"Wait... I remember hearing about that." Olly said, lifting his smart glasses out of his face and looking at all of us seriously.

"You've heard of them?" Jason asked.

"Yeah... but it was just a story my uncle told me..."

"You're not the only one." I said, looking at my feet.

"You've heard it too?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, from this gi... this friend of mine." I said, thinking back to one of the first times I actually had a conversation with probably one of my best friends in the entire universe.

I threw my helmet onto the ground, frustrated that I failed a simulation. Annabeth Chase walked over to me, taking off her helmet and revealing her blonde, curly hair that was quickly falling out of its ponytail. "Percy... are you okay?"

"No. I failed another simulation!" I complained.

"I fail them occasionally too Percy. It's not that big of a deal."

"Well, to me it is. My family is counting on me to make it big here and get a lot of money to provide for them, but I can't do that if I keep failing and you keep besting me at everything!"

Annabeth walked over to me and grabbed my hand, holding it tightly. "Okay, I am going to tell you a story, and you better not tell anyone about it."

"Uh... Do I have a choice on whether or not I get to listen to it?"

"Absolutely not. So... I've never had the best relationship with my father." Annabeth started, looking down at her feet. "My mother died when I was young, so my aunt and uncle basically took me in when my father started neglecting me. I guess that's why I'm jealous of you."

I was confused. "You're jealous of me?"

"Kinda embarrassing to admit, but yeah. Your relationship with your step father is everything I wish I had with my father. He doesn't think I'm capable of doing much because I was born a girl, so I guess the only reason I'm here is to prove a point..."

"Well, if it means anything, I'm jealous of you too."

"You are?"

"Yeah. I mean... you're probably the smartest person in our division. I would kill to be as smart as you. It feels like you don't even have to prove that you're smart or anything. You just... are."

"That's the problem though. I always have to prove myself, or at least I feel like I do." Annabeth smiled at me weakly as she kept talking. "Well, when I was twelve years old, I got second place in my school's science fair. I was only beaten a kid who was in eighth grade."

"Seriously!? That's awesome! Your dad was proud of you, right?"

"You'd think, but he told me to try harder. Forget that I got first place for my grade and second over all, he didn't care. I was so angry that when I got back home with my aunt and uncle, I locked myself in my room for a couple hours. At dinner, my uncle brought me up food to cheer me up because they were proud of me. But... to me, that didn't matter. I just wanted my father's approval. So, my uncle told me this story about nine defenders of the galaxy called the Paladins of Voltron. They were these common people who were freaking amazing, they defended the universe with the help of their lions, and they protected different planets. The leader was the most underappreciated person on the team, but after a while, people realized how he could use his different gifts to save everything. That even though you fail at first, someone will notice and be happy that you accomplished something rather than be put down by it." Annabeth smiled at me, then quickly looked down at her feet. "I guess we're both dealing with heavy expectations, huh?"

"I guess we are..." I said, smiling nervously back at her. We were silent for a minute, then I took a deep breath. "Hey, I know that we barely know each other and such, but do you want to try being friends? I see you sitting by yourself at lunch a lot, so even though Grover and I aren't the best company, I thought you might want a friend. I've actually been meaning to ask you for a while..."

"Sure. I have a spot or two open." Annabeth said, laughing nervously as she stuck out her hand. "Friends?"

I put my hand in hers and we shook. "Friends."

"So... do you two remember anything about that story?" Reyna asked.

"All I know is that there are nine Paladins and that they defend the galaxy with the lions." I shrugged, smiling at the memory of Annabeth. I glanced over at Olly. "You got anything?"

"That's the extent of what I've heard too..." Olly admitted sadly. "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Jason asked.

"Maybe if we find the other lions, we can stop the Galra."

"What makes you think that?" Reyna asked.

"Well, the Paladins of Voltron are the defenders of the universe." Olly said, the wheels of his mind seemed like they were visibly turning before me. "Maybe the reason we're finding them now is to defend the universe from the Galra."

"Last I checked, there are only eight of us here." Nico said bluntly.

"The ninth might still be out there." Olly said confidentially. "Just trust me on this one guys."

Leo paused for a moment, then looked at the rest of us. "Okay, Orange is saying that we need to go: now!"

"You're flying this thing!" Frank said, pushing Leo into the pilot's seat. "Obviously, it wants you to fly him, so just do it!"

"Are we-" Olly started saying, but I quickly interrupted him.

"Absolutely not!" I said, looking at Leo as we all ran into the cockpit. "Leo, fly this damn lion out of here!"

Leo nodded as he put his hands on the controls and the entire station glowed bright orange. Then, the lion roared, it's eyes glowing yellow, as it broke through the solid rock that was keeping it hidden as soldiers from the Garrison bursted from the cave slide, all falling on top of another.

As we burst out of the cave, it was like the lion was as chaotic as how I thought Leo's personality was: extremely chaotic as it was doing flips and corkscrews in the air, lightly grazing the sand beneath us.

"You... are the WORST... pilot... EVER!" Nico yelled as our entire group fell down, his voice sounding like it went into puberty as he fell. Based on the looks from Olly, Frank, Hazel, and Reyna, they all looked like they agreed.

"Shut up di Angelo! You and I are in the same crew in fact, half of us here are in the same crew!"

"Don't remind me..." Olly groaned quietly. I snorted at his comment.

"Hey Leo... where are we going?" Frank asked, suddenly concerned.

"Why are you asking me?" Leo responded, making me exchange worried glances at Olly and Jason.

"Maybe because you are the one flying this thing!?" Frank responded, struggling to stand up as Olly, Jason, and I started army crawling to Leo's chair so we would have something to help us stand up.

"I would stay down there if I was you." Leo said, noticing our approach.

"Why?" Jason asked.

"Orange is telling me to fly up to space."

"Leo, we don't have clearance for that!" Olly said.

"I'm doing it!" Leo protested. "You're the one who said that we should try to find the other eight lions. What if this is how we do it? Do you really want all of that to go down the drain Olly?"

"We seriously aren't going to listen to that story, are we?" Reyna asked. "I mean, it's just a children's story... is it?"

"Well, if it is, we're in a bad fanfiction about the story." Nico said sarcastically.

Jason looked at me and Olly, almost like he was expecting us to make the decision.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" Olly asked.

"You two are the closest thing we have to experts on this." Jason said, locking his eyes on the both of us for a couple seconds each. "If you two say we should go, they'll listen to you."

Olly looked over at me. "What should we do?"

I paused, thinking of what had happened the past year. I had been kidnapped by an alien race, crash landed on Earth, and then asked to go on a wild goose chase to find lions to fight the aliens that kidnapped me. If we stayed, I could see my family again. Granted, they probably think I'm dead by now so they probably think I would be a sick joke, but I'd see them, and they'd see me, so that's all that really matters. I could find Grover and tell him about everything I saw up in space, from the different types of plants to how many different stars and nebulas I've seen. I could see Annabeth and, despite the arguement we had the day before I left, we could slowly start building our relationship back up to where it was until, maybe, just maybe, it becomes something a little more.

But if we stay, that puts the the rest of the planet, not to mention the galaxy in danger. Commander Chase and Magnus would be lost forever. The Galra would capture and enslave everything. It wouldn't have even mattered if we stayed or left if we give up now.

Olly looked at me, his jaw set and determination setting a fire in his eyes. We were on the same page. We nodded at each other as Olly scooted over to Leo where he could see him. "Leo, get us off of the planet."

"Olly, you're the one who said-"

"Just do it Leo!" I said forcefully. "Keep in mind, Jason and I, technically speaking, outrank everyone on board since we've been on more space missions. What we says goes. Leo, listen to Olly and get this damn lion into space now!"

"Y-Yes sir!" Leo said quickly, flying the lion out of the atmosphere. Once there, everyone slowly stood up. Olly wandered over to a window far away from everyone else.

"Maybe you should go over there." Reyna suggested as she walked up behind me.

"What makes you say that?"

"I think that out of everyone here, he'll listen to you. He seems to respect you the most out of everyone, including Jason. That situation... the tension got really high. Nico was telling me that Olly isn't usually so forceful when it comes to situations like this. He's worried about him. Just... try, okay?"

"Okay." I said, sighing as I looked at the stars below. Annabeth would really enjoy this.

"First time being a leader?" Reyna asked politely.

"And last, probably." I said, glancing over at Olly. "Jason seems to think that people will be more willing to listen to both me and Olly if we work together."

"I mean... it's not too farfetched..." Reyna said, smiling to herself. "Who knows, maybe you two were destined to be together or something."

"I thought that about a girl down on Earth." I said, not even daring to say Annabeth's name. "She's thoughtful, kind, a smart ass-"

"Pretty?"

"Absolutely gorgeous!" I said as Reyna laughed a little. Then, I quieted down so Olly wouldn't hear me. "But... and this is going to sound completely crazy, when I look at Olly, I see her. She's been on my mind for the past year, being one of the few things I held onto for hope when I was captured, and Olly is just a small reminder that she's so far out of my reach. How do you deal with that? How do you get your mind off of someone you've fallen head over heels in love with?"

"She must be something real special, huh?" Reyna asked, looking over at Olly as if she knew everything that was going on.

"She is."

"Well, and this is what I did with Jason, you keep them in your mind and hope that they'll come back soon." Reyna pulled out a small locket and opened it, revealing a picture of her, Jason, and Nico when they first entered Garrison, bright eyed and hopeful, unaware of the trouble that would soon come to them. "When I ran away from Garrison, this was my reminder for who I was running away for. I ran away so Nico would have a fighting chance and so I could investigate what really happened to you guys. Hazel doesn't really know this, but I have another partner. Smart girl. Her name's Annabeth."

"Annabeth? Annabeth Chase?" I asked, feeling my eyes grow wide.

"That'd be her. Is she...?"

"Yeah. That's her."

"Wow... she doesn't seem like your type, but okay..."

"Do you know where she is? How is she? Did she start dating someone?"

Reyna pursed her lips as if thinking about how to answer my question, her eyes darting behind me. "Let's just say that Annabeth is closer than you think, Percy. And yes, she's doing fine. It was actually her idea to investigate into what happened. And no, she didn't start dating anyone, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Thanks Reyna. Seriously." I smiled as I started walking over to Olly.

"You're welcome." Reyna said as she walked over to Jason, hugging him again for the tenth time today as they started making small talk about how the past year has been. Nico was talking in hushed tones to Hazel, who looked like she was slowly warming up to Nico being back in her life. Frank was keeping Leo company at the helm, pointing out different stars that he found interesting.

"Hey." I said awkwardly, Olly turning to look at me. "Pretty view, huh?"

"Yeah." Olly said, staring at the different planets that zoomed by. Once he saw one planet coming into the horizon, he froze. "Percy, is that what I think it is?"

I recognized the purple hue of the planet, blue and gray clouds in the stratosphere making it seem smoother than it actually was underneath, and I wished I didn't. "That's Kerberos alright. But... Kerberos is on the outer edge of the galaxy. It takes at least a month to get out here! We've only been in this lion for about five, maybe ten minutes, but ten minutes is stretching it."

Olly powered on his glasses and looked over at Leo's dashboard, his eyes narrowing at it. "This isn't a normal ship..."

"Well, no duh Olly." I said sarcastically. "Normally, ships are shaped like birds, not lions."

"But seriously... not only are the controls in a foreign alien language, but the speed is off the charts!"

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"I'm basing it off of the normal speedometer for a ship on Earth. It's double the speed! Maybe even quadruple!"

"That's fast." I said simply.

"Well, it is!" Olly was getting excited again, reminding me of Annabeth whenever she talked about becoming an architect and building monuments to "withstand the tests of time" as she always put it. The thought made me smile. "Imagine if our ships had this speed capability! We'd be able to fly missions like Kerberos in... two months, including the stay time to collect the data! If we had this technology, life would be so easy!"

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure out a way to bring this tech back to Earth."

"Hey guys..." Jason said, beckoning us forward. "You might want to take a look at this..."

Olly and I walked over to where Jason and Reyna were standing as we looked out their window. A giant purple and blue ornately decorated circle appeared in front of the lion.

"Uh... what is that?" Leo asked.

"Wormhole. Or a teleporter. One of the two." Olly said nonchalantly as he kept staring at the thing in front of us.

"Can't you be more specific?" Hazel asked.

"What's the fun in that?" Olly said, focusing on the thing. "Leo, is the lion saying anything?"

"No. It's been talking to me and Frank the entire time, but now it's become silent. What should we do?"

Olly looked at me and started hesitating, quickly getting into a whisper conversation with me. "Do you...?"

"Nope."

"What should we-"

"Go in?"

"Are you insane!? We don't-"

"I know, I know, but I have this gut feeling. Do you trust me?"

Olly nodded as I walked over to Leo. "Enter."

"You two sure about this?" Leo asked hesitantly.

"Just go in." Olly said, avoiding the anwser.

"Okay..." Leo said, moving the controls. Confused, he quickly tried to move them back. "Uh... the lion is moving forward on it's own. It's not listening to me anymore..."

"We have to trust it." Olly said confidentially. "Let it do it's thing."

"Okay." Leo said, taking his hands off the controls as the lion quickly sped off into the circle, forcing us into the great unknown.