Status Quo
Chapter Fourteen: Castle Dhm Rebuilt
by Kyence

Disclaimer: All Voltron characters are property of World Events Productions.

‘’ denote character thoughts.
 

“We’ve won,” Karna stated. His words came out a delicate whisper, like a phantasm he was afraid would all too soon disappear and reveal a different reality. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, praying to the Gods he was not fabricating the triumph. He opened his eyes, and glanced around him. The Dhmk civilians and some rather odd lizard-like beings were detaining any remaining Alliance soldiers that had not been slain. Unlike his homeworld’s reptilian subcultures and creatures, these sentries wore naught but some strands of beads and bore weapons bigger than he was. Their appearance and aid at this time could only mean one thing: A trump card from someone waiting to use it until it was needed most.

“We’ve WON!” Karna shouted to the skies filled with the massive alien ships. “Grandfather, we’ve WON!” he cried again, wholly convinced that his grandfather was within one of them. He doubted that he could be heard, but that did not alter his actions a wit. Soon many other Dhmk in the area reiterated Karna’s joyous announcement. Many also whooped and hollered, glee filling their bodies as the bloodlust from battle faded. Those that were not aiming guns at Alliance prisoners were grasping the wind currents with their hands.

Hagar was looking up at the sky, impressed beyond words. ‘These ships are magnificent! I envy the engineers,’ she thought.

‘Perhaps I can discuss the specs with you after the celebration,’ a friendly voice from the past offered, echoing in Hagar’s mind.

‘Spell-sister, Shai!’ Hagar’s inner voice exclaimed. ‘So this is your doing! Ha- when you contacted me before, I was expecting some grand magical entrance, not a technological armada,’ she goaded.

‘Do I detect some bitterness in my fellow spell-sister?’ Shai countered. A wave of amicable emotion surged through Hagar’s body, as Shai’s thought was one lacking any malicious connotation. ‘It has been decades since we have met in the flesh. I must rectify this now,’ was the final message sent to Hagar before the telepathy between the two ceased.

Karna raced up to Hagar. “Well, is he up there?” he asked, sensing the remains of magical energy left. “I know you contacted someone. Is he? Is Grandfather up there? And Uncle?!” His enthusiasm was boundless, as his feet were not even touching the ground; he was levitating subconsciously from anticipation.

“Yes, they are, Karna,” Reyk disclosed. Karna turned his head and saw that Reyk had resumed his orange Dhmk persona again.

“You make an incredible robeast,” Karna complimented.

Reyk’s forehead muscles furrowed as his eyes widened from the misnomer. He frowned. “Uh, that was a dragon. I’m a dragon. I’m glad I’m good at it, since that’s my natural form. I thought you said you already knew that,” he added with a hint of frustration at being mislabeled a robeast for the umpteenth time that day. He gently pushed on the top of Karna’s head to put his feet back on the planet.

“I could see it through your aura, yes, but I did not know there was a special term for you. A generic large war creature is called a robeast in Dhmk,” Karna explained. “I meant no disrespect.”

Hagar’s mouth crooked a smile as Reyk, dumbfounded, replied, “Oh.” He coughed and sought to relinquish being the center of attention by gesturing to Shai’s command ship. “She is going to be landing momentarily near the former Castle’s runway strip.” Since the Castle’s occupation by Alliance troops, the runways were maintained for any aircraft used by the Galaxy Alliance peacekeepers stationed on the planet. The runways were now bare, as every last airship had been reduced to steel orbs by the Sapientydan gravity beams.

The command ship descended, its landing tranquil on one’s ears. The engines barely emanated any type of sound to suggest they functioned to the outside eye. Many Dhmk onlookers were temporarily scared as they thought the craft was crashing. However, it did not accelerate to the earth in an inferno – there was no smoke to suggest an anomaly. Fear turned to admiration as murmurs of awe swept the grounded spectators. After generations grew accustomed to the notion that all machines generate noise, and that the larger the machine, the more decibels that rang one’s ears, this aberration of that theorem made the visitors almost unnatural, like deities. The vessel’s landing was smooth from beginning to finish as projections developed on its exterior to support it in an idle position. The engines promptly ceased its tiny sounds of activity. The projections had merged in the front of the ship to create a large runway to the surface of Dhm.

Karna used the Ripee spell so that he was in front of everyone in an instant. He saw the curious faces of his people as they behind the curved and aesthetic behemoth before them. The anterior hulls made a slitting noise as they split apart. Karna cringed as it immediately reminded him of sinews being torn from a muscle. He saw figures emerge on the runway, which was now animated to resemble an escalator. His eyes refused to blink, though he began mumbling a spell in case it was needed after all. Then he saw them. His grandfather, alive! His uncle, as strong and virile as he had been when Karna had went into his cocoon, standing there before him as well. He was so caught up in his happiness that he did not even see Shai standing beside them. It was only when he suddenly felt the presence of her power that he was jostled into awareness. ‘Her power is immense!’ Karna thought as he sucked in his breath. She had taken on her usual form of a humanoid feline-type being, the traditional cloths to hiding the majority of her hybrid body once more, her cape floating above her shoulders. She felt his presence as well, and smiled gently.

As the Dhm Royal Family became visible to the other spectators, a contagious spread of cheering erupted for miles. “Now it is all clear! King Zarkon has returned to us! Prince Lotor is alive! They have given us victory! Hail Our Majesty!” Random Dhmk were heard shouting.

Accolades and veneration coupled with epithets reached the father’s and son’s ears.

“You could never give this up, admit it,” Zarkon uttered to Lotor, who simply smiled back.

“Neither could you,” Lotor responded. “It is all in the family, I suppose.”

“M-hmm,” Zarkon agreed, not in the mood to attempt double-guessing his son’s motives.

Shai cast a sideways glance at the two men, and was delighted. Jepaya and Ecchai, who were a few feet in front, accompanied the trio. The entire company was flanked by dozens of Xandias soldiers. The runway rolled beneath their feet. Once the soldiers were deposited onto Dhmk soil, they formed a pair of parallel lines. All of the soldiers were off the runway before the quintet had their turn. As they passed through, the Sapientydan soldiers would raise their weaponry upright and protrude spikes from their shoulders that create an arching canopy for them. The Dhmk were ecstatic, their cries and actions a mere caliber away from being orgasmic.

Karna waited patiently, using the ample time to ready his thoughts and emotions. He loved his grandfather and uncle with a passion, but he knew better than to resort to childish displays of affection in front of them. At least while they were all in public; he was sure that when Yudishthira and Arjuna returned, the three of them would corner each one in private and hug them until they heard a smile crack. Karna heard a rustle behind him, and he felt Hagar place a hand on his shoulder. He then heard her groan as he felt Cossack slap his other shoulder.

“Heh, wondered where you have been,” Karna teased him.

“Hey, I’m not gonna greet the King all bloodied up and stuff. First impressions are everything, so I took the time to wash up,” Cossack explained.

“Cossack, King Zarkon HAS met you before. You were assigned to the Triplets’ cocoons by him PERSONALLY, remember?” Hagar whispered fiercely. When all Cossack did was shrug in reply, Hagar aborted the argument and simply sighed. ‘I’ll zap a hole in his pants to match the one in his head later,’ she compromised. By this time, Reyk had joined them in the foremost welcoming party, and chuckled to himself, adding to Hagar’s chagrin.

“Aww, Hagar, looking her most cheerful for His Majesty,” Cossack mocked. Hagar simply turned her head, regarded him indifferently for a couple of seconds, and then turned her head back. A moment of inaction passed before Hagar pummeled Cossack’s groin with the head of her staff. As Cossack sank while clutching his anatomy, Hagar melodically sang, “You missed a spot. Don’t worry, I think I took care of it.” A quiet whine trembled the warrior’s lips as he fell to the ground. The event was so quick and relatively silent among the cheers that no one even noticed.

Shai, Zarkon, and Lotor approached the last flanking soldier. Zarkon took a couple of steps forward. He surveyed his subjects to and fro, while they whistled, cried, and screamed epithets to him in this moment of triumph. He focused on the closest group to him. He cocked his head sideways as he scrutinized the cerulean Dhmk. Karna felt his grandfather’s eyes on him, and he met them with his. The king’s eyes held a coldness to them that faded away as warmth overcame them. A toothy grin spread on Zarkon’s face as he outstretched his arms. “Grandson Karna,” he addressed him, adding more to the fervent adulation from his subjects. Karna approached his grandfather, a broad grin on his visage to showcase his mood.

‘I can’t believe he can distinguish me! It’s been so long,’ he pondered miraculously. He bowed to his grandfather, his King, His Majesty. “Greetings, Your Majesty. Welcome back to your realm.” Zarkon nodded. “You may rise, Karna,” he replied formally. Karna obeyed, and looked at his grandfather. Zarkon embraced him, sending a raucous ripple of indomitable elation throughout the crowd. Karna did not hesitate to return the affection. ‘Oh well, we’ll still corner them anyway,’ Karna revised his plan.

Zarkon and Karna released each other. Karna bowed to his uncle. “Greetings, Prince Lotor. I am your nephew, Karna.”

“Karna?” Lotor repeated. “How you have grown!” he exclaimed with surprise, his good feelings sincere as he clapped a rising Karna on his shoulders. “I know that you had matured while I was away, but I did not know you would become such a fetching male specimen! I must be careful, lest you steal my title of Most Attractive Noble in the Galaxy,” Lotor joked. Karna closed his eyes and politely smiled.

“Heh, if Karna keeps hanging around with you, Lotor will have NOTHING to worry about,” Cossack snickered in Hagar’s ear.

‘Shai, I KNOW that did not come from Lotor’s brain,’ Zarkon thought angrily.

‘Was not me,’ Shai retorted truthfully.

‘Sure it wasn’t.’

‘You sarcasm is limitless,’ her mind dryly sent out to Zarkon.

‘You know me, I live to give,’ he smugly shot back. Zarkon heard an “Ooo!” that brought his attention to the visual of a leering Hagar and a Cossack in pain. He snickered. ‘The old woman’s still got that mean streak.’

Shai smiled as she replied aloud, “Now be nice…” ‘Or I will have to give you a public spanking,’ she concluded in a private thought to him.

‘Hah, now whose wit is boundless?’ Zarkon thought back to her, though his dark blood rushed to his cheeks and gave his face a swarthy blush.

“Karna, may I introduce to you the Great Meteriarch Shai Sayenne of the Xandias Clan,” Zarkon gestured. Karna nodded to Shai, and bowed elegantly. “I am honored to meet the ruler who has aided my family in reclaiming its rightful place, Great Meteriarch,” he stated.

Shai took a hold of Karna’s hands and lifted him upright. “The honor is all mine, I assure you,” she answered him in the Dhmk tongue.

Karna’s eyes widened. “You speak Dhmk?” he said in surprise. He then smiled nobly and nodded. “I am impressed with the Great Meteriarch’s knowledge of my people. Few Denubians can speak it as eloquently as you do.”

“I have had the luck of enlisting an impressive tutor,” she continued the conversation. Zarkon shot her a glare that suggested she not volunteer any further information without his consent. ‘Easy there, fella. You are not sitting on your throne just yet,’ she toyed with him.

“My Goodness, Shai. You look absolutely breathtaking!” Hagar’s voice called to her.

“My Spell-sister? Is that you I hear?” Shai shouted out. Hagar hurried up to her, and then stopped several steps away.

‘What is wrong?’ Shai thought to her.

‘You have to ask? Do not pretend my deformation is slight,’ Hagar replied sadly. She gestured to her form. ‘You have tapped into the Elixir of Life, and here I am, caught in the spell trap of a Dhmk blood curse.’

‘I know how it feels to be judged by one’s looks. You would be enlightened by how many find this hybrid semblance of mine quite disgusting and abominable,’ Shai alluded to her present state. She lifted Hagar’s face in her hands and placed their foreheads together. A bright shimmer of white light surrounded their frames.

“Someone always said there’s nothing like seeing two chicks together, and now I know they were right!” Cossack blurted out.

“They are spell-sisters,” Zarkon said suddenly from behind Cossack, who bolted from surprise. “And do not give them any ideas,” he added aloud while thinking morosely, ‘Because I know I’d be three in that equation and having Hagar there would just be…uggh.’ Zarkon shivered. He shook his head for a moment.

“Centuries pass, and you still have yet to change, Zarkon.”

Zarkon looked at the orange Dhmk. “I do not recall you…”

“And after all of these plans for revenge I helped set up for you. I finally decide to get involved with your political ‘career’, and this is how you repay me,” Reyk pretended to be hurt.

“Ah, Reyk,” Zarkon stated plainly. “What can I say, you are a master of disguise,” he gave up his unimpressed air with a nostalgic tone. “And, how do the remainder of the plans progress?”

“Exactly as planned.”

“Excellent,” Zarkon raised his fist to the sky. He did not see Hagar behind him.

“Hello, King Zarkon,” she replied in her default cackle. He turned around.

“Hello, Hagar,” he said.

“Mmm,” she nodded.

“Mmm,” he muttered as well. They continued to look at each other, but the tension created by their close presence stifled any emotion in their voices.

“You have taken care of my grandsons since my leave?” he asked.

“Yes. They are all quite well. Yudishthira and Arjuna will be back within days,” she announced.

“I…thank…you…” Zarkon forced the words out. ‘In Dhmk culture, a subject who protects the heirs to the throne from danger during wartime is granted an honorary status, a public thanking, and a private audience with the King…damn,’ Zarkon cursed to himself. ‘This is why I hate making public appearances. Now I have to follow the whole custom through or lose face.’

Hagar’s face had an impish demeanor to it, as she was well aware of the custom. She folded her arms and waited patiently for what was due her. ‘Of course, since I love those three as much as if they were actually my own, I would forego the custom if he asked me to. Men will never understand a woman’s nature. And as for Zarkon, well, he’s even further off the mark. So, I’ll just enjoy making him feel uncomfortable. He’s so comically endearing when he gets like this,’ she thought amorously.

Cheers of “Old Mother”’ and “Hagar” pressed through the now thousands of spectators.

“At our audience, I shall bestow upon you…an honorary title,” Zarkon grit out while managing to keep a smile on his face. “…Later.”

“Duly noted, Your Majesty. The pleasure is all mine,” she bowed.

‘I’ll bet,’ Zarkon thought dryly.

Lotor witnessed the whole spectacle, chuckling and stifling guffaws in his throat while Karna did the same beside him.

“Aren’t they simply adorable?” Shai elbowed Lotor in the chest.

‘I thought Shai and my father were an item…’ Lotor thought to himself. ‘She doesn’t seem to care.’

‘I was told you knew nothing of monogamy, Lotor,’ Shai helped herself into his mind. ‘As for your father and I, we have a unique relationship that is most harmonious when polygamous.’

‘Lucky bastard,’ Lotor mused.

“I hate to be the one to interrupt this reunion, but I have a surprise for you, Zarkon,” Shai suddenly proclaimed. Zarkon turned around. Hagar nodded to Karna, who understood. Reyk stepped beside Shai. ‘Love your hair,’ Shai joked at the lack he had thereof in Dhmk form.

‘Hah hah. Great to be back, though,’ Reyk took the opportunity to welcome her. ‘Hagar and Karna are ready for this.’ By the time he had finished telepathically speaking, the two had joined them in a straight line. Zarkon took some steps back, not out of fear, but of instinct: a four-way spell was imminent, and he knew from prior experience it was best not to be too close.

Reyk began his time vision, seeing Castle Dhm as it was before it had been destroyed. Shai used her telepathy to send the vision to Hagar and Karna. Hagar channeled the spirits to aid in the undertaking, while Karna summoned the elements at his disposal to provide the materials. It seemed as if the planet itself came alive with the teleological outlook of reconstructing the ancient citadel. Chunks of metal and lazon flew from the abandoned mines and were burned, cut and shaped by the forces of Hagar and Karna. Their magic was guided by Reyk’s vision, using it as an explicit blueprint. Shai maintained the connection between their minds while starting another spell. She shapeshifted into her pure Felinis form and began to howl a chant. The resulting combination of hues and vocals from the four sorcerers created a mystical atmosphere that was incapable of disregarding or ignoring. It transfixed everyone who beheld it, even the King himself, chanting along with the foreign phrases and linguistics, their eyes glowing bright, their memories feeding into the spell. The planet seemed to glow with the power as bright as an Arusian noon sky. Shai’s spell also summoned the Apodian materials she had brought specifically for this purpose out from the various ships. These polymers danced around with the Dhmk ores with rhythmic grace in sync with the chorded chanting, forming one solid outline of the Castle Dhm. The electronics were growing into the infrastructure like hungry ivy, lighting the interiors as they went along. Even the tiny amenities involving cloth and living areas were created.

The spell was complete, and the glow that had consumed the area subsided. Spectators’ eyes resumed their slit irises, and beheld the product with wonder and pride. Even Zarkon could not hide his pleasure, nor did he want to. It was almost an exact replica of Castle Dhm, except it was built stronger and more advanced. The Apodian ingredients made it indestructible, but due to its shrewd construction, no one could tell these extra things were added. He had discussed the various fallacies he had found with the Old Dynasty’s design with Shai over the past couple of weeks, and how he would have changed things and corrected security issues. ‘But I had not been expecting this!’ his inner child squealed.

‘Think he wants to jump up and down like a little kid?’ Shai pondered to Reyk.

‘Want to? Oh yeah. Will he? No. When I first found him, I had saved him from a Drule soldier’s rifle held to his head. I had saved his life, and you know what he did? Nothing, not even saying thanks. I bet he wanted to jump up and down, but nope, I did not even get a thank you. I said, ‘Want something to eat?’ he goes ‘Fine, whatever,’ and that was that,’ Reyk reminisced to her.

‘This is why I never wanted to agree to that pact with you of not reading your mind without permission. You leave out all the intriguing stuff when you commune with me. And Zarkon’s mind is so crowded at times, things like this are hit and miss,’ Shai’s mental voice moaned.

‘He is so screwed up. An adopted son after my own heart,’ Reyk prided himself.

‘He carries MY family name, do not forget, Reyk,’ Shai teased.

‘That is what I love about you Sapientydans. Having an intimate relationship with a stepson is totally acceptable in your society as long as his biological mother is dead,’ Reyk quipped.

‘Aw, you’re just upset you are not my stepson,’ Shai warbled as she pinched his cheek.

The cheers began anew at the spectacle of the reformed Castle Dhm. The Alliance prisoners were awestruck themselves. Some of them had even collapsed from the impact of such a development. They knew they would be fodder for robeasts and exhibition fighters during the victory celebrations.

Zarkon cheered to his people, the Dhmk, with all its sub races of natives and Duonulan like himself. “My people, let us rejoice at the eternal site of Castle Dhm!” The soldiers flanking them began walking in accordance with Shai’s speed. Zarkon posed to her in Sapientydan, “How are your troops on Planet Opachre doing?”

“Reestablishing your presence there now,” she provided.

“And Tyrus?”

“By the end of celebration, it will be in your jurisdiction once again.”

‘I know that little vow of ours is not your only motivation for this. And I know you think like me, so I can only feel some apprehension about what you want in return,’ Zarkon thought adamantly.

‘Nothing to compromise your integrity, Zarkon. I will let you know when it is appropriate. We do not think as alike as you have led yourself to believe. Now, for the sake of the Essentia, will you have some fun?!’ Shai admonished him.

Zarkon’s expression was one of shock. It was soon submerged beneath his familiar mask of apathy as he nodded. “Since I now can, I will.”

As the royal family progressed into the castle, escorted by Shai’s guards, Jepaya found herself walking at a slower and slower pace. She had kept herself silent, and saw no reason or incentive to act differently. ‘I will NOT follow HIM,’ she thought to herself, and took several lingering moments adjusting her beads in the lower gravity’s atmosphere. She then looked at the Sapientydan ships, and at the cascades of tiny natives heading for the castle.

“Are you are robeast?” She heard some odd chattering next to her. She saw a short blue creature resembling something midway between Zarkon and Lotor. He wore a yellow cloth, and had a helmet with horns protruding from its sides. She glared at him, narrowing her eyes.

“ARE…YOU…A…ROBEAST!” Cossack repeated slowly and much louder, pointing to her and then to some feral robeast that was snarling about the area now that much of the Dhmk were gone.

Jepaya was not amused. “You call me a dirt stomping monster of some sort?! You associate my superior race with that stupid thing?! How dare you!” She roared in her homeworld’s tongue, not yet mastering the English Standard.

“Was it something I said?” Cossack mumbled.

A punch to his face that knocked him into the dirt answered his query in the affirmative. Jepaya was already yards away, as she briskly used her long strides to get to the Castle and guard Shai. Cossack readjusted his jaw as he picked himself up.

“Yup,” he answered his third, albeit silent, question, “That is definitely a chick.”

Continued

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