I've hit another mental block, so I'll be taking another break from this story for the foreseeable future. Nothing personal, but this feels like the right more for me at this time. With that said, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is produced by Dreamworks Animation Television, and both She-Ra and He-Man are owned by Mattel. Enjoy.
Chapter 28: Decisions
"And so Shadow Weaver tells me I'm too soft and at first I thought she meant I'd gained weight, so I was all 'Rude', but it turns out she just meant my personality." Scorpia said, sounding surprisingly chipper for someone in a cage. "You know, you're a really good listener. Most people back at the Fright Zone just kinda space out whenever I start talking."
"Yeah, well, my parents raised me better." Orius aka Mekaneck replied pleasantly. "Some people say that chivalry is dead, but I say those people are quitters."
A corny line perhaps, but it was good enough to make the arachnoid princess giggle.
In the few short hours they'd known each other, the two strangers had formed quite a rapport; which is especially impressive when you consider the fact that one was a prisoner and the other was supposed to be her guard. But then again, this was Eternia, so stranger things have happened.
Anyway, after Scorpia finished her giggling fit, the atmosphere turned awkward yet again.
"Look, Scorpia, I know I kinda sound like a broken record, but it's still not too late to change your mind. Man-at-Arms hasn't come back yet. You could always… you know… tell him you wanna join the royal guard. That way we could hang out all the time. You know, after basic and stuff."
"Sigh. Listen, Orius, you're a nice guy and I really like talking to you, but I'm still gonna have to pass." Scorpia replied reluctantly. "Catra's out there somewhere, and if I'm gonna find her before it's too late, then I can't be wasting time here. No offense."
"But I don't understand. Why do you care so much about her?" Mekaneck asked confusedly. "From what I've heard, from both you and from Princess Adora, Catra's a horrible person who only cares about winning the approval of people who are even worse. Why throw away your future for someone who won't even be grateful?"
"It's… hard to explain." The arachnoid princess replied sullenly. "I guess part of it is that I feel kinda guilty. I'm the daughter of Hordak's biggest ally, so I got special treatment, but most of the normal recruits had it pretty rough. And Catra had it rougher than most."
"That's not your fault. You have no control over what the Horde does or doesn't do to its foot soldiers. And anyway, a rough childhood, even one as rough as Catra's, is no excuse for the way she's treated you. If you ask me, you're better off just cutting her out of your life entirely."
"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen what I have." Scorpia replied, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "Catra might be mean and crabby, but whenever I look into her eyes, all I see is a scared little girl crying out for help. She might not think we're friends, but I know we are, and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make sure she's okay."
"Sigh. Then I guess there's no talking you out of this then." Orius admitted reluctantly. "But please, be careful out there. Eternia is a dangerous place. I wasn't born looking like this, you know."
"I appreciate the concern, but you don't have to worry about me. I grew up in the Crimson Waste. So if there's one thing I know how to do, it's survive."
XXX
"I'm not saying we should simply cave in to King Hiss' demands, I'm just saying we should try to keep an open mind. At the very least we should discuss it." Teela suggested in a stern yet surprisingly diplomatic fashion.
"What's there to discuss? We're not sacrificing Perfuma to that monster. End of discussion." Argued Bow quite fervently.
"I agree with Bow." Said Adam, shocking everyone in attendance. "King Hiss is a bully. If we give in to him now, we'll be paying for it the rest of our lives. Heroes die but once, but cowards die a thousand deaths. William Shakespeare."
"Oh, come off it, you sanctimonious little pervert. You're only siding with him because you want Perfuma all for yourself."
"And your point is?"
And so on and so forth in that fashion.
After King Hiss delivered his ultimatum, Adora was left with a seemingly impossible choice to make. And since the serpent king had addressed her directly, both her parents agreed that this was a problem that she would have to solve on her own. But of course, that didn't stop other members of her generation from barging into her room to voice their own opinions.
"All I'm saying is that we can't afford to throw out the idea completely." Teela argued. "If we're going to save both of our worlds, we have to consider all possible options and be willing to work grey."
"What's grey about forcing one of our friends to become a sex slave to a five-headed lunatic in exchange for an army of short fused maneaters?" Bow shot back angrily. "Cuz from where I'm standing, that seems pretty dark. Like, the darkest dark times infinity."
"Wait… maybe it wasn't Shakespeare who said that. Maybe it was W. C. Fields. I'm always getting those two mixed up."
"Quiet!" Adora shouted at the top of her voice; instantly silencing everyone in the room. "Look, I appreciate all the impute, but my Dad said that this was my decision. And I've decided that I'm going to talk to Perfuma before I decide anything else. Now if you don't mind, I need some alone time so I can figure out what I'm gonna tell her. So everybody out of my room!"
"Well… okay, Sister Dear. If that's what you want." Replied Adam, still a little shaken from the outburst.
"Yeah, you take all the time you need." Added Bow, sounding just as taken aback. "But just know that we're all here for you if you need us."
"Pfft. Royals. Always so moody." Teela threw in dismissively.
And with that said, all three of them quickly exited the princess' room, finally leaving her alone with her thoughts.
'Finally, I can hear myself think.' She thought to herself as she rested her weary head against one of her satin pillows. 'So now what?'
XXX
(Several Hours Later)
After four and a half hours of preparation and procrastination, Adora finally plucked up the nerve to go and talk to Perfuma about King Hiss' proposal. She still wasn't quite sure how to bridge the subject to her gently, but the proud warrior princess was tired of putting it off and decided that winging it was probably the best way to go. I mean, it was her specialty after all.
Anyway, after getting Orko to teach her how to use the communication mirror, or whatever the damned thing was called, and persuading Queen Angela to give her a private audience with the princess in question, Adora sat alone in the Court Magician's living room and anxiously waited for her to appear on the screen.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, she didn't have to wait too long. About fifteen minutes later, Perfuma appeared in the mirror's crystalline surface; looking a bit confused, but otherwise alright.
"Hey, Adora. What's up?" she asked casually. "Queen Angela said you had something important to tell me. Is everything okay? Have you found Glimmer?"
"No, not yet. We've gotten some new intel. So we're pretty sure she's on Eternia, but we don't have any actual leads." Adora answered uneasily. "Actually, I called because I need to ask you something, and it's kind of important."
"Oh… well, okay then. What do you want to talk about?"
"Well it's… it's kinda hard to explain. I'm not really sure where to start." The warrior princess began, blushing a little and scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "Have you ever… I don't know… thought about getting married someday?"
This may not have been the best choice of words, for no sooner had they left Adora's mouth then did Perfuma's face light up like a furnace.
"Oh… Oh… Oh my." The hippie princess said, sounding both flustered and flabbergasted. "Adora, I… I just don't know what to say. I mean, I'm flattered, obviously, but I actually prefer boys. And to be perfectly honest, your whole fat fetish thing kinda weirds me out."
"Oh, for the love of…. Not me, you ditz. I'm asking for someone else." Adora replied, her feelings of unease momentarily giving way to annoyance.
"Oh… okay then." Perfuma answered before her confusion quickly turned to elation. "Wait, does this mean… Gasp! Oh my gosh! Did your brother put you up to this? Is Adam in love with me? YES! YES!I knew it! In your face, you slutty mermaid!"
"It's not Adam either." She said, rolling her eyes. "Look, it's really complicated and to tell you the truth I don't even know where to begin to explain this whole mess."
"Well, usually the best place to start is at the beginning." The hippie princess suggested. "Just take a deep breath and walk me through it step by step."
Adora took her advice and cleared her mind before she continued.
"Okay, it's like this. Earlier today, we got some intel about a piece of Old Ones technology that could be our ticket to brining Etheria back into the wider universe."
"Well that's good."
"Yeah, but it's in the hands of my dad's greatest enemy."
"That's bad."
"And he plans to use it to do exactly what we're trying to do."
"That's good."
"But only so he can send every other bad guy on Eternia to Etheria so they can conquer it for themselves."
"That's bad."
"However, the guy who gave us the intel, King Hiss, has offered to let me borrow his army so we can take it from him."
"That's good."
"But he'll only give it to me if I do something for him first."
"That's bad."
"WILL YOU STOP THAT!"
"Sorry."
Adora visibly deflated as her momentary rage gave way to crushing reality.
"Sigh… Perfuma, King Hiss' army is the strongest I've ever seen. One of their foot soldiers is worth like twenty of the Horde's. Plus they're much more organized than we are and most of them have crazy powers. With them helping us we could end the war in under a month, but the only way he'll let us use it is if you agree to marry him."
"What? But… but why me?" Perfuma asked confusedly.
"Well, apparently one of your ancestors was engaged to him until Mara sent her and the rest of Etheria into Despondos, and now he expects me to make up for it. And as for how he even knows you exist, well… he was pretty sketchy on that."
"Oh… I… I see." The hippie princess said as her face grew slightly pale. "Well… what is he like?"
"King Hiss? Well, he's… he's kind of… he's very…" Adora stammered, before finally 'manning up'; she respected Perfuma too much to lie to her. "He's a monster. In every sense of the word. He's a five-headed narcissist who likes to eat animals and people while they're still alive. His entire culture revolves around fighting and kidnapping woman to turn into brainwashed baby machines. And he expects me to help him do that to you."
By this point, Perfuma's entire face was white as a sheet.
"Oh… I see." She said, sounding nearly as ghostlike as she looked.
"Perfuma, I… I just don't know what I'm supposed to do." Adora admitted ruefully. "My Dad says this is supposed to be my decision, but everyone's got their own ideas what I should do and it's driving me nuts. If I go through with this I could finally end the war, but it means I'll have to force one of my friends to marry a monster. And if I don't go through with it, the war could go on for years, or worse, Etheria could be overrun by guys a million times worse than Hordak. It feels like no matter what I choose I can't win."
"Well… Adora, that's kinda what it means to be a leader." The hippie princess said unexpectedly. "I mean, when I decided to join the Princess Alliance, I got a lot of pushback from my people. Some of them said they'd rather die than engage in violence. A few of them even left Plumeria to go live in the mountains. What I guess I'm saying is that being in charge isn't about making choices to avoid negative consequences, it's about making the best choices you can and learning to live with those consequences."
Needless to say, Adora was quite floored by this statement. Perfuma could be such a ditz sometimes that is was easy to forget how wise she really was.
"Adora, I obviously don't wanna marry this Hiss guy. He sounds awful. But you're She-Ra, it's your job to protect Etheria, so if you really think sacrificing me is the best way to do that then… then you'll get no protest from me. I'll gladly go along with whatever you say, so long as it means happiness for my friends and my people."
Once again, the warrior princess was floored. All this time she'd been grappling with what appeared to be an impossible choice; choosing between one life and the lives of all Etheria. And yet the one life she'd been asked to sacrifice willingly accepted this fate without a moment's hesitation. And all for the good of the people she cared for.
Such wisdom.
Such maturity.
Such selflessness.
Perfuma was indeed the ideal Princess.
Too good for a blackhearted fiend like Hiss.
"Perfuma… thank you." She said before abruptly cutting off the transmission.
Not the most polite move she could've made, but it felt right at the time.
With her mind finally made up, Adora had no more time to waste on anything else.
She needed to send King Hiss her answer right away.
Three words only.
GO TO HELL!
End Notes:
As stated up above, I'll be taking a break from this story for a while.
Sorry if this causes you any distress, but I feel it's the best thing for me right now.
With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you all in the next one.
Peace.
