Ch 8 Flowers and Thunderstorms
Perfuma was walking through her kingdom with Ahriman in hand, Glimmer walked on the other side of the young heir, still bothered by his existence, while Scorpia followed close behind the three. Both Scorpia and Perfuma were lost within their conversation while Glimmer was lost in her own mind, arguing with herself on what creeped her out more, the little monster she was walking besides, the dolls it was carrying, or the fact that it was Scorpia that made the dolls. Ahriman was holding two stuffed dolls, one looking like Scorpia and the other, oddly enough, looking like Glimmer. Glimmer couldn't shake off the feeling of unease she felt walking next to the prince as the only thing she could think of was that she was walking next to a mini Hordak holding a doll that resembles her and was about to use the doll for nefarious purposes. On the other hand, she was bewildered, slightly impressed, but mostly creeped out by the intricate detail, stitching and overall high quality of the dolls that Scorpia had made, considering she doesn't have fingers. Though her thoughts were interrupted when the young prince looked up at her, their eyes meeting as he gave her a wide smile showing his red fangs. It caused Glimmer to jump a little and Ahriman did the same mimicking her surprised jump. Glimmer frowned a little thinking he was mocking her, when the sound of giggling caught her attention. Glimmer looked up to see Perfuma and Scorpia watch with smiles on their faces, "What!?" Glimmer asked putting her hand on her hips, Ahriman doing the same, which only made her frown even more. With Ahriman mimicking her every move Scorpia and Perfuma desperately try to hold back their laughter.
"Sorry Glimmer, but it's just too adorable seeing him mimic you." Perfuma gave her an apologetic smile, "Plus, seeing your reaction is really funny!" Perfuma laughed a little seeing Ahriman's perfect copy of Glimmer's frown, "I mean, it's just cute!" Glimmer thought otherwise, believing it was the farthest thing from being "cute"; she began walking faster to make distance between her and Ahriman. Ahriman stopped mimicking her looking confused, so he glanced over to Perfuma and Scopria.
"Don't worry little guy." Scorpia said walking over and picking him up, "Glimmer is just a bit bad with trusting people, but don't you worry I'm betting when she gets to know you and see how…" she hugs him close, "...adorable and soft you are, she will just love you!" Ahriman giggled after hearing this, his body letting off a little electricity causing both his and Scorpia's hair to puff up. Perfuma laughed until Scorpia poked her, causing her hair to puff up as well, "There! Now we're all puffed up." Pefuma gave a devious smile
"Not all of us." Perfuma said smiling. Glimmer quickly realized what was about to happen, her initial expression of shock turned into a wide grin, "Don't even try it," she proclaimed. Before the puff trio could touch Glimmer she teleported away from them leaving only sparkles where she once stood. The trio were excited with the challenge that laid before them, catch Glimmer and puff up her hair! Scorpia coiled her tail and used it to carry Ahriman, giving him a better angle to watch, while Perfuma used her magic to summon vines that would try to slow Glimmer down. Glimmer dodged, weaved and teleported her way out of Perfuma's plants and Scorpia's arms, especially Scorpia's arms. She never realized it, but Scorpia was quick and agile despite her appearance and the fact that she's carrying a baby with her tail. They continued their game of cat and mouse throughout the kingdom until Glimmer heard her communicator pad go off. She gestured to Perfuma and Scorpia to stop and pulled out the communicator to answer. On the other end of the transmission was Bow, Adora and Mermista.
"Hey guys! How's the investigation coming along?" asked Glimmer. Looking to the screen seeing Bow scratching his head making a face she knows all too well, "It was a bust, wasn't it? Nothing found? No information, not even a tidbit?" Glimmer sighed, annoyed after the meeting they had just as the twin monsters were born, Glimmer wanted to have the Horde remnants dealt with. It seemed whoever was leading proved to be far superior to Catra or any other in terms of tactics.
"Yeah no, sorry Glimmer we almost had them this time. Mermista wrecked the ship they were using, Adora and I boarded it alongside some of our troops to capture and interrogate them, but then we ended up fighting with them. There was even a sorta shark man that could control the sea life around us, he had a giant squid attack us and by the time we defeated the squid the remnants were gone, but…" he smiled widely, "...on the bright side! We kinda have an idea on why they're raiding," Bow turns his data pad to show what looked like half of a large metal boat washed up onto the shore, "They might be gathering up First Ones tech to try and build up there fighting force again." Bow said a bit nervous at the thought of that, "But there's one thing that bothers me, just before that shark guy escaped he yelled out 'Skeletor shall rise once again!'; whoever this "Skeletor" is he's definitely not like Hordak or any other Horde commander we've ever faced off against." Glimmer frowned hearing this.
"From one evil warlord to another," she rubbed her face with her free hand before hearing a static noise and a yelp from behind her. Glimmer looked at scorpia, noticing that Ahriman had gone missing before feeling her communicator pad shake. Her gaze quickly returned to it shaking and shooting out small sparks of electricity as Ahriman appeared from it, landing on Glimmer. Surprised by his appearance she dropped the data pad while he was still emitting static causing her hair to puff up. Ahriman clapped his hands giggling and from what she could hear Adora and Mermista must have finally joined Bow, their laughter was easy to distinguish, all while spotting Scorpia and Perfuma's faces both grinning like cats. Glimmer did not find this funny, with a free hand she picked the data pad off the ground looking at it, "We'll discuss the Skeletor problem later, for now I have a demon to look after alongside..." Glimmer shot Perfuma and Scorpia a glare, "...two princesses." She ended the video call with Bow and Adora sighing wondering why her mother even wanted her to bother helping Perfuma look after one of those little demons, "Now that you've gotten that out of your system can you come get this thing away from me." Perfuma frowned at that comment,
"He's not a "thing" Glimmer," Perfuma said walking over, "He's a baby and heir to Dryl an-" before Perfuma could continue Glimmer cut in gesturing to Ahriman who seemed more innocent and confused than threatening,
"He's also the heir and son of Hordak! Making him related to a monster that spent most of his time trying to conquer or kill us, so I don't care! My mom and dad may think that they're harmless, but I-" Glimmer paused feeling a sharp pain in her hand. She looked down to see Ahriman holding her hand feeding from it, "Arrgh! And then there's this drinking blood thing he does, could you be any more evil!" Perfuma frowned at Glimmer and as she was about to scold her Scorpia interrupted her by tapping her shoulder,
"Sorry to interrupt, but didnt you have a meeting today Perfuma?" Scorpia asked trying to defuse the tension between the two princesses as well as make sure Ahriman doesn't shock anyone. Perfuma paused for a moment before exclaiming
"Oh my! Yes, you're right Scorpia! I completely forgot about that. How about while I discuss my kingdoms issues with my advisors, you three can wait in a nearby hut? I could have tea sent so that you all may be refreshed and rejuvenated from all of the fun we've been having." She smiles at Scorpia who takes Ahriman in her arms buzzing with joy while giving Glimmer a frustrated stare. They all make their way to the hut Perfuma had suggested and upon arrival, Perfuma has the servant inside the hut leave to gather fresh herbs for tea. "I'll be heading to the meeting now, hopefully it won't be too long before I can come back…" Perfuma focuses on Glimmer, "...and finish our discussion from earlier." Before Glimmer could say anything Perfuma leaves the room in silence. Feeling intimidated by how different she acted Glimmer looked back at Scorpia who was playing with the little monster. She frowns at both of them, while Ahriman giggles and waves his doll of Glimmer.
"How can you be so nice to him Scorpia!? How can you even bear to be around him?" Glimmer asked a little more hostile than she wanted to. Scorpia looked over to her seeming in thought though still playing with Ahriman, Scorpia used her free claw to scratch her head a little bit.
"I don't know. How can you not be nice to such an adorable little face?" Scorpia says while she uses her magic to create sparks of tiny lightning coming out of her claws. Ahriman gushes with laughter, his eyes reflecting the light of the lightning, he claps his hands for a moment before looking at them. His body is still, sparks begin to illuminate from all over his body; Ahriman, still looking at his hands, scrunches his brows and concentrates, all of the sparks on his body begin to travel to his hands. Scorpia felt a sudden chill running down from the top of her head all the way down to her tail, she quickly realized that there was a lot of electricity being channeled into Ahriman's hands, "Oh. This can't be good." She rushes over to Glimmer, tackling her and pinning her against the wall of the cottage they were in, using her own body as a shield. In that moment Ahriman's hands grew bright with light and suddenly, massive rods of lightning cracked and flickered out of the young heir's hands. Lightning launched through the roof and into the sky, the clear clouds turned dark rumbling with thunder, the smaller bolts trailing away to create what looked like a tree made of lightning and storm clouds. Inside, the excess electricity crackling throughout the room, scorching everything in its path. Ahriman giggles and laughs until Scorpia comes rushing to him, picking him up into her arms. Suddenly, the bolts begin to rush to a single point, Scorpia. She calls out to the young prince, "Ahriman! You need to stop! You'll end up hurting someone! Stop! Stop!" Ahriman looks into Scorpia's eyes, he sees the fear and worried look she gives him and the light show emanating from his hands stops. He sniffled a little and his eyes water up a bit, he starts to give a worried moan. Scorpia quickly reassures him, "Oh, don't cry. It's ok! Look, everything's ok, everything...is...OK." Ahriman is still sniffling, on the verge of crying, but Scorpia cradled him as Glimmer got back up. Horror stricken, she began approaching them slowly, her eyes locked on the little monster. Scorpia noticed her and having a guilty look on her face, "Sorry, sometimes when he gets too excited he can lose control, but don't worry before we left with Perfuma I promised Entrapta that I'd help him learn to control his powers." She had a serious expression, but before she could speak Glimmer cut in,
"Are you kidding me? He just called in a storm with lighting included! HE ALMOST FRIED US! FRIED US! EVEN AS AN INFANT, HE'S ALREADY MORE DANGEROUS THAN HIS FATHER! HE'S A MONSTER AND YOU WANNA TRAIN THAT THING TO WHAT!? KILL US BETTER!? KNOW HOW TO BEST COOK ME WITH LIGHTING!? GREAT JOB SCORPIA! REALLY, JUST GREAT!" Glimmer yelled panting, seeing Scorpia's wide eyes and Ahriman looking terrified. She didn't care, she was ready to continue, but scorpia spoke first.
"He is not a monster Glimmer. He's a baby! Yes, he has dangerous powers, but so does Frosta, me, Mermista, Perfuma and all the other princesses and you think that as a baby they knew to control their powers?" Scorpia had a serious expression, "I doubt that. It took me months of training and even now I'm still learning how to do this whole magic thing, so if he's a monster so are we." She said as Ahriman whimpered a little, "You're mother wanted you to join us because you hated them for their father's deeds, but they aren't him they're babies, they're still learning and all you can do is treat THEM like a monster when YOU yourself used your kingdom as bait for the Horde and was willing to try and use a super weapon to kill how many people?" Scorpia said with a cold tone making glimmer flinch a little from the reminder of her less than good time as a queen, "So, can you say that you're not without a few bad deeds?" Scorpia saw Glimmer look down rubbing her arm. "Exactly!" She said trying to sound cheery. "Then, if your mother and father can look past what Ahriman's father did, than you should be able to as well?" Before either one of them could speak again they noticed townsfolk and guards at the entrance of the hut looking at them both stunned and frightened, "Oh. Um, hi there; umm, there's nothing the matter just a small hiccup on our end, the baby got a little too excited." Scorpia said holding Ahriman still sniffling, one of the guards looked up at the hole in the roof of the hut, then back to the three of them. Scorpia smiled nervously, "You wouldn't happen to have a spare hut we could use?"
The trio followed one of the guards to a new hut, one that wasn't catching fire, and were told to wait there for Perfuma to arrive. The room was silent, Ahriman held his doll of Glimmer tight to his chest, Scorpia set him down and sat with her legs crossed next to the prince, and Glimmer stood. She kept her distance from Scorpia, arms wrapped around herself, still feeling a piercing sting from the words that Scorpia had spoken to her before changing huts. The room felt small, the air cold, and bitter memories of the past surrounded them; not a single word was spoken between the two princesses. What was only a few minutes felt like an eternity of awkward silence when suddenly, someone entered the hut. It was the servant that was sent to gather herbs for tea, he was young, dark pink skin with snow white hair, his eyes full of sparkle with a small number of freckles lined from cheek to cheek. The boy was short and carrying a tray with a tea set, "Would you like some tea princesses?" the boy asked. Scorpia smiled kindly,
"We would love some tea." Scorpia looked to Glimmer, "Come on Glimmer come have a seat, it would do us both some good to enjoy something to drink and calm our nerves." Scorpia patted an area next to her, Glimmer looking down but nodding, slowly walking over to sit across from Scorpia, "Well that's not where I patted but it's something." The boy smiled at the two princesses setting down two cups in front of both of them and pouring the herbal tea into both cups before stepping back for them to enjoy the tea. Scorpia gently picked up her cup drinking it trying not to break the cup like a few times before, but also looking to Glimmer who still looked like a kicked puppy taking a small sip of her tea, "Listen Glimmer I didn't mean to sound so harsh about what I said, it's just..." Scorpia looked down at Ahriman he held his two dolls close smiling at them making Scorpia feel light as she smiled at him, "I don't want them to be looked at like Hordak was when they're older. People will treat them differently, like they're monsters or worse and I don't want them thinking that they are. I want them to feel safe around those that Entrapta trusts. Is it wrong to wanna give them something bright when we both know what others will say or try to do later in life?" Scorpia saw Glimmer look up at her, rubbing her shoulder with her free hand, then she looked to Ahriman who looked to her giving her a small goofy smile causing Glimmer to smile softly back before sighing,
"You're right Scorpia, you, my mom, Perfuma, Catra and every other person that's given me crap for the way I've acted." She rubbed her face groaning, "Why am I always like this?" Glimmer heard Scorpia chuckle a little oddly, "Yeah, yeah. It's so funny that I can't seem to ever make a decision that goes well" Scorpia's claw still had her face covered before she heard glass break, a sudden thud and the table shake.
Before she knew it, Scorpia was on the ground. She could feel her body growing numb, at first it was down at her feet forcing her to collapse; her tail went limp and numb, she could feel whatever was paralyzing her travel through her body. Soon she couldn't feel her chest, panic and fear started to kick in, she looked at Ahriman and tried lifting her arm towards him. A sudden shock pierced throughout her body, the tip of her claw felt as though it was being stabbed by thousands of daggers and that feeling traveled all through the rest of her body. Her shoulders grew heavy as she struggled to keep herself up, she tried to reach out to Ahriman and drag herself closer to him, but her arms grew too heavy and too weak to carry out her intent. Her head was buzzing, her vision blurring, Scorpia could smell the tea she had fully drank from her breathe. Something was off, there was a faint bitter aroma mixed in with the otherwise sweet and delicate one coming from her breathe. Just before everything went dark, Scorpia managed to say a few words before completely passing out, "Whatever you do...DON'T DRINK THE TEA…" Glimmer looked down at scorpia in shock before looking to the boy,
"What did you do? What, what was in that tea!?" Glimmer asked still shocked and feeling a bit light headed as the boy approached looking stunned
"It was what I normally grab when I make herbal tea, she must be having a bad reaction to it. " The boy said looking scared and terrified, "You should go get Perfuma while I stay here with them." The boy said terror still on his face. Glimmer was heading to the door still feeling light before pausing, she had known this boy he had made tea for her before and never has this happened. She turned to see Ahriman looking scared of the boy and trying to nudge Scorpia, Glimmer's shock turned to anger teleporting between the boy and the baby. She glared at him,
"Nice try, but I know the boy you're impersonating and so does Scorpia if it was really the brew he normally made then nothing would have happened!" Glimmer said trying to stand tall, though faltering as she stumbled a little. The boys surprise turned into a cruel smile and his voice deepened,
"And here I thought you were the dumb one of the two, then again all three of you are pretty stupid." The boy chuckled walking forward, his posture changing entirely from a kind of cautious and careful posture to one that said all too well what he enjoyed doing to those who kept him from his prizes, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I did attack him on his way back, so I didn't really have much to go on, I had to make up how he would act which worked out." He smiled then frowned, "Until you actually used that tiny brain of yours, but oh well! The easy way didn't work, sooooo it's time for the fun way." His cruel smile returned and Glimmer stepped back a little,
"What, what did you do to him?" The question came out a bit more scared and rattly then she'd have liked. His smile changed to a more caring one,
"Oh don't worry, once I got him to talk he didn't feel a thing. You have my word as a professional, one quick stab to the heart and he was gone before he could feel it. Truly a peaceful ending." The care in those horrible words spoken to her sent chills coursing through her body and she felt sick after hearing them. Glimmer knew she was in deep trouble. "Though when I came in his place I thought I'd be killing Perfuma, but instead I end up with not one but THREE high value targets! Oh, what a wonderful surprise it was, so I used a little of my special paralyzing agent in the tea, well a little for you, a bit more for stinger over there, but it looks like I should have used a bit more for you"
The impersonator changed his voice back into the little boys' and asked Glimmer, "You don't mind if I change into something a little more...suitable?" Before she could answer, the boy's eyes darkened into solid black, then began to bubble into a tar like substance. It dripped down the cheeks of the boy and more of it started coming out of his nose and ears. He let out a cynical laugh before his face began to melt, the black tar spreading to the rest of the body. Soon what was once a boy was nothing more than a standing silhouette of black tar, boiling and bursting, spilling onto the floor but returning to the figure that stood before Glimmer. It began to grow, as more tar burst onto the floor and returned to its host the figure grew and grew until it became just as tall as Scorpia was. Ahriman moaned in fear and wrapped himself around Glimmer's leg. Glimmer placed her hand on the prince's head, words could not begin to describe the dread she felt. Her stomach was a bottomless pit and her heart was heavy as all she could do was watch. The figure in front of her had gathered all of the spilt tar and it began to solidify, forming the silhouette of a person. Once solidified, the boy was no more; now, standing before Glimmer was a man dressed in full black armor. It was a kind of armor she had never seen before, it felt similar to the armor the Horde had worn, but the moldings of the boots, gauntlets, and chest were made to look like that of a skeleton. Even the helmet was similar, but with one distinct difference, the face was silver and was formed into the face of a skull. Day turned to dusk and the sun was almost set, the last of the sun's light came into the room through an open window making the imposter's armor shine with a warm glow, but before long, the night came and the warm shine that covered the imposter was gone leaving behind a cold and sinister evil standing before Glimmer.
Using his natural voice he spoke, "There. Much. Better." The imposter walked to a stand that was holding an unlit torch, "Don't you think it's getting a bit dark in here?" With a snap of his fingers the torch caught fire and the rest of the torches and candles within the hut came to life. "Now you'll get to see what's coming for you. It'll be so much fun." The imposter in his true form stared at her, his eyes shown through the skull mask eyeing her like prey as he drew a knife from its sheath on his waist, "But don't worry I promise when they have your funeral they can have an open casket." He said in a horribly soothing tone. Glimmer's immediate reaction without thinking was to pick up Ahriman and try to teleport, but when she did she only felt sick to her stomach stumbling back. "Ohhh, did you really think that we haven't planned for your powers? The agent I added, while paralyzing is one of its effects, can also be used to suppress certain talents. It makes sure that only those with skill are allowed to join." He began his approach readying his knife, Glimmer looked around the hut for a weapon or anything she could use as she felt her body getting numb bit by bit until she sees one of the lit torches. She makes a dash for it while holding Ahriman, grabbing it and prying it off of what held it as she heard the imposter approaching, humming to himself, as he did she twirled and swung the torch at the imposter only for him to catch it with his free hand. His head tilted as if curious, "Oh how adorable! A princess that thinks she can fight a trained assassin." The assassin's tone was joyful as he rips the torch out of her hands and sheathed his knife. Using his now free hand he placed it onto the torch, smothering the flame and putting it out. He tossed it to the side before beginning his approach to her again. Glimmer holds tightly onto the young terrified heir,
"Its ok Ahriman," Glimmer said trying to sound strong, "I'll stop him." No matter how strong Glimmer tried to sound it was no use, her body felt weaker and weaker as the assassin got close. She tried desperately to teleport, but it was no use, so she did the only thing she could, when he got close enough she rammed into him with her shoulder as hard as she could. Sadly an armored, healthy assassin wasn't affected by a drugged princess. The assassin seemed to chuckle before grabbing Ahriman. She tried to hold on, but he punched her with his other hand seeming to take great joy in hurting others who resisted him rather then killing them quickly. He began to repeatedly strike at her, Glimmer noticed his hand and wrist were unarmored so she desperately bit the hand trying to take Ahriman as hard as she could causing the assassin to flinch in pain before growling and striking harder. By the tenth strike Glimmer was beaten and bruised releasing both her bite and her grip on Ahriman. The assassin held him in his bleeding hand looking down at Glimmer with malice in his eyes as he unsheathed his knife again raising it. Glimmer looked to Ahriman, his terrified expression looked back at her. Glimmer felt the abyss in her stomach deepen knowing she failed him.
"Well it was fun dear princess, but it looks like Bright Moon is gonna be short a princess and two princes!" The assassin said with a cruel joyful tone raising the knife. Glimmer closed her eyes ready to accept death, but after a few moments nothing happened except for the faint smell of something burning. Glimmer opened one of her eyes to see the knife mere inches away from her face, the assassin shaking, seeming to be struggling and in pain. Smoke coming off of the assassin with sounds of crackling coming from him as well. When Glimmer looked to Ahriman she saw him biting where she had bitten him, his eyes glowing red like Hordaks' electricity sparking off his body. He was biting as hard as he could, Glimmer then looked to the assassin's eyes with horror. Behind the mask showed eyes that were burnt out, smoke leaving the sockets of the silver skull. Glimmer quickly rushed to Ahriman,
"That's enough Ahriman! Stop! He's gone, he won't hurt us anymore!" Ahriman's eyes returned to normal, his jaw loosened letting go of the assassin's hand. The sound of sizzling flesh was followed by a loud thud as the body inside the armor fell onto the ground with smoke continuing to come out of the mask. Ahriman jumped into Glimmer's arms and buried his face in her chest crying. All Glimmer could do was hold him as tightly as she could both of them sitting on the floor. Within moments Perfuma rushed into the hut with a small number of guards in tow, not one of them could say a word. Perfuma came to Glimmer's side and hugged her, tears flowing down her cheeks. The guards huddled over the smoldering body while some villagers gathered to Scorpia who was still unconscious. Then, a villager came into the hut with a body their arms and bitter sadness in their eyes. It was the body of the boy the assassin impersonated with a single stab wound to the chest where his heart would have been. Silence. The room was still and the first person to break that silence was a beaten and broken Glimmer, "He said that Bright Moon was going to lose a princess and two princes. There's only one prince here." Perfuma looked straight at one of her guards, "Send word to the Bright Moon Kingdom. Warn them, tell them what happened here." She looked at the dead assassin, "Tell them to be ready."