Discussions at the table, part two.
She was very happy that they are returning to Etheria. This stay on Icarus went badly from the beginning. First, Perfuma was exhausted of bringing the land back to life, then she had a fight with those strange kids, although that ended quite happily. They also met Wrong Hordak. She knew that the clone had set out a few years ago on a great expedition to discover what lay beyond the Empire. Catra was very skeptical and suggested that Hordak wanted to get rid of his younger brother to be alone with Entrapta. However, it turned out that he came back safe and sound... and very nicely dressed! But then they met this beautiful woman, Lady Cala . She didn't even look at them when she talked to Adora , but she still made a stunning impression on her... She was so... Distinguished. Yes, that's the right word. She was like Glimmer, only much more so. But after a while, Queen Angela appeared... She turned out to be a pirate and said she wanted to kill Adora . She had never met the Queen before, only knowing her from Horde propaganda materials, which were... Well, far from the truth. But she was sure she wasn't that kind of person. Someone who would be ready to burn down an entire city along with its inhabitants. This… this was like when she served in the Horde. On Hordak's, Shadow Weaver's and... Catra's orders they did many terrible things, although she found out about many of them only after the war... But Queen Angela would never hurt anyone innocent, she was Glimmer's mother and the fearless leader of the rebellion. Even Hordak had begrudging respect for her. After they repelled the pirates, Lady Cala came with a dead baby in her arms. She said that Queen Angela murdered them to escape from the aristocrat. Then the most amazing thing in her life happened, and she experienced many amazing things, such as becoming a princess and meeting the most wonderful woman in the world. Adora used She-Ra's power to bring her back to life. She had heard from Glimmer that something similar had happened during Catra's release from Horde Prime's ship, though Catra denied it.
Cala then told the story of Angela, or rather Captain Moonshadow. It wasn't a happy story, she wouldn't wish this fate on anyone. She didn't understand everything the woman was talking about. What was the Azlanti Empire? Why did they imprison the queen? And who needed new empires? But then Adora got scared, said something about the shadow of the moon, and disappeared in a flash of light. Immediately afterwards, Lady Cala had to leave with her friends, leaving them alone to deal with all the commotion. First they had to calm down the guards because several of them became hysterical. They shouted that the great She-Ra had abandoned them for their sins and now they were all condemned . They tried to calm them down, which wasn't easy, apparently the fact that Adora saved that child made them worship her even more... Almost like the Clones worshiped Horde Prime ... Not only the clones, she knew something about it too... She felt sorry for her friend, who never wanted to be treated this way, hated to be worshipped like a deity... Fortunately, she managed to calm the guards down, although it required a lot of hugging and talking in a quiet, calm voice about how Adora wasn't mad at them and they were doing a great job. As soon as they managed to deal with one problem, more soldiers came, this time much less friendly, and a sad lady intelligence officer. Perfuma was a bit scared, but she knew well how to talk to officers, after all, she was one of them herself. The interrogation lasted several hours, but finally the republic's authorities decided they had no more questions and let them go, although fortunately no one brought up the topic of Queen Angela. Maybe that's what they should have been worried about after all... They were escorted to Darla right after. Fortunately, because the terrified inhabitants of the city took to the streets talking about Prime's return or the appearance of an invasion fleet from outside the Empire. She wished she could explain everything to them, but she didn't really know what she should say. She wanted to turn to her wife to help her calm down the situation, Perfuma always knew what to say to make others feel happy, but this time she was exhausted and depressed, so she thought it would be best if they left as soon as possible.
She always felt unsecure on board of Darla. She was always a bit clumsy and sometimes broke things by accident. In the Fright Zone it didn't matter much anyway, because everything was falling apart anyway, but it was the Darla , an ancient First Ones ship, probably the last one of its kind in the world. If something breaks in it, it will break for good, maybe Entrapta will be able to fix it, only then she will have to explain to her friend that she damaged her thousands-year-old ship. Darla herself wasn't helping her either. The ship was mainly obediend Entrapta and Adora, although it was instructed to also obey her and her wife's orders... Only it did so very reluctantly. After these few years, Darla developed quite a peculiar... personality. She became very grumpy, snarky and generally rude... at least to her. She felt like he resented her for being a scorpion. She wasn't sure what had happened between the First Ones, Mara, and her people, but it had made Darla not very nice to her.
What worried her most was Perfuma's condition. Her wife was grimm, even gloomy, not like her. She tried to comfort her, first she suggested a game night, and when she refused, she suggested another form of relaxation... But she didn't want to do that either... Finally, being seriously worried, she made her the herbal tea she always liked. They were flying in a relatively safe part of space, so she could leave the piloting to Darla, although she snorted and started grumbling about everything falling on her head. Perfuma smiled gratefully at her and thanked her. She sat down next to her and asked in a concerned voice.
„What happened honey?"
Her wife looked at her with sadness in her eyes and sighed.
„I had a dream. I saw a destroyed planet there. A man who sang about suffering and... the embodiment of kindness and friendship. She introduced herself as Hylax. She warned me. I don't know if it's true, maybe it was just a dream, but these kids talked about it too... and about this planet, because it was their home. I saw their home. Destroyed." she looked at her, fear and despair in her eyes. "Destroyed by the Hunger That Cannot Be Satiated".
„Dinner with your father is not something I thought would happen to me." Adora said, combing her hair. She smiled and replied to her fiancée.
„I never thought I would take part in it either...„ she said with gloomy resignation in her voice. "I've always been an orphan from the Fright Zone, and I can't think of myself as having a family. It was just you and me. Two girls together against the world, although now rather wandering through the world together. It won't be like this anymore... I'm not sure whether to be happy about it." she turned to her beloved and looked into her eyes, in which she saw comforting joy.
„Find something good in it. Now you will have someone to lead you to the wedding.„ she said. On Etheri, young couples were usually led by their parents, or someone who played a similar role in their lives, to encourage them in their final declaration of love in the moonlight.
„I thought about asking Mikah to lead me and Glimmer together, but I figured I shouldn't take up her moment. Besides you, then you would be alone, so I thought we would be together. We will lead ourselves to the wedding, right?" she smiled, as if amused by what she said. But she soon became serious. „ Now you will be alone while I... „ she looked at Adora's eyes and saw pain in them. Her dearest always secretly dreamed that she had a family somewhere out there in the universe. Parents who mourn a child taken from them by Light Hope, or at least her compatriots. At the same time, she was very afraid of it because of what terrible things the First Ones had done to Etheria and the Galaxy. But now she, her beloved, has found her family, even though she never wanted it. „You know, I think I should have refused him... „ She said with guilt in her voice, but Adora put her hand on her shoulder and said.
„That would be stupid... Just because I'm alone... That doesn't mean you have to, too. Think about it in a practical way. Glimmer wanted you to bond with him because he might be needed. Anyway, I can always ask Lady Cala."
She grimaced and said.
„I don't like her... There's something about her... It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. And, I know this sounds stupid, but I don't like the smell of it. I've inhaled many stenches in the Fright Zone, but this one is much worse. Not even disgusting, just… Inappropriate… Unnatural. Nobody should smell like that." she shuddered. Her meeting with Lady Cala Grayskull was short. Right after they exchanged the first pleasantries, Glimmer showed up and invited her to dinner. Immediately after that, Catra went to her office to read reports of recent events and give orders to the guards to improve the security of the castle, and she also wanted to draw up an order to hire someone to take care of securing the computers, but she didn't have time because she had to get ready for this dinne , although due to the last expedition she was terribly behind in work. "You know, it's weird, but I have the impression that lady inch smells a bit like Shogi . Not identical, but somehow similar." she said, and Melog looked up as she mentioned Frosta's shapeshifting friend. Her companion was sleeping on the couch, listening intently. He didn't like Lady Cala either. He claimed that it exuded something evil that should not exist in this world, although he did not explain exactly what. But she was sure she agreed with him.
„Do you think it's related to her? To Shadow Weaver? That she is a ward just like us? That we should help her, maybe even save her?„ she asked her beloved. Adora thought for a moment before answering.
„ I'm not sure. She is… very beautiful and strong and educated. He has everything that I will never have, no matter how hard I try.
She rolled her eyes and huffed in irritation.
„Don't go back to "I'm not good enough" again, okay?„ She walked up to her and took her face in her hands and added „ You're the best, not only for me... Damn, I'm starting to hate this woman for making you think so.„ she kissed her beloved. When they broke apart, Adora added thoughtfully.
„I don't know what her relationship with Shadow Weaver might be like, but she definitely didn't treat her like she treated us. Lady Cala is strong and confident. There is not an ounce of fear and uncertainty that she instilled in us. I envy her a bit. But I feel like if Shadow Weaver could create a ward from scratch, it would be just like her. Plus lack of conscience and ruthlessness. If she could, she would probably add claws and some monstrous powers." She smiled at the last mention, and Catra grimaced.
„Yes, then she would be a real mommy's girl." and they started giggling, although it wasn't actually funny. They sat on the bed and she rested her head on Adora's shoulder and began to purr. Melog rested his head on his lap. After a while, her beloved asked in a low voice
„What do you think about your father?"
She grimaced. Earlier, she had repeated to Adora a condensed version of what she had learned from the Lord Admiral. Her beloved listened carefully to the entire story in silence. She didn't comment a word on what she had learned, waiting for her opinion. Only she didn't know what to think about it all.
„I don't know, to be honest. He seems to be a strong and dangerous individual. He also has a majesty to him that Hordak or even Horde Prime could have" dreamed of... His story also explains a lot about my story. Why am I so fit and always ready to fight..
„And you know what's best about all this?" said Adora, smiling slyly.
„What?„ she asked suspiciously.
„That now you are a princess too!"
„I'll scratch your eyes out for this insult." She playfully pretended to scratch Adora's face and then kissed her beloved again. But then, in a flash of light, Glimmer appeared.
„ Scorpia and Perfuma just arrived... I didn't interrupt anything, did I?
She had to admit that she hated spaceflight. Being locked in a dead piece of metal in the middle of a cold, dark void. However, she loved visiting other planets, so full of life, unknown and wonderful, and meeting their inhabitants, learning their customs and traditions. The problem, of course, was that you couldn't visit other planets without going into space. So she had to endure this inconvenience and until now she had managed somehow, but this time it was really hard. First of all , Darla was extremely rude to Scorpia this time . She was convinced that the AI was deliberately taking advantage of her shyness because she was afraid of damaging or offending the ship as it was partially owned by her best friend. In fact, she wondered if Darla was jealous of Entrapta, or maybe it was Hordak's bad influence? She wanted to yell at her in private, but she didn't feel well. Her spouse thought it was because of what happened with Adora and Angela , which was partially true, but that wasn't the only thing. There was this dream, a terrible one ... but she was also afraid that it held far too much truth. At first she hoped it was just a nightmare caused by the exhaustion of earth healing, but then she met those kids. They were militant, yet they emanated so much pain... They lost their planet. Their world, everything they had. They had nothing left behind them. It was difficult to imagine such a tragedy. For them, the inhabitants of Etheria, not to mention Icarus, the war was terrible, but at least they won it. They had something to rebuild, something to return to. They... There were no words to describe what she felt looking at them. She wanted to ask them about the Swarm, what it was and how to fight it, but how could she ask the victims about who would hurt them? She might have to do it after all. She knew a little about the Swarm from this Hylax, and she had seen a little in her dreams, but it wasn't enough. She needed to find out more, even though she hated talking or even thinking about the war. However, before she had the opportunity to learn more, there was a clash with Queen Angela, who for some reason wanted to kill Adora . She didn't understand anything about what happened then, but she didn't even have a chance to think about it because pirates attacked them. She had to fight a little furry creature that would have been cute under any other circumstances, but now it just wanted to chop her to pieces. They managed to fend them off, but then Lady Cala brought in this dead baby that Adora somehow saved, and then they all left and they had to deal with all the chaos. Only then could they make their way back to Etheria.
On board Darla, she talked to her Wife about her dream, but she couldn't tell her everything she saw? She didn't know the words to describe the horror she experienced then. She has always loved beauty and peace, the harmony between all living things. And that was doom roaming through the universe like the Galactic Horde, only unstoppable. How could she tell her friends that there was another evil in the universe, as terrible as the one that had cost them so much to defeat. Adora would probably want to face the Swarm immediately, no matter what it would cost her. She had to return to Plumeria and think everything over, meditate in peace, trying to unite with the universe, to find out the answers to the questions that bothered her.
She was not allowed to rest in peace. First they had to go to Brightmoon, in case Adora hadn't returned yet, to tell Glimmer the news about her mother. As soon as they landed, the Queen appeared next to them. Who, hugging them, called joyfully.
„Great to have you here. I have to take you to the castle soon so you can freshen up, because we don't have much time! I invite you to a joint, solemn and official dinner with Catra's dad!"
She liked the idea of having dinner together more and more. Not only that. She will get to know their new guests better and will also have the opportunity to confront them with each other. She was genuinely curious about who the other members of the Fleet were, especially Lady Cala. The aristocrat fit perfectly into what Adora had said about her... She looked like... Like She-Ra... If she were an ordinary human and not a magical being in Adora's body... I guess... No one was really sure who or what she actually was… is She-Ra… All they learned was that she had existed long before the First Ones arrived, perhaps since forever. One day they will have to discover the truth, but was it safe to dig into the secrets of the past again? She knew all too well what evil they could reveal... And Lady Cala was so... similar to what She-Ra was supposed to look like according to old drawings and traditional legends, that if she had shown up in Brightmoon six years ago, dressed appropriately and claiming to be She-Ra, no one would doubt that she was telling the truth. And that was what made her not trust her in the slightest.
Dinner, or rather supper-dinner, was served around seven o'clock... It was strange, but she couldn't believe that not even twenty-four hours had passed since it all started. The servants did not prepare a sumptuous feast because she did not want to bother them too much with unannounced work. So all that was served was soup of seafood and cream, and chickpea meatballs, along with cider and fruit... although she had an irresistible craving for sauerkraut, as sharply sour as an axe. so she ordered it to be served too. The Lord Admiral arrived with Lady Ka, Lady Cala and Asindesa Di Vir. She also invited her aunt, who also brought her assistant, this damn tall woman named Nightgale . There was also Entrapta, who decided to stay in Brightmoon, clearly fascinated by the guests. With her came that strange ant with ribbons on her head, although she didn't actually invite her, but she preferred not to ask her leave, because apparently she also played some role in the Lord Admiral's entourage, although she had no idea what. There were of course Scorpia and Perfuma who had just arrived. They looked very tired, especially Perfuma. She wasn't sure if she had done the right thing by inviting them right after such a long journey, before they had time to rest, but on the other hand, it was inappropriate for her not to invite them to such an extremely important meeting. They were very happy to learn that they would meet Catra's father, although the fact that he was not a feline creature surprised them, and Scorpia stiffened at the sight of the uniform. She immediately saw that there was tension between the Lord Admiral, the Lady of Blades, and Lady Cala , although the blonde beauty was more composed than the other two.
At first they just talked about ordinary, unimportant things. The atmosphere was nice and cheerful. Entrapta was eating her Falafels, which had been cut into small pieces by someone with a good head on their shoulders. She sat staring at her datapad , while the ant that introduced itself as Ashurk stared at its smaller datapad, chirping incoherently with its mandibles, and took photos and videos of everyone. She has already asked her three times when they are going to install the network in her castle. Lady Ka sat next to the Lord Admiral, but did not eat anything, keeping one eye on the other guests.
"Entrapta, do you happen to know how the Child is doing? - She asked, smiling friendly. The inventor looked at her surprised."
„Child? What Child?... Aah, that Child, that mine... Everything is fine with it. Hordak loves taking care of it. He's a really wonderful father, you know?" she said with pure delight.
„Is your husband the former commander of the local Horde? Very interesting. I should meet him sometime. I would talk to him about the Horde, like leader to leader." said the Lord Admiral.
„There are many clones on Etheri that you could talk to, Lord Admiral." she said, but Entrapta interrupted .
„Oh, that's wonderful, because very rarely does anyone visit us. We will welcome you with joy ! – Entrapta exclaimed with pure delight. He grimaced because she was right. Because of her husband, they visited her far too rarely.
„Hordak, unlike other clones, knows quite a lot about command, so the information he has may prove particularly valuable, because most enemies of both, the Etherians and my fleet, are Horde Prime's former "little brothers"." Catra's father said
"However, Hordak..." she began, her tone sharp, but Bow interrupted her
„He has been loyal to the kingdom of Etheria for five years and so far has not given us the slightest reason to suspect him of anything, and of all the clones, he has the most reason to oppose Prime's heirs , so he will be happy to help you .
She glared at her fiancé because she hated being interrupted, but after a while she realized that he was right. Whatever she thought of the former ruler of the Etherian Horde, he hated Horde Prime more than anyone else, and according to both Horde Ultimate and the Heavenly Brothers, he was a traitor who deserved a slow and painful death. She nodded, and then for a full fifteen minutes Entrapta told everyone about her new castle, Beast Island, her husband, and her Child, in that exact order. Finally the Lord Admiral turned to his daughter.
„I see you don't drink alcohol." the Lord Admiral asked his daughter, pointing to the cup of milk in the feline girl's hand, who smiled sadly.
„After Horde Prime chipped me, I don't like anything that would cloud my mind. But even before that I avoided alcohol. The woman who raised us, Shadow Weaver, was a mean drunk. I prefer not to follow her example in any matter." she said firmly. Then Glimmer noticed that two people seemed moved at the sound of the gloomy Sorceress's name. One of them was her aunt, which was understandable. Her relationship with Hordak's Right Hand Man was complicated. On the one hand, she had great respect for her, but on the other, she didn't forgive her for what she did to Mikah ... But why did the hell knight also react? Although she kept a straight face, her hand twitched and she almost spilled the soup.
„Speaking of alcohol abuse, apparently your mentor, Miss Daisy, also had a drinking problem, am I right, Lady Cala?" Lady Ka unexpectedly joined the discussion. Lady Cala nodded sadly and said.
„You are indeed very well informed, Lady Ka. I regret to admit that you are right. She had a serious problem, but unfortunately I couldn't force her to do anything. After all, she had quite a difficult character. How did she fare on your quest, Lady of Blades?" The aristocrat smiled friendly at the knight.
„I can't say a single bad word about Miss Daisy. She was a great comrade in arms who saved my life." Asindesa said firmly. Everyone returned to less interesting topics again, although she noticed that there was now tension at the table. So she decided to make a toast. But first she helped herself to a portion of cabbage.
„I didn't know you liked pickles. You were always the, you know, sweets lover." Adora asked, looking at her with surprise.
„And I've been having cravings lately, which is a bit strange because I usually feel nauseous in the morning." she said, reaching for a mug of cider.
„I don't know if you should drink alcohol now." said Catra, looking at her in a very strange way.
„What do you mean?" She asked, completely not understanding what her friend was getting at.
„ What she means is that you shouldn't drink alcohol because you're pregnant. Don't worry you didn't tell us about it. I've known about it since yesterday, thanks to the bioscanner... But you knew you are pregnant, right?" Entrapta said with an innocent smile. There was absolute silence at the table . The first to interrupt it was the Lord Admiral.
Congratulations Queen Glimmer. I hope your offspring will be healthy, although you seem surprised that you are pregnant.
- No, I just... - she said somewhat unconsciously. She and Bow had been trying to have a baby together, but she never imagined it would happen so suddenly...
Bow hugged her tightly, and she touched her belly tenderly.
"Like an idiotic romantic comedy," Calamity thought with disdain when she heard the big news, although she had to admit that the Lord Admiral had managed to get out of this absurd situation brilliantly. She had to admit that this man made a very good impression on her. He was one of the few mortals who commanded her respect. She felt strength in him, as unshakable as a rock facing a storm. He radiated the pride of someone who fully deserved it. He was not bound by the ordinary morality that shackled the rest of common people, but he was able to play by it, transforming it into both a weapon and a shield. How such a human could be a father of Spawn like Catra was beyond her understanding, but she had an idea that she might implement in the future, if it was the will of the Creeping Chaos!
"In what rite will your and Adora's wedding take place?"The Lord Admiral asked after a while.
"I think normally, under the moons, like everywhere on Etheri. Apparently on Eridani or Ikarus they invoke some kind of powerful beings, gods or something like that. It's such a local quirk of theirs. - Catra said, stroking the bizarre shape-shifting creature behind her ear. She hadn't seen it before because it was invisible. Were animals allowed to have pets on this ridiculous planet?
„Gods are widely worshiped throughout the galaxy, and sometimes they return the favor, but usually they only wish to follow the ideals they embody. Our family has followed the teachings of Abbadar, Talavet and Lissala for centuries. But it's your wedding and it will take place according to your and your fiancée's desires." The Lord Admiral said and Glimmer answer in a confused voice.
„I thought these were just metaphors and myths, but you seem to take them seriously... Is your title, Hell Knight, also a reference to these matters to some extent?" the queen said to the Lady, who considered her answer, although Calamity knew well that the locals would not like any of her answers.
„Hell is a place that embodies tyranny, ruthless order at all costs. We, the Hellknights, are connected to Hell, not because we want to introduce its ideals to the mortal world, but because it is a lesser evil that we can use to fight a greater evil. However, each knight must be victorious in the fight against the devil from hell to prove that he is immune to corruption by dark forces.„ explained the knight of hell. Most of the crowd looked at her uncertainly, but after a moment Catra asked.
„Shadow Weaver once summoned a being that turned her into what she was. I recently found out that this being is called the Light Eater and is the Avatar of some Nyarlathotep or something... Is he one of those devils?"
Calamity almost burst into laughter filled with the sincerest joy when she saw the look on Asindesa Di Vir's face. It was so beautiful to see her just realize that the woman she was clearly in love with was a servant of the enemy she had sworn to fight against. She could actually taste her suffering... It was so delicious!
„No... „ The Lady of Blades began to speak in a dead, grave voice. "Nyarlathotep are something else. The Great Outer God, the Creeping Chaos, is an ancient being beyond mortal understanding. They are the Greater Evil against whom we swore to fight."
No one except her fully understood what had happened, which only increased her joy. Finally the Lord Admiral said.
„I have a great request for you, Queen Glimmer, as well as for my daughter, because she is the Grand Marshal of your Army. In connection with the wedding, I would like to request that some of my soldiers and ships come here to ensure safety during this event.
All the Etherians' jaws dropped, and then Entrapta exclaimed happily.
„Of course we invite you, especially your ships!"
Glimmer looked at her in disbelief, then spoke firmly to Antares .
„We don't agree to this! In no case!"
Catra addressed the Lord Admiral in a much gentler voice.
„Lord... Father, understand, this planet has suffered a lot at the hands of those who invaded it from space. The sight of your troops can cause real panic."
Antares looked at everyone with a serious voice and began to speak.
„I will speak bluntly. I have no doubt that you know how to wage war on your home planet, but you have no idea about war in space. I saw your fleet formation, or lack thereof. This wedding is the perfect opportunity to attack, you are unable to keep my daughter safe. Although Prime's heirs are not as formidable an enemy as, for example, the Swarm, they are still dangerous. And besides, if you are thinking about an alliance with us, and I'm sure such a thought has crossed Queen Glimmer's mind, then our soldiers need to get to know each other in order to start cooperation."
Glimmer wiped her forehead and said in a tired voice.
„Okay, I'll think about your proposal..."
Perfuma suddenly spoke up .
„What is the Swarm? There was tension and even fear in her voice."
"The Swarm…" the Lord Admiral said thoughtfully. „This is the greatest plague of the Galaxy. A Hunger That Cannot Be Satiated. A living fleet guided by hive mind, traversing the universe to consume everything in its path. Fortunately, it is unlikely that it will come to this place."
"I would not be so sure." Calamity thought joylessly