His Beautiful Nightmare 》Voltron [Voltron WA 2017]

Chapter 4

"Hunk, what are you hiding?", a boyish voice suspiciously asked.

"Oh, nothing...", the dark haired man replied nervously.

"Mhmm", the voice slowly hummed, " Then what's in the closet?"

"... Lance"

"That's funny cause, cause I just saw Lance down the hall, and not in that closet."

Someone opened the door, and Azalea looked down at a hazelnut-haired boy.

She smiled and waved, "Hello! My name is Azalea!"

The boy kept his wide hazelnut eyes on the floating girl in the closet for a moment, then slowly turned back to Hunk.

"I thought you told the others that there were no prisoners after all!", he snapped accusingly.

"Well...", Hunk rubbed the back of his head nervously, "This isn't... a normal prisoner."

"Obviously", the boy rolled his eyes as Azalea swam out of the closet.

"This is.... kind of.... the Nightmare"

The boy's eyes widened in amazement.
"You're Nightmare?", he asked Azalea.

She nodded, "Its more of a misnomer anyways."

The boy stuck out his hand, and Azalea gently shook it.
"The name's Pidge Gunderson."

So this is the "Pidge".

"Azalea Korraine."

Hunk gestured to Azalea's feet, "She needs your help Pidge. I think we should make her look decent enough, and not.... well, nightmarish."

He turned to Azalea, "Not that you look like that anyways, but we need to take extra precautions."

She shrugged, "I'm fine."

And that is how Azalea ended up sitting under Pidge's work table with her foot propped in his lap, eating a plate of strange green goo.

Hunk sat next to her.
"Hey Zales", he asked, "Why are you sitting under the table? I mean, there's plenty of room out here!"

Azalea smiled and shook her head. "I like confined spaces. They're like hugs. Hugs calm me down.", she explained.
Hunk smiled kindly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Azalea chuckled, "Thanks Hunk."

Pidge had opened up her ankle bands and was rearranging the peices.

"What are these for, anyways?", Pidge asked.

Azalea set down her plate.
She lifted up her right hand, as a demonstration.
A small whirring noise came from the band on her wrist, then in tiny scales, the glove detached itself and quickly slid into the band. Azalea wiggled her long, slender fingers, and the metal glove encased itself around her hand once more.

"My 'gift', as some might call it, is too unpredictable for me to control it by myself", she explained, "Without them, I'm useless, just floating around, unable to move. They help me channel my energy."

She lifted a hand, and the silver spoon she had been eating with raised into the air. Hunk grabbed it, staring at it like it was magic.

"My ankle bands", Azalea continued, "Are merely for walking around."

Pidge nodded in interest.

Azalea remembered the day she got them. Haggar sent her to her druids, who operated on her.
The bands were a permanent part of her now.

"Hey, can I ask you something?", Hunk said. He turned to her, curiosity on his face.

"Yeah, sure!"

"How did you get the name Nightmare?"

"You killed her!!", Azalea's mom screamed, trying to claw her way through the crowd.

Her heart quickened.

No.
No.
I- I... I didn't want to Mom!

"You killed her!", Mrs Korraine raged. Soldiers held her back.
"After all she did for you... YOU KILLED HER!!"

I did, Azalea thought, I'm a murderer.

How much longer before my saviors become my enemies?

They won't like me. Not for who I am.
I'm a monster.

"Azalea, are you okay?", Pidge asked.

Her head jerked up.
It's okay, she reminded herself, Nothing bad is going to happen anymore.

She smiled at Pidge.
"Yeah", she said quietly, "I guess I'm just glad I'm finally out..."

"Don't worry Zales", Marina whispered, gently holding her little sisters hand, "We're gonna get out. Together, arm in arm. Like we always do."

Is everyone going to haunt me?...

Azalea turned to back to Hunk, "I got the name Nightmare after my first fight in the gladiator ring."

My first and my last.

"I guess I just overdid it", she chuckled sadly, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"You've got to control yourself Azalea", another prisoner once warned her, "Remember what happened last time you let your emotions get the best of you?"

She heard her mom's anguished cries.
The cheer of the bloodthirsty crowd.

All too well.

I remember it all too well.