Chapter 28
Adora came in and out of consciousness. She caught bits and pieces of a conversation between her friends and Entrapta. Bow had placed Adora in her bed, warm blankets covering her shivering and pale body. Entrapta was pacing around, both reading old notes and setting up some test tubes on a table.
"Do something, Entrapta," Glimmer begged, biting at her nails out of nervousness.
"I'm not a doctor, I'm a scientist! I don't know how to heal people. According to my records, there is no antidote for the poison of the Geo Worm. It's possible the First Ones had an antidote but we don't." Within the blind of an eye, Entrapa was by Adora's side, taking a sample of her blood. "I have a sample of the poison we managed to extract and her blood. I'll see if I can make a sort of antidote, alchemy style, but I'm not very good at this."
Adora tried to move, she couldn't. She tried anything, a finger, a toe but not a muscle moved. She swallowed hard down her dry throat. Perfuma and Frosta gave her water and food, though she couldn't say anything to them. Her eyes were open but that was it.
"If there's no antidote, then that means..." Queen Angella trailed off.
"Certain death, yes, did I not mention that earlier?" Entrapa's hair scratched her head. "At the moment, there is no cure for the poison, I will try to make one but don't hold your breath. She only has twenty four hours before it kills her." The room turned sombre as Entrapta got to work trying to make an antidote. "The First Ones writing on the worm probably held the answer but since Adora can't talk right now, there's no way to translate it," Entrapta said into a recorder. Adora drowned out her ramblings.
She felt Frosta and Glimmer hold onto her hands tightly, eyes watery and hearts deflated. Bow gazed longingly out the window, crestfallen. Angella's wings sagged as she stared at the floor. Perfuma lit candles and burned incense.
It wasn't long before sleep pulled her in and there, in the darkness, she saw a golden She-Ra and an obsidian She-Ra standing side by side, luring her in. As she got close, she was gifted visions of many things. Planets, stars, flames, a battlefield, rivers of blood. Many things are just constantly thrown at her.
When her eyes awakened again, it was pitch black. The candles long burned. It was quiet, no one was there, not even Entrapta.
It dawned on her then that she was dying, in her final moments and the one person she wanted to be there as she drew her last breath was not there. Adora called upon the strength of She-Ra, she was faint, as if the poison was severing her connection to her. Slowly, agonisingly. But she was still there. So with her strength, Adora managed to gain control of her own muscles. She moved, finally.
Adora pushed herself up and swung her legs out. She remained still for but a moment as her head spun wildly out of control. When it stopped, she stood on wobbly legs. She wasn't in any pain, not anymore, her wounds were bandaged, and she could not feel them. They were numb. Her body felt numb. Her body felt heavy.
She got herself dressed and made her way out of the castle. A couple guards tried to stop her but she wasn't really paying any attention to them. It took her a while before she came to stand before the Whispering Woods. Her numbness started to wear off, as if it was part of some medicine the princesses had given her. The further into the woods she was, the more stinging sensation she felt in her right hand side, near her ribs. She grunted, falling into a tree.
She grabbed onto it, sharp bark digging into her hands. Pain raced right through here. She held onto her side as she continued on, teeth grinding together while she attempted to keep her bearings. If she was on the right path, then she just had to go a little bit north.
Adora broke through the Whispering Woods and continued on a path that led to a Horde controlled outpost. It was the edge of a chasm between Plumeria, Bright Moon and the Crimson Waste. It was a main supply line for the Fright Zone.
She entered the outpost. Horde soldiers were few and far between and the ones that were here just froze. They stopped loading vans with boxes, Adora paid them no heed and continued on. The outpost was built similarly to the Fright Zone. Very industrial like. If she wasn't mistaken, this particular outpost was half above ground and half underground.
Even from far away, she could hear her voice barking orders.
There, standing before the main door into the outpost was Catra. Adora paused upon seeing her. Catra's eyes fell upon Adora and she too froze, eyes going wide. It was only for a moment before she smirked.
"Back to work, the lot of you!" she told the soldiers who quickly carried on. "Hey, Adora," she said playfully. "I wasn't expecting you so late at night, but I'm happy to accommodate you." Her claws lengthened.
"Catra..." Adora said, nothing more than a whisper carried on the wind to her ears. She stepped forward, legs shaking, eyes blurry. Catra examined her more closely, her claws retracted.
"Adora?" she asked, in full seriousness. "What happened to you?" Adora couldn't hold herself up any longer. The strength of She-Ra faded and she lost control. She collapsed right into Catra, the warmth of her body cascading over her cold skin, the smell of the wild woods soothing her dying mind. Catra held Adora close, her arms holding her upright.
"You promised me, a long time ago, that I could die in your arms," she whispered to her. It was all she could manage.
"Die? What do you mean die?"
"Hold me, please," Adora said. It was the last thing would ever ask of Catra as the claws of darkness claimed her soul.
Catra kneeled, Adora fell limp in her arms. She stared at her cold and lifeless body with the sting of hot tears pricking her eyes. It was the 'please' that broke her. Adora had never begged for anything in her life, not for Shadow Weaver to stop torturing her, not for food or water, not for anyone, never. She'd never heard her beg before until that day when she sought comfort.
Comfort. From Catra.
Her breath almost felt stolen from her, she could hardly breathe. Even through that, she listened for Adora's heartbeat. It was weak, but it was there. And if it beat it meant she could be saved.
She ground her teeth together as she contemplated her next move. Theoretically, Catra should be happy and leave her to die. But. In reality, she didn't want Adora to die. The intention was never to kill her, only to capture her.
"You," she snapped at a soldier. "Help me get her inside." She blinked away tears, so as not to show weakness in front of the army. The soldier saluted her and lifted Adora up, tearing her from Catra's arms. A feat that proved harder than she had ever anticipated. She led the soldier inside the outpost, decorated much the same as the Fright Zone. Just like home.
Near Catra's room was a spare room, it had only a plain bed and one bedside table in it. A bathroom off to the side. The soldier placed Adora down and saluted Catra.
"Get me every healer you can find," she said through gritted teeth, a tensed jaw.
"Right away, Force Captain, Catra," he said, then immediately left. He shut the door behind her. Catra slowly walked towards the bed, watching her chest rise and fall gently while her own chest was being ripped to shreds. Torn shards of her heart left behind on the floor.
"Adora?" she whispered into the darkness. She turned on the overhead light and then sat by her side on the bed. She was sickly pale, sweating yet cold. Catra undressed her partially, her clothes soaked in sweat, revealing bandages underneath. She took off those clothes and put fresh nightwear on. Catra gave her the spares of her own clothes. Shorts and a tank top, it was Adora's favourite type.
Tears flowed down her face, dripping onto Adora's skin. Skin that was no longer scarred. Was She-Ra's healing magic really that good? And why didn't Adora heal herself with She-Ra's magic? Whatever was happening to her, could it be blocking She-Ra? Despite all her research, she still knew frighteningly little about She-Ra.
She placed the thin blanket gently over her and then paced the room, worrying endlessly.
Adora can't die, she can't. What would Catra do without her? She was the only reason Catra got up in the morning, for the small chance of being able to see her again. She gave her the strength to carry on, if she leaves this world, what purpose would Catra have there? She would be nothing, she'd have nothing.
Catra remembered when Adora had asked if Catra would hold her in her final moments. The memory was so vivid, and thankfully, untouched by Shadow Weaver. In that same memory, she told Adora that if she ever died, be it in battle or any other way, she would go with her. She would go wherever she went. They were a pair, like the moons shining bright and full above them. Even if they are separated, they will go together. Even in death.
A soft knock came at the door. "Come in," Catra said softly after wiping away her tears. Several people came in, the Horde's healers. Some of them are sorcerers from Mystacor who came to the Horde's side, much like Shadow Weaver. Some of them are old fashioned healers, those who use herbs and old magic to heal. Catra didn't care what they used to heal her, she just wanted Adora kept alive.
"These were all the healers I could find in the area. The best healers are further south, but we could also go back to the Fright Zone and get Shadow Weaver," the soldier said.
"No," Catra said. "We stay here. You can leave." He saluted and shut the door. "I don't know what's happened to her but she's dying. Heal her, now." It took every ounce of her strength to keep her composure.
The healers and sorcerers wasted no time examining Adora, searching for a cause so they could find the remedy.
"Hm," a middle aged man said while looking into her eyes. She was unresponsive. "Poison."
"I agree," a young woman said. "But from what? And what kind of poison?"
"Poison?" Catra said.
One of the healers looked up at her from Adora's bedside. "She is showing signs of poison, it looks to be working quickly. We will do what we can to find an antidote but it seems she's not long left."
She clenched her fists tight. "I don't care what it takes!" she shouted. The healers flinched and got back to work. Catra paced the room again, listening in to their conversation. They mentioned how it was a poison not of this world, crafted by hands from another planet. Time was running out.
Fear clenched whatever was left of her heart, widening the gap in her chest. She tried to swallow that fear, that lump in her throat yet it did nothing. It wouldn't leave her, it clung to her like seaweed.
She stopped paced and looked out the window to the two moons, together again until after midnight. She was not the type to pray, or to beg or to grovel. Yet she did so now. If only because she wanted to see Adora's smug face one more time.
