Lotor's Daughter

Desperate

Ducking just in time, Lotor's sword slices the air where your head was. Jumping back up, you take a few steps back and gain your composure, putting your sword in middle position. Lotor grins evilly as he tries to hit you again, but this time you block the blow, locking each other in a tight bind. You grunt and struggle with the effort of keeping Lotor's sword away from your neck.
Lotor's sword was inches away from your throat. "Push! Don't be weak! Find something!" Lotor commands as sweat runs down your face. You can feel your arms about to give way. Suddenly, you knee Lotor in the stomach, making him fumble. You take this chance to break the bind and get out of Lotor's slicing range.
Taking a step to your right, you almost make it around Lotor, but at the last possible second, he hits you in the stomach with the hilt of his sword with such force that you drop your sword and trip. Lotor then slices your cheek as you fall, and the cut is deep. You want to cry out in pain, but you knew it would only make things worse for you.
You fall to the ground on your hands and knees, breathing heavily. You try to get up, but feel the cold metal of Lotor's blade on the back of your neck. A single tear runs down your face, for both the pain and the knowledge of what will happen next.
"Daughter," Lotor states, his deep voice causing you to flinch, "You failed. If this were a real fight, you would be dead at my feet. Now, stand." Lotor commands as he lifts the sword off of your neck.
You struggle through the horrible pain in your face and stomach and slowly stand, keeping your head down. You know Lotor's expression without even looking: loathing, disapproving, and cruel.
Slowly, Lotor wipes a drop of blood off of your bleeding face. You flinch slightly at his cold touch. "You disgrace me and your people. You know where to go," Lotor states, looking at your blood on his finger as if it were a prize. You feel shivers run down your back as you walk past Lotor to the door behind him, leading to the scariest place you have ever been.
You walk into the room and the doors close behind you, and you hear your father's evil chuckle as you take a step in. A small device embedded in the skin behind your ear glows a deep purple as you stand in the center of the room.
Suddenly you hear screams in your ears, the countless people dying at your hand. You had thought this was mercy at the time, like Lotor had taught you, but after all of the times you'd been in this room, you knew Lotor had twisted your mind. You regretted it every day. You remember your sword slicing through the innocent families; children, mothers, and fathers. You haven't forgiven yourself. You fall to your knees as your memories rush back to you, tears streaming down your face. You forget that it was in the past as you cry out in agony.
The terrible memories wash out the times afterwards that you had secretly helped the citizens the Galra had enslaved, receiving forgiveness from most of the people, but none of that mattered now as you pound your fists on the floor, blood and tears falling onto the floor in front of you. It won't end--it'll never end--
Suddenly, your hands grow bigger, and stronger, and the nails grow long and sharp as fur sprouts out of your hands. You reach behind your ear and shred the skin, not noticing the pain as you heard the shrieks in your ears, and rip the device out. The screaming stops.

You fall forward out of the healing pod onto your knees, someone grabbing your arms to steady you. Realizing what you just went through was a distant memory of the past, you exhale a very deep sigh as tears rush out of your eyes. You look up to see Pidge staring at you, shocked.
You look around you to see all of the Paladins, plus Allura and Coran, standing around you. Allura looks at you with a scowl, but you could read people, especially ones who were hiding their feelings, and you knew she felt a little anxious for you. Next to her Coran is checking the pod, looking at your heart rate. Hunk looks extremely confused and scared, and he looks like he wants to help you but doesn't know how. Keith has his hand on his blade, his eyes wide. Shiro kneels down next to you and puts his hand on your back, slightly massaging it. You flinch at his touch, again, and wonder why he would be so caring if he thought you were a threat. You see Lance looking at you, this time with more concern than loathing.
"Are you okay?" Pidge asks in a small voice. Her look, other than Shiro's, is the most concerned out of everyone. For some reason you find comfort in it as you look into her light brown, trembling eyes.
"I-I'm fine... it was only a memory," You trail off as the last tear falls down your face. You slowly stand up, gripping Pidge's hands for support. Shiro stands and gives you a look, saying, How is it "only a memory"? What could have possibly happened? Once you are standing, Coran comes to you and cuffs your hands. He watches over you as the rest of the group gets into a circle.
Everyone glances back at you multiple times as the group talks over what to do with you. With your heightened sense of hearing, you hear most of the conversation.
"She cannot be trusted," Allura growls, shooting you a menacing glare. You look down at your feet and steady your breaths as you were still breathing hard from the memory. Allura looks back towards the group.
"Yeah, yeah definitely," Hunk interjects nervously, his hands trembling, "I mean, should we keep her with the Blades? I-I don't feel exactly comfortable with her being here... I mean, I'm really never comfortable with anything we do, but this..." Hunk trails off, avoiding eye contact with you.
"I don't know, Hunk. I think it would be better to keep her here. We can gain more information if she's here instead of in another galaxy," Pidge answered, keeping her voice monotone and level. You couldn't tell what emotions she was feeling, but she seemed like she would be willing to listen to you and didn't jump to conclusions too quickly. There was something about her you really liked.
Keith and Shiro nodded in sync. You could tell they were very close based on how they looked at each other like brothers.
"Lotor betrayed us because we kept him. He's dead now, but--" Lance started. Your head shot up and your eyes widened. You took one step towards the group, trying to control your outburst.
"Lotor isn't dead!" You interrupt, practically yelling. Coran grabs your elbows, his orange mustache and eyebrows furrowed. The group turns to you, surprised, and you feel bile rise in your throat.
"We defeated him in the quintessence realm," Coran states, looking at you angrily. He has a slight questioning look in his eyes as you struggle to get out of his grip, but he holds you tightly.
"There's no way that that half-breed could still be alive," Allura spits out furiously, her pupils turning into narrow slits. "Besides, why would we believe you?"
"No, no, no!" You say nervously, "Why do you think I'm here? Why do you think I came with a wound from a Galra ship? Why do you think I was practically screaming in that healing pod? Lotor is alive, and that quintessence has turned him insane," You try to explain, desperately hoping the skeptical paladins would believe you.
The room goes silent. Finally, Shiro speaks up. "Alright, everyone, calm down. We'll keep her here for now. We'll talk to the blades about what to do next and see what they know." His voice is calm and steady as he looks each of the paladins, Allura, and Coran in the eye. Hunk turns to Lance, Allura to Coran, and Pidge to Keith, and they all nod slowly. Shiro seems like a father, you think, standing still and waiting for someone to lead you to the jail cell.
"You will be imprisoned in this ship until we decide what to do with you," Allura states, shoving you forward, and with the rest of the team, you are escorted to the one jail cell in the small ship.

HeHeHehEhEhE I love angst and gore :D I hope that you guys liked the story! Sorry I'm a little late on posting, I left all social media for a week. If you have any suggestions, please comment because I'm getting to a point where I'm not super sure what to do next. And 76 reads?! Thanks guys! Have a great day/night and, yes, there will be a little more angst and gore later on. :-) also happy one day late bday to Lancey Lance