Sympathy For The Ex-Warlord

Perfuma was doing her best to follow Mermista's plan. Her role was to drag... err, to take Entrapta away, so she wouldn't hear the sounds of Hordak's capture. And also, she should try to make the 'Geek Princess' realize the big mistake she was about to commit - again. After that, Perfuma would be free to return to Scorpia's side, where she wanted to be right now! And everything would be allright.

A nudge on her shoulder and Entrapta's voice brought her back from her daydreaming.

"Are you sure this is the right place to talk in private?" the scientist asked her.

"What do you mean?" Perfuma asked back, grudgingly.

"We are back to the ravine where we left our friends. Although I'm not seeing anyone."

Perfuma stopped dead on her tracks, so abruptly that Entrapta had to use her hair to support her body, so she wouldn't trip and bump on the blonde. They glanced around. It was really the same place of their last battle against the Galactic Horde, and where they had left their friends having a well-deserved resting. And it was apparently desert now.

Apparently, because at soon they heard Micah's voice calling Glimmer. More voices called her, Adora, Bow and Swift Wind. Scorpia's voice was especially distressed when she called Catra twice. The two women exchanged a look.

Perfuma felt a chill run down her spine. Mermista had decided to go on with her plan because Sea Hawk hadn't found the queen. The princesses had shrugged it off as his usual incompetence, but if Glimmer and the rest of the gang still hadn't showed up, it was the signal that something really serious had happened.

"We'll have to save our talk for later," she stated.

"Why? We may talk right now!" Entrapta replied calmly.

Perfum couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"How can you say that?! Can't your hear King Micah calling for his daughter? Even you should have some sensitivity!" she lectured her purple-haired companion.

"Of course I have!" Entrapta retorted as she glared back at Perfuma, much for the flower princess' shock, since the scientist (almost) never seemed offended at insults and critics "That's exactly why I want to finish this right now, so we may focuse into helping him! I've been trying to tell you all the way you dragged me that I already figured out what you want to say."

"You do?!" Perfuma gaped.

Had Entrapta realized that Hordak would be eventually arrested if he remained there? Then, maybe she had pretended to be so interested in him as a distraction, so her friends would come and capture him easily... that was brilliant!

"Of course!" Entrapta went on "It's so simple! You're welcome!"

"For what?" Perfuma blinked in confusion, still clinging to the dellusion of a loyal, conspirating Entrapta... which Entrapta herself happily destroyed.

"For having freed Scorpia and the rest of the world from the hive mind, of course! What else could be? No need, it was my pleasure!" the inventor patted Perfuma's head with a hair tendril and turned on her heels.

"No! That wasn't what I meant!" Perfuma still tried to stop her, but Entrapta had already turned her hair into legs and was cantering towards the place where the voices came from – behind a big rock formation, specifically.

The pacific princess of Plumeria let out an 'aaaaaaaargh' that would have put Mermista to shame. More and more she understood why her princess colleague was so cranky and negative! But she wouldn't give up, oh no! With those thoughts, Perfuma stomped her way behind the cliff.

The remaining members of the Alliance – Castaspella, Micah, Scorpia, Spinnerella and Netossa – were scattered nearby, looking through bushes and behind rocks as they called the names of the missing ones. Entrapta ran to join them, although she seemed more interested into pestering Spinnerella. In spite of her recent lecture, Perfuma just stayed put, feeling horribly guilty. Why did she always let herself be pushed around? She should have stood her ground against Mermista and insisted to not do anything until they talked to Glimmer! And that had to happen just when everyone was just recovering from having been separated from their loved ones...

At that moment, Micah spotted her and came running, followed by his sister.

"Where have you been? Any sign of Glimmer or the others?" he demanded.

"No. We were looking for them, too. Sea Hawk told us he couldn't find them anywhere, so Mermista organised a searching party, " Perfuma lied, grateful for the experience in acting she had gained during the Peekablue mission "Frosta is with them."

"Scorpia told us that she was with you and Mermista. Still, I'm happy that at least the poor child is safe," Castaspella sighed of relief.

"But I heard there was a new clone walking around. With Entrapta " Micah added, eyeing suspiciously at the scientist, whom was chattering with Spinnerella and Netossa "What happened to him?"

"He was... just a new friend of her. Freshly-freed from the hive mind." Perfuma lied again (well, that wasn't entirely a lie) "He left when I asked her to help search. How would a disarmed clone kidnap six of us by himself? Especially She-Ra?"

As much as Perfuma despised Hordak, she'd never let anyone be wrongly accused.

"Don't forget Glimmer. She defeated Micah in a duel! Against black magic!" Castaspella added with pride.

"Actually," Entrapta said as she approached them, followed by Netossa and Spinnerella " It was Glimmer whom made our friends disappear. To be more specifical, her teleporting powers."

"WHAT?!" the siblings chorused in shock.

Flocks of birds took off from the trees, frightened by their outraged screams. Which, of course, brought back the attentions of Scorpia and Wrong Hordak, whom stopped their searchs to join them. Everybody was now gathered around Entrapta, as the two mages asked her questions that sounded like accusations. The inventor pulled her mask down and started fidgeting in order to keep calm; still, her shoulders began to tremble.

Fortunately, Scorpia noticed her distress.

"Back off, everyone! Can't you see you're making her nervous? C'mon, give her some space!"

She held out a pincer between Entrapta and the crowd, insisting for them to step back. Reluctantly, the gang complied. Entrapta took a few calming breaths, just like she had seen Perfuma do once in a while, and pushed her mask up.

"Whew! Thank you very much. As I was about to say, the liberation of all the energy stored in the Heart of Etheria must have overloaded the runes. It caused collateral effects on the powers of who hasn't a rune, too. I noticed that Spinnerella was looking for our friends on the ground, instead of flying. It would be so easier to spot them from above!"

"That's true. But, when I tried to fly, I was tossed into the air and fell on the top of a tree," the wind princess explained, receiving Netossa's conforting hand on her shoulder "That hadn't happened to me since I was ten."

Castaspella and Micah exchanged worried looks.

"That explains why our location spell didn't work!" she realized.

"But the lizard you accidentally gave wings was cute, " Scorpia tried to comfort her.

"I believe it's temporary, " Entrapta tried to reassure them "You'll just have to power down. To... use less energy than you are used to. It's a shame that I left my data pad in the tower when I was captured, because all my calcules..."

"Wait," Micah raised his hand politely "One thing at a time. You said that Glimmer was... responsible for the disappearances. Do you mean that she wanted to bring her friends here, but took everyone to a far away place, instead?"

"Exactly!" Entrapta giggled, happy for someone understanding her so fast, but quickly became serious because she knew her joy would be misinterpreted "And this is bad, of course. Since Shadow Weaver convinced Adora to aborb the Heart of Etheria, I have calculated the possible consequences for the magic equilibrium of the planet. The good news is that I can track She-Ra and Glimmer if I'll have my data pad back, by their magic signals...

"You KNEW that would happen and didn't told us? I could have warned Glimmer to not use the teleport!" Castaspella snarled as she pointed her an accusing finger.

Entrapta just blinked in confusion.

"But I tried to tell you. Twice. Don't you remember? The two times you said 'later, sweetie', and walked away. So I waited, but you never came to talk to me. Then I tried to warn Bow and Adora, but they spoke only about the virus I was creating to destroy the hive mind."

Wrong Hordak stepped closer, frowning at the mage's treatment to his mentor and best friend.

"It is true, " he confirmed "Brother Entrapta showed me all the graphics and calcules, but the rest of you brothers seemed too busy to listen. It wouldn't be lethal, pothentially speaking, so he decided to wait until it happened, so all of you would be interested."

As he spoke, Micah gently lowered his sister's arm. He met no resistance at all, because now Castaspella was as capable of reacting as a mannequin. She was pale as one, too. Perfuma, by her tun, took the advantage of the turmoil to check on something she had spotted behnd the rocks. Only Scorpia noticed, but she remained silent.

The married princesses exhanged a guilty look.

"So, there was really something worrying Entrapta, love," Spinnerella reminded her wife quietly.

"I know, I know. We should have asked if she needed someone to talk," Netossa sighed, in a less discreet tone.

"I agree," Micah frowned at the couple, and then at his mortified sister "That would have spared us lots of trouble. Now, who's going to retrieve Entrapta's uh... what-what pad?"

"I know what is the tower where Brother Entrapta was," Wrong Hordak volunteered "It will be a honor to help the hero whom freed us from the hive mind."

"I'm going with you, little buddy! There must still be some of your brothers there. I don't think they have realized that their master kicked the bucket," Scorpia said, evolving Wrong's shoulder with her arm.

Entrapta giggled and stepped to join them, but Micah stopped her.

"Better you stay here. Scorpia's right. And we don't to want our precious scientist to be kidnapped again," he objected, in a friendly tone that didn't confort Entrapta at all. She sighed and crossed her arms.

"Uh, Micah, " Mermista nudged the king "Can we, like, have a small talk?"

Everyone whirled around, surprised with the young woman whom seemed to have appeared out of thin air. It was Perfuma's cue to hold Entrapta's arm again.

"We still have to talk," she whispered firmly "It won't take more than a few minutes."

Entrapta shrugged resignedly. She had thought that, with Horde Prime's death and the victory of the Alliance, she would be free. No more people pulling her or telling her where she should be! But it was getting worse!

The women's departure, however, didn't go unnoticed by Netossa's attentive eyes.

"Where do you think you are going? Scorpia'll be back soon," she demanded.

"Girl talk," Perfuma explained with a forced smile "We won't be long!"

Netossa frowned suspiciousy. However, she had no time to object, because at that exact moment, Micah and Mermista started arguing. She turned around and didn't notice when Emily sneaked out of a group of bunches to follow the retreating princesses.

While all that was happening...

"Oooooooh! We are the Alliance, we are, we are! We just defeated the evil Hordak..."

"FOR THE LAST TIME, SHUT UP!" Hordak and Frosta chorused.

Sea Hawk opened his arms, hurt at their lack of artistic taste.

"I need to do something to occupy myself, while we wait for Mermista! And you guys refused to play cards with me!" he complained.

"She has just left! Man, and people say that I am a child! " Frosta huffed as she took her hands off her ears "I can't concentrate with your stupid shanty, and you keep dancing and standing on my firing line! I'll end up freezing you again!"

Jumping from the roots where she and Hordak had sit, she walked a few steps away from the two men to practice safely. Mermista was off to report Micah that his greatest enemy had been defeated and restrained. Hordak had his long legs folded and his feet close together on his root, so he wouldn't step on the grass Frosta had just frozen. At that point, he started seriously to think that it wouldn't be so bad if Micah decided to execute him.

"What about some arm wrestling? " Sea Hawk suggested to the ex-warlord "You are very strong... but you can't beat me," he winked teasingly.

Hordak gave him a blank look.

"It's a stupid game," Frosta explained, frustrated because she kept freezing trees, stones and the floor, instead of producing small pieces of ice "You have to hold his hand and you two lean your elbows on a table. "she folded her arm and pretended to grab an invisible hand "And you have to make your opponent's hand touch the wood. We don't even have a table."

"Even if we had, I would decline. I don't want to worsen my situation by ripping your arm off." Hordak stated, dismissing Sea Hawk's invitation.

The young man's eyes turned into big, black, liquid marbles. His mustache started to tremble.

"Why don't you climb up a tree and try to find any sign of Adora?" Hordak suggested, out of pure despair.

Sea Hawk's face immediatelly lightened up, full of admiration and contentment. The change was so instantaneous that Hordak couldn't help but staring in awe. "Double Trouble would be jealous of the way that man can transform, just by changing his humor", he thought.

"Excelent idea! No matter what my Mermista says, you have a good head on your shoulders! No wonder you were the leader of such a powerful army." Sea Hawk fussed, before raising his finger to the skies "ADVENTUREEEE!"

Humming happily, he started to climb the same tree whose roots Frosta and Hordak were sitting. Both sighed in relief... until leaves, dry sticks, nuts, all kind of dirt and even a small nest (empty, fortunately) started raining over their heads. Not to mention the soundrack, composed by Sea Hawk's painful yelps, curses and complainings about the intolerance of birds and squirrels.

They had to move to another tree – one with smaller roots, but much quieter.

"I don't need any help to watch you!" Frosta complained, removing her tiara to brush the leaves off her hair " Why did Mermista leave him with us?"

"Revenge, obviously," Hordak stated as he struggled to take the nest off his hair with his tied hands.

The girl chuckled at the short and sweet answer. Absent-mindely, she moved her hand down, in a dismissing gesture. A small piece of ice, slightly bigger than an orange, materialized on the floor. Hordak, whom happened to be looking at that direction, gasped in shock, and she turned around. Her eyes lightened up with the small victory.

"Yes! Just what I wanted!" she celebrated as she knelt to see it better "I wonder what I was doing wrong."

"You were pushing yourself too much, " Hordak's voice boomed at her back "Out of frustration. You created that small ice when you were amusing yourself. It's obvious that your emotions are interfering."

She whirled on her heels.

"I don't need your instructions! Do you know how many years I took to control my powers?"

"They can't be many," Hordak quipped, before looking away, slightly embarassed "Like Sea Hawk, I need a distraction while I am stuck here. Besides, it is in my interest to keep you from accidentally freezing me again. I don't understand magic, but I read about its basic principles."

The small princess turned to picked up the ice ball with her handkerchief. Reaching him in a few steps, she held out her hand with the cold block.

"Here. For the bruises."she offered with a frown.

Hordak stared at the ice as if he expected it to blow up on his face. Impatiently, she shoved it in his hands.

"Just pick it up!"

The clone hesitated, still suspicious of the gift. Then, he carefully wrapped it with the small piece of cloth and pressed it against his swollen cheek.

"Is that helping?" she asked, after a few moments.

"Yes. Your gift is... greatly appreciated."

Frosta chuckled at his excessive formality.

"You're welcome. But you could just have said 'thank you'. Or 'thank you very much', if you are really, really grateful. All these years in Etheria and you never learned basic manners?"

"I never had good relations with Etherian people. Before Entrapta, nobody would teach me anything for free."

"Uh-uh, " half-listening to him, Frosta pointed at the floor. This time, she was able of drawing an icy line until the space between two trees. He was right : when she was enjoying her powers, they were easier to control. Tension and worry made her goof out. Anger, too, like the moment when she had frozen Hordak's feet. The moment when Mermista whiped his face accidentaly came back to Frosta's mind: she was mad as a cut snake, back then!

If Frosta didn't have a prisoner to watch, she would have ran to report her discovery to her friends. But, since she had to stay there... she could satisfy her curiosity. There were so many things she wanted to know, and now she could learn them from Hordak himself! Better yet, there weren't any nosy grown-ups around to stop her.

"You used to be very different. Why are your eyes still green if the hive mind is gone? Why did you bleach your hair? And why don't you use that black thing on your eyes, anymore? These gray circles around your eyes make you look old." she fired her first batch of questions like a machine gun.

Hordak's hand crushed the ball of ice. He jumped to his feet, tearing Sea Hawk's headband as if it was made of paper, his green teeth snarling with fury.

"Do you think I like to have this appearance?! These marks around my eyes are not of old age! Every clone has them, as another reminder of how beneath Horde Prime we are. For him, any display of personality was an insult, because no one would be allowed to ofuscate his ridiculous 'light'! Therefore..." his gaze fell on his colourless, head to toe uniform. Suddenly, Hordak missed his blue tunics and his old metal boots, with such an intensity that was almost painful "... he took and destroyed everything that made me who I used to be."

Emotionally and physically drained, Hordak sat again on the root, noticing by passage that he had ripped his binds. Great. Now the brat would have an excuse to freeze him completely. Worst of all, Entrapta probably would be forced to see his frozen, unconscious form trapped into an ice block. He could almost see her impotent look as she had to hear her friends bragging how they had 'saved' her from him.

He wouldn't cry. Never again. Whatever happened, at least he wouldn't give that pleasure to his captors.

The warm touch of a tiny hand felt like a shock to his cold talons. He looked the other way, to see Frosta staring at him. There was no anger or fear in her eyes, just... compassion. A feeling that he used to consider a weakness, before Entrapta.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it hurt so much," she apologized in a humble, almost grown-up tone, as she sat besides him again "I just wanted to understand. I grew up hearing stories about you and the Horde. I saw what you did to the villagers, too. Everybody said you were monsters, except for Adora, but I never took her seriously. Then I met Scorpia. She changed the way I used to see the Horde. Even Catra I don't hate anymore, " Frosta digressed, not noticing that Hordak frowned when he heard the cat's name "Did Horde Prime have her hair cut? Glimmer told me I should be patient to Catra because she saved her life, and Horde Prime punished her for that."

"Yes. Horde Prime had Catra properly prepared, so he would turn her into one of us. The haircut was... the less of her concerns." Hordak explained tactfully.

Flashbacks of the heinous ceremony ran into his mind, and he struggled against them by focusing his eyes on the ice that melted on the grass. However, his distressed face told Frosta the rest of the story.

"She was tortured, " she realized sadly "Now I see why Glimmer, Adora and Bow are so nice to her. Thanks for telling me. Nobody else wants to tell me these details, because they still see me as a kid."

Hordak looked up in shock. Except for Entrapta, nobody had ever thanked him for anything. Let alone for telling such... unpleasant things.

"I..." he made an effort to remember the words she used to answer his awkward try to express gratitude "You are... welcome. The other princesses are really strange. They think you are old enough to risk your life in the battlefield, but not old enough to learn relevant information about your enemies?"

"I am almost fifteen!" she protested in outrage.

"In my Horde, cadets were not allowed to fight on the field until they were eighteen!" Hordak replied at the same tone "But they are prepared from early age to know what they are going to fight. You should ask your questions to Entrapta. She would never treat you like a fool."

"Ew, I'll pass," she made a face.

Hordak raised an eyebrow, or rather, the spot where it was supposed to be. At first, Frosta seemed to care about Entrapta, since she had accused him of manipulating her for his purposes; however, she clearly hated the idea of talking to her, even if Entrapta had the answers for Frosta's questions. He couldn't understand those princesses... but he started to understand Entrapta's reticent attitude whenever she spoke of her so-called 'friends'.

Frosta had a lot in her mind, too. The children-prepared-from-early-age stuff reminded the ice princess of her own upbringing. Now she also remembered to have heard Wrong Hordak making comments about his 'brothers'. He said that clones were taught to 'love Horde Prime, and blablabla', still in their incubators. They only stepped out of them as adults. Neither him or Hordak had ever been children, Frosta realized. She may have had a hard beginning and she hated to be treated like a baby, but she had made loving friends whom played with her. Probably Hordak never had played in his life. "No wonder he is so grumpy, " she thought, feeling sorry for the former greatest enemy of Etheria.

And guilty.

"Why did you destroy Salineas?" she burst out, at a sudden.

Hordak startled at the sudden question. Damn it. He was starting to hope that nosy child stopped her interrogation and she came with the question he feared most.

"The answer is very long and complex. I'm not saying that because you are a child. But King Micah, princess Mermista and the rest of your friends will want to know, too. It will be more convenient to explain to all of you," he reasoned.

Frosta stood in front of him, balling her hands into ice-covered fists.

"Don't give me that crap! I'm not asking you to tell me the story of your life! Just tell me: what has Mermista done to you?"

Hordak glared at her. His mouth was tight shut.

"You just said nobody should hide information from me! " she insisted. Tears started forming in her eyes.

Hordak still resisted, but... what good did that do?

"She did nothing," he confessed, staring at the ground in defeat "I told myself that it was to impress Horde Prime. To show him my worth. But the truth is that I wanted to get revenge on you, princesses."

"For what?" Frosta raised her eyebrows in shock.

"Because I thought that you had stolen the only thing I hold dear," he muttered, closing his eyes partially covered by a fringe of messy, opaque hair.

He said nothing else, but there was no need.

"Entrapta," she muttered.

The sound of a fierce argument reached their ears. Hordak looked up, his ears moving at the sounds, but they were too far from the fight to understand. Still, Frosta was sure that one of the voices belonged to Perfuma. A higher, pitchy voice, overcame the flower princess', making the clone and the girl freeze.

"What is Perfuma doing?!" Frosta exclaimed "She'd supposed to take Entrapta away from h..."

A high-pitched scream hurt their ears.

"ENTRAPTA!" Hordak jumped to his feet.

He barely took one step and Frosta was already in front of him.

"You're not going anywhere!" she held out her hands, threateningly.

Hordak growled in frustration.

"I knew it! You do not care about her!" he accused.

"Of course I do! She is my..."

"Friend?" Hordak scorned "You reacted with disgust when I suggested you to talk to her! Your friend Perfuma betrayed Entrapta's trust, taking her away from me! And now she is torturing Entrapta, but you will not do anything because the revenge of your TRUE friend Mermista is more important! You princesses have a very twisted notion of what friendship is!"

Frosta fought against her urge of bursting into tears. She opened her mouth to protest, to say that Perfuma never would torture anyone and that had to be a misunderstanding, but... The words 'betrayed Entrapta's trust' ached like they had been branded in her mind.

It was true, wasn't it?

"Allright, " she gave in "But you'll have to carry me."

"You will slow me down! " he protested.

"YOU are the one slowing us down! Just get on your knees, so I'll climb on your back!"

More screamings joined the voices. Among them, Mermista's was recognizable now. Grudgingly, Hordak complied. Frosta jumped on his back to settle herself on his shoulders. Carefully, Hordak held her feet as he stood up; still, she had to grab on his hair to not fall. Yelping in pain, he made a move, but she stopped him.

"Stay put. I'll take care of this."

"How..."

"Just shut up and let me concentrate," she demanded as she stretched her arms, taking care to not touch him. A pillar of ice suddenly sprouted under their feet, then shrunk a few inches, almost making them fall. For once, Hordak was happy to be wearing his uniform, because it had non-slip soles. Frosta, by her turn, wished she had brought earmuffs, because it was difficult to focus with the voices screaming and argumenting. She tried to use them to her advantage, by thinking into her desire to help them.

The ice undulated under Hordak's feet, turning into a growing, moving icy sheet that carried them forward.

"What... are you doing?" he stuttered as he tightened his grip on her ankles. Frosta, however, was too happy to complain.

"BRACE YOURSELF!" she screamed as she drove the sheet toward the space between two trees.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hordak screamed, closing his eyes.