Chapter Text
In the end, Keith did end up becoming used to the quintessence released during supernovas, it took almost six more supernovas for him to just feel lightheaded, and four more for him to become completely unaffected, if anything, all he felt now was a bit of a shock of electricity that ran down his spine. He compared it to his hoverbike, which managed to float thanks to the electromagnetic field in the motors in it's wings; he had once held his hand under them, and he felt as if his body was surrounded by a field of pure energy, it was like he could feel every atom around the field. That's what he felt like with Quintessence, as if every atom of it was running though his veins; things still felt extremely weird when the Quintessence was released into the universe, and sometimes weird things did happen.
Such as the time they had celebrated with the people of Arus. Keith had been talking to Hunk, having found his presence to be quite enjoyable, and almost airy, somehow; Pidge had also joined them, as did Shiro. Pidge had started talking, but Keith couldn't pay attention. It was as if something was pulling his very soul, telling him to leave. As rude as it made him look, he did, leaving, hearing Shiro call for him. He walked through the door that gave away to one of the many halls of the castle; the feeling of something pulling and calling to him leading him through the halls, taking sharp turns as his speed grew from trotting, to running, to sprinting. The pull becoming more and more desperate, as Keith entered the bridge, finding a sort of drone in there; time seemed to slow down, as it floated over to the center of the bridge. He heard Lance's voice, sounding scared, as he moved to shield Coran; everything seemed to go in slow motion, as Keith ran up to the robot, he activated his bayard, jumping with a yell as he drove his sword into the drone. Just as it exploded.
Keith gasped, as the flames surrounded him, his bayard fell away from him, as he felt everything grow extremely slow; he saw Shiro's terrified look on his face as he watched the flames slowly consume Keith. However, they did not burn him, his skin glistened, shining as if his pores were full of diamonds; he could see colours swim around his body, he watched his arms as they swayed, waves of colours in the shape of his silhouette trailing after him as if his very aura became visible. He felt everything around him grow weightless, dark, before an explosion of light filled his world with stars and galaxies; every exhale from his body became a nebula, every heartbeat a new planet. He closed his eyes, allowing his body to melt into the universe, as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, it was as if he was doing backflips, spinning around in space; he felt his hair grow and turn into interstellar clouds, his body melting away to form a constellation. He closed his eyes, and dropped into a deep slumber as he laid in a bed made purely out of a galaxy.
Keith's body fell back after the explosion, landing in Shiro's arms, who panicked as he looked at Keith's unconscious face, his skin remained unharmed, somehow, and his hair remained in his head, he was confused, as the explosion should've indeed burned some part of his hair. However, his worry overcame his logic, making him focus more so in Keith's unconscious form instead of the fact that he had hair and unharmed skin. He stood up, holding Keith close to his body as he looked across the charred space, hearing the rest of the team running towards them, all of them staring at the mess of smoke in the bridge.
"What happened?!" Hunk questioned.
"I'm not sure" Shiro breathed heavily, as the smoke slowly cleared away "I-I have to take him to the infirmary" He declared "He-He needs-"
"There's no power" Allura declared, looking at the disaster now that there was no smoke. "The crystal was destroyed."
"Lance!" Pidge and Hunk screamed.
Shiro looked back at where he last saw Lance and Coran, finding Lance was also unconscious. They were down two members of the team.
"Lion warriors!" The Arusian King called for them, desperation clear in his voice as he ran into the bridge. "Our village is under attack! We need help!"
Keith groaned as he woke up, turning to lay on his back, as he opened his eyes; immediately, he came face to face with a ceiling made of buzzing moving flickering lines; he sat up, frowning, as he supported his weight on what felt like solid grown. He hissed in pain, bringing his arm back towards his chest, having been electrocuted by whatever he used as support; he looked back at it, finding an arm made out of purple energy. Frowning, he stood up, looking back at the arm, noticing it to be a right arm, same size as Shiro's. He frowned, looking around himself, noticing the building he was in looked just like the castle, except, it was made out of these thin lines of pure light blue energy; he looked back at the arm, and finally noticed something else. The arm was bright purple, made of the same lines as the castle, but it wasn't a floating arm, it was attached to something, a very dull silhouette made of silver, almost like a cloud, which he could only see thanks to it changing the way the light looked like when looked through it. It was so light and dull, he couldn't be blamed for not seeing it. He could also see multiple other silhouettes made of the very same dull coloured thing. All of them were recognisable silhouettes, it was clear the silhouette with the arm was Shiro, next to him was Allura, Pidge and Hunk; in Shiro's arms, a dark magenta silhouette, which Keith recognised as his very own. He watched as Allura and Hunk ran off, following the Arusian King, who Keith never saw.
"Lance" Keith suddenly remembered with a gasp, turning around, finding Coran holding Lance, who looked even duller than the others.
In the very center of the room, Keith noticed shards of bright blue energy, the same colour as the flickering lights that made out the energy forming the entire castle. He reached out to touch it, feeling it buzz and shiver as he reached for the main shard, which was as big as his thumb. All around it, literal dust floated all around it, all of them buzzing and shivering; he reached out with both hands, enveloping the entire shard and the dust between his hands. He felt it all buzz, like a TV without signal; he closed his hands, holding them tightly, as his very body shined brightly. Before the shards exploded, throwing him away and back, falling to the floor with a groan of pain. He moaned and groaned in pain, as he tried to push through the pain.
As Allura and Hunk ran off to help the Arusian people, Pidge, Shiro and Coran remained behind, holding Lance and Keith.
"This is bad" Pidge spoke, looking at the two paladins. with worry engraved in her face.
"We have to get a new Crystal to get the Castle working again." Coran spoke up . "But, to get a new Crystal, we need a ship."
That seemed to remind Pidge of something, as her face immediately lit up.
"The pod I was loading, we can use that! I left the bay door open." She spoke up, before she looked back at Lance and Keith.
Shiro looked at her and Coran, trying to see what he could do to ensure both Keith and Lance were safe, while Coran and Pidge managed to get to the pod. He groaned, deciding to pick both Lance and Keith up, carrying them over his shoulders.
"You two get to the pod, I'll try to see if I can hide somewhere" He ordered.
Pidge and Coran nodded, before standing up to run off towards the bay.
"I can use the scanner in the pod to see if there's a Balmera nearby!" Coran declared, his voice and Pidge's growing quieter, as the distance grew between them.
Shiro sighed, looking back down at the two teens laying in his arms. He jumped slightly, in order to accommodate them on his shoulders.
"Hang in there buddy" He told both of them, as he made his way to the entrance of the castle "Help is on the way" He promised.
Keith stood up, as he watched Shiro move his body to carry him over his shoulder, before he picked lance up from Coran's arms. Keith frowned, noticing the difference in intensity of Lance's silhouette and his own, he couldn't blame it on the shade, since Lance's silhouette was a deep dark blue, like the ocean before becoming pitch black in depths. He reached out to touch him, his hand sinking into Lance's chest; he frowned, he could almost feel the very weak and subtle current of Lance's bloodstream, he moved his hands, following the current of his blood, feeling it speed up slightly, as if he were creating a current in a pool by shifting his hands in a circle. The stream soon became strong enough to push Keith's hand out of Lance's body, who's colour was becoming more vivid. Keith can do nothing, as he watches Shiro run off with his own body and Lance's, halting, as a dark purple, almost black, it was massive, with ears the same size of it's head, it's body hulking and tall.
"Sendak!" Shiro growled, halting in his steps as he came face to face with the large Galra male.
He softly places Lance and Keith on the ground, making sure they're comfortable before standing up to face the commander.
"Stand aside" Sendak demands, looking at Keith's body.
"No!" Shiro growled "You're not getting in"
Sendak seemed amused by Shiro's behaviour; as he activated his arm to fight.
"Yes, I am" Sendak smirked.
As the two of them fell into battle, Lance groaned, his eyes fluttering open as he found his head resting against Keith's hair. He slowly moved away, trying to wake up fully, as Shiro and Sendak battled; he made an attempt at standing up, but failed, his legs feeling weak and shaky. As he finally managed to stand up, Shiro's body crashed against him, Sendak had used his gauntlet to send him flying into the castle, pushing them both away from not only Sendak, but also Keith. Sendak ran towards them, grabbing them both by their throats.
"Sir!" A voice yelled from the entrance. "We have the apex!"
In the hands of a strange looking Galra, was Keith, who he was carrying in a princess carry; Sendak chortled.
"Perfect" He hummed, before bashing Shiro's head against Lance's, knocking them both out, before throwing them away.
As he approached Haxus and Keith, Keith's eyes shot open, his scleras yellow, and his pupil and iris vertically, almost like a boa. He let out a loud yowling scream, as he used his knife to slash across Haxus' face, starting from the bottom of his right cheek, up to his left eyebrow, catching his nose and eyes along the way. Haxus yelled in pain, letting go of Keith, who managed to land with both hands and one foot, the other one was stretched out; he groaned and huffed, as Sendak approached him. He grabbed Keith's hair with great strength, pulling him back to look into his eyes, even with what he had done, he looked pleased.
"Mhhh, Lady Haggar will be pleased" He bared his teeth as he grinned, a growl beneath his voice.
Haxus groaned, but seemed to overcome his pain, as he glared at Keith, bearing his teeth.
"Call the ship." Sendak spoke up. "We have what we came for"
Keith activated his bayard, but his hand was stepped on by Haxus, who practically slammed his foot into his hand, attempting to maim him like Keith did him. He yelled out in pain, just before a blast of energy hit them both, sending them to the ground. Keith groaned, as he cradled his hand to his chest. Just as Pidge, Allura and Hunk joined them.
"You okay?" Hunk questioned, holding his bayard, still aiming at the two galra.
"Ask me when I'm not in pain" Keith huffed, slowly standing up.
Sendak and Haxus stood up, now more annoyed than prior.
"Princess Allura" Sendak mocked "Not much of a Princess when you have no subjects" He smirked.
Allura stiffened up, a sharp intake of breath as Sendak mocked the extinction of her people.
"You don't need to die and finally put an end to your species" Sendak followed up. "Give us the Apex, and you'll live seventy sleep cycles more"
"We have no Apex in this ship" Allura declared "We have no registry of it"
Sendak chuckled.
"You're more clueless than I thought" He mocked. "Unable to see what you have right in front of you"
His eyes bore into Keith, who growled at him. Sendak grinned, wickedly.
"Ah" He tilted his head, looking at him. "You've got your mo-"
Haxus groaned, as Rover hit his back, causing the both of them to fly out of the castle, Haxus screaming as Rover beeped; it was soon that they heard his screams grow farther and farther away, before both of them fell to their deaths. Sendak had tried to catch his partner, but was too late, yelling out in rage.
"No!" He yelled out, as Pidge joined the group.
"Wanna go next?" She mocked, aiming her bayard at him.
Sendak glared.
"You really think you've stopped me?" He mocked, though there was only rage in his voice. "The galra already know of the Apex, they'll come for you, they will never let you rest. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable"
"You are surrounded, Sendak" Allura's voice boomed. "One wrong move, and we will make sure your life ends, immediately"
"Go ahead" Sendak dared, aiming his arm at Shiro and Lance. "If the yellow Paladin moves, you can say goodbye to your friends"
Keith squinted his eyes, looking at Sendak, then at the unconscious bodies of Shiro and Lance. A voice in his head considered sacrificing himself, but another simply told him to try to push him away from the two of them. He took out his dagger, and threw it at Sendak, who easily caught it, only inches away from his face; using this split second distraction, he ran towards him, slashing upwards with his bayard, grabbing the dagger as it fell from Sendak's grip. Sendak groaned, before he was thrown away thanks to Hunk, who shot at him. The large galra growled, looking up, now finding himself away from the hostages he had taken. He glanced at the paladins, before grinning, his eyes boring into Keith's own DNA and soul. He stood up.
"You have chosen your fate" He declared.
At a speed they weren't ready for, he dashed towards them, dodging all of Hunk's shots and attacks, the only one who managed to hit him, was Keith, who landed a stab on Sendak's leg. The galra, however, remained steady, grabbing Keith's leg, and dragging him away; bashing his head against the wall to knock him out.