Chapter twenty-eight: The Horrors of Xadia

The Night was dark and sleep. One of the most important parts of the day for every living creature.

It offered rest and respite from the harshness of the world, allowing one to relax and recharge their energies for whatever tomorrow had to bring. Within the center of the Woods, was the heroes lying about, all resting peacefully on the ground without worry nor care.

After their adventure with Sea Hawk and escaping from the Galra, the group finally found a place to rest to continue their journey to Xadia.

But unfortunately, Shiro have lost the quintessence Crystal shards and to make matters worse, he could hardly sleep, always hearing the voice of Haggar, whispering in his ear.

"Shiro..." A single voice called out through the darkness. The very instant it reached his ears, his heart rate spiked up, the hairs on the end of his skin rising out of sheer terror.

"W-Who's there?" Shiro responded as he bolt up from the ground where he and the others slept. Suddenly, before he could try to back to sleep, he heard something rustle in the nearby bushes. Shiro looked towards the darkness of the trees nearby and stood up to go see what was wrong.

The next morning, Keith lay curled on a tree branch above everyone else, he could see Hunk, the earliest riser in all of Altea.

"Good morning Keith." he said in a joyful tone.

Keith groaned, pulling his jacket collar over his head to block the sun from hitting his eyes.

"Noooo. It's too early. Five more minutes." he groaned.

"But it's a beautiful morning." Hunk said.

"Today's cancelled. Go back to bed." Hunk didn't say anything, but Keith could feel his eyes starting into the back of his head.

"I can feel you staring at me." Keith groaned again, sitting up and looking at his friend. "Why is it the one who snores is always the first one to fall asleep?"

"What? I don't snore." Hunk stated, then looked to his right, "Lance, do I snore?"

"Yeah, you snore!" Lance answered. "Tell him, Shiro!"

Lance and Keith looked over Hunk's shoulder and saw an empty space, but then, they looked up and saw Shiro, standing near a few trees that surrounded them.

Keith groaned in annoyance, walked over to Shiro, who gasped in surprised as soon as he touched him.

"Sorry!" Keith apologized.

But Shiro didn't say anything back, instead just continuing to stare out into the distance with a concerned and stern expression.

"What are we looking at?" Keith asked, looking in the same direction that Shiro was looking in.

"I don't know," Shiro answered, "I heard a noise in the woods last night. And I thought I saw something."

"What? Like a bunny? Maybe a butterfly?" Keith joked trying to lighten the mood, but Shiro didn't seen to be in a joking mood at all.

"Shiro, did you get any sleep at all?" Hunk said as he touched his shoulder.

"Y-Yeah! I mean, someone had to, right?" He rubbed his face some more to get every trace of his sleepiness out, then walked away from Keith.

"Okay, I know you're on edge because of what happened with Adam and his team, but it's all over now!". Hunk reassured, gently rubbing his arms, "You got to relax. You need a vacation. Which is why we're going to Xadia".

"You mean the place that Sea hawk said!" Lance said.

"Wait, what's Xadia?" Shiro asked.

"it's a secret floating kingdom that's home to all of Altea's priests and priestess!" Pidge explained as she was finally starting to wake up. "It's got tranquil gardens, beautiful beaches and healing springs. And it's run by a head priestess there, who happens to be my mom".

"You'll love it Shiro." Hunk said. "Plus you won't have to worry about evil things in the woods. Xadia is protected by an invisibility spell, so evil can't find it."

"It's the safest and most peaceful place in all of Altea." Pidge said as Lance and Hunk was picked up their stuff. "We'll have you relaxed in no time."

"You know I've never relaxed in my life, right?" Shiro said.

"Near did I, and besides we should be looking for more Crystal shard!" Keith said.

"Just wait!" Pidge said. "we're here to change that!"

As the group took off, Shiro took one more glance behind him. He couldn't figure out what was bothering him so much. There was something in the air surrounding him, some sort of tingling in his skin, telling him to be afraid. He didn't see anything, and he hoped it stayed that way. If Xadia was as peaceful as Hunk said it was then there shouldn't be anything to worry about, regardless if Adam can reach him or not.

And besides, Shiro wasn't one to say no to a vacation... mostly because no one ever offered him one in the first place. If these vacation things were as relaxing as they told him then they should be able to relieve him of his troubles too, right? An entire kingdom full of priests and priestess ought to be well defended compared to anywhere else in Altea.

And if it gave him the chance to relax for a change compared to going somewhere where trouble was stirring, then he would gladly take it!

All the while, the heroes were unaware of a figure made of pure shadow, poking it's head out from above the trees. It was silent, deadly, and hidden from the keen senses that Shiro was known for. He would never be able to catch these things spying on his unless the shadows wanted to be found themselves.

And it brought such wicked glee for a certain witch watching these events.

Still recovering from Shiro's attack but strong enough to do any magic, thanks to the quintessence that was around her.

With the door opening to the room, Adam made his presence known as he walked in.

"Haggar!" Adam said, unenthusiastically. "you wanted to see me?"

She turned around and faced him, "Ah. Commander. How kind of you to join me." she then walked over to the center of the room and summons a orb.

"What's up with you? You're being spookier than usual." Adam said, noticing his strange behavior.

"My shadow spies have found Shiro. He's on his way to Xadia with his new friends." Haggar said, "This is going to be too easy."

"Another Shiro and Keith mission". Adam groaned as he rubbed his chin as he tried to recall. A lot of people questioned if it even existed or not, but it's supposed to be an entire nesting ground for priests and priestess right?

"Fine. When do I leave?" he asked.

"The only place you're headed is outside my door to stand guard." Haggar answered as she was looking at her orb, "I'm going to use my magic to go after Shiro myself. You will see that I am not disturbed. clearly he's too powerful to keep in check!"

Adam growled in anger, chenching his fists. "B-But I can do it this time! I can be in and out of there in no time! Just let me get a strike team put together and-"

"NO!" Haggar's shout of rage actually made Adam jump in fear. "You may be in control of one of our teams but that doesn't mean you're getting special treatment! Do you understand?"

Adam turned his head away at this, even after Hagger's expression shifted into a 190, it was still not best to disturb her or defy her.

"Yes, Haggar!" with another salute, the Commander made his way to the door, exiting Haggar's chamber.

Waiting for the commander to make his exit, immediately fumed as she looked back to the image of Shiro through the orb. "From the farthest reaches of Aftea, I command you, be as one!" With a single roar, the numerous shadows began to draw towards the orb in the room, shrouding it in darkness.

The morning had proven nerve wracking for Shiro and Keith during the entire trip, which didn't go unnoticed Hunk, Lance, and Pidge during the trek up here.

Thankfully, the group had finally neared the end of their journey as they came across the cliff side, one overlooking a peaceful-looking pink cloud. That was the one thing that eased her senses a little. No matter how tense the day had made her since last night, they did travel across a rather peaceful forest. The day itself was bright and sunny for what few clouds loomed overhead.

"We're here!" Pidge announced as the group stood atop the cliff.

"...Uhh Pidge? We're on a cliff." Keith pointed out. Was this supposed to be the whole amazing Xadia they kept going on about? The freaking bathrooms at Aurs looked more relaxing than this! "And we're overlooking a thousand-foot drop."

"Yes, we are." Pidge nodded happily. "But not for long!"

"Woo-hoo!" WIth a mighty cheer, and a near-heart attack from Shiro, Pidge, Kiaion, and Hunk happily jumped from the thousand foot cliff, cannonballing into the sea of clouds below.

"What the-!" Keith screeched. What the heck did they just do?! How was he supposed to tell Chief Herschel about this?! that his son fell into a cliff to his death.

That's when he, Shiro, Stats, and Lance heard the telltale laughter of their three friends, watching them as they began to rise up with the stone platform that rose to the air. To Keith's relief he wasn't going to lose his head anytime soon. The two were happily waving to them as they rose to the air, coming up to the cliff's level then some.

"Come on, guys! Jump!" Hunk yelled over, watching as his friends stared dumbfounded at the scene.

Taking a deep breath to relax, Shiro was the first to try, slowly backed up a couple feet, clearing his head before he sprinted to the ledge. With a giant kick from his legs, he leaped over to the other side where the platform was, ready to grab onto the ledge as it passed him.

At least, that was the plan until something else caught his attention, a massive black shadow, sliding into the clouds themselves, catching the corners of his eye and the distraction was so great he barely registered as his head collided to the side of the rising cliff.

"Ahhh!" He screamed as he stared to fall, but luckily, Pidge shot one of her boomerang at the young man, passing by Shiro in time as a rope sprang from her, stretching all the way passed Shiro.

Without needing to be told otherwise, Shiro frantically grabbed onto the long extension, washing over with relief as the two grabbed onto the rope and began pulling him up.

Pulling repeatedly on the rope for over a minute, the two watched as Shiro's hands finally made it's way to the platform, Shiro himself panting out of breath as he made it to the top of the platform after long last.

"Are you okay?" Hunk asked worriedly, trying to check on Shiro.

"I'm fine!" Shiro answered and soon, Lance and Keith jump off from the cliffside and into the platform.

"Shiro, what happened back there?" Keith asked stepping forward.

"Nothing, ok? I just got a little... distracted. That's all." Shiro said.

"You distracted... you're not the type to get distracted!" Lance said.

"W-Well it was just a slip up, all right?"

"Shiro, it's fine. It's the stress, isn't it?" Hunk guessed, trying to comfort him.

"Y-Yeah, just the stress." Shiro looked back to the cliffside again to check the coast. It was clear from his viewpoint, not that it did anything to make her feel any calmer.

All he see was the cliffside fading into the distance and the clouds what surrounded it.

"Just the stress..." he said

All while he and the others were completely unaware of the shadow that attached itself to the rising earth from underneath them.

Taking in the view that approached them, Shiro looked with surprise as they came up to a large transparent barrier, one that lit up as they easily slipped through it. That wasn't as interesting as the giant fortress they came across as the platform continued on it's route to the massive temple itself.

Layers upon layers of the temple were surrounded by mountainside and buildings all stretching into the mountain itself, several other floating platforms around the place with their own buildings too.

Out of all of the places Shiro and Keith had been to up to this point, this one definitely felt the most mystical, and a possible nightmare for anyone else who had a severe fear of heights. Thankfully no one didn't fall into that category.

WIth a small crash, the threefold laughed with excitement as they jumped from the platform, Shiro and Keith racing after them from behind.

"We road a flying mountain through clouds." Lance smiled with delight. "It never gets old."

"Yeah, definitely not the easier way to go about things!" Keith joked.

"Just so you know, my mom can be a lot." Pidge said. "But don't worry, I know how to handle her."

"Is that my little child" A perky middle age woman called out as she approached, arms open and ready to embrace anyone.

"Hi Mom!" Pidge waved over.

"It's been so long since you came to visit!" She squealed, hugging her dear daughter in a tight hug. "And Hunk and Kiaion," she greeted with another hug, "so nice to see you too." Noticing another member among them she smiled. "And who's this?"

"This," Pidge began pulling Keith, Lance, and Shiro a little closer, "Shiro, Keith, and Lance, they're random people that we just met, but they do carry awesome weapons" She continued, pushing them closer to her mother. "So don't freak out when it happens."

"Hi..."

"Hi...so you two are the people that saved my husband's village!" Pidge's mother said as there was a small hint of wonder in the woman's eyes, one that disappeared as quickly as Shiro and Keith picked it up.

"What do you mean!" Lance said.

"And what do you mean by your husband's village!" Keith added.

"Oh, I believe there was some confusion! but Samson is my husband!" Pidge's mother answered.

"The Samson, the same one that runs the village of Kitsune!" Keith said.

"Yes, oh and by the way I'm Colleen!" Pidge's mother introduce herself.

"Oh, hello!" Shiro said as he wouldn't be surprised if he actually imagined it it was so fast.

"How nice Katie has finally started making some new friends." she said.

"Well, friends, is a bit of a strong word..."Keith mumbled looking away.

"We were all so pleased when she and Matt started bringing Hunk around. I was pretty sure they made him up at first." she said. "Oh, you've done something to your hair."

"What? Yes, I cut it." Pidge answered.

"I can see that. I also see you're not wearing the sweater I knitted for you." She commented, pulling on the outfit Pidge was currently wearing. "Don't you like it?"

"Sure, I like it. It's great!" she said.

"But you'd tell me if you didn't like it, right?" Her mother asked worriedly.

"I'm wearing the socks you sent me." Hunk pointed out.

"Well, I've always been fond of this one." Colleen smiled to the young man, glad someone seemed to appreciate her work. "So, what brings you all the way out here to visit your mother? Is it once in a blue moon already?" She teased as she lead the way.

The unamused expression on Pidge's face said it all. This is the kind of thing Pidge warned Shiro and the others about before coming here, about how her mother can be a lot to take in all at once.

"My goodness, then you must be starving." Her aunt interrupted again. "I'll have a feast prepared." She totally ignored the facepalm this earned from Pidge as she walked off. "I'm sure you haven't been fed!"

The view around the temple couldn't have been anything less than what Shiro expected from the proclaimed Magic Capital of the World. All around him, as far as the eye could see, he saw one after the other priests and priestess. Young and old, wise and weird, the mages and spellcasters came in a variety of people, the interesting differences in them matched only by the variety of magics they displayed as they trained.

Some were forming fireballs within their very hands, juggling back and forth several at a time and then dissolving them into thin air. Then they would regrow the fireballs to repeat the process all over again. Others worked with the air itself, forming small waves of water from the elements in the air surrounding them. Waving their hands, the water would dance across their arms as they smiled, enjoying the peaceful touch of the water's texture as it slid across them. Then, with the flick of their wrist the water would evaporate into the air once more, or, in another case he saw, spread across the ground beneath them to make the flowers grow.

"Wow!" Shiro gasped in awe, "Isn't it amazing, Keith?"

Keith nodded, wanting to see more, but they had other things to take care of at the moment!

"You've come at the perfect time, there's an eclipse this evening. I'm headed right now to inspect the lunarium for the ceremony." Colleen said excitedly. "And nothing would make me happier than to give my favorite daughter and her friends a tour."

All of them looked up at the sky and saw the three moons being shadowed into a crescent shape.

Pidge looked down nervously. "Uh, Hunk, Kiaion, and I have had the tour before. And we don't want to get in your way."

"It's all right Pidge." Hunk reassured, "Shiro, Keith, Stats, and Lance hasn't seen it. It'll be fun."

Pidge glared at Hunk.

"Oh, well, I guess it's up to Shiro and the others then. What do you say guys?"

"...What?" Shiro turned back to Colleen, distracted from his previous observations. He wasn't really sure what she was talking about, only seeing Pidge standing behind him mouthing a "no" to her while waving her hands.

If he had any more interest in socializing with people, he would've been able to translate her strange gesture more accurately. "Uhh... Let's go?"

"Oh, I like him." Colleen beamed as lead Shiro directly, pushing him in the direction as Pidge groaned.

This was going to be a long vacation...

"Woah..." Keith stared in amazement at the room.

All around him, from top to bottom, back to back, side to side, were thousands upon thousands of beautiful pink diamonds. Surrounding all across the walls, all of them reflecting it's beautiful magnificent light off of each other from the skylight in the ceiling above, Shiro and the others could turn and watch ten or twenty diamonds sparkle in every direction.

The floor itself was nothing to gawk at. Beautifully crafted with a pristine violet color, which helped to reflect the sun's warming ray, and polished possibly three times a day by the looks of it. Everywhere around the floor was spotless and clear, her reflection greeting her wherever she walked.

This room was the very definition of beauty, or the closest thing Shiro and the others could consider.

"The Lunar Lenses." Colleen spoke as they looked around. "We use them in the monthly ceremonies to renew Xadia's magic defenses, and keep us shielded from the outside world. You will be coming to the Eclipse Ceremony tonight, won't you?"

"Uh..." Shiro wasn't sure how to respond.

"Mom!" Pidge thankfully interrupted, "I've seen the ceremony dozens of times. And we're all really tired from traveling." She slouched as if to emphasize her point. "Maybe we'll skip it this time?"

"Nonsense. Your friends hasn't seen it yet," she retorted, pulling Keith and Lance closer to her, "and it's quite a sight to behold for a newcomer and besides, don't you want to spend more time with your mother?"

"Of course!" Pidge frantically nodded in assurance, doing everything she could to keep from looking rude to her dear mother. "But we also really wanted to show Shiro and Keith the beach."

"Well, if the beach is the only reason you're here, I really shouldn't keep you, should I? I certainly don't want to waste your time." said Colleen.

"Mom, I didn't mean it that way." Pidge said

As Shiro walked away with Stats to explore the room a little more, he had never seen anything like this, but as he passed in the mirror, I could see a large shadow behind us, Shiro's eyes widened as he looked in the mirror again as he turned around to see the shadow again before it faded away.

"Shiro!" Keith called out.

Colleen smiled as she saw Shiro run her way towards the hall. "Well, someone is enthusiastic. Ah, yes. The hall of priesthood!"

The hallways were just as elegant as the rest of the building, if not more so than the rooms they connected to. Between the walls and the interiors, the opened windows that shined the magnificent sunlight in, the archways connecting to the doors of this open place, everything was decorated and painted with a serene view. It went on to give showmanship for the crafts and details of this fine temple, further indicated by the amount of display brought onto each wall.

But he wasn't here to sightsee.

All the while, Shiro kept on having this nervous twitch in the back of his mind going off as he walked down the hill with Keith.

"These are the great ones who led Xadia through the ages." Colleen explained, gesturing to the statues of past priests and priestess and finally, they stopped at one statue of a man with long hair and a beard.

"This is King Alfor, one of the greatest legends of all time!" she said. "he trained in these very halls!"

"He had a beard!" Pidge pointed out with a small blush.

"Wait a minute! King Alfor used to train here!" Keith said. "I bought Allura only train here!"

"Wait, you didn't know!" Pidge said.

Trying to play it nonchalantly, Keith rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. "W-Well of course I do! ...no not really I was only told about... things!"

Shiro only rolled his eyes, then he came across one statue in particular, one covered in a faded shadow from head to toe. It was that strange stare she saw in the statue's eyes, one that emanated a deep hatred even through stone.

"Who... Who is she?"

"Allura!" Colleen's voice dropped as she breathed in an air of grief. "A scar on Xadia's past. She was sent to protect the crystal and unfortunately suffered a terrible death, her soul haunt these walls, waiting to exact her revenge!" Somehow the strange yet obvious creepy performance Pidge's mother was putting on was actually creeping Shiro out. Was it more of his own stress and exhausted state affecting him or was he legitimately creeped out by this?

"But those are only children's tales, of course." No amount of smiling from her could make the creep factor suddenly disappear. "Anyway, on with the tour. Are you hungry?" Taking Pidge, Keith, Hunk, Lance, Stats, and Kiaion down the hall, Shiro stared back at the dead person of a statue. Her voice faded into the distance as the group followed behind him. I've had the dining room redone since last time you were here, Pidge."

Who was this Allura she was talking about? the only thing he know about her that she came back to life, but there was an unseen darkness coming out from it, like it was watching him.

Maybe it was the strange chill in the air that distracted him? Maybe it was how this strange place was all sorts of different compared to what she was used to? Maybe it was the sinister statue that he was looking over that gave him the chills? Or maybe it was the shadow looming over her from behind, one as silent as the air itself.

The shadow gazed upon it's target as it blended into the wall behind him. Its target was distracted by the sight of the statue, perplexed at what he was staring at.

Without making a sound, the shadow began to seep it's mist-like tendrils through the young man's ear as he continued to stare at the woman made of stone. Shiro couldn't feel any sort of draft as he stared ahead, feeling as if everything was all right little by little. By the time he bothered to move on, over a third of the shadow had entered Shiro's mind.

And then Swoosh, "Ah-!" Shiro yelped as Keith materialized right in front of him.

"Shiro, are you okay!" Keith said.

"Yeah, I'm okay!" Shiro said, although he didn't feel like it.

Just then, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, Stats, and Kiaion walk next to them. "OK, my mom's going to fix us a big dinner and now it's finally beach time!" she said, excitingly, but Shiro's self-defense around him didn't go away.

"Are you okay!" Lance asked, seeing how tense Shiro was as he looked back at the wall where he saw the shadow.

"It's worse than we thought." Pidge felt so sorry for her distressed friend. Patting his shoulder, she gave him a soft smile as she gestured out the hallway. "What you need right now is warm sand and calming waves. Stat."

"Uh... sure..." He felt strange all of a sudden as he followed the two. He felt like something was creeping up on his skin, but he couldn't put his finger on it. There was a certain chill in the air that followed around him as he was lead through the hallways, Keith giving him as much of a comforting smile as possible from time to time to make sure he was alright.

"Trust me, Shiro, the beach is the best place to relax." Hunk assured as they went to a small sandy place on the edge of Xadia where the blue clouds rolled on the shore, pretending to be to sea.

Pidge, Lance, and Hunk gently laid down a blanket each, but Shiro and Keith were completely confused.

"So, we just, like, lie here?" Shiro asked.

"It's called, relaxing, Shiro." Lance said as she flattened out his and Keith's towels. "Didn't you do this kind of thing in your world?"

"Uh, no. We usually work on the desk, filing paperwork all day!" Shiro answered.

"Easy for you to say, I normally hit stuff!" Keith said.

"Well, this is so much better. Right Hunk?" Lance asked, but Hunk was already asleep.

Shiro laid down his blanket and try to be comfortable but Shiro wasn't feeling the whole relaxation part of this, It was all new to him but Keith was handling it a lot better than he was as he was constantly humming and groaning from being still for even a minute and he couldn't take it.

"This isn't working for you, is it?" Lance asked, annoyed.

"No, Can I move now?" Shiro said.

"Yes!" Pidge said.

Shiro sighed and sat up immediately, with Stats still on his chest and sitting on his lap.

Pidge signed and stood up, "Clearly, we're going to have to take this relaxation thing to the next level". She said, "Hunk, Keith, wake up".

Hunk and Keith immediately woke up in a panic, "Come on. We need to show Shiro and Keith the steam grotto."

"Whoo! Steam grotto." Hunk exclaimed.

"what's the steam grotto!" Shiro said.

As the group left the beach and went to the castle again, the group heading over to the Northeastern wing of the mighty citadel, Pidge brought Keith and Shiro to a little spa area of Xadia. Passing along the halls, the interiors changed from it's hardened stone-covered floors to a verily soft and cushiony white carpeting that stretched throughout the entire area.

There were dozens of doors on each side of the halls with various numbers or symbols on them, half of which were unknown to Shiro. Some had designated signs like men and women bathrooms, others had a simple round circle on the frame of the door with various colors designating them. The weirdest of these doors were the ones with squiggly lines around them, ones Pidge told her they were only for the advanced mages around here.

After five whole minutes of walking, Pidge gave Shiro and Keith a new set of clothes and a robe to change into. Once they were all done changing, the group followed Pidge to a large room filled with pools of steaming water.

"Wow, so this is the steam grotto!" Shiro said, staring at the countless pools of hot water.

"Right?" Hunk said, he, Keith, and Lance taking off their robes and showing off their bathing outfits for the pools.

Lance ran first to one of the pools and got in, hissing at the sudden heat, but then relaxing as he got used to it, sitting against the edge and sinking into the water and soon Keith and Hunk soon join in.

"These pools are full of magical healing minerals." Pidge said, taking off the robes and leading Shiro to the pool that Keith, Lance, and Hunk was currently in.

"The priests use them to cleanse themselves of worry and fear before big ceremonies or spells." The five of them, including Stats and Kiaion sunk deep into the water, the head wrapping around Shiro and soon erasing his worries in an instant.

"No just clear your mind. Breathe deeply. Focus on the warmth on your skin. Let your body go perfectly..." Pidge coached everyone.

Shiro closed his eyes and for a moment, Shiro and the others finally relaxed. When Shiro opened his eyes again, Pidge was leaving on his left shoulder asleep while Stats was laying his head on his chest.

Shiro smiled at this, after everything they have been through, they needed this, After spent a while in that pool, Shiro looked forward to the ceiling and heard a familiar voice echo from the dark shadows that began to encircle us.

"Shiro..." Shiro recognized that anywhere. It was Haggar, why her, Shiro jumping out of the pool, letting Pidge and Stats fall back into the water.

Shiro ran away from the shadows to his sword which he left on the ground nearby, he grabbed his sword and lifted it with both hands.

"No, no, no, no, no! Help!" Shiro shouted, closing his eyes in fear.

"Shiro!" A familiar voice called out to us, he opened his eyes again and saw Keith and the others walking towards him.

"Haggar's here! I saw her!" Shiro said, full of fear again.

"Shiro, there's no one else here." Keith assured him, but Shiro still didn't feel at ease.

"You brought your sword in here? Are you ok? What happened?" Keith and the others sat Shiro down on a small rock seat.

"Haggar was here!" Shiro repeated. "In the grotto. And she was in in the priests hall too. I saw her shadow on the floor."

"What are you talking about? isn't she's the one that got destroyed by your magic!" Keith asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know how, but I think she's coming back!" Shiro said.

"Sounds like she did a number on you!" Keith said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Well she did, I mean she manipulated you and Pidge too!" Shiro told Keith.

Pidge turn her head, she knew what Shiro meant, she took control of her brother.

"True, but we got away from her!" Keith said. "She can't hurt us here!"

Shiro turned his head towards Keith, but the fear in his eyes.

"Do you wanna try something else? We could get massages, or find you something to hit, if that would work better." Keith said.

Shiro shook his head and said "No. It's okay. I'm okay. I think I need to be alone. Clear my head."

Keith and the others, although hesitant to leave Shiro alone, responded his wishes and left grotto.

Shiro sighted, "they're right, Haggar is not here!" Shiro reassured, saying those words over and over again until a whispering voice caught his ears.

"Shiro has finally lost it." It was Keith whispering, getting curious and walking to the entrance to listen in.

"Did you see him in there? I think he's going nuts." Keith said.

Shiro narrowed his eyes and walked outside, "I'm not crazy." he shouted, but no one was there.

"I'm...I'm not crazy." Shiro told himself, he wasn't just seeing thing like crazy person. He made sure of that.

Later, after leave the steam grotto and getting dressed back in his normal, Shiro walked around Xadia again, this time making his way to the hall of priests, where he couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows, he knew Haggar was here, but he just couldn't find her.

Or if she was here at all, maybe he was crazy. right.

"You're just a stupid statue!" Shiro said "Pull it together, Shiro. there's no way Haggar can be here, Right!"

All of a sudden, as he glanced at his shadows, the darkness began to shift and move on their own.

Shiro gasped as the shadow took another from. It rose from the ground, a bright yellow spot on its face glowing right at him before it slammed into his, forcing him to the ground.

Shiro growled in anger and reached for his sword that was attached to his hip and gripped the sword tightly and was about to run down the hall to find the shadow.

"Heh heh heh..." A mystifying voice echoed through the hallway, refilling Shiro's body with that same chill of death. "Hey, Takashi!"

Shiro recognized that teasing tone of Adam.

"Adam? Where are you? How did you find me here?" Shiro asked, afraid and with haste as he looked between the statues.

"Nope. Getting colder." Adam said.

"Whatever you're doing, you won't get away with it. Did Haggar send you?!" Shiro said.

"What do you think? Haggar controls us both. She always has." Adam said as Shiro could hear Adam's footsteps running out the hall.

"Adam, wait". Shiro said, running out of the hall to catch up with him.

Shiro run into the room with the lunar lenses, only to find that no one was there.

"Adam!" Shiro called out but it was silent for a second... Until he heard the faintest knocks... and Clank...clank...it rang through the quiet room.

But then, another voice rang out through the room. Chills ran up Shiro's spine as he listened to the horrifying chuckled of Zarkon.

Shiro gasped and turned around, pointing his sword at the empty air while Zarkon's voice surrounded him like spiders crawling around your body.

"You think you can stop the empire! Samurai." he said, "Disappointing. Does the Rebels truly think you can save them? Nothing can stop the Galra, least of all you."

"Show yourself!" Shiro demanded.

"You will lead them all, every Altman, to their complete and utter annihilation." Shiro covered his ears to block out the sound of his taunts.

"Nothing will be left of Aurs but smoking ruins. Your friends buried beneath."

Shiro looked up at the reflection of the crystal and Zarkon standing behind him, he yelled, spinning around and swinging his sword at whatever was behind him, firing his power at the walls.

When Shiro opened his eyes, he gasped at the sight of the destination he had created. Several reflective crystals were shattered into shards and a clear line on the wall was visible from where his power hit it.

"What have you done?!" Fear filled his heart immediately as he heard the distraught shout coming from behind him. Slowly turning, his eyes widened in fear as she saw a familiar face, one belonging to one of Pidge's relatives.

"C-Colleen..." he stuttered. Having turned around, she saw the remnants of his recent rampage, everything it had wrought.

Destruction. Cold, ruthless, destruction, by Shiro's very own sword. Looking at it, his palms shook rapidly as he realized everything he had done, dropping the sword as worry clouded his mind.

All around him was nothing but the destroyed remains of the shattered crystals. From rows upon rows, hundreds upon hundreds on each side of the wall, thousands of the crystals had now been destroyed by Shiro's overwhelming fear.

"Sorry. I didn't mean--I thought I just saw--" Shiro tried to explain.

"Shiro!" Keith shouted as he, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Stats, and Kiaion run into the room. When they got to his side, Colleen continued to release his anger.

"Your friend has destroyed a thousand years' worth of sacred writing!" Colleen yelled, displaying the numerous crystals scattered around them. "He could've destroyed the lenses that protect Xadia!"

"He didn't mean to!" Lance insisted, patting his distressed friend's shoulder. "Shiro would never-"

"This is the kind of person you hang around with?" Colleen asked Pidge, she turned around and walked out of the room.

"Mom, wait!" Pidge called out, Colleen didn't turn back around.

"P-Pidge..." Shiro struggled to manage a single word. He couldn't feel anything inside of him except a deep emptiness.

"It's ok, I'll handle her." She assured with a small smile, following after her.

"But-"

"The Galra isn't here, Shiro." Keith stated, cutting him off from chasing as well. "You need to sleep. Promise me you'll try,"

Shiro nodded and picked up his sword as he walked to a room where he could rest. But somehow this was far from over.

As Shiro lay down on the bed, trying to sleep, but I couldn't but he did glanced up at the four moons in the sky that he could see through the window. They were almost aligned.

Shiro turned on his side and hugged his pillow while trying not to cry from what he had done, just then, Shiro heard a knock at the door.

Shiro's eyes slowly opened as the door opened and revealed Pidge in the doorway.

"Pidge!" Shiro said, getting up to meet her. "Look, I'm really sorry about..."

"Save it, Shiro." Pidge cut me off with an angry tone as she shut the door behind him, "How could you do this? I thought you were supposed to be our friend."

"I am your friend." Shiro said, but Pidge's eyes still showed anger.

"You've ruined everything I've worked for. What kind of friend does that?"

"Pidge--"

"You know what? Maybe you should just go." Pidge said in the last moment and left the room.

Shiro stood in shock at what happened, in just one day, Shiro lost one of his friends and the trust of Colleen. with nothing left to do Shiro decided to leave Xadia and the others.

Magic gathering in the palms of her hands, Colleen smiled as she prepared for the ritual that came once every month, one that ensured the safety of Xadia forevermore. The Eclipse Ceremony was a vital livelihood for the priests and priestess of Xadia, It kept the barrier that shielded it replenished after every event, and, more importantly, kept them outside from the clutches of the Galra's evil grasp.

If ever a time came they found their defenses down, found themselves without the lense to protect themselves, the Galra would hound in on them in an instant. After the Rebels, Xadia as the last fighting chance the world had against the Galra's evil reign, the last bastion of peace anyone had in the hopes of defeating them. Even if the Rebels continued to stand, should Xadia and all it's mystical secrets, fall, the rest of the world wouldn't be too far behind.

It spelt doom for all across Altea, annihilation for all around the globe. It was a beacon and sanctuary for all who practiced in the arts of magic, and last line of defense from oblivion.

It was during that time, watching from the sides as the rest of the mages were circled at the center, preparing for the ceremony, that Pidge started to frown.

"You okay?" Hunk whispered, leaning over from her right.

"I'm fine...I just wish that Shiro was here to see this!" Pidge said.

"Yeah me too, but it's best not to wake him, he needs to sleep." Hunk said.

While she kept her focus on the ceremony at hand, Colleen looking up to the sky, she smiled as the moons began to pass by in front of each other, the eclipse finally beginning as the moons merged into one. Flashing with a bright violet light, the eclipse began to rain its beautiful energies down upon Xadia, it's beautiful lights bouncing across the room as it reflected from the numerous crystals that still remained in the Lunarium, culminating to a single flash that filled the entire room with it's beauty.

With its energies pouring in, Colleen began levitating the Lunar Lenses into their respective formations, reflecting the direct energy into a rainbow of light across one another, forming a pattern as Colleen moved herself to the center of the sacred room, gazing into the fountain of water that lied beneath the skylight. It was here all their magical energy would gather into one, and the shield protecting Xadia could renewed.

That opportunity never came to pass.

Almost immediately after gazing into the water, she gasped. From the edges of the fountain a horrific darkness began to encircle the fountain, spreading across the waters like a poison until it filled the water in its entirety. From there, the darkness burst from the center, catching everyone off guard and in shock, as a mass of shadows burst out of the waters in a twisted explosion of blackness, shrouding the room with it's malefic evil.

One by one, the many lenses that were used in the ceremony began to alter, darken. One after the other they began to blacken into a sinister color, reflecting a darker energy from the light they once gave into a vile display of wickedness and cruelty.

Still in shock over the endeavor, Colleen channeled as much energy as she had into her magic as she attempted to stop the ensuing darkness that filled the room. It took everything she had to keep the darkness at bay from the center of the skylight, where the Lunar Lenses were being held in place. But all of it was for naught, as even with all her strength and all her efforts to keep the evil at bay, the darkness pushed through her magics, filling the walls and ceiling of the sacred room with shadow.

At this, a culmination of the shadows began to merge together in the center of this great ceremony, the sorcerers and mages powerless to stop it as it gave shape. It morphed into a great mass, a form that all of them were familiar with, and at the same time horrified, to see it return.

And immediately the barrier was flicker, thanks to the shadow.

On his way to the exit, Shiro discovers the exact same thing with the people scream in terror.

"Shiro!" Keith's voice call out to him as Shiro turned towards the shot and saw him running up and past him, "C'mon, we have to get out of here now."

Shiro ran after Keith, "What's happening."

"The protection spell is failing. We need to go!" Keith answered.

"Wait, stop. What do you mean failing? Where's Pidge? and Lance? and the others?" Shiro reached out his hand to grab Keith's shoulder, but his fingers went through him, leaving behind dark whisps of smoke trailing his fingertips.

Keith stopped and turned around, his eyes holding the same anger Pidge had a few minutes ago.

"Everything that's about to happen is your fault, Shiro". He said "You're to blame."

All of a sudden, Keith's body turned black and his eyes glowed golden, causing him gesped as his entire body turned into dark smoke and faded away into the dim sky.

Shiro turned back towards the tower where the lunar lenses were and ran towards them as fast he can to the lunar lens room and saw everyone, Colleen, Pidge, Hunk, Lance, Keith, Stats, Kiaion, and a couple of other priests lying on the ground, groaning and unconscious.

Shiro looked around the room again, he noticed a large shadow hovering over his friends.

"Shiro!" The shadow said, turning around and showing a familiar purple Hood.

"Haggar!" Shiro exclaimed, his heart jumping from the fright, Shiro ran to Keith and the others, but the dark shadows stopped us from getting any closer.

Haggar laughed darkly, her shadow coming closer to him and her cold hand gently caressing his cheek, Shiro shoved the shadow away and run, but the shadows caught him.

"The eclipse is nearly over, Shiro" Haggar said, "And when it is, the shield will be done. the Galra will conquer Xadia and it will be your fault!"

"No, I'll stop you." Shiro declared.

"Why!" she said as Shiro felt a hand on my shoulder, "To help these people? Who are they to you? They don't understand you, you're from another world?"

Shiro shocked by this news, no surprise there, Adam probably told them everything. "What?" he asked in shock.

"They fear your power. They'll never accept you. Not like I do." Haggar said.

The shadows came closer, but Shiro swiped them away. "No, no! You're wrong". Shiro said, pulling out his sword and calling out for his breathing technique. "First from: Aquarius"

However, it didn't work, If it couldn't work, he couldn't fight as the shadows surrounded him and Haggar's voice continued to echo in the room.

"You know deep down what I say is true." She said to Shiro "You are the ambitious, cutthroat, ruthless warrior from another world, a world that truly you belong in!"

"No!" Shiro said as he dropped his sword, and fell to his knees.

"The people here don't care about you. They want to use you for your strength." Haggar said, turned Shiro's head to face hers, but Shiro didn't give into her.

instead, Shiro got up and went over to Keith and the others.

"These are my friends. They've been kind to me. Something you never were." Shiro said.

"You were never meant to!" Haggar shouted.

"But you just played twisted mind games. I'm none of the things you say I am. I'm not like you. You are bitter and cruel, and you're the one who used me! This is who I am. You hurt my friends, so now you're gonna pay!" Shiro stood back up to face her, without looking up with hardly any fear in his eyes.

Haggar laughed evily as the shadows "It's too late. The eclipse will be over in moments. Xadia will fall and it will be your fault."

Shiro didn't want to let this be his fault, so he did what he could do, he ran to his sword, picking it up and tearing it from the shadow's grasp.

Shiro saw Haggar come closer to him and tried to block her with his sword and closed his eyes in brace for the impact. But something happened.

As Haggar scream when Shiro put his sword on the ground and said, "Ninth from: Libra!" and soon, he wasn't holding a sword, but instead a shield.

The shadows were gone, but the task at hand wasn't done as Shiro climbed to the top of the crystal spike, then jumped over to one of the platforms floating in the air.

"I can give you Altea. We can rule together". Haggar promised, then come behind him and gripped his arm tightly, "You were nothing before you grab that sword. And you will be nothing without me! You're weak!" but Shiro ripped his arm away from her and run across the crystals as she followed him.

And finally, Shiro jumped to the platform closed to the moonlight stream, the only thing that separated Shiro from Haggar who stared at him, her eyes cold and cruel as always.

"Shiro, enough of this." She said.

But Shiro didn't reply, instead he looked at the eclipse and held out his sword towards the light, groaning as the pressure from the light hit his sword, Shiro didn't expect it to have so much force for light.

"I am not going to fall to you, you have no power over me!" Shiro directed the light from his sword, he didn't expect it to have so much force for light but he did directed the light from his sword, which shone a brilliant blue, directly down to the lenses.

"No!" Haggar scream as the blue light filled the room, the shadows were dispelled by the light and faded away into nothing.

While everyone groaned as they regained consciousness, the light spread throughout the room, up to the ceiling and the crystal panels in the sky. From the skylight he could see the barrier reform.

Shiro sighed in relief, sliding down on one of the pillars and holding his sword.

"Shiro! Are you okay?" Keith shouted, Shiro turned towards his voice and saw him and the others running to him, he opened his arms and hugged them once they got close to embracing him as well.

"I'm okay. Yeah, I think I'm finally okay." Shiro chuckled in his sudden relief, "She's gone."

"I'm so sorry we didn't believe you! We've been bad friends." Hunk said, about to cry.

Shiro put his hand on his shoulder to comfort him, "No! You're not. This is what Haggar does. She manipulates people, she pushes them apart. But it's never going to work on me again".

Just then, Colleen and the other priests came up to them, Shiro's guilt rising inside of me once again.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault she was here. I endangered Xadia". Shiro apologized, but instead of receiving a scolding like before, Colleen greeted him with a grateful smile.

"Nonsense, you saved Xadia. my daughter has chosen her friends well. I'll knit you a sweater. What size are you in the shoulders?" She said

"I'm like, really tired." Shiro said.

With that, the group decided to go back to the beach for a well-deserved rest.

"Keith!" Shiro said, laying on his towel.

"Right here, Shiro!" Keith said, laying next to him on his towel.

For once, everything was perfect, until Shiro noticed something coming out of his mouth, blood, his blood.

Meanwhile back at Haggar's room, Haggar was resting in her chambers, after being defeated by Shiro again, it had made her recovery time much slower.

But despite this, Adam came into the room. "Hello? Haggar?" he then turned around to see Haggar, in her chambers of the quintessence.

"You've been going about this the wrong way, old woman. If you wanna take down Shiro, you have to go for the heart."