Keith didn't know what happened.

One second he had been dodging the Galra King's attack, the next, he was being pulled aside by an invisible force.

He fell on the ground, looking up helplessly as the King approached him.

Was this how he was going to die? All this traveling, all his efforts into finding the princess, all the relationships he had established along the way— was this how it was going to end?

He couldn't let this be his final moment.

He drew out his sword, the hesitation that was once there gone.

Just as he was getting up, the same force pushed him out of the way from an unexpected attack from the King.

The force wasn't Honerva?

"Stay out of the way, you brainless fool." A familiar sharp voice invaded the tension, making Keith's eyes widen. He had never been called a brainless fool before and never did he think the empress herself would be an ally to them.

He looked up to see the Empress of Emberlands, standing before him while facing the King. She was in a warrior suit, sword attached to her waist and the strong, long staff in her hand.

"Traitor." The Galra King barked, purple eyes narrowing on the upright empress, "I'll destroy your kingdom to ashes."

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard." She dully shrugged it off, dark eyes fixed on the galra that was twice her size, "Let's get to the fighting."

Zarkon laughed as if he heard the funniest thing in the world as the empress's grip on her staff tightened.

"You'll eat your words." He said before striking quickly. Keith blinked and the galra king had already moved 2 meters. His speed was impressive for his size.

"Fool! Move out of the way!" The empress's shout alarmed him that he was again in the middle of their fight. He slid out of the way right in time before the empress was thrown back by force.

"Weaklings." The galra king sneered, mocking them as Keith hastily helped the empress get back on her feet, "you're nothing against me."

"This would be a good time to turn into a beast." She hissed at Keith as she made a forcefield around them, "this won't last long."

"He's not responding to me." He grimaced as the shield started showing marks of damage from the king's strikes, "but if you can enchant my sword with a poison, I could blow a strike."

She looked unsure as if she didn't truly trust his word but made a small enchantment with her hand despite that, having no other option. Keith himself wasn't certain either, but this was the only thing he could try.

As soon as the magic shield shattered, Keith jumped out in front of the empress and attempted to kick the king down. It didn't completely go wrong for the king stumbled back a few steps, but now his legs felt like he had broken them. Ignoring the aching, Keith ran towards the king with his poisoned sword, trying to blow a strike before he regained his senses.

Making a battle cry, he slashed the Galra's chest armor once- twice- before he was blown back by his strength. Keith grit his teeth when he landed against the hard wall of the hallway, the empress already attacking in his stead. 

Although it didn't look like he got deep strikes, Keith was able to hit him twice so he hoped now the poison would be strong enough to seep into his skin from there.

Katie slowly walked out of the house with the princess's arm slinged over her neck, making sure she could keep her balance. Unfortunately, she was immediately met with more of the galra when she spotted sunlight.

"Stay back." She mumbled to the ragged princess as she let go of her back, taking out her sword instead. The Princess seemed to understand what she was saying, nodding as she limped behind Katie, grabbing an unconscious guard's sword on the way.

Katie looked around as the galras drew closer to her, their swords pointed to her but their eyes on the Princess behind her.

"Didn't your parents teach you not to stare at ladies?"

She licked her lips, smiling before she kicked a guard down and striking another with her blade, drawing blood. She was growing tired from constantly having to fend off the galra but her abilities never faltered nor failed her.

Not even a few minutes later, all of the galra had been either knocked down or too damaged to fight against her. She panted as her eyes landed on the galra she had told to scram before, weakly holding onto his consciousness.

"You just had to come back to get your butt kicked, didn't you?" She scoffed, looking down on him before turning back to the Princess who was looking at her with an astonished expression.

"Here, cover yourself with this." Katie said as she handed her the galra helmet, "I know it's not the best smelling or comfortable, but you're too easily recognized."

Once the Princess awkwardly put on the helmet, hiding her silver hair and her blue eyes, Katie put her sword back in its sheath.

"Let's get you out of here." She sighed, taking the Princess's arm again, leading her away from the battle and towards their side.

Although it proved to be a challenge, it was much easier because they couldn't tell that the Princess was with her. As soon as they went through the broken shield, away from the battle, she was welcomed by the cooks and medics and a couple guards that were protecting the outside. The guards were on edge as soon as they saw the galra armor, but Katie stopped them before they could attack the Princess or her.

"Tend to the Princess." She told the medics and the cooks before turning to the mixed guards from different kingdoms, "Make sure you don't let any galra make it out here alive."

They saluted her and after returning it, Katie ran back into the portal, her sword raised to join the battle.

Mark startled awake, the loud clanging of swords striking each other filling the air. His mouth felt dry as he looked around the enclosed room he was in.

How long has it been? He couldn't tell.

Sometimes light would come in from a crack in the wall, but that was all he got. Both his legs and hands were tied up so he couldn't even think of escaping without help.

The long clang of swords against each other drew closer to him, and he wondered if it was Theo coming for him. Mark smiled faintly, thinking of how Theo would've reacted after finding out that he was captured. He knew his brother always drove headfirst into reckless situations, and that Keith would always be there to back him up with his protective nature.

It was funny to think of such things when he was locked up in a place where he couldn't even see properly.

He listened quietly as the fight drew closer to him, wondering if he would be able to tell whose footsteps it was. Light, airy footsteps were Katie's, heavier, calculated footsteps were Keith's, and messy, uncoordinated ones were Theo's. While one seemed heavy as if they were wearing the heavy galra armor, the other was light like Katie's but more calculated so it wasn't her.

Mark listened the entire time as their swords clashed but not even a minute later, there was a loud bang and his door flew open, breaking on the way. Light flooded into his room as a woman was thrown into his room, landing beside him. He blinked, turning to her and seeing her familiar face. He didn't have time to say her name because a gloomy shadow soon followed her into the room, revealing himself to be Prince Lotor.

"Looks like you're prepared to die." He laughed, seeing the bruised up Princess, "and your buddy beside you will follow after."

Romelle turned to her side with wide eyes, meeting Mark's gray eyes. She didn't have time for words when Lotor striked again, making her have to slide away from Mark. While the two fought on the side, Mark realized there was something shiny left behind where Romelle had been sitting.

Mark was surprised for a second that the Princess knew how to fight, and that she was smart enough to leave him a dagger, but he didn't have time for that. He quickly dove his face towards the dagger, grabbing it between his teeth and lifting it before dropping it where his hands were tied up.

While Romelle kept Lotor busy, he cut away at the thick bundles of rope that tied his hands together before moving onto his feet. His body ached when he finally cut all the rope, but Romelle was now slowing in her attacks. He was in no position to fight, but he could at least divert his attention to himself.

As Lotor was about to blow a strike to the tired princess, Mark threw the dagger towards him, precisely hitting him on the arm and cutting through the armor.

Lotor hissed, turning to Mark instead with bloodlust in his eyes as he sharply removed the dagger in his arm.

"You're dead." He growled and Mark sighed, knowing he was going to be running for a while.

"If you can catch me, that is." He provoked the Prince with a smile, giving Romelle a final glance before running out into the lit hallway.

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A/N

Sorry for forgetting to update last week, but here it is!

Three different p.o.vs and unexpected pairings in this chapter so enjoy that ;)

Anyways thank you all for reading, and I hope you have a good day!

-Silver 💜 

(ps- pray for Mark's legs)