Chapter 11: The Ice Breaks
The Founder
The snow was still gently falling from the sky in large, clumped flakes that stuck to Luis' hair and jacket without melting. He brushed his shoulders and locks clean while breathing in the bitter air.
The area around the portal to Etheria had been cleared, under the watchful eyes of every spare Thinker and Tinker available. The process had proven surprisingly safe; many of the Simurgh's contraptions had done little more than spark or pulse. More than a few, including a structure shaped like a refrigerator placed near the portal, were nothing more than bricks with no electrical, biological or mechanical components of any kind. One soldier killed in an explosion had been the only casualty.
In a ring around the portal, Shin's soldiers had fortified their position. They had dug a trench a good one hundred feet from the portal with heavy artillery placed behind it. Hundreds of soldiers, recalled from the capitol, formed a defensive cordon primed to destroy anything of ill intent that came through the portal.
Each solider was armed to the teeth; at Luis' request, they had been outfitted with rifles that the armorers called 'Bruteshots', after a term from Gimel. The rifles fired high-velocity hollow point bullets, every round coated in a material developed by a Godwanan scientific team which induced necrosis.
These were weapons designed to kill ruthlessly and painfully.
No creature will stand on this world again and make its people their slave. That is a promise I will uphold as long as I can.
Of course, Luis still remembered the roar of gunfire he had witnessed tear through Goddess' retinue on that day, when the forces of the Lone Sands had stormed her palace. Five capes had collapsed like paper. The sixth had effortlessly killed every gunman who had fired.
We could meet them blow for blow at first. But there would be one wall, one power, which we cannot overcome. To win, mankind requires something divine.
Luis watched the sun, moving through the sky towards the horizon.
"Sir," a soldier said, jolting Luis from his thoughts. "Marquis is approaching with the girl called Hunter, two specters of death amongst the white snow."
Well, for a soldier in these circumstances, it was more than adequately worded. As unnecessary as the attempt at poetry was, Luis admired the man's effort.
"Stand aside and let them approach, but be watchful of them. They may speak and bargain, but they must not harvest souls. Trust in their purpose, but let it not render you blind."
The soldier nodded.
Hunter appeared in his line of sight before Marquis. The girl appeared dancing on a tightrope of razor wire, only to fall to the ground. She stood up again a second later and leapt back onto the wire. She took a single uneven step and then twirled like a top, falling before completing her rotation.
Marquis came into view around the command tent while Hunter still tried to dance on the wire, always falling after a few steps or motions of a dance. Luis smirked. The girl showed no sign of frustration. She had a permanent, unsettling smile, etched on her face that did not waver.
If Hunter had the madness of a broken mind, Marquis had the madness of a high-functioning official, an intelligent brain that had taken insanity and molded it like clay and made a man who was more dangerous than nearly anyone else. Someone who could live with either insanity and normalcy and speak both languages.
Hunter created more razor wire in a thirty foot radius around her as Marquis approached Luis, meriting nervous glances from the soldiers. Some looked at Luis for comfort, and he assuaged their concerns with a confident smile and a gentle hand gesture.
Marquis had dark bags under his eyes and his shoulders were slumped ever so slightly. This was a weary man.
"Speak plainly," Marquis demanded of Luis.
Marquis stole a glance backwards at Hunter before Luis could respond, as the girl let out a particularly shrill laugh. His head bobbed ever so slightly as he followed the girl lifting herself onto a wire again, this time walking it like a tightrope.
Letting out a breath that belied tiredness, he turned back to Luis.
"Where is my daughter, Luis? They told me she is safe, but if so, then what is this?"
"Precautionary measures."
"Precautions against what?"
"Hostile capes. Marquis, your daughter is under the watchful eye of the leadership of the Wardens, Cryptid and our own representatives. I can think of no assortment of people more capable of keeping her safe. This is a delicate situation where the scales are perfectly set and balanced. She is protected from harm from within and without."
"Your words are comforting, Luis, but I am not a dullard. There is an active danger here. It is something that merits the attention of the Wardens' leaders despite the numerous obstacles they already are addressing. It is something that nearly triggered a war. I know there is a portal somewhere in that junk yard."
Luis grit his teeth. Marquis should not only have been kept away from this site, he shouldn't have even been aware it existed.
There will need to be recriminations for this incompetence, he thought.
"I am not willing to disclose details you are not meant to know, and clearly I will not be able to convince you of her safety, Marquis."
"Is that it? You won't even attempt to persuade me further?"
"I don't wish to expend more effort on a futile endeavour."
Marquis' eyes were narrow, glaring ice at Luis.
"At the very least, I will be staying here," the cape said coldly.
"If I say no?"
"There are certain things we can't make reality," Marquis responded with false calm. "I can't make you bring Amy to me. You could force me away from here, but it would be messy. Do you want to pressure the matter?"
"It would be foolish if I did," Luis said.
He ran his hand through his hair again, scattering the half-melted snow.
"There is a small tent pitched near the command tent where you can stay. Will young Hunter be fine outdoors?"
The girl was still dancing and falling, pirouetting and tumbling, not improving in any visible way.
"She will be," Marquis said.
Luis knew that Marquis was someone who valued people who worked well together; he preferred everyone to fulfill a role, in a way that complemented all others. He would have some understanding of the situation here, how delicate it was, how every role was carefully selected.
But, most of all, he would want his daughter free.
Luis' communicator rumbled. He glanced downwards at it.
Wardens calling for Adam.
Luis smiled. He had been right. Like Marquis, he had seen a role to be filled, before it had even been written.
Adora
"Icebreakers," Tattletale hissed. "Icebreakers. I still can't believe that your fun plan was icebreakers."
"It's with a twist," Adora responded, flipping to the next card in her deck. "I said you can skip a question if you can show off something cool with your power."
"I don't feel like I'm benefitting from the twist very much."
"Look, you know the rules. You have to do something different each time. Knowing something you shouldn't only works once."
"Am I supposed to sprout wings and fly?"
"Chris could do that for you," Antares said through a hand that covered her grin. "Not that I'd recommend it."
"You said if it was something traumatic, we didn't have to answer. So I am not answering that question."
"That's completely okay, Tattletale. You shouldn't have to make yourself uncomfortable. Entrapta, I guess it is your turn to answer the question."
Adora cleared her throat and spoke imperiously: "What is your favorite food?"
"Hmm," Entrapta said. She rubbed her chin with one hand of hair. "Tiny cupcakes! Or tine scones? Or tiny regular cakes? Or tiny sandwiches when I'm in the right mood. Or- I don't know. If it's small, it's probably good."
Adora turned to Spinnerella next.
"I'm going to be honest, this whole game feels a little inconsistent," Catra said.
"Come on, Catra, you agreed to this."
"For a given definition of 'agree,'" Catra muttered. "Adora, I'm just saying that I feel the questions are a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. First we were asked about our favorite stretching exercise, then our deepest fear, and then our favorite color."
"The fact that Netossa likes burpees was much more emotionally taxing than any of our most personal fears though," Glimmer said.
"Precipice's terror of his own past didn't do it for you?" Adora asked.
"Honestly, I don't blame her," Rain insisted. "Burpees suck."
"She's lying," Tattletale said, smiling. "She wants to look tough. She dislikes burpees as much as any sane person does."
"I knew it," Spinnerella said. "Thank you so much, Tattletale. She is not forgetting this."
"Spinny, I'm hurt. You know me."
"And that's why I believe her completely."
Netossa glared for a second, then threw her hands up in defeat.
"I'm still far ahead, Spinny. Don't forget I saved you from alien mind control.I'm going to be riding this for years," Netossa said as Spinerella hung her head.
"I can't relate to the struggles with burpees," Scorpia offered. "On account of not having palms and all."
"If we're being honest, some of the fears were a little underwhelming," Catra said. "Not that it's not valid, but it's not that awful to find out Perfuma is afraid of fire."
"It's Netossa's fault," Perfuma said. "She explained the full extent of my weakness to fire and I can't stop thinking about it now."
"So, I take it you want something light-hearted but not trivial?" Adora asked.
Everyone responded affirmatively.
"Fine," Adora grumbled.
Adora shuffled through the stack of cards she held, looking for the right question. 'Your greatest regret' probably was a little heavy for what everyone was demanding, plus everyone already knew Precipice's greatest regret, which he had put forth voluntarily while insisting they needn't forgive him. 'Favorite drink' was too similar to 'favorite food.'
Ah, there was a good one.
"Okay everyone," Adora said triumphantly, flicking the card with a finger. "What was your greatest success?"
There was a second of silence.
"I'll start then. I've got a lot of things I'm proud of, but I'll say that beating back the Horde when they had conquered most of Etheria is something that could top the list."
"You're not wrong, Adora, but that is also something a few of us would say is our greatest accomplishment," Perfuma said.
"I told you guys about how I destroyed fifty Bots at once while I had all that power, right?" Frosta asked.
"Look, it was a proud moment of collective accomplishment," Adora said, folding her arms.
"That's a little insensitive, Adora," Glimmer said. "You do remember what happened afterwards, right?"
"All's well that ends well."
Catra scratched her neck uneasily. "Does greatest accomplishment have to mean something you're proud of? Because Adora… you know what I'm talking about."
"Listen, Catra, it was a genuinely impressive counterattack. If you hadn't been doing it in service of a villainous warlord trying to pawn off our planet to his older brother, I would have loved it."
"Not helping."
"Okay, but it was cool. In hindsight," Adora added after some piercing glances.
"Anything for you guys?" Adora asked the heroes.
"There's a lot of things I've done I'm proud of, and even more I'm not," Precipice said.
"You can be a little more confident in yourself," Perfuma said, only to be cut off by Catra, who encouraged him with a 'I get it, kid.'
"I think, when I fought Mama. I told you about how I burned down that mal-"
"Happy thoughts, Precipice," Antares interrupted.
"Anyway, it was cool to finally feel like I was really confronting that. I wasn't just fighting back to save my life, I was fighting for myself, for a better version of myself."
"I wish I could have the same feelings about that battle," Tress said.
Tress was still healing from grabbing Scorpia, and she winced each time she adjusted her seating. Scorpia had desperately wanted to help tend to her upon waking up, but Tress had said there was nothing to do but wait for her to heal naturally.
"I understand," Antares said. "It wasn't an easy decision for you to make."
"It's not fighting that makes me most proud. That time I spent, after Gold Morning, after everything went to hell. Just exploring, getting to wander with someone I love, and return and be accepted in some way, is what made me feel proud. It might not have worked out, but I'll never regret it."
Antares turned her gaze to Tattletale, who stood rigidly. Adora decided to contribute to the pressure. She noticed with mild surprise — but also contentment — that even Catra was joining in.
"You just want to see me humiliated. You empathize with me, but you still want to see me uncomfortably squirm because you had to as well," Tattletale hissed at Catra.
"This seems like an unhealthy mechanism with which to cope with unwanted attention," Perfuma said. "You need to have positive energy. I can teach you some meditation techniques."
"Please, I know that you just want to..." Tattletale trailed off muttering something about sincerity. "I'm not interested."
"If she is going to be a curmudgeon, I'm going to put forth my proudest moment," Netossa said. "It was when I saved my wife from the clutches of an alien that was controlling her mind."
"The gloating decreases the mileage you're going to get out of this, dear."
"Can't I gloat if I'm not doing it to emotionally manipulate you?"
"Just try not to annoy me too much," Spinnerella said, a playful smile appearing on her lips.
"You know, rescuing me is something you can be proud of, Catra," Scorpia said. "Doing great things for friends is, like, the best thing you can do. Hey, can I be proud of all the friends I've made?"
"I honestly feel a little bad about getting knocked out of the fight to save you guys," Bow said.
"You feel sorry because I clubbed you?" Scorpia asked. "Aww. You shouldn't feel bad, but it's sweet that you do."
Adora heard Tattletale mutter under her breath something that she thought might have been 'you're sincere,' in an incredulous tone.
She is far too cynical for her own good.
Maybe I'd have gotten to find out a little more about why if I'd asked about her greatest regret.
"I'm proud I repaired Darla," Entrapta said. "To simply be able to repair such incredible tech, and then pilot it in space and then repair it in space was wonderful. There is no task I have ever undertaken more joyous than zero-gravity repairs."
Adora definitely heard Tattletale mutter shock at the Princess' sincerity that time.
"What about you, Antares?" Frosta asked. "You've done so much kick-butt stuff. I bet you've got tons of things you're proud of."
"You've heard what people here have said, Frosta. Not every cool thing we've done involves kicking butt."
"The coolest ones have."
"I like to think I've helped the people I've met these past few months, especially the members of my team. I hope that they're in a better place because of me. If they think so, then that is what I'm most proud of. And smashing the source of a megalomaniacal villain's power to defeat him once and for all."
"See, even the sappy stuff can have some punch to it," Frosta said to Scorpia.
Antares tipped her head towards Adora, chuckling lightly. "There are some things I hope never change."
"See, I think that was wonderful," Adora said, putting the card to the back of the pile. "Even if some people — who will remain nameless — aren't fully embracing the spirit of it."
"Now that is a level of passive-aggressiveness I can appreciate," Catra said.
"I believe that if you can open up like this, Catra, anyone can."
Adora high-fived Catra's hand, and the crack as their palms smacked each other was flawless.
"Now, for our next ques-"
"I apologize for this interruption, but you must conclude the game for now."
Chevalier was striding towards them, Miss Militia and Dinah on either side of him.
"We're ready to make our next moves."
"So, we finally get to find out what these moves are?" Catra pressed.
"Yes," Chevalier said. "We have been in contact with Luis, one of the leaders of Shin. Earlier he offered us assistance if we needed to travel somewhere quickly."
Adora could tell that that was not the extent of the offer Luis had made. She didn't have Glimmer's training in politicking, but that much was obvious.
"We wondered about the specifics of the… capabilities he was offering us, and it's clear: we have a method to reach the Heart of Etheria while bypassing any of the systems that the First Ones may have put in place to prevent access to it."
"You're joking," Glimmer gasped. "I know you suggested that earlier, but I will be the first to admit I didn't imagine it could work. Are you certain?"
"We are," Chevalier responded. "The man who will take you there, an agent of Luis' named Adam, has even visited the Heart already. He can only carry one individual at a time, but he is swifter than you would expect."
"We will be able to affect the Heart with some effort," Dinah said. "It poses a great danger. It's at the center of all of this. If we can neutralize it, the odds of catastrophe shrink. Only modestly, but they do shrink."
"That still doesn't solve Horde Prime," Catra said.
Despite her prickly exterior, Adora could still see that Catra was happy about this information. She just wouldn't let it run to her head.
"He remains an… obstacle," Dinah said. "I don't feel comfortable conveying the details relating to him yet, but there is a way to eliminate him."
"We are not firing the Heart," Glimmer said forcefully. "Let me make that crystal clear."
"I will say this much: you will not need to fire the Heart. The Princesses will soon be able to sever their connections to it, even."
Adora admitted the seer's caginess was a little suspicious, but she couldn't stop her heart from soaring.
We do have a way to win.
Adora was about to ask Dinah if she knew anything about the Heart she hadn't yet told her when she heard a clatter on the cave floor.
Swift Wind was running into the cave.
"You're back," Adora said, before realizing he was unaccompanied.
"Where's Chris?" Antares asked before Adora could.
"Horde Prime," Swift Wind said, stopping and panting in ragged gasps as he caught his breath. "Horde Prime captured him!"