself to avoid the upcoming projectiles and snapped her fingers.

In unison, all ten gladiators exploded. Pieces flew all across the training room, which satisfied Arcadia's anger. Practicing her alchemy always calmed her and seeing she could combine spells brought excitement to her.

The moment she dispelled the barrier, she heard the door open. Looking to see who it was, she saw Shiro. "Oh, Shiro. Did you want to train?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something," he answered. "I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, but it kept slipping my mind."

"Ask away," she smiled.

"Were you the one who infiltrated the Garrison before the Kerberos mission?"

Arcadia's eyes widen slightly before returning to normal and looking away from Shiro. She rolled her bottom lip through her teeth before sighing. "Maybe..."

"Arcadia," Shiro said, his tone low. "If it was you, just tell me. I won't get mad, I promise."

She sighed, shoulders slumping forward. "Yes. I infiltrated the Galaxy Garrison in order to gain access to the student data base. It was a desperate attempt to find new paladins and that's when I came across Hunk and Lance. While scanning over Matt's profile, I learned about Katie. I thought the three of them would be excellent paladins. You'd been on my radar for a while, Shiro, and I only needed to choose four more paladins." Shiro went silent, which made Arcadia uneasy. "Um, Shiro?"

"How'd you do it?" He asked in astonishment.

"How'd I do what?"

"The Garrison has the best network security on Earth. How'd you manage to get inside and to the control center without being spotted once by guards or cameras?"

Arcadia raised her hands, bolts of lightning coursing through her fingers. "Fried the entire electrical grid. I rebooted only the mainframe to see the student records. I don't think Earth technology was built with alchemy in mind."

"That explains why everything lost power," he mumbled.

"Now I've a question for you." She circled around Shiro, arms locked together behind her back. "How'd you know it was me?"

"I spotted a figure running out of the control room and chased after them all the way to the outskirts of the Garrison. They had white hair and pointy ears. Before I could catch up, they vanished."

"I see..." She said, stopping in front of him. "I heard someone chasing after me, but I didn't even bother to look over my shoulder to see who it was."

"I can't believe you broke into the Garrison without being detected."

"Like I said, magic," she grinned, holding her hands up and wiggling her fingers.

"Shiro, Arcadia, we've arrived on Olkarion!" Coran's chipper voice rang from the intercom. The two left the training deck and headed for the black lion.

<———————<<<<<<

On the surface of Olkarion, everyone gasped as they admired the large structure before them. Coran informer them how much longer it would take to complete the teludav.

"Wow," Lance gaped. "That is one giant teludav."

"Nice work, Coran," Keith comments, earning a confident smirk from the advisor as he crossed his arms victoriously.

"Good job, Coran. Fist bump." Hunk held out his fist toward Coran, who was confused at the gesture. Even though not knowing what the gesture meant, Coran bumped his own fist against Hunk's. The boy then explained what to do next. "Now blow it up."

Coran gasped in horror before grimacing at Hunk. "Oh, don't you dare! It took forever to build this teludav. And let's not forget it's a pivotal piece that we need for our plan to defeat Zarkon." Then, a screen popped up with a small 'beep', grabbing Coran's attention. "Aaah!"

"I've made some improvements to your design. This will increase our chances of survival in this reality 205 percent," Slav informed the group while slamming a rock against the teludav.

"Is this guy a little...?" Coran's voice trailed off, eyeing the alien.

"Yes," Shiro proclaimed.

"No doubt," Pidge said.

"Not a fan," Lance commented.

"Maybe I will eat him," Arcadia chimed in.

Slav continued to smack the teludav with a rock, earning a shriek from Coran. "Stop hitting the teludav!"

Everyone heard an explosion, watching as it transpired on the screen with Slav in the middle of it. "Ow..."

<———————<<<<<<<

The paladins and Arcadia left Coran, deciding to spend a peaceful moment on Olkarion. They stared out at the beautiful scenery, a peaceful silence surrounding them.

A thousand thoughts crossed Arcadia's mind, all being filled with her friends. She combed a hand through her hair, removing a few knots in the process.

"What's everybody thinking about?" Pidge asked, shattering the silence as she sat on the edge of the cliff.

"Zarkon/Calzones," Shiro and Hunk said at the same time.

Hunk looked at the others when he received questioning gazes from everyone and tried to recover by changing his answer but failed. "I mean, uh, heck, yeah, I'm thinking about calzones, okay? I mean, does it always have to be about Zarkon? He's a bad guy. We're trying to defeat him. I get it." Then, his stomach rumbles. "I'm hungry."

"We've come a long way," Keith said, gazing out into the distance.

"Yeah, remember when Hunk used to throw up from riding in the elevator?" Lance asked with a warm smile plastered on his face as he recalled the memory.

Hunk was the next to share a memory. "You guys remember that Arusian, Klaizap? I think his name was? Cool name."

The brunette chuckled. "Yeah, Keith tried to beat him up even though he's the size of a peanut."

"He was their bravest warrior!" Keith yelled in his own defense, earning a faint giggle from Arcadia.

"How about the time the food goo machines attacked us in the kitchen?" Pidge asked.

"That was the scariest thing that's happened to me the entire time I've been here," Hunk confesses.

"Oh, come on," Lance scoffs in disbelief at his response.

"What? It's the truth!"

"We faced sentries, a haunted castle, giant robeasts, a mall security guard," Lance began listing off the foes they've faced off since becoming paladins.

"And don't forget that cool cube thing," Pidge added.

"Yeah, and that awful cube thing." The boy's smile returns as he reminisces in another memory. "I think my favorite memory so far is when Arcadia kicked that galra commander in the face. I've only ever seen a kick like that in movies!"

"Oh, yeah!" Hunk cheered as he remembers the moment. "Space dragon's the best!"

Arcadia huffed with laughter. "That nickname's growing on me."

"You realize once we defeat Zarkon, the universe won't need Voltron anymore," Shiro stated.

"We can return to Earth," Lance said.

"I can look for my family," Pidge exclaimed, her voice filled with hope.

"I guess I could look for mine," Keith said.

Shiro looked away from his teammates and back to the beautiful scenery. "This is it. As long as everything goes according to plan, we can't fail."

Arcadia looked away from the paladins, staring at the horizon. She crossed her arms as a faint breeze whipped around them, sending a small chill through her body. She heard everyone leave as her back was turned to them, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to warm herself up. She didn't want the others to see how sorrowful she was knowing their time together was now short. They'd become her family in the time they've spent together and knew parting would be difficult.

The young girl flinched when she felt something being placed on her shoulders. Looking down, she saw Keith's jacket wrapped around her. Her eyes darted up and saw him standing next to her, his eyes focused on the scenery.

Arcadia looked away from him, the silence between them relaxing. She tugged on his jacket, wrapping it around her arms as the sleeves blew in the breeze. She stepped closer to Keith, leaning into his side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a side hug. She rested her head against his shoulder, enjoying their peaceful moment together.

After a few minutes, Arcadia broke the silence. "I want to help you search for your family."

Keith tightened his hold on her. "Did you think I was gonna leave you behind?"

"Well, no, but... you're kinda a lone wolf. You usually do things on your own."

"Yeah, but now I have you."

Arcadia craned her neck and looked up at him. She saw his cheeks weren't red this time around and instead, hers were bright red. "H-How did you say that with such a straight face?! You usually turn red when you say things like that!"

Keith met her gaze as he looked down at her. "I just stated a fact."

"I know, but... never mind!" She pulled away from him and tugged the jacket off her shoulders. She placed the article of clothing over her head in an attempt to hide her crimson cheeks. She was wary of her horns and avoided ripping the fabric. "I swear to Aethios—hey!" She yelled as the jacket was yanked off her head. She tried to grab it but froze when Keith threw it back around her head and used the sleeves to pull her face close to his, placing his lips on hers and kissing her sweetly.

It took Arcadia a few seconds to realize they were kissing before reciprocating. Her hands grasped the front of Keith's black t-shirt as the kiss grew more intense.

Before the two got too carried away in their blissful moment, they pulled apart from one another. Arcadia snaked her arms around Keith's waist and rested her hands on the back of his shirt, resting her head against his chest. They both fell silent once again, spending the rest of their time admiring the beautiful scenery before returning to the castle.