Brighter Than the Stars: A Voltron Fanfic (Keith X OC)

Chapter 16

Allura said, "Er ... no?"

Violet rubbed her temples. "Alright. This is nothing we can't handle, right? Voltron's not working. Zarkon has evilly black magic and, apparently, a space suit and a really cool weapon. I'm stuck in a tiny ship trying to reach the castle, and we're about to face the brunt of Zarkon's fleet in, oh, ten minutes. Perfect."

"We need to distract Zarkon. Get the ship closer to him," Allura ordered. "On my mark, fire at him with all the power we have."

Coran exclaimed, "Princess, we won't be able to protect ourselves against an attack!"

Allura's voice was firm. "It is our only choice. Paladins, I beg you: remember. Remember everything you've gone through together. Remember the failures, the victories, but remember fighting as one. Don't stop now. Fight with everything you have. Coran, fire!"

The castle fired a blast toward Zarkon. Violet veered out of the way as Zarkon shielded it, the blast going sideways. The beam took out several Galra ships, arching back towards Violet. She cursed. There was only one way to go to avoid the hit - going back towards Zarkon's fleet. She swerved towards the side, evading the blast of power.

"Princess, look out!" Lance yelled. Violet looked up. The beam the castle fired had rebounded off Zarkon's shield. It slammed into the castle, cracking apart the ship. There was a crash, static, and then utter silence.

"Allura!" someone yelled. Violet couldn't tell who, but she was too horrified to ask. She swallowed down the terror like a pill in her throat, forcing her rage and pain and fear and guilt into a blade.

"Paladins, listen up," she said. "You all have no idea how many battles I've seen. I've seen people die. I've seen whole worlds destroyed. Usually I've been the cause of that. Sometimes it seems like life is created just to be stamped out."

She drew in a long breath and let it out. "Throughout it all, there have been flashes of light in the darkness, but none of them were ever strong enough to challenge the black void the universe was in. Until now.

"Voltron can win. It's the only thing I've ever seen come close to defeating Zarkon. It will win this not because it's a super-powerful metal lion weapon, though that certainly helps - but because of the people inside it.

"As much as Zarkon hates to admit it, he's alone. He has nothing to fight for. But we do. That's why it doesn't matter if you're flying a space lion or a cardboard box. Because all of us have people we need to return home to. Those people give us the will to fight, even when our strength has failed us and hope seems out of reach.

"Pidge. Your brother and father are still alive. They're still fighting for you. Are you going to give up on them?"

"No." The green lion's eyes glowed, coming back to life.

"Hunk. There are people in this world who don't know what it's like to be free. And, somewhere on earth, your family is waiting for you to come home. Will you return to them?"

"Always," Hunk said, and the yellow lion shone bright.

"Lance. Allura is in the castle right now, unable to fight with us. She could be hurt. Will you defend her? Will you defend your niece and nephew, your parents and their parents, who are waiting for you to come home?"

"To my dying breath." The blue lion growled, eyes brightening.

"Shiro. You're the leader of this team. The universe relies on you. But most importantly, your friends rely on you. The other paladins need you - the black lion needs you. Will you let them down?"

"Never." The black lion blazed alight.

Violet took a breath - the last one was going to be the hardest. "Keith. You've been a loner your whole life. But now, you have people to fight for. You have a purpose - to all the other paladins. And ... your mom is out there. I don't know if she's fighting, but ... will you fight for her?"