Brighter Than the Stars: A Voltron Fanfic (Keith X OC)

Chapter 5

The weapon Lotor had made in secret was as powerful as Voltron. It hit them blow after blow with magical explodey orbs before defaulting to two curving blades to match Voltron's sword. "Dodge!" Keith yelled, and Voltron leapt out of the way of the blade's path. The scimitars whistled through empty air.

Voltron parried, exchanging another round of blows with the monster. Lotor snuck behind them; there was a flash of light as Voltron blocked his scimitars, and then-

The beast's tail curled around the yellow lion, yanking Voltron off balance. Violet could do nothing but watch as Lotor drove his blades into Voltron's gut.

He laughed as the paladins cried out, his voice tinged with madness. "You stand no chance against me! I will rip apart Voltron if it's the last thing I do!"

With a grunt, the green lion moved forward, blasting Lotor back. Voltron stood shakily, wounded from the blow. Lotor launched himself forward, moving impossibly fast, and struck Voltron in the chest. Keith reacted in time, dodging the next blow and firing Pidge's lasers. But the blast only clipped Lotor's arm - they had intentionally missed. They would never take the monster down, Violet realized. Because she was inside it.

She couldn't, wouldn't let her friends die. Lotor had practically forgotten her; Violet turned her attention to the force field trapping her. There was no way she could break it. But maybe...

The paladins screamed again.

The sound made her very bones wither at the wrongness. She had to do something, anything.

That was when Violet felt the quintessence.

When they'd entered the rift, she'd felt a surge of energy, but it had faded away - she'd blocked it out. But now, as Violet listened, she could feel it. The energy in the rift was like a living thing, calling out to her.

"Something's wrong," Allura panted. "The quintessence exposure – it's turning Lotor evil, like it did with Zarkon. It will do the same to us if we don't get out of here."

Violet dove inside herself, looking for a way to connect with the energy around her. It was there, behind some kind of barrier, one she hadn't known existed.

"Lotor won't let us leave," Keith answered. "We have to beat him." Voltron took another blow, barely bringing up its shield in time. Lotor grabbed the red lion and twisted, causing Voltron to stumble; Lance cried out.

Violet pressed her hands against her ears, trying to block out the noise. This wasn't working. The paladins - her friends - we're getting hurt, and she couldn't stop it. She reached again for the quintessence in the rift, but was once again pushed away.

"Come on!" Violet shouted, forcing back a sob. "I have to save them!"

Lotor's words came back to her, unbidden. I do not know how, but your quintessence ratings are off the charts, much abnormal for a half-human.

Because she wasn't half-human. Violet had always lived in a cave - under a rock, the stone keeping her from seeing the sky. She'd never been able to walk out of it. Maybe she'd never really wanted to.

Her whole life, Violet had chosen to be sheltered by lies, though they didn't add up.

How she could be half-Altean when her sister was fully human.

How her mother had been presumably killed by some disease when Altean's immune systems were almost invincible.

How she was powerful enough to complete an Altean ceremony that would've drained the life of a half-human.

How she could read the Oriande stone, and understood its meaning. Tiny little lies. She'd thought they were protecting her from the truth - but Violet had never needed protection.