We rode on the Atlas searching for Honvera's next targets with her destructive Robeasts.
I stayed close to Keith, holding his hand as we stared at the map showing us all of the confirmed targets in space.
Even here safe on the Atlas and surrounded by my friends and loved ones, I could still feel the hatred and malice of the Dark One from both her and the Robeasts.
"We have confirmation that Honvera's beasts have touched down on planet's Sanook, VeXilum, Siiz, and we continue to receive more transmissions." Coran explained.
"Thus us consistent with the reports I'm receiving as well." Veronica confirmed.
"The wormhole signals we discovered on Olkarion, they were a map to where the Robeasts were headed." Pidge said, "They must have been waiting this entire time."
Keith narrowed his eyes to focus om the targets "They're targeting multiple fronts simultaneously." He said.
"What do we do?" Hunk asked.
I took in a deep breath to calm myself and squeezed Keith's hand tighter, "First off, we can't do anything if we're high-strung." I said.
"Zurine is right. We need to keep our calm." Shiro agreed, "Coran, continue to mark the planets where the beasts have landed. Veronica, give us any real-time updates as they come in."
"Copy that." Veronica said as she tapped away are computer, "Just got another report from Sanook. The Robeasts are covered in some type or shield like a particle barrier."
The holographic image above us changed, showing us the Robeast covered in a purple barrier as they continued to suck quintessence from the planet.
"They're not attacking the planet?" Allura asked.
"Not yet."
I looked down at the table, avoiding everyone's eyes. Honerva was being consumed by the darkness inside of her and it would not only destroy her, it would tear apart the universe itself.
"The planets are reporting activity." Veronica's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, "The Robeasts are siphoning Quintessense."
"We need to engage then all, save as many people as we can. We're talking about triage here." Iverson said.
"We split up the Lions." Keith suggested.
"One Lion cant handle a Robeast on its own." Hunk pointed out.
"No, but it could slow them down, buy us some time."
"I say we attack them with totality of our forces and wormhole from target to target." Shiro suggested.
Allura, with her own idea in mind, stood up from her seat, "No. We must attack Oriande directly." She said, "I think I know what Honerva's doing." She then turned towards me, "We know Honvera has the ability to create wormholes and that these wormholes are emanating from Oriande."
The map above us showed the wormhole opening points, and the origin of said wormholes leadimg to Oriande.
"She used a Robeast to steal the Olkari cubes, which can mimic and intensify energy at a distance. And those Robeasts are essentially armed with Komars, able to drain and transmit massive amounts of Quintessence."
As Allura explained the uses for the objects Honvera was collecting, I understood perfectly what her plan was.
"Honerva us going to concentrate energy from across the universe to Oriande." I gasped. Allura nodded, confirming what I had said.
"She is making a Komar magnitudes larger than anything we've ever seen, somethung that could drain the Quintessence from an entire galaxy." Allura continued. My eyes widened in fear.
I had learned that I was connected to this universe in a way. If this universe was to somehow disappear, then, what would happen to me?
Everyone's eyes went straight to me.
"Zurine can do that?" Veronica asked.
I nodded, "Yes. I have a special connection to Oriande. I will connect to the gaurdian and find any information I can about Honerva and the Alteans."
"That monster." I heard Coran breathe out in horror.
"What coukd she possibly need that much energy for?" Pidge asked.
"I don't know, but we need to act immediately. The only way for us to stop them is by going directly to Oriande."
Keith let go of my hand and stood up tall, "Then that's what Voltron is gonna do." He stated.
I smiled a small smile at Keith.
"The Atlas will accompany you." Shiro said, "We don't have time to wait for the rest of the Coalition."
"Contact Matt, let him know the rebels are gonna be in charge of the evacuation efforts for the occupied planets. They shouldn't expect assistance." Keith said.
"Then we are in agreement. It is time to begun our assault on Oriande." Allura said before turning to me, "Zurine, are you able to contact the guardian of Oriande?" She asked.
I nodded.
"Wait a second, what does Allura mean by 'contact the guardian of Oriande'?" Commander Holt asked.
I stood up and began to explain, "While Lotor, Zarkon's son, was still working with us, we were taken to Oriande once. There I was somehow connected to the guardian of the sacred land, a white lion different than my own. He appeared to me and gave me many answers to some of my questions. I have contacted him many times before, so I should be able to find more information on Honerva and her plan."
Everyone was confused and surprised by this new information, but we didn't have time for a better explanation. We had a task. A mission above all missions.
It was one that we could not let fail.
We spent a little longer preparing and getting Matt and the revels into position.
"Is everyone ready?" Allura asked.
"We're in position." Shiro answered.
"The universe is facing the gravest threat it has ever seen. Honerva has exploited a vulnerable people, my people, and bent then to her will. She convinced then to pilot her abominations and commit heinous acts. And now she has built a weapon that can destroy an entire galaxy. Today, we risk our lives for the greater good. We are the only things that can stop her and defend the universe. It is time to end this war."
I watched Allura create a wormhole to the the entrance to Oriande as I stood on the bridge with Keith by side and the rest of our friends stnading close by.
But as we flew through the wormhole, I felt several planets be stripped of their quintessence.
It was a horrifying feeling.
I reached for Keith's hand in search of comfort. He understood and grasped my hand tightly. It helped, but not very much to ease all of my worry and fears.
It wasn't long before we made it to Oriande. The beautiful pillar of white light pushing out energy made me feel powerful, but I also felt the Dark One close by.
Suddebly, she ship began to shake.
"Sam, we're experiencing interference. Can you lock it down?" Shiro asked over the blaring alarms.
"On it." Commander Holt said, walimg over to Slav's station, "Thus interference is multi-phasal. What could cause something like this?"
"Wait," Slav said, "what color socks are you wearing?"
"What? Why does that matter?" Holt asked.
"He didn't answer me. Why didn't he answer me?" Slav began to panic, "There's a 99 3/5 chance the multi-phasal interference is from a reality-ending event!"
"Because of my socks?"
"Slav, enough of this reality panicking, we need a solution to the interference." I said.
"Oh, of course. We need to modify the dichromate resonance chamber to a super position." Slav said.
"Good thinking." Commander Holt said, "That will isolate the mutated antimatter isotopes."
"And please put on some green socks!" I sighed at Slav's request.
"The Atlas can't go much further due to the Pertrulian Zone's radiation." Coran gasped when he spotted something familiar surrounding the pillar of light.
"There they are! The Olkari cubes!" We all took a closer look at the object and saw for ourselves that they were indeed the Olkari cubes.
"I'm not picking up any energy signatures." Iverson said, "They must not be active."
"I'm picking something up. It's coming from the white hole." Veronica said.
Allura and my eyes widened, "The Guardian." We said.
"Zurine, can you contact the Guardian?" I nodded, closing my eyes and concentrating on connecting witu the Gaurdian.
I heard the gasps of surprise and shock from my comrades and friends when they saw my appearance drastically change, but as I tried to connect, something was different.
I opened my eyes to see the white space I knew, but the happy smiling faces of my people and the strong white lion I had expected to see, were not there.
Instead, the Guardian was dull, fading into a light gray color and laying down surrounded by crying children and adults alike.
I quickly ran up to the lion and asked what was wrong. What he said next shook me to my core.
"The darkness is almost too much. I won't be here much longer."
I froze. I tried to reach out and touch the lion, but all I felt was a huge shock of painful energy course through my body.
It was so powerful, that I screamed in pain and was broken from my concentrated trance. I stumbled backwards into Keith, feeling the pain slowly subside.
"Zurine!" Everyone shouted in worry.
"What happened?" Keith asked.
I didn't pull away from him, I couldn't speak since the pain was still there, but their questions were answered when the alarms blared in our ears.
We all looked out the window ans saw two Robeasts rushing towards us.
"No! Where is the Guardian?" Allura asked.
"He's not well." I said, standing up as straight as I could.
"We don't have time to deal with these Robeasts. Can you clear a pqth?" Keith asked.
"We'll get you through." Shiro replied, "Atlas crew, prepare for transformation sequence."
Just like from before, the Atlas changed shape, forming the larger version of Voltron.
The Robeasts stopped in front of the Atlas and we rushed to our Lions to prepare for departure.
"Okay, Voltron, engaging now. Good luck out there." Shiro wished us.
"Good luck to yiu as well. I'm deferring command to Allura and Zurine." Keith said.
We nodded and waited for the right moment to depart from the Atlas. It was a split second window, but we took it, flying out of our hangars, transforming into our respective parts and connecting to form Voltron.
We flew as fast as we could aqua from the battle. I saw a Robeast try to attack us from the side, but the Atlas came in and stopped it in its tracks.
Soon, we were clear. I trembled at the intensifying energy frcoming from around us. I groaned in pain, taking my hands off my controls to hold my temples in an attempt to stop the pain.
"Zurine, what's the matter?" Hunk asked.
"Are you okay?" Lance asked.
All of a sudden, four separate beams of quintessence energy came from out of nowhere and collided with the Olkari cubes, making my pain increase even more.
The energy from the cubes circled around the white hole and made a ring of pure quintessence before beaming it into the white hole itself.
At this time, we were flying through the white hole, and our chances of impact were high.
"Look out! Behind us!" Lance shouted.
We quickly dodged the beam of quintessence and activated our larger more powerful wings to move even faster as to not take the chance of being hit again.
We blasted through the white hole, but as we flew, I screamed in pain as the quintessence hit Oriande. I heard the Guardian roaring in pain and exhaustion as we finally saw Oriande.
"The Guardian! She's draining its quintessence!" Allura shouted.
The sphere of dark energy around the Guardian increased in power as Honerva continued to take it in.
Finally, my eyes filled with tears. The roars of pain were just too much. I screamed in agony as the white lion roared in fury one last time, before I heard his last words to me.
"Princess Zurine Arraine Arisa, defeat her."
The area was covered in a bright light, and tears poured down my cheeks like raging rivers.
Before the temple, a similar circle belonging to a Komar appeared, letting it be known that Honvera's plan had succeeded.
"She's destroyed the Guardian!" Allura shouted in pure unrestrained rage.
"Zurine, are you all right?" Keith asked.
With shaky hands, I let go of my head and repositioned then on my controls.
"He told me something." I said, "The Guardian told me to defeat her. And that's what we're going to do."
All of a sudden, two Robeasts appeared in front of us. We formed our twin swords and engaged in combat.
When our blades touched, I felt some dark quintessence from the Alteans inside the metal beasts.
It was only a small piece, barely able to do much of anything in corrupting them. It may be something I can help heal, but for now, if we didn't stop Honerva soon, that darkness could grow from their hatred and anger, slowly making them as dark as Honerva.
Our battle waged on. With two Robeasts attacking us at once, it was difficult to hold them off.
Suddenly, all I felt was excruciating pain from the back of Voltron. All of screamed in agony as one of the Robeasts hit us in the back and shocked us badly with dark quintessence.
The other Robeasts, seizing the opportunity, kicked us into one of the floating rocks surrounding Oriande.
In my pain, I felt someone familiar, someone not touched by this dark quintessence. I looked out at my surroundings and saw....
Altea.
The beautiful Juniberry fields for miles.
Families smiling and enjoying life the way they had it.
It was so peaceful.
"What... What's going on?" Lance asked in confusion at the sight of Alteans on the ground.
"Are those people down there?" Hunk asked.
But as quickly as the scene came, it disappeared.
"According to my readings, we're seeing into other realities." Pidge infirmed us.
"What!?" Lance exclaimed.
"There must be some kind of rip in the fabric of time. The essence of realities is leaking out. Honerva is tearinf apart time lines. She couod cause irreparable damage to reality itself."
Voltron shook as the Robeasts found us and continued their attack. Just then, I felt the Blue and Yellow Lions' energies rise dramatically.
Allura and Hunk inserted their bayards and unlocked a new attack.
The legs if Voltron sprouted missiles and launched all the firepower they had. Each missile was locked onto their target and hit directly.
"Let's move!" Allura said.
We wasted no time in charging towards Honerva, but we were quickly pushed back by the energy surrounding the temple.
I heard Honerva's screams and the pain filled grunts of my teammates. For an instant, I thought I saw Honerva. The real Honvera. The woman I thought to be so kind and loving.
But then... she disappeared.
The energy finally died down in a moment, but what the calm revealed, was the worst storm we had ever encountered.
In front of us was a familiar enemy. Someone we had thought to have defeated long ago.
Lotor... And his dark Voltron.
"This was Honerva's plan all along." Keith said.
I could feel Allura panic. Just the sight of Lotor's creation was enough for both her and me to become infuriated.
"Paladins attack!" Keith ordered. We did as told.
We rushed into battle with swords in hand. From the first hit I knew this was going to be more challenging than our last encounter.
Lotor stopped our swords mid swing and smashed into us, sending us hurtling into another floating rock. We barely had any time to recvier before he hit us again.
However, from his punches, I felt nothing but darkness. A malice and hatred that Lotor, even when he was deceiving us, had never had. At least, not on this level.
With a heavy punch he sent us through the rock and higher into the air.
He quickly flew up to us and prepared for another attack.
Out of reflex and instinct, I changed into my moon form and put up the most powerful barrier I could muster.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep us unscathed. We were sent hurtling down to the ground, landing hard enough to make a large crater in the soil.
The impact left me gasping for air as well as Voltron battered and broken into our separate Lions.
"We have to get out of here. Does anyone copy?" I heard Allura say.
"Allura, I'm here." I said, looking around at my surroundings and seeing the Blue Lion not too far from my current location.
"Thank goodness you're all right, Zurine. I'm going to end this right here and now."
"Waitn Allura. I can help. Allow me to go with you." I said.
"Okay, but please be careful."
I nodded and left my lifeless Lion, following Allura to the temple where Honerva had been spotted.
I stayed in my moon form, ignoring the battle commencing above us. Allura and I ran. We ran so fast that time seemed like a blur to us.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion as we grabbed our bayards, summonded our weapons and lunged at Honerva.
But that was not how it ended. Honerva looked at us from the side, and in an instant, we were surrounded in darkness.
We stood in pitch black darkness, not knowing where we were at the time.
"Altea's wayward daughter, and the lovely Child of Sun and Moon." Honerva's voice echoed throughout the darkness.
"Don't you dare mention Altea to me." Allura spat out.
"This is just the beginning." Her voice sounded so close, as if she was whispering in our ears. We turned around to see her, but she was no longer there.
"Join me and our People, Allura. We can even release Zurine's people. Together we can go back to Altea."
"We cannot go back." Allura said, "It is destroyed because of you."
"Think of your father." We both gasped at the mention of the late King, "I knew Alfor well. This is what he would have wanted."
"Honerva, please." I begged, "You are overcome with the Dark One. This dark quintessence has poisoned the minds and bodies of you, your husband and your son. Allow me to heal you."
"Never!" She shouted.
"You cannot keep us here forever, you witch!" Allura yelled, "The moment you release your hold, I will end you."
"Then you will end your friends as well." We turned to our right and saw Honerva standing there with a dark orb of energy in her hands.
"I am the only thing keeping my son at bay." The orb showed us an image of Lotor holding his sword over the Red Lion.
It was horrifying to see and it made Allura stand frozen in her place.
"Join the right side if this war."
Suddenly, the darkness vanished, and our time resumed. Allura and I got rid of our weapons and fell on the other side of Honerva.
Allura and I were sobbing as Honerva called her son back. However, even though we cried, we went back to our Lions and called out to our other paladins.
The temple began to rise out of the ground as we made it to our lions.
"Paladins, respond. We must get out of here or ww will all perish." Allura said.
Slowly but surely, everyone responded and we flew out of the white hole, which was closing quickly.
I felt the energy from the white hole collapse as we made it out.
The Atlas quickly created a wormhole and we wasted no time in getting away from the white hole.
Once we exited the wormhole, we all took a breath of relief.
"What the heck just happened?" Hunk asked.
"We failed." Allura said.
"And now, every reality will pay the price for our failure." I finished.
Now, I was left with an empty feeling inside me. Oriande was either no longer the same, or no longer existing in this reality.
For I all or any of us knew, it was gone entirely.
But for now, all we needed to know, was that all realities were in danger.
And we were the only ones who could save them.