Voltron: Legacy

Chapter 23

Suddenly, my eyes opened. I was standing in a field of lush grass and three-petalled deep pink flowers, under a perfect blue sky. In the distance, I could see a city that looked almost exactly like the capital of New Altea. Something was missing, though. The huge statue of Princess Allura up on the hill was gone. Slightly closer to me, under a tree, sat three people. My jaw dropped. That . . . that was Altea's last royal family. King Alfor, Queen Melenore, and . . . Princess Allura herself. She had her curly white hair down, and was wearing a crown of wildflowers and a long blue dress. When the Princess saw me, she said something to her parents, then walked over.
"Karah. I've been trying to reach you for some time now. I was worried my attempts hadn't succeeded."
"So, no offense, but I'm pretty sure you're dead. Does this mean I'm dead too?"
She shook her head, and her dress somehow morphed seamlessly into a pink and white suit of paladin armor. She was wearing a golden circlet now instead of her flower crown, and looked a bit more serious.
"You're not dead, but I fear you will be soon if I can't help you. This plan may sound crazy, but I ask that you at least hear me out."
I nodded. "I'll try anything if it means saving my family."
Allura smiled sadly. "I know. Just like me."
"So what's your plan?"
"You have no magical power yourself, so I can try to lend you some of mine. You will need to guide the lions to form Voltron by themselves, then pilot Voltron with your mind to save your friends and family."
"Is that even possible?"
"It's never been done before, but that's true of a lot of things. I have faith that you can do it. The second part of the plan involves getting close to Sareth."
"Well, yeah. I mean, it's a lot harder to kill somebody from across the room."
"No." Allura said firmly. "You can't kill her."
"Why not?" I demanded, outraged. "Your Highness, she's evil. Pure evil. She'd kill my sister to get what she wants, she'd kill everybody I love!"
"She is scared, angry, and misguided, and she has been for a long time. That's not the same as true evil. Honerva was the same way, in the end, but she realized her mistakes and tried to atone. She still died along with me. I want to spare Sareth from the same fate before things get to that point."
"She doesn't deserve to live!" I snapped.
"That is not your choice to make." Allura said sharply. "And I think you should see her side of the story, before you are so quick to condemn her."
She waved a hand, and a holo screen formed in the air in front of us. On it, Sareth's life played out like a movie.

First, I saw her as a baby, probably only a few months old, gurgling happily in the arms of a tall, smiling galra woman. The picture zoomed out a bit, and I saw a lean purple-skinned man with altean pointy ears and a long mane of white hair, leaning over to let baby Sareth grab his finger. She chomped down on his knuckle with her little gums, and he laughed.
"You're so fierce already, little one. Aren't you?"
Sareth's mom handed her over to Lotor, who bounced her gently while she made happy squawking sounds. "She's pretty wonderful, huh?"
He nodded, kissing Sareth's tiny round nose. "She's going to make the whole Universe take notice one day, I can tell."
"At the moment, you should probably take notice of the fact that she just spit up on you." Sareth's mom said with a wry grin.
The three of them laughed, and they looked for all the world like any other happy family.

Then the image changed, showing a montage of Sareth's childhood. Her playing, studying, sneaking treats from the kitchens of the mansion she lived in, showing clumsy sword-fighting moves and scribbly crayon drawings to her parents.

Then the picture changed again. Sareth was six years old, and her Mom strode into the room, looking grim. Sareth stood up and ran to her, tugging on her leg armor.
"What's wrong, Mama? Where's Papa? I thought he was coming to see me too."
The galra woman shook her short, choppy purple hair as she took her helmet off. Then she knelt down and hugged her daughter.
"He's not coming, sweetheart. He's . . . he's missing. The last time anyone saw him, he was fighting Voltron."
"The big scary robot man?"
Her Mom nodded, brushing a lock of white hair behind Sareth's pointy ears.
"But he'll beat them, and then he'll come back, right? Right?"
"Little one, he's not going to come back."
"Not . . . not ever?"
Her Mom sighed. "No. I'm so sorry, Sareth."
"But I need my Papa!!"
Sareth started to cry, and her Mom rubbed her back gently, holding her close.
"I know. I know. I'm going to miss him too. But you've still got me. I'm going to have to be gone for a while after today, but I promise, I promise I will come back to you."
Sareth sniffed, wiping at her eyes.
"If, if Papa's gone, does that mean I'm the Empress now?"
"Not until things have settled down a bit, but yes, then you will be. So chin up, okay? Be my brave girl, and make me proud."
The little girl nodded, blinking more tears out of her yellow eyes and squaring her shoulders.
"I will, Mama. Vrebit sar."
She gave an Imperial-style salute.
Her Mom nodded and ruffled her hair. "That's my girl. Vrebit sar, little Empress."

The image changed again.
Sareth was a few years older now, her hair whipping around in a long braid as she sparred with a training robot. She dodged a swing, parried another, then thrust her sword up and under the robot's guard, running it through with a crackle of sparks. The robot wobbled, then fell over as she landed a high kick on its chest. The galra princess grinned and pumped her fist in the air.
"Yeah! Three in one training session!"
Just then, a small pod landed a few hundred feet away. Sareth ran towards it, then about halfway there slowed to a crisp walk, like she was remembering she was supposed to do so. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion as a pair of exhausted galra soldiers stumbled out. She stood straighter, clearly trying for a commanding tone as she asked, "Rovak, Zarith, where is my mother? She was due to visit today."
"She went with Sendak to conquer Earth, and Sendak failed." Rovak panted. "Voltron's back, they blew up the whole fleet. We, we were the only survivors."
Pure shock raced across Sareth's face. It was quickly replaced by a cold, emotionless mask.
"Well why are you standing here, fools?! Get inside, tell Reza what's going on."
"Yes, Empress." Rovak said with a shaky salute. "Vrebit sar."
As soon as the two soldiers were inside the mansion and out of earshot, Sareth clamped both hands over her mouth to muffle a bloodcurdling scream. She kept screaming, trying not to let anyone hear, until she had to take her hands off her mouth to gasp for air. She curled up in the shadow of the small escape pod, tears streaming down her face as her whole body shook with silent sobs. Finally, she stood up.
"I have to get away." She muttered. "Voltron isn't going to get me too. They can't. I won't let them!"
She ran around the corner of the mansion, in through a side door, and started packing food, water, weapons, extra clothes, tools to repair the pod, and a translator. Then she carried it all out to the escape pod and climbed in. She ran her hands over the controls, figuring out how they worked, then took off and didn't look back.