Adora watched as Bow was walking with Madelene ahead of her and Glimmer, they were making light conversation with Bow being his excitable gentlemanly self. Adora wasn't listening to what was being said. She was busy studying the profile of Madelene, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her mind, even though she was being cordial to Bow Adora felt as though there was something hidden behind that smile. She secretly hoped they were the same kind of questions that she had. All of the questions she wanted to ask had the same origin.
Why did you give me away to the Horde?
Her thoughts were broken when she caught Glimmer leaning forward to try and look at Adora's face,
"Glimmer please I'm fine". Adora whispered.
"As much as I want to believe you..", Glimmer said cautiously.
Adora rolled her eyes, "You don't think I'm fine ". She sighed in defeat, as much as she loved Glimmer's company there was far too much going on in her mind right now and she wasn't really in the mood to be fussed over.
As they followed Madelene up the simple stone staircase it occurred to Adora that this wouldn't be considered a castle. Brightmoon at least had several murals and paintings to show the history of the place, Castle Darksmoke had none of that, which Adora found amusingly comforting, maybe she and this castle had more in common than she thought.
They started walking down a bare corridor which felt as cold as it looked, there were only a few rooms on either side. Adora noticed that one of the doors wasn't completely shut, she waited for Glimmer to walk a little further in front of her before backtracking. Adora gently pushed open the door and saw two identical strange-looking beds, surrounded by wood almost as if they were cages, Adora couldn't quite figure out what they were.
Above each of the beds was a small motionless mobile. Adora leaned in to look closer at it and realised that the middle of the mobile was a sun surrounded by 10 planets, instinctively she pushed one end of the mobile and each of the planets fanned out.
"Adora?". Glimmer said quietly as she entered the room.
Adora looked at Glimmer and then back again, "I wonder if this was mine?".
There was some type of emotion associated with her question but Adora wasn't sure what she was feeling.
"Maybe, I mean they both look like…", Glimmer's voice trailed off.
Adora looked over and caught Glimmer frowning while looking at the other bed, she looked back at Adora and smiled nervously.
Adora narrowed her eyes, "What is it?"
Glimmer smiled and waved her hands, "Nothing, honestly we should probably go back to the others before we lose them", she awkwardly turns around and gets ready to leave when Adora grabs her shoulder,
"Glimmer…",
Glimmer sighs and turns around, "Ok fine, why are there two beds? It can't have been Thad's he looks about the same age as Scorpia".
The door squeaks a little as Madelene walks in, "One bed was for Adora and the other was for Adam", she smiled to herself as she took one finger and pushed on the other mobile sending it slowly spinning.
"Who is Adam?". Adora said, she watched as Madelene's smile disappeared. This must not have been the follow-up question that Madelene was expecting.
"Adora... Adam is your twin brother, Is..is he not here with you?"
Adora's mind stopped working momentarily. How could this day possibly get any more emotionally exhausting?
...twin brother?!
Glimmer could see Adora was on the brink of losing it again, "Sorry Madelene, when Adora first came to us in Brightmoon, well rather as a prisoner, then not a prisoner because she is She-ra...anyway she was alone, well not totally alone, she had Bow and I and Catra, kinda, but that wasn't until much later...am I ranting? I feel like I am ranting".
Madelene put up her hand and gave a pained smile, "I will get the full story later, anyway your friend Bow is already waiting in the other room, I will leave you all to get settled". She opens her mouth to say something to Adora but taking one look at her face she decides against it and leaves the room.
Madelene decided to close the door as she left, the last thing she wanted to do right now was to leave Adora's side, but she also knew she needed time to adjust, part of her was thrilled that her daughter had returned to her, there was so much of her life that she had missed and she wasn't entirely sure how she ended up in Darksmoke at all. Madelene was also aware that Adora must have had so many questions and she would aim to answer all of them when the time came, but right now she had to remain focused, it seems as though their feathered friend was keeping information from everyone.
She made her way quickly down the stairs and walked directly into the room and up to Kwyn, she had startled her because several black feathers from underneath her dropped to the ground.
"When were you going to tell us that Adam is missing?".
Thad throws up his hands, "Hang on, who is Adam?!".
Kwyn swallows hard, "That was something I was meaning to tell the both of you"
Madelene folded her arms and lowered her voice, "Let me rephrase the question, how long has my son been missing?"
Kwyn head dropped, "Since he entered the portal with Kale".
Madelene gave an exhausted sigh and hid her face in her hands.
"WHAT! You're telling me for the past couple of decades you have no idea where Adam is?!". Brendor explodes.
Kwyn wasn't prepared for the way this conversation was going and she had hoped that she and Kale would be able to face this together, but after their last disagreement, she hadn't heard from him.
"Unfortunately not, it wasn't until Adora found the Sword of Protection that we even knew where she was".
Kwyn's eyes widened as the words left her mouth, she had now dug her hold deeper by inadvertently revealing she didn't know where Adora was until recently.
Brendor runs his hands through his curly brown hair, "So tell me what was the purpose of allowing the twins to go with you if they were separated, you had promised us that they would remain together".
"We tried our best, Your Majesty, it was just that something happened that day that was beyond our control", Kwyn said pleadingly.
Madelene takes a deep breath, "Kwyn, why were we not told immediately when this happened?! You have to realise for years we both thought our children were living in the relative safety of Etheria as we were promised".
Kwyn nods, "Unfortunately we didn't account for Lighthope still being under the control of Eternos she stopped a lot of our efforts to locate the children, Lighthope almost turned Adora into a weapon as she did with Mara".
"See Madelene we should never have handed our children over in the first place", Brendor said as he stood beside Madelene.
"Don't try to shift blame now, Brendor, letting the twins go to Etheria was something you had to talk me into, however, none of this changes the fact that we don't know where Adam is".
Brendor runs his fingers over his moustache, "True and after Mara's ship crashed, Belthor is going to be on the hunt for the occupants no doubt"
Madelene turned her head to Brendor, "I'm sorry, did you just say Mara's ship crashed?"
"That may have been my fault as well", Kwyn chirped softly.
Madelene rubs her temples, "So you find my daughter only to almost have her perish in a crash, this has turned out to be a fantastic day. Let's all start from the beginning, shall we? Tell me how my daughter ended up in Eternia please".
* * *Paw leaned back in his chair, scratching his short brown mane, "So this Adora person is supposed to be some ancient warrior thing?".
"That's the short version of it, yes, that frequency we were just speaking on put it on one of those communicators", Kittrina said quickly changing the subject.
"You're going to Darksmoke?". Paw unplugs the communicator and hands it to his mother.
Kittrina smiles as she takes it and shoves it in her back pocket, "You heard the little cat girl, she gave me a day to get back to her".
"Who's going to Darksmoke?".
The quiet voice that came from outside the window startled them both. Kittrina looked around to see two yellow snake eyes peering over the window sill.
Kittrina sighed in relief, "By the stars Kobra…You need to start using the front door".
"Well I would but those red-eyed guards from Eternos are downstairs with Carnivus", Kobra sat on the window sill and flattened his dark green hood against the folds in his neck,
"One of them almost looks like death itself, those weird sunken in cheeks, his face freaks me out", he shivered as he finished his sentence.
Kittrina frowns, "Belthor…", she whispers to herself, she suspects they may have been listening in to the conversation they just had, or...she gives Kobra a suspicious look.
Kobra puts up his hands as if he already knew what Kittrina was thinking, "It wasn't me this time I swear".
"Ok gentlemen, change of plans", Kittrina takes a set of keys out of her top pocket and throws them to Kobra who catches them with one hand, "Take my sky glider to Darksmoke, stay there until I come to get you".
"Why can't I drive the sky glider?". Paw whispers, a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Because I'm almost a responsible adult and you're just a baby", Kobra says mockingly.
Paw stomped his way over to Kobra, "Baby entrepreneur that gave you a job you scaly headed-",
"Oi! Would you two keep your voices down and leave... quietly". Kittrina interrupts as she ushers them out the window.
Kittrina gently grabs Kobra's arm before he leaves, "Tell Madelene what is happening and that there is a high likelihood I'm going to need her help". Kobra nodded and slid off the roof, Kittrina kept a close eye on them as she watched them sneak off into the darkness.
Kittrina quickly puts her hair up in a ponytail before opening a nearby cupboard, carefully feeling around the shelves and finding a small button hidden underneath unlocking a hidden drawer full of assorted blades. She smiled to herself, Kittrina wasn't sure whether to be proud or concerned that her son was becoming more like her every day.
She picked up two small leather-bound blades that she could easily conceal under her shirt, "Time to go play pretend", she whispered to herself as she left the room, making sure to look out the window, where several guards stood with their mechanical horses, as she descended the stairs.
Seems to be a bit of overkill
As she entered the living room even though it was eerily quiet but the tension was palpable.
"You should have told me we were having company. I would have made a place at the table for our guests", Kittrina says with false sincerity as she kisses Carnivus on the cheek.
"It's fine, this seems to only be a social call", Carnivus said in an equally sarcastic tone.
Kittrina sat on the armrest of the chair Carnivus sat in, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened before she entered but she could tell Carnivus was on edge by the way his claws were already extended.
Belthor gave an unsettling laugh as he turned around to face them. Kittrina clenched her fists and tried her best to keep her face emotionless, Kobra was right though there was something very off-putting about Belthor's lifeless face.
"Don't flatter yourself Carnivus, there is nothing remotely sociable about the Felisians". Belthor strolls over to the mantle picking up a small green and orange striped tiger figure.
"And here I thought we were the very best of friends Belthor", Carnivus retorts, watching closely as Belthor puts the figure back down.
Belthor walks over unbuttoning his coat as he sits down, "I'm here to talk to your son, where is the little thief anyway?".
Kittrina hears the material of the chair rip as Carnivus grips the other armrest, "He's not here, what could you possibly want with him?"
Belthor rests his chin on one hand as he glares at both Kittrina and Carnivus, the silence felt like it was stretching forever until Belthor spoke again.
"You don't expect me to believe that a family full of scavengers haven't heard anything of an Eternos chip crashing nearby?"
Carnivus leans forward in his chair, "Can't say that I have, you been out here losing ships again? What a shame"
Belthor smiles, "It would serve you both well not to lie to me right now, you need to tell me where the occupants of Mara's ship are"
Carnivus shrugged, "Mara's ship? Kitt honey have you heard anything about this?"
Kittrina sits back and folds her arms, "Mara's ship? I can't say that I have, I'm more surprised that anything that old could even get off the ground let alone fly".
"SIR!". A guard yells as he breathlessly enters the room, "We've spotted a sky glider heading south to Darksmoke with the boy on board"
Belthor sighs as he gets up from his chair and rebuttons his coat, "I warned you not to lie to me".
Kittrina sniffed the air as Belthor turned to leave, "Is that distinct stench of fear I smell?".
Belthor stopped in his tracks, Kittrina stood up smirking she knew she had bruised his ego just enough, she swayed her tail as she approached Belthor leaning in close enough for only him to hear her, "I think you know exactly who was on that ship and our fearless leader is perhaps experiencing fear for the first time".
Belthor turns back around as a long purple staff materialises in his hand the long curled horns sit under Kittrina's chin, before he can say another word Carnivus picks up the chair has was sitting on and throws it at the guards knocking them out of the way, Kittrina disarms Belthor and pushes him back taking out the two knives from under her shirt and pinning him against the wall with them.
Carnivus rushes outside first picking up both of the guards by the collar and throwing them up into the trees,
"Did you need to say that?", he said as he got on the back of the horse.
"Bold of you to assume we were getting out of that meeting without getting into a fight". Kittrina says as she turns the horse around.
"You furry, flea-bitten fools, I'll cover my throne with your hides!". Kittrina looks back to see Belthor trying to push his way past the guards. She smiles and pulls on the reins and takes off after Carnivus into the forest.