Burning Bright Eyes

Ten

        It wasn't long before all the animalesque ships were brought into the Central Command System. A pair of Galra soldiers came up to greet Lance, Pidge, and Hunk, who recognized the soldiers from something that must've happened before.

        "We ended up making friends with these two while we had the 'fun sentry' around," Pidge explained to Ezor and Acxa. "I managed to finetune the program that was used to reprogram it, so it should be a lot more stable this time around."

        "You managed to reprogram a sentry to have fun?" Ezor asked. "That sounds awesome! Let's give it a shot! And while we're at it..." She glanced in the direction of Ayiko and Lotor while they weren't looking.

        "I'm all for it," Pidge grinned. "Come on, Acxa. Time to watch the master on a free day."

        "Wonder what they're all up to," Zethrid remarked as they all headed off.

        "Probably something similar to what they did last time," Allura deadpanned. "As long as they don't cause any trouble for the soldiers -- or launch another Robeast coffin -- I won't have a reason to scold them later."

        Lotor had a look of stifling a laugh, further confusing Krolia and the Galra hybrids.

        "O...kay," Keith said slowly. "Uh, is there a training deck somewhere on this thing? If you don't mind..." he trailed off as Krolia nodded in agreement.

        "Of course. Zethrid can bring you there," Lotor replied. "In the meantime, -- Ayiko, Allura -- we have much to discuss concerning the Druids."

        "Nice!" Zethrid exclaimed with a toothy grin. "I'm all for a good sparring match."

~~~~~~~~~

        Ayiko walked cautiously into the Druids' labs. She found herself being carried by their magic, helpless to fight back or use her tendrils. The familiar sensation of being near large quantities of Quintessence and Decessence sent her head reeling. Voices screamed in pain all around her, and it wasn't long before her own voice pierced the twisted chorus. The sight of the metallic wedges on her gray, bloodstained wrists...

        A pair of careful hands were gently laid on her arms. "Ayiko, it's alright."

        The flood of memories vanished as Lotor came into focus in front of her, his expression worried. Allura was standing above them, also looking worried, and even scared. She realized she was kneeling on the floor, her hands pressed against her head. Not only that, but Lotor was kneeling on the floor in front of her, holding her in his arms.

        "I knew you've been here before, but I never knew it was this horrible for you," Lotor said softly. "Would you rather have Allura and me look through the labs alone?"

        Ayiko shook her head before the two stood up. "No. It was only a bad memory. I can manage. Besides, I sense something in this place you can't; something from Mierome."

        Allura's eyes widened. "How can you sense something we cannot?"

        Ayiko didn't answer, walking down one of the halls. She ignored the screams in her memory and the buzzing in her head. When she stopped, it was in front of a long hall, filled with various different containers. Most of them were filled with swirling, dark blue liquid, each with glowing purple veins within. Others had samples of glowing soil. The remaining ones held various different reptiles. About half of them were actually from Mierome, while the others were of similar species.

        "By all the galaxies..." breathed Lotor as he and Allura caught up to the speedy Miero hybrid. "How did we miss all this?"

        "Their energy is undetectable to most species," Ayiko answered. "The reason they're all reptiles is most likely because reptiles have the highest energy signatures."