12 「Castle of Lions」

Hours later...

Nemoi stood on the bridge, in the command center, of the Chimeras Castle. He stared at the wayward way the blue lion moved. It was clear Lance was the pilot, he couldn't move in a straight line even if he was ordered to. When the lion finally straightened itself out, he glanced over towards the radar.

It was around the same time that the Blue Lion was picking up an incoming ship, that a blip appeared on his own. A small smirk appearing over his lips as the Chimeras burst out of the ground with its cloaking field activated. Thanks to Pidge's upgrades to the ship, it was virtually unseen and undetectable for the time being.

The sudden geological change however would definitely be noticable for those on the ground. However it wasn't necessarily big enough to warrant the attention of the Galra cruiser which came out of what appeared to be warp speed.

Just as it was opening fire on the Blue Lion, the Castle crossed right past them. It avoided being in the crossfire, keeping to the edges of the beams.

Adam stood there beside Nemoi watching the screens and the surroundings of the battlecruiser. He was surprised by the full spectrum gravity which was on onboard. There was no weak spots, all decks were secure and had the same gravity setting as the planet Earth itself, if not a point or so heavier.

Nemoi watched as the lion opened fire on the Galra. A clean strike against the hull before rushing in the direction of Kerberos. "Amazing..." He muttered as he kept his helmet tucked beneath his shoulder.

"Very much so," Adam said as his eyes were watching the lion's movements almost hypnotically. He had never seen such movement before. It was so maneuverable compared to the Galaxy Garrison's vessels. In addition to that, the speed they were leaving Earth was tremendous.

"When will we be back?" Adam asked as he looked over at Nemoi who was placing his helmet down on a nearby counter top.

"In about five years, probably, if we survive." Nemoi said as he looked over at Adam, a small smile across his lips. "There's never a such thing as absolutes. At least you got to spend some time with him before we took off."

Adam nodded as he thought about the few hours he had spent with Shiro before they had went their separate ways. The paladins having gone off to officially find the blue lion and claim it.

He didn't seem the question why he didn't attack the Galra ship in tandem with the Lion. He pretty much knew that if Nemoi had shown himself, it would put the Earth in danger. Especially since the Galra will want to see if there are any more Alteans hiding in the solar system, in which there wasn't.

Within five minutes they were crossing paths with the planet of Kerberos, they were gliding right beside the blue lion of Voltron. The Galra vessel was right behind them, quickly gaining. It was clear they wouldn't be able to outrun them. That was suddenly when a wormhole opened up in front of them and the Lion quickly entered under the piloting skills of Lance.

Just before it closed however, the Chimeras Castle entered it, directly behind the lion.

Mere moments after leaving the Sol System, they appeared over the planet of Arus. It was an unknown world. Amazing in appearance. It was terrestrial, earth-like. From what they could both see, it was also of Temperate climate, it had seasons. It would be one of the most regular worlds that they'd come across, and hardly the most unique.

Both Nemoi and Adam watched from the command center as it went down towards the planet surface.

"Are you going to join them?" Adam asked looking over at Nemoi who had become rather nervous. Pale even, as if he was having some sort of anxiety attack.

Nemoi who had been planning on eventually returning, didn't like the idea of actually returning. His father, he himself, deserted during the battle with Zarkon. They had abandoned their King, their Kingdom, for the sake of their own lives.

Adam placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and gently patted. "It's alright. I'm sure you'll be fine Nemoi, you're here and alive now in the moment, that's all that matters." He knew the situation as he noticed there was another dormant Altean vessel on the planet surface.

Nemoi glanced over at Adam and nodded slightly. "The bridge is yours," he smirked with a coy look in his eyes, briefly shrugging the older gentleman's arm off his shoulder.

He made his way out of the command center, down the main corridor and to the lift. Within minutes he had gotten down to the hangar and took one of the couple remaining shuttles available.

This was one of the ones that Pidge, or Katie Holt, had modified for enhanced speed and durability. It even had a pair of additional Altean weapon mounts on either side of the cockpit.

A few minutes later he was leaving the Chimeras and moving down to the planet surface. He zoomed past the Blue Lion, in a gesture for a race as he did a barrel roll. It was clear that Lance wasn't going to remain calm after that little stunt.

The two craft quickly descended, the heat bounced off of their hulls. While the blue lion approached the castle at an angle, the shuttle remained going down in the a nose dive. Then just moments before it was going to crash into the vast body of water, it pulled up and skidded along the surface. Water splashed in all directions, steam rising from the ship's hull.

In the end, he ended up making it to the Castle of Lions just moments before the Bleu Lion landed. He would have won the race, hands down, however if he had only landed first.

Nemoi landed the shuttle directly beside Lance's fancy park job with the Tiger and opened the shuttle canopy at the same time as the others exiting through the lion's mouth.

As Hunk panicked, believing that the Lion was going to eat them. He seemed to chuckle light heartedly, watching as it roared and the front doors opened. However it didn't seem like they were going to go immediately inside like they originally would have.

"Nemoi!" Lance shouted as he rushed up towards the man and shoved him, which made Nemoi take a step back to keep his balance. "You... You let me win! That's not fair! I call for a rematch!"

Nemoi's gaze however didn't seem as friendly as it once did before during their week of training, before Shiro's arrival.

Lance immediately paused seeing the dreadful appearance and frowned a bit. "Sorry, man. Just playing, no need to get all fizzed up about it." He looked around before turning towards the open doors.

Katie immediately walked passed Lance, grabbed Nemoi by the arm, and began pulling him towards the front entrance of the castle. "Are you okay?" She asked as Shiro walked behind them.

Shiro's eyes were locked on the back of the Altean's head. This was one of his people's castles, so he probably knew something about it. The reason he could tell, was because the architecture between the Chimeras and the Castle of Lions were similar in structure.

Nemoi moved like a puppet, almost being dragged by Katie's guidance. Adam's little pep talk didn't really last all that long so it seemed. It only got him so far until he started imagining his interactions.

Would the Princess chastise him for deserting? Would she blame him for her father's death? Would she blame him for letting Zarkon take over the rest of the known Universe? Those thoughts made him feel heavy and stiff.

"I'm a deserter," He muttered quietly as he placed a hand on hers as she continued to hold onto his arm. As they reached the foyer a voice sprung out at them, unlike at the Chimeras.

"Hold for Identity scan!" A computerized voice spoke.

All of them stood in the center of the room as a ray of bluish light cast over them. Nemoi seemed to have calmed down a bit as he closed his eyes partially.

As the scanning continued, Nemoi looked over at Shiro as he called out. "What do you want with us? Why are we here?" This only made him snicker quietly to himself and shake his head. The reason was obvious, but the leader of the pack was asking anyways.

Shiro turned his head, looking at Nemoi from the corner of his eye as he heard the snickering. He made a low hum of thought, before looking forward. Without a warning, the lights began to ignite, giving them a path forward.

Nemoi shrugged his arm slightly and grasped Katie's hand in his own.

Katie looked down at the hand for a few moments, she didn't blush. She figured this was for his own comfort and let it be. She turned and watched a Shiro lead them, and followed suit.

As the group began to close in on the command center, it was clear Nemoi was slowing down again.

Keith, annoyed with the guy's antics, shoved him forward. "C'mon! Move it! You're okay and you're going to be okay! So get over it."

Nemoi glanced over his shoulder towards Keith, nodded, then looked forward. The insensitivity was something he didn't like about Keith, he was oblivious to a lot and instinctual. However, he knew that he was being too much of a drag on the group. He might as well have not come down if he were to continue to act this way.

With an artificial burst of self confidence, he straightened out his shoulders and held his head up.

So without further adieu, the squad continued down various passageways and down many cases of stairs. The ship itself guided them to their destination. It appeared as if it was alive, or at least programed to serve a certain function.

Without further adieu, the Squad would find themselves in front of the opening doors leading to the command bridge of the Castle of Lions. Everything was white and black, with neon blue lights here and there. It was just like the interior of the Chimeras. High ceilings above, alien architecture all over. It was a wondrous sight, one that would be unnatural and new to many.

Katie watched as Nemoi stared at a particular circle on the ground. These circles surrounded them. There were multiple and from their appearance, seemed to be tiles of some sort? No, they looked as if they could rise up.

"Where are we?" Lance asked as he looked around.

Katie glanced over at the object beside them, with a quick educated assumption, she knew the answer. "It appears to be a control room of some sort. Maybe the command bridge, like the Chimeras."

Nemoi nodded slightly as Katie reached over and pressed her hand against the control console beside them. Suddenly it lit up and movement became evident.

Whirling around on their heels, they fixed their sights on the capsule rising from the ground. The silhouette was definitely female within. In total there were at least two figures, two capsules.

"Are these guys... Dead?" Hunk asked aloud, believing them to be something akin to caskets.

"No, they're just in hibernation pods," Nemoi muttered quietly

Lance who was closest to Allura's pod and began moving closer to it. Suddenly the lights at the foot of the pod lit up and the 'defrosting' began. Within mere seconds the Altean princess was in full view, complete with dress.

Once the 'defrosting' was complete, she opened her eyes with a gasp. She could barely see, she didn't know where or when she was. She launched forward from the pod haphazardly, shouting for her father. Soon enough she found herself in Lance's dashing arms.

She almost faltered, not because of him, but because of her being groggy from her father's magic that was used to knock her unconcious.

As she began to regain her senses, panting quietly. She looked up at the face of the man whom had caught her. His face turned red, his eyes widening, a nervous smile curving over his lips.

"Hello~" Lance said with a charming tone, at least a tone as charming as he could muster.

"Who are you? Where am I?" She cautiously looked about the room, her eyes suddenly caught on a familiar face. Another Altean, she barely noticed Lance's ears right away until she looked at his face.

"I'm Lance, and you're right here in my arms." He seemed to be really trying to be a ladies man. It was almost like watching the guy fall in love at first sight.

"Your ears..." It wasn't apparent of how she felt right off the bat, but it was clear Allura wasn't impressed.

"Yeah?" Lance was just completely and utterly oblivious as to what she was going to say next. Yet he was considerably confused as to that being the first thing she points out.

"They're hideous, what's wrong with them?" Clearly she was disgusted with the human ears before her.

Nemoi covered his mouth with one hand, hiding a laugh. Katie smirking slightly seeing him lighten up a bit. At least things didn't go out of hand too quickly. "Oh boy..."

"Nothing's wrong with my-!" Before Lance could finish his retort, he was quickly brought to the ground, onto his knees. Tears enveloped his eyes as his arm was incorrectly almost pulled up behind his head. It was almost like watching vietnamese torture.

"Who are you!? Where is King Alfor!? Why are you in my castle!?" For the time being, she seemed to have completely dismissed the other Altean in the room. She was more interested in information that these poor humans couldn't supply.

"A giant blue lion brought us here! Lord Nemoi, tell her! That's all we know!" It was clear that Lance was trying to push the attention, and pain off himself as she pulled on his arm, towards Nemoi.

"How do you have the blue lion? Where is it's Paladin?!" She paused and looked over the others whom were present. "What are you all doing here...? Unless... How long it been?" Everything was coming back to her now. Her father having her knocked unconscious, sending the Voltron Lions across the universe to hide them from the Galra.

"Ten thousand years, Your Highness, Princess Allura of Planet Altea." Nemoi answered as he took a step away from Katie, but still held her hand tightly, tighter than before.

Katie didn't seem the mind, despite the grasp being tight, it didn't hurt. His hands were soft even in the armor.

Everyone in the room seemed to give him attention hearing who the woman was. They all turned their sights on her as she focused on him as well. She didn't quite want to accept what he had just informed her of. It was fully apparent on her face. "You... You are Count Vargon's son. I can imagine, since you are alone, that your crew didn't survive. Do you know where we are?"

"We are on Arus." He gestured with his free hand towards the console. Nemoi seemed rather pleased that he was not being slapped in the face, being accused of deserting, or any of the sort. His anxieties were almost immediately cleared.

Nodding as she heard this, she walked over to the console and placed her hands on it.

Katie watched as it came to life, revealing an interface. "Oh. So that's how it works," Katie seemed rather interested in it. Though she generally already knew how a lot of Altean tech worked due to spending an entire week living on the Chimeras.

"What's the status of the Chimeras?" Allura asked as she looked over at Nemoi.

Nemoi sighed and smiled blankly, seeing the stern expression she wore. She wasn't going to spew out insults towards him, but it was clear she wasn't happy. "It's partially operational. We're missing shield alignment crystals, so we're using a stealth field generator to remain undetected."

Coran who was waking up, gasped and immediately assumed those around were hostile. "Enemy Combatants!"

However after trying to drop kick Lance, epically failing and landing on the ground. He stood up and before he could go ahead and attack once more. "Quiz..." Mid curse his eyes found their way over to Nemoi, who Lance brought into his line of sight.

"Holy Quiznak! Is that Count Vargon's son?" Coran exclaimed as he quickly made his way over to Nemoi. "The last I saw you and your father, King Alfor ordered you to retreat, follow the Blue Lion! I can't believe your... Alive..." The tone of his voice began to drop as he looked around the room. He quickly found that Nemoi's father wasn't present. He frowned, placing his hands on Nemoi's shoulders.

"It can't be... We've really been asleep for Ten thousand years..." Allura immediately broke the apologetic atmosphere Coran was going to bring, as she pointed out Nemoi wasn't wrong. She looked completely devastated, as if she was momentarily reliving the final moments she held with her father.