Bow's POV
"Hmm… what if I just… overlay all the past signals?" I ask out loud, but no one is here. I'm in the war room, overlooking the holo-table, staring at a projection of the woods.
Ever changing, always different. I've spent so much of my life in these woods, especially when I actually go home once in a while. I haven't called the woods home much recently, preferring instead to stay in Bright Moon, but even when I lived there the woods were always strangely unfamiliar.
I've spent the last two days just trying to work through this strange signal Entrapta kept talking about. It's like I'm missing something obvious. I'm sure Entrapta would have already figured out an algorithm to track it down, but… she's gone.
And I'm not her.
I've always been more in touch with the technical aspect of tinkering, Entrapta had an edge for patterns, code, and software. I've been looking at some of the work she sent me to my tracker pad, but I haven't made sense of everything yet.
This radio signal that was transmitting to the sword hasn't come back, which means I'm working only on First One's tech signatures, and I barely made any progress.
"Bow!" The doors to the outside halls slam open, and Glimmer comes running in. I look up from the map.
"Glimmer?"
"She knows! She knows!" She says, running straight up and throwing herself around me for a hug.
"Woah! Glimmer, what happened?"
"Mom knows, I glitched in front of her…"
"Are you okay? What did she say?"
"She- it wasn't a bad thing… you were right…"
"Really? What did she say? Does she know how to help?"
"Not sure… she said… we need to keep going. That she was sorry, and- and that we both feel like we failed."
"Oh, that's… actually really sweet," I think, pausing. I'm grateful that Glimmer actually seems happy sad instead of sad sad.
"But… we don't know how to fix it yet. My… my powers might be gone."
"We'll figure it out, Glimmer, I know we will."
She finally lifts her head off my shoulder, wiping a tear from her face, and smiling. "So, how's the treasure hunt going?"
"Another "not sure." I feel like I'm close, but without knowing how to write a probability algorithm, I'd be walking through the woods for hours," I say, letting go of her and turning back towards the table.
"What do you mean,"I?" You can't seriously be thinking of looking for whatever thing might be alone."
"Glimmer, you're in no position to go anywhere with your glitching. Besides, I was thinking of using the trek as an excuse to bring the horse out, again."
"You still don't have a name for him?" She asks, stepping closer to the table.
"I haven't had the time to think of one."
"Well… I'm going with, regardless."
"Glimmer-" I start, turning to her, before she cuts me off.
"No arguing! Do you… have you made any progress?"
"That's the thing, there's no pattern to this. It shifts randomly, and I don't know how the woods work that deep out. I couldn't even explain how the woods work around where I live, It's like instinct."
"I mean, the stories say the woods are alive, in a sense. That's where the whispering comes from. They let us through, but not the Horde, as if it… knows, somehow."
"What, you want to take a chance trip that the woods wants us to find this place?"
Glimmer looks at the map, studying it for a moment, "Wait, wasn't the signal still there before I left to talk to my mom?" She asks, pointing at the signal's current location.
"Uh… yeah. Why?"
"It's been quite a while, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean much. It's random. I've seen it move after 15 minutes, and after an hour."
"But it's been three since it moved there."
"I… yeah, it has been a bit. What are you thinking?"
"You said a few things about the radio signal, the sword being the receiver, and Adora owning the sword? What if she's already there."
"Like… the woods can't shift if someone is present?" I think it through. It wouldn't make much sense, but since I have no idea how the shifting landscape works, I can't exactly disprove it.
"Which means Adora might be there, right now."
"Adora… yeah, Adora! It has to be! We have to take the horse now, we don't know how long she'll be, let's go!" I grab Glimmer's arm, as we move for the war room entrance.
I still don't want to take her, but truth be told I'm hoping this Adora person knows enough about the magic that was used on Glimmer to maybe, possibly, help us.
Not that Adora would help us, but assuming she went alone, who's to say I can't get her to give me any useful information? A way to cure her, to get rid of the glitching. And if Adora isn't alone, well, I'll be ready. Her and her team haven't exactly been able to fully win any encounter, even if we haven't either.
We'll be in over our heads… I could get Spinnerella and Netossa to help, too, but Netossa is still upset at everything that happened the other day.
Besides, I really want to prove myself wrong about this whole She-Ra thing. Maybe she won't be there, maybe the signal will move and it will mean I'm overthinking all of this.
But as Glimmer and I move through the halls, heading for the exit, the dread I feel only grows. It's going to take us a long time to get to where the signal currently is, if it both doesn't change or shift the path that leads there. Navigating the woods is always tricky, but hopefully if we take the horse we can get there before Adora is gone.
"Bow, if you're right about her being She-Ra, this is a really, really bad idea."
"She didn't exactly use the sword when she could have at Princess Prom or our rescue attempt, and our intel says her team is still relatively new to the field. She's as inexperienced as the rest of us, we just need to keep our focus." I say, as we finally reach the exterior of the castle, and start making our way down to the stables.
Glimmer stumbles for a second, glitching, and while I let go of her earlier, me turning around and grabbing her to keep her up means I spend a few seconds feeling the pain too. It… really hurts. How is she handling this constantly? Glimmer's stronger than I thought.
"I'm okay, I'm okay! We need to get there… keep moving."
"Yeah, yeah. I don't know if we do or do not have any time, so let's hurry."
We make it to the stable, and I rush as I get the horse ready for travel, Glimmer and I are able to get the saddle on in moments, as I climb on top.
"I don't want to hurt him…" Glimmer says, not following me on.
"Then- then we walk, or-"
"No, hang on…" Glimmer closes her eyes, and starts glitching again, as she groans out in pain.
"Wh- what are you doing?"
"It's- static," she grits out. "I let it dissipate… It takes a little longer to build up."
"That works? Glimmer, I don't like this, stop!"
"Okay!" She says, sighing as the glitching stops. So she can't stop it when it comes on randomly, but she mentioned she could think it into effect if she thought about the pain… "I'm good, let's go!"
She reaches for my hand, and I help her up onto the saddle. "Alright, let's go find this signal!" I say, moving the reins to on this lovable unnamed horse as we start heading off for the woods, hoping this signal doesn't change again."
Adora's POV
"Etheria has need of you, Adora."
"We're gonna see the world, and conquer it!"
"Administrator access granted to: Adora, of Eternia."
"For the honor of Grayskull!"
"It's you…"
"Temporary access granted to: Catra, of Etheria."
"-You are a soldier in a war for the future of Etheria-"
"The sword! Where did you get that sword!?"
"Heh. You're a princess…"
Voices. Memories. Words from the palace I can't focus on. Echoing around me, taunting me, stirring up emotions and thoughts I'm too dazed to understand.
Then, silence. Utter darkness. Exhaustion.
I don't know how long it is before I finally open my eyes, except I'm… just standing there, in the middle of the room. The walls are back to the brilliant blues and purples of the main entrance, and not the dingy greens and browns of the Fright Zone, and there, just ahead of me, is Light Hope.
"Hello, Adora. You've come at last."
I jump back at the sudden noise, shrieking slightly, before composing myself. "Light Hope, right? I'm… actually seeing you? I mean, I've seen you before, in my brain, when I touched the sword, I think. But… this is real." I chuckle nervously, suddenly having no idea what I should actually be saying here. "Is this real? Wait, am I dead? I fell… we fell… Catra! Where's Catra!" I shout, turning around frantically, not seeing her.
"Your Catra is asleep next to you, you are not really awake, but this is very much real."
"Oh… um… okay… that doesn't explain much. Is she alright? How do I wake up? I'm sorry, I'm freaking out." I clear my throat, holding my hand out to shake hers, "I'm Adora."
She looks down at my hand, and I've never felt like more of an idiot than I do now.
"Yes, I know. And I am Light Hope; Etheria's Facilitator, and your guide. I have been waiting for you since you were an infant, but I could not reach you. I could not protect you from the Horde. I have-"
"Protect me? From the horde? Sorry, Light Hope, but I don't exactly need protection from them."
"Very well, I understand that you may not feel threatened by them."
"Threatened by- why would that be the case? They're… kind of my home. My family."
"Adora, the Horde are the destroyers of Etheria. You are She-Ra, Etheria's champion"
"Destroyers? Champion? I don't even know what a, "She-Ra," really is! I'm not sure you know what you're talking about, how could you even know about the Horde? They've only been here for so long."
"I have been watching, Adora. I see more than anything living ever could. She-Ra is the one destined to protect and unite this planet, and the Horde stands between you and that mission."
"You have no idea what my mission is! I am working to unite this planet, but not for the princesses."
"Yet, you are the Princess of Power. Everything on Etheria is connected. The Princesses are granted power over their elements through their Runestones," I pull the sword off my back, that's apparently still there even in this dream world. It… is a runestone… "As She-Ra, it is your duty to bring the princesses together/ Only then can balance be restored to Etheria."
"No! I'm not here for your mission, I'm only here to learn She-Ra. So She-Ra is supposed to be one thing. I don't care,"
"You are behaving erratically. The Horde is destroying Etheria in their quest for power-"
"Power, really? You're the one who said that's what I'm apparently a princess of, and that's what princesses love, right? Their power? The ability to rule over others? I'm not here for that, I'm just trying to keep myself and my friends alive."
"Your… friend?"
"So that's what this whole mind-trip was about? Getting me to give up my friends? Sorry, but I'm not going to let go of Catra."
"Your purpose is to protect Etheria, your main concern can not be only to your friends."
"Why not? What's so important that it needs me to turn my back on everything you know?"
"Adora, you do not yet realize what it means to be She-Ra."
"It means power, right? Maybe a load of responsibility, too? But why should I turn on the horde?"
"Destiny and duty are not reason enough to do what is right?"
"How do you get to decide what's right, then? My whole life, I was taught about the princesses being oppressors."
"Yet, you admit you do not believe that?"
"I…" I pause, looking down. I don't believe it anymore.
Shadow Weaver, Hordak, the horde, it's all lies. But still, I've seen the looks of anger in Glimmer's eyes, too. Most of the princesses seem fine, though, except I'm sure Mermista wouldn't hesitate to take me out. They are… just people, too. But that doesn't change the fact that
"All anyone's ever done is push me to be their weapon. You're not giving me enough of a reason to be yours."
"Adora, you are distracted. There was one before you who could not let go. Her name was Mara."
I pick my head, looking back at her, "I have no idea what that means."
"Mara was the She-Ra before you. She struggled with a power she could not control. Until it became too much for her mind."
"... She snapped? You think I will, too?"
"She was compromised. She gave into fear and faulty reasoning. Her desperate actions led to devastation. Mara stranded us in the empty dimension of Desandos. She broke the She-Ra line. She nearly destroyed us."
"Us? There is no us. You haven't explained anything other than asking me to drop everything I know to fight for you!" I raise my voice. And Light Hope says nothing, only raising her hand, and suddenly there are numerous holograms around me.
The first thing I hear is Glimmer's scream from the black garnet chamber, and I turn around. Why is she showing me this?
"Adora, you must do a better job of keeping her under control," I hear Shadow's Weaver voice next, from a memory that Catra had referred to earlier, but we weren't forced to relive, and I can't bring myself to look at it.
"No!" I turn again, hearing Mermista's voice just inches from me, a hologram of a half-broken energy cannon between us, as Mermista uses her powers to summon a wave to wash over where Catra and I… were. But I don't get knocked, instead turning around instinctually to see Entrapta.
"And I thought you were nice!" I hear Entrapta's voice next, in the halls of the Kingdom of Snows. I had manipulated her to get to Glimmer, only slightly, but…
"Stop…" I say, quietly, turning around again.
"Wh- what did you do!?" I hear my own voice shout in anger, turning to see a hologram of Catra standing next to me.
"Adora, we're losing, we need to get out of here-" The hologram says, reaching for my arm, but the touch isn't there.
"Stop," I say again, louder, but every time I turn there's another memory, another reminder that Catra was… right… I put my hands up to my ears, trying to block it all out, to stay in control.
"-I'll finish what I started in Plumeria!"
"Stop!" I shout now, throwing my hands back down and looking straight at Light Hope. "You don't get to throw all of this in my face and act like it means I'm on the wrong path. I'm not oblivious to how manipulation works, that's what's going on here. You want to use my guilt against me, to turn me into something I'm not."
"Adora," Light Hope finally speaks up, "you are this. You are destined to stop those who are hurting us, to save Etheria from the Horde-"
"So that's what this is about? Just two sides both trying to use me for their own victory, both sides telling me that their side is right and the other is wrong? No, I'm done. Let me out of here, I'll learn about this on my own."
"Adora, you can not turn your back on destiny, She-Ra is-"
"She-Ra will not be a tool!"
"She-Ra is not a tool, She-Ra is Etheria's savior."
"It's my power, right?"
"The Sword of Protection is not designed to be used in such a way, I-"
"You don't get to decide my purpose! Besides, "Sword of Protection?" For a weapon of untold power or whatever, that's a very ironic name. Save your pleading, I'm done here."
"Adora, you are not in control here. Listen to me, allow me to explain-"
"It's very clear that I'm not in control, and I'm starting to realize I never was! Shadow Weaver, the Horde. You, and the Rebellion, and these First Ones… I've never had a say for anything! And I'm done with that."
"Adora, She-Ra is your destiny."
"Oh, I know. She-Ra is my ticket to finally making things right. But not for you."
"I will not allow you to corrupt our purpose, I will not allow you to turn She-Ra against us."
"For the last time, there is no us!" I shout. I need to get out of here. I need to wake up, to grab Catra and go. Entrapta's side quest can wait, or- I'll grab something on the way out. I have to wake up…
"Adora, you will find no peace on this path."
Wake up.
"Destiny will win in the end."
Wake. Up.
"You cannot override what you are meant to be, the part you are meant to play."
I open my eyes, laying on some sort of hard flat surface, raised off the floor. Like a table, with no legs. Just a solid mass of… crystal, I guess. I sit up, looking around. Catra is on the floor, but it isn't like this rock I'm laying on is any better.
I move off the table structure, and lean over Catra.
"Hey, Catra, can you hear me? I need you awake."
"Mmm… hm?" She opens an eye, her ear twitching as she comes to. "What happened? Are we dead?"
"Just a fall, we're okay. We need to leave, now. We aren't learning anything from Light Hope."
"She… talking to you?" She asks, sitting up slightly. "My head hurts… was any of that real?"
"Unfortunately. Here," I hold my hand out to her, and she takes it, so I pull her up to her feet.
"And, that tech? Shadow Weaver will know something's up… if we come back without any."
"I know, we'll grab something. And figure this all out. We need to find a way out."
"Alright, then. Let's move," she says, still slightly groggy, and we start heading out. Not that I know where we are…
I pull up Entrapta's tablet again. "Okay, good news. This thing was mapping our path this whole time, to make a more accurate map of the woods."
"Lucky us. Let's go home, I don't like this place."
"Me neither. Light Hope isn't a fan, and all I learned is that there's some sort of training wheels on this sword, because she said she wouldn't allow me to use it against her."
"Great, more questions than answers. That's how it usually goes."
"I wouldn't say that. I have a lot of answers now. I know what She-Ra."
"A princess? I thought you wanted to learn how she worked."
"I'll get there. I learned she's a tool, and that I'm done letting other people use me."
"I- yeah, okay… I guess that's a good thing to learn."
I don't say much else, and neither does she, so we keep moving through the halls, making our way back to the entrance. I guess it doesn't do Light Hope much good if I'm dead though, because the spiders never come back to stop us. As we reach the main room with that stupid She-ra mural, Catra and I decide to spend a moment looking around.
The tablet doesn't help much, this whole thing is First One's tech after all. There isn't too much to look for, it must be the walls, the crystals themselves.
"Adora!" Catra shouts, from nearer the entrance.
"Yeah?" I ask, walking up to her.
"What does this say? There's a little crystal thing here."
"Hmm…" I step closer, looking at a little diamond-shaped crystal in a podium. "It's not a word, the script goes through the line, not under it."
"Oh, so what is it?"
"I don't know a pattern." I hold the tablet up to it, and the tablet screen goes slightly haywire. "It'll do. Let's grab it and go."
"Okay, then, one random crystal for Entrapta."
"I suppose so," I pull it out of the pedestal, and we head straight for the exit.
There's so much more to learn, so much I don't have figured out, but I'm not going to learn anything useful here. So as Catra and I head for the exit, I take a deep breath, and decide to just take it as it goes.
Bow's POV
"Stop, stop!" Glimmer shouts, as we're moving through the woods, and I immediately pull the Horse's trot to a stop, and turn around.
"What is it?"
"Need… a second," she climbs off, dropping to the ground off the horse, and immediately starts glitching.
"Glimmer!" I get off the horse as well, leaning down to help her up as she stops glitching again.
"Sorry…"
"You don't have to apologize, I'm just worried about you. You should've told me to stop sooner."
"We need… to get there…" she says, as she gets back up again.
"No, it isn't worth you forcing yourself to the brink."
But she doesn't listen, getting back on the saddle, and I sigh. It'll only be another moment anyway, she really did try to hang through it. I climb back up too, and we get back to moving forward.
"I'm serious, you can't drag it out until it bursts, we're going to get there either way."
"I know, I know…" she murmurs.
"Please, don't hurt yourself. Don't make me regret allowing you to come along."
"Fine, I'll tell you before it gets that bad again," she huffs, leaning forward to rest against me.
"Just a moment or two, we'll figure this She-Ra thing out, and maybe even get Adora to tell us how to help you."
"Yay… I'm sure that'll work…" she mumbles quietly, that glitch must have taken a lot out of her.
After only a little more riding, we actually manage to reach where the signal vaguely is. "It didn't change! We're actually going to luck our way into this!" I exclaim, excitedly, causing Glimmer to pick herself back off of me.
"Oh, yay, we're here?
"I… not quite.. Keep your eyes out for a clearing, or something."
"Like that?" She asks, tapping my right shoulder and pointing over towards a path through some trees.
"Yeah, like that," I say, turning the horse to move through the path.
What we see next is a massive open clearing that I have never seen before, despite my time in these woods. There's a huge structure in the middle, and a few small buildings spread out.
"Wow… it's pretty…" Glimmer says, as we ride up towards the big structure.
"And old, real old," I say, looking at the vegetation everywhere, as we head over to a small building with a broken fence out front. "I'm gonna hitch him here, it should hold enough for us to take a look inside, I say, stepping down and moving his reins over and tying them at the post.
"Yep," Glimmer says trying to sound cheerful despite how she collapsed earlier, "he'll stay here and continue to be upset that you won't name him."
"I've suggested several to you, you don't like them! And you don't say anything back!"
"Because he's beautiful," she hops down now, glitching for a fraction of a second as she lands. "Ow!"
"You okay?" I as, finishing the knot.
"Yeah, let's go."
We turn around, heading over for the structure, when a massive door on the front of it begins to move.
"Wait, this place still works, and has motion activated doors?" Glimmer asks, mouth agape in shock.
"I guess so. We don't know what to expect, or if Adora is here, so let's-"
As the door lowers, Adora and her friend Catra are strolling right on out. Catra has something in her hand, and Adora has the sword on her back and… Entrapta's datapad?
"Oh for the love of-" Catra starts, instantly moving into a fighting stance.
"They're here!" Glimmer shouts, filling me in on this amazingly unknown information.
"How do you have that?" I ask, drawing my Bow and motioning my head towards the tablet.
Adora puts in behind her, drawing her sword. "How did you find us?"
"Great, another game where everyone asks each other questions the other side won't answer," Glimmer mumbles, she seems unsure of what to do herself.
There's a long tense few moments of the two of us staring at the two of them, no one making a move, when finally Catra breaks the silence.
"What do we do?" She whispers, but not very quietly.
"I'm not in the mood for this, let them look around, they won't find anything," She murmurs and they start sidestepping away, Glimmer and I turning to watch as I keep an arrow aimed at them.
Adora's eyes are still scanning the field, keeping her sword ready for if I try anything, but I don't, as her eyes glance over to our horse, and somehow this heartless Horde soldier who aided in the torturing of Glimmer and death of our friend seems… shocked?
"What. Is. That?" She says, pointing at him with her sword.
"Adora, we don't have time for this, let's go," Catra says, grabbing the arm she's pointing with and pulling it back.
"It's… majestic!"
"Is this a joke? It's a horse," I say, feeling like I'm missing something.
"Catra, I want one!"
"Are you insane!?" Catra scoffs at Adora, starting to pull Adora away.
Glimmer and I look at each other, sharing a glance of utter confusion. We turn back, and Adora is just staring at the horse, whispering out, "bye Horsey!"
"Um… Adora?" I ask, deciding I at least need to try to talk.
"What?" she says, turning back to me, Catra still pulling her back towards the trees. They're now a few yards away.
If there's any chance she'd help, I owe it to glimmer to try.. On the boat, and back in Bright Moon, a few people spoke and acted like Adora was directly responsible for Entrapta's death. I don't think she was. Glimmer said Adora let us go at Thaymor, and she's letting us go now. I only saw one slip from her, at Plumeria, but… something about her isn't like the rest of the nameless Horde grunts, besides the She-Ra thing.
"Your friend made mine sick. How do I fix it?"
Adora looks over at Glimmer, confused again. "Sick?"
"She's in constant pain and her powers are glitching."
"Bow!" Glimmer shouts, "they don't need to know exactly!"
"Shadow Weaver…" Adora whispers, looking down at the sword in her hand, before looking back up and saying, "why would I tell you anything?"
"Because you two seem like the type of people to understand wanting to help those you care about," I say, thinking about all the glances those two have shared on the field.
Then she looks up at Catra, who seems conflicted about something. Worried, even. "I- I don't…" she says, looking back at me. "I- I didn't know."
"Adora…" I keep going. There's something up about her, I know it. Almost like she isn't in it.
"Bow, stop! We can't trust her!" Glimmer says, pulling my arm.
"I'm not asking you to trust her, just if she knew anything."
"I- I…" Adora is mumbling something, but Catra keeps guiding them away.
I look back at them one more time. We're not going to get any help here… "I don't suppose I can have that sword back? Or Entrapta's datapad?"
"Don't push it, Arrow Boy!" Catra shouts, dragging her and Adora further from us, until they reach the tree line, slipping through a slight passageway as Catra makes Adora turn around, and neither of them say another word.
"Pfft. Arrow Bow?" Glimmer chuckles.
"Yeah, no, that was bad," I say, letting out a quick laugh with her. "Sorry they couldn't help with the glitching, though."
"We'll find another way," she says simply.
I stare at the tree line for a few more seconds, but decide not to dwell on any of what just happens. I was expecting a fight, not that. I turn back to the castle. "Let's hurry up, the last thing we need is that door closing on us," I say, and Glimmer and I move to enter the massive structure.
"Alright, let's see what they learned from this place," she mumbles, as we make our way through the door.
It quickly gets dark though, and it isn't long before the door completely closes behind us. We head into the open room, taking a look around.
"Wow, it's huh… big. And also, very empty," I state, trying to look for anything useful.
"Uh… Bow?" I turn to see what Glimmer's looking at, a mural of some sort on the left wall from the entrance.
"Is that-"
"She-Ra…" she murmurs, following my same train of admittedly straight forward thought.
A depiction of a strange figure, and in the middle of it she holds the sword. There's no real proof it's this She-ra princess in particular, but there's writing. First One's writing, a dead language. Only a few words are known by a few people,and those are mostly speculation. I actually know the word for love, from a tattoo my dad had, but I can't read this.
"What do you think we should do?"
"I'm not sure. This whole place is First One's tech, which means I'm out of my lead."
"Well maybe if we managed to get back Entrapta's datapad-"
"Well, I was kind of outnumbered," I mumble, feeling a wave of guilt wash over me again. Everytime her name comes up, I feel like I led her straight to her death… I take a deep breath, recentering myself.
"Yeah, I know, I wasn't exactly useful out there."
"And that's okay, we'll get you fixed. Somehow. And learn about She-Ra, and stop Adora from potentially destroying Etheria."
Glimmer smiles a little at that, "you make everything sound so easy."
"Someone's gotta keep the spirits up," I say with a light tone, and turn around to walk back to the center of the room when-
"Agh!" I shout, being face to face with a weird hologram lady.
"Agh!" Glimmer mirrors me, raising her fists as if to fight. I assume she instinctively tries to charge her magic, because she immediately screams out a second time, as she starts glitching.
For once, I don't shout in reaction, instantly turning around ready to catch her, as the hologram lady starts speaking.
"I am Light Hope, Etheria's Facilitator, and you are trespassing through the Crystal Castle."
"Oh, hi, I'm sorry, we don't really know what this place is."
"You claim you wish to, "stop Adora from potentially destroying Etheria?" What are you to Adora?" She asks, as Glimmer finally regains her composure.
"She's, well, we're enemies. She's with the Horde, we're not. What's going on here?"
The hologram does not respond to my question, instead asking, "What are your natures?"
"I'm sorry?" Glimmer asks, walking up next to me.
"I shall rephrase. Who are you, and what do you seek?"
"Oh. I'm… Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. This is Bow! We're here to learn about She-Ra, we think she's a threat."
The hologram, Light Hope, moves her position back a few feet, before stating, "then I will need to make an alteration to my plans, as I would have to agree. Temporary administrator access granted to: Queen Glimmer, of Bright Moon, and: Bow, of Etheria."
"Uh… thanks?" I say, not really understanding what that means.
"Apologies. It is highly irregular for Etherians to be granted access to the Crystal Castle, but unforeseen circumstances are forcing me to take unforeseen measures."
"Unforeseen circumstances? What does that mean?" Glimmer asks for us.
"Adora is She-Ra, but Adora is behaving erratically. It is her destiny to fight for Etheria, protecting it against dangers. But currently, she fights with the dangers."
"Destiny? Like, Adora isn't supposed to be with the Horde?"
"Adora is She-Ra, champion of Etheria, Princess of Power, but, yes. She is on the wrong path, and will not listen to reason. I am unable to effectively reach her outside of these walls."
"The signal," I whisper to myself. "You've been sending a signal to the sword?"
"The Sword of Protection is She-Ra's extension of herself. I used the sword to reach Adora, but she refuses to honor my calls."
"Yeah, she seems real stubborn," Glimmer mutters.
"Wait, so, what are we supposed to do about this?" I ask Light Hope, my brain not really following her vague words.
"I am unsure. I was not trained on the scenario of Adora turning against her nature."
"Great. Even the answer machine has no answers…" Glimmer is still muttering.
"Adora is a threat to Etheria, and to herself. If she does not see the error of her ways, she must be stopped."
"Great, so use our feelings to convince her of the importance of good? Or stop the strongest person on the planet? I should have guessed," I say, with a lighthearted tone of voice because I can tell Glimmer is frustrated.
"It will obviously not be easy. I have bought you time, by activating a failsafe on the sword that will not allow her to use it. Her mind is clouded, and that will keep her off balance. But she made it out with a data crystal containing much information on the people you Etherians call the First Ones. If the Horde has access to anyone who could read that data, they may be able to unlock the sword."
"Well, that will take them a while. There's not very many people on Etheria who know anything real about the First Ones, and there was… only one who understood their technology at all."
"I would not relax. If Adora is compromised, the consequences would be devastating, even if she is untrained to handle the sword."
"Yeah, we already had that idea," Glimmer says with a lot less muttering, but is clearly still frustrated.
I understand why, this robot lady has barely told us anything we didn't already suspect. I mean, it's nice to have confirmation, but the only thing we got so far is that the little crystal thing Catra held is loaded with information they could use.
"Okay, we don't exactly know a lot about who She-Ra is, though. It's… been a long time since there was a She-Ra, and a lot of what she was is lost to history."
"Yes, the She-Ra line has been dark for a millennia. What about She-Ra would you like to know?"
"Um… so She-Ra is a fighter, a protector? Just… What does she do? What does any of it mean?"
"She-Ra is Etheria's guardian, channeling magic through the Sword of Protection. She-Ra is the cornerstone of Etheria's Runestone Princesses. You are one of them, Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon."
"Uh… yeah, I am."
"Etheria is unbalanced. She-Ra is the key to fixing this unbalance. But without She-Ra, this will not be possible."
"So we need to either get her to listen to you, or-" I trail off, could we even take this Adora girl down? We almost had them at Plumeria, and Perfuma mentioned they almost took her down at the ball, but if she figures this sword out, what could we do?
"-or stop her." Glimmer finishes.
"I doubt either will be easy to accomplish, but the Horde must be destroyed, and Etheria must be balanced. How we get there matters little."
"Why does Etheria need to be balanced?" I ask Light Hope.
"That information is not important, but I will acknowledge the danger the Horde presents to all of us."
"Great," Glimmer speaks this time, "If Adora does figure out this She-Ra stuff, how exactly are we supposed to stop her?"
"The balance of Etheria must be turned against her. But there are… failsafes, should a last resort be needed."
"That… doesn't give us anything to work with," Glimmer says.
"There is a delicate balance between Etheria, its magic, and the princesses. No single person or peoples on Etheria could best a fully-realized She-Ra, but lucky for all of us, Adora is inexperienced and likely unable to use the sword at all if not allowed."
"Like training wheels? And your advice is to just… fight her?"
"I have some understanding of the world above. Adora has been working to take down an alliance of kingdoms in opposition to the Horde, yes?"
"Uh, yeah, Glimmer here has been uniting the other princesses behind a common goal."
"Good. Use it. With help, you may be able to overpower her, even in her She-Ra form."
"Wait, I can't fight her until I'm cured!"
"Oh, um, Light Hope? Glimmer here was cursed with this, uh…"
"The Fright Zone had a runestone, this person, Shadow Weaver I guess, used it to take away my powers."
"Hmm…" Light Hope says, it's fascinating, she isn't just a robot, is she? This is full-on artificial intelligence! Light Hope holds up her hand, a faint light shining over Glimmer, as if she is being scanned. "It appears your connection to your runestone was disrupted. You will have to reestablish it."
"I tried that! I always recharge, but recharging last time just made it worse!"
"Then the magic afflicting you must be acting against you, trying to turn your own magic against you. You will have to dispel it."
"Wait," I interrupt, "kind of like you've been doing, like before we got on the horse?"
"Kind of, but it always hurts too much to dispel it completely. I'd pass out before I could push through it."
Light hope thinks for a moment more, before saying, "then it will need to be channeled out of you. She-Ra could, with training, but perhaps there are other options. I can not help you myself, but perhaps if you were to find a staff that could channel the other Runestone's destructive energy, you may be able to push it out of you, and then your abilities will be open for possible combat against She-Ra."
"Um… okay, it's a place to start. Thank you," Glimmer says, finally seeming a little more relieved.
"Wait, how do we fight against a possible She-Ra when we don't know anything about what she can do?" I ask Light Hope.
She responds by, again cryptically, saying, "what she can do will be entirely up to how combat proficient she is. Suffice to say, a lot. Even without understanding the magic that She-Ra can perform, you will need to be careful due to her strength alone."
"Great. This sounds… a lot worse than I thought it would be initially," I say, looking down slightly. Maybe… maybe I should have gone for the sword too during the rescue attempt. But… how many more people would we have lost? Or how many are we now going to lose…
"It is in fact, bad," Light Hope says casually, exactly what we needed to hear right now.
"Let's just get back to the Princess Alliance with what we know, Bow," Glimmer says, placing her hand on my shoulder.
"That we haven't narrowed anything down at all?"
"No, that we know for sure that Adora is a much bigger threat than we thought. My mom will need to hear this."
"Yeah, I guess… we really have our work cut out for us."
"We always did. Thank you, Light Hope, I guess."
"Do not thank me, it is as much my duty as all of Etheria to prevent a rogue She-Ra. We must work on the assumption that it is not too late."
I nod my head, turning to face Glimmer, "Let's go then."
"Yeah, maybe Perfuma has more stories about what exactly She-Ra can do."
And with that, we turn to leave, only for me to immediately stop. "Uh… how does the door work?"
"It is coded to your, "First One's," language. A word, Eternia."
"Oh… thank you. I guess we'll… come back if we have more questions."
"Do not hesitate, Adora must be dealt with before she becomes too destructive for Etheria's own good."
"Yeah, we understand that," Glimmer says, sighing, and we head for the exit.
We make our way outside, heading back to the horse, stopping for a moment as Glimmer forces herself to "de-static." I don't feel the need to overly react anymore, she's strong, and handling everything well, but I always turn, ready to support her if needed.
"Bow?" She asks, after calming down.
"Yeah?"
"What do we do?"
"I don't know… but we'll figure it out. She didn't really tell us what Adora could do, which is fair, she has no reason to trust us. But she said it isn't hopeless, we'll talk with the Princess Alliance and your mom and… figure something out."
"Okay, okay… Yeah, the alliance will help us. Besides, it isn't like the Horde has ever shown any capability of understanding First One's tech, and if the sword really does have a failsafe in it they can't remove, we're probably just over-reacting."
"Yeah, Etheria lost its best hope at that…" I whisper, as I untie the reigns on the horse.
"So, Horsey?"
"What?"
"Adora called him Horsey. And since you won't pick a name…"
"You want Adora to name our horse?"
"Did you see her face? I thought it was cute."
"Okay then… you thought her reaction to seeing our horse was cute?"
"That's what I just said. So I think his name is Horsey."
I sigh, not bothering to argue. I wasn't going to think of one, anyway. I climb up onto him, and reach my hand down for Glimmer to help pull her up. Back to Bright Moon we go, at least we have an idea for how to help Glimmer get better.
Adora's POV
"Because you two seem like the type of people to understand wanting to help those you care about," his words echo in my ears. He… after everything I did to him, why did he take the time to talk to me like that? We aren't friends, half the people I know think I tried to get rid of him at Plumeria.
And there was that stupid horse. I can't believe I allowed myself to show excitement at a wild animal like that, Bow thought I was weak didn't he…? It was majestic, though…
"Hey, Adora, how are we looking?"
"Almost out. For some reason the woods don't seem to be making this part difficult."
"Good, we had enough to deal with…" she says quietly, before continuing with, "how are you holding up?"
"Fine. Why?"
"Arrow Boy spooked you."
"He did not," I say, not looking up from the tablet.
"Sure. And you didn't freak out at the horse."
"It- it intrigued me."
"It sure did… Why did what he said bother you?"
"It didn't, It's fine. I just didn't expect it."
"Okay, Adora. Whatever you say."
We keep walking in silence, but it doesn't take for Catra to again start speaking, "Why couldn't we bring the skiff into the woods again?"
"Because last time we almost died falling from the tree tops."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I just… nevermind, walking is fine."
"What, too many sticks and rocks digging into your feet?" I chuckle, Catra was never one to understand the appeal of socks, shoes, or even gloves.
"No, my feet are fine, the Fright Zone floors aren't exactly spotless."
"I suppose not," I admit, thinking of the littered scrap metal that rests all over the place, until the cleaning bots do the nightly sweeps. The Horde wasn't exactly built to not fall apart, it seems.
"Besides, I step lightly. I could probably walk on a bed of nails."
"Please don't try that," I say, wincing at the idea.
"Wasn't planning on it. Now come one, how long until the skiff?"
"Just a bit longer, you're so impatient."
"Uh huh, cause that's not a trait we share."
"I can be patient!"
"Adora, you can't sit still for five minutes without wanting to get up and hit something."
"What can I say? Some of us like to keep busy."
"Not on the nights we'd sneak up to the roof and lay there for hours."
"That's different."
"Sure it is," she chuckles, and we finally push out of the tree line.
The big open field in front of us that slowly gives way back to the dingy wasteland that leads up to the Horde is almost a welcome sight. At least compared to the cramped nature of the woods.
It's nice to bicker like this, keep our minds off of the stresses of late and instead focus on how things used to be. Just Catra and I making the best time we could in a world where we've only ever known war. We're laughing, joking, bringing up the past and the times we had that weren't too bad, as we head over to where we parked the skiff, and make our way back to the Fright Zone.
Of course, once we reach the Fright Zone, it isn't long before we're greeted with Shadow Weaver, waiting in the skiff bay as we pull in and park.
Almost immediately, the mood drops, as Catra and I hop off.
"Force Captain Adora, Catra. Where were you?" Her voice calls out, and I look over to where she's standing, she's actually just leaning against the wall, not floating like she usually does. She's been here a while, then.
"Scorpia should have told you," I say, as Catra and I start heading for the entrance to the complex.
"Scoria, "told me," you were out looking for, "magic tech," which- what is that?" Shadow Weaver points over my shoulder, and I turn around to see nothing, only for it to then click.
Oh, shoot, I forgot about that. "Magic tech," I say dismissively.
"I meant that rhetorically, I know what that is."
"Then why did you ask?"
"To confirm to myself what I already knew when I watched your fight in Plumeria, or how half your team attempted to sneak off as soon as you landed the Horde Airship. Do you really think it wise to lie to me, Adora?"
"It is magic tech, I didn't say that it's what we are out for. Catra?"
I turn to her, and she's already holding the crystal thing out to me, so I grab it and show Shadow Weaver. "First One's tech. Something pwerful. And we have someone now who knows how to use it."
"I know what the First Ones are, Adora. But this changes nothing, a lie of omission is still a lie. I expect such tactics from her, but from you?"
To my side, I hear a slight growl escaping Catra's throat. It's quiet, but I knew what to listen for.
"I didn't do anything wrong. My-" I look over at Catra, before looking back and saying, "our team is working on something huge for the Horde. Hordak gave me orders to gather information from our newly captured rebellion princess, and I followed up on what she gave me."
Shadow Weaver's face moves slightly, slight enough that even behind her mask I can tell her eyes are moving between the two of us, "Adora, I am not a fool. I will not allow you to cast me out. You are under my command, not Hordak's."
"Then take it up with him. Let's go, Catra," I say, walking straight past Shadow Weaver. I can feel the tension here, I might have just made a huge mistake. But I press forward, Catra following, as we make our way back to the room where Entrapta and Scorpia should still be.
"Adora… What was that?" Catra asks, as we're finally out of earshot, "you've never spoken back to her before!"
"I know, I was buying time. She'll come for me soon, but first, we figure this out," I say holding the crystal up, "and this, too," I tap the sword on my back.
"Adora, I- she isn't going to like this."
"I'm…" I sigh, turning to face her. And I realize something. Catra was always weary of Shadow Weaver. We had nightmares of the things she's done, and knew what she could do. But Catra was never really afraid. Tense? Cautious? Yes. Afraid? Never. And I always was. Always afraid to stand up to her in any way that would put me on her bad side. Always afraid of having her do to me what she always did to Catra. But now? "I'm not afraid of her anymore."
Catra finally smirks, and for the first time in what feels like weeks, I see Catra as she used to be. No stress, no concerns for me, just her. She just looks back at me, the grin slowly growing, as she says, "it's about time."