Sweet Dreams

Allura quickly slammed the book shut when the alarm at her waist began beeping madly. She wiped a tear from her cheek as she turned it off.

“Yes, Coran.”

“Princess, we have spotted five humans who seem to not be from Arus. They are approaching the castle. They may be the young men the Galaxy Alliance were to send.... but then again.”

“Allow them to enter. I’ll make arrangements,” Allura said as she took the blaster from within the folds of her dress.

Nervously, Allura and twenty of her remaining guards stationed themselves at the top of the stairs. Could this be the help they were so desperate for? There may still be hope. Coran ordered the lights out so the visitors would not be able to see clearly around themselves. Precautions. Slowly, the door opened wide to reveal five young men standing outside, each holding a single spear. Cautiously, they entered the foyer of the Castle of Lions.

“No-o-o” one of them yelled as the doors quickly slammed shut behind them. There was total darkness, but Allura could hear their efforts trying to reopen the door. What Coran was doing seemed almost barbarian.

“The doors will not open.” said Coran.

“Who’s there!” The five men quickly turned and pointed their spears toward the light from the candle Coran was holding.

“You are strangers to planet Arus, am I correct?”

“Who are you?”

“More importantly, who are you.....and why do you come to the Castle of Lions?”

“We were sent form the Galaxy Alliance to help out.....” said the young man in front. Allura could not see much of him, but she decided to keep her blaster pointed in his direction.

“but, we haven’t had much of a welcome,” another one cut in.

“How do I know you are who you say you are?” said Coran, waiting for the code given to him by the Galaxy Alliance.

“Hwi Norie Harauq Al-add,” said the one in front, still holding his spear in ready stance.

“Harauq Al Antanak,” responded Coran as the men each brought down their weapons. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Could have fooled me,” the other one said again. “We’ve been attacked by your citizens twice since we’ve arrived. Not to mention captured by Zarcon and enslaved. Who are you? Are you a scientist?”

“My name is Coran Ayers. I was once the castle politician and councilor to the Great King Alfor. Now I am keeper of these ruins. I must apologize for my people. They are scared and do not trust anyone. They thought you were sent from Zarcon.”

“Vhat as been happening here?” a young man in the back asked, with a strange accent.

“ The planet Arus has never been a warring planet, but in last seven years we have seen nothing but war, death, and madness. Our late King Alfor created those caves you saw for our people, who were not captured as slaves, to hide in until the fighting is over. I will explain in more detail later,” Coran said as he gave the hand signal for the lights to be returned.

The lights came up and each man shielded his eyes for a moment to adjust to the brightness.

“Oh, brave new world,” Allura whispered, “that has such creatures!”

The five men standing in the foyer were a sight to behold. Dirty and ragged, but strikingly exotic. The man standing in front had dark brown shoulder length hair and grave brown eyes. A muscular build on a medium sized body. The man standing to his left had short, dark blonde hair and was slightly taller than the first. Next was a rather large man. Extremely muscular and heavy set with shaggy brown hair. Next was what seemed to be a child. Why would they send us a child. He can’t be more than 13. He was small with brown hair and glasses. The last young man, who was leaning against the castle door, was tall had long black hair. Allura guessed that he was the one with the strange accent.

As their eyes adjusted to the light they were shocked to realize that they were surrounded on all sides by guards. Each one holding a blaster pointed directly at them.

“You are welcome here on planet Arus and I’m sure you will have the blessing of Her Royal Hiness Princess Allura” Coran said as he gestured to the top of the stairs.

The space explorers looked up only to see more guards aiming their weapons at them, but at the center of the stairs stood a woman. She too was aiming her weapon at the five young men. She was trembling slightly.

“Princess they’re our friends, they’ve come to help us,” Coran told her, shocked to see that she was still holding her firearm. He held out his hand to her as she dropped the blaster back into the folds of her gown. A visible look of relief came over her face as she ventured down the stairs.

My god. She’s beautiful! thought Keith.

“Wow! She’s beautiful.” mumbled Pidge. “Who wouldn’t want to help her?”

“May I introduce Princess Allura Sophy Atredyz. We are the only known survivors from the court of our late King Alfor.” She was wearing a black dress, the color of mourning. It was in beautiful contrast to her pale skin and long blonde hair. She looked sickly, though, as she slowly made her way down the stairs.

“Welcome to my planet,” she said when she reached the end of the stairs. “what are your names?”

“My name is Keith, I am the captain,” said the man who Allura had previously aimed her gun at.

“My name is Lance,” said the taller one standing next to Keith.

“I’m Hunk,” said the big one.

“I am Sven,” said the one with the jet black hair and funny acccent.

“They call me Pidge,” squeaked the small one.

Yes, how beautiful she looks. Her father would be proud. thought Coran as he noticed how fascinated each of the young men were with her.

The young explorers fell to their knees in front of the beautiful princess. Instinctavely she held out her hand for Keith to take. He kissed her bare hand and said, ”Your Hiness, we swear to defend you and your planet with our lives. That is our oath to you.”

As Keith looked up at the Princess he noticed the raw skin at her wrists. As he stood he kept hold of her hand and turned her wrist over to see exactly what he suspected.

She was a slave! he thought as she yanked her hand back to her chest.

“I’m-” he began to apologize but was cut short by a monstrous noise. The Princess gasped.

“What the hell was that!” exclaimed Hunk.

“That, young one, was Zarccon. Come I will have to familiarize you with the command room quickly.” said Coran. He motioned for everyone to follow him up the floating staircase. He stopped at the top in front of a huge canvas of the late King Alfor, and turned to everyone. “This is a secret entrance to our command room, if Zarcon ever suspected...” Then the painting slid up along the wall and a passage was revealed. Coran led them down a narrow hall until they reached a small door. He placed his hand on a hand pad and the door opened.

“Good Lord, this is amazing!” said Lance. They had entered a vast room filled with technological wonders that made the Galaxy Garrison look small. The men filed into the room in veneration as the Princess took her seat in the center of the room. The seat rested upon a round platform and was surrounded by computers of many sorts.

“You’ve had this all along and still weren’t able to get rid of Zarcon!” asked the larger one, Hunk. At that moment a screen lit up and a view of the smoldering citadel was shown.

“We were told that you have ships of some sorts for us?” asked Keith.

“Well, our fighter ships are based on our second moon of Armis. There’s no safe way to get to them now and many of them were exhausted during a surprise attack last week.”

Lance wondered what they were suppose to be doing here. The place was a waste land and there were no ships here for them. And what good were just five people going to do. This planet needed a whole legion.

“What about Voltron,” said the captain. “I was told before we left that there were lion ships here that formed a robot. That’s why they sent five of us.”

“Yes, but I’m afraid that I do not have all the keys for the robot. I am missing one.” replied Corann turning to face the Princess. She had a thoughtful look upon her face. He had hoped that Alfor had given it to her before he died. The safest thing to do was to keep them in separate places. Should Zarcon find one, he would not have them all, thus he could not form Voltron.

Allura thought back to her fathers last days. It was all vague, she was so sick herself. Had he given her something?

“Vell, ve vill have to take vhat ve have available. Ve can’t let that go on.” said Sven pointing to the screen which revealed a few Drule fighters taking pot shots at an already destroyed town.

“True.” Coran said as he walked to a console at the front of the room. “You will need uniforms.”

“Uniforms? We don’t need clothes, we just need to get to the lions,” said Keith.

“It’s tradition, don’t dishonor the Princess by not wearing them” he said handing each of the men a uniform he had retrieved from with in the console. “Hurry, put these on and I will then familiarize you with the lions.” The men disappeared into another room grumbling under their breath.

“Princess, if you know where the other key is now is the time to speak up.”

“I know Coran, but I can not remember anything.” she replied tearfully. She returned her gaze to the holo screen. How terrible. The five space explorers entered the room just then in their stunning new uniforms.

“Excellent.”

“They need something.” said the Princess.

“Yeah,, something that says ‘I’m here to destroy you’, but with a sense of fun.” said Lance sarcastically. “Can we get down to business now?”

Coran led them to a corner of the room where the five lions appeared as holograms. It looked as if they were really there . The control panel of one of the ships was also being projected 3-dimensionally in front of them. Coran instructed them on the basics of how to use the ships, there was no time for much else. “I will help you as much as possible from the castle this time. This is how they come together to form Voltron.”

The five ships began flying straight up until a ball of light surrounded them all. “Once maximum speed is achieved, the ships are protected with this energy shield. The black Lion controls formation of Voltron and many of his movements after they have combined.” The boys watched in awe as the legs to each of the massive Lion ships contracted and came together to form Voltron.

“Is it magic?” asked Pidge. “Any advanced technology is hardly distinguishable from magic,” replied Coran. “The key to the black lion is the one that is missing.”

Someone stays behind this time. thought Keith. Pidge could probably figure out the computers inside the lions faster than anyone else...Hunk, not good for much but fighting...Lance and Sven... “There are weapons on the castle?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll stay behind and see what I can do from in here. I’ll command you from here.”

“Excellent...Princess?”

She shook her head once and reached across to a control panel in front of her. Suddenly, the platform which her divan was rested elevated. She stood at the edge as the team watched her rise by at least ten feet. Five doors were placed around the circumference or the cylinder, numbered one through five.

“Good luck, men” said the Princess Allura as the doors began to open.

The men felt a sudden pang of fear. This was like going to meet ones death head on. After a moments hesitation, they went for the openings. But, each stopped abruptly as they realized there was no floor past the doors.

“The handles,” said Coran. “You will have to do nothing. The vessels will do all the work to get you to your lions.”

The boys reached out for the handles which hung in the middle of each chamber and they were gone.

“It should take less than four minutes for them to arrive at their destinations.”

The platform lowered as Keith and Coran walked to the head of the room to take control of the fighting. Keith glanced back at the disappearing cylinder, regretfully. Was it wise that he sent his men out to battle in unknown territory in unknown ships while he stayed inside the castle. There was no time for regrets.

“This is Lance, I think we’re all here.”

“Gentlemen, place your keys in the slots on you right and when all systems have been activated.... you may proceed to exit your dens.”

Allura watched as her fathers beloved lion ships exited their homes. The yellow lion from the small desert behind the castle sometimes called the Valley of Zohar, the green lion from Tantith Forest, the red lion from a great pit of lava not far from the Silmarion Ocean, and the blue lion from the moat surrounding the castle. The only thing missing was the black lions from atop Alfor’s Gate.

The lions took off across the ground first like newborn colts. The red lion fell over once to Allura’s horror. Of course, there was no way they would be able to control these lions to their fullest ability, they had never flown in them before. She watched as Coran instructed them in how to use their new toys.

Keith sat at a system on the far side of the room. He was surrounded by computer screens which portrayed the outside of the castle. The seat moved from side to side as he homed in on a new target. He was hitting almost every target aimed for, but that still wasn’t enough to help. Zarcon was sending out one of his robeasts.

Allura nervously played with her fingers. The battle outside was not going well. Do I just sit by and watch my land destroyed? She looked down at her bare hands and a strange thought occurred to her. Her hands were bare. Wasn’t she suppose to have the royal insignia ring once her father passed on. Then another thought struck her like lightening. Her father had given her something before he died. She remembered it vaguely. What was it... a box. Where did she hide it? What did he say... she would know when the right time was to open it.

With a gasp she ran for the exit.

“Princess, where are you going!” “I’ll be back, Coran. I need to see something.” “Don’t go alone. Guards, follow her!” She tore down the hallway to the nearest elevator. Up two flights and she would be on the royal floor. She burst into her room impatiently. Where was that box? She cursed her self for her inability to remember. She frantically overturned her drawers and shelves in search.

Then some friends of hers stopped by.

“I had a box! One that my father had given me before he passed on. Did you see where I put it? I--I can’t seem to remember.” she cried to her childhood friends.

“In the jewelry box?”

She rushed to the golden box her father had given to her when she was eight. It seemed normal... then it came back to her. She lifted up the velvet flooring to reveal a smaller box resting inside.

The Princess burst into the control room in a flurry of red. She had decided to change her dress at the last moment. Black was for death, defeat, misery. This day was going to have a happy ending. It had to.

She walked over to the commander of the new Voltron force and took his right hand into hers. Coran watched.

“I believe this is yours now.” she said placing the key to the mighty black lion into his hand. She covered his hand with both her own and looked deep into his burning brown eyes. “Good luck,” she whispered.

For one brief moment he was lost. As he looked into her eyes he felt as if he were standing on the edge of a great ocean, about to drown. Only himself and the soft roar of the waves. He turned both of her hands over and kissed her fingers below a beautiful ring with the crest of Arus on it.

“Thank you, dearest Princess.”

Before entering the room she said a brief litany for the departed. It was tradition.

Slowly, she entered the damp mausoleum. She knew her mothers grave was not in here, she wasn’t sure where it was, but she often talked to her in here anywise. She knew where ever her father was, her mother would be too.

She walked over to the raised platform where the mummified body of her father lay. His sarcophagus was gold and hematite. She placed her candle on the floor below her.

“Father,” she whispered. “Father. I know you’re here with me. Today we brought Voltron back to life. He was resurrected. I only wish that you had lived to see the day. It was done in your name.” A single tear rushed over her rosy cheeks. She had gained color since her illness. “Father,, today we fought off Zarcon and his horrid robeast. We won, we held him off for the first time since your death. There may be hope for our planet after all.

“Five young men from the Alliance on Earth risked themselves to help us. you can meet them soon, I wanted to be alone with you now. Please father, guide me. I’m scared. I will try my best to be as kind and strong as you, but I’m still young. I need your hand. Just promise you’ll be there for me.” She bent over and kissed the lid to the golden coffin and fell to the floor beside it in tears. “You can rest in peace now. I have faith that these brave young men will help us out of this..............Sweet dreams, father.”