Masquerade.

Tirin smiled to herself because it was easier than she expected. This place was unlike any other she had ever seen. It was beautiful here, like the fairy tales about the Old Empire that her mother used to read to her. Except it was real! A beautiful castle made of white and pink stone. Clean and tidy houses. Nice and friendly residents. The latter made her mission much easier. When she arrived here in a roundabout way, hiring transport from several different places, no one stopped her or questioned her. She had heard that on many planets, especially the Pact Worlds, the inhabitants enjoyed similar freedom, but she doubted that even there they welcomed travelers so warmly. She was a stranger girl from an unknown place wearing strange armor that no one here had probably seen before. Some, especially the drivers, guessed that she was a disabled person, but they didn't ask many questions. They felt sorry for her, but without overbearing pity, and respected her privacy, although they were probably curious about who she was and what happened to her. It was she who told her own story, made up of course. She was supposed to come from a distant planet attacked by the Horde. Her parents fled to a planet called Jadehell, thinking that Prime's forces would not reach there, no matter how dangerous the place was. Her mother died and she became ill. Shortly afterwards, the war ended and her depressed and sick father left her in the care of his friend, a rebel, who bought her this outfit. The story sounded credible and was as close to the truth as possible. Everyone nodded understandingly and didn't ask for more. She felt a bit guilty deceiving such nice people, but in her life she had often manipulated others for the greater good. No, it was not the inhabitants of Etheria that were the biggest obstacle she encountered, but herself…

She had to take a double dose of anti-anxiety medication, but she still felt terrified. Her heart was pounding and she felt like she was going to die, or maybe she wanted to die a little, just to not be afraid. She kept asking herself how she could have been so stupid as to willingly agree to go on this expedition. Then she remembered that she was doing it for Captain Moonshadow, a woman who had done more for her than a birth mother, she had to help her. Therefore, she gritted her teeth and walked forward with her head down. When asked why she was acting so strangely, she simply told the truth. She claimed that a terrible accident had befallen her and now the sight of the open sky frightens her. They understood it, because the inhabitants of this place also suffered a lot from the Horde. Of course, she is one of those who oppressed and occupied, but she couldn't tell anyone that.

Brightmoon was full of visitors not only from all over Etheria, but also from other nearby planets. Everyone came here for the Victory Day celebrations and the Royal Wedding. She even received a leaflet describing the celebration. There was even a photo of happy couples. She stared at it for several long moments, oblivious to the terror hanging over her head. She saw both girls there. First she looked at the blonde traitor who was about to take over the Captain's sword. Was she really that bad? She seemed nice, maybe a bit lost, but truth be told, she didn't understand people very well. Apparently she was friends with the Queen, whose mother she was supposed to have betrayed. Maybe it was all just one big mistake, or maybe both girls were calculating schemers who had fooled everyone The latter possibility did not seem likely to her, but she was Azlanti, conspiracies and intrigues were in her blood. And the Captain's daughter... As she looked at her, she felt a twinge of jealousy, childish and stupid, but irresistible nonetheless. Glimmer was so beautiful... and healthy... She was the strong woman any mother would dream of, not the twisted and crippled wreck that she was. Will Moonshadow ever reconcile with his daughter, or will he forget about Tirin? Will she reject her like the society of her race? And she will be alone again. A crippled girl in a great indifferent universe.

„Can I help you with something?" asked a man about sixty years old in a lilac coat and with a mystic's staff in his hand. She hastily put the leaflet in her pocket, glad that the mask made it impossible to see how she was blushing.

„No... It's just... I just arrived on Etheria and... I've never been to an event like this, so I feel a bit overwhelmed, especially since I am afraid of open spaces and crowds...„ she said hurriedly, and the man looked at her understandingly and said.

„I understand you a little. For some time I couldn't get used to the open sky and the stars. I'm Mikah and I can show you around the city.„ He said and smiled friendly. She hesitated, because her profession as a pirate taught her not to trust anyone... Although perhaps she owes it to her Azlantean upbringing... But she needed help, it would be difficult for her to get all the information she needed by tomorrow. Besides, the man seemed nice, so she could probably trust him.

„Nice to meet you Mikah , I'm Tirin... „ she extended her hand in bionic armor and Mikah shook it and asked.

„You have an unusual accent. I don't know him, but I've heard a lot of them because of my profession."

„It's an Azlantean accent." she replied and immediately bit her tongue. But she calmed down right after. After all, no one here has heard of the Azlanti Star Empire?

The years he spent on Beast Island taught him how to control his emotions, so he didn't show anything when the girl admitted that she was Azlanti. She probably only told him about it because she didn't think anyone on the planet would know what she was talking about. However, he knew who the Azlantii were, Shadow Weaver herself had told him, and he decided to trust her on this one matter. These people imprisoned his wife, a noble and absolutely innocent woman who did not deserve such a fate. He took a deep breath to control the fire burning in his heart. The girl looked strange. She had navy blue, translucent hair and extremely pale skin, and her eyes were completely purple, even the whites. She wore an oxygen mask over her face and was clad in a strange armor that looked like it was made of organic matter. She seemed petite and looked unhealthy. She must have been ill with something serious. She also seemed afraid, even afraid to look around. It was understandable, after all, she had come here on a mission from her superiors. She was probably supposed to be spying on Brightmoon before the attack or something. Except... She didn't look like the kind of person who would conspire against his daughter, but appearances can be deceiving. Moreover, not all servants of the forces of evil are bad and wicked people. Just look at Scorpia , who was an extremely nice and sympathetic woman, and yet she served the Horde faithfully for years and tried to kill Bow several times . Maybe it was similar with this girl? She was just an innocent cog in a terrible machine of terror and exploitation. She could also be a skillful manipulator who perfidiously exploited the mercy and kindness of others, someone like Shadow Weaver. He had to find out, he had to know the Truth... That's why he decided not to inform Glimmer, at least for now, but to observe the girl, waiting to learn something specific.

So he went with Tirin and started telling her about Brightmoon and Etheri in general, showing her around the capital. The girl listened to him with interest and even relaxed a little. He tried not to tell her too much about the country's secrets, which wasn't difficult because he knew enough stories himself that he could go on for hours, or even days. He didn't even notice when he started talking about Mystacor.

„So you studied in a real ancient school of magic like in the old stories, with owls and brooms, not one of these modern schools full of computers and Holographic glyphs?" the girl asked, revealing again that she was from outside the empire. Mystacor was the only magical school in this part of the galaxy, as magic had been forgotten here, but the sorceress Saihe , who accompanied Shadow Weaver, showed that sorcery was widely practiced elsewhere.

„Well, we don't have brooms and owls here, and we'll probably soon be using computers and other things to learn magic. My sister will take care of it.„ he smiled.

„Your sister teaches at school?" the girl asked curiously, and he mentally scolded himself for his talkativeness. He was no better at keeping secrets than this girl.

„Yes, she's a teacher... I think I'm a little hungry... do you have a place here?" when she shook her head in response, he smiled and took her to the inn he liked.

He was glad that no one here called him king, or worse, king consort. The locals were sensitive enough to know that this would reopen old wounds. He bowed to the host and his partner, then sat down at the table. He resisted the temptation to order wine and asked for lemonade and spicy vegetable cream. He asked Tirin if she wanted anything, but she only asked for hot water. She dissolved some gray-brown powder in it and carefully took off the mask and took a few breaths as if to test it, then she smiled and drank it all slowly, as if she was afraid of choking, and when she finished and saw him watching her, she explained.

„My digestive system does not function properly and my jaws are not as strong as in healthy people, so I have to drink special supplements. It doesn't bother me because I have no sense of smell or taste." her voice did not come from her mouth, but from a small device near her larynx, she almost did not move her mouth. She smiled sadly, she was so young and delicate, younger than his daughter, about Frost=ay's age , although the ice princess looked much healthier. Her lips were pinkish-brown and her teeth were bluish.

„What happened to you?" he asked in a frightened voice, and Tirin sighed and coughed, then with a little fear she put on her mask and told her story. Most of it was made up, but Jadehell's stay on this planet felt real. It was that place where Angela was imprisoned? Was her body as twisted as this girl's? Did the Azlanti Azlantii send their children to this cursed place? What kind of bastards send their own children there? Barely holding back the urge to hug her, he offered to rent her a room, but she shook her head and paid for the week in advance herself. She used coins of unknown origin, but this was not strange, the Empire was incredibly vast and they had not yet contacted all the planets conquered by the Horde.

„So you studied at this Mystacor ... Are there any other schools here? – she asked, clearly curious.

„There used to be Arcanacor and Umbracor, but they were destroyed in ancient times during the Sorcerer Wars...

"You fought wars here? I thought this was a good place."

He smiled sadly.

„Sometimes good people do bad things and bad people do good things." he said, thinking about the cursed Sorceress.

Bina found hiding in Brightmoon surprisingly easy. Most of the Lord Admiral's officers sat in the palace, and those who left, like Pahtra and the Skittermander Chorus, paid her no attention. Only Lady Ka or someone who knew her could be interested in her. She found out that she was here when she overheard several servants complaining about the Lord Admiral's "Left Hand." Luckily her fucked up sister avoided public appearances, after all she was a crazy murderess and not someone who liked the company of others, although she was clearly a member of his entourage. Only someone like Felix Antares could have felt that Ka could be entrusted with a responsible position... She had previously heard rumors that the former "High Queen" was alive, but she had not told her children about them. Eti in particular had special reasons to hate the crazy murderess, so the news that she was alive could upset her, and the girl already had enough problems of her own. In fact, even Bina couldn't believe the news. She witnessed Igzar killing that bitch , but in the galaxy anything was possible. She saw with her own eyes how this She-Ra revived a kid. What was strange about her sister coming back from the dead?

However, she couldn't roam completely freely, if anyone recognized her, she would be in big trouble, but here her training came to the rescue. She always had a dressing up kit with her. She could change the length and color of her hair thanks to the hairstyle modulator. Holographic overlays and morphic makeup allowed her to change her facial features. The voice could remain the same as it was. This was one of the things that made Jantar's daughters different . Her voice was melodic and sexy, while Lady. Ka's was raspy and menacing. Well, it felt like old times, before she became a mother to her kids.

Taking care of her children made her sleepless. She was afraid of what might happen to them, and life had taught her that you should always expect the worst. But if that witch did anything to them... It would be better for her if she had never been born. She didn't like violence, but Jantar had crammed enough knowledge into her head that she could make someone plead for Mercy, and she had learned this and that from Igzar's subordinates , so when the Shadow Weaver fell into her hands and her children would not be safe and sound , then he promises that he will teach her what Pain is.

Unfortunately, she didn't find out much about where her kids might have been hiding. While drinking with the quite nice palace guards, she learned that there had been a break-in in the castle. No one knew exactly who had done it, but considering that the Grand Marshal seemed shaken afterwards and Queen Glimmer was running around the castle with a black eye, then they must have been her kids. Only they could create so much Chaos and Confusion for absolutely no reason. However, this was far from enough, she had to be close to the center of events, but not too close... Because she might come across Lady Ka, and their meeting would not end with a polite conversation.

She intended to employ herself in the entourage of one of the less important princesses, or one of the guests from other planets. So many of them came that the city was bursting at the seams. She spent the night with the innkeeper and his partner. She hadn't been with guys for a long time, but sex didn't bring the expected relaxation. She asked many people about employment opportunities, but received no confirmed news, and there was only one day left. She had to quickly find someone who would let her get closer to the manor.

So she went downstairs and ordered a tea with milk. She started looking at the inn's patrons and then she noticed a man who looked like an elderly wizard and a strange girl in a suit that was completely out of place on this planet, definitely too advanced for the local tech level. An unusual view and in some regions of the galaxy it would evoke unambiguous associations, but not in this context. The man was strangely tense, and the girl... She had a good ear for accents and recognized distinct Azlantean features in her pronunciation. It was interesting and disturbing. They had fought the Antis on Saltmarsh, and she guessed that the Empire had plans for the place. The Lord Admiral may be a bastard, but his resources were limited and he couldn't conquer this planet. But this band of bastards led the most powerful, and many would say the most evil, empire in the galaxy, hated by all but the human species . They were more powerful than the Horde and just as evil, though in a much less obvious way. Etheria was an incredibly ethnically diverse place, even by Absalom's standards, but humans made up a significant percentage of the planet's inhabitants, and the Star Empire might feel obliged to restore the most perfect species in the Galaxy to its rightful position of rulers of lesser species. The girl looked harmless, but her accent was typical of the Azlantean aristocracy, in whose veins flowed the pure blood of descendants of an ancient empire supposedly derived from the Lost Golarion. Some people claimed that the leaders of the Empire were truly superhuman, more efficient and intelligent than others, although this girl definitely did not confirm this statement. She seemed scared and so fragile that if you took her out of that suit, she would fall to pieces. However, appearances can be deceiving. She knew something about it, she knew the truth about Felix Antares after all ...

She waited until the man left the table and followed him. She expected him to go to the toilet, but he stood at the back of the inn, lost in thought. As soon as she approached him, he quickly turned around, summoning a spell, and growled.

„Who are you and why are you following me!"

She raised her hands to show that she had no hostile intentions and said.

„I didn't mean to do anything bad to you. I came to warn you. This girl is not who she seems!"

„So who is she?" he asked, smiling menacingly.

„She is an Azlanti ... That is, a member of a powerful empire proclaiming the supremacy of the human species using its war machine." she quickly explained as best as she could one of the most alien aspects of the galaxy to the inhabitants of Etheria.

„So she was telling the truth." he said and lowered his hands, canceling the spell.

"Who was telling the truth?" she asked discomfited.

„A certain wicked woman who decided to tell the truth this once." he said, looking depressed.

Something about his attitude made her suspicious, so she asked.

„She? You mean a tall woman with pointy ears and a gloomy disposition... She hides terrible scars."

„ So you know Shadow Weaver? – asked the surprised wizard.

„"Do I know her? I brought her here and then entrusted her with the care of my children." she explained, smiling sadly. He looked at her in disbelief and asked

„What you did?" she could hear the horror in his voice. She buried her face in her hands and groaned.

„I know this doesn't reflect very well on me, but in my defense, she was really nice during this journey."

The man smiled sadly and said.

„When it suited her, she perfectly pretended to be nice and noble."

Bina nodded and asked anxiously.

„And my kids? Have you met them? Are they okay?"

Understanding appeared on the man's face.

"Ah, Eti and her friends... It seemed to me that she didn't do anything to them. Actually, it seemed to me that they didn't respect Shadow Weaver very much... But that was a few days ago, I don't know what happened to them after that. – Hope suddenly sparkled in his eyes. "That means you met my wife… Moonshadow… Captain Moonshadow." the wizard had so much despair in his voice that her heart ached.

„Yeah, I saw her... We were traveling together and she seemed fine, but then she attacked Adora and killed that kid." she saw that the wizard's face was pierced by a spasm of pain, so she added. "But that's what Lady Cala was talking about, and she's sticking with Shadow Weaver. " she explained and suddenly realized something. „ Wait, since she is the queen and you are her husband... „ she fell on her knees in front of him, but he grabbed her and lifted her „Don't kneel, I'm just the King Consort and an ex at that. But it's good to hear from someone else that my wife is alive... „ he smiled gratefully and added. "What will we do with this Azlanti?"

She smiled and said.

„I have a plan, could you get me a job as an guide?"

They did not land at the airport, but in the middle of nowhere near the capital. It was not easy to find a place suitable for a ship as large as theirs, but fortunately no one on the planet was supervising the flight of ships that entered the atmosphere, or so they thought, so they could search for a landing pad as long as possible. they just wanted to. Lonnie looked at the monitor curiously, it wasn't her first time flying in the air, like for Rogelio and Kyle, but Imp was scared, which was ironic because of his wings . Well, she didn't feel sorry for him in the slightest. She never liked Hordak's failed creation, he was nosy and cunning, and after she found out how her former master treated their daughter, her dislike grew even stronger. Nightgale looked thoughtful, even distressed, though she wouldn't say why. She didn't pressure her. Devils and demons witnessed that everyone had the right to secrets. Kyle, on the other hand, looked guilty and scared, but there was a steely determination she had never expected from him. However, she guessed what was the reason for his unusual behavior. Eti sat on the sidelines and stared thoughtfully into space. Rosie tried to talk to her, but the cat-like girl only answered in half words. She sighed, it had to happen eventually and walked over to her.

„So you already know... you probably hate me now..."

Eti shook her head

„I don't hate you, Shadow Weaver. You didn't do anything to me. You were even good to me and even saved my life. You didn't do it completely selflessly. You're looking for redemption, but you won't find it with me. You can only get it from the one you hurt, but she won't give it to you because she hates you more than anything in the world"

She felt an unbearable pain in her heart, because the girl was right. There was no forgiveness for her.

After landing, Szrama handed out costumes to her friends. Itel and Rosie had their dresses, they didn't even have to hide their weapons. Alatar and Lilka disguised themselves as Ashrak sellers, they even had a self-propelled thermos, which Bina bought... She missed her and was even a little worried, but these emotions were obscured by a storm of cold flame raging in her heart... The Blonde Boy was dressed in a black silk vest with gold decorations. He looked a bit like a dandy, although he acted as clumsy as before. Gadzio wore clothes similar to those worn by other Vesks in the Scarlet Husk . Scar also wore a desert outfit that obscured her face. This sorceress, Red, Scar's right hand, wore a blue cloak decorated with glittering stars. Shadow Weaver looked at it as if it reminded her of something, but then thought better of it. The dark sorceress herself simply changed her eye and hair color. She was supposed to stay in the shadows anyway and not attract anyone's attention. Ireanis dyed her hair pink and wore a very sexy dress in the style of those fashionable on Absalom . Wrongdak removed the paint and donned the engineering outfit popular among clone technicians throughout Etheria . And she... Well, everyone expected her to hide and not show herself to anyone... But she had other plans.

They split into three groups. The girls were supposed to wear their dresses only near the city so that they would not get damaged. She got ahead, no one noticed. She was a scout, after all. In the city, she slipped between the crowds of guests unnoticed without any major difficulties... After all, she was absolutely perfect, amazing and Unique. She finally reached her destination. The tailor's shop was closed due to the holiday, so she got in through the window without any problems.

„Me about my outfit." she said, suddenly revealing her presence. The seamstresses jumped in fear, probably close to having a heart attack.

„Ah, it's you. This is how it is ready... As per your order." said the older one. She handed the clothes to Eti, who went to the changing room and tried on her new clothes, then put on her coat. It was perfect.

„You'd also need a mask, because a masquerade ball was organized at the last minute." said the elderly seamstress and pointed to the wall, where there were lots of different masks. She saw one that she particularly liked.

„I'll take this one." she said, pointing to a mask depicting a wolf. Yes, it's finally time to remember her heritage.