Heavy head. Couldn't… Venom but there was… something…

Bow tried to move but his body wouldn't obey. Red flashed behind his eyelids, the pressure in his head crushing, his thoughts blurry. Everything buzzed, an angry insistent drone that just kept getting louder, cutting through the fog until it was screaming in his head, forcing him back to consciousness.

They'd hurt her… Might still be hurting her… They'd been separated because he hadn't been able to… Tried to reach her but then…

The memory hurt like it was real. Lighting stabbing through his body, carrying the oily stench of dark magic. It took him a moment to realize he was screaming now, not just in the memory, the pain impossible. A thousand needles stabbing into his body, his eyes, his lungs, slicing him apart from the inside out. Instinct told him to use his magic to teleport somewhere safe, but he couldn't find his powers in the mess of pain and confusion.

The Ball. The scorpion woman from the Horde. Catra. Shadow Weaver. Glimmer.

Glimmer!

He forced his eyes open, willing himself to stay conscious, the pain unbearable. All he could see was electricity, angry and red, and beyond that some kind of dark room. They had him on his knees, his arms bound by some force he didn't understand. He tried to pull them free but the burning agony in his muscles only intensified.

There was someone there. He tried to turn but couldn't do more than lift his head and even that was like lifting a block of lead. His eyes finally focused on the hovering figure, macabre tendrils of hair writhing around a mask of pure malice.

Shadow Weaver. The air around her reeked with that same sour smell of dark magic from Mystacor. It was impossible to think that this horrible woman had raised someone as wonderful as Adora.

He hated that he had to look up at her like he was bowing to this monster. "Where… is Gl—"

Shadow Weaver flexed her fingers and the pain doubled. It was excruciating and all he could do is hold his breath and bear down as the electricity arched around him. When she finally released her hand, he let his head hang forward, panting. Sweat dripped down into his eyes, the salt stinging but he couldn't wipe it away. Even now that she'd stopped, the pain was exhausting, his entire body under constant attack.

"Welcome to the Fright Zone, your highness." Shadow Weaver sounded amused like this was all a game and she was winning. Bow was not a man who hated easily but he'd already been halfway there after learning what she'd done to Adora. Now he loathed her with an intensity that pushed out everything else. "I should warn you. Any attempt to teleport through these restraints will only cause you pain. It seems my Black Garnet and your powers don't mix. Besides, your mother will be here soon."

His mother? Fear twisted in his gut but he pushed it down. It wasn't true. It couldn't be. Shadow Weaver lies. Adora had told them it's what she does.

"Stop it." He managed, through gritted teeth. "This just one of your mind games."

"But what I said about Queen Angella is true. She's coming to surrender herself in exchange for your safety."

No! No, she couldn't… but, of course, his mother would if she knew he was in danger. It was exactly what she would do. But he couldn't lose his mother, not to the Horde, not like this. The world spun and he closed his eyes, trying to control it before he lost his balance entirely.

Shadow Weaver's voice was a purr, a mockery of actual sympathy. "Oh, it's such a shame, the toll this rebellion has taken on your family. First, you lose your father—"

"You don't get to talk about my father!" He threw his head up to face her. The pain punished him for the motion and he grimaced, biting his lip to stop himself from crying out. His fury stoked his magic and he felt it, at last, buried under the pain, just out of reach.

"Don't I?" Shadow Weaver laughed then, terrible and mirthless. "After all, I knew him longer than you did."

Fury roared in his ears. His hands shook within his bonds, making the electricity bite harder but he didn't care. He reached for his magic but before he could do anything with it, there was the horrible sensation of being ripped apart, every cell of his body on fire. It was tearing him to bits and he wasn't going to survive it, it was going to end like this unless he… if he could just…

It took all his concentration and fighting against all his instincts but he surrendered his powers, falling back into the sharp fingers of Shadow Weavers magic. Everything went fuzzy, as he gasped for desperate breaths. It was too much. His muscles ached, the buzzing in his head a soundless scream. He fell forward with nothing left to hold himself upright, the binds wrenching his arms at the shoulder, and a hollow hopeless feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, tsk-tsk. Careful now. It would be a shame if we had no prince to exchange for the Queen."

Helplessness, like a physical weight, pulling him downward. He couldn't take it. His vision blurred. The last thing he saw before the pain overtook him and he blacked out again was a single heavy tear dot the grime of the floor beneath him.

It might have been hours or days that he hung there in agony. He'd tried to use his magic again, but each time it seemed to come closer to destroying him. He wanted to fight it, wanted to break free but the pain was so immense he could barely stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. Every time he clawed his way back to consciousness, it was worse, like evil electricity was knitting itself into his very cells.

There was a sound, a sharp intake of breath, different enough from the hum of his bonds that he noticed even in his half-alive state.

"Bow?"

He knew that voice. It ignited something in him, a tiny fire in the hollow hopeless pit in his middle. He wanted to lift his head and see but he couldn't remember how to move. It was like there was no body anymore, no muscle or motion, only unceasing unbearable pain.

Footsteps, coming closer. "Bow? Can you hear me?"

Glimmer. He'd hallucinated her before, echos and visions he'd entertained because they helped distract him from the pain for a moment. The ghost of hope conjured up by part of the brain that hadn't accepted that it was hopeless.

"Holy shit. What did they do to you? I'm going to fucking kill that bitch Shadow Weaver for this."

The version of Glimmer in his head usually didn't swear nearly that much. Bow jerked his head upright, forcing his eyes open, paying for it dearly with a fresh wave of pain. He cried out and Glimmer reached for him, her eyes wide.

"No! Don't touch me!" Whatever this magic was, it was ripping him apart, he didn't want to find out what it would do to her. She pulled her hand back and he focused on her properly for the first time.

Her dress was torn and stained with what looked like blood. Her hair stood, wild, part of it scorched off. Bruises and scrapes covered her arms while the skin around her eyes was turning a sickly yellow. And she was missing a shoe.

She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes, pure relief that she was OK, that she wasn't somewhere being tortured or dead like he'd feared. He so desperately wanted to touch her, hold her close, and never ever let her go again. A sound halfway between a laugh and a sob bubbled up. "You're OK."

"Shh. Save your strength. I'm getting you out of here." Glimmer was already appraising his bonds, following the cables with her eyes. She was so smart. Just completely amazing. "One of these has to be the power source. If I can disable the connection—"

Her sentence ended on a horrible strangled sound and Bow could only watch helplessly as tendrils of black smoke twisted around her body. Her hands flew to her neck, her fingers fighting the constricting darkness twisting around her neck. The dark magic enveloped her and lifted her off the ground, her feet kicking desperately at the open air.

"No! Stop it!" He shouted, nearly pulling his arms out of their sockets trying to get free but all it did was send fire shooting through his muscles. Hours of pain had left him weak and even that small effort left him breathless and dizzy.

"Don't… hurt… her!" His voice was barely a ragged whisper. "Not her, please!"

Shadow Weaver ignored him, her hand extended like it was actually wrapped around Glimmer's neck and not her magic. She closed her grip slightly and Glimmer's eyes grew wide, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Bow's body tensed and he tried again to free himself but the fire moved to his lungs, needles jabbing through his insides.

"So this is the little rebel who caused so much trouble down in the prison. I must confess, I am not impressed. No magic ability, no powers. Small and soft. Nobody important. Were it not for the utter incompetence of our cadets, you would never have made it this far." Shadow Weaver floated closer, the dark cloud around Glimmer constricting. His best friend grunted and gasped, trying to get free. "Useless. If Catra had not insisted Adora cared for you, I would have had them dispose of you already."

"No!" He wasn't going to let the witch hurt her, not when he'd just gotten her back. "Please, just let her go!"

"And why would I do that, your highness?" Shadow Weaver sounded amused. She flicked her other hand and everything went red, the lightning coursing through his body. When the agony finally stopped, he gasped for breath, his vision doubled.

"Because…" What did he have to offer Shadow Weaver? It was impossible to think like this, through the pain and terror and complete exhaustion but he had to try. He couldn't think of any other way to save her, not when he was trapped like this. But there was something… "I'll... I'll let you take my powers. You've got a runestone but you can't… you can't really use it like a real princess, right? But I can."

"Bow, don't…" Glimmer croaked and he fought the heavy feeling in his head to meet her eyes. She didn't want him to do it but he couldn't just let her die. Any price was worth it if for her.

He had Shadow Weaver's attention now. She cocked her head, considering. "An intriguing proposition. It would be a simple matter to wipe your memory, turn you to our cause. As long as your body is alive, I can use your connection to the Moonstone for my own purposes. With the power of the full potential of the moonstone at my disposal as well as the garnet, we could crush the rebellion easily."

"No! Bow, you ca—" Glimmer choked on the last word as Shadow Weaver tightened her grip.

"You can take it. My power, Bright Moon… my life if you want."

"Yes. I think I will take it," Shadow Weaver said and he let out a single relieved sob. Glimmer was kicking wildly, trying to shout but she couldn't get enough breath. Her eyes were frantic and wide, begging him not to do this but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't let her die.

"You agreed to my offer. Now let her go!"

"I agreed to nothing, you foolish boy. We are at war. Only a fool expects mercy from their enemies. The girl dies and you stay for as long as I have need of you." Shadow Weaver closed her hand. Glimmer's face went red, her mouth opening and closing. Her kicking got more desperate and he realized she was suffocating, wouldn't have more than a few moments if she didn't get some air.

No. No, she couldn't die. Not like this, not in front of him, not when there was nothing he could do to help her.

Fear and rage stoked what little of his power was left and he reached for it. As soon as he touched it, the pain started again, worse than before, like Shadow Weaver's power was ripping him to pieces. But this time he didn't let go but reached for more, more magic than he should have left, using the pain to stoke the few sparks left into something large enough for him to do something with. The witch had said it would kill him, using his magic, and in that moment he felt certain she was telling the truth. If he kept this up there was be nothing left of him because her power would rip him to shreds. But if he couldn't save Glimmer then there wasn't any point in be careful with his own life.

Come on! It was like trying to light a fire with wet sticks, the magic was there but he couldn't get it to ignite under Shadow Weaver's dark bonds. Glimmer was turning purple, her kicks slowing. He would only get one shot at this and they were running out of time.

The dark magic wanted to destroy, it wanted to tear him apart and he finally let it. With a scream he stopped trying to hold himself together and surrendered to it, letting it tear him apart. He felt his magic catch, the familiar glow of power coursing through him at last and as the dark magic blasted him into bits he used it, using the power of the moonstone to recollect himself, completing the teleport.

Bow appeared in the air just above Shadow Weaver, using gravity to his advantage, and put every last bit of magic left in him into his fist. The old sorceress only had a moment to turn and widen her eyes in surprise before he slammed his fist into her face, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

He hit the ground hard, Glimmer crashing down next to him.