Keith woke up in the med bay with some lingering weakness but he was otherwise alright. That was more than could be said for the still unconscious apprentices and other druids. He noticed a bandage on his inner right elbow but remembered that was where he'd been injected by that sedative.

"Any lingering feelings of nausea?" a medic asked. Keith shook his head.

"You may leave, but no training for the day," the medic said. Keith groaned a little before remembering as Lotor, he had to contain that better.

"Don't give me that, you know better."

"Very well," Keith said hopping off the exam bed just as Haggar entered the med bay.

"Your Highness, if you would come with me," Haggar said. Though it was phrased as a request, Keith knew an order when he heard one. He followed her to the lab and the insides were mostly intact with some quintessence burns here and there, from the faintly yellow sparks here and there. Droids exited carrying large containers of broken metal and gas.

"Your activated druid potential is both an asset and a weakness as you experienced first hand yesterday," Haggar said, "Without training to block out quintessence, this could prove a fatal weakness for you."

"Training?" Keith said.

"Yes. Miria will help you, since you seem to have built a rapport with her," Haggar said. Keith nodded.

"If that is all?" Keith said.

"One more thing, Your Highness," Haggar said, "This training requires absolute trust in Miria."

"Understood," Keith said with a nod. Quiznak. He needed a way out before the apprentice druid could realize he was playing at being just his Lotor self, which really wasn't too different than his Keith self give or take a childhood of extreme discipline.

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Yellow eyes snapped open inside a dark cell, partly blocked by thick white hair. Well, this was quaint, but it wouldn't be long until that upstart, treacherous chaltza arrived with that Usurper. She could feel the vile presences of them both along with other strange twisted forms. Monsters. So little Haggar was making monsters and—oh? What was that? That quintessence would be fun to mutilate. So full of black fire and it seemed to be linked to something familiar, a lot like how Zarkon's was—Paladin! So, they had a strange little paladin aboard. He must have stolen the warrior since Alfor had wisely taken the traitor's Lion from that Usurper just after he'd taken over Drule, and even Zarkon's precious little brother, Zoroaster, had sided against him. Her cell door slammed open and in walked her ex-best friend, Haggar.

"What is being the lapdog to a madman like?" the former Princess Merla said with a cruel grin.

"You think your words can hurt me, deposed one?" Haggar sneered. Merla rolled her eyes,

"We both know I'm the more powerful druid, or rather the more talented one," Merla said.

"How did you know—."

"That spell? Your druids weren't all loyal to you, at first. I learned your magic, and now you'll never be rid of me, but I thank you for the Galran body, this time. My last body was a pathetic species and almost powerless," Merla said with with a gesture at her form, "Did you succeed in bringing that brat back from the dead?" Hangar's glare made Merla's malicious grin grow,

"So you did! I wonder how many vessels he lived through with those curses you placed on his soul."

"I did no such thing to Prince Lotor!"

"Really? Are you certain? Anchoring a soul to this plane for all eternity is not a curse?" Merla said, "Keeping him from ever entering the afterlife, to be eternally reborn is not a curse?" Haggar's glower made Merla laugh. Haggar growled at her.

"Silence!"

"NO. You messed up and not even I could unpick those spells from his essence because after a while those spells meld with your quintessence, like they did with mine," Merla said in between boughts of laughter.

"Silence!" Haggar zapped Merla, which only caused her laughs to increase in-between screams. Haggar stormed out of the cell. Merla kept chuckling as she held her hands apart. Oh Haggar had given her just what she needed.

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Keith was in the training room working off his frustrations at his lack of a plan for getting back to Voltron. As Lotor, he was far too "valuable" to be taken too far from Zarkon's side, as the only stint in the modern era had proven. Ugh, why couldn't he have remembered during that trip. He could have gotten away cleanly. There was also the fact that, as Lotor, he still loved his-he still loved Zarkon. As Keith, the idea seemed ludicrous, but to Lotor, that was still his father. Keith blocked a hit from the droid and kicked it away.

"End simulation." He stared down a purple hand and clenched it. This body was a copy of Lotor's, of his first life's body, and that meant that by blood Zarkon was his father once more. Keith, the orphaned Keith, had a need to hold onto any family as tightly as possible, and that was also making this hard. If he left, he would be leaving family, but that family was a would-be universal tyrant, and already a galactic tyrant and genocidal maniac. He grabbed a water pouch a droid had left him and drank it to appear like everything was normal with "Lotor" but it was also frustrating to know he had seen and spoken to Samuel Holt and had been in no position to rescue him and no frame of mind to think to rescue him. He crushed the pouch when thinking of how that Druid had messed with his head. He tossed the empty pouch aside before he turned to resume his training whenever the power flickered. Alarms blared as a soldier rushed into the room.

"Your Highness!" He tossed Keith a bundle that, when unraveled revealed it was a space suit, sort of like how the Paladin armor was. Keith pulled it on over his current body suit, along with the boots and quickly coiled up his long hair so he could pull on the helmet, which sealed.

"Life support systems are failing, please report with me to sa—." The Guard had a blade plunged through his chest to Ketih's horror. The Galra who, now pointed the blade at him, was no one Keith had seen yet, but it was a big Core Ship.

"Come with me," he growled. Keith narrowed his eyes. Another flicker and the lights were out, not that it really mattered to Galra, or half-Galra as it were. Keith tried to break free but found himself pinned by the superior power of the adult Galra, and felt the Galra exposing some of his skin before injecting him with something.

That was the second time! It was old the first time. Keith's limbs refused to respond as the Galra tossed him over his shoulder while everyone aboard seemed to be running about in a panic. Too weak to even moan, Keith was also shocked a Galra was doing this. Zarkon would kill this guy for this, and he was both disgusted and slightly, not proud, but happy with that knowledge. He was tossed into a small shuttle craft while the Galra prepped for take off.

"Where are you going?"

"Patrol." His captor lied.

"At this time?"

"I was already scheduled for it, Sir, and I cannot delay my responsibilities even during a ship crisis," the Galra said. Keith had no idea if the guy was going to go for it but he was getting feeling back in his hands and could twitch his fingers.

"Proceed, but keep in contact." Just as Keith could sit up, the shuttle was moving out of the Core Ship.

"Where are you taking me?" Keith said.

"Some place safe," the Galra said, "Someplace where you won't be made to think you're a dead man."

"You think I'm just some copy?" Keith said flatly.

"Haggar's powers are formidable, but bringing back the dead seems to be a stretch." Keith rolled his eyes, but here was his way out, handed to him on a silver platter.

"Then take me to Voltron," Keith said.

"What?"

"I need to get to them," Keith said.

"Why would I endanger them with a lunatic clone who thinks he's Prince Lotor?"

"I'm not a lunatic!" Keith snarled.

"Do you, or do you not think you're Lotor?" the Galra looked back at Keith and he glared.

"My name is Keith," he said after a few moments of a glaring contest.

"Alright "Keith" why would Voltron want to have anything to do with you?"

"I'm the Red Paladin," Keith said.

"And I'm Emperor Zarkon," the Galra said. Keith growled at him and let a punch fly close to the Galra's head,

"I am the Red Paladin," Keith said through gritted teeth.

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They flew in terse silence for what seemed like forever, but Keith knew it had to have only been a few hours. The Galra traitor had made severally transmissions in the meantime to others. He caught the name "Thace" a few times as this Galra seemed to be reporting to this other Galra, whose name was Thace. They arrived at some sort of hidden base and the traitor pointed a blaster at Keith this time. Keith glared but walked out under the threat of the gun.

"Why are you pointing a gun at this cub?" It was a female Galra. She reminded Keith of Sendak, same sort of ears and thick fur but she was nearly black from how dark her violet fur was.

"He's one of Haggar's sick experiments, Jiira."

"Korox, lower the gun." It was another Galra. This one was more like Haxus, but he seemed older, and his fur was fluffier as it swept up into the hair/ear spikes and were more vertical than Haxus's had been. He was also a lighter purple over all and short for a Galra.

"Of course, Thace." Keith removed his helmet and the Galra around him all gave him odd looks.

"I see what you meant by him being one of Haggar's experiments," Jiira said invading Keith's personal space.

"He claims he's the Red Paladin," Korox said.

"I am the Red Paladin," Keith snapped.

"The same insane paladin who took on Zarkon?" Thace said.

"Not one of my better moments," Keith said, "But I'd do it again to keep him from reclaiming the Black Lion.

"How do you exist? Most surviving Alteans stay as far from Galra as possible and avoid mixing with other species when possible, and then there is the fact your look just like Prince Lotor," Jiira said, "And they were proclaiming you as such."

"Druid magic can do some twisted things to people's souls," Keith said.

"Of course she did," Thace seemed disgusted, "It's how she makes those robeasts of hers."

"What?" Korox said.

"That body isn't the one you were born with, is it?" Jiira said. Keith shook his head. This wasn't a lie for either life, since his original body as Lotor was gone and he'd had his soul ripped from his human body. Korox looked extremely confused.

"The body is a clone, but the quintessence isn't," Thace said. Korox seemed to get it.

"Ah! So he's not some crazy clone after all!"

"But Zarkon seems to think he's actually Lotor reborn, which means the Red Paladin is a great actor, or Zarkon's memories of the real prince have faded over the centuries," Jiira said, "Which means, he's going to react as if this really is his son."

"I need to find Voltron," Keith said.

"We'll do our best to help. The universe needs your team to be whole to fight Zarkon," Thace said.

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"Status report?"

"The monstrous one got away," Haggar growled, "And no one can locate Prince Lotor, but there is evidence of foul play in the training room; a guard was stabbed from behind and Lotor left his weapon behind."

"Find him."

"Of course."

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Keith had shifted to a more Altean form after getting sick of some of the stares coming from the others in the Galra resistance base. It was a slightly underwhelming sight but, it was likely just one cell of many. He hoped.

"We've heard reports of Voltron in other sectors, and if other agents find them, they'll try to get us coordinates to get a wormhole open. Keith nodded. Thace just stared at Keith for a while making to the point of Keith feeling uncomfortable.

"Your way of speaking Galran is odd. More like Haggar or Zarkon's style of speech than any modern Galra," Thace said. Keith didn't reply. Because he'd learned it when Zarkon had. Hell, he'd learned it from Zarkon as Lotor.

"Thace! We've got a Castle sighting!" Korox said running over to Thace and staring at Keith oddly. "When did we get an Altean on board?" Keith rolled his eyes and shifted back to base-form causing Korox's eyes to widen.

"You can fly a shuttle?" Keith nodded.

"Very well, we'll give you one of the ones we can spare," Thace said.

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The Castle of Lions had been somber since Keith's…passing for lack of a better word. Shiro had insisted on cremation of the body and scattering the ashes in space.

"Are we going to have to find a new Paladin?" Lance said.

"Maybe not. If they've already….rehomed Keith's quintessence, we may need to just find whatever body he's in," Pidge said, "Which might be impossible since the guy they were trying to bring back is Zarkon's son."

"There's a shuttle craft hailing us!" Coran said over the speaker system. The others, and Matt exchanged looks and ran to the control room to join Coran and the screen was dark fuzz until Coran pressed a button. The face was purple, the hair white and longer, but the shape and eyes were pretty much the same.

"Keith!" Shiro said. Keith smiled back at them.

"Shiro. Everyone."

"How did you—."

"Long story," Keith said shaking his head, "Can I dock?"

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Keith barely took two steps out of the shuttle before being tackled by Hunk, Lance, and Pidge in a hug. Shiro joined a few moments later and two more sets of added pressure let Keith know Allura and Coran had joined them.

"What took you so long?" Shiro asked once everyone gave Keith a chance to breath.

"I didn't remember being "Keith" until about a day and a half ago," Keith said. Everyone fell silent.

"What did I say?"

"Your…other body, died that day," Allura said.

"Oh. That makes sense, I guess," Keith said, "What did you, uh, do with—."

"Cremated it, spread the ashes in space," Shiro said. Keith rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So you woke up purple and thought you were your purple self?" Lance said.

"No, I was me—Keith me—, at first. Haggar then made me forget "Keith" and only remember "Lotor.""

"How did you get away from Zarkon?" Pidge asked.

"I was kidnapped by a rebel Galra who thought I was just some clone of my past life made to think I was my past life," Keith said, "Though, he's not completely wrong."

"Cloned body?" Hunk said. Keith nodded.

"Now you're younger than me," Allura said with a smirk and Keith flushed a little.

"So, as Lotor, he was older?" Shiro said.

"By four years," Keith said.

"Have any good kid Allura stories?" Lance asked.

"I've already died twice," Keith said, "I'm not shooting for three times." The statement was delivered so seriously that everyone was silent for a moment or two before breaking out into laughter.

"The purple is going to take some getting used to," Pidge admitted. Matt nodded next to her,

"And I didn't even get to know your non-purple self all that well," he said. Keith shifted to his more Altean form and there was more silence.

"Now you just look like you, but Altean," Hunk said. Keith shrugged.

"Why can he change his hair color but you can't?" Lance asked looking between Allura and Keith.

"I'm actually half-Altean," Keith said, "I already have these genes so, shifting to an Altean form is a more complete shift than if I tried to shift into a human form at this point." Keith then remembered,

"Pidge, Matt, I saw your father."

"How was he? Where is he?"

"He was alright, but they transferred him off the Core Ship and I couldn't find him again," Keith said, "And when I was able to see him, I didn't remember being "Keith.""

"But he was ok?" Matt said. Keith nodded.

"We'll find him," Pidge said. Matt placed a hand on Pidge's shoulder and squeezed.

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Keith couldn't sleep. He sat awake in his room and it seemed as if nothing had really changed. His clothes were still strewn about the room from when he quickly changed into his armor, and his dagger had been placed in the room with the armor. He knew the symbol. It was for his-Lotor's. No. His house. Zarkon's house. That memory from the day he lost his parents as Keith, that woman had spoken Galran. Druid. She had to have been. Yet, the dagger still brought him a small measure of comfort, like it always had. He set it aside and grabbed his red jacket. He pulled it on and was surprised it still fit him. He looked at his only other Earth clothes and shook his head. There was no way those were fitting. He pulled off the jacket and winced when some of his hair was briefly snagged on parts of it. The hair. He grabbed a fist full of the white strands and held them in front of his face. He dropped them before he picked up his dagger again and unsheathed the blade. Keith gathered most of his hair into a bunch at his neck with one hand and held the blade of his dagger against it. One slice and it would be gone.

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"Look at you!" Mother smiled down at him, her long black hair framing her face. He looked into the mirror to admire his reflection. In his uniform and with his hair long like hers, he looked just like her. He closed his eyes and opened them and smiled at her reaction. Now he really looked just like her!

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Keith lowered the dagger and sighed. He couldn't do it. He focused and in his Altean form, he sheathed the dagger again and sat on his bed. His human mother, Su-jin, had liked his hair long too. The mullet he'd worn had been a compromise hair style between her and his human father Akira. His Altean mother, Kiara liked it long too. Zar—well, He hadn't cared how Lotor's hair had looked after Kiara died. Keith flopped down in a frustrated huff. His identity crisis was very poorly timed. They had to save to universe from his—from Zarkon. His current body's, and past life's, biological father. He needed to hit something.

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Keith faced off against the gladiator drone and was pushing it, and himself, past his usual limits. It felt nice to have his bayard back in his hands. He could hear the training room's doors opening.

"End program." He stood in a relaxed stance panting as the footsteps drew closer.

"You still have to beat things up to relax?" Keith looked over at Shiro with a weary nod. It was slightly disconcerting to be nearly at eye level with him.

"I always have," Keith said.

"So even as Lotor, you needed to beat stuff up to deal with emotions?" Shiro said.

"Especially as Lotor. But, Galra expect that so it wasn't seen as too odd." Keith walked over to the side and sat down.

"You know, it's ok to feel conflicted about fighting him." Keith looked up at Shiro confused for a few moments before looking away.

"I hate him. I hate him for forcing me to live like this. I hate him for what he's doing to…well, everything. I hate him for being indirectly responsible for the end of my life as Keith, and for what was done to you," Keith said.

"But, part of you still loves him."

"He's still this-my…." Keith trailed off.

"He's still your father."

"Resist the power of the Dark Side, you must!" Lance had arrived.

"Lance, now is really not the time," Shiro said. A burst of laughter made them both jump and it was Keith laughing hysterically.

"Are you ok?" Lance asked. Keith waved off their concern as he kept laughing.

"Maybe he was laughing at how bad your Yoda was," Pidge said making Lance jump and let out a high pitched yelp with her appearance. Hunk, who just arrived, looked at the scene and shrugged. Keith stopped laughing.

"Call me "Luke" and you're dead."

"But you're totally him. Your Dad's a total evil psychopath who was probably good a long, long, long time ago and we have to deal with quintessence which is sort of like the force!" Lance said.

"And those druids can throw lighting. We're totally calling that Sith Lightning from now on," Pidge said.

"And there might still be some good in him." everyone looked at Hunk. "I said "might" maybe a mirco-smidge."

"Thanks," Keith said with a smile.

"I hope you guys know this won't get you out of our training session later this morning," Shiro said. The other three's eyes widened before they all rushed off saying "Goodnight!" Shiro stood up and offered Keith a hand.

"You know, you're the one who's going to have to figure out how to tell Mom about all this," Shiro said. Keith groaned.

"Ryou is going to be worse than Lance about the Star Wars jokes with both of us." Shiro shook his head.

"See you in a couple hours for training," Shiro said. Keith nodded and despite his conflicting thoughts and memories, it felt like things were settling for him. For now.

MP: Thanks to everyone for reading this from beginning to end. I do intend to write a sequel eventually, but for now this is where I leave you.

Have a Happy New Year!