Etheria

Glimmer Moon had been having that dream again, the one where she was in the car's backseat but also driving? Somehow? And her mom was in the car too, giving her directions, screaming meaningless advice, none of which was helping because she could barely reach the steering wheel and the road had these massive chunks missing from it. Then finally the road just ended, and she tried to gun it, but the gap was too big. They were falling, the whole time her mother telling her she should have done better, should have known better—Until there was this feeling like being turned into soda and back again and she landed on something hard.

Fuck. This was why she hated taking those sleep gummies! They always gave her the weirdest dreams.

Ugh. She opened her eyes and immediately shut them again. Light was screaming into her eyeballs, way too much light for this early in the morning. She must have left her curtains open last night, though this seemed too bright for even the obnoxious neon of the pizza shop across the street.

Damn, Glimmer, you hot mess. You really just fell the fuck out of bed like a five-year-old, didn't you? She hadn't done that since college and even then she at least had the excuse of being drunk off her ass. Though, honestly, she almost felt drunk now, the sleep meds in her system making everything feel squishy and foggy, sleep trying to drag her back down.

She should get up, right? Get back into bed at least? But her brain was not properly braining right now, and that seemed like way too much work. Besides, her elbow and tail bone still stung like hell. You'd think even the shitty cheap carpet they had in this place would have cushioned her fall a little.

Although… she slid her hand over the floor underneath her. It was cold, hard, almost like polished marble and not even a bit like the height of synthetic fiber technology of the 1990s. Which even to her half asleep brain seemed… weird.

She slowly eased her eyes open, adjusting to the light which was coming from... crystals? Like way too many crystals? Weird glowing, multi-colored crystals hanging from the ceiling. Crap. This was exactly the kind of fancy new agey nonsense Aunt Casta would have in her holistic wellness center. Her aunt must have finally whined her into attending one of those meditation classes and she'd gotten so relaxed she passed out and now everyone was laughing at her because she drooled in her sleep and she'd never achieve inner—

Except… she'd been home? There had been crying and then she couldn't sleep, which was why she'd taken the gummy… She groaned as she remembered the Bow thing with the feeling of three thousand pounds of shit dumping directly onto her chest at once. She grabbed at her head and willed herself to go back to sleep because driving off a cliff with her mother over and over was infinitely preferable to thinking about what a fucking disaster her life was.

She'd almost sunk back into beautiful, forgiving unconsciousness when the alarm on her watch went off, pulsing against her wrist. If it was for something unimportant, like work or a doctor's appointment or something, she would have hit the fuck-off button, but if she didn't get up now, she'd miss her chance to see Bow before he left for work. And even though sleeping in was one of her favorite things in the entire world, she was actually that much of a simp that she forced herself upright so fast the motion made her dizzy.

Last night's breakdown had left her eyes itchy and crusted. She rubbed her face as she lurched to her feet, but the sleep meds still clung to her like a weighted blanket draped over her brain. When she finally pried her eyes open and adjusted to the blaring light, she was even more confused than before.

Okay… What the hell kind of Harry Potter shit was this? All around her was magic crap straight off of the wizard shelf of some Hollywood props department. There was a table piled with what looked like ancient books and scrolls, scripty magic-ish looking letters embossed in gold across the front. In the corner, a weird astral globe-y metal thing spun entirely on its own while a vine of jet black roses climbed up the farthest wall, in sharp contrast to the muted pastels everywhere else. A mortar and pestle engraved with foreign symbols lay on a small end table, the bit of crushed powder on the end smoking slightly. In fact, the least weird thing in the entire room was a small stack of crystals, like the kind her Aunt Casta always gave her on birthdays and insisted were lucky.

She closed her eyes again, trying to make her gooey brain cooperate. Logic, Glimmer. Think. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. OK, um, how about…

Very Reasonable Option Number One: She was living that Tumblr post, the one where she shifted to Hogwarts and had to kill Malfoy… avoid killing Malfoy?… get Harry to kiss Malfoy? Give Malfoy the president's shoelaces because something about the color of the sky? Shit, who knew there was going to be a test on this stuff!

No. She shook her head. Even with her brain gummed up as it was, that didn't feel like it was it.

Very Reasonable Option Number Two: Uh… she was at some kind of theme park, renaissance fair situation! Was there some sparkly rainbow Disney princess she was forgetting? Maybe there was a gift shop or queue line around here somewhere and she'd… But, see, the problem with that is that everything here looked too real to be fake. She ran her finger along the red ribbon she'd found on the table, the material rich and soft, way nicer than anything you'd find at a craft shop.

There was something off about the air, too. It felt... buzzy? Like she was breathing champagne. It made her lightheaded, sending a tingle across her skin that put her on edge. It did NOT help with the feeling of being tipsy, that was for sure.

So, then, uh…

Very Reasonable Option Number Three: Wizarding… school… dream? That was a thing, right? People had those. Not her, because she was really more of a Riordanverse kind of gal. But still!

Except, but if this was a dream, there was a lot of nothing happening. Usually her dreams were way more plot than scenery. The background was usually fuzzy, the details always shifting. But as long as she stood there waiting, the dream didn't change. She ran a finger along the worn leather on one book and the thing flew open, pages flipping on their own, the ink glowing.

OK… that was freaky as hell. She stepped back from the book but her heart lept into her throat at her first proper look at the floor. She lunged, tripping over her own feet in her haste to get clear of the strange circle of symbols.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

Oh, no no no. This could go back to the nice normal Merlin's glittery gay study vibe annny minute now because this shit on the floor? The creepy glowy symbols pulsing like some kind of countdown that was... well, shit, it was clearly some kind of satanic fucking ritual or whatever, right? She may not know her wizard books but she knew her horror films, damn it, and people did not draw symbols like that on the floor unless they were fucking around with the darkest arts like summoning demons and shit.

Holy crap. She'd been thinking this was the study of some wizened and maybe kind of handsome in a silver fox way Patrick Stewart-ish wizard. But no! This place apparently belonged to some crazed sorceress consumed by violence and a lust for power at any cost! Some kind of chaotic vixen—Maybe sexy? No! Glimmer, focus!—who answered to no one and would stop at nothing to unleash the… uh… whatever there was around here to unleash.

Wait! She stepped even farther away as she realized something terrible. She'd woken up in the circle. She'd been lying right smack in the middle of the satanic demon summoning circle! Worse than that, she'd fallen into it almost like... like...

Fuck fuck fuck. A cold tingle crawled up her skin. Why was she here? Was she… was she the blood sacrifice? They needed those to summon a demon, right? I mean, she wasn't a virgin, but it had been A While, maybe that was close enough?

Oh shit, she was going to die here. The demon would eat her or suck out her aura or whatever demons did, and she'd be done for, even though there was so much she hadn't gotten to do yet! She hadn't accomplished anything with her life or made her mother proud of her or told Bow she loved him or gotten to run her hands across those abs while she rode him like a—

Wow. Hold on. She really needed to get it together. She rubbed her face, trying to wake herself up properly. Maybe she should stop taking those gummies so late. Not only did they completely fuck her up until they wore off, they apparently made her WAY too horny. She smacked her face and even did a couple of jumping jacks until it felt like her brain was properly back online.

OK. Now. She was awake. In a minute, she'd open her eyes and be standing in her normal bedroom where she'd have a good laugh at herself and then maybe follow that up with a good cry at herself. By then Bow would be done in the shower and she would get up and act like a normal person for the duration of breakfast and as soon as he was out the door she could go back to bed and fall apart in peace.

Whew. Plan. A solid plan, one she'd followed way too many mornings lately, and it would have worked too… if she didn't open her eyes to find everything exactly the same as before.

Oh no. No no no. She was still here? In the weird freaking wizard room with the magic shit and the demon portal and the glow satanic graffiti and just so many more fucking crystals than anyone needed, like what was WRONG with whoever's room this was?

Glimmer was shaking now, the whole situation feeling that much more terrifyingly real now that she was actually awake and thinking clearly. Fear was already overloading her system when she finally noticed the signs on the wall. Plastered haphazardly around the room, each one with the word "NO!" scrawled three feet high. That would have been unsettling enough but the thing that really made her skin crawl, that made her scramble frantically for the door, her fingers desperately yanking at the handle praying it was unlocked because she could NOT spend another second in this room was the fact that somehow those creepy signs?

Were in her own handwriting.

She wrenched open the door and found herself in an opulent hallway. Ahead of her was a decorative bowl of glowing orbs on a small table, next to it a vase that was undulating like the goop in a lava lamp. Above that was a window and outside of it chucks of rock floated in open air. Water poured from nowhere to nowhere, and everything sparkled like she'd stepped into the land of some glittery fairyland. As she watched, open-mouthed, a rainbow winged horse came by singing loudly, like My Little Pony's drunken uncle.

Yeah, ok, no, this was way too fucking weird. She was going back to the room where she was before to take her changes with the sorceress / wizard / demonic presidential shoelace situation. She spun back to the door, but it was gone. Just fucking GONE, the wall behind her completely blank like nothing had ever been there.

This had to be a trick, right? One of those fake doorways like an escape room kind of thing and if she just slid her finger along the... or maybe if she just pulled this hanging crystal thingie here it would...

"Sparkles, what the FUCK are you doing?"

Sparkles? Glimmer spun around because she knew that voice, but nothing in her entire life could have prepared her for what it had come out of. "C-Catra?"

"Didn't expect to see you up this early." It was Catra's voice. And smirk. Except the fangs? The fangs were definitely new. And her eyes... the usual mismatched blue and yellow, but there was something about the shape of them, the whole shape of her... the fur… just so much fur? "Or are you still up since yesterday?"

"You're..." Glimmer backed up against the wall. She was dreaming, right? This had to be some kind of weird dream. Maybe too many horror movies because of the fur and the ears and the claws and the tail. It was almost she was like... like she was... "You're a cat!"

"Uh, yeah?" Catra looked at her with concern. She was wearing some kind of red and gold uniform and if tasteful, professional boob window was a thing, she was rocking one.

"You... cat!" Glimmer repeated stupidly, but her brain had short-circuited.

"Wow. I understand now why we never see you at this hour." Catra took another step closer. Glimmer reached out and touched Catra's arm and recoiled when it was soft and furry, exactly like petting Melog over at Adora's apartment. Catra tilted her head at her, which only made her look more feline. "Are you sick or something? No offense, but you look like shit. Like somebody turned the brightness down 50%. Do you need to recharge your sparkles or something?"

"Do I… wha…" Recharge? Like she was a phone or something?

Catra looked like she was going to say something else, but there was a small beep and a tinny voice said, "General?"

Catra touched her ear—God, look at those ears!—as if she was speaking into an ear-piece. Glimmer used the distraction to shift a little farther away. "Yeah, I'm in the east wing. Well, shit. I'd love to say I'm surprised, but we expected them to pull something."

Glimmer kept edging away, waiting for her moment to make a break for it. Because, normally, Catra was a friend, but there was absolutely nothing normal about this situation. Whatever Catra was discussing, it had her agitated, her tail flicking like Melog's did when Adora was slicing up salami and not giving him any. Catra went to the window, scanning the Salvador Polly Pocket landscape like she was searching for something.

"Fuck. Well, does the King know? Ha! Trust me, he can be plenty deadly if he needs to be. Especially if someone messes with the Queen."

Great, so now she had to worry about some deadly King, probably some hulking Game of Thrones barbarian who would do who knows what to intruders. The sooner she got out of this place, the better. She'd almost maneuvered herself out of Catra's field of sight, clear of the wall.

Catra was still listening at her ear piece, and she nodded. "Understood, but we shouldn't count on them matching that description by the time we catch up to them. If they are shifter, they could be… Hold on. Where are you going, Sparkles? We've got a breech in progress here."

Sparkles again. Was that supposed to be her? "I… um… for the coffee… you mentioned?"

Catra's eyes narrowed. "And you're walking there?"

"Uh, yeah. How else would I— " It was the wrong thing to say. Something flashed across Catra's face and then, lightning quick, she'd leaned into her personal space. It took Glimmer a moment to realize what she was doing. She was sniffing her, like an animal, and from the way her entire posture tensed when she was finished, she didn't like what she smelled. Her head flinched back. "Sparkles?"

Glimmer didn't wait to find out what she'd done wrong. She grabbed the small table and tipped it over, the bowl and vase shattering, scattering orbs and pulsing gloop across the floor. Then she sprinted down the hallway in the opposite direction, like her life depended on it. Catra was dangerous normally, when all she had was a knife hidden in the top of her designer boots. With those fangs, those claws, all of which were extended now, like twenty knives from her hands and feet... Glimmer didn't like her chances.

"Hey! What a minute!" Catra yelled, but Glimmer didn't stop.

She barely made it five steps before she crashed into two cloaked women with massive moon spears and tasseled knight helmets... guards as best as she could figure by whatever the fuck fantasy logic was at play here. She expected them to grab or stop her, but the one helped her up and then they let her pass.

OK? Not about to question that. She sprinted past them, surprised when she turned back and they'd squared up to... defend her? They'd crossed their spears and were holding Catra back, the latter hissing mad, her fur puffed out around her.

"Don't stop me, you idiots!" Catra screamed. "When have you ever seen her run like that instead of just poofing? That's the intruder!"

Oh shit. She didn't wait to find out if the guards believed Catra or not. If you died in a dream, you didn't in real life, right? She increased her speed, the burning in her leg muscles reminding her she was NOT getting enough exercise these days. But the weird thing was she could run without that hopeless moving through molasses feeling she usually got in dreams. In fact, everything about this from the fire in her lungs to the way her heart was trying to beat its way out of her rib-cage felt way too real for her to pretend this was anything but actually happening.

Footsteps, advancing fast, ahead and behind. Fuck. She needed to hide, figure out some kind of plan, because if they caught her…

Two more guards rounded the corner, spears out, but they hesitated when they saw her. She took advantage of their confusion and crashed between them, making a dive for the doors behind them, the first room she'd seen. With a thud, she pulled the heavy wooden doors shut, then grabbed a fancy chair that was leaning against the wall next to the doors and wedged it under the door handle. She was just trying to push what looked like a large wooden filing cabinet in front of the doors for extra security when she heard a deep and incredibly familiar voice behind her ask,

"What are you doing?"