The White Lion Princess

All good things

The last thing I remembered was a bright light surrounding Keith and I before everything went black.

"Keith. Zurine." A familiar voice said through the darkness.

I could hear Keith gasping in surprise next to me as my eyes opened.

I stayed calm, recognising this place as the Black Lion's mindscape.

"Keith. Zurine." The voice said again.

Keith frantically looked around for the source of the voice.

"Where are you, Shiro? Show yourself!" Keith said summoning his bayard.

"I know this must be confusing for you." Shiro said.

"What is this place? Where are we? You-- you were trying to kill me."

"It wasn't him, Keith." I said, making him look down at me, "That Shiro was a fake from the beginning."

All of a sudden, a figure appeared behind us in a right purple light.

We turned around and saw Shiro standing behind us. The real Shiro.

Keith gasped in surprise. I held his hand in reassurance that everything was okay.

"I'm not here to harm you. Everyone is fine." Shiro said, "Just let me explain. What Zurine said was correct. That thing that attacked you wasn't me. Since my fight with Zarkon, I've been here."

"When you disappeared?" Keith asked.

Shiro nodded, "Yes. I didn't know where I was or how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed on another realm. I died, Keith."

Keith's eyes widened in shock, speechless to the news of his leader's death.

I squeezed Keith's hand tightly as he shook.

"But, how are you talking to me right now?" Keith asked.

I took a deep breath in, "The Black Lion knew that Shiro wasn't going to live through the fight with Zarkon. So, it retained Shiro's essence and kept it here."

"Is... Is that where we are? In the Black Lion's consciousness?" Keith asked, "And how did you know about Shiro, Zurine? Why didn't you tell us that he was really gone?"

"Shiro asked me not to tell you guys about his death." I said.

"It's true, Keith. I wanted you guys to focus on the mission. I tried to warn the others about the imposter while on Olkarion, but our connecrion wasn't strong enough..." Shiro suddenly began to fade away.

"Shiro? Shiro!" Keith called out, but we were swallowed up darkness once again.

And once again, we opened our eyes.

Keith sat up and saw the familiar surroundings of the Black Lion.

"You saved us." He said to the lion, smilimg gratefully.

I sat up against the wall and looked to my right, finally noticing the unconscious clone laying on the floor.

"What are we going to do with him?" I asked.

"We need to get back to the others." He said, standing up and walking over to me with an outstretched hand.

I hesitated in grabbing it, but eventually did before looking away from him.

"Zurine, what's the matter?" He asked.

"I kept the fact that Shiro was gone from all of you." I said, "I knew Shiro was inside the Black Lion's consciousness and never told any of you."