In the war room, Hop Pop stared blankly while Eda looked bored.
"Um….should we do something?" he asked awkwardly.
Eda snorted. "Yeah, steal something valuable"
"…Please don't do that"
"Pah! Do what you want. Geesh, you're just like my sister"
Eda picked up a plate and King Micah came in. She hastily put it down. "I wasn't doing anything!"
Micah cleared his throat. "You…have a daughter, right?"
"If you mean do I have a teenage girl who lives in my spare room and occasionally gives me attitude, then yes"
"How do you get her to like you? Kids still do like cake, right?" he smiled sheepishly. "I've...been out of the dad game for a while"
"Eh, you'll be fine. Just let her be herself and she'll be happy."
"I hope you're right. I had a teacher growing up and let's just say she didn't want me to be myself."
"Yeah, teachers are all the same. That's why I ditched school."
"But Eda, you're a teacher" King pointed out as he was trying to scramble onto the war table.
"Be quiet, King"
"Meh" King turned in circles a few times and promptly fell asleep.
Catra walked through the woods, allowing herself a stupid smile she wouldn't have wanted anyone to see.
She still felt Adora's lips on her own. She still couldn't believe it. Adora loved her.
She was still wrapping her brain around that simple fact. She, who Shadow Weaver had taught was unlovable, period.
And she had friends she actually treated like friends. Mostly. Sometimes she lost her cool when Bow called her cute. And sometimes Sparkles jokingly threatened to kick her out of the castle when she ran through the halls on all fours or slept on the war table.
But she was trying. Adora said that was what mattered the most.
Her ears perked up. Something wasn't right. She extended her claws. Melog growled next to her.
Suddenly someone with glowing blue eyes rushed her.
Luz was showing Anne, Sprig and Polly a light glyph when Adora, Bow, and Glimmer burst out of the castle door.
"Woah, Mama, when did Anne get all tall and glowy?"
"Right now, apparently" Polly said, unconcernedly cutting a deck of cards.
Sprig bounced up and down. "We should follow them!"
"Well, Eda and your grandpa said to stay here" Luz pointed out "buuuuut I wanna see more magic so I'm in!"
"Yeah-uh!" Anne cheered.
"Oh no" Polly whispered as Anne picked her up. "Um, guys, maybe this isn't the smartest plan?" Polly said as they ran.
"You can beat up any monsters we come across" Anne coaxed.
Polly smiled devilishly and pulled a morningstar from nowhere "Lead the way, irresponsible older siblings!"
"Yeah!" Anne and Sprig shouted.
They caught up with the trio in a clearing.
Luz stopped short, suddenly stricken. She was pale and looked around.
"Dude, you ok?" Anne put a hand on her shoulder.
"I…I dunno...I felt like…" Like when Bellos snuck up on me she thought.
Adora's shout cut through her thoughts.
"Catra!"
She knelt by a girl with the most adorable cat ears Luz had ever seen. She was beaten and bloody but smiling.
"Adora, you came"
"Course I did, Idiot" Adora whispered fondly.
"You're the idiot" Catra replied with no heat, only love.
Glimmer had her hand over her mouth and Bow was near tears.
Adora took Catra in her arms and hugged her tight. Catra glowed and seemed to purr contentedly.
Soon she was good as new, no blood or bruises.
She clung to Adora a moment longer than necessary.
Then she saw the others.
"And who are these people?" she scooted away from Adora, blushing.
Luz grinned widely, pulling up the ears on her cat hoodie.
"We match!"
"Huh?"
Catra blinked blearily. She tried to stand up and Adora supported her.
She still clung to Adora. "There was this guy" Catra said thickly. "he had this mask with like…antlers? And his eyes glowed? I fought him off, barely, then he disappeared into the woods. Why is it always something weird with you people? I thought we were done with weird stuff!"
Adora smiled wryly. "Oh, Catra. Weird stuff is never done with us"
Catra groaned. Luz gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Emperor Bellos" she whispered.
"Ugh how many evil emperors do I have to defeat?" Adora complained.
Catra's eyes went wide.
"I dunno. But he's dangerous." Luz replied. "If he's here, none of us are safe. I fought him once. He took control of my body and threw me around like a rag doll"
Catra's ears went flat and she was breathing hard. "I can't. I can't do that again"
She was hyperventilating at that point.
Her friends hugged her "It's ok. He's gone" Bow assured her.
"He can't hurt you anymore" glimmer said.
Adora took her hand "Breathe"
Catra seemed to calm down a little. "Thanks, guys I-" her sentence was cut off by her
shrieking, narrowly dodging a laser.
A round bot stomped toward them on its thin metal legs.
"I'm guessing that's not Emily" Catra said sardonically.
Adora turned her sword into a shield and threw it, cutting through the bot and killing the wiring.
More emerged from the woods.
"I thought we took care of all of them!" Adora exclaimed, annoyed.
Luz pulled out a piece of paper with a snowflake design and ran up to a bot. She pressed the paper to the ground and an icicle as tall as she was impaled a bot. Anne whacked one with her tennis racket and stabbed it with her sword. Sprig shot a few with his sling shot.
He hefted Polly like a baseball.
"You're up, Polly!"
"Finally!" Polly rubbed her hands together. He launched his sister at the bots as she sparked with electricity.
"zap tag!" she shouted, touching one as she passed. The bot short circuited blasting sparks that took out the others.
Anne caught her "Yeah-uh!"
Catra's eyes flashed with anger. With a roar she slashed through a bot again, still breathing sharply, but not with panic. With steady hate.
Her expression softened when she saw Adora's dismayed face.
"I'm sorry" Catra said "I'm working on my anger I just can't…I can't…do this"
Catra finished quietly, wiping tears from her eyes.
She scoffed in disgust. "Listen to me talking about my feelings like a" she gagged mockingly "princess"
Her friends laughed like this was an inside joke.
Catra smiled and blushed at their reaction. Then she turned a serious gaze on Luz.
"You've fought him before"
"Yes" Luz said inspecting the ground "and we are in big trouble because Eda was right. There's magic everywhere just like on the isles. He'll want it all to himself"
She knelt down and picked up some blades of grass. They crumbled into dust in her hand.
Her face hardened. "He's siphoning the magic. He's done it before."
Adora's face darkened and she punched a tree with a short bark of rage.
"Adora" Bow said gently.
Adora sighed rubbing her hand. "Not again…I promised… never again"
Catra took her hand.
Glimmer frowned. "Come on. Let's get Catra back home. And hope he doesn't find out about the runestones"
Catra was still weak, So Adora carried her bridle style. Catra mumbled complaints half-heartedly, but she looked like she was enjoying herself.
At the castle, Eda and Hop Pop were running outside in a panic.
"Kiddo?" Eda called lightly and sardonically but there was a note of panic in her voice.
"Kids!" Hop Pop was just panicking. "Oh Lord, they've been eaten!"
"We haven't been eaten!" Anne shouted across the bridge, annoyed.
Eda and Hop Pop ran to them. Eda immediately hugged Luz, while Hop Pop went on a rant, cried, then hugged his grandchildren too.
"Sorry, Eda" Luz said softly nestling into the hug.
"We're fine, Hop Pop" Anne complained, getting crushed.
"Yeah it's no big deal" Sprig said.
"I wasn't scared" Polly said to no one in particular.
Glimmer looked up at the large runestone atop the castle like it worried her. "I guess the good news is, after Horde Prime was defeated all the soldiers went home. We have plenty of spare rooms. Let's forget about Bellos and get you guys settled in. I have a feeling you'll be here a while."
To be continued...