"We've made great progress while you were gone. And now that we have the scaultrite, we should be finished in less than a quintant." The Altean advisor explains and showed Allura and the Paladins the teludav.
"Wow. That is one giant teludav." Lance comments. He wasn't kidding. It was huge.
"Nice work." Keith complimented.
"Good job. Fist bump." Hunk said as he fist bumped a confused Coran, "Now, blow it up." He added causing the Altean man's eyes to widen.
"Oh, don't you dare! It took forever to build this teludav." Coran retaliated, not getting what Hunk really meant. Cira couldn't blame him. She did not quite understand, either. "And let's not forget it's a pivotal piece in our plan to take down Zarkon." He added, than a screen popped and Coran yelped at the sight.
"I've made some improvements to your design." Slav said as he was hitting the teludav with a rock, "This will increase our chances of survival in this reality 205 percent." He added and went to hitting the machine.
"Is this guy a little—" Cira asked as the others groaned in reply.
"Yes." Shiro.
"No doubt." Pidge.
"Not a fan." Lance.
"Stop hitting the teludav!" Coran yelled, just as a small explosion came from the spot Slav was hitting, getting caught in the blast himself.
Cira met Allura on the balcony overlooking Olkarion City, which stood in front of the sunset. "Allura," She said as she walked up behind her, "there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
"I do not wish to speak with you." Allura said and didn't even turn around to face her.
Nevertheless, Cira continued, "Allura, this plan of ours, it's..." She looked down, "...Well, it's dangerous, you know? We're taking certain risks. You are taking certain risks." She lifted her head to see Allura's tilted in interest, "This teludav, the amount of exertion it will take... I ju—" She stopped herself and saw Allura was now completely turned around, "—You may not survive."
Allura's gaze hardened. She looked a bit offended that Cira would doubt her and her abilities, but Cira was not surprised seeing how much Allura hated her at the moment. "Cira, I know the risks." Her eyes widened at her words and then she watched as Allura turned back around to look at the sunset.
She spoke again, "Father would be proud of the leader you have become."
Cira couldn't say she expected a "he would be proud of you, too." She didn't.
And she never got one.
Cira pressed on. She came forward to stand beside Allura as she watched the sunset. "Do you hate me?" She asked, never looking at her.
Allura tilted her head. The word "hate" was so strong. Allura never thought she could "hate" anyone. Yet, she "hates" Zarkon and the Galra.
There was a pause, stretching on for far too long. Cira waited patiently, but nothing could rid the awkward air between them. Allura looked down, "I..." She froze, "...I want to. So bad. There's a part of me telling that you're different, that you're not my sister. But then," She shrugs and looks at her, "I look at you and...there you are. Do I hate you? No."
Cira shifted visibly in surprise, "Why? Why not?"
"Because you're my sister. You've always been my sister. Whether Alfor is your father or not," Allura plants her hand on Cira's shoulder and then smiles kindly, "I grew up with you. And I don't hate you, I just hate...everything that's happened to you." She pulls her hand back, "And I don't understand why father kept this from us."
"Yeah, well..." Cira leans on the railing, "...turns out I didn't know him as well as I thought I did." She took a breath, "He lied to all of us."
"Do you hate him?"
Cira took a beat. She leaned back and breathed out, "...Yes."
The Castle of Lions was silent as the five Paladins and three Alteans slept. They had successfully completed their individual tasks that day in their plan to take down Zarkon. Shiro, Pidge, and Lance had rescued Slav from the Galra Prison; Hunk and Keith had braved the belly of a weblum; Allura had flown the castle back to the Balmera and collected the largest crystal ever given; while Coran and Cira had remained on Olkarion building the new teludav.
The Blade of Marmora returned to their headquarters to explain the plan, while Slav was left on Olkarion isolated from the teludav to prevent further damage. Coran reviewed the damage and estimated that the repairs would take an additional day and demanded Slav not be allowed to touch the teludav. He also requested Hunk keep his distance after the comment about blowing the teludav up.
The Olkari were happy to assist with the repairs to the teludav, which allowed Coran to return to the Castle of Lions and ensure all systems were fully operational before the attack on Zarkon.
The day ended, after the hard battle against the previous Ro-Beast on the Balmera, and the team decided to call it a quintant and turn in early.
The Castle remained in orbit around Olkarion and the ship was peaceful. The Lions were stowed in their individual hangars and the inhabitants of the Castle were resting in their quarters.
Cira laid in her bed, tossing and turning. She pulled the covers over her head and buried her face in her pillow. Sweat ran down the back of her neck. Her silver hair stuck to the sides of her face as she struggled to catch her breath.
She woke with a startle. And then, she pulled the covers down to catch her breath. Deciding a good sleep would not come to her that night, she got out of bed and decided that she was, in fact, surprisingly, in the mood to prank someone. She had not had the time previously and was actually not in the mood. Especially after learning that Zarkon could very well be her father.
She tilted her head at her remaining victims.
Keith? Done.
Hunk? Done.
Pidge? Done.
Lance? Not done.
Shiro? Not done.
She had two Paladins to go whilst Coran simply only had Hunk left to prank. She sat there on her bed for a few doboshes and then she had it. She smiled for the first time in a while and then stood and went into Lance's room. He was asleep peacefully and his back was turned to the door as he slept on his side. She tiptoed in and then slowly and stealthily went through his drawers to steal all his clothes. And on her way out, she eyed his dirty laundry. She would not even give him that. Cira took the dirty laundry, as well and left his room, then made her way to her own room.
Then, she actually felt a little bad leaving poor Lance with no clothes. So, she decided she would help him out just a little bit. She came into Pidge's room and took some needed items for poor Lance and then went back into Lance's room and planted them there.
Truth be told, after the rush of executing a prank, sleep came to her quickly. Perhaps it was because she seemed like her old self again, but she knew deep down...
...She would never be like her old self. Never again.
When she woke up the next morning, it was like a normal day in the castle, except that Lance had not been seen yet — perhaps because all his clothes were missing — and surprisingly, Keith was absent, too.
Eventually, someone noticed their absence and went to find them. Cira stayed on the Bridge as she awaited Hunk's return. Lance came back first and instead of wearing Pidge's clothes, he was seen wearing Hunk's, which were just super baggy on him. Cira saw as he had to pull up his pants every five seconds and smiled. She saw he even had Hunk's orange strip of cloth tied around his forehead. Lance said that Hunk told him he had to wear it because it "really put the outfit together."
"Does anyone else feel like something is up with Keith and Shiro?" Hunk walked onto the Bridge, and caught everyone's attention. The giant crystal, which the team had obtained from the Balmera and powered the ship, was overhead at the center, where Allura stood, reviewing their plan of attack on Zarkon.
"Did you find them?" Allura asked, turning around from the control console. She had the monitor up with Zarkon's ship and was trying to isolate possible variables to ensure the most effective attack.
"If by them you mean Shiro because he wouldn't let me into the hangar to see Keith. He was all guard dog defensive. Something is going on with them."
"Shiro is the Black Paladin, which was Zarkon before him and Keith learned he is part Galra. I think it's safe to say there would be something wrong with any of us if we learned that. I think they are handling it very well." Pidge typed away on her computer. She was sitting on the side steps on Hunk's left. He recognized the coding to be Galra, but couldn't figure out what it was about.
"I second that." Lance was looking over Coran's shoulder at his workstation as Coran monitored the systems over the Castle of Lions. He was running a full diagnostic of the castles systems in preparation. The crew had decided to take the day to rest up and prepare, while the teludav was finished and repaired where Slav had damaged it. Lance reached to push a button and Coran swatted him away.
Cira remained silent. She was sure everyone knew where she stood on the discussion, anyway. Hunk walked down the side steps Pidge was on and took her laptop away. "Hey!" Pidge yelled, causing everyone in the control room to turn towards her.
"Okay, okay, but that doesn't mean Shiro gets a free pass at trying to kill me. He almost cut off my head with his glowing hand when I went up to talk to him. Anyone second that as okay?"
"Well, that's not like him." Cira leaned off the wall curiously.
"No, Cira, it's not. Zarkon being evil and the previous Paladin, I get. Shiro trying to kill me, not so much. I don't know, maybe, we need to rethink the timing of attacking Zarkon."
Pidge stood up and was jumping to try to get her laptop out of Hunk's hands, but he kept turning away at the last second, and Pidge kept missing, "Hunk, give it."
"Am I the only one concerned here?"
"Concerned. For Keith." Lance paused for a moment, "No, can't do it. Ow!"
Coran swatted Lance's hand again, "Don't touch buttons, when you don't know what they do, and you Paladins all need to care for one another."
"I think not!" Lance lifted his finger, "Someone took all my clothes and I think it was Keith, so he gets no sympathy from me." Lance said arrogantly. He stood up straight and then crossed his arms. His pants slumped down and he made a quick move to catch them.
"It wasn't Keith. It was me. It was a prank." Said Cira.
Lance's hands let go of Hunk's trousers, "A prank?"
Pidge snatched the laptop out of Hunk's hands before he could change his mind, "You said Keith was in the Red Lion's hangar?"
"That's what it seemed like. However, like I said, Shiro wouldn't let me in to see him."
"I'll pull up the camera feed." Pidge typed on her computer. "There. Looks like Keith is in there."
"What is he doing?" Lance said, walking over to look behind Pidge at the screen.
"Pull it up on the monitor." Allura requested.
Pidge typed on the keypad and the screen popped up on the overhead monitor. Cira joined the group on the upper deck. They stared at the screen in silence. The group squinted, except Lance who tilted his head sideways like a dog.
"My question still stands. What is he doing?"
"Standing." Cira said.
"Looking at his Lion." Pidge said.
"Maybe he is having a staring contest." Hunk said.
"The Lion has his mouth open. It must want him to go in." Allura said.
"Why wouldn't Keith go in?" Lance asked.
"Why would he have a staring contest with a machine?" Hunk asked.
"Shh. Hey, look he moved." Lance silenced Hunk.
The group took another moment staring at the screen. "I think he stepped back." Pidge said, adjusting her glasses.
"Well, why would he do that? What's wrong with the Lion? What's wrong with him?" Hunk started bantering questions at the others.
"Maybe it's a new bonding exercise." Cira suggested.
"Yeah, they seem real close." Pidge commented.
A buzzer on the monitor started going off. "What's that? Are we under attack? Is it the Galra? How did they find us?" Hunk continued his banter.
"No. It's not an attack." Allura pushed the video to the side with a swipe of her hand and pulled up the buzzer warning that said, 'hangar bay locked'. "That's strange. It seems Shiro locked himself in the Black Lion's hangar. He must not want to be disturbed, either."
"Oh, I knew he was lying to me when he said he was going back to his room."
"I'm sure he's fine, Hunk." Allura tried to reassure him.
"And what about Keith?"
Allura turned away. Hunk knew she still refused to acknowledge Keith, along with Cira since she found out they were part Galra, but he could feel in his gut, the fear was warranted.
"Well, I know one thing. There is no way I'm letting Keith be closer or more connected than me and Blue." Lance turned to leave, tugging up Hunk's pants as he went.
Hunk watched him as he left, "Where are you going?"
"To do some further bonding exercises with Blue." Lance said before the door closed behind him.
"I think I saw something!" Pidge said, enthusiastically.
"What is it?" Cira strained her neck up closer to the monitor.
"Nothing, I was just kidding." Pidge tapped a button on her laptop and the video feed link on the monitor disappeared, "Not that spying on Keith isn't fun, but I'm going to head to the Green Lion's hangar bay. I think I can adjust the cloaking to last longer. I'll see you all later, and Hunk, I'm sure the other two are just tired. They'll be back to themselves soon enough."
Hunk nodded and Pidge left the control room. Once Pidge had left, he slumped his shoulders forward. "I'm not any more convinced they're fine." His stomach growled, "If anyone needs me I'll be in the kitchen stress cooking."
"That's the spirit, Hunk."
Allura just shook her head at Coran as Hunk sulked out of the room and Cira left soon after, not being able to stand being left in the room with Coran.