Heist

„Eti, but are you even listening to me?" Itel shot the cat girl an angry look. "Even Rosie seems more focused on what I'm trying to tell you, not to mention Lilka. She writes down everything I said." she pointed to Lilka, who was sitting leaning over a sheet of paper.

„Actually, Lilka draws horses and giant flying foxes. And I don't have a problem with focusing, I just don't understand why we do it..." Rosie said and added. „I'm not sure why it occurred to you to break into Brightmoon Castle ... We could have just talked to the queen or something. Not all people lie." she explained, hoping that Itel wouldn't be mad at her. The elf was very decisive when it came to matters she cared about. The green-haired girl scowled at her, and for a moment she felt like she wanted to say something very unpleasant, but then she thought better of it and shook her head.

„Listen, Rosie, we can't count on the good will of strangers in such matters. Not when state secrets and ancient mysteries are involved. Maybe this Adora and the rest were nice, but when it comes down to it, everyone cares about their own people first. We can't trust them, we can't trust anyone except ourselves. Not when the stakes are so high." Said the Elf. There was something feverish in her white-free eyes, not anger, but something like hunger. She wasn't entirely sure what it might be that she wanted, but she clearly hoped to find it in Brightmoon.

They talked in the forest surrounding the city of Brightmoon, because Itel was afraid that Mr. Ilemshaw would overhear them. She didn't like the fact that they were hiding something from Wrongdak, Mr. Ilemshaw and, above all, Miss Daisy... Especially the latter, she felt sorry for cheating her. She had absolutely no idea what to think of this woman anymore, but she couldn't be all bad if she had a girlfriend. Bad people don't fall in love... Of course, this Asindesa was a Hell Knight, she was afraid of Hell Knights because she had heard many terrible stories about them. Someone who dealt with the powers of hell must have been very scary, although this woman didn't look that bad. She seemed quite nice, she didn't look like she wanted to bring about ultimate order with fire and sword. Well, about that sword. It seemed familiar to her, as did the symbols, as if she had read about it before or seen it in pictures. She didn't like it, in fact it even scared her. What connection could she have with all this? This planet, the First Ones, poor Heart Gift, with this sword? She doesn't know what this woman's order does, although she recognized the symbol of the Order of Eclipse, but she didn't want them to come here to Etheria and destroy everything... Although it wouldn't be that easy, she saw what power Adora and the other princesses had... They defeated Horde PrimeHorde . Hell Knights were no problem for them... But Eti was right about one thing, they really fit together perfectly.

She just… didn't want to get into trouble again… and breaking into the castle was clearly getting into trouble. She just didn't want to seem like... a coward? Ball and chain... Someone who bothers you with his stubbornness.

„Itel, do you know that we can really ask about this heart, at most they won't tell us anything. "Eti suddenly interjected. The elf looked at her in surprise, but then pursed her lips tightly and spoke slowly.

„How do you imagine it? We can't just march into the throne room."

Eti tilted her head back as if she was seriously considering and said

"Why wouldn't we be able to? All we have to do is do this." she took a few exaggerated steps. Itel gritted her teeth furiously.

„Could you act like an adult for a moment and not play the dumb like in a comedy for idiots?"

Eti looked at them, apologized with her beautiful cat eyes, does the other one also have such beautiful eyes in real life, and said.

„But seriously, we can do it. The Blonde... Adora likes us, and she doesn't seem like a very... honest person, not someone who has any secrets. And then there's that talkative horse. And if necessary... I can show them... Show them what I look like and then they'll let me in... I'd rather not do it, but if necessary, I will."

Everyone looked at the cat girl in surprise. No one expected such a declaration from her. Finally, Itel spoke in a much softer voice than before.

„Eti... you have always been the one who is the first to embark on all crazy adventures... The one who is never afraid of anything."

„I'm not afraid. You know I can't." Eti interrupted. In the golden eyes of the cat-like girl, Rosie saw pain „But it's really not wise. We don't have any plan, we don't even know the layout of the castle, and we don't even know what we're actually looking for. We'll get there withot idea what we are doing!"

„Sometimes in war you have to improvise." replied the Elf, looking at Eti seriously.

„This is not the war Itel." replied the cat girl, wagging her tail slightly.

„For me is!" Itel punched the ground. The two girls stared at each other for a moment until the scout closed her eyes.

„Fine, we'll do what you want, Itel, but I have one condition. This time we won't hurt anyone. I know I'm always the first to use violence, the one who hurts even my friends... Even the ones I love... This time I want it to be different... Because this place is different Itel."

The elf thought about Eti's words for some time, although according to Rosie, Eti was right, there was no need to use violence. She didn't want to hurt anyone either. Finally, Itel nodded.

„Fine, we won't hurt anyone. Unless one of them starts first."

Brightmoon Castle looked even more beautiful up close, it was truly like something out of a fairy tale. He even had an enchanted queen. Actually, this Glimmer looked a bit like a fairy queen. Although she had wings like an angel, they were actually a bit similar to Captain Moonshadow's, which was a bit strange. But she was definitely beautiful, although not as beautiful as Eti... It mean, Eti was very pretty, but Itel... Ugh, all fourof them would definitely be friends... And Lilka and Alatar, and Wrongdak was already her friend.

Only now they were going to break into her castle. She hoped that she wouldn't be caught, because then the queen would definitely be offended at them and throw them into a dungeon full of rats, or worse, make them work off their sins by serving the local equivalent of Dr. Quin. The problem was that she had absolutely no idea about burglaries. She had never even stolen anything, as far as she could remember. This observatory does not count because it was abandoned. Fortunately, her friends seemed to have a surprising amount of experience in these matters, which should have worried her, but in this case it was a good thing.

They tied scarves around their faces and, just in case, Lilka painted Orc war paint on their faces, although she seriously doubted whether the red-haired girl had any idea about Orc war paint, but it had to be admitted that it was really difficult to recognize them under these paintings. They couldn't come nearby in the ship because of Mr. Ilemshaw. Fortunately, Miss Daisy was on a date, she didn't want to imagine what the hell knights' dates were like, and Wrongdak decided that he would walk around the city and see what had changed. What Ireanis was doing, she had no idea, but it was a good thing that all responsible adults were busy now, at least for Itel…

First they had to climb the walls, which was surprisingly easy, because only Lilka had to climb the rope, Alatar and Itel simply flew up, Eti climbed do wallwalk and she... got to the top thanks to long jumps, although she had the impression that she could also fly up. The sky above them was covered with stars, although the moons also provided some light, so it was surprisingly bright for a night. Itel didn't like it very much, but not enough to postpone the whole thing.

They found themselves in a wide corridor, lightly lit by crystal lamps, and the walls were covered with similar murals to the ones in the Heart Gift sanctuary, although these were somehow less majestic, but they were still pretty, they seemed more friendly, a little warmer. Overall, it was as beautiful as she had expected. Together with Itel and Eti, they moved ahead. This time, the shooter did not take her rifle or pistol with her, only stun and smoke grenades. At first she thought there were no guards here, but then Eti warned them to be quiet and a pair of guards passed them. They looked dignified and a little scary, but compared to the Azlanti they didn't look modern. They were armed with long halberds tipped with what seemed to be electric shocks, and had armor that looked like modern armor with traditional cloaks over it. However, she felt like she and her friends were much better equipped. This time she didn't take her gloves with her so as not to lose or damage them. If anything, Eti could explain everything.

The guards passed by without paying any attention to them. They were having an intense conversation about some Frosta and the kingdom of Snow. They were really absorbed.

„Alatar says we need to look for a communication hub, or even a terminal. Probably both will be easily accessible, because the locals don't seem paranoid." Eti said, but itel just snorted.

Finally, they reached a corridor that was especially densely covered with murals. You entered a large, unguarded hall. There were a lot of high chairs inside, which she didn't think looked very comfortable. In the middle was a table that would make Alatar smile with all his teeth.

„I think it has a built-in computer... I secretly copied the hacking program." Dragonkin explained and walked over to the device and started tinkering with it. Rosie didn't know anything about computers, so she started looking around the room. She saw murals on the walls and started looking at them. There were a lot of them here and they represented different people, probably important to Brightmoon or perhaps all of Etheria. One caught her attention in particular. He was right in the middle, as if in a place of honor. It depicted a tall, winged woman standing behind a shorter, bearded man. It reminded her of something. After a while, she realized who it was representing.

„Listen, I think these are Mikah and Captain Moonshadow.„ she said, but only then she realized that she wasn't wearing gloves, so she quickly turned around so that Eti could translate her words, but suddenly she bumped into a pedestal, which fell and hit another pedestal. and another. She may not have heard the noise she made, but she felt a tremble as if the lock were about to collapse. Her friends looked at her with fear on their faces.

„Sorry." she said in sign language.

"Deaf Idiot" Itel said, her face contorted with fury, but Eti interjected.

„Leave her alone, it can happen to anyone."

Solarian she uttered a particularly nasty elven curse that her glasses couldn't translate, then turned to Alatar.

„How's your hacking going?"

Dragonkin tilted his head as if considering something and said.

„This is kind of weird. As if they had no security. Either they are very trusting or it is some kind of trap."

„It's definitely a trap. Check three times before you do anything. Itel growled at him." Eti and Rosie, check if we summoned anyone when we did this mess." she said and Eti nodded and together they moved towards the door. It was quiet in the corridor for now, they didn't see anyone. Then suddenly she felt something strange, like a flash of power that gave her a strange taste in her mouth… like strawberry marshmallows. Her glasses told her " Zap"

A strange noise woke her up. She got to her feet and took a fighting stance. For a moment she thought the Horde was attacking and they had to fight off their attack together, but when she looked around she realized she was in her Fireplace Room. It was still pleasantly warm, although the fire was already dying down, and there were papers and a half-finished carafe of wine on the table. Bow must have put her on the sofa when she fell asleep at work and she didn't even wake up. He was so caring… But the thud was real. It was coming from downstairs, from the council room, where there was a computer table on which they displayed strategic plans during the war. The room was perfectly soundproofed, so you couldn't hear anything that was said there... Apart from the Fireplace Room, it seemed that one of the architects building the castle had some sinister cunning. However, there was no time to consider the intentions of the ancient builders. Someone had broken into her castle and only she was aware of it. She could call the guards, they would certainly be able to deal with any threat, well almost any, but she was Glimmer, the warrior queen. A Sorcerer Queen who was trained by Mikach and... Shadow Weaver, the most talented sorcerers in all of Etheria . She couldn't just run for help for any reason. I'm sure she'll be fine on her own. And besides, as she told Bow, she kind of missed the old days. She smiled smugly and teleported downstairs.

She saw five people in the Council Room. Four of them looked normal and one was huge and had wings and a tail. She couldn't say much more about them because they had scarves on their faces. She put her arms around her and said.
„I think I caught someone here." she smiled cheekily, and then the hands of one of these people lit up and a clenched fist flew towards her and she saw all the stars.

She woke up when she felt someone lifting her eyelid.

„Hey Pretty one. Don't have brain damage, Sparkle Pawwill be sorry, said the person who was leaning over her. She had a strange mask on her face and goggles over her eyes. She wagged her tail similar to Catra's nervously. Her right arm was made of a strange metal, a bit like the Tallstar prosthetic but still a bit more... ancient? As if cast from one piece of metal. She pointed with her tail at a person standing behind who wore strange glasses and was wringing her hands as if in despair. Apart from her, there was also a green-haired person radiating irritation, a figure with red braids wearing a poncho, and then there was this huge winged person. She felt a bit strange, her head and face hurt, it must have been a really powerful blow, but there was something else that she couldn't define. She shook her head to clear her mind of the daze and said.

„What? Who are you?" she asked, still a bit unconscious.

„ Well, I am myself, who else could I be? Are you sure you don't have brain damage? I think I could trepanate the skull...„ said the person with the metal hand, and the winged one added.

„ Eti, "I think" is not a good reason to perform medical procedures."

„Maybe you could focus on hacking instead of wagging your tongue?" the green-haired girl growled angrily. Now she remembered everything. Breaking into her castle! How dare they! She jumped to her feet, clenched her fists ready to fight, and screamed.

„Excuse me, but what are you doing in my castle?"

The girl in the goggles turned her head to the side and said in a strangely dull voice.

„Well, we're breaking into the castle, you can't see? My friend wanted to know something about this heart Etheria. Oh yes, you can help us, beautiful. You see, my friend thinks you're lying about ruining Etheria's heart, but I'm not so sure.

She blinked. They were looking for Heart of Etheria! Why? Well, of course, they wanted to take control of the most terrible weapon in the Galaxy. This was getting serious... With a quick movement, she cast a stunning spell and grabbed the girl with the metal arm by the arm and teleported to the nearest guardhouse...

Only to find yourself in the hallway. She looked around confused. Something was wrong. Once in space, when she was Horde Prime's prisoner, she couldn't use magic at all, but now her teleportation just didn't work properly. It was a bit like the first time she visited Castle Crypto or... when Shadow Weaver trapped her. She guess, it was because of that punch from that other person. Did she really have brain damage? She didn't have time to think about it, because the girl she grabbed screamed.

„Let me go! No one is allowed to touch me. No one!" And she started struggling with it. She tried to hit her on the head with a metal hand, but she managed to avoid the blow, but the girl caught her around the waist with her strong legs, although she hardly used her left hand. This actually worked to her advantage, because she didn't have to hold her herself so she could teleport her... Except her teleporters didn't work... First she moved to the garden, then to the roof of the tower, and finally to the fountain. That girl fought great and was stronger than her. At some point during the struggle, her face was uncovered and she gasped for air. This girl… looked almost like Catra. Her opponent frowned and bit her hand. Her teeth were also as sharp as Catra's. She screamed in pain and moved to the safest place she knew, her bedroom.

As soon as she got there, she saw Bow , who was already wearing a nightgown, but he didn't look sleepy because he immediately jumped to his feet and drew his bow.

„Shoot it with a sticky arrow!" she exclaimed. She didn't have to tell her twice, Bow chose the arrow and pulled back the string, while she threw the magic missile at the girl so as not to hurt her. The arrow hit the burglar, immobilizing her for a moment, and then she began to cast a protective spell that trapped her in a protective circle. Then the girl began to look around with fear in her golden eyes with blue dots. Now she was completely sure that this girl, despite her painted face, was very similar to Catra. Not as a representative of the same people, but as a close relative.

„Let me out of here! You can't imprison me!" she screamed. There was panic in her voice.

„Glimmer, where did you get the new Catra?" Bow asked with surprise.

„Can you believe, she wanted to break into our castle?" she asked her fiancé, and he nodded with full understanding.

„It seems very... fitting, actually." said the techmaster, and then Brother Blade looked inside. „ Is everything OK? " he asked, and then he saw the prisoner and his eyes widened.

„Yes, we have everything under control, she said, trying to sound as queenly as possible. The clone nodded and added.

Grand Marshal Catra and Princess of Power Adora have just entered Brightmoon City's airspace and will be here soon.=.

„That's great, because there's someone here she'd like to meet." she said, wondering if her news would beat the news brought by Catra .