CHAPTER FOUR:

CRYSTAL CAVE!

1

The detention groove is not Catra's thing, and based on what Huntara has them doing she wouldn't even classify it as detention. Huntara oversees her and Adora's punishment (a better way to describe it) after school by giving them busy work in the gym; like cleaning up leftover equipment students forgot to put away or scraping gum off the bleacher seats while Huntara takes a nap in her office. Each day they head to the gym but today, on Catra's 4th day in hell, Huntara switches it up and locks her and Adora up in some empty classroom. It's another major pain in her ass because at least in the gym she could avoid Adora's hopeful gaze but in a classroom there's nowhere to run.

"What are we supposed to do in here?" Catra raises an eyebrow.

"I don't care." Huntara looks like she wants to snap her neck; she quickly grew tired of Catra's witty remarks and passive commentary. "I honestly didn't think this punishment thing would last this long...and I've run out of work to give you two."

Catra takes out a water bottle from her shoulder bag. "Why can't we just stay in the gym then?"

"Because," Huntara's eye actually twitches "apparently the headmistress forgot that basketball tryouts are today and as the head coach I sort of have to be there so, priorities. And I don't need you brats having another lovers quarrel—"

Catra chokes on her water.

"—while my girls are working on their jump shots."

Catra ignores the middle bit because, like, one thing at a time, and contemplates using this situation as blackmail. It's pretty irresponsible on Huntara's part to leave them unsupervised but then again this is a golden opportunity for Catra so she keeps her mouth shut.

"Of course," Adora speaks for the both of them.

Huntara doesn't look convinced but she slips out and leaves them to their own devices. It only takes five seconds before she's peeking her head back in to say "don't kill each other" before she's gone for good.

Catra slumps into a seat in the far back left corner where she can prop her elbow up on the vents lined across the windows while Adora awkwardly sits in the front closest to the door. Adora doesn't try to talk to her like she has during their previous detention dates this past week and Catra's grateful for it (she's harder to avoid than she thought).

But she doesn't dwell on her complicated past with Adora, instead she pays attention to the time.

She gets a text from Lonnie a couple minutes later and shit she forgot to put her phone on silent and now Adora's looking at her over her shoulder. Catra glares until Adora is rolling her eyes and turning back around to mind her business. Catra grumbles a spew of profanity beneath her breath and puts her phone on silent to prevent future disruptions.

Lonnie [poop emoji]:

(3:30 pm) [location drop]

(3:30 pm) you still stopping by for my mixer ?

Catra [cat emoji]:

(3:31 pm) I can only hang out for like thirty minutes, I'm in detention but the teacher left us alone in the classroom. Just gotta be back by 5

Lonnie [poop emoji]:

(3:32 pm) us ?

Catra [cat emoji]:

(3:32 pm) A is here. We caused a scene in gym so now Angela is punishing me

Lonnie [poop emoji]:

(3:33 pm) [read]

Catra looks at the clock again, fifteen minutes have passed with no sign of Huntara so she gets her stuff and heads for the door.

"Where are you going?" Adora frowns. She's leaning most of her upper body on the narrow desk with her feet bracing the floor like she's ready to pounce at any second.

Catra snaps, "none of your business."

"Catra come on," Adora stands up and tries to use her height as a scare tactic but it only riles Catra up more. "We're already in trouble, I don't know what you're planning but I know it'll just make everything worse."

"You're so paranoid. I'm not planning anything, Huntara isn't coming back until 5. She loves that team more than she loves her workout equipment. I'm just slipping out for a couple of minutes but I'll be back before she notices."

Adora blocks the door. "I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not." Catra snaps, "no one will want you there."

Adora's eyebrows do that stupid thing where the knit together. "Where are you going?"

"...Lonnie's having a small mixer in the woods with some friend she made over here. I'm just stopping by."

"I'm going."

"Please, you really think Lonnie wants you there?"

"She's my friend."

"Oh yes," Catra smirks "the friend you didn't keep in contact with over the summer because you were too busy messing around with a stupid sword. Actually, you know what? You can tag along, it'll be fun to see Kyle fail to hold Lonnie back from knocking the shit out of you."

Adora grabs her shoulder when she goes for the door again. Catra whips around with a hiss, "what, already changed your mind?" She slaps the hand off her shoulder while she's at it.

Adora smirks. "You wish. I was going to say we should go out the window and try to avoid the cameras in the hallway."

"Good idea." Catra brushes past her. "But you're still—"

"An idiot. I know." Adora's smile is too fond for her liking.

"As long as you know it."

2

Erma gets to the crystal cave while the sun is still in the sky, she brings five of her goons along to help her scope out the scene. She leaves two of them by the entrance just in case there's trouble while the other three follow her inside the cave. The tracking device (courtesy of the lab technicians) detects any magic within a reasonable range, the screen has been glowing bright green the moment they stepped into the woods and it only amplifies as she steps deeper into the cave.

"What's the plan?" Elahji asks when he and Erma are a good distance away from the two goons trailing behind.

"The heart of Etheria is our priority. Once we extract the magic we can turn this war around."

Elahji shakes his head. "I can't believe it's been here this whole time. Why haven't the princesses used it?"

"It doesn't matter, none of it will matter once we have the heart and then on the day of the eclipse we'll bring back our queen. See how Angela likes it."

Elahji is about to ask another question when the tracker starts flashing and vibrating as they reach the end of the tunnel. Erma blocks the blinding light with her free hand and blindly walks into it.

3

"So…"

Catra groans. "We don't have to talk, you know. I'd actually prefer it if we didn't."

"Can you just forget that you're mad at me? Just for a second." Adora steps out in front of her and smiles, "you're here . On a track scholarship of all things."

"Yeah, so?" Catra gets more than a little defensive.

"Nothing...it's great but I thought you'd get in for your artwork."

Catra surprises her with a laugh. "That's part of how it happened." She doesn't think Catra's going to tell her the rest of the story and it's completely fair—she gets why Catra is so hostile with her—but then Catra keeps talking. Her expression is wistful. "Micah caught me spray painting Glimmer's old club house and I was able to outrun him. He said it was impressive and showed up the next day at the orphanage and the rest is history."

It's everything, the way Catra opens up to her. Adora never thought she'd get the opportunity to see this side of her again; and maybe she's selfish but she reaches out for more.

"...you live with Glimmer's family now."

Catra glares at her. "It's none of your business but yeah, I do."

Adora snickers. "I really can't believe you and Glimmer are sisters; I can't see you two getting along."

Catra looks away. When she speaks again her voice is reserved, careful. "We didn't at first. I don't know how it happened but...she's not as annoying as I thought she was."

Adora rolls her eyes.

"What?" Catra looks over her shoulder to ask.

"Your tsundere is showing."

Catra shoves her. "Shut up!"

Adora laughs. "Wow, your face is so red right now."

"Shut up, Adora," she huffs all red in the face. She stomps forward with the direction of the GPS while Adora slowly falls out of her fit of laughter. It puts her at ease, this little lapse in time; it clouds her thinking and muffles reality. Adora bumps into Catra's back in her distraction.

"Sorry," she mutters.

Catra's gone stiff. "...what is she up to now?"

Adora glances over Catra's shoulder to see what has her so spooked. "Is that your—"

" Erma ." Just below the ledge they've been trailing is Erma and a couple other rugged looking guys talking quietly outside the opening of a cave that's cloaked with leaves and branches. Erma goes inside the cave with three men while the other two stay outside with their guns in hand. "Damn it, why is she always doing something sketchy." Catra mutters. She shoves her phone into her pocket and jogs in the opposite direction of where the party likely is.

Adora catches up to her and asks, "where're you going?"

"There's gotta be a back entrance."

"Wait a second." Adora steps in front of her with her arms stretched out. "What's going on?"

Catra snaps, "I don't know but it can't be anything good if she's involved."

Adora shakes away the shock (back when they were kids Catra idolized her mother), she's not accustomed to the loathing dripping from Catra tongue. "She's your mom—"

"She's not. Not anymore. She lost that right."

Adora has so many questions but she isn't sure how Catra will react to them so she squashes it down. She starts with something easy. "Do you even have a plan? You can't just run in there, Catra, they have guns!"

"And I have an idiot blonde with a magic sword." Catra shrugs. "Seems like a fair fight."

Adora's surprised Catra even remembers the one time she mentioned the sword. It was over the summer break right before high school, one of the last conversations they had before Adora sacrificed her friends in order to focus on training. "...I haven't figured it out yet."

Catra almost topples over. " What ? Adora, it's been two years and you still haven't activated the sword?"

"Can you lower your voice?" Adora huffs, face red with embarrassment. "And even if I could activate the sword it wouldn't do us any good. I don't have it on me."

Catra raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"School policy." Adora defends herself.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. We don't have to fight them," she can see the inkling of a plan being molded in that beautiful mind "we just need to see what she's up to, take a couple pictures, get some raw evidence so we can take it to Micah."

Adora frowns. "Glimmer's dad? How can he help?"

"He might be a doofus, but he has experience dealing with Erma. And involving the police has never helped anyone. So," Catra holds out her hand "can we call a truce until we figure this out?"

Adora frowns. "I was never fighting against you—"

Catra glares at her.

"—but okay," Adora shoves her hand forward and gives a firm shake "truce."

They've always made a great team.

4

The cave is desolate and dark with concave walls that seemingly close in on them, it smells like old swamp water and murky dirt. It reminds Adora of the dirt that used to cake up on the bottom of their shoes when they'd run around in the park after a storm. Catra uses the flashlight on her phone and leads the way, but Adora knows she's doing it as a courtesy to her; she's seen the abilities Catra carries with her unique species and seeing in the dark is not outside the frame of possibility.

"Hey," Catra's voice sounds too loud but, in reality, it's just above a whisper "look, drawings on the wall." There are, in fact, drawings—etched in some dark burgundy paint—depicting stories of the past. Adora moves closer, squinting in the dim light, but she can't make out much; there are figures gathered on the left of the wall with glowing hands, they're facing the right but nothing's there.

"Who're they fighting?" Adora frowns.

Catra is quiet all of a sudden. She stretches out her hand and moves it a couple inches to the right so Adora can see what Catra has probably already seen (maybe Catra has already processed it all). "Them."

The light reveals the rest of the story, the foes of those on the left—they don't have weapons. But they don't need any. On the far right there are creatures with pointy ears, curled tails, and sharp claws dripped with the blood of their enemies.

"Me…" Catra's voice sounds so far away. Adora wishes she could see the look on her face but even then Catra's still hard to read. "They're fighting me."

Adora frowns. "That's not you."

"My ancestors...me...it's all the same."

"The war," Adora realizes "this is what Razz was talking about."

"You knew?" Some emotion leaks from her voice but Catra doesn't lash out, doesn't even turn around. She keeps looking up, far above the light of her phone.

Adora shakes her head. "Not the whole story, no. Razz only mentioned a war for Etheria, for the magic, but she never told me who was fighting for it."

"We both were."

"Catra, are you okay?"

"Have you ever wondered why we met?" Catra asks out of nowhere. "And everything else leading up to our falling out...we were so close and then, in an instant, it was all torn apart so easily."

Catra raises her arm up to reveal another piece of the puzzle.

"Have you ever wondered why it was so easy for us to be at odds with each other?"

Adora almost falls over at the sight—at what Catra hasn't taken her eyes off since they noticed the wall. Above the armies fighting below are two deities, monarchs for each side, floating high above the rest pushing forward like they're about to clash. On the right is a looming warrior dressed in a simple tunic and long pants, it's a far cry away from the shining armor their opponent wears on the left. Adora hates herself for wondering which side is the light and which is the dark—hates herself for living in the black and white. That's how they differ, Adora has always seen good and bad while Catra has been able to see beyond it.

"You against me."

Adora snaps out of it. "What are you talking about?"

Catra points to the deity on the right. "She looks just like me," then she points to the deity on the left "tell me that doesn't look like you." The woman is significantly taller than her opponent, with long hair pulled into a ponytail with a very familiar weapon stretched out. "I haven't seen it before but that's your sword, isn't it?"

"This doesn't mean anything."

"What else do you know?"

Adora racks her brain. "Nothing...I know my mother had She Ra's power, and that she was fighting with the alliance to stop the Lost Ones but I never thought—"

"I'd be your enemy." Catra traces the outline of the deity that looks just like her. "That I'd be a Lost One...maybe that's not even the correct term, just a name your people branded us with to atone for your lack of understanding."

"Catra, you're my people."

Catra turns around, her eyes are an empty shell...nothing but a faraway gaze. "Am I?"

Adora swallows down something heavy. "Of course."

"You just said Mara fought with the alliance, that Razz wants you to do the same. Seems like you've already picked a side."

Adora snaps. "There are no sides!" The walls shake with her declaration, it's so strong it pulls at her chest, so familiar it tugs at her brain. Have they talked about this before?

"It's all on the walls, Adora." Catra gestures behind her. "You deciding to carry out the plans Mara made is just repeating the cycle."

Adora takes her hand. "Catra...we're not them. We don't even know what any of this means, it could just be random drawings that some bored kids drew."

"Maybe," Catra mutters, "or...maybe it means we were always meant to be enemies."

"No." Adora shakes her head. "We protected each other, you're the first memory I've ever had, we were best friends—"

"And look how that story turned out, Adora." There is no animosity, Catra's face is startling and void in a way Adora doesn't recognize. "History always repeats, right?"

Adora refuses to believe it.

Suddenly an explosion goes off causing the foundation to shake and wither, rocks come tumbling down from the ceiling, the floor begins to cave in on itself forming craters. A large stone comes their way, and Adora might not be able to activate the sword but she has excelled in the training Razz has put her through. Adora pushes them to safer ground just barely avoiding the hit. They land a couple feet away from the rubble with Adora packed on top of Catra—closer than they've been in months.

Adora unconsciously presses Catra further into the rock and stone beneath them, and even as the world seems to fall apart around them Adora stays put. Her eyes feel hot (Catra gasps in surprise, but Adora is too determined to get side tracked). "Whatever happened in the past has nothing to do with us, Catra. We get to make our own decisions, our own mistakes, but we're not influenced by our ancestors."

Catra snarls, "how can you say that? Your whole position in this fight is based on what your mentor has told you—based on what the others have done in the past."

"You're wrong."

"I'm not," Catra snaps. "How are you any different? What makes you so special?"

"I don't want to hurt you." Adora's voice cracks, "never again."

Another rock falls from the ceiling, Adora sees it from the corner of her eye, but Catra rolls them over and out of the way.

Catra climbs off her and then helps her up. "...you promise?"

Adora almost cries. "I promise."

It snaps something out of Catra, suddenly the glaze fades out of her eyes and when they come back they're filled with intent. Catra looks at her for a moment longer and then nods. She surveys the ruble around them, "we should probably get out of here before this place collapses on top of us."

Adora smiles. "But we're not doing that."

"Of course not," Catra snorts.

"Catra…" she doesn't want to disrupt whatever wounds they've managed to heal but she needs to know. "You said your mom was up to some shady dealings, but this goes far beyond the pay grade for a common criminal. The energy pulsing from the walls—it's magic based."

Catra huffs, "yeah so? Erma's a bigger asshole than I anticipated so what?"

"Whatever she's trying to get her hands on, she can't. She shouldn't have this kind of power who knows what she'll use it for. I know you care about her—"

"Spare me the speech, I've already burned that bridge." Catra looks away from her gaze. She sighs, "maybe I'll fill you in about my crap of a summer but for now let's just stop her. Okay?"

Adora hesitates. "I'm all for it but what can we do? I don't have my sword remember?"

"We're from the Horde, Adora. We'll make due."

"Catra…"

" Adora ," she has that smile, the one she wore whenever she had a delicious prank planned out for Kyle. "Trust me."

5

The back exit of the cave is blocked off with stone from the blast, leaving them with fewer options. Catra lets Adora lead the way, she has more experience with this magic stuff and if she was able to feel it on the walls then it's possible she can guide them to its source. To Erma. Catra knows the trepidation Adora has about getting involved when they're defenseless but Catra saw the electric blue, somewhat of a temporary spark, in Adora's eyes when she saved her from getting stoned. She may not have the sword but, for some reason, Catra doesn't think she needs it.

Call it intuition.

Adora stops them when they get to an open clearing, a bright light keeps her at bay but Catra pushes forward. "Catra wait..."

"Erma!" Catra shouts, stepping out of hiding. The three goons spin around with their weapons raised, they're surrounding Erma who has her hands stretched out to the power source that's floating above her head. One of the goons shoots at her.

"Catra!" Adora screams when she hears the shot go off. She runs over and checks her for any injury with trembling hands, she's too shaken up to notice that Catra isn't hunching over or gripping at her chest. She's just standing. "Are you okay?"

Catra grins, cheeky. "Protection spell, courtesy of Micah." She nods over to where the goon who fired the gun is flat on his back, gurgling in a pool of his own blood, from the bullet that bounced back at him.

"That's convenient." Adora laughs but she still looks shaken.

The two other goons keep their distance so Catra looks back to Erma. "Just what are you planning? First you're a drug dealer and now you're some kind of witch?"

Adora grips her chest when a pulse of magic slips out from the barrier Erma is trying to encase it in. "You shouldn't be doing this."

Catra steps in front of Adora and asks, "what are you doing, Erma?"

"There's a lot I have to tell you."

"Just answer the question!"

Erma doesn't look away from her task. "I'm just trying to take what's ours. Catra, you don't understand and that's my fault for not explaining it all to you but, Adora isn't who you think she is—"

"I know all about She Ra..."

"—and neither are you."

Catra frowns. "What are you…"

"Look out, Catra!"

Catra is blindsided by one of the goons; knowing he can't use weapons on her, he grabs Catra by the collar of her shirt and drags her over to the cave ledge. She extends her claws and digs them into skin, harder than she's ever done. "You bitch!" It's the motivation he needs to drop her off the ledge.

"Hey..!" Catra growls, digging her claws into the cave wall to keep herself from falling to her doom on sharp rocks littering the cave floor. She grunts, "dude...that's super disrespectful to women!"

There's a sharp scream from the clearing but Catra's too far down in the pit that she can't see over the edge. She rubs her forehead into the wall and clenches her teeth; if Adora got hurt because of her stupid hubris she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. Catra retracts the claws in her left hand, reaches up with the strength of her core, then brings her claws back out to dig them into the wall again. She huffs, "come on. You're not weak. You can do this." She slowly pulls herself up, inch by inch, encouraged by the screams above.

Her foot slips on some loose rubble in between sets, the force makes Catra lose her grip leaving her hanging from the wall with one hand. She reaches up with her free hand to get a better grip on the wall but the momentum puts more weight on her other arm; the claws etched into the stone begins to slip loose.

She hears footsteps on the ledge. Would she rather be captured by the enemy or fall to the depths of the unknown? Her revolve grows as do the footsteps.

Catra accepts to fall.

"No!" Adora grabs her hand and pulls her to solid ground. She cradles Catra in her chest and whispers a flurry of sweet nothings. "You're okay...I've got you...I'm not letting go…stay with me…"

Catra shushes her ramblings. "I'm okay."

Adora nods but refuses to let go. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah..." Adora is covered in some strange blue aurora, the same electric color as her eyes, she's surging with unkempt power. Catra has so many questions but now isn't the time. She rubs a reassuring hand down Adora's spine before she gets up to survey the carnage. The two goons Erma hired are out cold, their bodies are littered with lacerations and streaked with blood but somehow Adora looks untouched. The men are battered, but at least they're breathing.

Catra hardly bats an eye at the blood. She picks up a gun one of the dazed men was carrying and points it at Erma's side. "Give it up already."

"You're lost." Erma says, "but soon you'll understand that everything I do is for you."

"You have to stop!" Adora shouts suddenly. "This magic isn't something you can control! It belongs to Etheria, not you!"

Erma snarls. "And you think She Ra deserves it?"

"...no," Adora takes a step closer until she has Catra shielded by her body. "The Heart of Etheria doesn't belong to anyone, but it is known to help those with pure intentions to save the world it was created to protect. And even if that is your goal, you can't use the heart without…"

Erma doesn't care for Adora's hidden secrets. "I'm not extracting the heart, not yet. This is just a containment spell that will—"

"Magic isn't meant to be contained!" Adora's voice shakes the foundation, somehow it's more intense than the heart itself. "It'll only break loose."

A whisper of magic, quiet like lightening but just as threatening, slips loose and clashes with the walls. The foundation trembles but Catra isn't afraid; the blue magic around Adora spreads out until Catra can see traces of blue on her own skin.

Adora holds her arm up and summons a shield, laced in white and gold. She's prepared when the spell backfires, Adora protects them with her shield and the blue magic surrounding them. There's a bright spark right before the explosion; Catra peeks a glance over Adora's shoulder to see Erma fly through the air from the backlash of the heart. Adora moves them to one of the cave tunnels when another blast goes off.

They stay huddled in the tunnel until the quaking simmers. Catra waits for the dust to settle but it doesn't matter.

Erma and her goons are gone.

"The heart." Catra says. The sparks have settled but the energy in the clearing is still vibrating. "It's too dangerous for us to just leave it like this. Erma could come back."

"The heart's fine." Adora sighs, "but you're right about us leaving it unattended. If Erma knows about it then others do too."

"What now?"

Adora pulls out her phone. "Well, it's 15 minutes until 5."

"Shit, I forgot about detention." Catra groans.

"So," Adora continues "we get back to the classroom before Huntara finds out and makes Angela add more time to our sentence...and then I tell Razz about the heart and let her take care of the rest."

"Letting the adults handle things...doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

6

Elahji corners her when they get out of the woods. "Erma," he makes sure they're a good distance away from the other goons limping behind "that was too close."

"Astute observation."

"Erma. This is serious. Two of our men are wounded, I almost died, and for what? Some stupid geo-weapon that won't even work for us."

She looks at him.

"Yeah. I heard what the kid said. We're missing a piece to unlock the heart so what we just did was reckless and for nothing...we lost our advantage on the heart."

"You're not seeing the big picture." Erma mutters. "I just granted us a perfect diversion."

"...the eclipse is coming," he realizes with a start.

There are whispers from the goons behind them but they pay it no mind.

"She Ra will tell her little mentor about what happened here today and then they'll probably send someone to stabilize the heart. But even the most skilled mage will take a little over a week to get it under control. This gives us enough time to prepare for the eclipse."

Elahji shakes his head in awe. "How did the time go so fast?"

"Everything feels fast here, it's not like how it was on Half Moon." Erma shakes away the memories of the fallen kingdom. "We use the eclipse to bring back our deity, and then she'll obtain the heart while it's still weak."

"What about She Ra?" Elijah asks. "If we use the summoning spell on the day of the eclipse then we don't just resurrect our deity...we bring theirs back too."

"Then we make sure that doesn't happen."

"What if we can't?"

Erma glances at him. "It doesn't matter, we've learned from our mistakes so there's no way we'll fall into the same traps. We have the advantage here. She's living with the queen, she's close with She Ra, everything is in our favor and then some."

Elahji says no more.

"Catra's the princess, she was always meant to be the vessel."

7

They barely make it through the classroom windows when Huntara comes back to check up on them once their time is over. Huntara looks pleasantly surprised when neither of them are dead and decides the rest of their detention can proceed the same ("You guys have done enough hard labor for one week"). It's good to know they'll get a break for the rest of their sentence so it lifts some of the weight off Adora's shoulder as they trudge through the hollow halls of BMA.

"You need a ride?" Catra gestures to the slick BMW people in the school have gossiped about.

Adora normally rides her bike home but it was raining this morning so she took the bus. The last late bus doesn't stop by the school until 6 and Adora isn't in the mood for hanging around today so she takes Catra up on her offer.

Adora stares at her hands during the entire ride.

"Thanks for the ride." Adora says once they've stopped outside the small cottage. She puts a hand on the door handle but stops to look at Catra one more time. "Hey, I know today was crazy and there's still so much we have to talk about but...can we keep that truce standing? Permanently?"

Maybe it's because she's exhausted but Catra smiles at her. "I was thinking the same thing. Plus, it'll get Angela off our backs faster if we look like we've made nice." Adora tries not to show how disappointed she is but it probably doesn't work because now Catra's putting a hand on her shoulder. "And it would be cool to catch up again."

Adora's voice sounds like she's out of breath, "really?"

"Yeah...after today, I, I don't know what you've been through but I can tell it's been a handful. If I had to do this everyday I'd go crazy." Catra whispers, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Neither do you."

Adora squeezes the hand on her shoulder. "Well, I saved your life today so I'd say we're even."

"Please," Catra smirks, "you're the one who tried to jump in front of a bullet for me."

Adora feels her stomach flutter. She slips out from her seat and says a final goodbye before heading inside. Catra doesn't leave until Adora is waving at her through the window.

"You're back late." Razz startles her from the kitchen where she's enjoying a warm bowl of porridge at the table.

"Detention." Adora dumps her book bag by the door and slips out of her shoes (germs and all).

Razz snickers into her bowl. "Angela still hasn't let up?"

"She will," Adora thinks back to the truce, and hopefully their rekindled friendship. "I have to tell you something."

Razz motions for her to have a seat.

"Something happened, I've had a long day so I don't want to talk about it now, I will, but for now…"

"Tell Madame Razz." She cuts off her rambling with a gentle scorn.

Adora takes a deep breath. "I summoned She Ra today."

Razz blinks owlishly. "Really?"

Adora nods, biting at her lip to keep her smile at bay. "I know! Like, how is that even possible? I thought I needed the sword to use her power." She gets up from the table and starts pacing a hole in the kitchen tile. "I've been having trouble trying to connect with She Ra ever since I got the sword but now, all of a sudden, I can call her without a problem? It doesn't make sense...did this happen to Mara?"

Razz shakes her head. "Mara was a special case but, no, she never used her power without the sword. But then again, Mara wasn't involved in the war like her previous predecessors. All she wanted was peace and so she refused to fight unless it was to protect the innocent, she didn't choose a side in the war."

Adora falters. "Really? I thought she was fighting with the alliance like her ancestors."

"So did everyone else, but Mara didn't let history define the choices she made."

Adora shakes her head. "I swear, whenever I take a step forward I feel like the road stretches out further."

Razz takes a sip of tea, she is the vessel of peace; it's a big stretch from the rambunctious crazy woman who everyone on the outside associates her as. But Adora knows better, she has seen the wisdom behind those spectacles and has bathed in the madness of her methods which yield great results.

"You're worked up," Razz says as if she notices for the first time. "Before you moved here you said you played a lot of sports at the Horde."

"I did. Why?"

"You said playing sports helped you deal with your emotions, maybe this is the same. It's not the sword that draws out your power, it's already inside of you, the sword is just an accessory. An activator." Razz says, "your emotions are what drive you. Not very ideal, your enemies can use that to your advantage, but it's a beautiful thing..."

"...what is?"

"Fighting for someone you care about." Razz smiles. "Now go take a shower, you stink."

Adora takes a shower per Razz's request and then sits on the ledge of her window sill. She stares out into the night in the direction of Glimmer's house where Catra's staying.

8

"You're late." Angela greets her from the couch. Catra leans against the front door and takes a moment to take in the sight; Micah is deep in sleep (if the drool isn't telling) on Angela's shoulder. "Where were you?"

Catra shrugs off her leather jacket and drapes it on her arm. "I gave Adora a ride home. She took the bus today and didn't want to wait for it."

Angela looks surprised. "Does this mean…"

"It means you don't have to worry about people placing bets on us again."

"Right...and in case this is some scheme to get me to loosen my grip on you, detention will continue until—"

"Track starts next week, love." Micah mutters.

Angela huffs, "fine...but no more acts of defiance. Are there any other rivals you have that are attending BMA?"

"No." Catra says. "But I'll inform you if any pop up."

Angela mutters under her breath but Catra pays no mind to it, she jogs up the steps even as her muscles scream against every move she makes. She knocks three times— tap, tap, tap —on Glimmer's door and lets herself in.

"Hey." Glimmer's sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, laptop in her lap probably working on some homework but knowing Glimmer she's probably just shopping. "How was detention with the coach from hell and the blonde from your past?"

Catra closes the door to buy time and privacy. "Huntara just locked us in a room and said be free and, Adora and I have made up in a sense."

Glimmer gasps. "That's great! Now there won't be any tension at my yacht party."

"Yes, I made up with my old best friend to make you comfortable at your party."

"Thank you." Glimmer pretends like there are tears in her eyes. "But seriously, you seem off...anything you want to talk about?"

Catra nods. "I need a favor, actually."

"Oh?"

"I want you to tell me everything you know about She Ra and her role in the war against the alliance and the Lost Ones."