The Forgotten Paladin

Chapter 9: Part of the team

"Take her and run! There's no time! The planet is collapsing!" a voice yelled, words echoing through my ears.

"You'll be drained of quintessence! I won't leave you here!" another replied, desperation written through the breaths.

"I brought this upon our people, you will leave now or I will send you away myself!" the first voice threatened, sadness pouring out of every word.

I look around, floating buildings are plummeting towards the earth as a steady flow of magical, destructive quintessence was being dragged away from the beautiful planet and it's history. 

The person of the first voice was crackling with lightning, the other echoing with flames; as he held a small baby in his gentle, charred hands. I edge towards this mysterious man, I stare at the baby cradled in his arms. His gentle, red eyes meet mine, yet he looks right through me as a blast of dark magic, emanating from somewhere above come blasting down. 

I struggle to keep balanced as the planet is being pulled away from me, dissipating into the memories and dreams of those who saw it. 

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Heavy, clouded air fills my lungs as I gasp awake, my eyes piercing the foggy darkness. Rubble occasionally falls around me as I sit up, recollecting my memories. The haze washes over my aching head, I reach for a broken pipe next to me. Slowly, I edge upright, as soon as my foot lands on the broken surface, pain throbs from my ankle to my head. I slip backwards screaming with the pure pain seething from my foot. I cough as dust rushes down my hoarse throat.

I push through the ache all over me as I limp towards a pile of rocks, light barely seeping through a crack. I use all my energy to push the rocks, nothing budges. The small dust jumping off the rocks mocks me as I stumble backwards. Frustration roars through my veins as I lunge forwards once more, this time with more than energy flowing through me. Thunder bashing in my arms as the rocks crumble before me. Pride and fear join hands as I fall to my hands and knees. I continue to reach for the hazy sky, climbing up the broken gulra stairs and equipment. I hail myself over rocks twice the size of me. 

I hear lasers firing in the distance, before I can speed up my movement, the ground under me shakes and I am slowly pushed upwards by the remaining strength of the Balmera. Only, the surface above is now covered in glowing crystals. I land softly on the sparkling surface, my head throbs with the movement but I hail myself upright once again. The monster is lying immobile on the floor, the paladins rushing from their lions to the side of Allura who is unconscious on the ground. I try to run but one can only pretend the pain doesn't exist. 

Eyes welling with tears, suddenly the monster regains it's footing and rises to finish the paladins once and for all. Thoughts rush through my head faster than I can take them in, the universe destroyed by the gulra, the paladins obliterated by the unnatural laser. Keith, no longer existing.

Rage fills me, much like before, but much stronger now, more than lightning at my fingertips. This time a bolt of lightning, red on colour blasts from the sky, charring the monster and my arms once more. The Balmera catches the monsters fall by encasing it in a crystal so big, it could power a teludav no one has ever seen. (Wink wink) The Balmerans stare in shock, living underground your whole life, then witnessing pure magic, would wake you up. 

Arms smoking with the remnants of energy, I cover my limp by ignoring the pain throbbing through me. I brush the dust off me, ignoring the water threatening to burst from my eyes and edge closer to the crowd of traumatized Balmerans, and lonely paladins in a world far larger than they knew. My throbbing ankle continues to seethe, I ignore the pain and keep walking, one foot after another, to the paladins. 

Y/N: "So how did you defeat the monster?" I awkwardly smile as their eyes widen at the sight of me. I let my gaze travel from Allura, unconscious on the ground across the paladins to Shiro, glaring with a frustrated tinge in his eyes. 

PIDGE: "Y/N you're okay! We thought you were crushed by the rubble!" I can't help but wince at the pressure of her arms around my bashed ribs.

Shiro's expression softens, he walks over and I drop my gaze to the ground in shame. His soft hand rests on my shoulder.

SHIRO: "We're just glad you're okay." I don't quite know what he means by that but judging by the tinge I saw in his eyes before, I'm getting lectured the moment we step into the castle. 

KEITH: "Now that the Balmerans are free, what's our plan?"

CORAN: "Now, number 4, don't get ahead of yourself. This is one Balmera freed, there are hundreds out there to be liberated." 

I smile, I can't help but laugh at the impatience written over Keith's face, mixed with something else I can't quite pick up on. I only just getting used to expressions and emotions. Humans are more complicated than the Gulra it seems. 

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A heavy silence fills the air as we walk slowly through the large, magical doors to the castle. My cheeks burning red, shame and guilt washing over me for disappointing them on my first mission. I don't fully understand what I did, but it's clear something I did was wrong. 

The bridge feels awkward as the paladins and I edge through the whirring doors. Coran making sure Allura gets some rest there's no one brave enough to speak through the silence. 

Y/N: "Shiro... I..." 

SHIRO: "What you did was incredibly reckless, leaving the Balmerans to go save two lives." I feel guilt sitting heavily on my chest as I try to breathe and soothe my burning cheeks. "You got yourself injured." 

How did he realise I was hurt by lightning? 

Y/N: "I wasn't injured that badly, the lightning never actually struck me." I realise I slipped up, he noticed my ankle was injured, not my arms. Disbelief spreads through the paladins faces, as well as mine. 

I try to slowly edge away from the room but a gently hand grips my charred arm. Calm, stormy eyes meet mine as genuine concern writes itself over the calmness that once was. 

KEITH: "What lightning? The only bolt we saw was no where near you. We don't even know where it came from." 

I feel my lip tremble, my eyes shaking and my hands clenching and unclenching. I feel my veins buzzing through me, I barely manage to contain what threatens to reach out. 

KEITH: "Y/N, come with me." 

SHIRO: "Keith, we weren't done talking." 

KEITH: "I'm sorry Shiro, me and Y/N need to have a little... chat." 

The hallways echo and spin, the pain starting to get to me now. 

KEITH: "Shiro is right, what you did was reckless, and coming from me, that's pretty rich", he pauses, "but it was admirable, you risked your life to save others."

Y/N: "But I shouldn't have left them, I also went against what Shiro wanted." 

KEITH: "As defenders of the universe, we still make mistakes. As a team, Shiro will come to see that. Don't worry about it." 

Y/N: "Part of the team?" 

Something in me clicks, pride, guilt and... happiness.