We all sat in our seats on the command deck, watching the screen in front of us as the air an blared in our ears.
"What's going on?" Keith asked as we stared at the warning on the screen.
"Yeah, these have never gone off before." Pidge said.
I turned around and saw that Allura was completely paralyzed. It was as if she was frozen in place and her eyes were wide with shock.
"Allura, what is it?" Lance asked the shocked princess.
"Looks like you guys just saw a ghost." Hunk commented.
I stood up and walked around my seat to Allura's side. As I got a better look at the readings, I understood why they were so shocked.
It was a familiar code.
"That's just the thing. It's an old Altean distress code. One used by king Alfor's ships." Coran explained.
"Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans?" Allura asked with hope lacing her voice.
"Allura, we shouldn't be so hasty to follow this signal." I said.
"Zurine's right, what if someone's cloning the signal to try and lure us in?" Keith reasoned.
"The signal is from an Altean ship, and we're going to find it." Allura said as her hand pedestals rose from the floor.
Allura quickly created a wormhole and transported us to the coordinates of the distress signal.
Once we exited the wormhole, the entire sector was deserted, a few rocks and meteors sure, but there was one thing that really stood out...
A large white and yellow glowing hole in space, and a piece of an old ship stuck inside.
"That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle. One of my father's deep space vessels." Allura said as she observed the ship in the hole.
"Acoording to the ship's identification code, it's Commodore Trayling's ship." Coran informed us as he pulled up the ship indentification.
I rushed over to my seat and pulled up the shared information on the ship. Strange enough as it is, there were barely any records about it.
"I'm not getting any information on its mission of destination." I said.
"What happened to it?" Lance asked.
"Is it stuck in a wormhole?" Hunk followed.
"That's unlike any wormhole I've ever seen." Coran said.
"There's a mass amount of energy emanating from it, centered right where the ship is stuck." Pidge informed us.
"Zurine, can you feel anything strange from thia wormhole?" Keith asked.
I shook my head, "No, I only feel mixed energies. But nothing dark or twisted."
"We have to see if anyone is in there. They may need our help." Allura insisted.
"We can send a probe over to it, see if we can some idea of what this thing is?" Pidge suggested.
We agreed and sent a small probe in to check out this golden wormhole. Pidge and I monitored the probe's scanners.
"The energy shows no signs if radioactive decay and it's not thermal." Pidge said.
"It's not gravitational, our probe's steady on course and the light is radiating out l, not in, like it would a black hole." Hunk said.
"But out from where?" I said, lacing my fingers together under my chin.
"That energy signature, I know it." Coran said before exclaiming, "It's radiating quintessence!"
My eyes widened. There was so much quintessence.
"That just might explain the mixed energies I'm feeling." I said. Suddenly, our probe made contact, but just as it did, it dissapeared in a blue light.
"Ooh! That's weird!" Hunk said as shocked as the rest of us.
"Okay, well, let's not get anywhere near there." Lance cautioned.
"We must." Allura said.
"Hold on. Didn't you just see what happened?" Hunk asked.
"Voltron's compositional strength far exceeds anything else in this universe. We recieved an Altean distress call, which means that someone is alive on that ship." Allura said, "As Palidans of Voltron, it is our duty to help."
"Princess," Keith said worryingly, "I still think there's a chance that this whole thing is a trap."
"Even if it's not a trap, it's far too dangerous to go in there." Coran supported.
Allura turned and began to walk away, "I'll do it myself if I have to." I bolted out of my chair and ran to her side.
"I can't let you go in there on your own." I said grabbing her hand and stopping her.
Eventually we all agreed, changing into our armor and rushing into our lions.
We launched and quickly formed Voltron, but as soon as I united with Voltron, a wave of pure energy rolled over me.
I stopped breathing for a moment as we flew towards the wormhole, but quickly regained it a minute later.
"Do you feel that, White?"
"I do, Zurine. What is this energy?"
"I don't know, but, it feels calm. Something will happen when we board that ship. Best we be on our toes."
"Alright, let's take it slow." Keith said dragging me back to reality.
We were finally close to the ship when we stopped and hovered.
"Pidge, any chamce you can explain what I'm seeing right now?"
"The Euclidian space around the ship is obviously some kind if anomaly. But the energy source doesn't originate from anything that registers with my understanding on how reality works." Pidge said.
"I'll take that as a 'no'."
"I'll scan the ship for biorhythms." Hunk acanned the ship, but came up with no signs of life.
"That's strange." He murmured, "I'm not showing any signs of life on the ship."
"Maybe not in this half, but there is more to this ship than we are seeing." Allura said.
"Allura, you're not auggesting we go through to the other side of the ship, are you?" I asked.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"You mean go through the glowy, explode-y area?" Lance asked unsure of Allura's sanity at this point.
We edged closer to the ship.
"Pidge, Zurine, keep an eye on Voltron's vitals. Everyone, be prepared to abort if things get hairy." Keith said.
"Roger that. Ready to abort immediately." Hunk said.
Slowly we edged closer to the white space surroudning the ship. Just then, Pidge and my sensors began beeping rapidly.
"Guys, my sensors are going crazy." Pidge said.
"Mine two, this is not normal. We should be torn apart like the probe was. But somehow, Voltron is completely unaff-" I stopped mid word, feeling my heart beat harder and faster that my breaths could barely keep up.
"Zurine, whats wrong?" Keith asked.
"I don't know... something about this energy... my heart is beating faster and harder than normal." I said between breaths.
We went deeper and deeper into the wormhole, until we finally crossed through.
My heart finally calmed down to a normal rate. I looked up and sae thw front of the Altean ship.
"We must have crossed through because that's the front of the ship." Pidge said, "How you doing, Zurine?"
"I'm fine now. The mass amounts of energy must've affected me more than Voltron." I said.
"Wait." Allura turned us around, surprisingly, there was nothing there but the wormhole, "The back half of this ship, it's gone!"
"Coran! Coran! We've lost sight of the Castle." We flew iver the wormhole and saw a planet that wasnt there before. My eyes narrowed in thought.
"Guys, something about this place feels... different."
"What do you mean, Zurine?" Keith asked confused by what I said.
"Just think, before we crossed through the wormhole, there were plenty of asteroids floating around us. Now there's nothing but this planet here. Not to mention the energy of that sun is different as well."
"That is a little strange." Lance said.
"According to my sensors, we're still in exactly the same place we were before." Pidge said.
"Guys, this is gonna sound, strange, but now I'm detecting multiple biorhythms aboard the ship." Hunk informed.
Allura was shocked.
"Well, looks like we only got one clue to help figure out what's going on, and it's floating right over there." Lance said.
We landed Voltron and split into our separate lions, walking towards the mysterious Altean ship.
We opened the hatch and jumped inside. The halls were dark, the only light coming from the open hatch above us as we floated about.
Allura took the lead shining her light at the darkened halls.
"Hello?" Her voice echoed, "Is anyone here?" Keith, who floated by my side, turned around as the rest of our group pursued onwards.
"What is it, Keith?" I asked. He turned back around and shook his head.
"It's nothing." He said as we followed our friends, but I felt something or someone watching us.
As we roamed the ship, it was faint, but I heard some kind if heavy breathing. Suddenly, a door to thw right opened.
"Oh,man. This place is totally freaking me out. Does it feel like a haunted ghost ship to anyone else? Is it just me?" Hunk asked his voice quivering in alight fear and warryness.
"No, Hunk." I said as I passed him, "I feel it too. There's something stramge about this ship."
"You didn't have to tell em that with such a serious tone, Zurine!" He quietly screamed.
The metal groaned, making the ship really feel and aound haunted. But what was really strange was, Hunk said that there were multiple biorhythms aboard this ship.
If what he said was true, then where are all the people aboard?
Allura shone her light on a keypad and placed her hand on it. A bright light outlined her hand and the power returned to the ship.
The artificial gravity lowered us to the floor and smashed the floating debris onto the floor.
"So, did the crew abandon ship?" Keith asked.
Lance looked around and spotted a seemingly empty space suit.
"I don't know, but they couldn't have gotten far without their spacesu-" Lance was caught off guard when he removed the helmet to see a human skull underneath.
He screamed, dropping the helmet and backing away from the skeleton.
"Those aren't empty!"
We all stared in shock while Allura turned away and back to the dashboard.
She pressed a button and up on the screen was a video log. It was the same man that was in the spacesuit. You could tell by the Monocle on their faces.
"We located the second comet based on King Alfor's information. We managed to get it aboard, but it seems to be causing massive disturbances. We're heading back to Altea, but I don't know if we'll be able to make it that far. At this rate--"
The Altean was cut off and screamed as a bright light engulfed him. We all stared confused at what had happened.
"What happened here?" Hunk asked.
"Something deadly." Lance answered.
Hunk pulled up a screen showing the biorhythms he picked up earlier, "This still doesn't explain the biorhythms I picked up in this area."
Suddenly, a loud metallic thump erupted from the ceiling. We turned around alert as two figures jumped down from the hatch above.
One had a human form while the other small and had multiple arms.
"Look out!" Lance charged forward with his gun in hand. He shot close to the possible enemies feet while Hunk tackled the eight armed one.
The other one lifted his gun up to shoot, but before he could pull the trigger, Keith launched and sliced the gun in half.
He landed a hard punch on his face and swung with his sword, but this person was skilled. He double kicked Keith in the back and sending him flying away.
He dodged Lance's shots and threw the useless gun at his face before running and jumping high in the air, summoning a sword in his hand.
It was almost like slow motion as he was ready to cut Lance down, but the quick action from Pidge shot him down.
Pidge launched her bayard at the man, hitting and smashing his mask. The person landed across the room, and when he looked up at us.... surprised would be an understatement on how we reacted.
His black hair fell around his face, but the face was familiar. The sharp eyes, the focused expression. I could tell right away who it was, even before the rest of his mask crumbled away.
It was Shiro.
We all gasped as his face became clear, but he gasped as he turned towards me. The eight armed one released itself from Hunk's grasp and spun to Shiro's side.
His mask dropped to reveal his identity as Slav.
We made no move as the Shiro look-a-like picked up an extra gun and pointed it at us.
"No way. Shiro?" Hunk breathed out.
"Stay back!" The Shiro look-a-like said with a strange accent.
"If you've come for the comet, you'll never get it." The other Slav said, "I'll die before I let fall into Altean hands."
Keith raised his hands as a sign of nonhostility, "Shiro, please."
"My name is not Shiro." The other Shiro said, "Now step back from her!" He focused his gaze towards me cauaing everyone to follow his gaze.
"What the heck is happening right now? Did everyone get amnesia and wake up woth weird accents?" Hunk freaked out.
I sighed, pushing away all of my confusion and walked forward to Keith's side.
"You know us?" The other Shiro asked confused.
"Of course, we do! You're Shiro, our leader. Palidan of the Black Lion? And you're Slav. I rescued you from a space prison. You're also slightly crazy." Lance explained.
"I may be crazy, but you've never rescued me from anything before." The other Slav said, "Unless- this is an alternate reality." Pidge and the other Slav said at once.
"Uh, what's that now?" Hunk asked even more confused than before.
"I think, when we passed through that glowy, explode-y area, we entered an alternate reality."
"You mean like what Slav was always talking about?" Lance asked, "well, not you. Well, you, yeah, but a different you. One that talks about alternate realities a lot."
"Oh, that's him." The other Shiro said.
"This woukd explain the strange energy I've been feeling." I said.
Allura stepped up, "Why did you attack the captain and his crew?" Allura demanded.
"Stay back Altean."
"We found the ship this way. But I can't say I'm sorry they're gone." Suddenly, a communicator on the other Slav's wrist beeped. As he saw the screen that popped up, his expression turned worrisome.
"Oh, no! More Alteans!" He shouted.
"Wait! More Alteans?" Allura asked.
"Their scanners must ahve picked up your arrival. Sven, let's go! If I were you, I'd run."
The other Shiro, now known as Sven, lowered his gun and reach out his hand towards me.
"My Lady, you must come with us. If the Alteans find you, you'll be in danger." He said. I stood frozen, but shook my head deciding to stay with my team.
Sven's head dropped, but he climbed back up throughthe ceiling and taking the other Slav with him. We watched in total confusion.
"What the heck just happened?" Lance asked.
"Did he just say we were being boarded by Alteans?" Allura asked for clarification.
All of a sudden, the doors began to clang before opening, revealing Altean warriors well armed.
They surrounded us aiming their guns at us, as other Alteans walked up to us.
An Altean woman with purole hair stepped forward.
"Put down your weapons!" She demanded. She gasped at the sight Allura and me.
"Alteans!" Allura said.
"It can't be." The Altean knelt and bowed down, "Empress and Lady of Sun and Moon, Zurine."
The other Alteans bowed in a similar fashion, but I was speechless. Who were we in this reality?
"Uh, I'm confused. What is going on?" Hunk asked.
The Altean woman lifted her head.
"Are you Empress Allura and Lady of Sun and Moon Zurine?" She asked.
"I am Princess Allura."
"And I am Princess Zurine."
"Please, stand." The Altean woman obeyed and stood.
"I am Commander Hira, Empress, Holy Lady. How can you two be here? You put down the Galra Uprising and established the Altean Empire 10,000 years ago. And the Lady of Sun and Moon was placed in the Altean Castle."
"Where we're from, all Alteans were wiped out by Zarkon when he destroyed your planet." Keith explained. All the Alteans were surprised.
"Where did you come from?" A silver haired Altean asked from behind Hira.
"We're from an alternate universe where everything is different from here." I said.
Commander Hira nodded, "Please, follow me." We followed her through the ship and into another room. They opened the doors and revealed a large comet.
Pidge rushed back to her lion and flew around the comet.
"This is tue Commodore Trayling must've been ralking about in his transmission." Pidge said, "It seems to be caught between two realities, just like the ship."
"Could you obtain a sample for us with your lion?" The silver haired Altean asked.
"I can try."
The Green Lion landed on the comet amd took off a small bit of it before returning to the ground.
Pidge placed the smaple in a tube and examined it.
"Amazing." She said, "It's Voltron."
"What?" Lance asked.
"I mean, it's not Voltron, obviously, but the readings from this comet are the same ones Zarkon was searching for. The same ones that led us to the Blue Lion."
"There's one way to see if that's true." Hunk turned to me, "Zurine, you're the heart of Voltron, see if you can tell us more about this."
I nodded, walking over to the tube and lightly pressing my hands on its surface. Not even a nanosecond later, a powerful energy filled me. I pulled away slowly and faced my friends.
"It's true," I said, "This comet has the same feeling as Voltron."
"That's how you were able to pass through to this reality." The Altean male said smiling, "Your vehicle was made out of the same trans-reality material."
"So that's why Voltron's so powerful." Hunk said.
"With this material, Altea can create their own trans-reality traveling ships. We can spread our peace and stability to all realities." The Altean man opened a communication window to Hira.
"Commander Hira, I've just stumbled across something in this ship's hold that will ensure Altea's rule for millennia to come."
I looked up at the Altean man and eyed him suspiciously. It seemed that Pidge felt the same way as she eyed him as well.
In another part of the ship, Allura, Keith and Hira were walking into a room with a crystal on the ceiling.
"So, the Alteans of this reality defeated the Galra?" Allura asked.
"Led by you and Lady Zurine of the Sun and Moon, Empress." Hira said, "Without your will to fight and avenge the loss of your father, not to mention the amazing guidance of Lady Zurine, Altea would not have been able to spread peace and stability throughout the universe."
Allura smiled, "Defeating Zarkon was the first step, but we refused to give up until all worlds know the true peace Altea has achieved."
"That is so wonderful!" Allura said, "Tell me, what is Zurine like in this reality?"
Hira amiled softly and looked as if she was looking into her memories, "Lady Zurine of Sun and Moon is a radiant woman. She is the strongest and kindest person you shall ever meet."
"Huh, kind of sounds like our Zurine." Keith chuckled.
"She would always be by your side, Empress, helping you plan attacks and supply routes. Now she helps heal those in need and takes care of children with no where to go in the temple of sun and moon."
"That really does sound like our Zurine." Allura laughed.
Hira's expressiom turned depressed, "However, we don't how or when, but Lady Zurine disappeared from the temple. We haven't seen her since."
Back with me and the rest of the Palidans, the other Altean was telling us the same thing.
"No struggle, no wars. That doesn't even sound possible." Hunk said.
"Is it not? Look at Moxilous." The man gestured to the larger alien behind him, "For generations, his people have been in constant battle with the othrr planets in their system. It was a barbaric, futile existence. But look at him now."
We all looked up at Moxilous.
"So, what changed?" Lance asked.
"The hoktril." Moxilous turned around and showed off a small device on the back of his head. It was almost horrifying to see.
"Our civilization's most advanced technological achievement."
"What does that do?" I asked.
"It saps the fighting force from our enemies. Their will, you might say." I stepped back in fear. This was wrong.
"You mean, slave labor?" Hunk asked.
"Oh, no, no. They're not slaves because they don't have will. Slaves are always trying to escape or revolt. The nom-cogs are content doing what they're told. Preservation of life is the Altean Empire's highest priority. And with this material, we can do even more than we thought possible."
We walked out of the room, but I could barely hear the words my friends were saying.
My brain was on overdrive, thinking of what could've happened. How did it come to this? What made the Allura of this reality make this decision? Was I a part of this decision?
The sudden clang of a netal hatch brought me back.
We looked up to Sven and Slav in the hatch opening.
"Whoa! How'd you find us?" Lance asked.
"I figured there was a high probability that-"
"Wait, stop. Nope. Never mind." Lance cut off Slav.
"We gotta get to Keith and Allura and figure oit a way to stop the Alteans from getting that comet." Pidge said.
"Already on it. We just need to do one more thing and you guys can help." Slav said. Before Slav could tell us anything else, the whirrs of weapons behind caught our attention.
We turned around and saw Altean soldiers aiming their guns at us.
"Perfect!" The Altean man said, "I had a feeling the Guns of Gamara were om this ship. But I didn't know Empress Allura's friends would be workikg with them."
"What you're doing is wrong!" I shouted, "All of this, taking away someone's will to create peace is wrong."
The man chuckled, "It's funny, that's what our Zurine said. She never approved of this method for peace. And so, she disappeared from Altea."
Suddenly the ship began to move, and the energy around us began to change. The soldiers cuffed us and walked to the main control deck, where Allura, Keith and Hira were waiting.
"Empress, the Guns of Gamara have infiltrated this ship. These people were working for them." The altean man said.
"Let our friends go!" Keith demanded.
"Hira," Sven said, "You and the rest of the Alteans have turned this universe into an army of slaves, and even force Lady Zurine to run away from her home. Peace at the sake of freedom!"
Allura's eyes widened, "Slaves? Zurine ran away? Is this true?"
"Non-cogs are not slaves! You're the ones who spread chaos and destruction! We're going to scan thar little brains of yours and get every last rebel location and the location of Lady Zurine. Finally, our wars can end and we'll have Empress Allura's young sister back."
"Allura, we cannot let this happen." Keith said.
Allura turned to Hira, "Hira, please. We both want the same thing. Peace."
Do we?" Hira asked, "You're weakness has bright nothing but pain and suffering to your people at tye hands of the Galra. We have brought peace and order to ours. And, with this comet. We will bring our peace to every reality. You're no Empress of mine."
"And you're no Altean." Allura summoned her bayard and Keith his sword. Slav laughed.
"Why are you laughing?" Lance asked.
"Because this is the reality where everything works out fine." Slav replied.
We all screamed as the ship exploded in multiple sections.
We all fell off balance as the rummbling shook us all.
"Just in time, guardian." Slav said.
Keith threw his sword at one of the soldiers while everyone else, except for me, dogpiled the other.
Allura activated her bayard and a long whip wrapped around Hira's sword. Hira svot at Allura but she quickly rolled out of the way.
Allura pulled the whip over her head and flipped Hira over.
"Let's go." She said. We were uncuffed and ran down the halls of the ship. All of a sudden, someone else jumped in front of us.
We stopped, the person was tall and covered themselves in a white and gold cloak. This person felt familiar.
"Is this another evil Altean?" Hunk asked.
Sven and Slav smiled and ran up to this mysterious person.
"This is our guardian." Sven said. The person nodded, lifting their hands up to their hood amd pulling it down.
Long white and gold tresses fell down their back. I gasped as did the rest of my friends when they showdd their face.
"Is that..." Lance said.
"No way." Pidge said in shock.
"Zurine?" Allura asked.
The now revealed other reality me smiled and nodded.
"Good to see some good Alteans ans friends, now quickly we must escape." She said, her voice was slightly deeper and held more power than my own. But it still held kindness.
They ran and we followed, Lance shooting any Altean soldiers that stood in our way.
"Pidge, which way to the lions?" Keith asked as he shielded himself from the blasts.
"To the left!" Pidge answered.
As Lance looked to the left, several Alteans blocked the way and prepared to fire.
But before the shot could touch Lance, Sven ran in front of Lance and took the shot.
Sven dropped to the floor, I ran to Sven and Lance with Slav and the other me.
"Sven! Are you okay? You saved my life!" Lance said as Sven groaned in pain, but still managed to smile.
"I'll be fine. Just get me to Space Hospital." Sven said. I turned to my other reality self and nodded, the two of us thinking the same thing.
We pressed our hands onto the wound, sending quintessence into Sven and healing him.
"They're blocking our way to the lions!" Keith shouted. I stood up and let the other me continue healing him.
"Everyone, hang on!" Slav and I shouted.
I changed into my sun form and charged at the group of Alteans, while Slav dodged their attacks.
I shot fire at the soldiers; Slav pulled a lever and opened the airlock, sending the soldiers into deep space.
He closed the airlock, "We'll take care of Sven. You just get to your lions!" He said.
Just as I was about to go, the other me grabbrd my hand, pulled me close and whispered something in my ear.
I smiled and faced her warm smiling face.
"Thank you." We said to each other.
I followed my friends back to our lions and boarded them.
"This is all my fault. I activated the ship. They're going to dislodge the comet and have the power to terrorize every reality." Allura said.
An communication channel opened in our cockpits.
"No, you can still get the comet aqay from them." Slav said.
"Pidge, scan for the comet." Keith said and Pidge did so.
"Yep. Already picked up on its elemental signature." She said.
"Everyone, we're going back to get it. Form Voltron!" Our lions roared and formed the might warrior.
We flew back into the ship and grabbed the comet. As we were trying to find the exact place where we came through, the ship started firing at us.
Luckily we made it through realities before they could hit us.
"You're back! Oh thank the ancients!" Coran shouted as he cheered joyously.
"Palidans, can you hear me? Are you okay?" He asked, but he was cut off by another shot from a different ship.
I lifted my head to see Lotor's ship heading for the comet. Two smaller ships connected strong wires to the comet and flew off with Lotor.
Once everyone was conscious again, we all returned to the castle. Allura and I sat in the observation deck, just watching the stars and the beautiful lights that caressed them.
The sounds of footsteps roused us from our thoughts.
"Allura," Keith said, "you did the right thing. You couldn't let Hira get that ore."
"But now Lotor has it." Allura said.
"You didn't know."
"That is the problem. We never know. And that is exactly why my father sent the lions away so many years ago. To avoid this reality. I finally understand."
"We'll get it back." I said.
"But if we don't? Lotor is always ine step ahead of us. He has a plan for the ore, and if he succeeds, the Galra will finally have a weapon as powerful as Voltron."
"We can always find a way to defeat something like that. We just need to be strong and never give in to the enemy."
Allura turned to me as I placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled and nodded.
"So," Keith said, "The other Zurine whispered something in your ear. What did she say?"
I turned towards Keith and smiled, "She said that in her reality, our lives together, are perfect. She hopes rhat our reality will be just like it."
Keith's face turned red as he faced away from me and stuttered.
I laughed at his expression, I walked up to him and quickly placed a kiss on his cheek before running to my room. I changed into my nightgown and snuggled in bed with Luna.
This was a whole perspective on my future. And i was happy to find out what was in store of me.