Voltron: A New Age [Next Generation]

Chapter 14: Ciana

Luri's pov:

It was hard for her to climb out of bed, she and her team were officially seen as the worst Voltron there ever was.. People all over the universe were asking for the old Voltron. Ever since Paul had drastically changed they hadn't been able to form Voltron and they were getting their asses kicked everywhere.
She was not only sad about that. She was sad that it was her brother, her twin, that had hurt the team so much and now nobody knew where he was.
They couldn't get a hold of her mother, the UBE made sure they couldn't get another White Paladin.
"Something's changed," Bandor said which snapped her out of her own mind.
"What do you mean?" Erity asked as she walked over to him, it was evident that Erity was suffering too from what happened to Paul.. nobody even knew what had happened to him. Adam actually got a hunch that maybe the princess Eunorah had bewitched his mind at the intergalactic ball, and that was about the only idea they had. Paul wasn't naturally evil, he travelled through the universe for work just to learn of other people's cultures and to showcase them in his artworks. He was a loved and successful artist throughout the universe, someone like that doesn't just snap.
"The princesses have set a course for Earth," Bandor said and frowned, "and they're not shy about sharing that all either."
"We need to follow after them," Reyan said, "that's our home."
"They're not attacking Earth actually," Bandor said, "it's said that they've landed and are searching."
"If we can get these transmissions through we should be able to contact the Atlas and get Maisey here," Darya said, "I know it sucks about Paul, but we have more people to save and right now Maisey is our only chance of getting there."
"I can try," Luri said, her voice sounding hoarse, "it's a blood matter when it comes to the White Lion, right? I share that blood, maybe now the Lion will accept me."
"It's worth a shot," Reyan said, "but then we'd have to get Lance here for the red one."
"No, Cassie or Bandor could try for red," Luri said, "the red one might be temperamental but it doesn't choose by blood, the white one does therefor it can only be me or my mom."
"Let's go," Reyan said as he got up from his seat and waved over for Luri to follow. She took a deep breath and followed after Reyan. It felt wrong having to replace her brother as white paladin, but maybe that was needed. Who knows when Paul would be back? Or if he ever would come back? She didn't even know where she was and she desperately wanted to search for her brother but they had a more important mission.
"Give it a go," Reyan said when they reached the white paladins hangar, "I'll be right here if you need me."
"Thanks," Luri said as she looked up to the Lion. After a long silence she walked into the Lion, she didn't expect much of it but she had to try.
Sitting down in his seat, which was adjusted to his height, it felt strange. Luri closed her eyes and tried to connect with the Lion, trying to convince it to let her pilot it but it refused. It wouldn't even let her in, what a stubborn Lion that was.
She opened her eyes and just when she thought this couldn't get any worse she spotted something stuck to the ceiling. It was a photo of him with Ciana and on it was written "for my little niece", she recognized her brother's perfect handwriting and the way all his Y's were curved out under the words. Every time he would have doubts about this mission he would look up to that photo and encourage himself to keep going. Not for Genevieve, not for Erity, not for their parents and not for her but for Ciana, his niece.
Luri squeezed her eyes shut as she tried not to cry, her emotions were overwhelming her and the Lion wouldn't accept her. This was an awful day and so she walked out of the Lion, defeated.
"Call my mother," she told Reyan, "she's our only hope now."

Shay's pov:

It had been so long since Shay had heard anything from Hunk. Shay was looking after Ciana for a while now and she was getting more stubborn with the day, she missed her mom, she missed her grandparents and her uncle.
She was only four years old and Shay was used to that age, she raised three children of her own of course. Luckily a friendly face would show up for her, Coran had just landed from the Atlas and would take Ciana under his wing. Ciana loved his stories about old Altea, about Aresa and Alfor but the Allura stories and the Voltron stories were her favorite. She wasn't ashamed to tell everyone that her own grandmother was her favorite paladin.
"Pop-pop!" Ciana exclaimed as she ran toward Coran who walked out of his pod. Coran smiled brightly as he crouched down and caught the girl as she leaped forward to him.
"My dear Ciana!" Coran said with his thick accent, "how tall you've gotten already!"
"I've missed you," Ciana said as she played with the edges of Coran'a mustache, curling them even more.
"I've missed you too," Coran said and sighed, "but I am here now and we will have a lot of fun, won't we?"
"When will mommy be back?" Ciana asked, "I miss mommy."
"Mommy is quite busy being a paladin, just like grandma Maisey I told you about," Coran said as they walked over to Shay, "remember?"
"But grandma is being a hero again, can't she do that alone?" Ciana asked, "I want my mommy."
"Soon, sweet girl," Coran said as his expression saddened, "soon, I promise."
Coran placed her down before Shay and Ciana immediately ran off to some other kids that were stationed at the Garrison.
"How's it going up there?" Shay asked Coran worried, with Bellamy and Kordian helping their dad at the Atlas and Darya as the yellow paladin Shay was left in the dark, wondering wether her family was safe or not.
"Darya is excelling as the yellow paladin, of course," Coran spoke, "Kordian and Bellamy are fighter pilots and assist James Griffin in important missions and Hunk is always making sure that the diplomatic missions go to plan, and he of course keeps everyone together."
"So, what's got you so upset?" Shay asked him, her family was doing great but Coran seemed to down.
"Adamari was tortured by one of the princesses," Coran said, "she's lost it and I'm worried we might've lost her forever."
"Quiznak," Shay gasped, "how are Avrigg and Romelle holding up?"
"Badly, after the intergalactic ball failed Avrigg went rogue," Coran explained, "she's hunting the princesses down with Moudol's help and Romelle is trying to find someone to help, last I've heard they're pruning Ezra Parker in to check on her since he's now a successful psychologist."
"Ciana's birth father?" Shay asked shocked, "and Luri's okay with that?"
"It was her idea actually," Coran explained, "I haven't heard from them however, all contact has been compromised again and I don't know how far along they are with planning."
"I'm sure they are okay," Shay said softly, "let's get you inside."
Shay guided Coran inside and offered him some nunvill since he actually liked the taste of it. Not much later Ciana came to get him and so Shay and Coran followed her to her room.
On the floor were probably thousands of toys, since Ciana cried so much over missing her family Shay began gifting her as many toys as she could find.
Along the hallway Shay spotted Genevieve, ever since Paul had send a message out to her she had been sad, but refused to tell anyone why.
"Look, this is my mermaid princess," Ciana said as she showed Coran the purple mermaid princess, "her name is actually Gemma but I liked Rory more and so that's her name now."
"You are absolutely right," Coran said as he sat down on the floor besides her, "they should've named her Rory."
"I know right," Ciana said and Shay chuckled, Ciana was such a cute kid. Not at all like Luri was at that age, she remembered what Luri was like because she was always in trouble, Shiro actually said it was because she took after Keith. Multiple people could confirm that statement.
Suddenly the alarms went off, someone got onto the premises, someone who shouldn't be here.
"Shay, lock the door!" Coran shouted and Shay immediately ran for the door but it was too late.
The door was swung open and she was surprised by who it was in the dooropening.
"Paul?" Shay asked confused. At first she was happy to see him but then she noticed it. This person in front of her wasn't Paul.
This person had yellow glowing eyes, the circles under his eyes were red and puffy and he seemed to be sleep deprived, he had also gotten skinnier in his face but his arms were still muscular. The cold look in his eyes told her enough, Paul wasn't in there. If someone had warm smiles it was Paul and this was one of the coldest looks she had ever seen on his face.
"Uncle Paul!" Ciana shouted excited as she was about to run towards Paul but luckily Coran caught her just in time and pulled her back.
"You need to leave," Shay said and the fear in her voice was evident.
"I just got here," Paul said but his voice sounded double, like playing the same recording only a mere second apart from each other, it echoed and it was the coldest sound she'd ever heard.
"What do you want?" Shay asked him as she straightened her back.
"My niece," Paul said as he chuckled devilishly, "Luri told me to pick her up."
"We don't believe you, and you need to leave," Shay said sternly. Paul grunted annoyed and his demeanor changed for the worse. He got his bayard and knocked Shay onto her head, she fell down crying and clutched at her head. Paul had always been strong but now it felt like he had the force of three box fighters combined.
Shay's vision was blurry and she turned to see Coran and Ciana. Ciana screamed at the top of her lungs, the happiness she had when her uncle entered her bedroom was gone and replaced with utter fear. Coran, despite his age, covered Ciana and refused to let Paul pass, even when he knocked Coran in the head several times he remained strong and protected Ciana. What happened next nobody could've comprehended.
Paul had gotten annoyed with Coran's attempts to keep Ciana from him, he used his paladin skills to form a large dagger from his bayard and without a second thought he lunged the dagger forward. The dagger pierced through Coran's heart but Coran barely flinched.
"Ciana, run!" Coran shouted.
"What about you pop- pop?" Ciana asked as she took a few steps back.
"Pop-pop's going to be fine," he said as a single year drop fell from his eyes, "Pop-pop's going to visit aunt Allura, finally."
"C-Ciana, run!" Shay managed to get out as she tried to crawl forward but she was too weak.
Coran used the last of his strength to divert the attention from Ciana, to keep Paul busy for as long as he could, so Ciana could run away and so she did. Ciana was safely out of the room, Paul pulled the dagger out of Coran's chest and ran off. Ciana was smart, he wouldn't get her so quickly now.
Shay watched Coran fall onto his back as blood was pouring out of the stabwound. Shay crawled over to him and pressed her hands on his wounds but Coran pushed her hand away and offered her a sad smile.
"It's okay, Shay," Coran said softly, "I'll be okay."
"N-no!" Shay cried, "someone help us!"
"Protect Ciana, she's more important," Coran said and he looked up to the ceiling, "that wasn't Paul, that wasn't my grandson."
"N-no, but he still did this to you," Shay stammered as Coran was now in a pool of his own blood.
"Tell him I don't blame him, when he's himself again, I don't want him to feel guilty for the rest of his life over something he had no control over," Coran whispered and he looked up to the ceiling, "I'll miss my family here but how long I've waited to return to my family up there."
"Coran," Shay whispered, unsure of what to say as her heart was breaking, "we could help you-"
"I don't need help," Coran said as he closed his eyes and smiled, "Allura's waiting for me, they're all waiting for me. I shouldn't keep them waiting, they've waited for too long."
Shay wanted to scream for help again but when Coran let out a loud sigh she knew it was over, Coran had passed away. He had passed away without saying goodbye to his family, to Maisey whom he viewed as his own daughter, to the rest of Voltron that had become his new family. He died protecting Ciana Kogane.

Genevieve's pov:

When the alarms went off Genevieve simply thought it was another drill. So she quietly sat at her desk in her bedroom, listening to the transmission that Paul had send her. In that transmission he explains how this relationship has become too difficult for him and how he can't offer her everything she deserves because he's in love with another. He never mentioned who it was but she wasn't stupid.
Genevieve always knew of the special connection he had with Erity Shirogane.
Genevieve got startled when the vent under her bed suddenly slammed open, she got her diary and was about to throw it but then she noticed that it was Ciana that crawled into her room. The little girl had blood on her and she seemed distressed.
"Ciana," Genevieve gasped as she ran over to the little girl to check on her, "what happened?"
"Uncle-" Ciana stammered as she kept on gasping for air, "uncle Paul, he.. he killed pop-pop."
"W-what?" Genevieve asked her confused. Paul was here? He killed Coran? He wouldn't do that, he loved Coran, Coran was his grandfather.
"You're sure you saw your uncle Paul?" Genevieve asked and Ciana nodded, "why would he?"
"He's here to get me," Ciana cried, "he lied about my mommy asking him to get me, my mommy would never tell him to kill pop-pop.. my mommy wouldn't!"
"I know, I know," Genevieve said as she pulled the little girl into a warm embrace, "why don't we get you-"
"Genevieve," Paul's voice sounded from the other side of the door, but it wasn't really Paul. The way his voices sounded was different, it was cold and it echoed almost like he was bewitched or something.
"Ciana," Genevieve whispered as she pushed the little girl behind her, "I need you to get back into the vent and stay there, he can't find you."
"O-okay," Ciana said as she crawled back into the vent and Genevieve closed it behind her.
"I need you to stay absolutely quiet, don't make any sound," Genevieve whispered to her, "can you do that for me?"
"Y-yes," Ciana whispered and Genevieve got back up and straightened her back. Maybe Paul would kill her too or maybe he'd leave after she showed him that Ciana wasn't there. But Genevieve knew she had to act as if she didn't know he was corrupted.
"What are you doing here, Paul?" Genevieve asked with her heart nearly pounding out of her chest, "I thought you were in space, saving the universe as the white paladin."
"I am," he said and she could hear a low chuckle, "Luri's told me to get Ciana, you wouldn't know where she is, would you?"
"Sorry, I don't look after the nieces and nephews of my exes," she said, "they lose that privilege when they break up with me over a transmission."
"I'm not sorry," Paul said and although it wasn't really Paul speaking it still hurt, "I don't love you anymore, I wish I did because you're amazing but I don't."
"That's okay," Genevieve said as the tears began to burn in her eyes. She loved this man with all her heart and to hear him tell her so coldheartedly that he didn't love her anymore was heart wrenching to her.
"Open the door," Paul said, "so I can explain it to you, you know I'd never hurt you."
"You already have, Paul," Genevieve spoke, "so I think it's best if we don't see each other again."
It was the only excuse she could think of that he could understand, otherwise she'd have to open that door and she feared him more than anything. If he killed his own grandfather in cold blood, imagine what he would do to his ex girlfriend.
"Wrong answer," Paul said and suddenly the doors unlocked, he had hacked into the system.
Genevieve was horrified what she saw when those doors opened, this man in front of her was not the man she had loved and cherished for over three years. He looked like him but it wasn't him, it was a stranger in his body.
Genevieve wanted to open her mouth to speak, to show him that she wasn't there but Paul's hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. He was choking her, and he choked her so badly that she got lifted off her feet, clawing at him but with no luck.
"T-this isn't you," Genevieve choked out, "you're not a monster, Paul."
"This is me, Gen," Paul said and smirked, "and I know she's in the vent."
Genevieve's eyes widened when he said that and he threw her against the wall, Genevieve dropped onto the ground and couldn't move a muscle. She was fighting to stay conscious but had no luck, the last thing she saw before fainting was Paul dragging Ciana by her auburn hair out of the vent. Those screams would haunt her for the rest of her life.

So, the first character has been killed off.
I'm so sorry to put you all through this, but like I promised no characters, even original ones, are safe in this book.