... And shadows all around.
She didn't fully understand why Catra ran so fast to see the other girl, but she should probably be happy about it, because she wanted from her to do that, but she didn't have to run so fast right away. She had to keep up, but she felt like she was going to spit her lungs out. Did running cause her so much difficulty, or was it she who lost her fitness? Maybe she should walk around the castle more instead of teleporting all the time? On other hand the castle was so damn big and teleporting was so cool!
Entrapta ran right next to Catra, it always amazed her how a woman who spent so much time in the lab could be so incredibly physically fit. She guess it was because she had to carry all these tools and equipment everywhere she went as well avoid the explosions she caused on a regular basis s. Adora had always been as agile as Catra, but now even she couldn't keep up with her. Maybe if she transformed into She" Ra, but she guess there was no need for that. When she started panting, Bow took her arm.
„Thanks Honey." she panted and now she had a little less trouble keeping up with the others, a little less.
Despite the effort, Adora's words kept echoing in the back of her mind. "Your mom… she is alive." For now, their full meaning did not reach her. She knew she should cry over the news, but... she was already used to the thought that her mother was dead, that she was gone and she would never see her again, unless those who said there was something after death were right. But if she was alive... Hordak had told Catra that she wasn't dead, that she was trapped in a space beyond time, but she wasn't sure how much she could trust the former leader of the Etherian Horde. Besides, it would require reopening the portal, the consequences of which could be so dire that even Entrapta didn't want to talk about this. But now it turned out that she was alive, just like that, and that she even knew the other Catra... But why did Adora look so distraught when she mentioned her mom? She'll find out all about it soon, just let Catra meet the other one.
The five of them ran into the bedroom togetherThe five of them ran into the bedroom together... Only to find the circle was gone and see the tail disappear into the vent. She probably should have done a full bonding circle, but her defense was that she was in real hurry. Catra lunged forward with Melog radiating blue and green, but they both bounced off the magical barrier.
„Take it off!" demanded the Grand Marshal. She made a few quick gestures and the circle disappeared, but that was enough for the prisoner to escape. Catra jumped in immediately after her, using her cat-like flexibility, and Entrapta ran after her. The others wouldn't be able to squeeze through the opening. Normally she would have teleported to the other side, but she felt that her power was still not working, probably because of the blow the other girl had dealt. So they stopped for a moment, using this time to catch their breath and think about what they should do next, but then Onyx Sky burst into the bedroom.
„Oh, its good that you are on your feet, Queen... An urgent message arrived." They said with excitement.
"That's three in an hour."
„I guess she'll have to suffer a bit, though, because we're in the middle of something of a chase." she said as soon as she regained her breath, but then she realized that she saw pure terror in Onyx Sky's eyes. If something inspired fear even in someone raised in Prime's Empire, it must have been truly terrible.
„Lord Admiral Antares, High Commander of the Research and Exploration Fleet, requests a meeting with Queen Glimmer, Adora She-Ra, and Grand Marshal Catra." They explained. She let out a few particularly lousy curse words that made Adora and Bow blush.
„What Fleet? What Admiral? What are they talking about?" Adora asked impatiently, because she was about to run after Catra. She buried her face in her hands, it was just starting to be too much. Everything fell on her at once. He has to figure it all out somehow before it all collapses.
„A lot of things happened while you were gone. Adora, follow Catra, Bow and I will prepare for the official audience."
She ran, although she didn't fully understand why. But she remembered that dream and that girl... She had to see her, had to make sure it was that girl. The girl with twin-colored eyes... She didn't believe in dreams until now. She was taught that they were just the trash of the mind. Even when she had dreams, after she believed she had sentenced Entrapta to death, she knew it was the result of her remorse, her self-loathing. It was one of the few good things she got from the Fright Zone and from Shadow Weaver's teaching. She was a rationalist who believed what she saw. This time, however, it was different... In this dream, she learned about things she had no idea about, and now there was someone who looked similar to the person from her dream. Melog remembered her and confirmed that she smelled similar to her, and to his lady.
However, as soon as she ran into Glimmer's bedroom, she saw that she was running away. It took a few precious moments to break the spell, so she lost a few precious seconds before she could continue her pursuit. Then she ran into the vent. Immediately after they emerged from the tunnel, a mad chase began through the dim corridors of Brightmoon . They used their sense of smell to track her down. She had the impression that the other woman was aware of the layout of the palace and was finding her way around the palace effortlessly, as if she knew right way... Was someone helping her, or maybe she had simply obtained a map of the castle somehow. Despite her efforts, she was unable to raise security to the level she wanted. They could have gotten them from someone for pretty eyes. Or maybe they had hacked into the computer system, according to several Icarus residents who claimed their security was worse than none. Just as she thought about it, all the lights in the castle went out and darkness reigned. She could see with her cat-like eyesight, just like Melog, and Entrapta's mask had night vision, though she wasn't sure if the inventor could see in the dark herself. Most of the remaining inhabitants of the castle, however, were blind in this darkness. So someone had broken into the castle's system after all... yes, that was a good explanation...
They ran into a large gallery with wide windows on the sides. They saw her. She was just as she remembered her from her dream. A long coat, heavy boots and that metal hand. Entrapta squealed with delight when she saw her, but she didn't listen to her. All she saw was a runaway woman. She flexed her leg muscles and jumped towards the other girl. She was right next to her. She grabbed her left hand, the one with the glove, but the other one kicked her in the chest with all her strength, knocking her back. She almost fell over, but Entrapta caught her with her hair.
„Is it amazing? This hand is so similar to a sword, but... „ She did not listen to the inventor's further explanation. That girl ran away and kept getting further away, and only the glove was left in her hand. She growled and started running again. The girl's outfit seemed to slow her down, or it was the adrenaline that gave her strength. Soon she started to catch up. But then the darkness around her began to deepen, as if the shadows around her grew and thickened. She felt a cold, all too familiar. She had experienced it many times, always when she had enraged Shadow Weaver with something. "Can not be. She's gone. She left. It's just a hallucination from the effort" she thought, but she felt from Melog that it wasn't just an illusion... The shadows slowed her down a bit and the distance between them increased again. All she had left was a leather glove.
„She's behind me. Right behind me." Eti exclaimed, not slowing down even for a moment.
„Turn left. There you will reach a large garden, you can easily hide there. Focus, don't get distracted." Miss Daisy replied. She watched her with her shadows and guided the way while Alatar hacked the system.
„How do you know the layout of this castle so well?" she asked, feeling a strange twinge of anxiety.
„It's not important now. Don't slow down, I'll be able to take over soon." The dark sorceress replied urgently. But she wasn't going to listen to her, not yet. She had to do something she had been waiting for for over two thousand two hundred days.
„Alatar, hack into the main communications system."
He ran outside… It took her a few moments to realize she was in Shadow Weaver's former garden. Now kept wild, it was a great place for the other girl to hide… She looked around and called out.
„You don't have to run away... I won't do anything to you..."
„Your friend the Hag and her Arrow-boy wanted to imprison me!" There was a voice coming from the loudspeakers installed on the seas to make announcements and transmit orders... They hacked that too .
„It was... A misunderstanding.„ She exclaimed, looking around. She hoped that that girl, that Eti, heard her correctly.
„ Misunderstanding... I know such misunderstandings. It doesn't matter anyway... You know, I've known about you for as long as I can remember. Always – the other woman's voice was so dull and emotionless. She tried to smell it, but this garden was so full of different smells that she couldn't find the other one... "Even now, after all those years you're throwing obstacles in my way," she thought angrily, trying to pick up a scent in Shadow Weaver's garden. Melog walked with his nose to the ground, although he didn't have to rely solely on his sense of smell to find it. He had his senses. Entrapta was tearing through the bushes, barely visible. She could be almost invisible when she wanted to. That's probably how she coped in the Fright Zone and Beast Island.
„Do you know the Tale of the Scorpion and the Frog?" a question came from the speakers.
„The one where the scorpion stings the frog at the end? I heard it many times as a child." she said, raising her voice a little so that the other could hear her. Shadow Weaver loved telling her this story with a clear hint that she was the Scorpion and Adora was the Frog. She later discovered that Scorpia knew another version of it, where Scorpion and the Frog had lots of adventures and eventually got married. Years later, she decided that she liked the latter much more."
„You know, I used to be afraid of our meeting, of what I would do when I saw you... I was afraid that I would do something very bad, but it turned out to be different. I only feel peace. All-encompassing bliss. Catharsis. Because I finally understood something... „ She heard a short, broken laugh, dry as the crunching of gravel under shoes. "We will not deny our nature, we will not escape from our destiny. It's like a curse that hangs over us. But it's not about running away from our destiny, but really understanding what it is. You came to a place forgotten by demons and devils and he didn't know, and you still followed the path that was chosen for you, even though you received no preparation, while I, an absolutely perfect, awesome and unique being, I am... who I am...„ the last words are no more were coming from the speakers so she could tell where the girl was, so she ran towards it and Entrapta and Melog followed her.
She was waiting for her, standing on the battlements. She had it down and her mask off. Her dark red hair flowed loosely against the starry night sky.
„So we finally meet.„ the other girl said, then turned to her and looked at her with golden cat eyes full of blue dots that seemed to glow like icy flames. "Hey Sis."
At that moment she froze. She had no idea what she should do. Her whole life, all her adventures and journeys, hardships and suffering, did not prepare her for what happened here. She could only stand there and stare blankly, unable to even move or form a single thought.
Then, slowly and timidly, joy began to flow into her heart. Something completely unbelievable happened. She found her sister, or rather she found her, but it didn't matter. She had a sister, a family. She wanted to scream and laugh. Tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. She took a step forward, but then the other woman held out her hands in warning. The right one was made of metal, not like the prosthetics of Tallstar and other inhabitants of Ikarus, but rather as if cast from one piece of a substance resembling the one from which Adora's sword was made. It was undoubtedly an artifact of the First Ones. At the sight of him, Entrapta squealed with joy and stretched her hair towards her hand to touch it, at least with the tips. However, what caught her attention was the other hand. At first glance, it was normal, but someone had de-clawed it in a brutal and cruel way, so much so that the phalanges were almost cut off.
„Who did it to you?" she asked with a mixture of horror and anger. Her sister looked at her hand in confusion and said.
„It was a one evil woman, but it doesn't matter anymore... Listen." she looked into her eyes. "Don't trust him. Everything he tells you is lies, everything." and she jumped off the wall. Filled with terror, she rushed to catch it, but when she touched it, she was transformed into a shadow with a glowing three"lobed eye. To her right, along the vertical wall, her sister was running.
"Amazing! Real shoes which are creating their own gravity field. I have to make one like this! You know how much easier they would make my job! „ the inventor scramed, but she didn't listen to her, she just watched the running girl who suddenly jumped from the wall onto the balcony, to meet a figure wrapped in shadows and disappeared.
"Can not be. You're dead."
It took her far too long to find Catra. She should know the layout of the castle better. She felt as if she had failed once again. First Glimmer's mother, then Frosta and now this strange girl... She needs to try harder if she cares about her friends. The confusion caused by the lights suddenly going out didn't help. She wasn't sure what had happened, but he guessed it had to do with the other girl. Fortunately, She- Ra's light was able to illuminate even the deepest darkness.
She found her love in Shadow Weaver's former garden. She didn't like coming here, she always felt uncomfortable here, as if this vile woman had polluted this place with her presence. Catra had no problem visiting this place, but she had never seen the Dark Sorceress working here with her constant pruning shears in her hands. She always liked to trim everyone to shape them the way she wanted, she thought bitterly.
Catra sat crouched on the bench, Melog had his head in her lap, radiating sadness and fear. and Entrapta wrapped her hair around her like a blanket. Frightened, she ran to her fiancée and hugged her tightly.
„Are you okay? Hasn't she done anything to you?"
Catra looked at her with tearful eyes. They were red and their pupils were dilated, but she smiled and spoke in an almost joyful voice
„She didn't do anything to me... She's my sister. I have a sister Adora! Sister! But...„ here the cat girl's voice broke. "But there were shadows here. Her shadows. I think I even saw her. She lives Adora. She's alive and She has my sister...„ Now Catra started crying, and she felt her blood freeze in her veins. She remembered that shadow on Clytemnestra... At the time she had thought it was just a stress-induced illusion, but since even Catra, who could always see through any lie, had seen it too... She would deal with it later.
„I believe you, but now you have to come with me. Glimmer needs us... „ she said and Catra nodded and they went together to meet the Lord Admiral.
She hid one of her shadows in the throne room. She had already learned the art of spying on others in Mystacor , and had become very skilled at it in the Fright Zone. She needed this to track her rivals and obtain necessary information about them. Towards the end she didn't do it often anymore, she was running out of both strength and Rivals. But now these skills have proven useful again. Still, she had to be extremely careful.
Glimmer sat on a throne with a crown on her head. No trace remained of the fight with Eti. She wasn't sure if she hid it with makeup or healing magic. Catra and Adora stood on her sides. The blonde haired woman was in She-Ra form. Catra wore a beautiful red and gold uniform, probably designed especially for her. The shock she had recently suffered was visible on her face, but she tried to stay in shape, as always. Only her strange shape-shifting cat was shimmering in different colors, reflecting the mood of his lady. Bow stood slightly back in full gear so that at the slightest threat he could quickly draw his lye and fire. Entrapta was fidgeting nervously and writing something down on the datapad, not fully realizing the importance of the upcoming events The same could not be said for Prime Minister Shou, who was nervously clutching her robes. She didn't know her well, they only talked once after she came here from the Fright Zone. Her species was known throughout the galaxy as the Brenneri, and they were renowned as empathetic diplomats. This explained perfectly why she felt so bad around her. Several other less important courtiers stood looking around nervously, fearing what was to come. Guards stood at full combat readiness, ready to give their lives for their queen, although if anything could threaten these four, all their courage and bravery would be in vain.
There was a deafening silence, even here, through the shadows, she could hear the sound of breathing, and she felt that if she concentrated a little more, she could feel the nervous beating of hearts. And then she heard Him. First there were footsteps, strong, soldierly. It was a firm march, but not hasty, befitting someone who never had to run anywhere to be on time because he was always the one for whom other waited for. The footsteps in complete silence sounded like thunder, but were soon joined by another sound. An irritating and Painfull melody that Bina and Eti often whistled. This time, the acoustics of the Throne Room made it almost painful. Catra and her pet flattened their ears and Adora gave her girlfriend a questioning look, but she only responded by shaking her head slightly.
And then he came in. He was dressed in a gold and scarlet uniform made of the finest fabrics, which was probably durable enough to be used as armor. Together with the jewels decorating it, it must have been worth a small fortune. On his belt was a sword and an empty holster of a pistol that may have been confiscated before he was allowed in, as if someone like the Lord Admiral would carry out the assassination himself. His cape gently touched the polished floor.
Behind him, like a shadow, Lady Ka walked whistling. She cast contemptuous glances at the guards with her only eye. The woman seemed extremely confident, as if she already knew what was going to happen and was thoroughly enjoying it. When people like her seemed happy, there was reason to worry. There was also that dread, huge wolf, walking obediently at his master's side. Entrapta was attracted to the beast, probably because of its numerous cybernetic enhancements. Apparently, even the years spent with Hordak did not make this woman develop an instinct for self-preservation.
As she looked at the Lord Admiral, she saw something she had never seen in Hordak. The majesty befitting a true ruler. Even Horde Prime, though she didn't know him very well, exuded an aura of fear that came more from brutal military power than from a talent for leading others.
Glimmer had one too. She sat on the throne, exuding strength that none of her ancestors would be ashamed of , hopefully it would be enough against someone like the Lord Admiral.
„Welcome, Lord Admiral Felix Antares . I am Queen Glimmer Moonbright. Ruler of all Etheria, wielder of the power of the Moonstone and, soon, leader of the galactic alliance. What are you looking for on our planet.
Antares bowed to her politely, but not humbly. Whatever you say about him, he was a brave bastard if he stood up to the most powerful people on the planet, even though he was only with Lady Ka and that scary wolf.
„As Lord Admiral, I came here by the will of the authorities of the Pact Worlds and Veskarium to discover the source of the attack that was carried out on us twice five years ago." he said with the strong and hard voice of someone used to speaking. „This region of the galaxy is known as the Ravaged Zone and was considered an unexplored and dangerous area. That's why I was entrusted with command of the Research and Exploration Fleet. When we arrived here, we found the ruins of an Empire built by a mad tyrant who was responsible for the deaths of countless sentient beings. He was, because we learned that he was annihilated by She-Ra, the heroine of the Universe. So, while my troops are conducting a stabilization mission, I have come here to discover the truth about this mysterious attack. But as Felix Antares, I came here for much more personal reasons." now his voice softened, even became warm and softer. "For thirty years, since I and my people were expelled from our planet by treacherous enemies, I have fought many enemies, including the most terrible of all , the Hive. War does not help in starting a family, but sooner or later each of us comes to that moment when we start to think about our legacy and what we will leave behind. Until now I thought that I had been deprived of mine, but by an unimaginable twist of fate it turned out to be otherwise. Therefore, I would like to ask for one favor. – he knelt down on one knee and looked at Catra . – For the opportunity to be at my daughter wedding."
Absolutely everyone was frozen in disbelief. There was a possibility that the Lord Admiral was lying, but as she looked at the face features of the commander and her former ward, at the cold gleam in their blue eyes, she knew it must be true. "I turned out to be a blind Ignorant again. We are all doomed"