I OWN NOTHING
The Lord Of Pages is as or excited as me to write this, if not more.
-0-
Atop the crow's nest, Naruto smirked, "Do we get to fight pirates on our way to Mermista's?" he asked the princesses at the deck.
Spinnerella was cloaked in an orb of wind which pushed the sail and boat forward. Netossa was at the steering wheel with a small smile. Glimmer for her part had a telescope and a map to look for the kingdom.
It was the blue-haired princess who replied,she had a grin which implied she wouldn't be against an idea,"What? Do you want to feel like a swashbuckling adventurer?"
"Come on, I'm at the crow's nest, it's a man's romance to have a sword duel against a dirty pillaging pirate on the mast!" he exclaimed as he walked over the sail, swinging his sword singlehandedly with an excited smile. "Or at the very least, something to do other than watch endless sea and wait for... Hey, Spinnerella, how much longer?"
"Please be patient, our boat isn't really inconspicuous and we're taking an alternate route to avoid the Horde," the chubby beauty answered with a motherly grin.
"I have a good idea! Let's sing sea shanties!" Netossa suggested wanting to both pass the time and alleviate the boredom of long silent trips at sea, everyone went silent. Spinnerella's face gained a strained aspect to her smile, Naruto begun whistling to himself, and Glimmer…poor Glimmer was holding her head in both hands.
"Oh dear..." the chubby wind mistress whispered.
Looking annoyed, Netossa stomped over to the group from her spot at the wheel, "Oi! What's the matter, you guys?! Baby girl, c'mon! You know my singing is top notch!" Spinnerella gently nodded at her words, smiling with her eyes closed.
She gestured with her hands, trying to calm Netossa who looked frustrated about this conversation, "Yes, darling. I am aware. You have won awards. But sea shanties, we've talked about this. You know? We do not sing them unless we have large groups that make the singing more…enjoyable."
Netossa frowned like a little kid, "Baby girl, our ship is only big enough for us, and maybe a couple other people. We never get to sing sea shanties!"
"…that's…maybe the point." Naruto whispered to himself, Glimmer's shoulders shook as he patted her back, "Should we have gone with plan B?"
She rose her head, giving him a frustrated stare, "And be possibly sidetracked with unimportant and possibly dangerous side-business?" they tried to ignore Spinnerella and Netossa arguing. Really it was just Netossa who seemed upset about the lack of sea shanties.
"Isn't that what sea adventure is about?" he retorted.
His pink employer crossed her arms under her small, barely half-apple sized breasts, "Explain to me when this was about fighting sea monsters or the like and not a political alliance." She was more irritated than a certain blue-haired princess, if only because the couple kept arguing. So, she also turned to them, "This is a business cruise, not a pleasure one." Subtlety wasn't her forte, neither was it Naruto's.
"Ugh, fine, no sea shanties." Netossa groaned at the pleading smile her lover sent her and the impatient frown the other pink princess had. Looking off to the side as she kept her hands on the wheel, she mumbled out, "Wonder if someone's as miserable as me in these waters."
Little did she know, someone was far more miserable.
"Ugh, I hate the sea..." Catra groaned with her claws dug deep into the railing of their Horde ship.
"How could you?" Scorpia asked in disbelief. "That fresh salty air, the romance of adventure with possible encounters with sea monsters, raging waves during the storms, and facing pirates attempting to sink such a fine vessel to the depths of the sea... Ah, it makes me go back to when I was little and had a tiny boat to myself. How I loved playing to be the legendary giant crab and pull it down to the darkness of-"
Loud screeching from the steel getting scratched stopped her, "Oh, I think she's not fond of sailing." Adora told Scorpia with a patient smile.
"Ah, say no more, if she's seasick I can make some of my famous soup." Scorpia beamed, hands on her hips and titanic breasts pushed up.
Adora looked down at the washboard abs, "She really works out."
"Ahem..." Kyle interrupted them while trying not to look at Scorpia. "Force Captain Adora and Scorpia, I saw a ship move slightly out of course towards Princess Mermista's palace." He handed them a telescope. It was gently taken by Adora who looked around, "At our ship's...um...our ten o'clock." He didn't want to embarrass himself with naval terminology, so he went with the easier terms.
"That's port, the right side is starboard." Lonnie corrected him with a patient smile as she approached them, just to smirk at Catra. "How you doing?"
"Shut it." The cat girl hissed, to which Kyle wisely stepped back when knowing a fight could ensue swiftly.
"Enough, I think I see it." Adora said with a frown, which then turned upside down when seeing pink. "Rogelio, turn 20 degrees port!" said lizardman saluted her and turned the wheel to the left. "Everyone, we will keep our distance and follow them to see this Princess Mermista." She collapsed the telescope with an eager smile.
"Wait, why are we not attacking them?" Lonnie asked in surprise.
"Because we could kill two birds with one stone." Adora explained, "We can use them to get the Sea Gate open, enter the palace, and destroy it to gain access to Bright Moon from the sea." She turned to her crew with a big smile, "Everyone, get ready on your battle stations! Lonnie, Kyle, you will take the turrets! Catra, get the chains ready!"
"Oh, kinky." She joked, not even stifling a naughty giggle despite Adora's blushing glare. "Alright, I'll get to it. That pest owes me some blood." She smirked at the idea.
"What about us?" Scorpia asked curiously.
"We wait until they enter the Sea Gate, then we strike with all our might." Adora answered and pulled out her one-handed broadsword. She then turned to the lizardman at the wheel, "Rogelio, call in reinforcements once we're done inside." The scaly soldier gave her a thumb up and grabbed a flare gun.
Right when Adora felt deserving of a cheer, something bizarre happened, "Hey, what's that spot on the water following them?" Kyle asked from his turret.
"What are you talking about?" Lonnie asked.
"Over there, behind their ship, I swear I saw some shadow move in the water." The boy replied with a finger aimed forward.
"Oh yeah, piece of advice, keep your guard up and the cannons warmed up." Scorpia told the other soldiers. "This place is infested with all sorts of monsters. It's one of the many reasons we don't approach it, the other is that Mermista's control over the sea and an underwater volcano make this place prone to maelstroms."
Catra's pupils shrunk as she mewled in terror, "I hate the sea so freaking much..." she gulped and closed her eyes.
"Wait, why would they go on such a small ship, then?" Adora questioned her fellow captain.
"Um...I really don't know." Scorpia scratched her chin carefully. "Somehow, the sea creatures easily target us, but when it comes to other ships-"
"Wait, those monsters could come after us!?" Catra hissed, the fur of her tail standing up. She stomped the ground upon turning to Adora, "Let's take another roundabout route, we can catch them safely without them noticing us further or-" and Lonnie saw her chance for revenge.
"Aw, are you afraid of getting wet?" she taunted with Kyle looking mortified beside her. "I thought you liked fish."
"Please, don't start." The blond pleased in a whisper.
Growling, Catra shut her eyes and turned forward, which worried Adora, "Please, don't do anything foolish."
Her pleas fell on deaf cat ears, "I said I'll have my revenge, and I plan on it. Let's go after them."
-0-
Bored out of his mind, Naruto sat at the edge of the ship with a makeshift fishing rod. All he had was a string, a piece of cheese he attached to it, and his sword. Using the wooden weapon as the rod, he waited for any pull. It wasn't so much to get a free meal as it was just for the sake of catching and releasing something fun to fight against. Upbringings like his gave him some experience in makeshift fishing rods when out of cash and hungry. Sadly, his first and last attempt was at a pond Hiruzen had built. After a hard punch on the back of the head, there were no more ponds in public areas.
"Are you practicing or meditating there, Forest Gale?" Netossa asked when finally noticing he was seated with his back turned to her.
Seeing no harm in telling her, he answered, "I'm just trying to kill time with a little fishing."
"Oh, you're...fishing..." Netossa echoed, her eyes growing wider as cold sweat dampened her dark chocolate skin. Fear raked her mind as she instinctively shouted. "Pull! Pull that fishing rod!" Naruto was shocked, but hearing her so terrified, he did as he was told and tried to retrieve the bait from the water but felt a pull.
Forgetting the horror which the girl had, he momentarily cheered, "Hey, I caught something!"
"No, that's bad, let it go!" Netossa yelled and tried to yank the sword off his hand.
"Wait, this is my-" he argued, but it was too late, the two managed to pull out a large fish.
It was a large blue tuna with a yellow belly, "Huh...that's...harmless." Netossa let out in baffled relief as the fish dangled from the string, clearly intent on eating the cheese. After sighing and ruffling her hair, she turned to the blond more disappointed in herself than angry at him, "Dammit, I should've told you not to fish, even if for fun."
"Why is that? I got us a free meal." He answered as the fish kept chewing on the cheese and the string.
"See, this ship is not made of regular wood." Netossa explained, "Spinnerella's wind makes us move and has animals think it's a breeze going over them. Meanwhile, the entire ship's protected by ancient spells our ancestors put to travel these waters back when all kingdoms got along. Meaning that no dangerous creatures will detect us."
"Huh, that sounds cool." He replied, "But why did you say I couldn't fish?"
"Because-" Netossa started, but the universe wasn't kind enough to let her explain herself fully and did the demonstration itself.
First, a giant barracuda the size of a regular rowing boat jumped out of the water and snapped the string after devouring the fish in a single bite! Then, the giant fish was bitten right in the middle of the stomach by a large shark with a maw large enough to swallow Naruto whole and snapped into pieces. And then, a geyser erupted from the water. A nine-foot-long shark was sent flying into the air by a far bigger monster's pincer!
Everyone to looked at a creature which completely eclipsed the sun.
"That's why..." Netossa said dully as she leaned her head back to look at it, eyes wide in fear.
"Is that... a giant crab?" Naruto asked with his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun and to properly size the towering crustacean.
"It's a Karkinos!" Glimmer shouted, aiming a finger at the creature without the need of a telescope to see its thirty-foot-tall form.
Rising from the deep sea, salty water splashed and dripped down its body. And once out in the open, it revealed itself as a monster out of a nightmare. Its tough shell was covered in barnacles on the back while the entirety of its exoskeleton was blood red and protected with sharp spikes. An outstanding feature was that its right arm was so massive it held the shark in it while its far tinier left claw could pull a human into its mouth. Such a beast could snap and cut off a whale's head with its largest limb and feed off it with the other.
"Yeah..." Netossa answered his question and formed an energy net in her hands. "Mermista has plenty of these things around her kingdom, and they're all nasty, hungry mon-"
She forgot an important thing, Naruto Uzumaki didn't work on the same logic as normal human beings, "I'm gonna eat it!"
He jumped to the giant crab's face, which started to sweat bullets in a cartoonish manner at the sight of such hunger in the kid's eyes.
"Wait!" the blue-haired princess yelled, but it was too late.
Rising his sword, the hungry blond licked his lips, and swung it down in a flash, "Whispering Sword: Formless Hunt Strike!"
His slash was clean, his aim was true, and his hunger would be sated!
Nor far off, the Horde soldiers gaped as the titanic crab fell dead with a large gash between its eyes, "I think we should worry more about him than the monsters." Kyle commented nervously. "Especially since that kind of attack could cut our ship in two."
He shuddered at the idea, though not as much as Catra, "I hate water..."
Back at The Crescent, Spinnerella blinked owlishly in surprise, "I can't say he doesn't do his rumors justice, but..."
Glimmer sighed and placed a hand on her fellow plump princess' shoulder, "You'll get used to it. Think Netossa, but more reckless."
"That's...something I was fearing." Spinnerella shyly admitted with a sheepish grin.
Netossa wasn't mad, though, "Damn, that was sweet! You really are the dude!" she cheered, "Now I really gotta test you once we finish this mission!"
"Thanks." Naruto said as he sat on his future dinner, "Say, could you make some nets to pull this guy? I wanna eat while it's still fresh."
"Hah! Save some for me!" the dark chocolate skinned princess chortled.
"They'll be the death of us," Glimmer told Spinnerella.
The plumper of the two giggled, "I guess that's what makes them charming in their own way."
-0-
Pointing ahead of The Crescent, Glimmer called out, "There she is! Princess Mermista's domain!"
Ahead of them was the gate, the city proper, the port it was formed around, and the entire palace. Everything looked as if a coral reef had become a city. Large marble towers and buildings adorned with shell-shaped structures and other sea related motifs like in a fairy tale. Coral reefs decorated the buildings and natural rock walls, making quite a beautiful landscape for sea lovers.
As they docked, it was Spinnerella who noticed a problem first.
"There's…nobody here," she whispered, shocked by the complete lack of traffic.
Naruto corrected her with a frown, "Almost nobody. There's at least a few people."
Despite her words, there were indeed just a few souls. Barely enough to even call it a city though. One stall was open, and nobody was going to it, a single woman with deep blue scales and long green hair sighed brokenly at it. One or two guards stood around, looking just as shattered as the woman. And only a spattering of fishermen worked without much gusto, which made the entire setting worse.
"What just happened!?" Netossa jumped up, her eyes aghast with the levels of soul-crushing despair the place had become riddled with.
Spinnerella held a hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes from the sight of the city, "It's as if everyone here has given up on even living."
"I take it this place doesn't always look like it caught the plague and everybody died?" Naruto asked, trying to be flippant, everyone knew it was a front as his hand was clenched hard over his scabbard to the point it creaked.
Glimmer shook her head with a weak gulp, "It's not supposed to, not at all. This place is so much more beautiful normally. Excuse me? Guard? What happened?"
She walked over to a tired looking man in ornate shell-shaped armor who looked sternly at her, or tried until he breathed out a shuttering gasp, unable to even muster the emotion of discipline, "Didn't you know? The Sea Gate and our crystal are weakening. Pretty soon we won't have the protection of the gate anymore. It's pointless to even try to worry. The Princess told most of the citizens to flee and find refuge elsewhere, the only people who remained were those who couldn't leave."
Glimmer took in the city as it was now, "So that's why it's... like this."
It couldn't even be called a shadow of its former glory. It had the very soul stolen from it, and what was left was a hollow shell.
"She-Ra almighty, this place is just dead now." Netossa looked around, then shook her head bitterly, "Let's go and see Misty. We need to hear what happened. Straight from her mouth."
The guard noticed their movements and seemed to grab his spear as if to stop them, "Wait..."
Naruto was about to tell him not to try to mess with his employer once he stood between her and the guard. But the way the soldier couldn't even muster the energy anymore to care, he stepped down.
The guard let his head fall, whispering sadly, "I don't think even she could help you understand."
"Try us," Naruto replied seriously.
-0-
Mermista was hardly the figure Naruto had expected to see when he heard of her. She had a thick body similar to Netossa in height and toned bulk, but with a more streamlined nature. Her arms and legs were well-built with muscle, hinting at the fact that as a swimmer she was far less weak than she appeared. Her abdomen was exposed and taut against her body. Her breasts were modest at best, barely above average at worst, present through her teal-colored tracksuit. Her backside however was incredibly meaty, almost as plump as Glimmer's, but with more muscle to it.
With seaweed colored hair worn in a style similar to a wave, dark skin that showed her association with a coastal kingdom, she wore gold and teal pauldrons, bracelets, ear-cuffs, and high-top sneakers. Clearly, she liked those colors, or at least found some enjoyment in them. The rest of her outfit was a combination of dark blues in a simple top and pants which Naruto swore could merge together.
The mermaid didn't have a happy or merry tune, "Uuuuugh."
"Nice to see you too, Misty," Netossa cheered.
Holding a hand to her face, Mermista stared in utter disgust at the quartet in front of her, well no. Disgust was the wrong word. That'd imply she cared enough to feel contempt. It was as if what she saw when she looked at them there were four indistinct grey blobs.
"I told you not to call me that."
Netossa stood up, "Home girl, excuse me, but what is freaking wrong with you!? This place is emptier than a graveyard, and about as lively! Everyone's gone, nothing's getting done, and this guy!" she pointed at a guard who was serving Mermista a platter of stale bread and a glass of water, "Is your butler, royal captain of the guard, actual bodyguard, and chef all in one! What happened!?"
Leaning on her throne, the young woman stared at them with a hand on her cheek, Netossa glaring right up at her, "What happened? Oh, you know. You probably like already heard, and stuff, but yeah. The Sea Gate's failing, the Runestone is fading, my people all fled, and it's just so much quieter now." She waved it off with an apathetic yawn, "Meaning that everyone here can't do anything. Not even I can fix it."
Naruto stepped forward, one hand on his scabbard as he angrily asked, "What the hell!? Are you kidding me!? Did you just give up like nothing mattered!?"
Mermista shrugged, "Like, does anything really actually matter? These people didn't want a princess, like, they needed a protector. After what happened in the last big war, uuugh, I just couldn't bother with anything. If nobody else would try, why should I? Trying implies you care. I don't, so here we are."
The way she breezily brushed off his words infuriated him.
His sword flew out of his scabbard and he gripped it with a white-knuckled fist, "If there's one kind of person I hate, more than any other, it's somebody who doesn't give a shit!"
"So, like, you hate me. Good for you, I guess," she replied blithely, waving off his anger with another yawn. Her eyes rolled over the trio of princesses before she realized who was there, "Oh… Angella's daughter? Pff, so what do you like, want here with me?"
She blew a strand of hair out of her face, and leaned back, gesturing with her hand pointed down for Glimmer to speak to her, "Yes, that's right. Princess Mermista, we're here to talk about the Princess Alliance with you. We want to restart it again, to bring it back, and this time, make sure we emerge victorious."
That sparked the first actual bit of emotion they had seen to come out of her, it was slight. Ever so slight, but her eyes narrowed just a smidgen past their normal apathetic stare.
"Riiiight…the Princess Alliance, the thing we all did back when people cared. Like, Shimmer, right?"
Glimmer twitched and corrected her on reflex, "Glimmer."
She dismissively waved, her head drawn back, "Ugh! Whatever, Dimmer. I haven't cared one bit since we all fled, and then ran about blaming each other for what went wrong. So, really, why are you here?"
Spinnerella stood forward, "Mermista. We have never seen eye-to-eye, but-"
"Kinda hard to hear you from where I am, fatty. Speak up, can't you like, actually speak above an octave too low for even a mouse to hear?" Mermista sarcastically asked.
Spinnerella clenched a fist tightly and raised her voice accordingly, "Mermista. We have never agreed on things, especially after the last war ended in disaster for the Alliance, but things have changed. We want to rebuild and fight the Horde actively now."
"So? Like, what changed? Did we actually get She-Ra to come back and join us?" she was seemingly just asking to make sure they were here for something interesting. But it was clear that she didn't care even with the supposed curiosity, Naruto looked semi-proud of his presence until she finally noticed him. Or really, took him in as he truly was.
"You have me, the-" unfortunately for him, he was cut off.
"Oh. You got a folk hero, didn't you? Cuuuuute…like, really cute. One of those homegrown guys and girls who pick up weapons to fight for the people and inspire them, like, they're so adorable. But in the end, kinda just nobodies. What can they accomplish? They all die of old age eventually, or get killed, or just like, fall off the face of the world into obscurity. Again, nobodies."
Naruto took the slight as well as he did any insult, with immense anger, "You have some shit to say!? Say it to my face you pompous bit-"
Netossa tossed out a net that stuck to his mouth. Clenching one fist, it disappeared after doing its job to cut off his cursing.
Then she spoke, yelling with genuine fury on her face, "LOOK! We're getting nowhere with this, Misty! Are you going to aid us, or are you going to keep sitting on your ass wasting your life and wallowing in misery!? You've never been the same, not since after Micah and your father died!"
The waves outside crashed against the rocks with a boom.
Mermista stood up with a genuine look of fury on her face, "You! Do not! Speak to me! About that! You failed! They all failed! Like, all of them! My father, you, the others, even me, we failed! We failed the one man who! Who! UGH!" She shook her head as her apathy returned to her like a flood of emptiness. "I..."
"Do you want to keep failing them?" Naruto growled, his words stinging the mermaid to her core.
Mermista collapsed onto her throne, rubbing her head with another long groan. "I can't even care about that anymore. I don't. Just like, give up. I have. It's so not worth the trouble!" she drew her words out with long exhausted sighs, until she seemed to have enough, "I can't even bother anymore… Just leave me alone, okay?"
"What do you gain sitting here?" he asked with his anger increasing. "Do you want to spit on King Micah? I may not have known the guy, but Glimmer here, her mom and everyone I met tell me how he fought until his last breath. If you let the Horde take this place, you basically spit on his face!"
"SHUT UP!" Mermista roared. He didn't flinch despite her hateful glare, "You know nothing about me. I was left to defend this place after my father died, leaving no one but me to try to build back a kingdom which doesn't care. Everyone lost any hope of this place standing, and now that the gate's about to fall, they abandoned it. What can you do?"
Naruto didn't hesitate, "Stay here and fight every Horde soldier."
In that moment, the sea princess' eyes widened when a familiar face replaced Naruto's and reminded her of a hero who smiled along her own father...
Closing her eyes, Mermista turned and walked past him, "I'm going somewhere I can figure out what to do. Congrats, I guess. You motivated me to try and do something for once."
Naruto wasn't kind, "You're still a bitch."
"I know, can't care about that," Mermista could agree to that. She held out her hand before a trident flew into it. As she walked off, she muttered something so softly only Spinnerella could hear it, "It has to be where I can fix the Sea Gate… like, it's there, if it's anywhere."
Waiting until she was gone, Spinnerella held out her hand, halting Naruto who had made to stomp after Mermista, "Halt."
"Are you kidding!? Get out of my way, I'm going see if a punch can make her brain work properly and make her care!" he said furiously, until she shook her head, her gentle look and expression calming his own.
"Spinnerella? What's wrong?" Glimmer asked, being the one most downcast by Mermista's rejection of their cause.
The beautiful plump woman shook her head, indicating for them to be patient with her, "Please, trust me in this."
"Baby girl, what's up? You're acting like you've got a plan or some shit," Netossa looked at her lover.
Spinnerella held up her hand gently, indicating for her to be silent for just a moment, "Everyone, wait here. I'll explain why in a bit, alright?"
The wind manipulator closed her eyes tightly, inhaling before she gently told them that. Naruto looked beyond enraged as he paced back and forth, practicing katas. Glimmer had her face in her hand. Netossa leaned against a wall with a glower one hand clenching and unclenching. A net-ball formed in it, shrinking, then growing again. A stress-relief technique.
"Does she do this often?" Naruto asked impatiently mid-swing.
Netossa answered bluntly, "Not much, but trust my babe."
Spinnerella stood in place, her eyes closed with her hands held out in front of her. Moving them about in a circle, a floating cyclone rotated in her grasp, tracing something as it moved and flowed in various directions. Almost like it was winding a path across something, it kept moving in that pattern, until at last she opened her eyes. With a stroke of her hand across the air, it disappeared into colorless mist.
"I know where's she going, I tracked her path with the air-currents," she explained, smiling at them. Naruto whistled and as he opened his mouth to ask about that, to which she shook her head, "I am not as powerful as you might think. Controlling the very air that we breathe to a great quantity exhausts me. In a fight, I am a storm, but I cannot throw my power around effortlessly or carelessly. I am far better at focusing it, using it in bursts to create a tornado or a squall would take everything out of me."
"So, you can't just throw tornadoes out and win every fight? That's, well, kinda disappointing," he remarked with a groan.
She responded by gently patting his head, "That would be the stuff of fiction and bards, my sweet youth. We're Princesses, we might be magical and ageless, but we can be killed like any flesh and blood being. We're not gods, and we cannot use our powers without limit."
That shocked him, "Wait, ageless?! Just how old are you?!"
"Old enough to have mastered my emotions," she replied patiently and kept patting.
He glared at her, but the heat in his gaze was lessened by the fact that she bore him no malice or teasing in touching him, "Do you have to get so close? Both of you keep doing that."
Spinnerella genuinely looked like a mother as she spoke to him, "It's because you need it. Naruto, have you ever been hugged by anyone before? In gratitude or even out of love and compassion?"
He looked to the side, his lip curling before he privately admitted, "No. No, I haven't."
"Then know that I am here for you, I care about everyone I meet who have gained my trust. Netossa cares, but I would not ask her for a hug or a gentle touch. She's many things, gentle, she is not," She drew back, her piece said and her cheery attitude the same as usual.
The young sword-slinger rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh, "You make it hard to stay mad at you."
Spinnerella couldn't contain her next giggle, "I'm an expert in diplomacy. Angella learned everything she knew about being mature and wise from how I dealt with things. She is only just several more centuries older than us, and was someone who, let us put it simply, did not grow up until after she had a child."
"Mom was really that wild?" Glimmer asked, snickering at the thought of Queen Angella being a real firebrand in her youth.
It put a smile on Spinnerella's face, "She was that and much more. Your father truly made her into a more mature woman. After she had you, well, the transformation was complete. The wild and furious princess became the first of us to truly be called a Queen. It was very exciting, you know, when you were born."
"Yep, baby girl wouldn't stop crying for days! Just nonstop, water works that kept falling, it was super cute," Netossa ribbed her lover with a grin.
The plump wind wielder gained a faint blush and an affronted stare, "I did not weep uncontrollably! Only for at least one day! And after that I was fine! I was overcome with raw emotion and joy, that was it! Angella had a child! That was an incredibly moving event!"
"Guys, focus, please?" not that Naruto didn't enjoy hearing things he could hold over Queen Angella when he got back home, but they had to get going.
Coughing abruptly, Spinnerella gave him a nod, "Yes, let us head to the ship, I'll guide us there with a trade-wind," she explained, leading them out of the room.
"Finally. I owe that bitch a piece of my mind," Naruto cheered as he punched his palm.
-0-
When they got aboard the ship, Naruto made his way to the crow's nest, wanting to rest there and get some space away from everyone down below. Spinnerella was guiding them forward, and Glimmer sat below, staring over the ocean with a distant look. Laying back, Naruto looked at the clouds with a soft grin, something in his heart felt relaxed at that point in time and space. Like everything felt right to him, Netossa leaped onto the crow's nest and sat with him. Grinning herself as she easily analyzed what he was thinking.
"It's nice, ain't it, dude? Having people around you." She asked, breaking into his thoughts.
He reached up as if to grab a distant cloud hanging overhead, "It's good, I guess."
"Fighting alongside people you trust and care for, King Micah once said that was what made or broke a true soldier. Remembering what matters most in life, the people back home who await the news of the hero's return, that's what motivates a man to stay alive."
He looked at her in confusion, "Where are you going with this?
Sitting up, she cracked her neck with a soft chuckle, "Just saying, man, don't forget that you've got people who think of you day and night, worrying if they might hear the worst but hoping for the best."
"Tch…who are you, my mother? I've heard that stuff before," he couldn't fault her desire to impart her wisdom.
Netossa reached out with a seemingly serious look on her face, only to flick him across the ear playfully, "You, my son? Get real! Yikes, man! I'm older but not that ancient, dude! I'm just a few centuries on Glim-Glim, barely old enough to be called 'mom' or even queen."
He had to ask again, "Seriously, how old are all of you?"
She smirked, "Old enough to spank you without much trouble."
The boy got on his feet and the two pressed foreheads together with dangerous glares to their eyes, "You want to go?!" was his fiery question
"Anytime, anywhere, anyhow, dude," she spun her wire-frame sword in hand, a second one appearing in her off-hand, and clashed them together. "You want to fight, let's rock it baby!"
Grinning like a lunatic, he responded by letting his sword explode out of its sheath, rotating around his hand before he clutched it in a double-handed grip, "You asked for it!"
A wave of wind materialized in front of them, blocking the two from fighting any further. Looking to the source, they didn't like how Spinnerella smiled gently, like a mother even, her eyes closed as she levitated in the air. Both hands were held open with a welcoming even kind gesture…as a pair of immense tornadoes spun around in each palm, six floating blades made of compressed air rotating around her.
"Please. No fighting, Netossa dearest. Naruto, please desist if you would. We're at the Leviathan Libraries."
In that moment, Naruto realized something about Spinnerella. She was both the gentlest woman he ever laid eyes on. And the single most terrifying.
Netossa threw both her swords into the air, letting them disappear into sparks, her hands held up in a disarming gesture while she looked nervously at her lover, "Hey baby girl, we cool. We cool. Okay? Right dude, we cool?" she asked in pure, shaking fear with an arm wrapped around his shoulders.
"Yeah, cool as ice," he gulped, intimidated by Spinnerella's shut eyes and how her smile was a small U in shape.
Her eyes opened, and she landed, a hand to her cheek as the wind blades disappeared without a word, "Oh my, seems I got a little upset. Apologies, Glimmer, I don't normally lose my temper like that."
Glimmer hadn't even noticed, too focused on the map and tracing their movement, "We've arrived."
She looked up and pointed at a large stone shrine in the middle of the ocean. It resembled somewhat a house or a hut in the middle of the sea, with a dock made for small ships, a spiral staircase made of natural stone, and, surprising Naruto, a massive statue of a woman watching over the entire affair. She wore carved armor resembling a tunic that did nothing to hide her incredible bosom, fit and toned stomach, or bulging thighs. Clad in hand was an incredible great sword which she had pointing at the horizon, her wing-shaped tiara made her look heroic as she stared off into the far-off distance.
Netossa noticed where Naruto was looking, and gave him a grin, "Like She-Ra, eh, dude? That's her statue, supposedly millennia ago she and the princess of Mermista's domain - her many times great grandmother - built the Leviathan Libraries together." She explained to him the origins of the entire place, he dreaded the word library but took the bait.
"What makes it so special?"
Continuing when she knew she had his attention, she explained energetically, "Inside are the records of all Etheria, history, legends of past She-Ra incarnations, knowledge of the Mystic Swords, and the most forbidden information, all of it is there. If Mermista has anything remotely equating concern for her people, regardless of her obvious and unapologetic apathy, she will be inside there."
Glimmer whispered to herself, Spinnerella gently rubbing her shoulders, "We caused her apathy, when we just gave up after my dad died."
"She gave up, right?" Naruto asked, looking slightly disgusted.
Netossa shook her head sadly, "Out of all of us, Mermista admired King Micah and her own father the most. Micah had known her father, old Neptune, well. All she ever heard growing up were stories of She-Ra. How Mystacor had helped her create the Ten Sword Styles each princess inherited and trained in before mastering their magical powers, and... how King Micah had brought about a reawakening for us."
"I don't get it." He stated with a suspicious stare, until she reached out and flicked his ear playfully again.
"That man was many times the greatest king we ever had. He gave the Princesses hope, told us that we could manage to win if we only tried, and rallied all of us to his banner. He was and is one of the greatest men to have ever lived. Neptune and Mermista idolized him for that. She was once the most optimistic of our great army. She believed no matter what, that if we listened to him, we would win."
"But she was let down by him when he died," he surmised as they docked the boat and made their way up the steps.
Netossa chuckled through her nose, a bitter noise as Glimmer stewed in her own feelings of bitter misery, "We let her down. Don't make that mistake of saying it was him. We did that. Even old Neptune wouldn't put blame on him for losing. When she realized what we were doing, trying to excuse how we all let him die, how we fled when the Horde killed him. Something died in Mermista."
As they neared the top, Glimmer whispered with a downtrodden look as he looked at her, "So now she has nothing, and is empty of all hope. What you will see with her is what you will get. Why put bother to put in effort for anything, when nobody else would when it mattered the most? Apathy rules Mermista's heart." Surprising himself, Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder, but she continued, "And now, she believes in nothing. Not us. Not the alliance. Not herself. Or her people."
"Listen, if your dad gave us something was a second chance, you said so yourself." He reminded her, making the short plump girl feel like a weight had been slightly lifted. "Still, you said her dad...Neptune, right? He..." the blond didn't finish his sentence, knowing when something was too touchy as a subject.
Spinnerella spoke with an uncharacteristically somber tone, "In his last attempts to give Micah's soul peace, he perished but not without taking most of those who were there when Micah died."
Looking at the library, Naruto felt determination fill his soul, "Looks like I have to step up my game."
He spoke not with smugness but with true resolve.
-0-
"Interesting place and statue." Catra commented as the Horde ship docked near the library.
"She kinda looks like you, but, you know, actually packing." Catra teased with a smirk.
"Oh shush, like you're one to talk." Adora shot back with a smirk of her own as she and her friend fake-glared at each other.
"Are you sure we shouldn't go in now?" Scorpia asked her fellow captain while throwing the anchor, easily twice her size, into the sea as silently as possible.
"No, you saw who they were following." Adora explained and thought out loud. "Why would that princess go to a library without those four?"
"Perhaps she needed time alone and away from that pest." Catra growled, "He's not exactly someone you want to see much of around."
"Oh, and here I thought you had a thing for blue eyes and blonde hair." Lonnie teased from her turret, resting her arms on the handles with her chin cushioned by her limbs.
"Shut it and keep aiming!" Catra snarled.
"Enough." Adora told them, "Let's focus on our target and the possibilities granted to us."
"As in..." Scorpia started, leaning closer to her with an impatient smile and her claws snapping lightly. "Come on, don't leave me hanging. Does this plan of yours mean we can bond? Some Force Captain friendship adventure?" her eagerness made Adora slightly uncomfortable, but she was too cute to get mad at.
"I...guess you can call it that." Adora replied with a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, now that they are in, be on your guards, everyone. This is a war we must win with a crushing victory."
"Now, that is what I like to hear." Catra purred.
-0-
And that's my rap!
My friend The Lord Of Pages wrote most of this chapter since he had a lot of fun with...well, everyone. He really enjoys the idea of developing the characters beyond what the show gave us. Once again, in the first two seasons Spinnerella had one line and only one line. Swift Wind the horse had more screen-time and dialogue than her and Netossa put together.
And before you ask, the giant crab scene was inspired by Amphibia (Anne and Maddie best girls) for making me laugh so much. It's not copy-pasted out of the actual show, just a little bit of information if you're curious.
Beta's Notes: Hello everyone! It's me again, and like my big bro said, I really like the idea of giving these characters depth. Mermista was the one I wanted to write the most, because out of all of the cast, her attitude rubbed us up the worst. She had no real reason to be such a gigantic pain in the ass, so I decided to give her one. Here, she's apathetic because after the last alliance fell apart, she felt that when it mattered most, nobody cared to try. So, she wouldn't either. Anyways, this note is getting too long, so I'll cut it off now. Please be patient for the next chapter, for now, so long, farewell, until we meet again!
