Chapter 3: Skin the Cat
Although the clones had warned her Horde Prime would come for them soon, it still took Glimmer by surprise when he did. The door to their cell hissed open a few hours after they finished eating and he stepped through, flanked by a half dozen clone guards.
"Greetings, Queen Glimmer." He smiled at her and bowed deep with a flourish. Something about him didn't seem right, but Glimmer couldn't figure out what. "I am glad to see you are doing better than when we first brought you aboard. My apologies it took so long for us to check up on you."
Glimmer shifted to give Catra, who had peeled herself off the bed and shuffled over to them, room to stand next to her. "That is quite alright," she said. "I understand conquering a planet can get complicated enough that other things"—she made a dismissive gesture with her hands—"just slip through the cracks."
Prime didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice. His smile widened and Glimmer finally realized what was bugging her the moment she saw him: he smiled as if doing so came naturally, but the impression he gave when she focused on only his eyes was that of a man one step away from reaching out and strangling her. Catra visibly shivered nearby.
"Your kingdom is feisty," he said. "The soldiers of Bright Moon are the only fighters that have managed to mount a successful defense against my forces. I recently contacted them to discuss a peaceful surrender, however your king proved to be…less than cooperative."
"Wait," Glimmer said, "what do you mean you spoke to the king of Bright Moon?" Her sense of unease from earlier threatened to boil over. There was no king of Bright Moon. Not unless…no, that couldn't be it. That was impossible.
Prime held up a small, circular emitter in the palm of his hand. It whirred to life and a still holographic image of Micah appeared.
Glimmer gasped and covered her hands with her mouth. "Dad?"
He looked much older than when she last remembered seeing him, but that was without a doubt her father. He was alive! She had no idea how, but he was, and she wanted nothing more than for him to be real and standing physically in front of her so she could run into his arms. Then she saw the look on Prime's face, and reality reasserted itself, as did the sudden urge to cry.
"Ah, so he's your father," Prime said. "That explains the reaction."
Glimmer balled her hands into fists. "What did you do to him?" Just looking at Prime's face, she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.
Prime placed a hand to his chest and feigned hurt. "Me? I did nothing at all." Then he dropped the act and his grin returned. "Nothing yet, at least. As I said, I reached out to discuss terms for a peaceful surrender and he felt it a better use of his time to waste mine. I showed him a recording from your first night as my guest and, instead of realizing he was in no position to make demands of me, he froze." Prime's smiled devolved into a vaguely irritated expression. "Then one of your other subjects—she called herself the Princess of Power—swore that she would personally come rescue the both of you."
Something reinvigorated Glimmer her at the mention of Adora's title. Even Catra seemed to perk up next to her.
"Oh, you're in trouble now," Glimmer said. "If my dad and Adora are coming, then it's only a matter of time before you'll be begging us for peaceful terms of surrender for yourself."
Prime laughed. "Yes, well, I have decided to just conquer the stronghold the old-fashioned way. Bright Moon shall fall by the time the morning sun rises on your kingdom, then Etheria will join a long list of worlds that have been subjugated and annexed into my empire."
He stepped forward and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. Glimmer shuddered and resisted the urge to bite his fingers.
"What I need from you now, though," he said, "is information on the weapon. You will come with me and tell me everything you know about the Heart of Etheria. I need to know exactly who among the princesses I capture need to be kept alive to operate it. Everyone else will be made a severe example of."
Glimmer scoffed. "I'm not telling you anything." To her surprise, that only seemed to make Prime more excited.
"That's quite alright," he said. The tendrils atop his head started to unfurl. "You don't need to speak at all if you don't want to. I intend to get the information I desire by other means." The tips of those tendrils peeled back, revealing six needles on the ends, each of them poised like serpents about to strike.
If him stepping so close and violating her personal space hadn't done enough to deter her, the tendrils made up the difference. As soon as she saw them point at her, she realized what he intended to do, and the fiery, defiant feeling that had spurred her forward suddenly snuffed out. All of a sudden, it seemed a very good idea to run as far and fast away from him as she could.
Prime gestured to his clone guards and they surged forward. Two of them grabbed her under the arms and lifted her so her feet came off the ground. Glimmer struggled, shouting and kicking and yelling and screaming for them to put her down. Prime merely turned and began to stalk out the room while the clones followed suit, dragging her along with them.
"Wait!"
Glimmer craned her neck around and saw Catra standing there, one hand outstretched as if to physically grab hold of her, pupils constricted into pinprick slits, ears pinned and tail low and subdued under her body. Prime turned and cocked an eyebrow at her. He didn't speak.
Catra swallowed. "Take me instead," she said, smoothing her mane down. "I'm a safer bet for interrogation than she is, at least to start."
"Oh?" Prime turned fully and snapped his fingers. The clones lowered Glimmer to the ground and she jerked out of their grasp. "And why is that?"
"B-because you don't know how probing her mind with those will go," Catra said, indicating his tendrils. "It might be fine and you'd have the information you want, or it might go horribly and you might kill one of the pieces you definitely need to work the Heart. It will be safer to start with me. If I die, then you still have another chance with her. Besides, I already have experience…." Catra shuddered and looked away as if remembering something horrible. When she next spoke, her voice was low and sounded like she felt disgusted with herself. "I already have experience having my mind probed anyway."
Prime seemed to think on her words for a moment. Finally, he nodded. "You Etherians are all so defiant. Normally I'd just crush you and be done with it for speaking out of turn, but it is especially vexing given the recent state of the Empire. At least you are the first I've come across to argue with some sense." He gestured again to his clones. "Take them both."
Half the clones moved to surround Catra too. She shrugged them off and pushed them away when they moved to grab her, much like Glimmer had. "There's no need for that," she said, ducking away from the grasp of another clone. "I'll come willingly."
One of the clones grabbed Catra by the shoulder, violently torqued his body, and slammed a fist deep into her gut. The muscles in his arm and shoulder rippled with the impact, and Glimmer gasped. Catra yelped, then fell to the floor and threw up the only food she had eaten in days. Prime sneered at the sight, then turned and stalked out of the cell without looking back.
Catra continued to wretch even as the clones grabbed her by the armpits and dragged her limp body through her sick and out the door behind Prime. Glimmer didn't put up any further fight when her own escorting clones lifted her and followed the rest of them at the back.
They continued on down a long hall and piled in to an elevate at the end. Glimmer stole glances in Catra's direction as she felt the elevator pull them up. Her head lolled to the side, and Glimmer didn't think she'd have been able to stand if the clones let go of her. She pleaded in her head for Catra not to give them any further reason to hurt her. Enemy or not, she didn't want that for her.
When the lift doors opened, they exited out into a perfectly circular room. Massive windows to the stars outside stretched from floor to ceiling along the room's perimeter in lieu of bulkheads, and because this unbroken panorama showed far more of their surroundings than the window of their holding cell, Glimmer also saw something she hadn't before: a titanic fleet of warships, stretching endlessly in the distance all around them, parading in neat rows and columns like a never-ending field of crops orbiting Etheria's curve. It was an observation deck situated at the top of Prime's citadel. Suddenly, the long elevator ride made sense.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Prime said. "Only the most elite and distinguished soldiers and officers comprise my Vanguard. They do not typically leave the Heartlands, but I take a fraction of them along when I travel." He frowned. "Unfortunately, conflict among the border has necessitated that many of them be redeployed to the front lines."
Glimmer barely registered what he said out of her concern for Catra. She seemed to have recovered somewhat. Her head no longer lolled to the side, and she no longer hung completely limp between her escort, but there was no telling what Prime had planned for the both of them or how they would fare through it.
The clones dragged them to the center of the room where a group of figures wearing white robes with deep hoods stood in a tight ring. They admitted them into the circle when they approached, where Glimmer saw two examination chairs inside, angled facing each other with restraining belts hanging off their frames. A set of consoles stood nearby, and the two clones that weren't supporting her or Catra moved to man them.
Another man, wearing the same robes as the others except gilded in green, stood next to the first chair and glanced over at them. Gaunt features and sunken eyes stared out at them from inside the hood. Then he lowered it and revealed a prominent widow's peak, and greying hair worn slicked back. A beak-shaped nose accented his profile and gave Glimmer the firm impression of a malnourished bird of prey masquerading as a man.
"This is Salas," Prime said. He snapped his fingers and the clones let them down to stand on their own two feet. Catra wobbled, but they supported her. "Salas is my advisor and an Imperial Battlemage of the Enclave. I believe the closest analogy to your planet's institutions would be the Mages Association at Mystacor."
Glimmer blanched. Powerful spells shrouded Mystacor to render it invisible and keep it safe. If Prime knew of it and of the Mages Association, did that also mean he had already conquered it? What did that mean for her Aunt? She wouldn't have let it fall…not without a fight…
Prime leered at her and Glimmer couldn't finish the thought.
The man—Salas was what Prime said his name was? It was hard to remember with everything happening—she couldn't read his expression. Instead of giving Prime the satisfaction of seeing her panic over Mystacor, she swallowed the lump growing in her throat, turned to face Salas, and said, "Nice to meet you." Her voice didn't come out nearly as confident as she'd hoped it'd be.
She heard a thunk and a yell as one of the clones shoved Catra onto one of the chairs and begain strapping her in. Catra, dazed, started to struggle against them and another clone rammed its fist into her gut once again before Glimmer could react.
"Don't hurt her!" she said, lunging toward them, determined to get them to stop.
The other clones held her back, but otherwise didn't harm her. She hated how gentle they were with her. Why couldn't they do the same with Catra?
Catra doubled over, coughing and hacking and spitting up on the floor. The clones shoved her upright into the back of the chair and finished strapping her in without any further protest. Catra groaned, her breathing coming out in ragged, wheezing gasps. Glimmer looked away and tried to drown out the sound of her suffering.
"Hurry and finish your preparations," Prime said to Salas. "I want as much information as possible before the Seraph arrives and makes things difficult, since your order was so adamant about sending her."
Salas nodded and gestured to the other chair. "Queen Glimmer, please take your seat so we may begin." His voice was surprisingly sturdy, despite his appearance.
Glimmer hesitated, and Horde Prime extended a clawed finger and caught Catra underneath the chin. "Salas is ever a polite man," he said to her. "But contrary to his tone, that was not a request. You will take your seat and cooperate or Catra will suffer the consequences for your insolence." Catra whimpered and stuck her chin high in the air to avoid Prime's claw, but he followed her movement and didn't let up. A thin line of blood ran from under her chin, down Prime's finger.
"Fine, fine, fine," Glimmer said, darting in to the chair. "Just don't hurt her any more. Let's just talk, okay? Whatever information you need, just ask us and we'll cooperate. There's no need to do whatever you're about to do. This doesn't need to be an interrogation."
Prime laughed and slid around behind Catra's chair. She panicked and her eyes darted as she twisted in her restraints trying to watch what he was doing. Prime reached up over the head rest, palmed her entire head in his hand, and pulled it back so it was flush against the chair. Glimmer got the sense he was doing this on purpose to drive a point home.
"Shhhh, it's okay, shhh," Prime bent over low and whispered into Catra's ear as her panic deepened. When she screwed her eyes shut and stilled as if tensing for another beating, Prime turned and looked Glimmer in the eyes and unfurled his tendrils. "A thousand apologies, Queen Glimmer," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "We unfortunately do not have the luxury of time on our side. This is simply the most efficient way—it's nothing personal. When I have thoroughly sucked every usable tidbit of information from this creature's mind"—he jerked Catra's head side to side like it was a joystick—"I will turn my attention to you. I have a feeling you will offer scant resistance after watching what happens to your friend." He cracked a wicked grin and nodded at Salas.
"Whatever you do," said a voice startlingly close to her. "Do not get out of this chair no matter how agonizing it is to stay. Your friend will thank you for it." Salas had taken up a position near her, and had spoken in a low enough voice that Horde Prime hadn't seemed to hear. Glimmer stared up at him and swallowed.
Salas looked around at the hooded figures in the circle and gestured. Suddenly, every member of the circle tilted their heads down, extended their arms out in front of them, and splayed their fingers. A low chanting filled the air and washed out the ambient beeping and whirring of the station's life support. A hush then descended upon them, covering them like a blanket. A chill ran down Glimmer's spine, and goosebumps sprang up along her flesh.
Patterns began to etch themselves into the metal of the floor. Glimmer watched them weave and curl like serpents performing an intricate dance. Within moments, the lines began to connect, and soon a whole circular design underneath them was there, flourished and strangely beautiful.
It's a magic rune, Glimmer realized with a start. She had learned many of them during her short time as Shadow Weaver's student, but none of them nearly as intricate or large as this.
She tried to pinpoint what each area of the rune did—that part is a feedback loop for the magic energy, that area over there is a smoothing agent—but quickly pulled her attention away; just looking at it seemed to pull a fog over her mind. Instead, she glanced up at Salas and tried to see if watching him would hint at their plans.
Salas made a quick gesture with one hand and Glimmer felt magic ripple out from where he stood. Another pattern formed in the floor, this one with an even more intense light emanating from his design as it burned itself into the ground. The new pattern directly intersected and, at times, complimented what the other mages had made. A pressure built in Glimmer's head the more he drew.
"How does it feel, Salas?" Prime asked, when the man was done. "Is Etheria everything that wretched girl said it would be?"
Salas seemed surprised Horde Prime had asked him that question. "If anything, my lord, I think Evelyn underestimated this place. We are high up enough the magic should be only a fraction of its real strength on the surface, but what I feel is staggering, even here."
Prime frowned. "I had her wiped from the histories for a reason, and you would do well to remember that. Never say her name again."
"I apologize," Salas said with a shallow nod. "It shall not happen again. Our preparations are complete. Please begin at your leisure."
Prime's eyes lit up and he once again stooped over behind Catra's chair so he was roughly equal-height with her. Two of his uncoiled tendrils reared back, then shot one after the other into either side of Catra's head at the temples. The pressure at the back of Glimmer's head from earlier exploded. Abject terror ripped into her. It blew out every other sense and instinct she had.
Insolent child. You have never been anything but a disappointment to me.
Voices in her head. There were voices in her head. Glimmer slammed her eyes shut and tried to shake the voices free, tried to drown them out.
Shadow Weaver wasn't there…she just wasn't. It was a trick of her mind. It was whatever spell Salas and his men had tangled her in, making her hear things.
Something came from that pressure, threatening to smash her head like a grapefruit—a command to keep her eyes open. She obeyed.
Catra screamed and struggled in the chair across from her, straining the belts hard enough to show muscles and veins popping and rippling under her skin. Her nails dug into the arm rests and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
Rise, Force Captain Catra. Pride burned within Glimmer's chest at the words and she realized with a chill that the rune underneath them had linked her mind with Catra's. Whatever emotions and images Horde Prime was dragging from her memories were also on full display for her as well
The scene shifted in her head and sorrow took her. Glimmer felt as if a young Adora stood before her, sensed it happening without seeing it with her own eyes. She could almost imagine Adora's giant, friendly, blue eyes and hesitant smile as she looked at her—at them.
It doesn't matter what they do to us, y'know? You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.
"Adora!" Catra spoke aloud. Screamed. She twisted against her restraints. "Adora, help me!"
Prime held her head still for the tendrils. Lines of blood slid down her face where his claws pricked her trying to hold tight, and two larger rivers of red streaked down from where his tendrils intersected her temples.
Something about the magic around them abated somewhat. Glimmer realized she could once more feel her own sensations and emotions when the urge to lunge forward and physically wrestle Prime away from Catra grew overpowering.
Don't get out of that chair.
Salas' words came to her as if he spoke directly into her head. Glimmer looked to him and, surprisingly, saw him looking back.
Your friend needs you to hold onto, he said. If you break the connection, then she will be lost at sea. She will never recover. Stay in the chair and stop fighting me.
Glimmer grit her teeth in frustration and indecision. She had no way of knowing if Salas was telling the truth, but he spoke of Catra recovering and that was enough for her. The pinprick of hope was there and she chose to cling to it. She forced herself to relax, and her vision misted over the moment she did. Salas, Prime, Catra, the mages, and the whole observation deck disappeared as if a heavy fog descended upon them.
Shapes and angles appeared in the fog like shadows, and Glimmer recognized the new setting as it pulled into focus. She was in some sort of lab deep in the Fright Zone. Boxes lay stacked nearby in the corner and a terminal whirred in front of her. 'DANGER!' flashed red on the giant screen above. A voice echoed from somewhere Glimmer couldn't pinpoint.
"This time, I am going to win. I don't care what it takes, we are opening that portal, now!"
Glimmer looked around for Catra. It was her voice, no doubt about that, but she didn't see anyone there with her. She swung back around and nearly fell backward in fright when it was Entrapta standing there instead of Catra, looking up at her with fear in her eyes.
"No!" Entrapta said. "I won't! I need to tell Hordak. He'll understa—"
Glimmer's body wasn't her own. She realized that as she lunged forward and rammed a stun baton she hadn't noticed she was carrying into Entrapta's back when she turned to run. Entrapta fell to the ground unconscious, and Glimmer dropped the baton. Her hands flew to cover her mouth.
What have I done? she thought. What did I do to Entrapta?
Glimmer turned to run away, only to see a brand-new sight before and around her. She was no longer in the lab with Entrapta, but a new area of the Fright Zone—one that lay in ruins. Broken machinery lay strewn about. Pipes all around leaked oil and steam, and fires burned everywhere she turned, emanating smoke that burned her throat and made her eye's water.
This time, Glimmer saw Catra. She was standing in the distance, one arm crossed over to hold the elbow of the other, terrified.
"Catra?" Glimmer ran toward her, stepping over debris and shards of broken glass. "Catra, something's going on. I don't know what's happening, but something is wrong. I can feel it." What happened to Horde Prime's ship? What happened to all the clones? They needed to get out of there. They needed to—
A second Catra stepped toward the first—one that Glimmer hadn't seen until she rounded a pile of burning equipment and the full scene beyond came into view. Glimmer skidded to a halt and tried to figure out what the hell was happening.
"You try so hard to play the big, bad villain," said the second Catra, invading the first's personal space and rubbing up against her. "But your heart's never been in it, has it?"
First Catra panicked. "What? What are you...? No, stop. Stop it!" She lunged. Second Catra dodged and grabbed her by the wrist.
"People have hurt you, haven't they?" she said as she transformed into Shadow Weaver. "They didn't believe in you." Shadow Weaver transformed into Hordak, "They didn't trust you." Hordak transformed into Adora. "Didn't need you. Left you."
Catra yelped and scrabbled backward, falling to the floor. Adora transformed into Double Trouble, who stepped forward and continued to press her.
"But did you ever stop to think maybe they're not the problem?" they said. They transformed again and a moment later it was Scorpia who towered above Catra. "It's you. You drive them away, Wildcat."
Catra stared up at Scorpia in anguish. "Why are you doing this?"
Glimmer reached out to Catra and the scene began to melt back into the fog from before. The ruins of the Fright Zone turned back into shapes and shadows in mist as Glimmer called out Catra's name. Nothing kept the scene from continuing to devolve, no matter how many times she shouted and no matter how loud. She was powerless to stop whatever it was, pulling her out. A chorus of new voices chased her back to oblivion.
…It's for your own good, darling. We both know this isn't what you really wanted…
…Never been anything but a disappointment to me…
…Because you left me! Don't you see, Adora…?
Reality reasserted itself so abruptly Glimmer almost fell out of her chair. Her heart pounded like war drums in her ears, drowning out anything she might have been able to focus on around her. She realized she was back in the interrogation chair as she blinked the blur out of her vision. The rune on the floor was still there, as was Salas and his circle of robed mages. Prime's two clones monitoring the consoles off to the side exchanged confused glances with one another. Catra still screamed and flailed in the chair opposite her.
It was only Horde Prime that looked any different. Whereas before he had worn a face filled with glee, now he seemed annoyed.
"Why can't I see anything more relevant?" he asked, glancing up at Salas and narrowing his eyes. "Why can't I see anything about the weapon?"
"Memories are complicated my lord," Salas said. "She is not one of your clones, so it will require time, alongside my skill and finesse."
"W-why are you doing this?" Catra's voice came out in hoarse croaks and she screwed her eyes shut in pain. "I t-told you already, I don't know anything else about the w-weapon. I'm sor-…I'm sorry, just…just please. Please don't. No more. Please."
"You're lying," Prime said, his sing-song voice making it clear how much he enjoyed hurting her. "And if I find out you really do know nothing, that you lied about having information in the first place to spare the Queen, then I will make sure you come back as nothing more intelligent than a vegetable."
"Uh, sir?" one of the clones at the terminal said. "Lord Prime, we are being pinged. It's a priority one message sir, and the identification code is confirmed. It's from the Constable, transmitting in hyperspace."
Prime cursed. "You stall her, damn it. You tell her I am busy, that it is an emergency—I don't care. Just keep her away."
The clone looked up with a distressed expression. "I can't reject the request, sir. My access has been overridden. It's connecting on its own."
A section of the nearby panorama window turned opaque and a young woman appeared on screen. "Lord Prime," she said. "Hello."
Her projection onto the massive windows made her appear several times larger than life. Glimmer could only see the top half of her, but judging from the officer's cap atop her head and the medals decorating the standing collar and breast of her jacket, it was obvious this new person was someone important.
The woman studied him for a long moment, her eyes never leaving his. "In the middle of something, I see? Sorry for interrupting. I only wished to inform you that I have been dispatched to oversee the Etheria project and will arrive soon."
Horde Prime grimaced and stood up straight, disconnecting his tendrils from Catra's head but still keeping his hand firm on her head. "Taline," he said. "What a surprise. Who would have guessed the Enclave would send you to handle their affairs in this matter."
Catra moaned and her eyes fluttered open. Glimmer felt another urge to rush to her side and stamped it down when she remembered Salas' words from earlier. She needed to be in the chair, to be the rock Catra held onto through this ordeal.
Taline frowned, looking down at the both of them in the chairs. "My lord, I feel compelled to remind you that you explicitly promised the Enclave full operational authority over Etheria once it reappeared. Why are you torturing its subjects and invading the planet? This is a direct violation of our agreement."
Prime smiled and made a conciliatory gesture. "I'm securing both the planet and necessary information on the weapon before you arrive. Think of it like me giving you a running start on what is no doubt going to become a long assignment."
Taline's frown deepened and she didn't respond for several moments. When she again spoke, it was clear she had taken the time to consider her words carefully.
"You and I both know this mission concerns more than just your rule. It's entirely safe to say that if we fail then the entire galaxy is at risk, not just the Empire. I need them in one piece when I arrive. All of them. I can't do my job if their subjects are broken and everything has already been thrown into chaos."
Prime's smile tightened. "I understand. Rest assured that I will not hinder you in your mission. The planet is under my control save for a small rebel group at the kingdom of Bright Moon." He gestured to Glimmer and sneered. "I have their Queen, and they will do nothing while she is in danger. I will guarantee their safety until you arrive. Is this sufficient for you?"
"It is, lord Prime. Thank you. I shall arrive within a day and will hail you again once I do."
She glanced for the briefest of moments in Salas' direction and nodded. Then she turned back to Prime, gave a sharp salute, and disappeared from the viewscreen as it turned transparent. Etheria, the stars, and the warships of Prime's armada appeared there once more.
The smile on Prime's face morphed into a look of barely concealed rage. "Get the Queen back to her cell," he said. The clones nearest her grabbed Glimmer under the arms and hauled her off the chair.
"My lord, what of the cat girl?" Salas asked.
"I promised your colleague that no further harm would come to Bright Moon or its citizens and I intend to keep that promise," he said, squeezing Catra's head in his claws and forcing another whimper from her mouth. "But this one is one of my defective brother's underlings—a citizen of 'The Fright Zone,' as it were. She is not included, and I will finish my interrogation with your assistance."
Glimmer panicked. She was supposed to stay in the chair…she had to stay. She fought the clones as they dragged her back out the circle and toward the elevator, hating the fact they didn't punch her into submission like they did Catra. She couldn't leave. She had to stay and help.
Salas locked eyes with her a moment, and Glimmer saw in his look that he hadn't expected this to happen. The thought should have given her hope that maybe he really was trying to help them, but it only served to make her panic more the further she was dragged away. Salas glanced from her back toward Catra and set his lips in a thin line, as if a renewed sense of resolve invaded him.
Glimmer turned her attention back to Catra and didn't take her eyes off her until the mages reformed their circle and blocked her view. As soon as the clones pulled her far enough away that she came off the magic rune, she felt her connection to Catra break. All the horror and rage and despair that she felt earlier vanished, leaving a cavernous void inside where emotion and memory once roiled. She gasped, feeling very much like ice water had been thrown over her.
The clones had gotten her inside the elevator. The last thing Glimmer heard as the doors sealed shut in front of her was Catra's unbridled, full-throated wail for the one person she hoped beyond hope would save her.
"Adora!"