Etheria
"Glimmer? What's wrong?"
Wha— Glimmer blinked and backed up against the door, her breathing unsteady. Adrenaline was still buzzing through her system, making everything too sharp. But even with her senses fractured by fear, she instantly recognized the man gaping at her from behind the large wooden desk.
Was he going to come after her, too? She swallowed, tensing. When they'd moved to the city and Bow had insisted she learn some self-defense, she never expected she'd have to use it on him!
Bam! Bam! Bam! She jumped as something slammed against the door behind her and spun, pushing her weight against it, hoping it would hold. Beyond the door, voices were shouting and footsteps pounded down the hallway in time with her racing heart.
"Hey." A gentle touch at her arm. "Hold on. What's— " She turned to him and he gasped, recoiling, pulling his hand back like he'd burned it. His eyes widened as he studied her face. "…Glimmer?"
"Bow, I… Catra and these people with spears are… I don't…" She wasn't making any sense, but this was all too much and she was half a second from collapsing into tears. "What IS this place? What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"
Bam! Bam! Another hard knock at the door. The ornate handle jostled from the outside, but Bow barely seemed to register it. He was staring at her, his hand over his mouth. When he finally spoke, she wasn't even sure it was to her.
"Oh, Trouble. What have you done?"
"Bow!" Catra. Glimmer shrank backwards, away from the door. She didn't doubt Catra could get the door open if she wanted to. Her instincts said to hide, but what good would it do if this Bow was on the same side of the rest of them? Another loud knock. "Hey, Arrow Boy! You in there?"
"Yeah," he answered. "One second."
There was a heart stopped moment where she convinced herself he was going to hand her over, but then he put a finger to his lips and gestured towards the far corner behind the bookshelves. She moved to where he pointed and flattened herself against the wall, praying she was out of sight of the door from here. With one hand, he moved the chair she'd wedged under the handle, with the other he pulled open the door.
"Hey Catra." He'd only opened the door wide enough that his body filled the small space. He appeared relaxed, his arm leaning against the other door casually, but when Glimmer leaned forward for a peek, she noticed he'd wedged his leg against the door to stop it from opening any wider. "What can I do for you? Sounds like everybody's all worked up about something."
"Let's just say I'm having an eventful morning." Catra laughed, that easy, real laugh she only ever did when it was the four of them. "Look, I don't want to freak you out or anything, but… have you seen Sparkles?"
"Yeah. She's in here with me."
"Oh, OK. Good." Catra sounded relieved. "Let me talk to her real quick."
There was a thud as Catra tried to push open the door and discovered Bow's block.
"Not right now. She's asleep," he lied smoothly, nodding his head towards the couch on the other side of the room. Bow was the nicest guy in the universe, which is why it was always slightly distributing to see how easily he could lie. She'd watched him do it to his dads for years until he finally came clean on the history thing, but she never really got used to the juxtaposition. "It was a late night getting ready for today's meeting and I want her to get some rest."
"Yeah." Catra's voice went up slightly at the end of the word. Glimmer couldn't see her face from here, but she got the distinct feeling she didn't quite believe him. "Look, Bow, not that I don't trust you, because you know I do, but there was a perimeter breach before. And just now, there was somebody. Had the slashes on the shirt and everything and I know Entrapta said that scan of hers can detect shapeshifters and it's not saying we've got one, but—"
"But, what, General? You think I'm someone else?" Bow laughed, an easy rumble that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up because she knew him so well she could tell instantly it was fake. His tone was playful, his posture casual, but his fingers drummed on the back of the door with agitation. "I'm me, Catra. And I know you already figured that out because your nose does that little lift when you're smelling out a problem. It's SO CUTE."
"It. Is. NOT! Just because you've got the fancy title now doesn't mean I still can't kick your ass, Arrow Bow." In her world, Catra barely tolerated Bow but there was an affectionate purr to her voice right now that implied here they were genuinely close. "So you're your usual annoying self. But are you sure you've got Sparkles?"
Fuck. This was it. He was going to turn her in. Glimmer held her breath, pressing back against the shelf.
"Catra, I've known her my entire life. Do you seriously think I wouldn't know Glimmer from an impostor?"
"Well, yeah but… OK, fine. You got me there." There was some kind of commotion outside, shouting and what sounded like the clash of metal on metal. "Damn it, now what? Frontside, what's your status? Report? Ugk, I've got to go see what that's about. One day, that's all I ask!"
"You know you love it." Bow laughed, a real one this time. "And Catra? I know you're looking out for us and I appreciate it, but let me worry about Glimmer, OK?"
"Alright." Catra seemed to surrender. There was a light smacking sound, and Glimmer wondered if they fist bumped or something. "Not like I don't already have plenty of shit to me busy today. I have a bad feeling about it. Just… if you run into any trouble, let me know."
"You got it, buddy."
Glimmer waited several seconds past when she heard the door click closed before she moved out of her hiding place. Bow was leaning his head against the wall, expelling a long breath. For the first time, she noticed the design on the back of his jacket, a crescent moon atop a heart. It was exactly like the best friends key chain he'd made her when they were eight, the one she still had on her apartment key. Somehow this convinced her she could trust him as much as him covering for her.
"Thank you," she said softly, wary of the raised voices still coming from outside.
"You're welcome." He turned to look at her, his eyes scanning her face, registering something, but she didn't know what. "It's so strange. You look like her, but…" He reached out his hand as if he was going to touch her hair and then pulled it back. "You are Glimmer, right?"
"Yeah." She stepped farther into the room, shifting restlessly. "And you're Bow."
"I am." He hesitated, chewing at the side of his lip. "But probably not... your Bow."
"Wow. OK." She leaned back against the large wooden desk. It was weird to hear it out loud even if she'd already figured that much out herself. He didn't look like her Bow, for starters. It was like someone had hit him with a Disney Prince-ification ray. It wasn't just the neat ponytail, the rich pastel suit and the long pearl earring like nothing she could even imagine her Bow wearing. There was this polished gloss to him, the same sheen of unreality everything in this world had.
So if this shiny guy was Bow but… not Bow. If that furry thing out there was Catra… then was this Sparkles person everyone kept mentioning… her? The idea that there might be another, shinier (or maybe furrier?) version of herself somewhere was too bizarre to even wrap her head around. "Not to be rude, but can you please tell me what the literal fuck is happening here? What is this place? How did I get here? Where am I? Is this some kind of alternate universe? A parallel dimension? A cosmic fucking joke? And the talking flying horse out there, did I imagine that or…"
"Hold on. It's complicated." Someone shouted in the hallway and footsteps tromped by the door in a hurry. Bow reached over and locked the door. He gestured her father from the doorway and lowered his voice before he continued. "Basically, yes. You could think of this as an alternate universe. Though based on my calculations, it's more likely that your world's an alternate to ours and not—"
"Uh, no! This is the weirdo mirror verse! My world is normal!"
Bow cocked his head at her and then continued, "Either way. I was afraid this might happen. A matter exchange. Something goes through, something equivalent comes back. Only I never expected it to be another you."
"Hold on. Another me? Are you saying there's a different Glimmer and we switched places? And now she's where I'm supposed to be?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying." He was watching her with a kind of detached amusement, like she was a magic trick. "It's fascinating, really. I wish I could tell Entrapta. I so rarely get to surprise her with anything and she's going to go nuts for this."
"Forget fascinating! How do I get back home?"
"Oh, well, you should pop back any minute now. She was only going over for a few seconds, to check for… something." He hesitated, and she knew he was hiding something, but before she could ask what it was, he continued. "But as soon as she's done, she'll come back and you'll go right back where you came from."
"How are you so calm about this? This is crazy! One minute I'm sleeping peacefully in my bed and the next I'm pulled into the Glimmerverse or some bullshit. And then there's this freaky circle of symbols and it's pulsing with light and everything is satanic wizard chic and Catra's a CAT and you're all Prince Charming-ing up and everyone is chasing me and trying to take me to some king who's going to lock me up or cut off my head or do god knows what and… is something about this absolute fucking nightmare funny to you?"
"Sorry. It's just…" Bow at least had the decency to look guilty about laughing. "You really don't have to worry about that last part."
She blinked at him.
"Look, to answer your question, I'm not freaking out because Glimmer... my Glimmer was doing an experiment. It wasn't supposed to happen until tonight, but I guess she changed her mind... though wish she would have told me. Maybe she didn't want me to worry and thought if she... "
"Bow?" she prompted when he seemed to have gotten lost in his thoughts.
"Oh, right. Anyway, as jarring as this must be for you— and I am really sorry for that, by the way— the situation is under control. The Catra thing was just… bad timing. And as for the king?" He ducked his head, looking sheepish. "That's actually me."
"You're…" For the first time she registered the golden circlet nested on his forehead, thin twists of gold braided around a handful of small red gemstones. "You're a king? Like… the king? Of a kingdom and everything?"
"Of the planet, actually. Though it's mostly symbolic now that the war's over. All the individual kingdoms pretty much govern themselves these days. Though we're still the head of the alliance, so… it's complicated. And still super new." He adjusted the crown self-consciously and cleared his throat. She smiled despite herself. He was too adorable when he got all bashful. Somehow the awkwardness made him look even more like her Bow. "Honestly, it's really weird for me, too. Definitely not used to it yet. I was fine with being a regular guy!"
"Well, gosh. Congratulations, I guess." She didn't agree with monarchies in principle, but if you had to create a messed up feudal class system and give someone ultimate power, she couldn't imagine a better guy to give it to than Bow. And, as much as she loved her scruffy nerd boy back home, he wore the polished royalty look well. Like, really well. She leaned back against the desk, trying to look like she was objectively considering this new information and not blatantly checking him out.
"So, King Bow, huh? Should I bow or— shit!" Her hand slipped, and she knocked over one of the teetering towers of paper. She dove, but it was too late. Documents went cascading over the side and sliding across the floor. "Sorry! I made a mess of your desk."
Bow reached for the papers that had spilled to the floor. "Actually, that's your desk."
"It is?" Wow. Now that she looked at it, her neat freak best friend would never have so many haphazard nests of paper and folders strewn all about his desk.
Did that mean she was some kind of royal adviser? That would make sense. She was the king's best friend, after all. Though, knowing her luck, it was probably more like a glorified administrative assistant. But still, to the king of the planet? That was kind of cool. If nothing else, it probably impressed her mom.
She grabbed the nearest paper, recognizing the messy loops of her own handwriting. She scanned the writing, touching the letters, wondering for the first time about the other version of her that belonged here and what she was like. And why she could apparently sign what looked like super official-looking documents in pink glitter pen.
"You claim there's some kind of system to all this chaos but I sure don't know what it is." Bow had stacked the papers from the floor neatly and placed them on top of the nearest tower.
"It seems simple enough to me. Like, obviously, those don't go over there. They're also about the Right to Peace ordinance like these." She snatched the stack he'd just placed and balanced them atop the leftmost paper pile. Bow stared at her dumbly as she also snatched the last folder out of his hand and added it to the stack she'd just finishing fixing. "And this one belongs with these others about the Etherian Mental Wellness initiative."
What chaos? She straightened the piles a little, so they were in less danger of falling over, moved the folder that was clearly where her coffee cup went and then surveyed the topography of the desk with satisfaction. She may not know exactly what any of these documents were about, but their arrangement made perfect sense to her!
She plopped down in the desk chair. "So, how much longer until I switch back?"
It took a moment for Bow to snap out of the bewildered trance he'd worn as she rearranged the desk. "Um… soon, I guess. Honestly, I'm surprised she's not back already. She only planned to be gone for a few minutes. Though, if she found what she was looking for, she might have decided to stay a little longer. But she knows how important this meeting is, so I'm sure she'll..." He faltered. "There is magic in your world, right?"
"Magic? No." She thought about her dad for a second, then shook her head. "Not real magic anyway."
"Oh. Oh, boy. That's... that's not good." Bow sunk down into the plush chair under the window. Outside, someone shouted that sounded a lot like Adora and a flash of golden light blasted through the window. Something slammed into the ground outside, and the sounds of fighting abruptly ceased. Catra laughed, sounding awfully pleased about something, though she couldn't make out what she was saying. All she could see from here was the building across the way and a small garden, neither of which was where the action was.
It seemed profoundly stupid to say, "Magic is real?" after everything else she'd seen here today, so she only asked, "Does that mean I'm stuck here?"
"Well…" Bow rubbed at this forehead. He was trying to sound upbeat, but the way his fingers were digging into the arm of the chair said he was freaking out more than he wanted to show. "Without magic she can't... Wait!" He sat bolt upright. "You said the circle was pulsing, right?"
"Uh, yeah. It was like woo woo woo." She opened and closed her hands in the rhythm, trying to mimic the eerie throbbing of the symbols on the floor.
"It was rhythmic? Like a countdown?" He'd lept to his feet, grabbing two handfuls of his hair like he only did when he was really frantic. She nodded quickly. He exhaled with apparent relief. "OK. OK, then that's the pullback. My wonderful brilliant Glow, thank Mara you thought to set that up."
"A pullback? What does that mean?" Watching him pace back and forth across the room was making her agitated.
"It means even without magic, you'll still switch back automatically. But if she never changed the time, that could be a whole day from now." He was worrying at his nails as he paced, the sign of a full Bow freak out. "It must have been an accident. She didn't mean to go this early and now she's stuck there with no magic for hours and hours and that's even assuming times moves the same there and I should have—"
Bow stopped mid-stride and spun to face her so quickly she stepped back involuntarily. He grabbed her arms, the look on his face intense, his anxiety contagious. "Your world. It's not dangerous, is it? Not that she can't handle herself but without magic…"
"Dangerous? No. Well, yes, but… it's a normal amount of dangerous, I guess? Just your usual murder and war and stuff. The occasional pandemic, climate event, whatever. We don't have any freaky magic or cat people or flying horses or kings or… well, royalty exists, but, where we live, we've got this democracy thing that, like, barely works and is honestly a mess. They should really overhaul the entire…" She wasn't helping. His eyes had widened, and he was shaking his head from side to side like none of this would do. No no no, she had to make it better. It hurt like a physical pain when he was upset and she couldn't just FIX IT. "But, hey! She's not alone. If we really traced places, then she's with you. My Bow."
Bow crinkled his brow. "The other me... he's a good guy?"
"Of course he is! He's my best friend! He'd do anything to help!" Well, assuming he thinks the other Glimmer is her. Shit, she hoped that Glimmer was better at faking it than she was. She hadn't lasted five seconds before being found out. Bow would do anything to protect her, of that she was certain, but she wasn't sure what he'd do if he realized he had an imposter. Probably nothing good. That was a terrifying idea, but she put it aside and gave this Bow an encouraging smile. He was worried enough without her giving him new things to stress about. "He'll help her, I'm sure of it."
Bow didn't look entirely satisfied, but at least he released the death grip on her arms. "Well, that's a relief, but I'd still feel better if we switched you two back as soon as possible."
"OK, so how do we do that?" There were more footsteps in the corridor and harried voices. They clearly couldn't stay in here much longer without her being found out.
Bow chewed at the inside of his lip, thinking. "We'll have to go back to the spell room and figure out how to make the pull back happen earlier."
"And that's a thing you know how to do?"
He gave her a guilty glance. "Not exactly, but we should be able to figure it out. If not, we'll just have to come up with a way to ask your aunt or your dad without them knowing what we're up to." He grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's get started."
He stared at her expectantly, and she blinked back.
"Are you waiting for me to do something?"
"Yeah, you were going to— Shoot, you can't teleport, can you?"
"…no? Is that a thing people can normally do here?" Every time she felt like she was getting the hang of the rules of this place, they switched it up. Teleport. What kind of Star Trek nonsense was this?
"Not all people but you—" Bow groaned and stared at the ceiling. "OK. You don't have magic. It's fine. We'll just… get there another way."
"Like… walking?"
"Not dressed like that, we can't. The slashes… It's a long story. I'll explain later." He gestured vaguely at her shirt and she remembered with horror that she'd been having this entire conversation with a literal king in her ratty old slashed up pajamas. "But even with me there to vouch for you, every person in the castle will stop us as long as you're dressed like that, and I don't think I can fool Catra twice. So if we've got to walk all the way over, you've got to change and… hmm…" He paced for a moment and then moved to the window. He pulled himself up on the sill and leaned so far out she was afraid he'd fall, but a moment later he pulled himself back in with a grin. He jumped down, grabbing his bow and arrows from where they hung by the desk, and slipped them onto his back.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked, watching with fascination as he flipped open an ornate golden bow, way fancier than the composite one he used back home.
Bow didn't answer, just nocked an arrow and leaned out the window again, sticking the tip of his tongue out like he did when he was concentrating or sizing up a shot. When he turned back to her, he wore that same look of giddy mischief he'd get when they were kids and he was trying to get her to sneak out to see some cool thing he'd found in the woods. He pulled himself up, so he was standing on the windowsill and held out a hand.
He grinned at her, the whole handsome Disney Prince-ification thing going full blast. "Ready to try something that probably won't work?"