Chapter 16
Adora struggled with all her might, grunting against the pain of trying to be free of a strong grip. It was no use and she was just using up energy. Shadow Weaver reached over to gently touch her cheek, Adora flinched. The sorceress tucked some of her hair behind her ear, and let her cold palm rest against Adora's warm cheek. She wanted to pull away and get away from her, but there was nowhere for her to go. The shadows had captured her.
"There's no use in struggling, child," Shadow Weaver had said, her voice kind as if she was speaking to a terrified puppy.
"Let me go, Shadow Weaver," Adora demanded, brow creased as she frowned, teeth gritted together.
"And what will you do if I don't?" She dropped her hand and stood up straight. "Hm?" Nothing, she can't do a damn thing and she knew that. "Don't try and threaten me, we both know how that would end." A few broken bones, most likely the hand. What hurt the most in that moment was that she had used Catra to lure her out, Shadow Weaver knew her exactly, knew how to push her buttons. Because that's what she did, wasn't it? "Enough of these childish games, you're coming home, Adora. Lord Hordak needs you in the Fright Zone."
"No!" Adora shouted. "I'm not going anywhere with you, I will never return to the Fright Zone! This is my home now and I will do everything in my power to protect Etheria from you, from Hordak." Shadow Weaver struck Adora harshly across her face, blood trickled down from her nose, scratch marks drew blood across her cheek. Not as deep as Catra's scratch marks, but it still hurt.
"These princesses have brainwashed you, obviously." Shadow Weaver grabbed her face at the chin, nails digging into her cheeks. "This was not how I raised you. You will obey me. You'll come home or I'll break every bone in your little body and drag you by your hair, understood?" Adora didn't answer her, she kept her jaw locked in place. The sorceress moved her hand down a little, to her throat, and grabbed it. The longer Adora went without answering her, the tighter she squeezed.
Her breath was taken from her, the wind pipe being crushed by a shadow. She tried so hard to suck in any air but it just wasn't possible. Yet she refused to kneel before her commands, refused to beg her for mercy, she was done being Shadow Weavers little doll. She'd rather perish than serve her again.
A loud electronic sound wave pierced through the air. Shadow Weaver screamed, her hand flying up to cover her ears. She backed up a few paces. The shadows holding Adora screeched like banshee's, writhing and slinking back. Slowly, their hold on her was released. Not enough for her to roam free, though. Adora wasn't affected by the loud sound as much.
"Hey!" Entrapta said from behind Adora. "Scary shadow lady. Get away from my friend!" Glimmer appeared before her, fists balled by her face, glowing balls of sparkles and light swirling around her hands. The light scared off the last of the shadows, making the sorceress look pathetic and small. She had no power against the light. Perfuma and Frosta came running out of their rooms, thorns and icicles at the ready.
Adora sank to her knees, coughing and gasping. She clawed at her neck, desperate for air. Entrapta kneeled by her, one of her pig tails wrapped around the hilt of the sword, whilst her real, gloved hand rested on her back. Comforting her.
"Stay away from her, you monster," Perfuma said, face totally contorted in rage. Geek princesses helped her to stand once she had managed to get enough air to settle herself down. Adora gripped her sword handle, the tip screaming against the stone slab beneath her bare feet. She could no longer feel because it was that cold.
Adora pushed past her friends and marched on Shadow Weaver. "I am not your puppet," she said as she inched closer. Rage boiling inside her beating heart. "I am not your child. I am not your pet. And I will not stand to be subject to your cruel hands any longer. You are nothing to me." She raised her sword skyward. "For the honour of Grayskull!" The blue gem flashed with a blinding white light, revealing She-Ra. The real She-Ra, not the infected She-Ra, the one where her clothes are white, adorned with golden winged accents. The one where she's surrounded by a glowing golden aura, a light that chases away shadows in the farthest reaches of Etheria.
Shadow Weaver's image fell to the ground and scurried back. She knew this wasn't really the sorceress, but she wanted to scare her. Because she had once terrified her. It seemed only fitting.
The sorceress looked between the princesses that had gathered, and then her eyes settled on She-Ra. "You fixed the sword," she said, all melancholy like. It wasn't like her.
"I destroyed the virus that corrupted it, yes, and I learned all about She-Ra, all things you never told me." She-Ra went down on one knee before the sorceress to look her dead in the eyes. "You knew my whole life who I was, didn't you?" she didn't answer her, she didn't need to. She knew the truth. "You know what Hordak was planning on doing with She-Ra, why he brought me here, let you raise me, and gave me an infected sword that allowed him to control me. Want to tell me what that is?"
"Regardless of whether or not the sword is infected, you will have no choice but to serve Lord Hordak when the time comes."
"When what time comes? Speak sense, woman." Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes on She-Ra, at the glowing blue eyes, paler than the mid-morning sky and colder than Frosta's Kingdom. The image of the sorceress dived off the edge of the castle gardens and merged with the other shadows, slinking back to wherever the real Shadow Weaver was.
The other princesses relaxed their magic as She-Ra stood. "Adora," Glimmer said with concern. "Are you okay?"
"I will be." She turned to them. "Thank you, for helping me."
"We're friends, of course we helped you," Frosta said. "You'd do the same for us, right?"
Without hesitating, She-Ra bowed her head in a stern nod. "Absolutely. Without a second thought." She-Ra placed a hand on Frosta's shoulder, not squeezing, just letting her hand rest there. Frosta did the same for her.
Catra entered Shadow Weaver's domain, her chambers as it were, which was nothing fancier than the dorms. It consisted of a bed and a desk, a desk full of poison plants, magic power and several sorcery books. It was small and cramped and it looked like the rest of the Fright Zone. Shadow Weaver had some sort of magic pool thing within a bird bath looking basin held up by twisted, dead, tree branches. The sorceress was hunched over said bird bath, heaving, gasping. Her shadows had shrivelled into nothing.
She had been standing outside the door for quite some time, she had heard Shadow Weaver speaking to Adora but couldn't hear Adora's voice. Although, she managed to get the gist of the conversation. So when Shadow Weaver had finished with her spell, Catra sauntered in like she owned the place. Maybe one day she will.
"A pathetic attempt," Catra said. Shadow Weaver glared at her from over her trembling shoulder. "Looks like you failed to get Adora back, guess it's my turn."
"How dare you come in here like this and mock me?" She said but Catra wasn't afraid of her. She'd spent all her magic on that dumb spell that now she was useless, she was nothing. When Shadow Weaver had told her about She-Ra, the legendary warrior, the protector of Etheria, she thought she had gone mad. Catra didn't believe a word of it, but Shadow Weaver had never been known to lie.
After sitting atop that landing, contemplating, remembering the past, wishing they could go back to that, she came to her senses. Shadow Weaver hadn't said how Adora came to be here if she was a 'First One', as she put it, and she hadn't said why Hordak specifically chose Adora and brought her here. She hadn't said why they wanted to control She-Ra, only that they needed to and they needed to do it soon. Before the Solar Eclipse which is due in a few months, they didn't have a lot of time. A few months might sound like a long way away but time can move fast. Way too fast. It felt like only yesterday they were children hiding in the darkest corners of the Fright Zone from everyone and gossiping.
"Did you really think it would be that easy to bring back the Princess of Power?" Catra said, leaning against a dark wall, arms crossed. "You're the ones who gave her the sword months early."
"It was to test if the virus had worked. It had worked better than we had ever hoped for, but she'd fixed the sword now." Shadow Weaver huffed.
"Regardless of the excuse, you still failed."
The sorceress stared at her, eyeing her up and down, searching for something. "You look like you have a plan."
Catra shrugged and then pretended to check her claws for dirt. "Depends. I have A plan, but what was your plan? Surely, you had a plan B?"
Shadow Weaver went to her chair by the desk and sat down. "Adora will be going to Dryl to retake it from us. I wasn't planning on failing here, but since I have, I want you, as Force Captain, to go and ensure we keep Dryl under Horde control. And if you encounter She-Ra, bring her back to us. She didn't listen to me–"
"Shocker," Catra interrupted, which received a glare from the sorceress.
"–but perhaps she'd listen to you. You two were close, too close for my liking, however, you might be able to bring her home." Shadow Weaver was never a fan of how friendly the two of them were, and tried to separate them many times. She also failed in that regard.
"What was her reaction to seeing me?" Catra asked, knowing she had used her shadows to imitate her. "You obviously knew she'd have preferred to see me over you so I don't know why you just didn't trust me with this mission."
Shadow Weaver's shoulders sagged, she looked away and Catra knew then that Adora would have been happy to see her. The sorceress waved her out.
"Get out before I beat the shit out of you for barging in. Take whatever you want, whatever it will take to get Adora. Don't kill her, Force Captain, she must be alive. But if you must use force, don't hesitate."
Catra saluted Shadow Weaver. "I'll succeed where you failed." She left then, the metal door slamming shut behind her. Catra had several ideas on how to get her back, even if Dryl failed, she had a much better plan. A longer plan, however patience was key. It was a virtue that Adora didn't have. Catra was the Queen of playing the slow game. To lie in wait, watching carefully and learning.
This She-Ra, Princess of Power, would be her captive. Catra knew that Shadow Weaver hadn't told her everything about She-Ra, only some things and how it related to Adora. Whatever the crabby old hag didn't tell her, she'll find out on her own. She didn't need Shadow Weaver, she never needed her.
But Adora... She would not leave her best friend within the filthy hands of those princesses. They're going to wish they hadn't messed with Force Captain Catra.