As promised in my last update of flicker, he's the brand new story that I've been working on! Actually, I've had this plot in mind since before the release of the sixth season but I kept ended up delaying actually putting it out because I wasn't 100% sure what approach I wanted to take in telling it, even if I was sure about certain aspects of the story. So, here we are, a post-Naxzela AU! This is just the prologue, since I felt like it needed one, so it's not as long as some of my normal chapters.

I'm really excited to write this one! Like I said, I've been working on this idea for a long time now, so I'm happy to finally get the chance to put it out there. Hope to have you all along with me!

ignis

prologue

those lost, things found

"You know, there's no need for you to force yourself to accompany me."

Drawing in a long breath, Shiro forced himself to look up at Allura. He wasn't surprised to see the concern in her eyes, but there was a weariness to her gaze that caught him completely off guard. He knew that even the princess got worn out from time to time, but normally she wouldn't let something like that show, even to them.

But then, these weren't exactly normal circumstances.

"I'm fine." Shiro lied. "I just need to keep busy."

Allura frowned, looking unconvinced. "You've been running yourself ragged, Shiro. Ever since-"

"-ever since what, Allura?" Shiro cut her off, suddenly losing his patience- and just as quickly regretting it. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shiro closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. "Sorry."

"I understand, you know." Allura told him. "When I learned about Altea..."

"Then you should know why I need to keep busy." Shiro told her, cutting her off a second time without fully meaning to. He couldn't help it.

Maybe Allura was right- maybe he did need to rest. But it felt like every second that he wasn't doing something was wasted time. The last thing Shiro wanted right now was to be left alone with his own thoughts for any length of time. Keeping himself busy was the only way he could fight off the numbness that had gripped him ever since he had stepped on the bridge of the Castle and learned exactly what it had taken to defuse Naxzela.

"Good work, Keith."

He grit his teeth, trying not to react to the unbidden memory of his own words. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last- whenever he let himself stop for more than a few minutes, they always came back, playing out over and over again in his head. Mocking him for how naive he had been, how stupid he'd been not to realize that Keith wasn't there for him to praise anymore. How stupid he'd been to think that they could have come out of this war without losing someone.

No, that wasn't quite right. He always thought they would. He just... he thought it would be him. Not... not Keith.

Anyone but Keith.

But it was Keith. It was Keith who had taken down the shields on the cruiser. Keith, who had done it knowing full well it would be a suicide run. And now all he could do was try and pick up the pieces.

The worst part was how numb he felt. He felt like he should be feeling something, but he just didn't. He hadn't even cried yet, but he imagined it would come in time. He'd held it together for weeks after he'd gotten his diagnosis, until he'd finally reached his breaking point. It had only been a few days since the battle for Naxzela.

"Sorry." Shiro apologized again. "You're right, I know. But I can't... I'm not ready. I feel like if I stop, then I'll stop for good."

Allura looked up at him in understanding- and he knew that she did understand, probably more than anyone else. The other paladins were reeling over Keith's loss too- maybe not to the extent he was, but nobody was accepting his death with ease. But none of them had known the kind of loss that Allura had- the kind of soul deep pain that just left you numb, feeling like you'd been disconnected from reality. Every day went by in a daze, like they were part of some horrible dream that he just couldn't wake up from.

He wished he could just wake up. Make his way to the training deck to find Keith there, pushing himself too hard as usual. He'd chastise him and drag him to the kitchen, where everyone would be waiting, and they could have breakfast together. Or maybe this whole thing had been a dream, and he would wake up at the Garrison with two flesh and blood arms. Keith and Adam would both be there, bickering over something inconsequential at the breakfast table like usual.

But he knew he wouldn't. This wasn't a dream, awful as it was. This was reality. Keith was gone, and he had to face that.

"I know how you feel." Allura told him. "But you'll stop for good either way if you keep this up much longer, and Voltron needs its leader."

Shiro closed his eyes, biting back another protest that he would be fine. There was a double meaning to Allura's words, one that she would never dare say out loud. But he knew she was right- Voltron did need its leader, and right now, he wasn't exactly in great shape. If he kept going like he was now, he would only wreck himself sooner or later- worst case scenario, he'd drag the rest of Voltron down with him.

And then what would have Keith's sacrifice been for?

"Okay," Shiro finally conceded, "-I'll rest after this."

Allura smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Is that a promise?"

"It's a promise." Shiro said, before thinking better of it. "At least, I'll try to rest."

Unsurprisingly, he'd been having even more trouble sleeping lately. Even when he managed to fall asleep, he'd wake up barely half an hour later, drenched in sweat, trying not to cry out because of yet another nightmare- an actual one this time, not just the one he was living in. Those were the only times he felt something other than numbness, though the feeling always quickly came back.

"Perhaps Coran can help you with that." Allura suggested. "He has a number of sleep aids that might be useful."

"That might be a good idea." Shiro admitted. "As long as none of them involve any brain worms."

Allura huffed slightly, the closest thing he'd heard her make to a laugh in days. He wondered how long it had been since he laughed.

"Don't worry," Allura assured him, "-I'm positive Coran learned his lesson after the last time. Just make sure he didn't get the medication from any Unilu."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Shiro said.

Allura nodded. "You really could head back to the ship, you know. Kolivan and I will be able to handle this."

Shiro shook his head. "We've already put this off long enough as it is already, and this is Lotor we're dealing with. We need to display a united front."

Unbidden, his thoughts drifted back towards Keith- back towards how desperate he had been to catch Lotor. It had driven a wedge between him and the rest of the team, and before he knew it, he'd started to pull away from them. Eventually, he pulled away entirely, leaving for the Blade of Marmora.

He regretted that every day now. If only he'd done things differently, then maybe Keith would still be here. Even if dying here was his fate, then maybe at least he would have been able to spend a little more time with him, rather than just interacting with him on the other side of a screen. It wasn't like they never talked, it was just... it wasn't the same.

Distant, Shiro thought. It had always been so distant.

"I suppose you are right." Allura reluctantly agreed. "I only wish we knew what his intentions were."

It had been days since Prince Lotor had turned himself over to the Voltron Coalition- he'd arrived just a few minutes after Keith had slammed his tiny Galra fighter into the shield of that cruiser. If he'd just shown up just a few minutes earlier...

Clenching his fists, Shiro narrowed his eyes. He knew it wasn't fair to be angry at Lotor about that. There was a lot of stuff he could be angry at him about- but Keith's death wasn't one of them, no matter how much he wanted to be. Even Lotor, who always seemed to be about two or three steps ahead of them on any given day had no possible way of knowing what a few minutes of delay had wrought.

Having Lotor here was just yet another complication. Part of him was grateful for it, since the logistics of dealing with him and his offer to open up a discussion had been among the many things that had kept him occupied, but part of him would just rather not have him around at all. He was just one extra cog that they hadn't planned for, and making sure that the terraforming plant couldn't be used like it had again was a big enough one already.

That was what Coran, Hunk, Pidge, and Matt had spent most of their time working on. He suspected that they were using it to distract themselves- especially Matt, who had been there, but hadn't been able to stop Keith. They were all coping in their own ways- better than he was, at any rate.

There were already plans in the works to make Naxzela into a secondary Coalition capital, to go alongside Olkarion, but in order to do that, they would need to make sure it was safe first. It was also where they had chosen to house Lotor- the Galra had left behind several prisons that had proved effective in dealing with the few Galra who had been left behind.

Lotor's prison was special, though. Housed deep underground, it would be a difficult place for even the capable Galran prince to escape from. The elevator they were on now would take them straight there. Kolivan was already waiting for them there- he could pick him out as the elevator descended, his dark armor sticking out like a sore thumb, his face hidden behind his mask.

He wanted to be angry at Kolivan too, for that matter. Keith was his responsibility, and he'd failed him. He should have stopped him, kept him on Senfama. Maybe if he had, he would still be alive.

And the rest of them would be dead.

Then it would be Keith who was the one suffering, as the only paladin left alive. He wouldn't wish that on him either. Senfama would have been well out of the way of the explosion, but it had also been Keith who realized that something was suspicious about that Galra cruiser, and Keith who had rallied the rebels to attack it. If he hadn't, they would all be dead, nearly all forms of resistance against the Galra Empire taken out in one fell swoop.

He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, Allura looking up at him with a deep frown. "I'm sure we can find some way to honor his memory."

"We keep fighting. That's how." Shiro said, squaring his shoulders as the elevator arrived at its destination. Beyond them, Lotor was waiting. "Keith's sacrifice ensured our survival. We owe it to him to take down the Galra Empire, once and for all. And if Lotor can help us do that... then maybe we should listen to what he has to say."

Allura's frown didn't fade, but she did give his shoulder a soft squeeze, releasing it. "I suppose you are right. I am simply loathe to trust him."

"Can't say I blame you." Shiro admitted. "I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect either."

"What if this is all some sort of trick?" Allura asked.

"Then we proceed with caution." Shiro said.

Heaving a sigh, Allura's shoulders slumped. "Things seemed so much simpler before."

Shiro said nothing to that. Didn't give voice to how much he wished he could go back to before- back to when Keith was still alive.

The worst part was, he thought, was that there wasn't even a body left to bury.

"Report."

"Our search team scoured the area as requested." The Blade before him reported- Ilun, Kolivan only dimly managed to recall. His thoughts had been scattered recently. He knew how unlike him it was- he should be accustomed to losing Blades at this point, but he'd never lost a Blade so young before. And while he knew that what had driven Keith to his death were not his orders, but Keith's own actions, it didn't change the fact that he had been entrusted with the red paladin, and had allowed him to die.

It didn't change the fact that Krolia's son was dead.

"And?" Kolivan asked. "Did you find it?"

"We did." Ilun confirmed, holding out a wrapped bundle. "And we think you need to see it."

Kolivan frowned, glancing up at Ilun. Her face was unreadable- no doubt she was drawing upon her training, masking her true feelings. Training which Keith should still be completing, he couldn't help but think.

He accepted the bundle without a second thought, carefully unwrapping it. He knew what he would find. Even if there was no way for his body to have survived the impact, it was difficult to destroy a luxite blade. It had taken days of searching the wreckage to find it, but he had confidence that his Blades would be able to locate it. All that remained was deciding what to do with it- if he should return it to Krolia and inform her of her son's passing, or if he should return it to the paladins, to the one called Shiro whom Keith had been so close to.

Even if he was increasingly wary of the paladins these days.

Naxzela had been too well planned. Surveys had indicated that the terraforming plant had been there for deca-phoebs, possibly leftover from Altea's heyday. Princess Allura couldn't confirm one way or another if they had such a plant on Naxzela or not, but it wasn't impossible. However, it wasn't the plant he was worried about- rather, it was the device that the witch had used to activate it.

She had been ready for them.

But in order for that to happen, someone would have had to leak the plans. And while there were dozens of moving parts in place, many far more public than Kolivan would have liked, he had seen to it that there would be no leaks to the Galra Empire. He hadn't failed.

Which meant there was only one place left where such a leak could have come from- and that was the paladins themselves.

He shook the thought off, instead focusing on the blade now resting in his hands. Its sigil still glowed, but so long as Krolia lived, its glow would not fade completely. It was rare for one blade to share the life energy of two people- even that of mother and child.

Krolia would kill him, he thought. Perhaps he should elect a successor before he departed to tell her of her son's passing. Perhaps in true Galra fashion, he should choose her as his successor. She had been with the Blade for long enough to qualify for such a position, and she was more than skilled enough at leading. Under the circumstances, he couldn't even be that cross with her for concealing her level of involvement with the local populace during the three deca-phoebs she had been stranded on Earth.

He should still bring the blade to her, he decided. It would only be proper.

He glanced back up. Ilun was still watching him expectantly. He frowned, having half a mind to dismiss her, before he begun to question why. She had said that they thought he needed to see the blade for himself. Was it simply for closure? Or was there something more- something about the blade itself that he needed to pay attention to.

He huffed slightly. His thoughts truly had been scattered as of late, to not realize something so simple sooner. If it wasn't Keith's death, or the potential leak, then it was Lotor. It was impossible to discern the prince's motives, nor the sincerity of his claim of desiring peace and an end to this long war.

He doubted those answers lay in the blade he held- but something did.

Taking care to study the blade itself, Kolivan realized something. He could still feel Krolia's life force, strong as it ever was- but there was something else beyond that, something more.

Something that by all means, shouldn't be there.

Keith's life force wasn't gone.

Schooling his expression into a neutral one, Kolivan focused on that energy. It was faint, but he could feel it. Unlike all the questions he didn't currently have the answers to, this one did have an answer- and a clear cut one at that. The only way such a thing were possible was if Keith were still alive somehow.

But that was impossible. They hadn't found a trace of him in the wreckage, and surely he wouldn't have survived this long drifting in space, even if he wasn't heavily injured. Unless...

...unless he had been dragged along with the wreckage that had been pulled in when the Galra cruiser jumped into hyperspace. Rising to his feet, Kolivan ran through the possibilities- the worst of which was that the witch had located him herself, and was using him to her own ends. Slightly less worse was that he had been found by the Galra commander of the cruiser, and was being held prisoner- but no. Though faint, the life force he could feel was holding steady. He was weak, but his hold on life was at least somewhat strong.

Which left a third option- that he had been rescued by a third party that had come along after the cruiser and the debris it had pulled along with it had come out of hyperspace, or after the debris itself, along with Keith, had slipped out of the hyperspace tunnel early. There were certainly documented cases of such things happening.

In which case, it was highly likely he was receiving medical treatment somewhere.

"Gather a team." Kolivan instructed. "I want every medical facility we know of searched."

"Sir?" Ilun asked, arching a brow.

Kolivan stopped himself, realizing what he was ordering- what essentially amounted to a search and rescue mission, however dubious the rescue part might be. But even as he did, he was already rationalizing it- Keith was a paladin, and one who was capable of flying both the red and black lions at that. He was needed.

He was also still just a child.

"You have your orders." Kolivan said firmly. "Every medical facility and every doctor, including the underground ones. Find him."

Ilun stared at him for a moment longer, before her shoulders went tense. "Understood. Should we inform the paladins, or will you handle the matter yourself?"

"No." Kolivan's answer surprised even himself, but he stuck firmly with it. "We keep this matter within the Blade."

Ilun looked at him questioningly, but realizing that there was no further explanation forthcoming, she simply ducked her head, leaving the room to begin the process of putting together a new search team. He watched her go, waiting until he was certain she was gone to look back down at the blade again, still held tight within one of his hands.

Someone had leaked the information about Naxzela to the Galra Empire. That someone had to be one of the paladins. If his hunch was correct, and he was to inform them now, he might truly seal Keith's fate. It was impossible to say what kind of condition he might be in, but the odds of him being able to move around freely were low. He may not even be conscious. He would be defenseless.

Before the Galra Empire could catch word of his survival, the Blade of Marmora would find Keith and secure him. Only then would he inform the paladins.

And mark his words- they would find him. He had failed Krolia's son once. He wouldn't do it again.