Chapter Seven: The Aftermath

Soon enough, Adora, Glimmer, Bow, and the Crystal Gems had been taken back to Brightmoon. The other princesses (and Sea Hawk) had gone back to their respective kingdoms, accompanied by several Brightmoon guards each. On the way, they had explained both who their new allies from Earth were, as well what had happened regarding the Staff of Keldor.

"So, to recap:" said Netossa. "The Horde found a powerful First Ones artifact, they used it to open a wormhole out of Despondos, where they took over a small beachside town until you all fought them off, which is when they followed you to another planet where you planned to give Keldor back his staff, but Keldor turned out to be Skeletor, who is now wreaking havoc throughout the universe, including Etheria?"

"Yep, that about sums it up," said Bow. "Except you forgot the part where they made a machine that let them control Gems."

"Man, it really has been a crazy week," she said, sighing.

"It's been one for us, too," said Spinnerella. "Queen Angella had been searching for you all for days. And once Skeletor showed up, she hardly let any of us sleep!"

Glimmer shook her head. "I feel awful about this," she said. "I'm sorry we made you all worry so much."

"It wasn't your fault," Angella assured her. "If you had run off of your own accord-again, might I add-I would be angry, but this was out of your control. Of all of ours."

"Yes," said Netossa. "Now the only one we need to worry about is Skeletor."

"I had been wondering about that," said Bow. "How did he get here in the first place?"

"We aren't entirely sure," said Angella. "Exactly two days ago, a report came in from a village on the edge of the Crimson Waste. It said they had been attacked by a walking corpse wielding powerful magic. We were initially skeptical...but when our scouts found the village destroyed, its inhabitants drained of life, it soon became apparent it was true."

Castaspella nodded solemnly. "Whoever-whatever-this Skeletor is, it's unlike anything we've faced before. Morale around here is already low, and I don't want to contribute to that, but...I'm not sure we can beat him."

"What are you talking about?" said Glimmer. "Back when you guys rescued us, you totally fought him to a standstill!"

"All we did was irritate him," said Angella. "If Skeletor was fighting at full power, he would have overwhelmed us instantly. I fear we do not have the means to fight back, even with the She-Ra on our side."

"Speaking of which, where's Adora?" asked Bow.

"Oh, she's showing the Gems around the castle," Glimmer said.

"And this is the Moonstone room!" Adora exclaimed, arms outstretched. "This is where Glimmer is able to recharge her powers from."

"Huh," Bismuth said. "Y'know, I knew a Moonstone once. Nice enough Gem. Never understood a word she said, though."

Pearl walked closer to examine the Moonstone. "If what the Sword of Protection told us is true, and Gems were made by the First Ones...do you think Gems are just smaller, autonomous Runestones?"

"When you put it that way, it sure seems likely," Garnet said. "It wasn't really something I thought of until now. Gemkind never really had a beginning or an end-we just were."

"So, if princesses need a Runestone to use their magic," said Connie, "do you have one?"

"Sort of." Adora drew her sword, tapping the small blue stone in the hilt. "Mine's portable. It's how I turn into She-Ra. Of course, it didn't always work at first…"

Steven lifted his shirt to take a look at his gemstone. A Runestone of his own. "I know how you feel," he said. "When I first started going on adventures, it seemed like I could never get my powers to do what I wanted."

"Really?" said Adora. "From what everyone said, you were always a great hero from the start!"

"Uh...who told you that?" Steven asked.

"Those other Gem friends of yours," Adora explained. "The ones who came here with...what was his name? Lars?"

"Well, I definitely wasn't always like I am now," Steven said. "And I have a better grasp on my powers now, but there's still so much I don't know who I am. Like, why did my mom have me? What am I supposed to do?"

"You...you don't know either?" said Adora quietly.

"Hmm?"

"It's nothing," said Adora. "Anyway, should we continue on with the tour?"

"Eh, if it's all the same to you, could you show us where we're supposed to sleep?" said Amethyst. "It's been a real hectic week for us."

"But, Gems don't need sleep," said Connie.

"Like I said, hectic week," said Amethyst. "We don't need sleep, but we can still get tired."

The Rebellion were not the only ones who were aware of Skeletor's presence. After this powerfully magical threat had arrived on the planet, Hordak was quick to learn all he could about it. And when it became apparent that this being was in possession of the Staff of Keldor, he immediately sent a team to rescue Entrapta. This is why the trio of cadets showed up when they did.

Although Hordak did not show it when Entrapta arrived safely back at the Fright Zone, it was clear to everyone that he was overjoyed to have her back. Catra, however, he barely acknowledged. Not even to enforce his policy of banishment. She later retreated back to her quarters without a word, where Scorpia followed.

"Catra! Hey, wait!" she shouted after her. "Look, I know this hasn't been the best month or so for you, but…" As Scorpia entered the room, rather than finding Catra moping as she had expected, the feline woman was instead drawing up plans for something-what, she wasn't yet sure. "Uh, what's all this for?"

"Skeletor," Catra said. "We know he's out there, and we know he's not on our side. We've seen first-hand what he's capable of-we need to take him out as soon as possible."

Scorpia examined the table in front of her: it seemed Catra had drawn out a map of Etheria, with various other markings placed on it. "So, this is...what, exactly?"

"These points represent everywhere Skeletor's been sighted," Catra explained. "And the shaded areas are everywhere his magic has influenced. All of this information I got from Hordak's databanks."

"Now, hold on a minute," said Scorpia. "If Hordak knows all this stuff already, how come you're the one working on a plan?"

"If Hordak has proven anything lately, it's that he's unfit to lead the Horde," Catra said bitterly. "If the leader is incompetent, so are all of his subjects. So from now on, if we want anything to get done around here, we're doing it ourselves, behind Hordak's back."

"Doing what behind Hordak's back?" Entrapta, with absolutely no indication she had been in the room previously, suddenly made her presence known, startling the other two.

"Entrapta!?" shouted Catra. "What are you doing in here? How much of that did you hear? I thought you were with Hordak!"

"Yes, checking up on you, only the last bit, and see previous response," said Entrapta. "Hordak didn't really have anything to work on, so after we talked a bit, I was making sure you two were doing okay." Her attention turned to the map on the table. "Ooh, what's this? Is this what you didn't want Hordak to know about? He already has this data, so there's really no reason to-"

"Entrapta, please," said Catra, momentarily quieting her. "Now look: Hordak always wants us to do things his way. And how did his way turn out?"

"With us stuck on an alien planet, and an evil necromancer roaming the galaxy," said Scorpia.

Catra nodded. "Exactly. So, instead of letting him ruin this yet again, we're going to take Skeletor down ourselves."

"Just the three of us?" said Entrapta. "Mmm, I dunno, Catra, that feels pretty risky. You saw what he's capable of, right?"

"I did," Catra said. "And now that I have, we know what to expect. Nobody's invulnerable. Skeletor may be stronger, so we need to be smarter."

"Okay, so I can understand why you want to keep Hordak out of this," said Entrapta. "I don't agree with it, but I'll go along with it, for you. But shouldn't we at least get some help?"

"You two are the only ones I can trust down here anymore," Catra said. "Anyone we go to could leak this whole thing to Hordak, and you know how he feels about insubordination."

"I don't think that's what she meant," said Scorpia.

"You're not serious," Catra said. "You can't seriously be suggesting we get help from the princesses!"

"Well...we are a bit short on manpower," Scorpia said. "Or girl-power, rather. Anyway, come on! What's the worst that could happen?"

"...Do I even need to explain that to you?" Catra said.