Chapter Five: Dreams and nightmares
-Adora-
"Because this story is totally true."
That's a bold statement, and Adora isn't surprised to see Mermista has sat up in her seat. Maybe the slasher story Frosta told revved her engine, or maybe she just really enjoys scary stories. Whatever the reason, Mermista is almost vibrating with excitement now.
Catra shifts next to Adora, and she can see her furry ears start to lower. Adora can understand what Catra is feeling. There's no bravado in Mermista's voice. She hasn't come to play. She is all in on this.
Catra gives a weak laugh as if to try and diffuse the electric energy that's now running through the room from Mermista.
"Sure, that's what everyone says when they're about to tell a ghost story, 'it's all true.'" Catra says, and Adora hears that tone of voice Catra only uses when she's trying to sound tough and is feeling anything but. "We're not all that gullible."
Mermista turns her head to stare at the cat girl, an unsettling gleam in her eyes. Catra shrinks back against Adora.
"I never said I was going to tell you a 'ghost story.'" Mermista whispers dramatically. "I said I'm going to tell you a true story. That's so much worse."
Almost as if on cue there is a distant rumble of thunder. The uncharacteristic storm had mostly moved on sometime earlier that morning, while Adora and Catra were still sleeping. Even into the evening of the Harvest Festival the sky had been clear and pleasant. Now, it seems, their good luck has run out. There's another rumble of thunder, closer this time.
"Ok, so, not like I was expecting that," Mermista grins. "But I'll work with it."
Mermista waves her hand and a stream of water from a jug on the table rises out and swirls around her outstretched fingers before launching at the fireplace. Some of the flame is doused, and a thick blanket of steam rolls out from the mantle and across the room. The room itself is suddenly darker, with the small flames struggling to throw much more than the barest whispers of light towards the girls. The diminished light causes deep, jagged shadows to form on Mermista's face. Catra grabs Adora's hand tighter, all her former bravado gone.
"I was a little girl when my mom told me the story of the Dragon's Deceit for the first time. It was probably way too early to be telling me stories like this, but it obviously hasn't caused any permanent damage, so it's cool."
The princesses share an uncertain look, but Mermista is already too far gone in her story to notice.
"The Dragon's Deceit was once one of the greatest ships in Salineas' fleet. It was the flagship for the kingdom's naval forces, and the crew that manned her sails was made up of some of the toughest and best sailors that we've ever produced. No one could beat the Dragon's Deceit, not in speed, not in combat, nothing. It was one of a kind. Right up until it disappeared and took almost every sailor with it. And before you ask, no, it wasn't set on fire. This was, like, a hundred years ago."
Adora almost chuckled at that, but something made her hold it in. She looks around the room. The other princesses are already absorbed in Mermista's story, hanging on her every word. Catra, on the other hand, is trying to keep her composure. Adora is sure the darkness and eerie effect of the flickering firelight is pushing Catra ever closer to the edge of what she is comfortable with in this setting.
"Towards the end, the Dragon's Deceit was helmed by Captain Kelby, one of the fiercest sea captains to ever sail the Salinean seas. She's kind of, like, my personal idol. But Kelby was incredibly superstitious, even for a sea captain. She had, like, a bunch of rituals she performed every time her ship left port, and they say she had a bunch more that she would perform in her cabin late at night when most of the crew was asleep and the winds were dead. This reputation eventually earned her a nickname. People called her the Dragon Witch. She eventually became one of the most feared sea captains of her time, and she was the one at the helm when the Dragon's Deceit disappeared."
Mermosta lowers her voice even further.
"The voyage was supposed to be pretty normal, nothing out of the ordinary. The Dragon's Deceit would be gone for two weeks to deliver a shipment to one of the neighbouring kingdoms. No one is sure what the cargo was or where it was bound, but the Dragon's Deceit never made it there. That's how they first knew something weird was going on. The Dragon's Deceit and Captain Kelby were never late. Salineas started sending out other ships to look for the Dragon's Deceit, and this went on for, like, three weeks. No one was able to discover anything. It was like the ship had vanished into thin air, or sank without a trace."
"But near the end of the third week, a small merchant ship discovered the only survivor of the Dragon's Deceit. He had been adrift in the ocean for weeks. They say he had gone, like, totally insane while he was floating in the ocean waiting for someone to rescue him. He was pretty much a goner by that point, but he managed to live long enough to tell the merchant ship's captain what had happened."
Mermosta pauses for dramatic effect, and Adora hears Catra swallow hard. She squeezes her hand in what she hopes is a comforting gesture. Adora is surprised to find she feels nervous too.
"The Dragon's Deceit had run into trouble within the first few days of leaving Salineas. At first, it was little things. Lines would come undone, equipment would be missing, stuff like that. But then it started to get worse. The survivor said that near the end of the first week the crew started to think they had gotten lost, or wandered off course, though no one would dare to say anything to Captain Kelby. Instead, one foggy morning, they sent the lookout up to the crows nest to try and get a bearing. They waited while the lookout crawled up the rigging, but after almost an hour had passed, they sent someone else up to look for them. That sailor came down and said the lookout wasn't up there, but it was impossible that they could have gone anywhere without someone on the ship spotting them. From that point on, it seemed like another sailor would go missing every day, or sometimes at night, but always from places it was impossible to sneak out of without being seen. One walked into the cargo hold and never came back. Another apparently was the last one in the cabin one morning and never came out for their daily chores. The cook went into the storeroom one evening at dinner to get another crate of food for the sailor's meal and just straight up disappeared."
"The ship's survivor said they were stuck in that fog for a few more days, both day and night, and it got to the point that no one had any idea what was going on. The crew had shrunk down to almost nothing. Kelby had locked herself in her cabin and wouldn't come out for anything. They were pretty much dead in the water, but with no clue where they were. But that's not even the worst of it."
There was a suppressed gasp through the room. Adora was already having a hard time imagining how awful and terrifying it must have been to be experiencing all of these weird things on a ship stuck in the middle of the ocean. To hear it got worse caused a knot to form in the pit of her stomach. Catra was leaning most of her weight onto Adora's shoulder at this point, clawed hands clamped tightly around hers.
"The sailor said after days of being lost in the fog, one night they started to hear strange noises coming from the captain's quarters. What the sailor said was that they would occasionally hear Kelby's voice, but it sometimes sounded strange, like it was faraway, or like it was coming from underwater. Other times he said they would hear another or even multiple other voices coming from behind the closed doors. Kelby never re-emerged from her quarters, but the voices got more strange, and other weird noises started to come from the room as well."
"On the last night the sailor was on the ship, he said he woke up in the middle of the night to screams and horrible sounds coming from all around him. It was dark, the fog was so thick no moonlight was out, and the lights on the inside of the ship were off. He said that it felt like there were things all around him in the cabins, and that all of the other sailors were being attacked or taken by those things. The sailor said he panicked and ran, out of the cabin and up to the deck, feeling his way along in the dark and listening to the horrifying screams the entire time. Eventually he had made it almost to the deck, but before he could get outside he had to pass by the captain's quarters. He said as he did he heard noises coming from the quarters, different from the other noises coming from all around him, but he wouldn't tell the merchant captain what those noises were. It was almost like he couldn't. There was a light shining out from underneath the door, but the sailor said it made him sick to look at, or even think about. The sailor made it to the deck, but the screams and noises were still all around him, coming from next to him, from high above him in the air, and even from the ocean below him."
"Still in a total panic, the sailor discovered the life boats had been destroyed, but he was so desperate and scared at that point that he just, like, grabbed a bigger piece of wood and dove into the ocean. As he floated away from the Dragon's Deceit, he said that the fog cleared briefly."
It's Mermistas turn to swallow audibly. Adora watches as one of her hands trembles. Mermosta clenches it into a fist until it stops shaking. She takes a deep breath.
"He said he saw eyes all around him. He said they were giant, unnatural, unblinking. They had too many irises, or too few irises, and they were glowing in the darkness above the ship and underneath the water. He said that just before the fog rolled back in and the ship disappeared, the eyes focused on him for a split second. Then it was all gone and he was alone in the darkness. But he said he could still hear screams and strange noises for the next few hours as he and the ship drifted away from each other."
"They said the sailor from the Dragon's Deceit passed out then and never woke up again. He hung on for a few more days, and the merchant captain said that he would talk in his sleep about trying to hide from the eyes. Right before the end, he started screaming that the eyes had found him, and then he was... gone."
There is an absolute and crushing silence in the room as Mermista stops talking. Adora isn't sure how much time has passed since Mermista started telling her story. Around the room, the rest of her friends seem as dazed as she feels. Catra, though, has completely given up any pretense of being aloof or unaffected by scary stories. She's clutching Adora tightly, her face buried in her shoulder. Adora wants to break the silence, but she can't bring herself to speak. No one can.
Looking at Mermista, Adora notices she's not smiling like she was when she started her story. Her face is drawn and grim.
"So, remember how I said this was totally a true story and everything when I started? When I was little I was out sailing with my father, the king, and we happened to be out later than we should have. It was a pretty calm night, but as we were heading back to Salineas, this weird fog started to roll towards us."
"My dad grabbed me and threw a blanket over both of us and told me I had to be as quiet as possible. We laid down on the deck of our ship for what felt like forever. I never told my dad this, but as scared as I was, I wanted to see what we were hiding from. So I peeked."
Mermista again swallows hard, and it seems like she's having trouble continuing. Frosta, who has also buried herself back into her pillow fort at this point, sticks her head out and reaches one arm to rest on the older princess's shoulder.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, and for a long time I totally thought I was, but I saw a ship in the fog. More than that, though, I recognized the ship in the fog. It was, one hundred percent, the Dragon's Deceit, and I saw it as clear as I've ever seen anything. It's like it brought its own fog with it. You could barely see anything else, but I could see the ship. And I could hear… things… coming from the direction of the ship. There were voices coming from it, but I have never heard anything like it before or since. I couldn't hear what they were saying, or maybe it's more like I didn't want to? Like it was in a language my brain refused to even try to listen to. It was horrible. But that still wasn't the worst part."
"Right before the ship got too far away from us to see, I saw movement at the helm. There was a woman standing at the helm. She was dressed in an old-timey captain's coat. Her face was too far away to make much out, but her eyes… I thought her eyes glowed in the dark… but not… really? Like they did the opposite. It was like they took light out of the air around her. I don't think I can ever forget her eyes. I still get nightmares about it sometimes. I know for sure it was Captain Kelby, but it also… it was something else too. I don't know what. I don't think I want to."
-Catra-
The silence in the room is heavy as it has ever been as Mermista seems to finally finish her story. Of course, the only reason Catra thinks she's done is because of that silence. She has no idea what's actually going on in the room, not visually. For the last half of the story Catra's been pressing her face into Adora's shoulder, fully in the grip of the icy hand of fear that's gotten hold of her heart and won't let go.
She's heard "true" scary stories before. It's one thing when Kyle is talking about seeing a shadow that looks like a man wearing a hat showing up in different places around the Fright Zone. It's something very different coming from Mermista. In the short time she's known the Salinean princess, she's been impressed by just how steady the girl is. She's almost unflappable, though she has a flair for the dramatic, and to hear her get emotional over telling the story makes it a hundred times worse. Catra almost wishes she was back in the Fright Zone listening to Kyle. This story is just too much.
Mermista has been silent for some time now, so the story must well and truly be over. Catra pulls back from Adora. Her girlfriend gives her a reassuring, but unsteady, smile. Adora must be feeling the story too. Catra turns to face the sea princess and is shocked by the haunted look on her face. Mermista is shaking, and Frosta has completely emerged from her pillow fort and has wrapped her short arms around Mermista's shoulders. That the older girl hasn't pushed her away cements the real-ness of the story and the experience. In a strange way, seeing Mermista being comforted by Frosta is what convinces Catra that nothing she's just heard has been made up. Mermista saw what she saw, and that unsettles her like almost nothing else she's ever experienced has.
Still, there's something bothering Catra about the story. Something she's struggling to put her finger on.
"I brought it up to my dad once a few years after it happened, because I wanted to know how much he had seen, but he was totally confused. He said we hadn't seen any fog that night and I must have just been dreaming, but, like, I don't have dreams like that."
Mermista wipes at her eyes and squeezes Frosta into a quick hug. Catra notices that she doesn't even try to make it look like an accident.
"So, yeah, that's my story, and it totally kicks all of your other stories' butts."
There's no argument from the other princesses who have told their stories. Catra looks around the room and sees all of the other girls looking as affected as she feels. At this moment, the earlier vibe of just having a fun night together has gone. Something about the story Mermista has told has crossed some kind of unspoken line.
"Wow, Mermista. That's… wow." Adora sounds stunned.
Mermista shifts uncomfortably where she's sitting.
"Yeah, well, it's… it's whatever, you know? Like it happened so long ago, I can barely remember it."
Entrapta looks at her strangely.
"Really? It doesn't sound like you're having problems recalling those memories at all. They sound incredibly present, like it could literally have happened to you yesterday."
Mermista glares at the long-haired princess.
"Well, they didn't, ok? It was years ago. I just… I just had kind of forgotten about it until I woke up this morning. I guess it's because I knew we were doing this tonight, so my brain must have shaken it loose."
Entrapta doesn't seem convinced by this. In fact, she looks more concerned. Mermista stares at her, and Catra sees a mix of annoyance and… fear, on her face?
"No, stop it, I know that look. Don't turn me into some kind of science experiment, geek princess."
Entrapta is still deep in thought, and she barely reacts to Mermista. Instead she turns to face the rest of the group.
"Does anyone else have a story to share with the group now? Particularly a true story, something along similar lines to Mermista's?"
Catra is about to laugh out loud at just how ridiculous Entrapta's question is, but her stomach drops through the floor as she sees a hesitant look pass around the room between most of the other girls.
"What the hell are you talking about Entrapta?" Catra can hear the edge in her voice. She knows she sounds angry, but it's only because she's terrified. Entrapta looks at Catra, an odd look on her face.
"I woke up this morning and remembered a story that is… quite different from Mermista's overall, but there are some curious similarities between them. Of course, I've never been on a ship at sea to the extent Mermista has, but…"
"The eyes…" Catra hears Glimmer whisper.
"Precisely."
Catra whips her head from the Queen to the tech genius, waiting for one of them to elaborate.
"What does that mean? What's going on?"
Catra feels Adora's hand rest on her shoulder.
"Take it easy Catra, it's ok." Catra swats it off.
"No, I don't want to sit here literally in the dark while these two talk in stupid riddles. Tell me what is happening ."
But Entrapta ignores Catra entirely, deep in thought. Catra is about to pounce on the girl and shake her until she blabs when another voice speaks up.
"I've seen the same thing."
Catra feels the blood drain out of her face. Scorpia is looking at Entrapta now, a troubled look on her usually cheery face as well.
"Scorpia?" Catra can barely believe it.
"Well, not, I mean, the exact same thing," Scorpia is blushing, seemingly embarrassed. "Not a scary pirate captain. That wouldn't have made sense. Actually, you know what? It probably wouldn't have made what I saw make any less sense, now that I think about it."
She looks almost self-conscious about having spoken.
"When I was younger, while my moms were still around, we were out in the desert outside the Fright Zone running a mission for Hordak," Scorpia says. "It was nighttime too, and I was sure we had gotten lost, but my moms were confident they knew where we were going, and I trusted them. They're my moms, you know? Anyway, we had been out for a few hours and were about to turn in for the night. I remember stopping for a break, and I must not have said anything, or I didn't speak up loud enough, and suddenly I was alone. My moms had kept going, and I couldn't see them anymore. I just figured they were ahead of me, because we were just heading in a straight line, so I just kept walking in the direction we had been heading. Because that's what you do when you're a kid and you get lost."
There are murmurs of commiseration from the other princesses, and Catra's ears drop. It doesn't happen often, but every now and then she gets a firm reminder of how different she and Adora had it growing up. All the princesses can share stories of times spent with their parents. Even Scorpia's story of going on a mission with her moms just highlights what Catra and Adora lacked when they were young. When Shadow Weaver was at her most kind, which to Catra was just when she decided not to physically or psychologically torture her for no reason, she was still more of their commanding officer than any kind of real mother.
Not to mention the whole 'not loving us' thing, Catra thinks. They were always tools, a means to an end, Adora especially.
Catra has sometimes thought about what her childhood could have been like with a real mom. She wonders what her life could have been like.
"So I'm wandering through the desert trying to catch up to my moms, not sure if I'm even going in the right direction, when I see someone in the distance," Scorpia continues. "Of course, I think it's one of them. I mean, who else would be out wandering in the desert in the same place at the same time, right? So I start running in their direction. I'm just so happy to see someone. It isn't until I get closer that I realize anything is wrong."
Scorpia has begun to shrink into herself, wrapping her pincers around her knees. Perfuma is leaning her head against Scorpia's shoulder, one arm resting on a pincer.
"I'm getting closer right?" Scorpia says in a smaller voice than Catra is used to. "I can see that I am. But the person isn't getting any clearer. It's like they're still so far away, even though I'm most of the way to them by now. I still can't make out any details. I figure it's just because it's so dark out, and they're wearing dark clothes or something. But the longer I run the worse the feeling in my chest gets. Eventually I think my brain caught up to me, or it just couldn't ignore the warning bells in my head any more, so I stopped. But as soon as I did, the… whoever it was, turned to face me."
Scorpia stops talking, and the silence stretches out longer and longer. Catra waits as long as she can, her friend is obviously struggling and she doesn't want to push the gentle giant, but eventually she can't handle the dreadful silence anymore.
"Then what? What happened, Scorpia?" Catra tries to be kind, but she knows she sounds anxious. Scorpia shakes her head, still not looking at anyone.
"That's just it," she says matter-of-factly. "I don't know. The next thing I actually remember is waking up to my moms shaking me. I was just laying in the sand. They said they heard me fall while we were walking and they turned around and made sure I was ok."
It's Adora's turn to speak out.
"Wait, hold on, you just said you were running after that person in the desert," she says, sounding like she's trying to work it out in her head. "How could your moms just turn around and find you?"
Scorpia shakes her head again. Perfuma is slowly stroking her pincer with one hand.
"I'm only telling you what I know," Scorpia shrugs. "I remember running towards this figure for a long time, at least a few minutes. But my moms told me they were never more than a few feet ahead of me. Which means that I imagined the whole thing. But I know I didn't. I know I saw what I saw, and I don't know how to explain that to all of you. It was only the next night, after we had all returned to the Fright Zone that I remembered anything else. I had a dream that night that I was still running towards that person, but I remember reeeeeally not wanting to. Just absolutely dreading it. But I couldn't help it. It was like I wasn't in control. Kinda like…"
The pincer that Perfuma doesn't have a hand on raises to the back of her neck. Catra watches Mermista shift uncomfortably and can only just fight down the temptation to echo both of their movements. They all know what it's like to have control taken away from them by force. Catra feels Adora squeeze her hand.
"Anyway, in this dream I'm running and when I stop, the person turns to me," Scorpia swallows like her throat has suddenly gone dry. "Nothing about them makes sense, and truth be told, I don't even remember what they looked like. But I remember the eyes. They were dark, black things, like they weren't even there. But they were. I could tell. It's like they glowed, but with… nothingness. Just like Mermista said."
Entrapta is nodding her head, like this is something she's been expecting to hear all along.
"How many other people here have a memory that matches up to these two experiences in some way?" Entrapta asks.
Catra watches in horror as most of the hands of the other princesses raise. Glimmer, Perfuma and Frosta have each put a hand up. Catra can feel Adora tense up beside her, but is relieved when she sees the blonde has not raised a hand as well. Entrapta is looking around the room and Catra can see the gears in her head turning.
"Fascinating." She's muttering to herself. At least the recorders haven't come out. Yet. "There's a commonality to all of the princesses with connections to a runestone, but I've experienced something similar myself. And Adora hasn't had a similar experience, even though she also had a connection to a runestone in her sword. Both of the stories we've heard tonight, and my direct experience, describe what seems to be the same general figure, and the only connection we can draw with the current, and admittedly limited data we have, is the prevalence of dreaming."
Without warning, Catra feels her mind rend. She tries to bite back a scream, but it is torn from her body. The pain in her head is beyond anything she's ever felt before. She can't hear anything, can't focus on anything. She thinks she can still feel Adora next to her, senses she's screaming her name, but Catra is numb to everything except the pain. She can't think. She can't breathe. As she lies writhing on the floor, all she knows is the pain.
Then, just as abruptly, it stops. Catra opens her eyes. Around her are all of the faces she's come to love and know and… mostly tolerate. Adora is front and centre, worry writ large across her features. Around her girlfriend are the concerned faces of her friends and allies. Catra feels warmth as she begins to return to herself. But the warmth is short-lived. She feels her blood run cold as she remembers.
She remembers the dreams she's had every night this week. She remembers the shape in the darkness in the halls of Bright Moon. She remembers the shimmering figure in the corner of the courtyard. She remembers dark, void-like eyes.
"The Shadow Princess." Catra gasps, afraid and aware.
"It's the Shadow Princess."
A/N: Hmm... that sounds like it could be plot to me.
I wonder what Catra will have to say about all of this?
Until next time...