The Forgotten Paladin

Chapter 22: an awakening

Something ignited inside my pocket, shining brightly enough to blind my vision for a second. I reach back into my pocket, pulling out the stick once more. Nothing changed. 

So I re kindled the lightning between my fingers and it shone brightly, so I kept the lightning crackling and looked closer at the stick. There was a new inscription, glowing brightly on the dark metal. 

'Once you are ready, the secret will be uncovered.'

Okay now this is just a joke, that wasn't helpful at all...

I shove it back into my pocket, sighing as more confusion washed over me. Nothing was making sense. 

I stayed, watching the orb's power flow, its luminescent glow ebbing and changing. Moving my gaze down to my hand, I ignited the lightning again, trying to summon more than before. It grew slowly, expanding little by little. I concentrated harder, trying to maintain it. 

I stopped to look at it, how red it was, sparks flying off in different directions; my marks glowing red again, but my arms weren't burning this time. I was controlling it. Now that I looked closer at the lightning steadying in my palm, there were small patters and symbols flowing through it. 

What are those? The patterns look so strange, they keep changing and morphing into other ones.

I defuse the lightning, watching it disperse into nothing; thinking about the symbols, and the stick. I guess we really have to find these blade of marmora base now, maybe they have answers.

I walk back to the Bridge, placing my ear piece back in, a sharp ringing echoes through it and I quickly take it out. 

Shoot, I must have fried it with the electricity earlier, another thing I've broken...

Everyone is crowded on the bridge when I return, all looking at Pidge.

PIDGE: "Guys! Check this out!"

HUNK: "Oh no! I've seen this experiment. But question: Why do we need to get electricity from a potato?"

PIDGE: "What? No, no. I was able to crack the 'sporse code'. I ran the bioluminescent pattern through a variety of code-breaking sequences, including this homemade virtual turing machine. Of course, I had to make a few tweaks to the original design, because, obviously, there have been several advancements since he designed it. Although, you have to admit, Turing was a shining light in the world of science in an age where far too many were still-"

KEITH: "Pidge, what does it say?"

PIDGE: "Oh, yeah. 'Under attack. Galra. Help.' and then, there are coordinates."

SHIRO: "It's a distress signal. Good work Pidge. Get those coordinates into the castle-ship's navigation system."

CORAN: "The signal came from Olkarion, home to the Olkari, a proud class of engineers, builders of vast cities that could change shape at the whim of their creators."

Y/N: "I've met a few before, they had magical abilities to manipulate sold metal, building computers inside a block of steel."

Allura gave me a strange look, I couldn't tell exactly what it meant so I brushed it off. 

PIDGE: "Woah."

CORAN: "An Olkari once gave me this!"

LANCE: "What is it?"

They mess around with the strange mimicking cube,  we all chuckle at Coran's amusement. I catch Lance's eye, he rushes over to me. 

LANCE: "Woahh, look at these cool symbols! You're even cooler than I thought Y/N!" He looks closely at my arms, Pidge and Hunk rush over to admire them too. I feel embarrassed but also relieved that they're not disgusted by them. I smile, watching their curious and bewildered faces.

HUNK: "These are awesome Y/N! How come you never showed them before?"

Y/N: "I was a little nervous I guess." 

PIDGE: "Well, we love them! You should leave you jacket off more often!"

We all smile at each other, Shiro looks over at me, pride reaching across his face. He mouths 'well done' and I smile proudly at him. I glance over to Keith and catch a glimpse of the smile he was trying to hide. 

ALLURA POV: Those marks look so familiar, and for some reason... I have a bad feeling... How does she know the Olkari? And where did she come from?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks so much for reading! I'm sorry that my writing is a little sporadic but I hope I'll learn and improve :D