Hey, I'm back with a new chapter! We're finally going to see what happened to Weaver!
Let's go!
Chapter 17 – At the Roots of Evil
She had never felt so humiliated before. Anger had always been a part of her, but not like that. And certainly, not directed at herself.
She had messed up everything. Not only did she screwed things up with Adora, now she also had to deal with that bullshit of not knowing what to do with herself.
What was scarier? Hordak killing her because she had failed or realizing that she actually had feelings like the filthy humans she despised so much? At this point, she didn't really know.
After the blonde had found her in the bathroom, she had to lie and say she ate something that upset her stomach and asked her if they could change their date for a different day, to which the girl answered with genuine concern for her and agreed to it. She felt so humiliated by her own actions that, once she got home, she couldn't help but yell into a pillow and then proceeded to hit it until her arms couldn't move anymore.
She tried to think about herself again, what she wanted and who she really was, but stopped when she realized that she was about to die so, there was no reason to do that. It was impossible for Hordak to believe whatever stupid lie she could come up with. And so, she resigned herself to wait for her death as she drank a whole bottle of rum and ate some chips in the living room. Her last bit of happiness before the impending doom.
Soon enough, the morning after her debacle, a black hole opened in front of her and a figure she knew well came out of it.
"I hope that, whatever you're ingesting is because you're celebrating and not because you failed." He spoke without showing any emotion on his voice, waiting for her to answer. He could read her so well, but it was not really a surprise; he created her, after all.
"I'm celebrating." She answered in a bitter but playful tone. She was going to die, so she decided to feed the devil a few lies before she did. "In a way…" Okay, maybe alcohol was giving her a little bit of bravery, but her subconscious was still there, afraid of the one in front of her.
"Explain." He took a seat beside her, looking at her without his expression changing, still neutral.
"I didn't get the girl. Catra already has her under her spell. Making her fall for me was impossible from the start. Without a fight, it will be impossible to take Ador… the girl from her." The devil beside her frowned and she couldn't help but gulp in fear. Even if she had accepted her death, it didn't mean that she was not afraid of it.
"I was very clear about what would happen to you if you failed, but you're telling me this as if it was nothing." He stood up and got closer to her, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her in the air. "Is it because you want to die or is there another reason behind it? Did you, by chance, get any information that could help your cause? Speak!" He threw her to the little couch she had been seating before. It hurt, not only physically, but emotionally too, an aspect that had never been important to her.
"I know that the angel Bow is already working with Catra, which would mean that Angela is too, even if she's a fallen angel." The devil arched a brow and kept looking at her as if telling her to keep going. "That's all I know…" She spoke almost in a whisper, afraid of the presence in front of her.
"You painted a piece of shit golden and tried to mask it as the most valuable object in the world. I never thought you were that stupid." She saw his hand coming at her face and closed her eyes in fear, knowing what was coming. "But you know…" Surprise filled her head as she felt his hand caressing her cheek. "You can still be useful." She opened her eyes and looked at him in fear. He had a grin on his face, the creepiest she had seen in a while. "If what I know is right, you might be just as powerful as that angel, which means that you can make things a little easier for me." He stopped caressing her cheek and started walking towards the still opened black hole. "Wait for my orders and know that I'm only letting this failure pass by since it's the first time you fail. I won't do it again." He entered the hole and it closed behind him.
A breath she didn't know she had been holding suddenly came out, followed by many others in rapid succession. Panic rising again from toe to head. Shivers of fear running through all of her body. Tears filling her eyes and falling down her cheeks.
She was going to live, but not really. The right thing to say would be: she was going to exist, a thing that didn't bring her happiness nor relief, but grief and desperation, because now she had to face her feelings again and she was sure that not even god would know where that could take her.
When she woke up, Adora was nowhere to be found. She knew the blonde had to go to work, but she couldn't help but think that the bed felt cold without her. Or maybe it was because of her nakedness. Anyhow, she already missed the human by her side, a thought that made her blush and grateful that no one else could hear what went through her mind.
Moving her arm slowly towards the nightstand she tried to get her phone, only to stop once she remembered where she was and that the phone wouldn't be there. She growled and sat on the bed, starting to think that it would be nice to go pick up Adora at work, only for her to remember that now the blonde is taking the car and she would have to take the bike, making them unable to come back together or find another way to get there that didn't involve her just teleporting since she could be seen by other humans. Also, teleporting for devils was a really tiring task. A pain in the ass that, somehow, she couldn't fully discard from her mind.
"Catra, dear, you're going to catch a cold or something." She jumped in her spot when she heard the voice coming from right beside her. And old lady's voice she knew well and hated a lot.
"Goddammit Razz!" Snapping her fingers, clothes covered her body instantly. "Human diseases don't affect devils." She tried to act cool in front of Razz because there was no way in hell she would ever let her know that she had actually felt scared by her sudden appearance, even if her heart was still beating quicker than normal. "Anyway; I take it you already know what god will do with Adora?" Fear crept up her spine as she asked that question. Uncertainty was the only thing in her mind and that scared her.
"Yes and no. It's weird." Catra was at the edge of her patience, pushed there by the anxiety that the subject brought to her mind, and was even more upset at the old woman talking with riddles than normal.
"Just tell me already!" She almost yelled, unable to control herself.
"He told me not to worry about it since there's someone working on it already. He told me that you can make the contract with her but you have to make it soon before something happens to her. That's it. Very ambiguous and weird, don't you think?" Her heart pumped faster at the answer.
That someone who might be already working on it could be Angela, which would be pretty bad since she doesn't know shit about anything. Besides, god telling her to make the contract quick was only an indication that he knew how Adora's life would be treated by angels and devils. And now that god gave an answer, she was sure that all angels will know about the immortal human just like almost all devils knew (she wouldn't lie to herself anymore by thinking that Hordak doesn't know already and she knew that Scorpia had already believed her when she told her).
"Fuck!" She yelled at the top of her lungs with frustration. "This is all your fault, you fucking useless cunt!" She had to suppress her anger towards the Death, knowing that an attempt to fight the third most powerful entity in the universe would only end in her demise. Still, she couldn't fully contain it and without her knowing, her ears and tail went out.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do know." The never-fading smile the old woman had made her blood boil like never before.
"There is something! You have to help me protect her from the creeps that will come after her!" She yelled that without thinking, but once her mind processed it, it was actually a pretty solid idea. If Death was on her side, no one would be able to take Adora from her.
"I'm not allowed to meddle in that kind of business. I can only pray for you to beat them all." Without waiting for what Catra would say next, the Death disappeared suddenly, leaving her in a room that was getting hotter by the second, just like the devil's head.
Why did god tell her to make a contract if the blonde would never die? It was impossible for Angela to change that fact. It was impossible for anyone, even the one in charge of death. What could change if she made a contract? Adora was going to ask to live until she's supposed to die, she knew it. After all, the contract would be made once the girl knew what made her happy and, once happy, she wouldn't want to die soon. Was there any other way to get around that? Maybe a loophole in the contract or some kind of trick… But she knew she couldn't do that to Adora. She didn't want to.
Breathing deeply, she tried to calm herself. She needed her head to be cool if she wanted to come up with a solution now that she knew that it was all in her hands.
And as the room was slowly getting colder, her face got hotter by the tears that dropped from her eyes, unable to contain them anymore as she had been doing. It was so frustrating... and yet she just couldn't regret her decision of standing by Adora and help her. After all, she didn't know what others would do to her, but she knew that she would never hurt her.
It was finally time to go home again and Adora couldn't wait. The day had been pretty weird. Or more like, Glimmer had been pretty weird all day… like if she wanted to tell her something but just couldn't, and she decided not to pressure her friend and waved the thought. She would have more space in her head to think about her kitty that way.
A strange man was waiting for her at Catra's car. He looked… inhuman. His skin was pale and his eyes were a bright red. He also gave her that same feeling of pressure she felt from the devil when she was angry.
"Adora, it's a pleasure finally meeting you. My name is Hordak." The man spoke to her as soon as she was close enough and he offered his hand to her, which she took and shook it for a second, remembering the name he just said.
"You're Catra's brother." She put a nice smile on her face, remembering her interaction with Scorpia and hoping that this one wouldn't be so different, even if this devil exuded evil.
"Ah, good to see you know about me. It makes things much easier." The man had a smile on his face that contrasted awfully with the frown and evilness in his eyes. "You see, I need you to come with me, right now." She looked at him with a puzzled look and felt his hand grab her by her left upper arm tightly, hurting her.
"Why? What do you want from me?" She felt a sudden surge of fear as she felt Hordak let out his power the same way Catra did. Her body stopped answering to her and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see whatever happened next.
Her feet were suddenly not touching the floor and she felt an arm around her waist. Once she touched the floor again, she decided to open her eyes and see what had happened, only to find Catra at her right still holding her by the waist. She looked at her left arm and saw a severed hand still dripping blood. Green, disgusting blood. She felt like throwing up at that moment, but her body was so unresponsive that she couldn't even do that.
"I knew you were going to try something, but I didn't think it would be so soon." Catra's face showed anger, her ears and tail out. She could also feel the cat-girl's arm trembling and she couldn't really know if it was because of her anger or fear.
"I wanted to try a different approach, but that little girl just couldn't fall in love with my demon." The blonde felt the hand on her left arm disappear and saw how the other devil had his hand intact as if nothing had happened. "I don't really want to fight you, but if I have to I would like to make it easy." He snapped his fingers and by her side, a figure appeared from a black hole, a figure she knew well.
"Shadow Weaver…" Adora spoke in a whisper, but Catra could still hear her and looked at her with eyes opened in surprise.
"You know, Catra, I've always wondered how strong you really are." The cat-girl tightened her grip on her waist, hurting her a little, but the blonde decided not to say anything. "I know you usually fight with Scorpia for fun and I know that you have won against her sometimes, which could mean that you're just as strong as her or she's letting you win. Either way, you have to know you have no chance against me."
"Adora, as soon as I let you go, I want you to call Bow and tell him I need him to come here quickly. I don't care if he needs to teleport, just tell him to come, okay?" She looked at the cat-girl's stern face and felt a shiver of fear running down her spine. Catra turned to look at her with a smile and let go of her grip on her waist. "Don't worry, I've got this." She felt the devil's lips on hers, giving her a quick peck.
The next thing she knew was that there was no one beside her and there was a really big noise coming from in front of her. She turned her head and saw her devil standing there like a real cat, hands on the floor and tail up. The street in front of her was completely destroyed and she couldn't see the other devil until he suddenly appeared behind Catra trying to hit her but being stopped by the cat-girl's hand thanks to her reflexes.
"Weaver, don't let her run!" The evil devil yelled, taking her out of her stupor. She needed to call Bow as Catra had told her. "I have to say that you're really stronger than I thought, wildcat."
The blonde took out her phone quickly and searched for Bow's number. As soon as she found it, she attempted to dial it, but Weaver stopped her by taking her by the wrist and taking her phone.
"I'm sorry, Adora, but I can't let you do that." The woman had suddenly appeared in front of her, shadows surrounding the blonde's body, immobilizing her.
"Weaver… I thought…" She tried to move her hand but the strength of the woman's hand on her wrist didn't let her. She turned to look at Catra again and saw Hordak hitting her in the face and smashing her against the floor. She wanted to run to her, but she found that she couldn't even move her feet. When she looked at the floor, she saw the shadows had trapped her. "I thought we could be friends!" She yelled at Weaver with tears of frustration in her eyes and saw how the woman's unexpressive face turned into one full of remorse.
At that moment, Weaver didn't know how to feel or what to do.
She wanted to let Adora go and make Hordak forget about her, but she knew it would be impossible. That would only cause her own demise and Hordak would still try to get Adora. Even so, she couldn't stop herself from feeling guilty.
She knew about friendship, and not only its meaning. She had seen it before and she had seen how unconditional it could be. She would've liked to have a friendship with the blonde, but she had been unlucky, being created by the devil who wanted to exploit the girl's immortality.
The girl who had treated her like no one else before was going to suffer if Hordak got her. The nice girl who complimented her. The girl who always had a smile even for strangers. It was impossible for her not to feel guilty, even if she was trying her best not to.
She turned to look at her master, fighting against another devil just because of his dream of conquering hell. Disgust made its way to her face and she felt her stomach turn, a thing that made her hand lose strength and she felt Adora moving her own hand again, but she just didn't feel like trying to stop her.
The blonde didn't waste the opportunity and quickly moved to get her phone back, pressing the dial button to call the number that was already on the screen. She could barely hear when her friend answered.
"Bow, come to the coffee shop, quickly!" She yelled as hard as she could so that he could listen and then felt her wrist being squeezed again with the same strength as before, making her scream in pain.
When she turned to look at Weaver again, she saw her with a conflicted look, looking at her and then at Hordak.
She tried to find her devil again and saw her deliver a blow at Hordak's face, a thing that would've make her feel proud if it weren't for the utter fear and frustration she was feeling.
Right now, she could only hope that Bow got there quickly and even then, it was impossible to know the outcome of the fight.
And that's it.
We're so close to the end and I still haven't chosen from the two different endings I have thought of. Just a warning though: I'm a sucker for happy endings. But, for real, there's only a chapter (maybe two if it's to long) left of this story.
I really hope you've been enjoying it and I thank you for your support and reviews!
See you next week for the (maybe) finale!