The Battle Against the Darkness - Voltron

✧Chapter One✧

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✧Allura✧
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As a child, Princess Allura had always been told stories of a legendary hero, who would have one day driven out all evil from the realm of Atoriel. When she was young, the princess thought that there was good in everything, so nothing could have been truly evil. That was what she had been taught to believe by her father, the courageous King Alfor. She always saw her father as a legendary hero himself, for he always comforted her when she was afraid or sorrowful, only to make her feel happy almost instantly after. She loved thinking that her father could have found something good about everything.

However, now that she was soon to be twenty-three years old, she wondered if some things were so corrupted that they merely weren't good at all. Ever since she heard the tragic news of the outskirts of the realm being ripped apart by an unknown force, which was dubbed as 'The Darkness,' Allura had always woken up with chills running down her spine. Almost every time a royal soldier had visited the site of the horrid mess of dead creatures, they never came back. Therefore, Alfor had simply assumed that they had been put to a permanent rest. Nonetheless, the daughter and father kept sending more soldiers in terms of research, so they were rapidly vanishing.

This day might have been the same.

Even though the world that Allura's bright turquoise eyes normally perceived was warm and sunny, she had stayed in the castle all day long. The mocha-skinned woman sat at the end of a mahogany conference table, which had a surface etched with a map of Atoriel, a home to many wizards. Creating the design on the table didn't take long, for the royal designer was an earth wizard. Therefore, the wood had been manipulated into its current decorative state. Even if Allura herself was a water wizard, she always found that Earth wizards did fascinating things.

As the young woman took a long gaze around the familiar room, which was designed by patterns of the four main elements in nature, a mellow voice had spoken, "Allura, dear, do you recall the stories I have told you when you were just a child?" Allura turned to the face of her father, Alfor, who was sitting at the other end of the table. His fingers were folded and pressed against the surface of the mahogany, and his face showed a gentle expression. The mien of the king's face, as well as the platinum beard that matched his daughter's wavy locks, had made him appear as wise as Allura thought he truly was.

Tilting her head, causing strands of white locks to tickle the side of her neck, the princess responded, "Yes, Father. I remember them quite well, actually." Truthfully, she hadn't anticipated what her father would have told her, even if the stories relaxed her as a young girl. As an adult, she had become more fearful, so the stories started making less sense. She barely believed that there was a legendary hero who would have chased away all evil, nor did she still believe that everything that was wicked had virtuous traits. Even though she should have been a fearless leader, the world was only beginning to scare her more and more. Still, Alfor was hopeful about the future, but that may have come from the optimistic side of his earth wizardry.

"Very good, Allura. I am aware that you may think that the tales seemingly have implausible endings, but I think they are only becoming closer to being true," the king stated, keeping his voice at a level tone, "With all the research that has been conducted, finding a solution to the desolation of the edges of our land might be plausible." As the ending of his statement neared, his voice became more cheerful, and a slight grin appeared under his white beard. Allura, on the other hand, was doubtful of the royal council's doings. The Royal Council of Atoriel had consisted of intelligent wizards, yet she had disliked its decision to sacrafice soldiers for science.

Fiddling with the blue ribbon on her mostly pink cloak, Allura hesitantly retorted, "Father, those stories were simply children's tales. It is unfortunate to say, but we've lost all the soldiers we sent for research. Their reasons for disappearance may be unknown to us, but it is a very reasonable possibility that they have died." She sighed in disappointment, shaking her head. Her father showed a sorrowful appearance, as if he was conflicted between which side he should have been on. However, Alfor was not a man who took sides, so that assumption was linked to figments of Allura's imagination.

Suddenly, a creak had emerged, causing the princess and king to look toward the set of double doors that stayed near the conference table's vacant left side. Clicks against a linoleum floor had disrupted the short moment of complete silence that the room had received, snagging Allura's attention even more. In her vision, stood Coran Wimbleton Smythe, an excitable royal advisor with a quirky ginger mustache perched under his hooked nose. Coran, even if he was a fire wizard unlike Alfor, was like a second father to the princess. When she was a child, whenever Alfor couldn't care for her due to royal duties, Coran had taken on a parental role.

"King Alfor, may we speak in private?" Coran requested, motioning for Alfor to near him. The king stood and nodded, then he quickly muttered an inaudible phrase. Soon enough, he exited into the hallway, shutting the door behind Coran and himself. Therefore, Allura was left to her own devices, causing boredom to overcome her. As a result, she looked around at the murals on the room's cream-colored walls, which caused her to soon discover a collection of words.

Curious of the words, even if she had read them once before, Allura stood up, and she examined the text. As she read, she muttered each word, almost unable to hear herself. Murmuring words about fire, she closely analyzed the words in front of her. She was not a fire wizard herself, but she did know a few. Then, she went on to reading about water, earth, and air. Those were the four main elements in nature, which wizards were categorized in.

Allura herself was a water wizard, just like her mother; her mother was currently in Atoriel's courthouse, for she was organizing a meeting for the Royal Council of Atoriel, so she could have found a solution to to the spreading of The Darkness. Water wizards were deemed as people who valued friendships and love, as well as fear. They were often unsure of their choices, and validation was something that was needed for them to do what they truly desired. That may have been an explanation as to why Allura had thought that she wasn't responsible enough to take a position on the throne of the queen in the future. With The Darkness spreading, she might have died before that moment.

To her surprise, an excited voice, the one which belonged to Coran, had called out, "Allura! We must speak!" The princess turned away from the wall, seeing the ginger-haired man standing at the doorway. His appearance was quite prominent, for his royal blue suit had greatly contrasted against the light wall he stood near. The man almost always wore noticable clothing, considering he did like attention - as Allura assumed.

Even if the call had shocked her, Allura neared Coran, then she turned to the hall. In front of her, was one soldier, but eight were sent to the site of The Darkness. She was thankful that at least one soldier had returned this time, yet she still felt concern for the other seven. Why had only one soldier returned? Perhaps, the others weren't clever enough for the task at hand.

The soldier, who stood beside Alfor, had removed their helmet, revealing long platinum hair, which had a straight texture. The hair had framed a pale face, which possessed thin lips, a Roman nose, and peculiar periwinkle eyes. Across his left eye, was what looked like a faint scar. Perhaps, he was slashed in that area of this face a long time ago. It couldn't have been that ancient of a scar, though, for the male looked quite young. He was likely in his early twenties, as far as Allura was able to tell.

"Lotor, it is a pleasure to see that you've come back safely," Alfor spoke, placing a mildly shaky hand on the soldier's shoulder. Allura noticed that the soldier, who was apparently named Lotor, had shown a petrified expression, as if he had done something horrid. Allura was empathetic, so reading facial expressions was a skill of hers. However, before she could have said anything, the petrified look soon was swapped for a seemingly confident smirk.

"Princess Allura, your highness, it is a pleasure to formally greet you. My name is Lotor, and I do apologize that we had barely known each other beforehand," the soldier said, taking Allura's hand. He bent down, kissing the part of her hand that was above her knuckle. Then, he let go of the hand, and Allura smiled in response.

"It is quite a pleasure to formally meet you, sir. Say, what has happened to all of the other soldiers on the quest?" Allura mentioned, crossing her arms. In the process, a button on her cloak had come loose, for it was quite old. It had come from her grandmother, who had become deceased from an old age. Even wizards died of natural causes, which was something that Allura learned to accept as soon as The Darkness had destroyed the outskirts of Atoriel.

Before answering Allura's question, the male who was supposedly named Lotor turned to the king and hurriedly spoke, "A lady must not be subjected to a concept that is so gruesome. Alfor, we must speak on terms of the quest. May we have privacy?" Alfor quietly said something in agreement, then he started leading Lotor along to another part of the castle. Now, Allura was left with just Coran, pondering over the situation that had just occured.