𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐏 , v:ld [𝘋𝘐𝘚𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘜𝘌𝘋]

8 ★ THE RED LION

❝ THE RED LION. ❞

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Lia traversed the halls of the Castle of the Lions seven days later, absentmindedly munching on her last bag of Pepperoni Combos. She had no idea where Miles, Finn, Rowan, or Chayse were, but most likely not being snoopy like her.

If they needed her, they could just follow the mess of crumbs she was leaving in her wake for Coran to clean up later.

After breaking a few odds and ends, she decided to loop back around and head back to the control deck. The dark, mysterious aura of the deeper parts of the castle faded away as she headed towards the lighter, more welcoming sections of the spacecraft.

Lia shoved the last Combo into her messy mouth right as she made her way past the sleeping quarters, not daring to stick her head in the rooms as she had done three days ago.

She was still a bit shaken up at what she had seen. It had helped her realize why Allura was so devastated the night they had first stumbled across the Castle. For all of those miscellaneous items to be piled up in various different rooms, each giving their own vibes, the people who slept there must have done such for quite awhile.

No wonder Allura was so against the arrival of the five, and especially the crowning of Chayse as Yellow Paladin.

Speaking of Chayse, Lia paused her crunching as she passed the youngest's room, hearing a sudden whimper. Coran had requested (it was more of an order, actually) that the Yellow Paladin settle down in the walls of the castle so that they could start training earlier in the mornings. He offered the other four rooms, but they had decided they felt safer in their broken down minivan.

"Hey! What the fuck you being so loud for!" Lia shouted through her final bites, irritated that the serenity had been demolished. The automatic door slid open, and the girl paused at the sight before her. "Well damn, I thought you were the dog."

Chayse turned her face away from Lia, but the movement only caused her chest to heave more and for her sobs to resonate throughout the halls more clearly. Lia glanced down to where her friend's hand was clenched, looking to the perfectly healthy looking calf. A bit pale despite the fact she had been in the sun all summer, but still healthy.

Lia had seen all of the Babs™️ weep before, for various reasons. Anything ranging from a drawn out joke to a dead parent. Tears of laughter or tears of devastation. She had never seen one of her friends cry because they were in physical pain.

"Chayse?" Lia shuffled up to the youngest girl's pristine white bed, looking down at her in a mixture of concern and confusion. "Is your leg okay?