Chapter Two

Outside the central control room, soldiers and civilians alike were cleaning up after the last battle, their first and only victory...but it had come at a great cost. The dead bodies of the fallen Voltronians had been collected and bagged, giving them a certain dignity even in death. Soldiers were carrying the bodies from where they had been bagged to a storage facility near the top of Voltronia base. Link, with Gwen by her side, was quietly leading the troops and slowly putting things to rights. Jack, Jordan, and Matt were with their Hunk and Pidge, checking over the Lions to make sure that what had happened that day did not do any damage to the engines. Alana, Ethan, Bethie, and Archent were holed up in a room with Rathul, learning.

Meanwhile, Romelle, Keith, and Lance had locked themselves up in the control room.

"How are the people?" Keith asked, looking at Lance who had just walked in. "Is Link doing alright?"

"She's holding up," Lance said gravely. "They did a rough count and Merla murdered about a third of the population. They want blood, Keith."

"So do I."

"I say we attack now," Lance said. "We've got Merla on the run and we need to seize this opportunity before she can regroup."

"I agree," Keith said, looking down at the holographic map of Arus they had in the middle of the room. "With Voltron charged up the way it is, we can destroy the castle with her inside it."

"What about Allura?" Lance ventured carefully.

"I'm going to go in to get her."

Romelle arched an eyebrow.

"Are you serious? You're not a young man anymore, Keith, and frankly, you don't have the kind of skills that are needed to defeat her."

"I know that," Keith snapped. "That's why I'm taking Archent."

"He doesn't even have the kind of control that Alana has..." Romelle started, but then stopped when she realized what she was implying.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just suggest I take my youngest daughter in with me to the Castle of Lions," Keith said slowly.

Romelle looked at the map, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She knew that Keith was still looking at Alana like she was his baby and in many ways, Alana was still a child, but Romelle had seen what the girl was capable of. She was determined and strong, traits that she had learned from her parents, and if Keith was serious about saving Allura, he needed to make the smart choices--not the ones that were emotionally charged.

"I don't like it anymore than you do," Romelle said. "But I saw what she could do on the ship, Keith. She's just a kid, but she can pack a mean punch."

"She has no battle experience," he said. "If I have to worry about watching her back as well as mine, we'd be in more trouble."

"What if you take her and Archent?" Lance suggested. "That way, you've got two magic wands in your pocket and another trained soldier to stop your head from flying off your neck."

Keith rubbed his eyes.

"We need to find out how much firepower she has in there. She hasn't used our own weaponry against us but that doesn't mean that she won't. Lance, I want you to look over the video feed from earlier today and gauge how many robots she managed to save. We have to assume that she's building more ro-beasts, although as we saw, they really weren't that serious a challenge to super-charged Voltron."

"Is that what we're calling it?" Romelle said with a half-smile.

"Magical Voltron doesn't sound as intimidating," Keith said dryly.

"Lightbulb Voltron doesn't either," Lance added. "Are we sure that Bethie and Ethan can do that again?"

"It would be a safe assumption," Romelle said. "From what Rathul tells me, once they know how to tap into their power, they won't forget."

"Did you forget?" Keith asked.

Right before their eyes, Romelle began to glow faintly.

"You could have just said no," Lance pointed out. "Looks a little dim though."

"I'm out of practice."

"Have you heard from Sven?" Keith asked her.

"I've sent him a detailed report of what just happened here," she answered. "It'll grease the wheels on getting us some backup."

"At this point, I can tell them where they can put their backup," Lance retorted. "Seriously, I dunno how you haven't thrown your insignia into the sea, Keith."

"Believe me, if I had them, I would," Keith said angrily. "It was fast work on your part, Romelle, to get that report off, but I think we'd be ridiculously overestimating the wisdom of the Alliance leaders if we begin to hope that they will come to help us. We're going to continue acting on the assumption that we're in this alone. We've been doing well so far and we can finish this the way we started it: on our own."

"We have the same means as Merla now," Lance said. "We can do it."

"Romelle, you can help me plan the storming of the castle. Could you get me a blueprint? Lance...get started on that recon."

"Yes, sir, King Keith."

"I knew that the biggest drawback from being crowned would be your heckling me. I thought that after twenty or so years, I'd be used to it already."

"No one ever gets used to him," Romelle said, elbowing Lance. "I have to say, it's nice to work with you again."

"Let's see if we can make the same kind of magic we did before," Lance said. "No pun intended."

Alana pulled on the black cargo pants that Bethie brought for her and the hooded, long-sleeved shirt that went with it. The pockets of the pants were already filled with what she was sure she would need and she trusted her sister's judgment. She came out from behind the changing screen to find Bethie was sitting on the bed, watching her silently, worry dripping from every pore. Ethan was sitting on the floor, his blonde hair still wet from a shower and a wrinkle between his knitted eyebrows.

"Dad's lost his mind," he said. "I thought he lost it when he and Mom told us to turn tail and run when Merla got here, but now I'm sure he did. Lana doesn't have any kind of battle experience and he's taking her right into the Lion's den."

"That's appropriate," Bethie said. "Dad knows what he's doing, Ethan. He's right in bringing someone with him who knows magic."

"What about Rathul?"

"Someone he trusts."

"He's letting Rathul train us!"

"I'm going to go," Alana said, just to shut her siblings up. "What's a better training ground than a place I grew up in and a situation that has our mother's life on the balance?"

Her voice went a little high at the end of that statement, giving away her own misgivings. Ethan and Bethie looked at her sympathetically.

"If you're scared, Dad will understand," Bethie said.

"I am scared and I'm sure he'd understand, but I'm still going to do it. No one else can."

Bethie stood and hugged her sister. She realized then that Alana had grown since she saw her last and was now taller than she was. She and her sister had spent the first night back exchanging stories and Bethie hadn't realized how much she had missed Alana. She never thought that they were especially close, but Alana's absence only made her aware that she had taken her sister's presence for granted. It felt good to have her brother and sister with her and Bethie relished the short time they had together. The next day, they would all be in the line of fire again and reality had hit Bethie hard enough for her to expect the worse. She hoped that her family would come back whole, but there was only so much hoping could do.

"Everyone is scared, but not everyone can act while they are," Bethie said. "I'm sure you were scared when you deal with Lotor, scared when it was just you and Jason on Prinoth, but you kept your head. You'll do the same now, for Mom...and Dad."

She gave Alana a squeeze before letting go and sitting back down. Alana pulled on the hood

"And black looks good on you, Lana," Ethan said, smiling. "Makes you look dangerous."

"Oh I'm plenty dangerous."

"Just make sure you let Dad and Archent do the crucial shooting," Bethie said, exchanging an amused glance with Ethan.

"My shooting has improved. Jason found a firing range on the ship and he's been helping me."

Ethan arched an eyebrow at her.

"You two have been spending a lot of time together."

"Don't get all big brother on me, Ethan," Alana said, shaking a finger at him. "It's Jason."

"Shooting practice won't get her pregnant," Bethie said.

Ethan nudged Bethie's knee with his arm.

"No self-pity here, Elisabeth."

"That wasn't self-pity, Ethan, just fact. I can't even think about this baby now with all this going on. When we win and I can think of my future without adding 'ifs' and 'buts' then I'll be able to be happy about it."

"I wish you'd told me, Bethie," Alana said softly. "I didn't realize just how deeply your feelings for Skech went."

"I love him more than I ever thought I could," Bethie said, her eyes pricking with tears. "I wanted to tell you, but we just couldn't. Not yet. I was afraid of how Mom and Dad would have reacted...I guess now I'll never know."

"He was a great guy," Alana said. "They would have been upset about how old he was, but in the end, if he made you happy, they would have accepted him. We all would have."

"Thank you for that, Lana."

"You have to think of your future, Bethie or else you'll lose hope in what we're trying to do here," Ethan said. "Keep dreaming of your baby, of what you want for him or her. It doesn't hurt any to do that because it'll make you want victory even more."

Alana and Bethie exchanged smiles.

"I swear, you're never down in the mouth, are you, little bro?" Bethie asked.

"Someone's gotta maintain morale. In case you didn't notice, Dad's not exactly bringing on the cheer."

"Can you blame him?" Alana said. "He's responsible for a lot more than we are."

"Oh I don't blame him in the least...I'm just saying this is the role I want to play."

"And you're good at it," Alana said, tousling his hair.

The door chimed and in unison, all three bade the visitor entrance. Jack came in, his hands in his pockets, and Jason came in right behind him. They were a little dishevelled and tired, having helped their mother with Voltronia for most of the night and getting little sleep in the process. Bethie's eyes automatically went to Jack and he acknowledged her with a nod, but moved his gaze from hers. She expected him to sit next to her like he usually did, but instead he positioned himself by the door, his back against the wall.

"A party," Jason said, sitting down next to Ethan. "Nice outfit, Lana. You look like you're going to rob a bank."

"That's the idea," Alana said, posing for him.

"We've been spending a lot of time in costumes lately," Jason said. "This jumpsuit is more drab than I like."

Jack booted Jason's leg lightly.

"When Mom's done putting her people back together, we'll make sure to spell out your name in sparkles on that drab outfit of yours."

"How are things out there?" Bethie asked Jack.

"Terrible," he answered tightly, not looking at her. "We're nice and safe in our Lions and we don't realize what happens on the ground...but I saw it firsthand. When you see Merla, give her a laser handshake for me, Alana."

"Will do."

"You should have gotten some rest last night, Jack," Ethan said.

"Nothing like a magical energy shake to get me up and going again," Jack said, rubbing his eyes. "Besides, there was no way I would have gotten much rest last night after all this. You don't look so great yourself so I doubt you were able to get a goodnight's sleep."

"Thanks."

Alana's communicator chimed. Her eyes met Bethie's. She picked it up.

"Yes, Dad?"

"Let's go, Lana."