-Adora-

After the village has been evacuated, Glimmer and Bow hold back the ever-advancing soldiers while I fend off the larger artillery vehicles.

"Bow, you take the soldiers to the left, Glimmer you take the right," I say, scanning the slowly scorching landscape.

"I'm on it," Bow says, drawing his bow and running off into a cloud of dust.

Glimmer hangs back for a moment, staring at me with an almost concerned look before teleporting away and out of sight.

And now I know why.

Looking far ahead, I see Scorpia and Catra, overseeing the siege itself.

Both of us have frequent nightmares of being trapped in the Fright Zone, of what Shadow Weaver did to us… about Entrapta, about the kidnapping… losing each other. And more often than not, we find ourselves in each other's rooms… and sometimes even beds.

It's no secret that we're both scared silly of the Horde for more than one reason, so going us face to face with them is a lot more daunting now that we're actually ready to fight. But no matter what, we all need to be strong, right now defending the village is the main priority. Plus, Glimmer and Bow can hold their own, both of them a lot tougher than they look and definitely someone you shouldn't mess with… especially when they're angry.

Getting rid of most of the soldiers is easy, and destroying the tanks is a breeze, but I know that the fight is far from over. We may have won The Battle of Bright Moon, there's still a war to be won…and the Horde won't rest until they have stripped all the princesses of their powers and rune stones. And if I know anything about Catra, she won't stop until the revolution is dead and I'm stopped… or vice versa.

And speak of the devil… a familiar purr finds its way to my ears.

"Hey, Adora," Catra says, popping into sight as she perches on the end of a tank's gun, "Fancy meeting you here".

"Catra," I hiss, taking a swing at her only to have her jump away with ease, "This needs to stop! You're hurting innocent people this way, this is low… even for you. I thought you were better than this!".

She chuckles slightly, "Well, then you know nothing about me. Besides, this is my job now… wouldn't want to disappoint Hordak now would I, ya know, being his second in command and all".

I blink, "What?".

Catra chuckles again, stepping closer to me as the fight rages on around us. "You heard me. I got promoted… again. Like I said, you leaving was the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm stronger than ever before now with you out of the picture".

She lifts her hand up and presses it against the side of my face, a single claw tracing down my jawline.

I push her hand away and lunge for her, Catra once again jumping out of the way,

"You know, now that I think about it… you were always the weaker one. I never had anything tying me down… but you, hahaha. You were always the one who cares far too much. Trust me, that with be your downfall".

"I won't let you beat me, Catra. Your word games won't work on me," I say, pulling away and readying my sword to strike.

Catra clicks her tongue and shakes her head. "Adora, Adora, Adora. Hmm, You see, that's where you're wrong, this isn't some word game… it's a distraction, and you're just so gullible, you actually fell for it".

My eyes go wide all of a sudden, fear creeping its way into my heart.

"Where are they?!" I yell, lunging for Catra, managing to pin her against the back of a tank, "Where's Bow and Glimmer!".

"They're alive… for now," she says, struggling against my arms.

"If you hurt them... if you so much as look at them wrong, I'll... I'll,".

"You'll what, Adora?," Catra asks, "Kill me? You'd really kill your best friend?".

I furrow my eyebrows and grit my teeth, punching the metal tank behind her.

She visibly stiffens, ears folding back, "Oh, I get it… we're not best friends anymore, are we?"

"Pft, What do you think?".

Her face falls for a second, "Well… I guess I really did mean nothing to you then, huh? First, you leave me and now you tell me our past meant nothing to you… I thought you were better than that, Adora,".

I blink, "I- I never said that Catra, I still-".

I know what she's doing… trying to get in my head.

But it won't work this time.

"You were my friend, Catra, my best friend… but that was a long time ago. Now things have changed, I've changed. Bright Moon is my home now, and I won't hesitate to fight anyone who threatens it… including you. So I suggest backing down before you regret it," I say, raising my fist again.

"Oooh, I'm so scared. Are you done with your monologue yet? We're kind of on a tight schedule here," Catra says, reaching up once again and pressing a claw against my forehead.

We're?

Wait.

Oh no…

Scorpia.

Call it instinct, but I jump out of the way just in time, Scorpia's tail striking down where I once stood.

Catra jumps back again, standing up next to her accomplice.

"Aww, come on! She was right there, I could have easily hit her!" Scorpia whines, readying to strike again.

"Where's Glimmer and Bow?! I won't ask you again!" I yell, preparing to block another tail attack, "Tell me where they are, right now!".

"Who is she talking about? Oh oh, are you talking about your sparkly friend and the one with the arrows? Is that who she's talking about, Catra?" Scorpia asks.

Catra smacks her hand against her face and groans, "What did I tell you?! I was supposed to lie and said we had her friends, while you use your tail and paralyzed he so we can bring her back to Hordak!".

I blink, watching as the two continue to squabble on their own and take a step back, swirling around when I hear someone calling out my name.

"She-Ra!" Glimmer yells, Bow following not so far behind.

I sigh with relief at the sound of my friend's voices, "There you are, I was worried that they'd got to yo- !? ".

My words get cut off when I realize my mistake, my blood freezing when Glimmer screams.

"Adora, NO!".

This time, I don't have time to react and Scorpia's stinger strikes me dead on in abdomen when I turn around and I half expect it to go right through me. She pulls away, and I see the look on Catra's face is caught somewhere between horrified and pleased.

I feel myself falling backward off the tank we were all standing on, my consciousness slowly slipping away.

Is this what Glimmer felt like?

I hear Bow yell, probably already aiming an arrow at both Scorpia and Catra ready to fire. Glimmer, however, I hear her before I can feel her, the sparkly sound of her teleporting surrounds and engulfs me. I assume we both hit the ground at the same time, Glimmer letting out a pained grunt, most likely having overshot her teleport location.

The sword of protection clashes to the ground beside us as I'm forcibly transformed back into my normal state.

"Adora! Adora! Can you hear me?" Glimmer cries, shaking me in an attempt to keep me away but it's no use.

I can't talk, tell her that I'll be alright, that we'll be alright.

The only sounds I'm able to make are ones of pain and agony. My head throbs as I fight to stay conscious and my chest heaves as I struggle to get any air. I can tell something is wrong… but I can't do anything about it. All I can do is lie there... completely helpless.

"Glimmer, get her out of here, I'll hold them back," Bow says, looking down at us before shooting at Catra again.

"But, Bow!".

"Now, Glimmer!".

She nods, and in a blink of an eye, we're gone.

"Just hold on, Adora… please hold on".

I look at her and smile softly before blacking out.

Adora?

Adora?!

"Adora!."

I open my eyes to see a filmy haze blocking out my sight, a soft voice echoing from somewhere around me.

"Adora? Can you hear me?" The voice says.

I blink a few times and groan, things slowly coming into focus, "W- what?".

"Hmm, you really need to stop passing out on me like that, you really scared me there. How do you feel?".

I blink some more, seeing someone sitting beside me. I can just barely make out the shape of a girl with pink and purple hair.

"Where…?".

"Shh, shh, it's okay. You're safe now, Adora. You're back in Bright Moon".

"B- Bright Moon?".

"Home, Adora," she says, "You're back home, everything's fine now, Bow managed to scare off Catra and Scorpia before they could do any more damage".

My head hurts too much to question anything, so I simply sit up, getting caught halfway when a sharp, stabbing pain shoots through my midsection, "Ahhg!'.

"Easy, easy," the girl says, carefully propping me up on a stiff pad on the floor of a very large room, "You're still hurt, you've been unconscious for a week. I've been worried sick,".

I can't help but move away from her a little, panicking slightly at the lack of knowledge of the situation. Placing a hand to my head, my vision finally comes back to me and I see the pink and purple haired girl staring back at me, "aaugh... my head".

"Adora, are you okay?" she asks.

I swallow hard and rub at my temples, "What? Who… who are you?".

The girl's expression falls, "It's... Glimmer, Adora, you know, your friend?".

I shake my head and move away from her, "What? Who's Adora?".

She gasps, covering her mouth as if in shock. "You… are you serious? Bow… he didn't put you up to this… did he?".

"W- what are you talking about? I don't know who any of those people are!" I exclaim suddenly forcing myself up despite the horrifying pain it creates, "Where am I? What did you do to me?".

"A- Adora, calm down, you're going to hurt yourself more!" the girl exclaims.

"Stop calling me that!" I yell, yelping again as more pain fills my body, and I can feel myself beginning to black out, "Who are you?! S- stay away from me!".

She's crying now, "Adora…".

"I'm not Adora," I mutter, falling to my knees, "I don't… I don't know… who I am,".

The last thing I see before I collapse into darkness is the girl rushing towards me, crying out a name I've never heard before. Whoever this 'Adora' is, I'm not her… but she seems to mean a lot to this… Glimmer girl.

I hope they find her...