Chapter 62: The Dark Crystal

Adora! Seacat rushed towards the door. Her lover was screaming as if… as if…

"Wait!" Entrapta yelled.

Seacat ignored her. She reached the door - and froze.

The storage crystal was glowing brighter than the sun, sending sparks of magic out into every direction like a lightning storm - and Adora was standing next to it. Her hair was floating, and there was a shining halo around her as magic - like lightning - ran over her body. She had her eyes closed and was still holding her sword which was blazing like the crystal.

"Adora!" Seacat yelled, stepping into the room.

A spark of magic hit her, and she collapsed, spasming on the floor. The pain was… the pain… damn, the pain!

Something grabbed her, dragging her out of the room - away from Adora. She tried to resist, to crawl towards her love, but her body wasn't working.

"Seacat! What were you thinking?"

Entrapta was yelling at her. And Castaspella was doing something with magic.

"Adora," Seacat spat, trying to get out of Entrapta's hair.

"You can't help her!" Bow yelled.

So what? She would try anyway! Seacat rolled over on her belly and got up. Or tried to. Her limbs were still twitching.

"Don't be stupid!" Glimmer told her. "Stay down!"

She wouldn't. Not when Adora was suffering.

"Scorpia, do it."

"No!" Seacat gasped. She couldn't! She wouldn't!

She felt a sting, and everything went dark.

Seacat woke up groaning. Her whole body hurt. And she was… on the ground?

"Seacat! You're awake!" Entrapta ran a device over her. "You didn't suffer any permanent damage," she said. "You're going to be OK!"

Seacat didn't feel like she was going to be OK. This had been… one of the most painful experiences of her life. Almost as bad as getting interrogated by Shadow Weaver in prison. And…

She gasped. "Adora!"

Entrapta winced. "She's alive."

Seacat forced herself to get up. "Adora!" Where was she? She was in a hallway, but where was Adora?

"We couldn't stop her until the power had been completely drained," the princess went on. "The leaking was worse than anticipated - and she absorbed most of it. I'm sorry!"

"Where is she?"

"In the storage room, but…"

Seacat wasn't listening any more. She walked, stumbled towards the storage room. Towards Adora!

This time, no hair or stinger held her back. She reached the door, leaning against the frame - and saw her.

Adora was on the ground, as if… No! She was alive! She was breathing!

But she looked terrible. Pale, trembling, shivering, eyes closed… "Adora!"

"She's alive," Castaspella said from Adora's side. "But so much magic ran through her…"

"What happened to her?" Seacat asked, snarling, as she stumbled towards her lover.

"We don't know," Castaspella said. "Her body's fine - no worse than yours, according to Entrapta. But what the magic did to her…" She shook her head. "I don't know of anyone who survived such a thing."

"Shadow Weaver…" Seacat whispered, reaching out to touch Adora's cheek. "That's how she died. Connected to a runestone."

"Yes. But this wasn't a runestone. And she's She-Ra - this whole base was made for her. So…" Entrapta shrugged. "We don't know what it did to her. We won't know until she wakes up. But the storage crystal is now empty."

Seacat didn't care about that. What good was that if Adora wouldn't… was… She shook her head, sending tears flying. "Adora! You idiot!" She bent down and rested her head on Adora's chest. "You stupid idiot!"

Someone coughed. "Not… an… idiot."

Her ears twitched. That was… "Adora!"

Seacat sat up. Adora was awake! Her eyes were open. And she was smiling at her! "You dummy!"

"Had to… do it." Adora whispered.

"No!"

"Yes."

"I think they're going to be fine," Glimmer commented.

Seacat ignored her. She hugged Adora. "You idiot!"

Adora chuckled, And Seacat felt an arm on her back, weakly patting it.

She hugged Adora harder.

"So… how do you feel? Any lingering pain?" Entrapta asked. "Hallucinations? Loss of memory? Taste? Sense of touch?"

"Everything hurts," Adora replied. "Exhausted."

"That is normal. I wouldn't recommend transforming back," Castaspella said. "Your normal body might not be able to survive this."

"What?" Seacat gasped. "Adora might be stuck like this?"

"Only until she recovers," Castaspella explained. "And it's just a security precaution. We don't know what happened to her."

"But so far, it looks good. You can talk, you understand us. You aren't leaking blood or brain fluid, and your nerves haven't been damaged as far as I can tell. Not permanently, at least."

That was as comforting as it was terrifying. Adora could've died!

"So could've you," Glimmer said. "Stepping into the room!"

Had she said that out loud? Without realising it? She must be hurt worse than she'd thought.

"Idiot," Adora mumbled.

Seacat scoffed and hugged her lover again.

"Adora, you need to rest. We've dismantled the bot controlling the station, and the storage was drained, so we're good. You don't need to push yourself. Just get well," Glimmer said.

"But…"

"No buts."

Seacat nodded in agreement. "I won't let you get up anyway," she said. "I'll sit on you if I have to."

"You're already straddling her," Glimmer told her.

Seacat ignored her.

After about an hour, Adora was strong enough to push Seacat away and get up, despite Seacat's protests. And Seacat was well enough, so the pain was merely an annoyance, not something to worry about.

"Let me heal you!" Adora, predictably, said anyway.

"No! Save your strength for others," Seacat retorted. "And for yourself."

"I'm fine. Entrapta and Castaspella said so."

"They didn't say that - we don't know what the magic did to you!"

"Might have done," Entrapta corrected them. "I think trying to heal someone would be a good test if your magic was influenced by all the other magic!" She smiled at them and raised her device. "Tell me when you're ready to heal!"

"Uh…" Adora grimaced. "I don't want to use Seacat for a test? What if I hurt her?"

That was a good question, in Seacat's opinion.

"Well, you can try it on me!" Entrapta suggested. "Although I'm not hurt."

"Try it on me," Seacat told her lover. If anything had changed, it was better to find out now instead of in the middle of a battle.

"But…"

"I trust you." She smiled at Adora. And hid her tension. If this did go wrong…

Adora took a deep breath - her chest heaved - and nodded. "Alright then."

"Ready!" Entrapta said.

And Seacat stared at the point of Adora's sword as it rose. As soon as it pointed at her, magic flowed into Seacat.

She gasped. This… this felt… "Incredible!"

"What?"

Seacat blinked. "I feel… perfect. Better than perfect." She felt as if she could arm wrestle Adora and everyone else together!

"So... it looks like your healing ability is more effective," Entrapta said. "Castaspella! Come!"

"What?" The sorceress appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. "Adora! You're up!"

"And she healed Seacat!" Entrapta beamed at her. "And it was more effective than usual. Can you check them?"

"Why didn't you call me before they tried this?" Castaspella complained.

"Uh… I forgot."

"Perhaps you should heal Entrapta next," Seacat suggested. Her friend did look a little tired. "Once we are sure it's safe."

"Let me examine you two." Castaspella shook her head, and Seacat heard her mutter "Idiots!" under her breath. Soon, both of them were bathed in the light from Castaspella's magic as she ran her hands over them. "It doesn't seem to be corrupting you," she said after a few minutes.

"Good! Do me now!" Entrapta said.

"Wait!" Castaspella raised a hand. "Let's see if Seacat is actually better - and not just feeling as if she is. If this is a magical stimulant then we don't want to find out when you exhaust yourself and collapse. Or die."

Seacat grimaced. "I do feel fine, but… I wouldn't be able to tell if I was fine, would I?"

"Let's test it!" Entrapta said.

"Shouldn't we stop the Heart of Etheria?" Adora asked. "Before we do anything else?"

"I would prefer it if you wouldn't try to manipulate the Heart of Etheria before we're sure that you or your magic aren't negatively affected by what you went through," Castaspella told her.

"That's a good point," Adora agreed.

"So, let's test Seacat!" Entrapta beamed again.

"Alright. You test her - I'll continue looking for whatever turned my brother into a monster," Castaspella said. She nodded at them and left again.

"You didn't find it yet?" Adora asked.

"It's not on the blueprints," Entrapta replied with a pout. "It must have been a later addition, and the system didn't update the data. That is really sloppy."

Oh. "So… we can't trust the magic plans we got?" Seacat asked.

"So it seems. That's why we've been checking the known areas - very carefully! - while you were resting. But enough of that! Let's see if you are actually better and not just feeling better!" Entrapta smiled. "If you were actually healed, your endurance and fine motor skills should have been restored."

Seacat had the impression that this testing would be exhausting.

"That's it! Your fingers - and claws - are starting to tremble. And you are taking longer now to assemble a sensor!" Entrapta announced. "And all the data I gathered fits your normal profile," she added.

Seacat set the last set of parts she had been given down and sighed.

"You have a profile of her body?" Adora sounded both surprised and intrigued.

"Yes. I have data on all of my friends!" Entrapta smiled. "On both your forms, too! You have to know your friends, after all, so you don't hurt them by mistake."

Adora blinked, but Seacat nodded. Entrapta might have misunderstood the advice, but she didn't mean them any harm. "Alright. So… we know now that Adora's magic healing powers weren't affected."

"Not negatively!" Entrapta nodded. "So, heal me - us - now!"

Adora did so, and Seacat sighed with relief. The testing had been literally exhausting. "Alright," she said as she got up, "Let's get back to actual work!"

"The Heart of Etheria!" Adora nodded with a determined expression.

"Actually," Entrapta piped up, "We need to map the base out, first. We can't really plan anything without correct data - and if we make a tiny mistake with the magic in the Heart of Etheria…"

Seacat winced. "Let's find whatever trap got Micah, then."

Finding the hidden parts was easier said than done, though. Whoever had built the base hadn't kept it simple at all. And whoever had expanded it… "Was the architect drunk?" Mermista complained an hour later as they discovered another winding tunnel in the base. "Couldn't they build straight corridors?"

"No," Entrapta replied, smiling as she pointed her device at the wall. "This isn't a corridor - this is a mine tunnel! Or was one; the base bot must have used this to gather raw materials and then repurposed the tunnel once the ore ran out. How efficient!"

"We're in a mine?" Gimmer asked.

"Yes, but don't worry - it's stable. The First Ones knew about mining in volcanic areas," Entrapta explained.

"'Volcanic areas'?" Adora asked.

"They usually have more tectonic activity," Entrapta told her. "Earthquakes and such," she added after a moment.

Seacat couldn't help but worry even more now. "Well, the base lasted a thousand years already," she said.

"That's not much of a timespan for earthquakes," Bow said. "And they probably didn't plan for the base to last that long, seeing, ah, as it was supposed to be destroyed with the entire planet a thousand years ago."

"Bow!" Glimmer glared at him. "Don't scare people!"

"But it's the truth!"

"Yes. How can that be scary?" Entrapta asked.

"The thought that we could end up buried alive might be scary for some people," Glimmer replied. The way she was looking at the ceiling probably meant she was included in that number.

Bow must have noticed as well since he gathered her in a hug.

"Bow! I'm fine!" Glimmer protested, as expected.

"Of course."

"I really am!"

"So, can we, like, get on with this?" Mermista asked. "I would prefer to get out of this as soon as possible."

"Right!" Entrapta took the lead, visor down and staring at her device. "There's a large room ahead of us. "No power lines in the walls, though. Probably a raw material storage facility."

She turned the next corner and stopped. "Or… it's a magic storage facility."

"Another one?" Seacat groaned and moved forward. And stopped.

"That's not a storage crystal," Castaspella said behind her, looking at a floating, crackling dark crystal. "Not just a storage crystal, at least."

"Is that… Is that what changed Dad?" Glimmer asked in a small voice.

"It's active," Entrapta stated the obvious. "But it's purely magical."

"How could a bot have installed a purely magical device after the First Ones had left and Mara and her friends had died?" Bow wondered aloud. "It wasn't any different than Light Hope."

"It's theoretically possible," Entrapta replied. "First Ones' technology was very advanced, and they had sophisticated interfaces for magic. We have them as well - Emily could use magic. Theoretically, with the right interface. Which I would have to craft. But to construct something like this… I don't think the base bot had the capacity for this. This would require… creativity."

"Something's here," Castaspella whispered. "I can feel it."

Seacat felt the fur on her neck bristle. "I can hear something. Like… a whisper." Her ears lay flat on her head. A creepy whisper. And she could feel a cold breeze.

"What is it?" Adora asked, looking around.

"Whatever it is, it's not natural," Perfuma said. "My magic… I can't feel anything here. Not even the seeds in my pockets."

"That's not good!" Scorpia cut in. "Let's back off!"

But the whispers were all around them - and behind them.

"We're surrounded," Seacat spat. She heard the hint of cackling. "It's… it's playing with us!"

"It took Dad! We'll make it pay!" Glimmer announced. "We can… Eeek!" She jumped, whirling around. "Something touched me. Something cold!"

Perfuma yelped as well. "My seeds! They died!"

Scorpia lashed out with her stinger but only met air as far as Seacat could tell.

"Stop this!" Adora yelled. "Whatever you are, stop this!"

More cackling. Seacat's entire fur bristled. And her tail was poofing out. She hated this. "It must be the crystal's doing!"

"Let's smash it!" Adora blurted out. "Wait - is it safe?"

"I can't tell," Entrapta replied. "Castaspella?"

Seacat turned to look at the sorceress and cursed - Castaspella was standing still, eyes staring at the crackling crystal. "Castaspella!"

"Auntie!"

But she wasn't reacting at all. Instead, she was slowly walking towards the crystal.

But Adora stepped in her way and pointed her sword at her. "Stop!"

Castaspella didn't stop, but before she could impale herself on Adora's blade, magic energy hit her, and she collapsed.

"Auntie!"

"Forgotten Stars!" Castaspella shook her head as she got up on all fours. "I was… it possessed me." She raised her head and stared at the crystal. "We have to destroy it."

Before anyone could say anything in response, the whispering turned into screeching, and a wave of cold hit them. As they staggered back, transparent figures appeared between them and the crystal, and the floor and walls started to get covered with ice.

Adora swung her sword at the closest figure, but the blade went right through it - and Adora jerked back, staring at the ice covering half the weapon. "Don't let them touch you!" she yelled.

But they were surrounded. And the damned things were closing in.

"Uh… my sensors don't show anything!" Entrapta yelled. "Except for cold spots. They're draining thermal energy!"

Magic. Evil magic.

Scorpia lashed out again with her singer, then hissed and pulled it back, rubbing the frozen tip. "Yikes!"

"Don't let them touch you!" Adora yelled again, levelling her sword at the closest thing. Magic energy shot at it but passed harmlessly through it. The thing seemed to cackle in their eerie way.

"Did you just try to heal it?" Glimmer asked.

"I thought it might help, like with Micah," Adora replied.

They were bunched up and surrounded. Caught between the things and the walls. Seacat hissed. "We need to get past them."

"I've got an idea!" Bow drew an arrow out of his quiver and shot it at the closest thing - no, at the floor. Fire erupted from the impact, flames reaching for the ceiling. Seacat could feel the heat from where she stood.

And the things recoiled with a hissing noise - for a moment. Seacat's hope of beating them with fire died quickly when they swarmed the flames and snuffed them out in moments. But they had reacted. "They're going after fire! Use it to lure them away so we can escape!"

"No! Open a path to the crystal!" Adora yelled. "Quickly." She was swimming her sword at two more of the things advancing towards her.

But there were an awful lot of the things between them and the crystal.

"I've only got two more fire arrows!" Bow yelled.

"Use them!" Adora snapped. Lure them away!"

"But if the crystal explodes - or if the things don't die with it…" Glimmer trailed off.

"We have to risk it!" Adora insisted. "Bow! Now!"

Bow grimaced but did as told and fired one arrow to the right, setting up another fire, followed by the second further away.

The ice ghosts or whatever they were drawn to the flames, and Adora charged the crystal, sword held high. A few of the ghosts attempted to intercept her, but she jumped over the first pair, went around the next and ran through the third.

I'm going to kill her for this! Seacat thought as she followed Adora. She wasn't going to run through the ghosts, of course - she jumped and then slid under one before darting around the rest.

The things were all converging on Adora now, shrieking like stuck pigs, but she was too close to the crystal to be stopped. With a roar, she raised the sword, jumped and brought her blade down on the crystal.

For a horrible moment, caught between two more ghosts, Seacat thought Adora had missed. Or the crystal resisted the force of her blow somehow.

Then, like a burst seam, something seemed to open in the crystal, a gap where Adora's sword had struck, and energy shot out of it. Two of the things were caught in the stream and ripped apart. And the metal walls started to buckle under the stream as it bounced off them. But the other ghosts were fine.

"We need to flee!" Glimmer yelled. "They're still attacking!"

But there were too many of the things between them and the exit. And they had nothing to hurt the ghosts with… Seacat's eyes widened. "Get ready to run!" she yelled - and jumped to the wall. Slashing quickly with her claws, she cut out a sheet of metal, then ripped it off.

"Ca-Seacat! What are you doing?" Adora yelled.

"Clearing a path!" Seacat replied - and dashed towards the steam of magic energy coming from the broken crystal.

A ghost tried to intercept her, but she dived to the ground and slid past it, then jumped up and rushed forward. Straight at the stream.

"Ca-Seacat! No!"

Seacat clenched her teeth and raised the metal plate before stepping into the stream. The impact almost ripped the plate out of her hands, but she held on - and twisted the plate, directing the stream across the room. Two more of the things coming her way were caught in it and dissolved.

She had to dig in her claws to keep from getting bowled over. The plate was starting to bend and buckle, but Seacat managed to move the reflected stream of magic, sweeping it over the room, towards the hallway, ripping the ghosts caught by it to shreds. "Go!" she yelled as soon as the path was clear. "I don't know how long I can hold this!"

The stream was growing - both in power and width. She was now getting pushed back, the claws on her feet leaving deep gouges on the floor. And her hands were starting to hurt - the beam was almost wider than the plate now.

She couldn't stop, though. Not when the others were still running away. Not when there were still dozens of the things to keep at bay. Hissing with pain, she held on.

"Ca-Seacat!"

Until strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she was yanked away, the freed stream narrowly missing her tail.

"You idiot!" Adora snapped, squeezing Seacat under her arm and running towards the exit.

"What?" Seacat let the mangled plate drop. "Let me down! I can run!"

Adora didn't listen. Her friend carried her out of the room and around the corner.

Right before an explosion shook the floor.

Seacat felt a shockwave hit them just before a cloud of dust and smoke engulfed them. Adora was still carrying her, though, and not letting her go even as they stumbled through the smoke. "Put me down!" Seacat yelled, then coughed when she inhaled too much smoke.

And then they were in the old mine tunnel, with the smoke thinning somewhat. She could see others ahead, running as well.

"Put me down!"

Adora finally did, and Seacat whirled, facing the corridor behind them. If they had missed any ghosts…

"Are we still alive?" Bow asked.

"What do you think?" Glimmer shot back.

"After seeing ghosts, I'm not sure what to think," he said.

"Were those creatures actually ghosts? That would be the find of the century! The existence of ghosts was proposed but never proven!" Entrapta chimed in.

"Can anyone see any ghosts?" Seacat snapped.

"In this smoke?" Glimmer complained.

"My sensors don't detect any cold patches in the smoke," Entrapta replied. "Do you think we destroyed them all? So briefly after discovering them?"

"I sure hope so," Adora said. "They almost killed us." She shuddered. "And you!" She turned towards Seacat. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking we needed to destroy them," Seacat replied, scowling. "And I saw the beam being reflected by the metal on the walls."

"You almost died!" Adora yelled.

"You charged the entire horde of ghosts!" Seacat yelled back. "I had a plan!"

"So had I! And it worked!"

"So did mine!"

"Adora! Seacat!" Mermista interrupted them. "Stop it! You both took serious risks, but it worked out!"

"Exactly!" Sea Hawk beamed at them. "A brave and desperate plan - two plans - that worked out into a harrowing but victorious adventure!"

Seacat closed her mouth. She still glared at Adora, who should've known better. If she had managed to slice the crystal in half, instead of creating a small gap, then the explosion would've killed her! Probably.

Adora was pouting at her.

"I still don't detect any colder zones. I think all of the ghosts - if those were ghosts - are destroyed," Entrapta said.

"Those weren't ghosts." Castaspella shook her head. "Probably ethereal constructs. There was some work on such things in Mystacor a few decades ago, but nothing ever came of it."

"Well, someone managed," Glimmer said. "Or something."

"Let's check the crystal's remains!" Entrapta cheered. "The smoke's settling."

"Carefully," Perfuma cautioned them.

They quickly made their way back to the chamber with the crystal and the ghosts. The entire room had been torn up - shards of the crystal were stuck in the walls, ceiling and floor. Parts of the walls and ceiling had been caved in as well.

She glanced at Adora and frowned once more. Her friend looked a little shaken, at least - but seemed to glare at her!

"I don't sense any magic any more, except for a fading impression," Castaspella stated.

"Does that mean Dad's safe?" Glimmer asked, biting her lower lip. Bow hugged her.

The sorceress shrugged. "I can't tell until I check Micah. It's possible that this is enough to cure him. Or he might need further treatment - this is an unprecedented development."

"In any case," Scorpia said, grinning, "this danger's dealt with!"

"Yes." Perfuma nodded. "And the area feels… better, now."

"I wonder who built this," Entrapta said as she waved her device around. "It wasn't on the original plans, so it must have been added later. After the First Ones had left, since the mines aren't on the plans and would've taken some time to dig. So, who was here?"

"Well, if they left any clue, it's probably destroyed by now," Mermista said, looking pointedly at the wrecked room. "And good riddance, I say!"

"As long as we all survive, I don't care!" Glimmer shook her head. "This was… we almost all died. Several times."

"Let's hope the Heart of Etheria is not as dangerous to get to," Bow said.

Seacat glared at him. He just had to say it!

"Sorry."

Seacat tensed, then turned. Adora was standing behind her in the winding tunnel Seacat had entered to cool off. And she was wincing.

"Sorry for what?" Seacat asked.

"Sorry for dragging you around like that," Adora replied. She took a deep breath. "And for acting without thinking, I guess."

"Risking your life at the drop of a hat, you mean," Seacat shot back.

That earned her a scowl. "I didn't grab a shield and jumped into the path of a deadly magic beam!"

Seacat clenched her teeth. It wasn't the same - she hadn't had any choice. Although… "Sorry," she mumbled.

They stared at each other for a moment. "I guess we're both sorry," Adora said.

Seacat slowly nodded. Her lover was still too quick to risk herself.

"But… I couldn't do nothing. And... " Adora sighed, "I'm sorry."

Seacat nodded, sighing as well. "Yes. It's just…" She trailed off. How to explain that she couldn't stand Adora risking herself like that, even though she was fine with risking herself? Without looking like a hypocrite? "I'm the captain of our ship," she said.

"That doesn't mean that you get to risk yourself and I can't," Adora shot back. "I'm She-Ra."

"But…" Seacat started.

"No buts. This is my duty - this base was made for me."

"I'm not going to let you do this alone," Seacat said.

They stared at each other again. Seacat bit her lower lip, then took a step towards Adora.

And felt herself engulfed in her love's arms.

"So, you two good now?" Glimmer asked when they rejoined the others. "Did you kiss and make up?"

"Glimmer!" Adora gasped. "That's…"

"...an entirely valid question when we are planning to save the world and need you," the princess went on. "We can't stop the Heart of Etheria if you're not fully with us."

Bow nodded. "This was just one trap. What if the path to the Heart is protected by other, more dangerous traps?"

Seacat winced, then forced herself to grin. "Then we deal with them like we dealt with this."

"By almost dying and only winning through luck?" Mermista narrowed her eyes at her while she elbowed Sea Hawk. "That was a rhetorical question."

"Ow!"

"Well, what do we know about the path to the Heart of Etheria?" Seacat asked.

Entrapta smiled. "Well, it's not a path to the Heart of Etheria. It's a path to a failsafe of sorts - a way to stop the weapon from being fired in an emergency, as far as I can tell. The data in the bot's memory was a little corrupted, and I'm not sure if it was complete to begin with; some of the sectors seemed empty but not damaged, although that could be a normal reaction of the crystals used by the First Ones - we don't have enough experience with them to determine this. Although I think there are a few experiments we could do..."

Seacat smiled and interrupted her: "A failsafe?"

"Oh, right. It's basically a vent - a vent for magic energy. Instead of channelling it into the weapon's firing mechanism, which is actually a construct of pure magic, not unlike the Runestone Network, and anchored to this base, the power would be vented into the lake. Probably boiling the water, so we shouldn't be near it, just in case."

"Uh…" Adora grimaced. "Enough energy to blow up the planet, vented into a lake? Wouldn't that, uh, boil the ocean?"

"Glad you asked!" Entrapta beamed at them. "Bow, the diagram!"

Bow sighed and held up a crudely drawn sketch of the world and the island.

"The weapon construct serves to amplify and focus the energy. Like a gun. Only that it blows up in the process of firing since it can't contain the explosion. Actually, that's like a badly built gun." Entrapta nodded to her own explanation. "So… without the amplification and focus, the energy would still be enough to blow the entire island and part of the ocean into space or something. But the failsafe can vent the energy slowly enough so it can, well, disperse into the general magic field, which surrounds us all. The lake serves as a sort of cooling device for the spillover since the process isn't perfect."

"And we're in the lake," Mermista said.

"Technically, we're under the lake," Entrapta said. "Which is a good thing since the facility will be protected - and it's shielded against magic, which you have noticed, of course; my hair's not as strong as it usually is because the magic field that is everywhere on Etheria isn't quite completely here. If you know what I mean."

Seacat thought she did. "So… we need to activate this thing and hope that whatever the First Ones planned will work?"

Entrapta nodded with a wide smile. "Exactly! Isn't it exciting?"

That was one word for it. "And how do we do this?"

Entrapta's smile slipped a little. "Well… we're not entirely sure…"

"Based on our experiences, Adora using magic on the controls in the failsafe chamber should be enough," Castaspella said.

Seacat hissed. "And what if the entire energy goes through her - again?"

Entrapta stopped smiling entirely. Castaspella looked away.

Damn. Seacat muttered every curse she knew under her breath. "Adora..."

"I'll do it anyway." Adora nodded. "If we don't stop this weapon, all of us will die anyway."

Including Adora. Seacat clenched her teeth and managed not to blurt out what she really wanted to say. "I'm coming with you," she said instead.

Adora opened her mouth, then closed it again as their eyes met. She slowly nodded.

Seacat ignored how everyone else seemed to have held their breaths. And how Sea Hawk was squeezing Mermista's shoulder and whispering to her, shaking his head. This was how it should be. She wouldn't let Adora do this alone. Even if she couldn't actually do anything. But she would be with Adora. Whatever happened, she wouldn't leave.

"Alright," Adora said, taking a deep breath. "How do we get to this failsafe?"

"And how is it protected?" Seacat asked.

"Well, the chamber is at the bottom of the main shaft," Entrapta said. "But that's all we know." She smiled. "We'll see when we go down there, I guess, if anything was added that is not on the models we have."

"Everyone in the shaft? On the same lift?" Seacat shook her head. You didn't put everything on a single ship if you expected trouble.

"There's just one lift - one platform - leading down," Entrapta said. "We would have to wait until it reaches the chamber and returns if we split up."

"Yes," Adora said.

"But…" Entrapta blinked. "Oh."

Adora nodded. As did Seacat. They wouldn't drag anyone else down with them.

"Are you sure it doesn't go down to the centre of Etheria?" Adora asked, peering down the shaft.

"Yes," Entrapta replied. "Well, pretty sure - in theory, they could've dug deeper after the models in the memory banks were finished, just as they added mines and stuff. But it's pretty hard to reach the core of the planet - it's all molten magma, mostly. So, you can't just keep digging; you'd have to find a way to keep the heat at bay, stabilise the shaft, compensate for the movements of the molten parts - they are a liquid, after all, and the planet's turning… It's not impossible, but it's very difficult, I guess, even for the First Ones. Just the lift to the failsafe chamber is an engineering challenge. Or it would be if they didn't just use the same magic to make the platform float that they use to blow up the planet. But a proper lift would be a challenge!"

Seacat narrowed her eye at the shaft as well. She couldn't see the bottom, which was… well, not a good feeling. "It must be at least a mile," she muttered.

"A bit more," Entrapta confirmed. "Impressive. I wonder how they dug the shaft. Did they just vanish the earth and stone? Or actually transported the material out of the shaft? And where did they put it?"

Those were interesting questions. Probably - if you were an engineer. Or Entrapta. But Seacat didn't care about them right now. "So, does the lift work?"

"It should. We haven't been able to get it to work, but we didn't have She-Ra's sword. Or her magic."

"It didn't react to my spells," Castaspella said.

"So I just zap the controls. As usual." Adora nodded.

"Yes." Bow nodded. "The controls are the standard ones. There should be no reason why it wouldn't work."

Unless someone changed them. Or trapped them. Seacat shook her head. The others would have looked for signs of either. She had to trust them. "Let's do it."

"Wait!" Entrapta walked up to her and Adora. "Take this with you!" She handed them a few signal rockets. "They will fly a mile high, so we'll see them if you fire them. Standard signal colours!"

"Good idea." Seacat smiled at her as she took them. "Thank you!"

"It's the least I could do. I wish there was a way to extend speaking tubes, but… they don't work that way." Entrapta pouted. "If we had a way to speak to you while you were far away, things would be so much easier."

Definitely. But they hadn't and had to make do. And Seacat had something else to do other than just coming along with Adora. "Thank you," she repeated herself, then hugged Entrapta - and was wrapped in limbs and hair in turn.

"Be safe," Entrapta whispered, just loud enough for Seacat's ears. Then she released her and took a step back. "I'll recheck the controls!" she announced, turning away.

Seacat acted as if she didn't see the princess wipe her eyes. She exchanged a nod with Castapsella, who turned to join Entrapta.

"Seacat."

She straightened. Sea Hawk was smiling at her. "Captain."

"I'm proud of you. Come back safe!"

She hugged him as well. This time, she wiped her eyes when they broke the hug.

"You better come back safe," Mermista told her. "You hear?" The princess glared at her.

"I will." Seacat smiled back and hoped she wasn't lying as she hugged her friend.

"Wildcat!" Scorpia hugged her - and lifted her up - without asking or warning. "Give 'em hell!"

"Sure." Seacat swallowed the rest of her remark as Perfuma joined them. The princess didn't say anything, which was a surprise.

Adora had been hugging Bow and Glimmer, and both had tears in their eyes when they finally released her. While the others turned to Adora, Bow and Glimmer came over to Seacat. "Keep her safe, you hear?" Glimmer whispered. "You know how she is."

Seacat nodded. "I won't leave her," she said.

"Good." Glimmer gave her a firm nod. "I'll hold you to that."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Group hug!" Bow blurted out, and once more, Seacat felt arms wrap around her.

It felt good.

But then everyone took a step back, and Adora raised her sword at the lift controls.

And Seacat swallowed the lump in her throat. She reached out to Adora and took her lover's hand, then squeezed gently.

It was time to face whatever was waiting for them down below.