Status Quo
Chapter Twenty: Shards
by Kyence

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

‘’ denote character thoughts.
 

'Having a conscience sucks.' Saoche leaned against the glass pane overlooking the barren courtyard of the castle, grumbling incoherently. Her countenance was a troubled one, as she mindlessly rubbed her feet. Her gray feathers puffed out as the intensity of her emotions made her body feel stranded on a sunspot. She sighed, and immediately started slapping the window and kicking her feet in a silent tantrum. "Unnnh! I hate this stupid feeling!" she whined out loud as she protested physically in the manner of a human toddler. "Thanks Vajel," she spoke to the air, "you could have at the very least prevented a descendant like me from mutating guilt. Thanks a mil, self-righteous punk amoeba," she cursed her fury.

'I should NOT have to deal with this. I was following orders. I've known Reyk my entire life, and he's known my ancestors way back when they were Vajel's Passers! Hell, even Zarkon's known a few of them, and I manage a third of his finances! My mind should be clear: I should be friggin' thrilled that everything went according to plan, so why do I feel like such a scumbag?' She began tapping the floor with her fingers. A tinkering echo rippled through the air. "Maybe if I paid Allura a visit," she reasoned aloud, "there will be something about her I can hate so this terrible affliction I have will die." Renewed by her decision, Saoche lunged into the air, heading for the doorway. A quick telekinetic command activated the metal doors, which slid apart and were soon left behind.

"Something is wrong. What has happened to you?" Lotor held Allura in his strong, muscular arms. His embrace was the most tender gesture he knew he would ever make. He had dreamed fantasies that started with similar contact that always indulged his libido and lonely heart and ended with more passionate displays of affection. In the past, he could never have gotten so close to his beautiful love without her resistance. It confused him, frustrated him, but never deterred him. It was the fact that she did nothing in his arms now that bothered him so. She did not squirm. She did not struggle. She did not hug him back. She did not smile. It was as though she had no spirit.

Lotor released her, and took a few steps back. His face was ripped apart with worrisome wrinkles that distorted his visage into something terrifying to behold. Still, Allura looked at him blankly.

"Well, will you answer me at least?" Lotor asked impatiently. "What has become of you?"

Allura shrugged. "I do not know what you mean." Her mind was empty of emotion, as she regarded him coldly with her blue eyes. Her poise was dignified and stoic. Some part of her begged to stir, but she could not understand why. Lotor was simply the son of a despot, the most crooked of politicians, and one could not afford to consider him as anything more than a formality. "I am Allura, Princess of Arus, and you are Prince Lotor of Dhm. Your forces captured me, and here I am." She stood up straight, and looked into his eyes with strength bereft of feminine softness. "I suppose you wish to propose a marital union of some sort. It would be best for all if we spent most of our time in our respective realms away from each other…"

Lotor waved his hand across his vintage point of her mouth. "Wait just a minute. You, are proposing marriage, to me?"

Allura crossed her arms as she nodded, her stare unwavering. Its power startled Lotor in its unbiased potency. It was mechanical in its steeliness, and lacked any emotion at all. "Political reasons, and nothing more. Honestly, Lotor, your harem is known throughout the galaxy. I doubt my blond persona can outsex seventy trained concubines."

Lotor's mouth dropped. He was disappointed that he did not hear his jaw hit the floor, he was so shocked. Ironically, despite the idea of marriage never being so close to fruition before, he adamantly refused to carry it out this time. "There IS something wrong with you!" he shouted. He grabbed Allura by her shoulders, shaking her.

She seemed perturbed as she mumbled, "What are you…"

"Allura! Allura! This isn't you! Who did this to you? I'll kill them! I'll find out who did this to you, and I'll kill them!"

"Of course it is me," she stated plainly. "And nobody did anything to me. You are taking this situation entirely too personally. After all, I am the one who was abducted; it is I who should be outraged. Now release me, please, before you make a mockery of yourself."

Lotor's mental image of his precious, innocent, pure, and ethereal Allura was being slammed with an invisible force that sent waves of power through it, trying to tear it asunder. He squeezed his eyes shut, and held Allura tightly. A single teardrop slipped from his right eyelid and careened down his high cheekbone.

In the ceiling's air duct, Saoche wiped a tear from her own eye, and knew what she had to do. She soon found herself in Reyk's presence as she wanted to know if he was already aware of her decision. He was sitting in his Dhmk guise, applying some final adjustments to his phaser rifle. "I have been expecting you," he simply uttered as he examined his most recent tweaking effects in the halide light.

Saoche shuffled her feet. "I have to, y'know. Can't really explain why, even to myself."

Reyk placed the weapon gently on the table. He lightly tapped the tabletop with his palm. The blue sodium light cast a mollifying glow. "You can come closer, I won't bite."

Saoche eagerly flew to the table and landed with haste. "But, I'm sure I can get some business advantages outta this, too," she added with some relief, "so, it's okay." She cast an uneasy smile that exposed her gritting teeth.

Reyk placed an elbow upright on the table, and placed his chin in the palm of his hand. "I am sure you can," he agreed. "Business is business after all. Best not to take one side, but play both ends of the field. Usually the best businessperson has no conscience to cloud administrative judgment." Reyk then cast her a reassuring smile. "But, is the Passer gaining such a conscience?"

Soache placed her winged forearms on her sides. "It ain't clouding shit," she denied disdainfully. "I still love money more than anything else in this whole Universe! I love to manage it, count it, hold it in its many forms. Even when it's electronic, it gives me such a buzz!"

"Ah, so it would seem," Reyk tapped his chin with a finger as he deeply pondered the dilemma.

Saoche sighed, "Look, I don't wanna screw you over. If you tell me to cut the crap, I'll start snipping. So go ahead. What do you want me to do? You're the time seer after all."

"You know I am more than that," Reyk protested. He pat her crested head. "I am your friend." Saoche was surprised to find that she had shut her eyes after making her case. At the sound of his voice, they sprung open again. "While I can only see up to five minutes in the future at any given time, I have an idea of where you are heading. Be careful, be discreet…and be thankful Shai cannot read cybernetic minds."

Saoche raced up to Reyk's head and planted a large grateful kiss on his lips. "MMMMswha," the smooch's sound was emitted as Saoche mentioned one more thing that came across her mind. "What about Zarkon? He's gonna be pissed off."

"My number one rule: no favoritism," Reyk preached as he sat with his back straight. "I will not suggest that Zarkon's designs are more important than yours, even if they are diametric opposites. Besides, I have known him well enough to expect that he already has alternative plans in store for something like this to go wrong. I even know that he has often manipulated me in schemes and somehow emerges unscathed and sparing me while I am none the wiser…and I'm the one who can see through the past and present!"

"I bet he gave you headaches if you had to do that time stuff constantly," Saoche supposed.

"Migraines," Reyk admitted.

Saoche had taken Reyk's advice to heart. The idea of distance and stealth was not lost to her. She manipulated her nanocells into an infrared mode to augment her vision. 'I wonder if the old school could do somethin' like this with enzymes?' She mused silently as she looked through the walls for her target. The warm silhouette of an anthropomorphic feline with colder horns came into view. "Bingo," she mouthed without a sound as she navigated herself into range.

She settled in the floor directly beneath Shai's feet, and began one final upgrade to her eyes. With her telescoping retina, she easily located the two amulets in a thick chain wrapped several times around her neck. With the infrared, she could see a fascinating gradient of heat streaming from them, contrasting with the constant flame of the woman's fast metabolism. Saoche saw another warm shape approaching, this one broader and a shade cooler. She heard the deep voice and cringed. 'Damn it! It's Zarkon!'

"So, is she swooning into his arms yet?" Zarkon asked Shai concerning Allura.

"No swooning. Not anything. There was naught left but apathy," Shai stated apologetically.

He grinned happily. "Heh, don't sound so upset. This will be the ultimate detox for my son. You can't have reverse psychology in play if there's no mind with the ante." He chuckled as a testament to his pleasure at the news.

'Okay, on the count of three, I telekinetically break the charms. One…Two…' Saoche counted in her mind.

Zarkon's eyes widened as the crystals around Shai's neck abruptly shattered. Shai gasped and shielded her eyes as the splintered remains fell to the metal floor. The sound of countless pin drops filled the corridor's air, followed by a weary sigh. She opened her eyes to witness Zarkon reach under his cape and reveal the hilt of his laser slasher.

"I'll be waiting for you-know-who in the throne room."

Shai nodded as she telepathically alerted Jepaya and the guards to be on alert.

"You cur!" Allura shouted as she fiercely slapped Lotor in the face. "Let go of me!"

Lotor blinked his eyes, stupefied. He felt as though he were released from a trance. "Allura! You're back!!" Lotor hugged Allura and swung her through the air.

"I said let go of me!" she shouted as she flailed her arms and legs.

"That's right, let it all out, it's okay…"

"What is wrong with you, Lotor?!"

"Oh, nothing," Lotor said as he gently lowered her feet to the ground. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go kill my father now. He tried to make me all loyal and sycophantic, but the joke's on him! Buh-bye! I'll bring you his head for stealing your soul!"

"Can you please tell me what is going on?!" she shouted, but Lotor had already left her alone in the room.

Continued

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