Fusion. A Klance Fanfiction

Chapter 7

Unsure of where he was, Keith took in his environment. He was surrounded in black and the area was filled with a deathly silence that weighed heavy on his shoulders. He opened his mouth to scream for help but, no matter how much he tried, no sound would escape. He tried to walk but wasn't sure which direction was which as everything around him was black. Each direction looked the exact same.

Keith wasn't sure how much time had passed but, eventually, a peculiar sensation engulfed his body. It felt like a tiny electric current running right from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. When he looked down, his skin was glowing like the nightlight he had had in one of his foster homes as a young kid. He had once been terrified of the dark but that nightlight had helped prevent many sleepless nights. Still, the presence of the glow made Keith feel uneasy. He was a human being cross Galra who wasn't meant to light up at all, let alone emit a glow that had the ability to light up an entire room. Petrified, he wanted to scream out but, of course, he couldn't because he had somehow forgotten how to form basic words. As each moment passed, Keith felt like his body was getting lighter and lighter until he blinked and was met with white.

A hand gently stroked Keith's cheek and he desperately tried to pull away. The person's skin was wrinkly and rough, not at all resembling the soft hands Keith had grown used to. "You will come of good use, red paladin." The voice speaking was one Keith would never forget: Haggar. The Galran witch who was a large part of the intergalactic war Keith was meant to be fighting with Voltron. Keith was finally able to scream and he did so at the highest pitch and volume he could muster. The sound was deafening as it shook the room like an earthquake.

The bed he was on was much too soft. It felt exactly like the marshmallow of a bed that he had been forced to sleep on in one of his earlier foster homes (he was kicked out as soon as he refused to sleep on it so that home didn't last long). His eyes were straining against the the bright light that was burning his irises as a result of its intensity. His heart was beating too loudly in his chest, drumming and getting louder and louder as each second past until all Keith wanted to do was cover his ears with his hands. GETOUTGETOUTGETOUT. Keith attempted to pull himself up but his limbs were screaming at him to keep still so he allowed himself to collapse back onto the bed.

"Now, now..." Haggar murmured, wrapping her long bone-y fingers around Keith's arm. Her touch was too harsh so Keith's first instinct was to get away from it. He groaned, trying once again to pull away. He didn't like it. He didn't like it. He didn't like it. "Calm down!"

Telling someone having a meltdown to 'calm down' was like telling someone with depression that it was 'all in their head'. It wasn't going to magically make them feel better. Two basic words wouldn't dim the lights, release the pressure on his arm or slower the frantic beating of his heart. Keith needed patience and gentle touches like Shiro's and Lance's. Familiarity helped too but it was difficult to recite Keith's lists when Haggar was suffocating him with her presence.

"Paladin?" Haggar sounded confused as the word raised in pitch. Keith scrunched his eyes shut, thrashing about as much as he could on the small bed. Finally, Haggar released his arm with the hope that Keith would calm down and listen to what she had to say. He shuffled backwards on the bed, hugging his legs so he could rock back and forth. He buried his head into his knees and started to murmur his favourite list. "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars..."

Haggar stepped back, eyes thin as she watched the red paladin's obscure behaviour. She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, only hearing a series of hushed whispers. She had never seen anyone act in such a peculiar way. She had no idea what was going on with the paladin who was supposed to be her weapon. To defeat Voltron, she required strength and bravery but Keith looked more like a frightened child than a defender of the universe. "Paladin?" She repeated, reaching out to place her hand on Keith's back. His response was to groan again, body trembling violently. "What can I do to calm you down? I command you to stop!" When Keith didn't respond, Haggar let out a dramatic huff. She raised both of her hands, a blue glow surrounding her fingers as magic spread through her body. After leaning forward, she harshly pressed her palms into Keith's shoulders until his body relaxed and he dropped onto his back.