Catra's POV
When Adora and I reach the interrogation room, there's an immediately obvious situation. Entrapta is out, and she and Scorpia are just… chatting… Entrapta is working on the bot, who knows what, when Scorpia looks over at us.
"Oh, wow, you guys are back! It's been hours, I was starting to get worried. Are you two okay?" She starts rambling heading over to us, but Adora just holds her hand up.
"Scorpia, we're fine. How was Entrapta?"
At this, Entrapta bolts up, and uses her hair to span the room in an instant, coming face to face with Adora.
"How did it go? Did you find anything?"
Adora holds up the crystal thing, and as she does, Scorpia closes the distance and wraps her arms around me.
"You two look exhausted, are you okay? Was it dangerous?"
"Scorpia, let go of me!" I shriek, and Scorpia lets go of me.
"An intact data crystal? Ooh… I have never seen one so perfectly preserved! This alone could be a game changer! But what about the sword!?"
"Oh, um…" Adora pauses, pulling it off her back. "There's some sort of safety program on it, I need you to find out what it is, and remove it. And uh, here's your tablet back."
"Really? You're giving me the sword? Oh, I've missed her!"
"Adora, what are you doing?" I ask, walking up to her.
"It's safer in her hands than Shadow Weaver's. Whatever magic that thing did to me back in the castle, it was powerful."
"Wait, it's real? She-Ra is real!? What happened, tell me everything!"
"Oh, we can be like, a secret princess team! Catra, are you a princess?" Scorpia asks, looking over at me.
"No! What is wrong with all of you!? And she's not on the team!"
Adora looks back over at me, "Technicalities, Scorpia isn't either, but right now Entrapta is able to help us, and we're able to help her, right Entrapta?"
"Wait, are you… asking me to join you? I kind of thought I'd just… go back home now that we helped each other out slightly, well, after I take another look at this sword for you."
Adora looks over at me, and I know immediately what she's asking of me. I sigh.
"Entrapta, the alliance isn't coming back for you, they didn't value your opinion on going back for the sword, they don't need you. But think of all the good you can do for your uh, science, here in the Fright Zone." I look over at Adora, I can practically see the guilt on her face, having asked me to do this. So she isn't all gone, but Adora is right. Better Entrapta than Shadow Weaver.
So I step closer to Entrapta, who seems… visibly agitated. I keep going, "the Fright Zone could give you everything you need to perform whatever experiments you perform, and in return, you could build us weapons the likes of which Etheria has never seen, or uncover the truth of who She-Ra is."
"I- you want me to stay? Here?" She pulls her mask down, like she did yesterday when Adora and I talked to her.
"Hey, I think it's a great idea!" Scorpia chants, walking over to between Entrapta and I, putting a hand on each of our shoulders, "We could be like, a Super Pal Quad!"
"Scorpia, there's… three more people on the team."
"Oh. Well, then. We can be the, uh… Super Pal Sept- quin- no, septuplet?" Uh…"
"Stop it!" I shout, "Entrapta, we can get you whatever you need for your work, whatever projects you want to work on."
"I could… I guess I could make a lot of progress here… so much technology here that the Princess Alliance doesn't have…"
"Hey, just saying again, we have, like, our own Princess Alliance here, I suppose."
"Scorpia…" I say slowly, looking over at her.
"Okay, fine! Sorry! Just trying to boost morale!" She chuckles, looking over at Adora's admittedly nonchalant face.
"Entrapta, will you help us understand this sword?"
"I- um… yes! I will! I mean, what kind of scientist would I be if I didn't try to figure this sword out? It's a scientific enigma! So… what else did you learn about it?"
"Um… it unlocks some sort of transformation, I guess," Adora says, and I think back to what I say in the castle. "I was taller, stronger. wearing… a cape, and a tiara. It was dumb, but I was strong. Really strong."
"Yes, that's what Perfuma believed She-Ra was, but I didn't have the chance to talk to her much, Bow learned a little more, and I'm sure once they figure out who you are they'll be filled in pretty fast."
"But I don't know much else. I said, "for the honor of grayskull," but it doesn't work now."
"Yeah, a safety program, you said," Entrapta says, looking down at the sword.
"Training wheels," I mutter.
"Can you turn it off?" Adora asks.
"I have no idea! But I can try," Entrapta says, walking over to a table, and setting both the sword and data crystal down, as she puts her tablet away. "Ooh, this is going to be sooo much fun!"
"Good. Scorpia, stay with her a bit, get her whatever she needs," Adora commands. "I want this sword unlocked, that data unencrypted."
Scorpia nods, and Entrapta is already getting to work on her tablet, spewing out a list of computer stuff and cables and tools she needs.
"What's the goal here, Adora?" I ask, hesitantly after how heated things got at the castle.
"To be ready for whatever comes next," she says simply, walking over to me. "Let's go grab the rest of our team, okay? This… this is a big chance for us."
There's something off, I didn't expect her to so immediately course correct that whole "our/my" team thing, and I feel like she isn't telling me about what exactly she decided her plan was going to be. "How much are we telling them?" I ask, more so to see if she'll be honest with me, too.
"I- enough." Bingo. "We're going to tell them about She-Ra, and about how Shadow Weaver is definitely not going to like this."
"Okay, Adora…" I say, ready for us to go find her other friends. She's straight up serious about plotting a coup against Shadow Weaver. Which is fine, it's a good idea, I'd have done it myself… but I never really expected it of her.
She seems to notice my hesitation, I can see her brows furrow slightly. There's still tension here, even if we talked through most of it. I mean, she knows I'm not sabotaging her, only looking out for her. And she's willing to cast off Shadow Weaver, so things should end up fine. I hope.
Adora turns, and I follow as we head out of the not-being-used-as-an-interrogation room. Adora trusts her friends, that… Kyle claims they're mine too. I don't see it with Lonnie, while Rogelio and I never even really interact, but… they aren't terrible people. They'll help Adora, too, probably.
It's about midday, shortly after the lunch rations are handed out, so everyone should have already eaten. Even if Adora and I haven't. So, we head for the barracks.
It feels like it takes a lot longer than it does, since Adora and I don't say anything to each other. Why did she even tell me to tag along for this? She didn't exactly seem sorry for sending me away to do patrols the other day…
But still, we reach the barracks. Immediately on walking in, it's clear that the rest of the team isn't here.
"Huh… it's been a while," Adora says.
"Since Salineas…" I say back, and she walks over to her old bunk.
"The bed is made, you never make the bed."
"I- I went back to my own bunk…" I say quietly, almost feeling guilty, as Adora looks up at the top bed. That blanket isn't neat.
"Oh…" she whispers, crouching down, looking at the marked drawing of our faces on the side of the bunk.
I just watch as she hangs her head slightly. I wonder if I should try and comfort her, tell her it's okay, that I'm not upset; to be a good friend. Or maybe I admit that I'm upset she's gone, that she isn't there when the nightmares get bad anymore, that everything I said in the castle about her leaving me behind feels true; being honest. But instead, I say nothing.
After a few moments of her just staring down with her eyes closed, she stands back up, and walks over to me.
"Catra…"
"Don't," I say dismissively. I don't want to argue with her more, not already. Because it doesn't matter what she wants to say, I know it'll lead to an argument. I take a deep breath, we have a job to do right now. We'll sort this out later.
She just stares for a second, and I swear I can see something in her eyes shift. Of course she's going to push it. "Catra, do you-"
The door behind us opens up, the noise of chattering cutting off whatever Adora was about to say.
"I'm telling you, we're being- oh, hi guys." Lonnine says. Adora is looking past me. I turn around to face them.
The trio stands there, two of Lonnie's other friends head in and wordlessly head to the other end of the room.
"What are you doing here?" Lonnie asks Adora, her voice telling only curiosity.
"We need to talk. Do you know about Entrapta?"
"Half the Fright Zone knows!" Kyle says excitedly. "Adora, half the Horde thinks you salvaged the rebellion rescue attempt by grabbing a different princess!"
I can't help the quiet growl that escapes my throat. Of course it's still a win for Adora, even after everything else. Rogelio gives me a questioning look, the only one who noticed. I don't give him any indication.
"I- yeah, that isn't really what happened. We need to talk."
"Okay," Lonnie says, "what about?"
"Not here. Follow us. Scorpia, Entrapta and us have been working on a huge lead, but we have a problem."
"Oh, great, something so secret those two over there can't hear about it?" Lonnie asks, motioning at her friends with green and pink hair whose names I never bothered to learn.
Adora says nothing, she just starts walking past them, and I follow. I hear as the other three turn to follow us, despite the lack of information. I definitely didn't need to come with Adora for this.
As the five of us are moving through the halls, I can feel the tension radiating off of Adora. I was so sure after that last vision at the castle, I had gotten through to her, but she still hasn't said anything clear about what happened with Light Hope. She's hiding things, still.
I hear Kyle whisper to Lonnie, "I told you she isn't cutting us out!" So I'm not the only one… Okay, Catra. No hiding from this, you and Adora need to talk more. I need to get this figured out. At least she's trying, right? She told me a lot of things in that castle. Our trust should be worth more than this…
When we make our way back to the interrogation room, we walk in to find that Entrapta has already managed to set up some sort of network of cables and two monitors on a table off to the side.
"Oh, hey everyone! Now it's a real party," Scorpia says, turning as all of us walk in.
"Wait, the princess is out? Just… out?" Lonnie asks, and I turn to see that Kyle is now… hiding behind Rogelio.
"Seriously?" I ask him, and he slowly steps out from behind him.
"But- a princess!"
"Yeah, there's a lot to explain here," Adora says, walking over to Entrapta. "Hey, Entrapta?"
Entrapta sits back from the one monitor, well, a laptop that has a second monitor connected to it. "Yes?"
"I have a few things I need to explain. If you're going to help us, I figured you should hear a lot of it, too, and also so everyone knows what everyone else knows."
"Oh, like about how you're a princess?"
Adora immediately facepalms, and I hear the trio all collectively gasp.
"Wait, what? Is that about the stupid sword we aren't allowed to talk about?" Lonnie asks, walking over to the table.
"A- Adora? A princess? But how?" Kyle asks, looking up at Rogelio. He only responds with a shrug.
"Ugh, yes, Entrapta, about how I'm a princess."
"Adora, what's going on? How are you- at all- a princess. Why is this one out, and why are we hiding in an interrogation room?"
"I'm in a room with three princesses…" Kyle whispers, still seeming scared. It's almost laughably pathetic, given how he didn't have any issues with Scorpia since Princess Prom.
"I was going to explain," Adora responds to Lonnie, "I'm getting there."
Scorpia chimes in now, with a comment on, "ooh, don't forget the part about how we're making Shadow Weaver upset!"
"We're making Shadow Weaver upset!?" Kyle shouts, and Rogelio places his hand on Kyle's shoulder.
"Eureka!" Entrapta joins the ever-growing cascade of noise, "I'm through the crystal's firewall! Ooh, this is a gold mine!"
"We're gonna get fired for this… go on, Adora. What's the big secret?"
"If everyone would stop, I'm trying to explain that-"
"Wait, you get paid?" Scorpia asks, stepping closer.
"Enough!" I shout. "Lonnie, stop asking questions! Scorpia, stop interrupting! Kyle, stop quivering! Entrapta, sit still, and Rogelio… nevermind. Adora, go."
Everyone actually calms down for a second, and I look around at the myriad of faces. Entrapta didn't seem to hear me at all, Kyle and Scorpia look… upset. Lonnie looks ticked, and Adora…
Sighs, stepping forward to be in the middle of everyone. "Okay. A few months ago, Catra and I snuck out of the Fright Zone, I stole some skiff keys and we took off to the Whispering Woods."
"Wow, didn't know you had that type of behavior in you," Lonnie chuckles.
Adora actually seems frustrated now, but still chuckles at Lonnie's words. "Yeah, well, it was a long story," she says more quietly.
I think back to how she did something so stupid and reckless just to cheer me up over how I was upset that I wasn't going to Thaymor with her, and then she sorted that out too…
"Anyway, I found this sword. That sword," she says, pointing at the table it's resting on, "the… Sword of Protection."
"A magic sword…" Kyle says, sounding excited.
"But something went wrong. I touched it, blacked out, and Catra pulled me up. The sword was gone."
"Until we saw it at Thaymor?" Lonnie asks.
"That was the day after, yes. It became a… secondary sword of mine to get that sword, to figure out why I blacked out. It gave me these weird visions, and I heard a voice, from some hologram person called Light Hope."
"Ooh," Entrapta interrupts, "there are files here about her! Etheria's facilitator, a complicated AI program created by the First Ones!"
"First what?" Scorpia asks.
"Doesn't matter," Adora says, cutting Entrapta off before she can launch into an explanation. "What matters is that…"
"You're some sort of chosen princess hero with a magic sword?" Lonnie asks, clear sarcasm in her tone. Her banter with Adora always seems like nothing but smug, self-centered ridicule to me. I can't tell if Adora is too dumb to realize or if I'm just reading it wrong.
"Actually, yeah. I'm a mythical lost princess called She-Ra."
"Not lost anymore!" Entrapta calls out. "More like rediscovered."
Kyle's turn to ask a question again, with, "so you're a mythical found princess? Of what?"
"Funny thing. Bit of irony here. That Sword is titled the Sword of Protection, but She-Ra, whatever it means to be her, isn't the princess of flowers, or sparkle magic, or water. Light Hope said she was the Princess of Power."
"Pfft, yeah, okay Adora," Lonnie chuckles.
"Entrapta, can you get the lock off of it?"
"Maybe! I'm still digging through everything, you have no idea how much is here! This is an absolute game changer! I can rework my theories on long-range communication, make stronger energy weapons for EMILY, this is a glimpse into genuine artificial intelligence, the true nature of Etheria!"
"Um… thanks. Anyway, there's real magic in that sword."
"Yeah," I cut in, "she used it earlier today, once, to fight off a bunch of robot spiders. It was honestly a lot to see."
"It was a lot to feel."
"So why hide this from Shadow Weaver?" Lonnie keeps pressing, "If this thing is as powerful as you claim it is, why is this a bad thing? It's not like you'll be fired for being a princess."
"Because… Shadow Weaver can't be trusted."
"Do you plan on holding this ultimate power forever, and never let it out?"
"No, I just need Entrapta to unlock it first. This Light Hope ai person seemed to think I was supposed to be fighting against the Horde, and when she realized I wouldn't, she locked me out. Or… something like that. I have no idea how it works."
Entrapta cuts back into this by saying, "actually, that makes a lot of sense! This thing is an artificial Runestone, not like Bright Moon's moonstone. Not that I ever had the chance to study a real one, but this is definitely not a natural Runestone. The gem was cut, molded. Maybe even printed, given the detail, but it's man-made."
"And how does that connect to me being locked out?"
"Well, the First One's must have built this sword. That means they probably put failsafes into it, in the event of a rogue She-Ra. Which… I guess you… are?"
"Wait," Scorpia chimes in, "I'm still on, "supposed to be fighting against the Horde." How does that work?"
"Something about destiny, it isn't something I care to believe in."
"So… we can't tell Shadow Weaver until you can… use the power of the sword? And until then… we need to keep it a secret from her?" Lonnie asks, piecing things together just as I did in the castle. I can see the look of shock creep into her eyes.
"Adora, wait, why would you being able to use the sword make it the right time to go to Shadow Weaver? She could probably help you understand it, with how she has her Black Garnet. Unless-" Scorpia realizes it too.
"The Black Garnet? You have a Runestone? The Fright Zone has a Runestone?" Entrapta shouts. "Wait, this opens up so many possibilities!"
Kyle is starting to look uneasy too, looking at why Lonnie, Scorpia, and now even Rogelio look concerned, and Adora turns to face everyone else in turn.
"What?" She asks.
"Are… are you planning a mutiny?" Lonnie asks directly.
"Mutiny! Oh no, I can't be a part of this…" Kyle
Rogelio makes some vague noise of confusion.
Scorpia just looks around, seemingly like isn't quite following everything. She looks over at me, and I can almost see her shoulders sag. "You too, Wildcat?"
I guess my lack of surprise showed.
"This isn't a mutiny, or a coup, I already went over this with Catra. It's just that Shadow Weaver isn't going to like it when she finds out what this sword does or means."
"Why wouldn't she?" Scorpia asks, but the tension does seem to drop a little.
"Because Shadow Weaver is very obvious in what she wants from me. How I was raised. She wants a weapon. A soldier. And if I tell her what this sword means for me-"
"That her perfect soldier is a perfect weapon?" I don't even bother to stop myself from hissing at Lonnie this time, her tone is in no way helpful to this situation.
"-well, Catra brought up concern. And I realized that she probably wouldn't stop at asking nicely for her to… get more influence over me…" she whispers, and I can watch as Adora's hand clenches into a fist. So she does know what's at stake…
Scorpia walks up to Adora, seeing her obvious discomfort, and places a pincer on Adora's shoulder. Always the chummy type…
"Okay, Adora." Kyle says, stepping forward. "I get it, Shadow Weaver… isn't a nice person."
"Shadow Weaver is dangerous," I say, trying not to let my emotional attachment to this conclusion show too much, "for Adora, for us,for the Horde as a whole."
"We are not planning a mutiny, or a coup. We just need to be prepared for if she decides we're… not worth being under her watch anymore."
"It kinda feels like you're trying to provoke that reaction, though," Lonnie says in an admittedly fair point, "but we're all your friends," she pauses, glancing over at Entrapta, "well… Most of us are your friends. We're with you, if this is what you think the way forward is, Force Captain."
Rogelio makes a sort of remark that I'm going to assume is also in solidarity, and Adora finally relaxes. These next few days are going to be a lot for everyone, I hope Adora knows what she's doing.
"Adora!" Entrapta shouts after pulling back away from her laptop. "The Black Garnet! That's how we do it!"
"How we do what?"
"I have to run some numbers, but I need to ask. Can you get me the Black Garnet?"
The question hangs over everyone in an uncomfortable silence. Going against Shadow Weaver like that so soon? She'd definitely make a move on us.
"I don't know… I have no idea how I could manage to make that happen."
"Think of the possibilities! The Runestones, connected into this grid that runs through the planets. Whatever the First One's did on Etheria, it runs deep. Mining operations, tampering with Etheria's natural magic, construction projects the likes of which would make the Sea Gate seem like a child's sandcastle!"
"I'm sorry?" Adora asks, not quite following.
"The Runestones! The natural ones! The First One's built their way into their grid, creating a network that allows them all to work in tandem! And, they're not as protected as this sword. But the sword was built into this network, too. I could probably use the Black Garnet to unlock the sword, giving you full control of it, and it doesn't stop there!"
"It's that easy? For you to access First One's tech like that?"
"Well, the Black Garnet isn't First One's tech. I could get access to that, probably. And if I do, it wouldn't stop there!"
"Could you use it to make weapons?" I ask, taking a step closer.
"Uh- potentially!"
"Okay guys," Scorpia interrupts, "I'm just throwing this out here, but um… Shadow Weaver is not going to hand us the Black Garnet."
Adora looks down, placing her hand to her chin, thinking.
"It's fine," I say. "I'll get you this Black Garnet."
"Catra?" Adora asks, looking up.
"How is this not mutiny?" Lonnie asks, feeling exasperated, and Rogelio just shakes his head.
"It's fine. Leave Shadow Weaver to me," I explain, trusting that Adora will know to get whatever this mess is going to turn into up and running.
Glimmer's POV
It's been another day since Bow and I went to that castle in the Whispering Woods, and most of the Alliance has arrived to hear Bow and mine's report on what little we learned.
"Well as it turns out, there wasn't too much for us to do there," Bow announces to the meeting.
Spinnerella and Netossa are here, as well as Perfuma. Mermista has been busy regaining control of the seas, and is taking the opportunity to speed up the reconstruction of the Sea Gate. Frosta's whole kingdom is in lockdown, she hasn't come around to joining the rebellion yet. It's starting to look like she never will, either. My mom is here too, but she hasn't said anything since I mentioned the possibility of channeling the static out of me.
"Wow… Adora really is She-Ra…" Perfuma says, she definitely seems conflicted given her closer connection to the stories.
"But we learned nothing about what She-Ra is?" Spinnerella asks.
"We did," I say, "Light Hope confirmed that She-Ra is supposed to be this savior, this champion of Etheria."
"Yet her powers ended up in the hands of a wannabe tyrant…" Netossa grumbles slightly.
"It isn't that simple. Light Hope said Adora was conflicted, and… on the wrong path. Something like that."
"And she told you to either… fight She-Ra, or speak to Adora?" Spinerella continues piecing it together.
"That's pretty much it, yeah. And I'm going to be honest, none of those seem very possible. She didn't say anything to give us a scale on her powers, other than that… Well, she seemed glad we have the alliance." Bow thinks out loud, none of us really have all the pieces.
"This is scary, guys…" Perfuma whispers, "She-Ra isn't something we're going to be able to beat without… a lot of effort and energy."
"Well, we have one thing going for us," I say, standing up from my chair, "Adora is an experienced combatant, that much is clear. But she knows as much about She-Ra as we do, probably less thanks to Perfuma's stories."
"Well we have one thing the Horde doesn't," Perfuma says, summing a small flower at everyone's part of the table, "we can trust in each other!"
"No, they're not monsters," Bow says. He always tries to see the best in people… He really took a chance outside of that castle, trying to reach Adora before we even had that as a plan. "Adora's team is closely knit, especially with that Catra person."
"True, we've only seen the other three a few times… Lonnie, I think one of their names is," I say, thinking back to Salineas. "But Catra was always there."
"Except for when I saw her with the younger boy in the Fright Zone salvage yard, yes," Bow thinks back.
"Oh, well good for them," Netossa says, "the power of friendship vs the comradery of friendship."
"Well, yeah. Good for them," Perfuma repeats. "It just goes to show I was right on the boat. Everyone's just fighting for the people closest to them. If we want to reach Adora without fighting her, maybe that's how we do it?"
"I don't know," I say, "there's something about Catra that doesn't sit right with me. The way I've seen her snarl in combat before. She doesn't have the same sympathy for the enemy that Bow thinks they have."
"Catra didn't let us Adora hurt us at Plumeria."
"You heard her, she knew the Horde lost that fight and got Adora out of there."
"I don't think it's that simple, Glimmer. She led us to the Black Garnet chamber."
"Because you think she ran slow? You don't know how fast she is!"
"Magicats are faster than she was."
Spinerella chimes in with, "we shouldn't work off of only assumptions. We know Adora hesitates, is She-Ra, and that those two in particular seem to care about each other. Everything else is conjecture."
"Conjecture is all we've been working with since we got off that boat," Netossa remarks.
"Yes, but it has led somewhere," Perfuma says. "We know for sure that Adora is She-Ra."
"And we know nothing about what that means," I add.
"Commander Glimmer," my mom's voice finally rings out. "Spinerella is right, there are too many, "what ifs," being flung around. What do you have planned for the concrete information we have to work with?"
"I-" I pause, thinking. If the horde has anyone who knows anything about First One's tech, and I know they have Entrapta's datapad, which means they have her notes, then Adora is going to figure out that sword quickly. "We're on a short timer. We need to be ready for anything. If Adora manages to unlock She-Ra, regardless of how strong she may be, we need to be prepared for a fight. I move that we increase the Bright Moon perimeter patrols and increase our home defenses, pulling back from the outer territories."
"Glimmer, you want to… give up land? That's very unlike you."
"This isn't retreating, we're not giving up land, we'll just fall back where we need to. If She-Ra shows up, what we have won't be enough anyway. They know Bright Moon is the target. Adora already proved her team is willing to launch full-scale attacks at the hearts of two of Etheria's kingdoms. If she gets the chance to move on Bright Moon, she will."
"Glimmers right," Bow seconds. "Adora and her team are meticulous and crafty. They've almost always partaken in small scale operations, except at Plumeria, as a solo unit. And Adora being at that castle means the Whispering Woods either doesn't see Adora as a threat, or can't stop her."
"So you want to pull off the front lines, and fortify Bright Moon? Which was exactly my plan that you so vehemently went against months ago?" My mom presses.
"We went too deep to save me after the ball. We lost Entrapta. I'm not going to sacrifice our people holding worthless territory when places like Thaymor, Plumeria, and possibly even Bright Moon are in danger."
My mom stands up, towering over those of us already standing. "Very well, commander Glimmer. Bow, communicate the information to General Julliet so she can organize our messengers. Everyone else, dismissed. Glimmer, follow me."
I nod, and Perfuma stand up to go speak to Spinerella and Netossa as I follow my mom out of the room.
"What's going on?" I ask as soon as the door to the war room closes behind us.
"Take a walk with me, Glimmer," my mom says simply, and we start heading through the Bright Moon halls.
"Okay?"
"I wanted to further communicate with you about your plans to withdraw from our extended outposts."
"Ugh, mom, I told you, it doesn't make sense to hold defensive positions we can't defend. We'll turn this around with force once we handle Adora."
"And you really think that this'll just be simple like that? That the next time you encounter this Horde Force Captain, you'll be able to convince her to turn on her home, or take her down?"
"We don't think this is easy, it's war. We've known this our whole lives."
"I am aware that you know the risks, I just… I do not understand your thought process here. Not about falling back, but acting as if this will be a temporary loss."
"Because, we just need to figure out what Adora can do with the sword. And I want to be cautious, and not risk her tearing through us at some outpost on the far edges of the woods. We've been pushed back nearly everywhere since the Sea Gate fell. Mermista's victory at the Fright Zone's docks mean their supply lines will go back to how they were."
"Back in that time between your first mission and the Sea Gate's destruction?"
"When we were making progress, for the first time in years, yes."
"And you're not worried that Adora, if you aren't able to fix this She-Ra problem before it starts, will use the fact that we have given up our defensive positions to push further into our territory?"
"Adora will wipe us out easier if we're spread thin. This was your plan, for months! Why are you choosing to always be a contrarian?"
"We spoke about this yesterday, I don't want you to be another me."
"I'm not! I'm just- everyone has different ideas. Mermista, Netossa, and I usually don't like giving up ground, but… okay, this idea is actually Bow's. He doesn't think the rebellion can afford to supply the front as it stands, and defend Bright Moon. We don't know how Adora got to the castle. The Whispering Woods have always protected us, and if that fails… we need to be careful."
"Bow's idea… I see. Well, I have always valued his judgment as well as yours. If you think this is the best move forward, I will trust it."
"You already agreed to it, though, back in the war room." I understand why my mom has been almost hovering over me since I was captured, but it is seriously aggravating sometimes.
"And I explained that I only wished to understand your thought process more clearly. You're maturing fast, my glimmer. These last few months of you being out in the field were clearly a good move for you and the rebellion."
"Oh, um… thanks?" I say, stunned. I was expecting a lecture, or just general lack of trust. Not, well, the opposite.
"I had an idea when you mentioned channeling the Black Garnet's magic out of your system,"
"I tried pushing through it. Everytime I glitch, it dissipates. I forced as much out of me before entering the war room, it won't be long before I need to do it again. But I can't push it out completely, it hurts too much to push through. I almost collapsed a few times trying with Bow's support."
"Thankfully, magic is affected by magic. Castaspella is unfamiliar with the magic that comes from Runestones, as I am unfamiliar with raw sorcery. But Glimmer, I think you may very well be able to push through."
"What? No, I'd literally pass out before I managed it. But what does Aunt Casta have to do with this?"
"Your father, her brother; he was always strong with the mystical arts. You likely could have learned a lot from him, or your aunt."
I look down slightly. Aunt Casta had been asking me if I wanted to learn any sorcery from her for years, and I never made time for it.
"I have been trying to mold you into someone more like me for years. And when you suggested pulling back, I realized I was worried I might have gotten what I thought I wanted. But what I wanted from you, is not what is best for you; best for us. You are stubborn, and hotheaded, and brave. Like your father," she says, and holds her hand up. She summons a staff of some sort, and I immediately recognize it, my eyes going wide, "this belonged to him. It allowed him to focus some of the more… destructive elements of magic into what he could more easily manipulate. It may help you now, it's long past time it was yours."
I reach out, grabbing the crescent moon-topped staff from her. I weigh it in my hands, perfectly weighted for a center grip. I smile up at my mom, feeling tears well up in my eyes.
"Thank you… I- I promise you don't have to worry. Just this mission. Just a bit, then I'll go back to swinging on all fronts."
"I want you to do what is best at any given moment according to your judgment. If sometimes you think it is better to pull back, pull back."
I nod, holding the staff a little closer. "So, uh… how do I do the summon thing?"
My mom smiles. She was never able to learn a lot from my dad, and sorcery is apparently not a very fair thing to learn. Everyone could learn some things, with years of practice, but it was harder to master it. My dad was a master. I don't know what my mom does know, but as she raises her hand, I mirror it. It's subtle, not a flashy spell, and I have it down in moments as the staff fades away.
"Wow."
"Your first try? Amazing. Hold onto that staff, Glimmer. If what that Light Hope said is true, it may allow you to reforge your apparently severed connection."
"I- I'll do my best. Thank you, mom." I say, giving her a quick hug, before I turn to leave. I feel the static building up again, and I'm not a fan of the idea of her seeing me lose it again.
Catra's POV
Entrapta works fast. Just a day after Adora got everyone together, we're standing in the Black Garnet chamber in what is sure to be an awful idea. The trio aren't here. It's just me and the three Horde princesses… somehow. I have no idea how I got myself into this situation. I'm surrounded by things I don't understand, things are in motion I can't influence or control, and I'm confused.
But Entrapta is plugging things into the Black Garnet, entrapta's robot servant and Scorpia are both moving a bunch of junk around, and Adora is just doing what she can to help. I'm mostly watching the door, waiting for the inevitable.
Something interesting happened as I planned for the trio to create a diversion to pull Shadow Weaver away, she should be dealing with a training mishap right now. But we didn't even need it, Shadow Weaver has such a sweet surprise in store for her.
"So, we're hacking into the planet's power grid by sticking wires onto this rock?" Scorpia muses. "When I was assigned to work with you guys at Salineas, I didn't things would wind up here."
"Funny," Adora chuckles, "I thought the opposite. I had a feeling things were going to change ever since I found this sword."
"I never expected to be working to hack into Etheria! This is incredible! Oh the things we could do with this as a power source!"
"Or a weapon," I repeat. We're going to need them to win this war, because I don't like the idea of it all being on Adora. Glimmer made a lot of progress on the field outside of Salineas, and neither of us have been able to really achieve a total win against the other. No matter what we do, Adora is still leading here, and Glimmer is still mostly leading there.
"Or a weapon, but you're thinking too small! We could-"
"Thinking too small?" I ask, crossing my arms.
"Not like that, I just mean in a limited scope! The First One's made advances to get magic and science working in harmony, and being able to use that here? Who knows what we could do!? What we couldn't do!?"
"You won't be doing anything!" Shadow Weaver's voice rings out as she rounds the corner around the still damaged hole where the door used to be.
"Uh, Shadow Weaver? Wait, is this your room? We must be lost," Scorpia chuckles nervously, "this is-"
"Silence! Did you fools really expect to be able to hide from me that you were up to something when you didn't show up to your training with the other cadets today? I never figured you would be so bold as to openly rebel," she says angrily directly to me, "but to bring Adora so far down to your level as to turn her against me?"
Adora steps forward at this, "because all you've ever done isn't to drag me down to yours?"
"Don't do this, Adora. The Black Garnet is mine, and mine alone! You do not have the authority to make this decision, don't make me put you in your place…"
Adora stands firm, "you don't need my authority, I was given an order."
"Absurd! The only Force Captain left above you in ranks is Octavia, and she has no say over my domain!"
"It's not at Force Captain Octavia's authority," Hordak's voice rings out over the speakers in this room, through a screen on the far side of the room that has just turned on. I cross my arms hearing Hordak's voice, Shadow Weaver's surprise is here.
"Lord Hordak? I don't understand…"
"Adora's team have been working on a way to meld this strange First Ones tech with our machines to weaponize it. I found out, and was intrigued." He states calmly, scratching the chin of his little Imp, which rests happily next to him. That thing must have been stalking us! Why? "I gave Force Captain Adora and her team my blessing to go ahead. So understand Shadow Weaver, I am displeased with your interruption."
"My Lord, you're really going to this- this princess tinker with my Runestone?"
Hordak smirks slightly at this, "Her tinkering has increased the firepower of every weapon she's touched. So yes, she gets to tinker with whatever she wants. Including the Black Garnet, which is mine to give or take, as I see fit. These Princesses," he places deliberate emphasis on the "es," "may proceed."
Shadow Weaver looks at Adora, the desperation and frustration in her voice is immediate. This all happened so much faster than any of us could have thought, as soon as Hordak found out… well, we don't have to worry now about when Shadow Weaver will strike.
"Adora… why?" The tension is palpable. Hordak hangs up the call, having nothing more to add, as Shadow Weaver and Adora continue to stare at each other.
"Shadow Weaver, Hordak has given all of us here direct orders. Don't make this difficult for everyone."
Shadow Weaver hovers there, glancing around the room, focusing her face towards me. I shift my foot back, knowing all too well what will come next.
"Okay," Shadow Weaver says, calmly. Collectively, everyone seems to let out a breath of air, confused, except me. I stay tense, watching Shadow Weaver. There's no way this isn't another trick, no way she's going to let this go. "I hope- I hope you know what you are doing, Adora."
Adora says nothing, the hand at her side relaxing slightly, as she says, "I'm doing what you taught me to do. Winning."
Shadow Weaver takes one more look at the four of us, before nodding her head slightly at Adora. I can tell she isn't done, but for some reason, she doesn't push it. She just… starts backing up, back through the hole in the wall to the chamber, and turns to leave.
Adora immediately sighs, and Entrapta goes back to work when Adora gives her a thumbs up.
"Wow, I thought for sure that was going to end in a fight," Scorpia says, wiping sweat off her forehead.
"Please," I mutter, walking over to start helping with the wiring now. "It will. Just not her precious Adora." I know what this means. She's going to come for me. She's going to take it out on me. She's going to lose her cool. I force down my nerves now that she's gone. We keep kicking this problem down the road, but it's fine. We'll deal with it.
"We won't have long, even if this plan succeeds, to deal with her completely," Adora mentions. "If this actually works, and I get this sword unlocked, she's going to find out about She-Ra very quickly."
"And she isn't going to let that sort of power go without trying to get her fingers all over it," I say, as the four of us go back to work on the Black Garnet.
It doesn't take long before everything is finally hooked up, and Entrapta starts running some simple tests on her laptop.
"Adora, if you could get that last wire?" She asks. When Adora leans over and plugs a large cable into the other end of another cable, instantly a humming noise can be heard. She actually did it…
Red energy dances up around the edges of the Black Garnet, a small surging traveling along the large cable Adora just plugged together, as a massive surge starts collecting towards the top of the Runestone, before a massive beam of red energy shoots up into the ceiling of the room we're in, and Entrapta gawks in awe.
"Amazing! It's siphoning energy at a near exponential rate!" Entrapta shouts now, starting to move around her setup. "Adora, the sword!" Her hair outstretches towards Adora, and she hands the sword to Entrapta.
There's a slight pause in everyone's curiosity as we hear what sounds like lightning striking the area. That doesn't make sense, it wasn't storming today.
"Uh…" Scorpia goes to some other screens, starting to look at various weather reports and information being received live from various Horde Outposts
Entrapta brings the sword back over to herself, taking two wires and attaching them at the hilt and base of the blade, as she starts typing into her laptop.
"This is so much more interesting than I expected it to be!"
"Uh… guys?" Scorpia asks, looking down at a different screen, "this is like… maybe not good."
"What do you mean?" Adora asks, looking over to the screens.
"Whatever this is doing, it's having an incredible effect on the planet, like everywhere. How is this possible?"
Adora walks over, studying the information, "Tidal waves… firestorms, quakes… Entrapta, what exactly are we doing here?"
"And a snow storm just hit the Whispering Woods, the nearest outpost just reported that all the trees are… well, they're freezing over!"
"Science! The Black Garnet functioning at a higher level than the other Runestones is throwing off the balance of Etheria! Its natural functions have been thrown immediately into complete chaos! It's like we're drawing power from the other Runestones, making everyone else weaker and us stronger!"
"Wait wait wait, what?" I ask, stepping closer to her display.
"What, that part wasn't obvious? I can now siphon energy into and out of the Black Garnet! That energy doesn't come from nowhere."
"So the other princesses are weaker?"
"Well, mostly. You don't have to worry about Scorpia and I, we're not elemental princesses. I think so anyway."
"Huh? Somebody say my name?" Scorpia turns to us, away from the screens showing increasingly disastrous reports coming in.
Adora turns around too, heading closer, having been actively listening, "What about the sword?"
"Well, I can't boost that one's power directly without having a much better understanding of First One's code, but here, you should be able to use it now. Maybe, I have no idea how it worked but I was able to pump enough Black Garnet energy into it to disable the First One's restraints."
Adora grabs the sword from her, smiling slightly. "Still… every other Princess, vulnerable? The woods frozen over? And She-Ra…"
"Entrapta, how do we keep this going?" I ask, walking over to this model she wheeled in at the start of this all.
"Well, I'd have to run more tests to know for sure, but-"
I tap one of the green lights, assuming that the red one is the one currently displaying Entrapta's energy readings on the Garnet. As she speaks, I get a slight idea. If there's no balance to hold the Runestones in place, if one of them were to perhaps be taken offline? I smash the one bulb, the light immediately short circuiting through the model, cursing the red light to shine brighter.
"-or yeah, that would work too."
"Then we need to go to Bright Moon," I say.
"Bright Moon, why?" Scorpia asks.
"If we take out the Moon Stone…" Adora speaks to herself, "the princesses will always be weaker. And if the woods freeze over…"
"Then there'd be nothing left to stop us. Especially not with She-Ra," I smirk, looking over at Adora.
She looks down at the sword, sighing slightly. "I guess we'll see if it works." She closes her eyes, concentrating for a moment.
"Try saying those words again," I say, as she looks frustrated.
"What words- oh, okay, nevermind… For the honor… of Grayskull!" She shouts, and instantly the sword's Runestone lights up, and I watch in the same way as last time as Adora becomes She-Ra.
As the small flash of light dies down, I can see as Scorpia's mouth hangs open.
"Wh- what?" Entrapta shouts, looking over at Adora. "How did that happen, how did you do that!? Are you even organic matter?"
Adora opens her eyes again, grinning. "Oh, I think this'll work just fine."