(This is basically what Ember's room looks like, just more like the Castle's actual set up.)

Ember watched with tired eyes as Coran put small circular machines onto Sendak's cyro pod. She sat herself next to Shiro's left leg, leaning heavily on it as they watched Coran hook Sendak up. Shiro's robotic arm was gently running his fingers through Ember's ponytail, making her eyes droop even more. 

   "Okay, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up," Coran shared to the paladins. "But, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not interrogate prisoners."

   "Coran, we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations." Shiro explained. 

   "Yeah, and then we can just be like, 'Knock-knock'. 'Who's there?' 'The avenging fury of Voltron, son!" Lance was do doubt acting the scene out. 

   "Fascinating," Pidge commented as she examined the pod. "So, how exactly does this work?"

   "As the memories are extracted, they're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands." Coran explained.

   "When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship." Lance said. 

   "The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane," Keith remarked. 

   "Oh, yeah? Well, the amount of information you have, Keith, could be . . ." Lance trailed off.

   "Yeah?"

   "Uh. . .it's less than what I have!"

   "Oh, good one, Lance!" Hunk cheered. Ember really couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. But the pounding in her head didn't let her think too much about it.

   "Boys," Ember started. "Stop."

   "So this is how you incorporated King Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?" Pidge connected together. 

   "Precisely, but it's never been attempted before on an unwilling participant."

   "First time for everything, I guess," Ember murmured as Coran stepped back from the tube that was going to hold Sendak's memories. A light started to shine at the top of the tube, making Ember raise her eyebrows. 

   "Uh, is this what's supposed to be happening?" Hunk asked. 

   "Lets give it some time," Shiro suggested.

Ember didn't know how long they waited, but Shiro and her didn't move. She didn't move, mostly because she didn't have the energy. Plus, Shiro running his fingers through her hair felt amazing. 

Keith was the first one to start moving. "Well, I can't wait around anymore. I'm going to hit the training deck." Ember yawned, making Shiro stop running his fingers through her hair. 

   "Keith," He called out, "Could you drop Ember off at her room?"

    "No," Ember slurred slightly. "I'm fine, I wanna stay here with you. Support and all. . ." She yawned again. 

   "You've supported me enough," Shiro chuckled, helping Ember stand up before passing her over to Keith. "Thank you, now get some rest."

   "O. . .Okay," Ember murmured sleepily, wrapping her arm around Keith's shoulder as he started leading them out. "Nighty night. . ."

   "You must really be out of it," Keith observed as they left the room. 

   "I'm soooo tired," Ember sighed, leaning into Keith some more. Keith sighed, he was practically dragging Ember down the hallway. 

   "Come here," Keith sighed, stopping to pick Ember up bridal style. Ember giggled, leaning her head into Keith's chest. 

   "Thank you," Ember mumbled. 

   "It's no problem," Keith shrugged it off, pausing to let the door to Ember's room open. 

   "No, stop that," Ember lightly swatted Keith's chest. "I mean it. You're one of the closest Paladin that understands me. . ." She trailed off as Keith laid her down onto her bed. Her body squirmed around as she took off her jacket. "You deserve the world. . ."

   "Get some sleep, Ember," Keith sighed, ruffling her hair as she snuggled under the covers. "Rest up, so you'll make more sense the next time we talk."

   "Nighty night, Ketih," Ember whispered just before falling asleep. Keith shook his head in amusement before walking out of the room. 

   "Nighty night, Em."

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

Ember didn't know how long she slept after Keith dropped her off to her room, but she woke up to her night light flickering. 

   "Hello?" She called out groggily, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Of course, no one answered, but someone did suddenly pop into her room. 

King Alfor.

   "Oh, King Alfor," Ember yawned. "I didn't know that you could pop up in here,"

   "Ember," King Alfor started - making her eyes narrow. He sounded. . .off. "How much do you like the light?"

   "The light is great," Ember slowly answered. "Why?"

   "What about the dark?"

   "That's a little less. . ." Ember gulped. "great."

   "I see," He suddenly glared heatedly at Ember. "Filthy little half-breed."

   "What?" Ember jumped up when all the lights in her room shut off. "King Alfor? Coran? Look, guys, this isn't funny anymore!" 

Ember stumbled out of bed, knocking some plants over as she walked to the doors. But, instead of opening like they should have, they stayed sealed shut. Ember's breathing started to pick up. 

   "No, no no," She repeated. "Come on, let me out! Please! I haven't done anything wrong!!" 

   "Stay in the darkness until you can be a good girl,"

At King Alfor's voice, Ember started to cry and bang on the door. "No, please! Let me out! I'll be good, I swear! Please, not again!" 

But silence was the only thing that met Ember's hiccups and tears.

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

Ember didn't always have the fear of the dark. No, we all come into the world with love. Fear is just what we learn along the way. 

And it wasn't that Ember was scared of the dark. No, the darkness was a very peaceful thing. It was what came after the shroud of darkness - or what is even in it. 

It was a bright and sunny day, when the darkness first got to her. Her brother and sister were playing baseball in the backyard while she was messing around with the flowers, watching carefully to make sure the ball didn't knock her in the head. She was only six at the time, but she loved the idea of flower chains.

   "And the crowd holds their breath," Her sister, Lee, narrated. "As the great pitcher Jalus is close to defeating the world champ at his own game,"

   "Just throw the ball already," Brock complained - narrowing his eyes. "And that's not how competition works."

   "She throws!" Lee followed through, throwing a fast ball at her brother. "Will he?!"

Brock swung the bat with all his might, grinning widely as the fast ball flew away from him. But his grin quickly faded as the ball came in contact with a window, the sound of shatter glass resounding loudly. 

There was a pause, before,

   "BROCK!"

The boy jumped, eyes wide with fear. Not thinking, he shoved the bat into Ember's hands and called out, "It wasn't me! It was Emberson!"

A raging mother marches out the back door, straight towards Ember - who was sitting on the ground in confusion. 

   "Emberson Jalus! You are in so much trouble!" Her mother yelled, smacking her upside the head. Her gaze went to her other two siblings. "Emilee Jalus, Brock Jalus, what did I tell you about letting Emberson join you guys playing games?!"

   "We're sorry maman!" Brock shoved his hand over Lee's mouth. "But Ember wouldn't leave us alone until we gave her the bat."

   "But, maman-" Ember tried to defend herself, but she quickly shut up when her mother smacked her once again. 

   "You're coming with me," The older woman hissed, grabbing Ember roughly by the wrist and started to drag her inside the house. "You two, clean up this shit up before you join her in Châtiment,"

   "Maman! Maman, please, not Châtiment!" Ember begged, trying to pull her arm away from her mother. "Please! I'll be a good girl!"

But her mother continued to pull Ember into the house, ignoring the little girls pleas as they came into a closest. She yanked the door open and went inside. 

It was a pretty big closet, full of random objects and clothes. But the two of them continued back until they reached the end of the closet. Ember's pleas turned into full on screams, not wanting to go through with the punishment.

   "Please, maman! Qu'est-ce que j'ai même fait?!" Ember cried out in a last effort. Her mother yanked open the small crawl space that she reserved just for her children's punishment. Although she wasn't as hard on her other two children, they all had gone through the same punishment sometime in their life. 

   "Vous êtes né!" Her mother hissed, glaring heatedly into her daughters eyes before shoving the six-year-old into the crawlspace. Ember wailed loudly as he mother shut the door and locked it. "If you don't shut up, the monsters and rats will eat you alive!!"

   "Maman! Please, I'll be a good girl! Let me out! Don't let them eat me!!!"

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

Keith and Lance were marching down the hallway, on their way to where they thought Pidge and Hunk were at. Coran was behind them, not walking as fast as them. Lance skidded to a stop as they passed another set of doors, furrowing his eyebrows.

   "Lance, come on!" Keith grunted, annoyed that the other male had stopped walking. 

   "Shh," Lance hissed.  "I hear something,"

The three of them went quiet, listening hard to what Lance heard. Suddenly, there was a loud cry and sniffle before a couple words passed by. 

   "That sounds like. . ."

   "Em!!" Lance shouted, banging on the door he heard the crying from. "This is Em's room!! Em, come on, open up!"

   "Get me out of here!" Ember's muffled cry was heard. "I promise to be good! S'il vous plaît, je ne veux plus être dans le noir! Please. . ."

   "Puerta estúpida!" Lance shouted, turning towards Keith. "Use your sword to pry the door open!!" 

Keith nodded, his sword appearing in his hand as he tried to pry the doors open. At first, nothing happened and after Lance started to help, the door slowly started to open. Two hands appeared in the cracks once they were big enough, and Ember started to help them pry the doors open, crying the whole time. 

   "Coran!" Keith grunted. "A little help?"

   "Right!" Coran agreed, finally helping the three Paladins to open the door. Finally, with one last jerk, the doors flew open, and a crying Ember scrambled out of the room. She was muttering things in French too fast and low for them to hear, but the tears kept falling down her face. She looked pale, like she was sick.

   "Em," Lance crouched down in front of the girl. "You're okay! You're in the hallway with Coran, Keith, and me - Lance. There's light, see?"

   "Je vais bien?" Ember hiccuped. 

   "Yes! You're okay! Uh, T-Tu es dans le coffre maintenant!" Lance attempted to speak French, not exactly knowing what he was saying. But whatever it was, it made Ember snort softly, a crooked smile on her face. 

   "Y. . .You just told me I'm safe in the trunk now. . ." Ember translated. 

   "Totally not what I meant to say!!" Lance panicked, grabbing Ember by her shoulders. "But, are you okay? Are you better? What was in the room with you?"

   "N-Nothing," Ember stammered, placing her shaky hands on Lance's hands. "It was just. . .dark."

   "Alright, well, we've got to find Pidge and Hunk - Shiro as well. Do you want to join us?" Lance asked carefully. 

   "Don't leave me, please," Ember begged, eyes going wide in fear. "Please! I don't think-"

   "We aren't going to leave you," Keith finally joined the two on the floor, placing a hand on her upper back. "Here, do you want a piggy back ride?" His face started to turn pink. "E-Er, I heard you liked having piggy back rides, so. . ."

   "Thanks," Ember whispered, smiling a little. A few tears fell down her face, but she wasn't panicking anymore. "I'd love a piggy back ride."

   "Alright," Keith awkwardly turned around and got off from the ground, bending his knees a little so Ember could get on easier. "Well, come on."

Lance helped Ember stand before they got her onto Keith's back, her arms wrapping around his chest so she wouldn't choke him out, and Keith's hands holding her up by her thighs. 

   "They might be in the bay. . ." Lance muttered, starting to walk off. Coran and Keith followed him quickly. It wasn't long before the three of them marched through the doors, seeing Pidge and Hunk laying on the ground. 

   "How can you guys be taking a nap while this castle is trying to kill us?" Lance demanded. 

   "Taking a nap? We've been floating around in Zero G! You know how scary that is?" Hunk retorted. 

   "That's not scary! That's fun! I was almost ejected into space!" Lance argued. 

   "I got attacked by killer food, that's the most horrifying thing you can imagine!" Hunk shot back. "The stuff of nightmares! It'll haunt me to my grave!"

   "Well, I had a robot trying to kill me!" Keith joined in, jostling Ember up as she started to fall. "Ember was trapped in her room with no light, too!" 

   "Em?!" Pidge exclaimed, looking towards the only other girl in the room. "Are you okay?"

   "Better," Ember mumbled, flinching slightly at the thought. Pidge knew why she was scared of the dark, but that was it. 

   "I don't care what you say, Coran. This castle has gone apples and bananas!" Lance turned towards the gingered hair man. The said man let out a groan. 

   "Perhaps the infection from Sendak's Galra crystal is worse than we thought." 

   "Well, let's get rid of it." Hunk pointed out as the small group looked over at the purple crystal. 

   "It's too late," Coran sighed. "When Sendak plugged it into the ship, it corrupted the entire system." 

   "Sendak?" Keith echoed, realization kicking him in the face. "Wait. Has anyone seen Shiro?"

   "Last time I saw him, he was still with Sendak," Lance started before paling. "Oh, no."

   "Quick! We've gotta get to him!" Ember exclaimed, making everyone start to run to where they last saw Shiro. The group ran as fast as they could down to the lower brig. Keith, surprisingly, was one of the people near the front - even with Ember on his back. 

When they finally got down there, the door slid open to revel a tired Shiro, clutching his head and leaning against the pod that was suppose to hold Sendak's memories. Sendak was no where to be seen. 

   "Shiro, are you okay?" Pidge asked as they all rushed over to him. 

    "Where's Sendak?" Keith and Ember chimed in at the same time. 

    "I. . .I had to get him out of here." Shiro mumbled. "I was hearing his voice. He. . .He can't be trusted on this ship."

    "It is the ship!" Lance retorted. "I got stuck in a cryo-pod, then, in an airlock. Keith got attacked by a robot, Hunk and Pidge got attacked by food, and Ember was locked tight in her room. It's been a weird morning."

A screen lit up behind them, showing a portal and a ship. Ember read the Altean words below - or, at least finding the key symbols, before frowning. 

   "What? How is that possible?" Coran asked in disbelief. 

   "I mean, it shouldn't be possible," Ember agreed. 

   "What is it?" Keith asked, griping Ember's thighs. 

   "The ship is starting a wormhole jump!" Coran exclaimed. Ember furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. 

   "Coran. . .Where did you leave Allura last?"

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

By the time they made it to the control room, they were almost at there destination point, where ever that was. Half-way through the trip of running up here, Ember hopped off and ran beside Keith. 

   "I can't hold you back all the time," was her response to Keith unasked question. 

Allura was standing where she usually did whenever they had to make spacial jumps, a light blue barrier surrounding her. 

   "Allura, what's going on?" Shiro demanded. 

   "We're going to Altea. We're going home," Allura answered in an airy voice, turning to look at the Paladins with a smile. "My father is taking us."

   "She's under a spell - some kind of illusion. We've gotta pull her back from the illusion by grounding her," Ember explained as the group rushed towards Allura. 

   "Stay away from my daughter!" King Alfor's hologram appeared and zapped at Shiro.

Hunk let out a groan of discomfort while Shiro took a small step forwards. 

   "Allura, wake up!" 

   "The crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence." Coran deduced. "It's taking over!"

The sky in front of them glowed white before a burning star appeared, looking very reactive. Ember almost sighed in relief with the bright light - but remembered that they could die pretty quick. 

   "We're heading straight for a star and it's about to explode!" Pidge exclaimed.  

   "Father, I can see Altea," Allura cooed. 

   "Allura! Allura, wake up! What you're seeing isn't real!" Coran cried out to the princess, putting a hand on the barrier separating them. 

   "You need to ground her, Coran!" Ember rushed forward, taking Coran's arm. "Make her sing an Altean song, or ask her about what she smells! If she's under a hallucination, we can ground her by using her senses, like smell and touch!"

Allura didn't seem to hear them thought, as she picked something up and held it in her hand. "The juniberries, the most exquisite flower of all."

   "Allura, please! You've got to listen to me!" Coran shouted. 

   "Is this real?" Allura asked. 

   "Or course it is real, Daughter. That flower you're touching is real." King Alfor's A.I. stated. 

   "What do the juniberries smell like?!" Ember called out, eyes wide as they got closer to the star. 

   "Where is the fragrance of the sweet juniberries?" Coran added on. That seem to knock Allura out of her trance as she faced the front of the ship. 

   "That's not Altea," Allura stated in a shaky voice. 

   "When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system." Pidge informed everyone. "Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here!"

Allura rushed forwards, placing her hands on the two pedestals before an electric rush shot through her, knocking her out of the barrier. The princess screamed in surprise as Shiro caught her. 

   "Father, please, I beg you to turn this ship around." Allura pleaded, trying to get through the barrier. "If we don't do it soon, we will all perish!" 

   "I know. That is my intention." King Alfor replied. 

   "What? Why?" 

   "Don't you see, dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated. He's been ruling for ten thousand years." 

   "But we must continue to fight!" Allura cried. 

   "Fight for what? It is all over to Altea. Half of the Majesdanians have been wiped out as well. You don't have to live a lifetime of war. You can be with me and the rest of your people." King Alfor tried to persuade Allura.  

   "Father, please! The paladins and I can still stop Zarkon!" Allura begged. "Somewhere in there, you must want that to happen." 

King Alfor's A.I. started to glitch, before he started to speak in a rushed tone. "Allura, my A.I. has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source." Another glitch. "We can stroll across the Blossom Canyon every morning, just like we use to, with Queen Leslie. Her daughter, Karolina, missed you dearly. Remember how much you loved that?"

   "I remember. I'll see you soon, Father." Allura whispered, turning towards the Paladins. "I've got to get to the A.I. chamber to disconnect my father's power source manually."

   "But that means losing King Alfor forever!" Coran exclaimed. 

   "Paladins, get to your lions! I need you to slow the Castle's decent into the star." She looked at Ember. "Ember, when I disconnect my father's A.I. I need you to spacial jump us somewhere, anywhere."

   "G-Got it," Ember nodded, anxiety taking over her. She had no idea to do a spacial jump. 

   "I can try to override the system to open the hangers." Coran informed everyone as Allura ran out of the room. 

   "Thanks, Coran!" Shiro called over his shoulder as the rest of Voltron went to the hangars where their lions were. Ember paced nervously in front of the blue barrier that wouldn't let her pass. 

   "Where should I take us?" Ember asked Coran, fidgeting with her fingers. "I don't even know what to do."

   "Just think of a place to take us." Coran said simply. "Anywhere."

   "I don't know this solar system!!" 

   "Right," Coran drawled out. "Well. . .The farthest planet I can think of that isn't too long away from here. . .is Idorus. Just far enough to get us out of this supernova, that Pidge called it."

   "Idorus," Ember breathed, nodding to herself. "Okay, that's a pretty easy name to remember. . ."  

   "Oh, but the people on that planet are very interesting. I can barely even remember the language they spoke," Coran was cut off as the barrier suddenly disappeared, making Ember jump. "She did it."

   "Okay, okay," Ember rambled, stepping up to the spot Allura usually stands. "J-Just think of the planet, right? Not too hard!"

   "Don't forget, you got to use your powers to start the reaction." Coran added. 

   "How do I even have powers?!" 

   "We'll explain later, I promise!" Allura suddenly rushed in, making a comm link appear in front of her. "Paladins, get to your hangars. We're getting out of here."

Once the paladins got into their hangars, Allura turned towards Ember. "Now!"

Ember closed her eyes, trying to get the same feeling that she had on the Balmera to flow through her arms. A warm sensation seem to travel down her arms, making her eyes flash open. She gasped. 

Instead of her normal pale hands, Ember's whole arm was glowing translucent colors - blending beautifully and sparkling all the while. 

   "Ember!"

  Idorus, Idorus, take us to Idorus!  Ember thought frantically. She didn't even realize that she created a spacial portal until they were flying through it, the star exploding behind her. 

Ember's hands danced in front of her face as she tried to figure out why she was suddenly a flashlight of vibrant lights.

Her gaze went up to Allura and Coran - who didn't even look surprised by the sudden powers - just in awe. Tears welled up in her eyes, even though she wasn't sad. 

   "What am I?"

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

As soon as the paladins made it back to the hangar - Ember's arms went back to her normal pale color, and she ran to the only place she felt like herself. 

Her arboretum.

Hours later, her face was streaked with dirt and she was checking on every one of her plant. She heard the whoosh of the door opening, but made no movement to answer whoever was there. So the two of them sat in silence.

 Finally, someone spoke.

   "This place looks a lot better than the last time I saw it," Allura soft voice echoed in the room. 

   "It needs more plants, but I'm working with the few I brought with me, and the few the Castle has. Most of them are from the Galra ship we raided in the beginning." She paused. "That seems like so long ago. . ."

   "Ember, I want to talk about your blood line. Not your human part, but the other part that makes your powers come forth-"

   "Please," Ember started. "not now. You just lost the closest thing to a father you had, and I don't want to make you throw yourself into work to make yourself forget."

   "But, Ember-"

   "Here," Ember suddenly stood and offered a hand to Allura. "I've actually been meaning to show you something. They've grown at a faster rate than I thought they would have - but I think you'll like them."

Allura took Ember's hand, not even bothered by the dirt that stained them as Ember lead her to another part of her arboretum. When Ember let go of her hand, Allura glanced down at the bed they were standing in front of. She let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. 

   "Are those-?"

   "Juniberries?" Ember answered sadly, shaking her head. "I wish so. I planted the next best thing to juniberries - or at least they look somewhat like them." Ember knelt down and picked a flower carefully from the dirt, standing up and handing Allura the flower. "Pink lillies."

   "They smell," Allura sniffed the flowers with tears in her eyes. "Nothing like them."

   "I couldn't get the juniberry scent without a juniberry - but I thought that having the almost same flower would make you feel better. . ." Ember trailed off, scratching the back of her head. She left out an breath of surprise as Allura tackled her into a hug, squeezing the younger girl tightly around the shoulders. 

   "Thank you," Allura whispered. "They don't smell the same, but they smell amazing. Thank you, so much. . ."

   "You're welcome," Ember smiled as she hugged Allura back. "Don't even worry about it. It's what friends do."

▬ Translations ▬

*French

*Spanish

"Maman"

v

"Mother"

"Châtiment"

v

"Punishment"

"Qu'est-ce que j'ai même fait?!"

v

"What did I even do?!"

"Vous êtes né"

v

"You were born!"

"S'il vous plaît, je ne veux plus être dans le noir!"

v

"Please, I don't want to be in the dark anymore!"

"Puerta estúpida!"

v

"Stupid door!"