Status Quo
Chapter Eighteen: Between Ladies
by Kyence
Disclaimer: All Voltron characters are property of World Events Productions.
‘’ denote character thoughts.
Allura awoke, alone in her body, and grateful for it. She was not sure how she knew that Saoche was no longer a part of her, but she did. Her body felt heavy and weak, as though it had been strained vigorously to the point of exhaustion. She was lying on her back, on a soft fabric, probably a mattress. She forcefully opened her eyelids, which fluttered under the struggle at first. Her vision slowly came into focus, and revealed a distant ceiling, ornate with dark swirls, computer lights…and a horned skull. Allura knew where she was.
She would have lunged up in shock, but her body simply could not accomplish such a feat when it was so tired. She gingerly hoisted her torso up by pushing her hands against the mattress, groaning as she did so. Her eyes shut from the exertion. When her eyes opened again, she could see that she was not alone in the room.
Yudishthira sat in a chair a few feet away from the bed, one leg over the other. He stared at her with an inquisitive, studious look. Allura was surprised at first. ‘I would have expected Lotor,’ she thought to herself. Then, she decided she was probably better off. She straightened her back as she attempted to convey a sense of aloofness. “Why are you looking at me so?” She did her best to sound authoritative and calm, though she would have preferred to lunge kicking and screaming.
Yudishthira gave a small smile that lacked any ill intent. “Just trying to abate some curiosity is all,” was the reply before replacing his chin on his hand.
Allura felt uneasy with the scrutiny. It was disconcerting to her; it seemed different from Lotor’s mad, obsessive gaze, but she was not sure why she believed so. She rubbed her arms as a sudden chill swam through her skin.
“Are you cold?” Yudishthira asked. “I can have the temperature of the room raised, if you like. You may as well get accustomed to being here.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Allura demanded with no pretense of princess grace. She rose slowly as she placed her hands on her hips. “If you think that I am going to sit here and let Zarkon and Lotor decide MY fate, you had better think again,” she spoke forcefully as she leaned over her sitting guard. The blue Dhmk sneered and ran his left hand through his white hair. He narrowed his eyes and gave a small chuckle, which infuriated Allura further. His voice was smooth and a sultry croon as he spoke to her, which enervated her. “Please, Allura, you have never been in control of your own fate. It has simply been transferred between owners. Now, now, it is difficult to realize that your destiny is designed by your hired help, but simply denying the truth leaves you powerless in your delusion.”
‘He patronizes me!’ she thought angrily. ‘And he speaks so poorly of Coran and Nanny!’ “Say what you will of me, but do NOT address my loved ones with disrespect!” she yelled, her pitch low and fierce. She grabbed a pillow from the bed as she confronted him.
“Has Lotor ever seen you bellow like this?” Yudishthira simply suggested, undaunted by the aggressive display. “If he did, he may leave you alone for the rest of your life…”
Allura decided to abandon her inhibitions and slam him in the face with the pillow. Of course, Yudishthira’s agile eyes caught the attack and allowed him to catch the pillow with his hand. Allura would not let go, tugging it with all her might as she tried to wrench it from his surprisingly strong grip. “I…don’t care…about…Lotor!” she spat in between her tugging and grunting. “I…WISH…he would leave…me…alone…”
Yudishthira sniffed in contempt. “Hmmph, doesn’t look like that from my end.” He released the pillow, and due to all of her continued efforts to pull it away, an unexpected Allura fell back, pillow in hand. “Admit it, you like the attention. You are a tease.” Allura stood up, her body visibly shaking from fury. “But, who wouldn’t?” Yudishthira mused with a shrug of the shoulders to emphasize the rhetoric.
“Dodge THIS!” Allura screamed as she flung her full body weight onto Yudishthira, who had not expected such behavior from the characteristically repressed princess. They rolled and writhed on the ground, as Allura tried her hardest to scratch his eyes out. “Not so tough without those bird feet, are ya?!” she spat viciously. Yudishthira raised an eyebrow before finding his foot was against her belly. He kicked her away, but not before Allura took a sizable portion of his shirt with her. As she landed on her buttocks, she noticed a flash of something undoubtedly female behind her enemy’s ripped attire. A look of confusion accompanied her cognitive bewilderment.
Yudishthira’s face darkened as he stood up, covering the exposure with his arms. He glared murderously at Allura, his fanged teeth bared, his eyes glowing a rageful red.
“Are…are you…what I think you are…? Are you a wom…” she sputtered out. Unfortunately, she could not finish her query before Yudishthira sent a punch into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. As she lay on the floor, coughing and gasping, “he” crouched above her.
“If you tell anyone what you have seen, I will personally cut out your tongue and chop off your hands, and feed them to the robeasts,” Yudishthira threatened blatantly, grabbing a batch of Allura’s blonde hair and jerking her head up. Her teeth rattled from the abrupt movement. Her eyes met those of Zarkon’s disguised granddaughter. “Do I make myself clear?” Allura nodded slightly, her breathing heavy and her breasts heaving. Yudishthira appeared satisfied, dropping Allura’s head to let gravity do what it would with it. She stood up, and proceeded to reverse her shirt so that the ripped side only revealed her back. She managed to accomplish this without completely removing it; a simple task of taking her arms out of the sleeves and rotating it around her neck achieved the goal nicely and modestly.
Yudishthira then gave a light kick into the fallen Arusian princess. It was not as debilitating as the previous punch, but it was noticeable enough to elicit a grunt out of the victim. “Remember my words; I surely will.”
The next thing Allura heard was Yudishthira’s boots clicking near the doorway. The electric hum of the sliding sheets of metal to provide an exit were then followed by a more distant sound of clicking footwear. She sighed in a broken trill as she clutched her bruised stomach, tears escaping onto her soft cheeks. ‘Maybe Lotor would not have been so bad after all.’
Yudishthira walked down the corridor, seeing that Shai was calmly waiting her turn. She felt uneasy around Shai since she had learned that the woman possessed psychic powers. She feared that her secret was already known to Shai, and therefore her grandfather may already know. She was terrified that this revelation would label her a traitor, but she had not even been aware that she was female until she had completed the pupal stage. In fact, it was only due to Cossack’s being asleep on the job that she had managed to dress herself and announce her arrival before her brothers emerged from their metamorphic slumber. Dhmk children were identical except for one tell-tale feature: girls had a yellow stripe horizontally across the bridge of their nose. She had surmised that her chimeric heritage had rendered that particular pigment unexpressed. With her grandfather mourning his daughter’s death while bearing her children, he waived the genetic testing as he was completely certain of paternity and lineage.
Shai approached her, understanding the cloud of fear in the Dhmk’s mind. She removed a shawl wrapped around her own outfit and draped it over Yudishthira’s shoulders to hide the wounded article of clothing. Yudishthira looked warily at Shai, who simply nodded. ‘Fear not, Yudishthira. I have known since the moment I saw you, but I understand, and thus say and think nothing. Your secret is safe, and your own to divulge when you feel it is time. It is your right to do so. From one female to another, this is the highest symbol of respect I can offer you.’ Shai thought telepathically.
Yudishthira nodded in return and silently mouthed a thanks before hurrying to her quarters to change. Shai approached the room where Allura was being sequestered. The doors slid open, and she glided in to find the princess hoisting herself from the floor. She glanced up, morbid apprehension awash her face. Shai sported a crooked, elfish smile. “Shall we get started?”
“Who…who are you?” Allura whispered. She had never seen a being like this before. It was as though a cat, a human, and a demon had merged into one form. It was covered in draping fabrics, with a levitating cape floating around the being. It was wondrous looking attire that denoted someone of high rank was here before her. Although there was nothing physically ugly about her visitor, she knew that looks meant nothing. If this female alien was working with Dhm, then she was a horrible person at heart.
“Really, my dear, you should not be presumptuous. It leaves a poor first impression,” Shai said in response to the girl’s thoughts, shaking her finger. She held her hand out for Allura to grab a hold of and completely lift herself from the floor. “We may yet be allies.”
“Why are you doing this?! Things were finally peaceful in our galaxy. Now, that tranquility’s been destroyed!” Allura cried in frustration and remorse.
“You will find that things are never completely peaceful,” Shai preached as she sat on the bed’s edge. As she caressed the luxurious sheets beneath her fingers, she added, “While your part of the galaxy was idyllic, Dhm and other planets were full of bloodshed and oppression. A shift of sorts, though you may never have thought of the Dhm Empire as being peaceful, but relatively, it was. So, you see, my dear, it would appear that they were more desperate for their version of peace than you were for yours. But, that is the way of the Universe: you have to fight the most for what you want.”
Allura sat beside the woman on the bed, shaking her head. “I don’t believe that there must be pain and suffering. I have to believe that it’s possible to exist without it. That all sides can be satisfied and happy.”
Shai frowned. “Then you are doomed to be a poor ruler. A ruler must make harsh decisions sometimes for the best of their people. A ruler must know when to have pleas fall on deaf ears, and when to listen. Above all, a ruler must understand the people. If you do nothing but romanticize your Arusians as pacifists, they will always be at the mercy of an aggressive force. I cannot believe they do not know how to fight if they survived as long as they did under Zarkon’s campaign; it is you who believe they are weak and incapable of fending for themselves. This is dangerous; think like that long enough, and you will be overthrown, no matter how many times you fly that Blue Lion and form Voltron.” Her voice was even and sage, with countless years of experience to support her argument.
Allura lowered her head, turning her eyes away from the orator. “It is all right, Princess Allura,” Shai said with a hint of reassurance. “Your time spent in political webs has been brief. I am giving you some advice to take. You wish nothing but the best for your subjects, and I admire that. You possess no other motive than to make life as good as it can possibly be for them. However, your naivete makes you appear foolish and unrealistic. No matter what happens from this moment forward, heed my words, and heed them well.”
Shai stood up and turned away, the rustling of her drapery almost musical. Allura could not help but watch the folds. “I wish to hear something from you. Not a thought for me to pull from you, but a vocalization, a testament to your feelings,” Shai began. “Speak truthfully: is there nothing but hatred in your heart for Lotor?” She turned slightly, her eyes casting a powerful stare.
Allura’s shoulders trembled under the power of the look. “I can’t love someone who has hurt so many of those I love and loved. I could marry anybody else if I had to for my people’s sake and I felt nothing, but not him. Never him.” Her voice grew harsh and thick, “I would sooner take my own life.” She lifted her eyes, and returned a forceful glare of her own. “So, if this is what you are here to make me do, you may as well kill me before I do.”
Shai laughed heartily, which caught Allura completely by surprise. Shai placed a hand upon her own chest as it shook. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Her laughing quickly ceased as she grinned, showcasing her pointed feline fangs. “Forgive me if I think I can convince you otherwise.” As she said this, she pulled a couple of strands of Allura’s golden hair, brandishing them. “Allow me to provide your dowry.”
Back to Evil Fan Fiction