A/N: AHHHHHHHHH! A CHAPTER UNDER 7K WORDS! WHATS THIS WORLD COMING TO?!
Honestly, i'm not 100% surprised XP. With 5 minutes left to the show and not much else going on other than some feel-y stuff here and there, there really isn't much left to the episode. It's mostly reconciliation between friends and mother/daughter, and then just walking through the woods. With that in mind I'm surprised I managed to get that much out of this!
Speaking of done, I also decided to stop worrying whether I make the fic to melodramatic or not. Not even counting the fact it's "a fanfic I made" or some excuse, it's mostly because I had a set plan for the fic. If i start doubting myself now or whatever or question if I should change something, I'm never going to get the story done, or not as well as I had hoped. I have to continue onwards the way people have enjoyed it thus far, and I hope they continue to enjoy it if they've trusted my work up to this point ^^.
With that said, enjoy!
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"Listen, Glimmer," Bow began as he paced around a bit, "I appreciate you guys trying to keep me safe, but you can't protect me anymore. We have to tell your mom."
"We're not telling anybody's mom!" Glimmer fumed in turn. "And what do you mean, protect you?"
The day was the perfect example of a day spiraling out of control. Starting from possibly as up as it could be, it slowly dwindled down further and further into the recesses of despair. Not five minutes ago, a despairing Catra set off to find the Beacon in the Whispering Woods, one of the many ruins left over by the First Ones', as a means to finally learn how to master and control her sword's power.
After everything leading up to this point, she's finally had it. She couldn't handle the amount of stress her work has caught up to by this point, she was tired of the sword never working the most whenever she wanted it to, and she was riddled with guilt over the loss of, what they assumed to be, Entrapta's death.
She burdened the most guilt out of possibly all the princesses, feeling responsible for leaving the group in a ventilation shaft to escape while she stayed behind to save Glimmer. She lamented her feelings of powerlessness, her inability to save the other princess and the Princess Alliance, and her grievances towards Adora for all her talent. No matter how many times the others tried to insist, nothing was getting through to the girl.
That's when she finally remembered the creator of the Sword of Protection, the First Ones, and everything they worked so hard to build. She couldn't believe she didn't see it before! Why bother trying to learn how to use the sword herself when she could find a First Ones' ruins and, hopefully, return with some sort of instruction sheet or details on how to get it working? It was a long shot, but compared to the alternative of never getting the sword to work and Glimmer possibly exploding due to her glitching getting worse, it was better than nothing.
That left two concerned friends of hers to wait in the room she left behind, unwilling to endanger them further through her reckless behavior and inaction to help them. For the time being, they were safer staying behind than they were following her, especially since she barely knew how to find these ruins in the first place.
"Isn't it obvious?" Bow asked squeezing his head in frustration. "This is all my fault! If I hadn't gone to prom with Perfuma, we wouldn't have had that fight, you wouldn't have separated from the party and gotten captured, and you wouldn't be sick right now! See? All my fault!" He collapsed backwards onto the bench Glimmer was sitting on with tears in his eyes, the princess looking at her close friend with a pang of guilt.
"Bow, don't say that. It's not your fault, it's mine." She looked at her own two hands in shame, feeling as if they were all the people at the party and order in which she messed it up. "I shouldn't have been so weird about you hanging out with someone else. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have said anything stupid, I wouldn't have stayed up on the balcony knowing the Horde were there, and..." She curled her legs up as she hugged herself. "Catra might be a little blunt about everything, but she's right. I was being selfish."
"Selfish?" Bow repeated, leaning up from his spot. "Glimmer, you're the least selfish person I know! You have all this wonderful stuff and a mother leading the Rebellion itself, which means you don't even have to be a part of this war! You chose be a part of it because you wanted to help everybody, help us!" He gave a teary smile as he held her shoulder, Glimmer lifting her own teary head out of her legs as she stared up to him.
"Bow..." He watched her wipe her tears away, only to refill immediately after. "You know what? Let's just hug." She suggested with a teary smile.
Returning her smile with his own, they embraced. The past was behind them and the future was still coming. They might not have been prepared for whatever lied ahead, but at least they knew their friendship remained in check for the foreseeable future. That was when Glimmer's glitching kicked up again.
*rrrrrrttttttt*
"Nggghhh!" Glimmer groaned in pain as it went off again. "I'm glitching, aren't I?"
"It hurts so much..." Bow replied through his teeth. Being in direct contact with her, Bow had a firsthand experience of the pain she was feeling, feeling like he was being torn apart in both directions at the same time without end. She was half immortal and magical, and that kept her alive. Who knows what it would've been like if she was an everyday normal person like he was? "
The pain lasted much longer as did the aura itself, enshrouding her body in a painful red glow that refused to leave her for an indefinite amount of time compared to the previous times. The distortions worsened and her skin almost looked like it was it was growing vast spikes itself. She wouldn't wish this pain on her worst enemies, including the people that did this to her in the first place!
She finally managed to get a breath in after another several seconds passed, groaning in misery as the aura passed over her. "How are we going to get through Dinner without my mom noticing?" In under a second a possibility formed over her mind. "Ooh! What if we started a fire? Then she'd have to cancel it!"
Instead of giving her any sort of verbal response, Bow just grinned. Looking back on it, she realized how much her idea actually sounded like a certain someone's reckless idea, almost finding it humorous how much she's picked up on Catra's antics. "...Just a small one?"
...
...
*sniff*
*sniff*
"Ugh, these woods could not be anymore annoying!" Catra groaned.
This was the one thing in the world that needed to work for her. After all the drama, all the pain, all the sadness, she practically begged to herself that the Universe would give her this one thing!
She was at her wit's end. She wasn't She-Ra. She wasn't anything close to She-Ra. Her name was Catra and she was a reckless troublemaker. She wasn't magical like Glimmer, she didn't have pinpoint accuracy like Bow. She wasn't capable of forming scientific equations in her head like Entrapta, couldn't breath underwater or control it, nor could she make giant ice sculptures out of the elements. She'd take Perfuma's girly flower-growing powers by now if she had the chance!
She was finally at the breaking point of her long and stressful life when Glimmer gave her the bright idea to find the First Ones' technology again. She couldn't get the sword to work. She could accept that. What she couldn't accept was staying like this for possibly the rest of her life while everyone else had their own gifts and powers going on and were actually contributing something to the war!
If she had more power she could've ended things a long time ago. Entrapta would still be alive, unaware that she was, she could heal Glimmer without breaking a sweat, and possibly so much more! As to why the sword refused to listen to her or her commands she never knew. She just wanted things to stop being the way they were and wanted to actually add something to the team, and the First Ones was her last resort.
Unsurprisingly, that resort also ended up being a total migraine in itself as she explored the Whispering Woods. Being one of the few times she's done this at all, everything felt completely alien to her. The scents in the air were confusing her direction. Whenever she picked up on a strange sound it disappeared one moment and reappeared in the complete opposite of where she originally looked. The woods were as alive as her friends told her they were in more ways than one.
"Is this place trying to annoy me?" She muttered to herself. "Because if it is it's working..." The foliage and fauna she passed were adding on to her annoyance. Every bush she passed gave her a small scrape and any branches she pushed through ended up leaving an annoying amount of leaves stuck in her hair. With her irritation rising by the second, she took her sword out of her sheath as she held it in front of herself standing up, aiming it randomly around her like it was a compass. "Come on... Which way?"
How was she supposed to get a feel on where to go? Her instinct after entering the woods was that some voice or feeling in her head would tell her where the Beacon was located, where she would go and which direction she should take. Typically, the stupid voice in her head wasn't responding at this time like every other stupid time she wanted it to work! That was when her attention was drawn to a large boulder she found in the middle of a clearing.
"You gotta be kidding me..." She moaned as her ears lowered with irritation, walking over to the familiar landmark. "I passed this stupid rock an hour ago! Ugh!" Leaning against the rock, she rubbed the bridge between her eyes as she tried to calm herself. "Okay, think Catra, think. What would Adora do in this situation?" There was a hundred different things she would do in this situation. After all, if she was little miss perfect, then there was no way she wouldn't work her way out of this by now.
And, naturally, the one issue she was currently dealing with at the moment was the fact she wasn't Adora! She didn't have her quick wits, she didn't have her insightful-ness. She probably wouldn't be lost in these woods right now if she was the one trying to find this place! Examining her sword again she wondered, "Okay, so, think... I have the sword... I don't know where I am... I have the boulder as a landmark... mark...Hey!" Catra's face flashed with brilliance as she jumped back to her feet.
Giving the sword a good spin, she stuck the tip of it into the ground as she started walking ahead again, dragging the sword against the ground as it created a small path in the dirt, following her as she dragged the sword along. Long as I keep marking my entire way through, I should be able to get through the woods without getting lost.
It did make the most sense to her in the long run. As long as she marked the entire way through the woods, there was no possible way she should find herself retracing the same path without coming across her own markings again! Not to mention if she kept going in a straight line she should find her way to the Beacon, or at this rate out of the Whispering Woods, for sure!
...Right?
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...
"Hmm, hmm, hmm~" The Queen hummed to herself as she finished setting the was going to be a momentous meal for the four of them. Her, Glimmer, Bow, and Catra, all of whom would have the luxury of privacy tonight in this dining hall.
She couldn't remember the last time she ate with just herself, her daughter, and anyone else who wasn't of the castle staff. The earliest memories she could recall was when Glimmer was still a young child and her husband, King Micah, was still around. She remembered the way they all used to laugh and play with the food, or, more accurately, her husband got her daughter into the habit of playing with her food, leaving for fairly decent mess for her to clean up.
But she still enjoyed it all the same and would do anything she could to relive those memories again. Since his passing most to all meals between the mother and daughter have been rather quiet when it came to personal matters, and half of those times resulted in a small banter between the two whenever it involved Rebellion matters.
It always involved Rebellion matters.
Tonight was going to be different though! It would just be her, her daughter, Bow, and the ex-Horde Senior Cadet known as Catra. This would be the first time all four of them had dinner to themselves to socialize with one another, and for the queen to get to know Catra better after her previous off-putting attitude till today. Despite the seemingly-tragic results of the rescue, she did save her daughter and her friend, and she more than earned her respect and trust for it.
Looking back on it, she was actually a little curious to learn more about Catra herself. Her background, her heritage, what it was like growing up in the Horde, provided it wasn't too personal. She's seen the manners and lack of tact her daughter's friend has displayed ever since coming here, and not once has she ever bothered to actually ask her why she's behaving like this instead of jumping the gun and immediately berate or scold her for it. She knew life growing up in the Horde must've been difficult, and this was going to be the best way to make amends for it.
*creeeak*
With a smile, she turned her head in the direction of the opening doorway as she finished setting the last of the silverware down. "Ah. Glimmer, Bow, Ca-" She paused in her greeting as she only saw the first two walking through the doorway. "Where is Catra?" The concern the two were giving to each other then back to her set off her own chain of worry.
"Um... Catra's not eating with us, mom." Glimmer replied as they made their way to the dinner table.
"Really? Well that's a shame. I thought she wanted to join us? I made Steamed Salmon for her, I thought she'd like it?" Turning from the freshly roasted Salmon to the mother herself, the two gave her a playfully questionable look, one the queen shifted her eyes away from with minor embarrassment. "Well, I didn't make it, but I had the kitchen make it before I gave them the night off. I gave all the staff the night at that, so it would just be the four of us tonight."
"...Thanks..." Glimmer said quietly as she turned her attention to one of the decorative bushes in the room.
"Your Majesty, we... we need to talk." Bow stated taking a step forward.
"And we'll have plenty of time to do so." The Queen clapped her hands cheerfully. "We've hardly had a chance to talk since you've all returned."
"Yeah, well, there's not much to talk about."
"Glimmer..." Bow mumbled nudging her with his elbow.
"Not much to talk about?" The queen wondered if she had truly forgotten everything that's happened within the last day. "You were kidnapped!" She was unaware of her daughter's unease as she continued exasperated. "And you lost your friend during the escape and-" At the mention of her loss, Glimmer could feel the small amount of glitching trying to work its way through her.
"I get it, Mom. I failed!" Glimmer yelled back as Bow backed away.
"That's not what I-"
*rrrrrrtttttttt*
"Ahhhhhhh!" She begged to herself that she would be able to get through this dinner, or at least get to the mentioning of the glitching issue before it acted up again. Here she was, presenting her trouble in front of her mother and her friend again without any control over it as the painful wave washed over her as always!
"Glimmer!" Angella and Bow cried out together as they ran to her side. The queen was the first one to take Glimmer into her arms as she nearly fell to the ground, the princess crying out at the same level of pain she always felt as she hugged herself.
"Stop! Make it stop!" The queen begged as she cried out. What was this terrible magic spreading over her precious daughter? She could feel it in her hands, the way it practically stabbed at her in every corner of her palms! No child should ever go through this kind of pain. Nobody should for that matter! "Glimmer, what's happening to you? What aren't you telling me?"
"Don't yell at me!" Glimmer yelled back, pushing her mother away as she got back to her feet. "I know I messed everything up, okay? I
should've told you right from the beginning, because if I did, then this mess probably would've been fixed by now and Catra wouldn't have ran away!"
"Catra...?" Piecing her words together as Bow and Glimmer realized her mistake, her mother started to boil with a new kind of anger. "Catra knew about this? And she didn't tell me?!"
"Your Majesty, it's not what you think!" Bow tried to explain as the angry queen pushed her palms against her eyes.
"Ghhhh I should've known I couldn't trust her!" She was steaming from the amount of stress building up in her mind. "All I ask her to do is promise me she would tell me if something was going on, and she can't even do that-!"
"It's not her fault, Mom! I begged her not to tell you, so if you're going to be mad at someone, blame me!" Glimmer kicked her feet angrily against the ground as she stomped over to the dinner table. "She's been wanting to tell you from the very second you asked her and I'm the one who convinced her not to nearly every time! I messed up! Way to go, Glimmer! I know I'm a disappointment!" She cried without showing any tears, sitting against the table.
"What are you talking about?" Her mother loomed over her as she stood. She couldn't remember the last time she found herself so mixed up with worry and confusion all at the same time.
"Entrapta died trying to rescue me, the Princess Alliance is over, and Shadow Weaver did something to my powers! I'm sorry I couldn't be perfect like you, okay! You have no idea what it feels like to be such a screw up!"
"I have no idea how you feel? I got your father killed!" Pain and hurt crossed the queen's face as she leaned herself across the table, anger and sadness filling her eyes as she turned away from the two shocked teenagers who remained silent through the proceedings.
There was no way they misheard that or misinterpreted her words. The regal Queen of Bright Moon, the leader of the Rebellion, had found herself speechless and cold for the very first time in over a decade. Her face held firmly despite the rising tide of anguish falling over her. Her fingers were practically digging into the wooden table itself as they twitched. Nothing the queen has said in the past had ever given anyone reason to doubt her, or her honesty in most matters.
The silence, the weight of the air filling the room, the ambiance. All of it amounted to this one dreadful secret the queen hasn't spoken about in years, one that was finally resurfacing.
"Y-Your highness...?" Bow was at a loss for words as he tried to question her. Looking between the two of them, feeling as if the moment was specifically for the two of them, he began to back out. "I'll, just, uh... leave you two alone for a moment." They were the last words they heard from him as he made his way out the doors. Relationships were something he felt should be handled by the two directly involved, not anyone on the outside.
The same way he patched up the Prom night with Glimmer earlier.
"... I ordered the battle your father perished in." She rubbed her hand over her other wrist as she tried to soothe her tension. "I've never forgiven myself."
"I-I didn't know that..." There was too much to process in this short amount of time. The years of anger and frustration her mother had, all the sadness and confusion filling her heart and clouding her judgement, was just revealed to the her in a few short sentences.
Angella matched her daughter's expression with one of sorrow and regret. "Yes, well, you never talk to me." The young woman kneeled to her daughter's side, matching her gaze at eye level. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"
"Because I was ashamed." She confessed. "I acted without thinking, the exact thing you're always telling me not to do." The girl gave a small shrug as she breathed deeply through her nose. "I teleported right into their trap." She began to tear up as squeezed her hands on the table. "The Alliance is over, everyone is mad, and Catra's run off because she feels useless... and I'm to blame."
"...Glimmer," her mother spoke softly as she directed her daughter to her face, "you are not to blame for all of this. I am." It was hard to feel comforted by her mother's smiling words when she knew she was trying to cheer her up. And yet, she wanted to feel the same warmth it was giving off all the same. "If I hadn't let the first Alliance fall apart after your father's death, none of this would be happening."
"You feel like a failure?"
"Even Catra's my own fault. I shouldn't have been so hard on her since the moment I met her. She was trying for all of us, and I kept berating her for her past mistakes, not acknowledging her accomplishments. Don't make the same mistake I did." The queen's resolve returned to her as she squeezed her fist. "I should've kept kept fighting. And you should, too."
"But the other princesses, they all quit, remember? You don't think the Rebellion is done for?"
"With my daughter leading it? Never." The queen pulled her daughter into her loving arms, stroking her head affectionately with a warmth that only a mother's love could provide.
"Even if my powers are gone?"
"We'll figure it out. Together."
The queen had gotten her wish as her daughter squeezed her arms around her. It might not have gone the way she expected this night to go. There was a dinner that had yet to be touched, there wasn't anyone else present in the room, save for an eavesdropping Bow who smiled as he peeked out the doorway, and there was a lot she still had make up for with the new Princess Alliance and how she's looked down upon Catra up till now.
But at least it ended perfectly for her, the way she would've wanted it to. With her and her daughter holding each other in their arms, and feeling a rekindle warmth that made them truly smile, for the first time in years...
...
...
Adora stared at the entrance of the Whispering Woods as she mentally prepared herself for the journey. This is where it all started for her and Catra, where both of their lives were turned upside down, and not necessarily for the better. Walking into the woods herself, Adora could feel every single bit of her skin being covered in an unfamiliar chill, one that wasn't present the first time she came to this place.
Or maybe it had and she never realized it last time? The first time she ever came to these woods was with Catra, after the two borrowed a skiff in an attempt to cheer Catra up. A part of her wonders what would've happened if she never took the girl on the skiff in the first place. Would she still be fighting for the Horde or would she join the Rebellion anyway? If the two never went out here and the events had never occurred, Adora and Catra would still be separated by their ranking and missions, ones they had equal chance of never returning from.
Catra herself was dealing with her own set of problems as she continued to forcefully drag the sword against the ground. Aside from her arms starting to get a little sore like this, she had yet to come across any hint that she was getting out of the woods, or any closer to the Beacon itself. She's had to cut paths half the time when a tree blocked her way, found herself scraping herself out of thick bushes and vines at least three times so far, and her senses were starting to get a little more disoriented after so long. It's like the woods themselves were actually trying to mess with her senses after realizing her senses were increased compared to the average person.
It also assured her that these trees apparently hated her for some reason.
Exploring the mysterious woods, Adora maintained an equal amount of her attention between the data pad and the surrounding forestry. On two separate occasions, she's found herself coming across a familiar looking tree or a vine, and whenever she tried to backtrack she somehow came across it again. She remembered all the stories in the past about people who've gotten lost in these woods for days to weeks on end, She never thought they were being so literal when they commented that the woods got you lost every time you entered. She thought it was a simple play on words the way they said it.
After exploring what must've been about five miles through the woods, Adora turned her attention again towards the alarming data pad. To her dismay, the pad suddenly began to short circuit in front of her, flashing a wave of purple and white lines across the screen without end. "No..." Adora fretted, hitting the side of the pad worriedly. "Come ooooon..." Taking another look around her, she tried to think.
Based on her current location and where the data pad was directing her, she shouldn't be very far from the First Ones' technological stash, the very one she needed to make amends for her past mistakes, and possibly give the Horde the key they needed to turn this war around in their favor. Considering she was more likely to get lost trying to find her way back, she pushed herself onward in the hopes the answers would appear right in front of her any second now.
With the bones in her shoulders getting sore from the awkward angle of her arms, Catra let out a sigh. If she was going to get anywhere, then she knew this had to be the way to do it. If someone like Adora could do it then she should too. Adora wouldn't give up or quit, no matter how much it bothered her remembering how great someone like her was, and she wouldn't back down from a challenge even if she couldn't win. With that state of mind, she pressed onward, hoping that after long last, the answers would come right around the corner-
"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Catra shouted in frustration. It was impossible, she had to be imagining things. Running up to the center of the clearing, she refused to believe what she was actually seeing. After all this walking and exploring, the possible hours she must've wasted going in a straight line, she found herself right back where she started from. She could see the very line that started this entire trip stretching out into the woods ahead of her! Somehow she looped herself all the way backwards.
It didn't make any sense to her! Not once did she ever come across the trail that she made during the last half of her journey, not finding a single line or rough in the ground that showed her she already came across the same path. It was unbelievable! There had to be a rational explanation as to why, no matter how frustrating or improbable it might've seemed.
And the answer lied before her.
From the other end of the clearing, where the marked trail lead into the woods, it began to disappear little by little. The line vanished in the ground as it approached the beginning of her trail, slowly fading away until nothing of it remained. Turning around, she saw that same disappearance slowly approaching her until the trail itself was completely gone. It's no wonder she never came across the same trail in her journey!
The stupid forest was erasing her clever trail from existence!
*whoosh*
"Ngh..." The magicat grumbled as a large gust of wind brushed passed her, glaring angrily to the glowing blue specks of light that surrounded the forest. "You think this is funny?!" She was convinced these woods were actually alive in every meaning of the word, feeling them mocking her for her failed attempt. "You like getting people lost like this? I'm just trying to help!"
*whoosh*
That confirmed her previous suspicion that the woods were alive, and went on to kindle the fire burning within her. "Well let's see who's laughing now!" Still enraged, she marched her way over to one of the thickest trees she could find in the forest, drawing the sword above her head. If this forest was alive then it definitely had to feel pain, and if it could feel pain, then that was more than enough victory for her after the anger she felt boiling up to this point.
"Ghhhhhhh!" Gnashing her teeth together, her tail spiraling out of control, she pulled back as far as she could, ready to cut into the tranquil forest that continued to mock her. She deserved to after everything that's happened in the last day. She couldn't get the sword to work, she couldn't help the people she almost regretted caring about now, and this stupid forest was actually going out of its way to make the journey harder for her! So if it liked teasing people so much, she was going to enjoy cutting down the next hundred trees that crossed her path!
...Or the dozen!
...A handful...
This one...?
The anger and rage she was being consumed with slowly subsided as a mellowness entered her state of mind. Why was she bothering to take her anger out on a stupid tree of all things? She was talking to the trees for crying out loud! The very ones that were needed to keep the Rebellion safe. For all she knew they didn't see her any differently than they saw an intruder, one marching into the woods to do who knows what kind of harm to the surrounding wonder.
With the last of her anger diminishing, she moaned. Dropping the sword to her feet, she started to slouch forward as she planted her head against the tree's husk, directing her eyes towards the ground beneath her. "Please..." She called out to no one in particular. "I... I can't do this anymore..." The same gust of wind blew passed her again, somehow feeling gentler than before.
"I'm tired of messing everything up... I... I'm scared..." She recalled the hundreds of memories she's had in the past, all her recollections with Bow and Glimmer she was once tormented with now filling her mind. From the annoying way they always laughed to the moments she needed them for encouragement. "They're one of the few people who've been nice to me... who've... who've always had my back... even when I mess up..."
From making a prideful fool of herself to Plumeria, to almost drowning on her way to Salineas. Never giving up on her when a virus took over her mind, carrying her through her paranoia and fears through Mystacor, giving her a chance to prove herself at the Princess Prom, and never blaming her when the rescue mission resulted in casualty. They were too nice to her.
The memories started to make her tear up. "They haven't given up on me like everyone else has, and I..." She pressed her palms against the tree as a single tear rolled down her face, dropping to the ground below her and disappearing. "I don't have anything to show for it... I-It's not fair for them! Just... Just please..." She cringed as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to contain the remains of her tears.
"Let me help my friends."
... Then she saw it. A small glow that brightened as she opened her eyes again. Behind her, she could've sworn she heard as the roots and vines themselves were parting way for her, revealing a glowing blue light from within the Whispering Woods. She saw the trees themselves had vanished as if they were never there, almost certain the forest had actually answered her plea.
Which she was a little relieved for after thinking of how silly she was being for talking to a tree, not that it bothered her anymore.
"...Thanks..." With a small whisper she collected her sword off the ground, following the glowing blue light to the source of its eminence. Pulling her way carefully against the fragile bushes and vines that partly blocked her way, she saw it.
Low and behold, a sight that made her relieved. Within another clearing, as if rising out of the ground itself, it stood. The very Beacon she discovered with Madame Razz, one of the great symbols of the First Ones. It looked exactly as it had the day she found it the first time, complete with a strange serenity she was unaware of known as peace, with various roots and vines stretching from all around it.
During this time, she was unaware as another person had made her way to the previous clearing she was in, a certain Force Captain that was pulling the leaves and the crusted vines out of her hair. She wasn't sure how much longer she had to go until she happened upon this place, provided she could at all given her track record. Everything kept changing around Adora as she traversed the mysterious woods, never finding the same location she visited twice to be exactly the same. She started to wonder if she'd ever find this place or return home after all that's happened.
That was when fortune smiled upon her. Up ahead of the clearing, she saw a strange figure walk into a glowing part of the forest, no doubt the very thing she came to find herself. Making sure to wait until the figure walked deeper towards the light, Adora gave chase, quietly and carefully until her back was against another tree.
Peering over the side, Adora almost gasped at the two things she saw. One was a monumental marvel the likes of which she has never seen, one that stretched far above the trees themselves as it. No doubt this was one of the many grand inventions of the First Ones, the very ones Entrapta told her about. Forget anything within the monument, the building itself was more than enough to atone for what she's done.
The second thing she noticed, however, was what nearly made her scream her name. Of all the unlikely places, all the impossibilities telling her otherwise, she saw her walking towards the monument, halfway through the clearing as she approached with her sword in hand.
"Catra?"
...
...
...
A/N: Yes people, I am still in shock about how short this is, especially for a finale. All in all I could've added this to the last chapter i guess XP. I'm also debating about whether or not I wanted to include my original talk the queen had in her talk with Glimmer or not- i even have it backed up just in case ^^ When I took the vote as to whether or not to do it with some people knowing what it involved (you know who you are XP) the results were varied. In the end for continuity issues, i decided to keep the default talk in with one or two changes, though I might go back and edit it if I'm still uncertain by this point.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon! Hooftah, glad all that emotional and dramatic touchy feeling stuff is over with, phew! Ok, here we go! What's the next episode on our list ^^?
...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOO!