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Chapter Text

Adora took a deep breath, trying to look calm with all the situation. It wasn't possible that after so long, and after all that had happened, she was still afraid to enter the Black Garnet chamber. No... she was afraid to meet Shadow Weaver there. It was never a good thing to enter that place, and the girl felt chills to remember the things that had happened there when she was a child. She wanted to believe she didn't care about that stuff anymore, but apparently it wasn't like that.

Everything she felt about Shadow Weaver was very complex. On the one hand, she wanted to hate her, now that she knew the sorceress was bad. It wasn't that she wasn't intimidating before, but now Adora realized that there were truly evil intentions behind everything the woman did. Plus, she had always pushed Adora so hard to be the best, not to mention how she had manipulated her since she was a child. And on the other hand, she couldn't help but love her a little... well, after all, Shadow Weaver was the closest thing she had ever had to a mother. She had taught her everything she knew and had even shown affection with hugs and thing like that... sometimes, not very often, but yes. Damn, she had been a very good manipulator, because she had never mistreated her physically, but mentally...

But just then, she had to think that she shouldn't care about all the fear and dislike she felt for Shadow Weaver. She was there for Glimmer. Catra had kidnapped her, and Adora was going to do whatever it took to rescue her.

The thing with Glimmer was something new for Adora. She had told Bow the things she felt when she was with the princess, and he had informed her that this was apparently called falling in love. That was a whole new concept for Adora, and she still didn't quite understand it. Well, she cared about Glimmer, she liked spending time with her, and she loved her. She knew she felt that for Bow too, so she didn't understand why with Glimmer there was that extra something. She felt a little nervous, she blushed when she saw the princess smile, she felt her heart race when she touched her. At first, she had thought she was sick, but apparently that was normal, and she had no trouble believing it because she felt... good.

The soldiers escorting her opened the door to the Black Garnet chamber. Inside, Shadow Weaver and Catra were waiting for her.

Before Adora could tell them anything, she saw that Glimmer was also there. She was trapped in some kind of magical torture device and seemed to be unconscious.

"Glimmer!" Adora exclaimed, not caring what the soldiers did to her "Glimmer, I'm here! Don't worry, everything will be okay! I'll save you!"

The soldiers brought her before Shadow Weaver. Catra was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed, not looking at anyone.

"What have you done to her?!" Adora demanded to know.

Shadow Weaver didn't respond. She turned to Catra and said quietly

"Report to the Force Captain barracks and pack your things. Now that Adora is back there's no need for you there"

"Seriously?" Catra replied, hurting, pulling away from the wall and taking a defensive position "After everything I've done for you it's still her you want?!"

Shadow Weaver remained silent. Adora looked at Catra, who also looked at her for a few seconds. In the end, the girl leaned against the wall again.

"Shadow Weaver" Adora began, her voice calm "I'll stay here with you willingly, but you have to let Glimmer go first"

"Adora... no..." she heard a faint voice say

She turned quickly and saw that Glimmer was awake now. She looked weak and hurt.

"Glimmer! Are you okay?" Adora asked immediately, very concerned

She knew she had made a mistake. It was unwelcomed for the Horde to display such feelings for other people. They used to take advantage of this information to cause harm.

"You are correct, Adora. You shall stay willingly" Shadow Weaver said, approaching her "Because I'm going to wipe your mind"

Adora felt a cold sweat run down her back.

"You'll have no memory of She-Ra or the time you spent with the Rebellion" the sorceress continued, gently caressing Adora's cheek "Everything will be as it once was!"

Adora was really scared now. She began to breathe heavily.

"No! Adora!" Glimmer exclaimed

Adora began to look around the room desperately. There was no sign of the sword, and she couldn't think of anything to do to get Glimmer out of there. She was lost.

"Don't be sad, child" Shadow Weaver said "I'll allow you to say goodbye to your little friend"

Shadow Weaver nodded to the guards guarding Adora, and they led her in front of Glimmer. Adora looked at her, and only then did she feel the weight of reality. Is this how her adventure with the Rebellion was going to end? She didn't want to forget everything, not now that she knew what it was like to have friends, family, feel loved and… and Glimmer had to know how she felt about her.

"Adora, I know you can escape" Glimmer whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks "Do it, leave me here. I'll be fine"

Adora shook her head. Sure, she could run away. She could break free of the guards and evade Shadow Weaver and Catra, but she wasn't going to. Not without knowing how to take Glimmer with her. Not if there was a chance that Shadow Weaver would let the princess go in exchange for her staying.

"Bow and the others wait outside" she instructed the princess in a whisper "Go with them, go back to Bright Moon. Don't come back for me"

"Adora, no..."

"Glimmer, you have to know..." Adora began, trying that only the princess could hear her "I feel things for you that I have not felt for anyone else before. I like you very much and I really wish I could be with you"

Glimmer stared at her for a few seconds without saying anything. Adora felt nervous. Bow had told her that those things sometimes weren't always mutual...

"I like you too. Very much" Glimmer replied at last, and she sounded relieved to say it "I was afraid to tell you. Adora, I like you and I don't want to lose you now"

Adora released herself from the guards and reached out to touch Glimmer's face. But as soon as her hand reached the force field, there was a spark and Adora felt a very strong pain in her hand. She barely had time to see that her hand now had a huge burn mark when the guards captured her again.

"Bring her here" Shadow Weaver ordered

Adora looked at Glimmer desperately, but the guards forced her to walk. They laid her on a table, from which came straps that tied her firmly. Then the table was placed in an almost vertical position.

"Leave us" Shadow Weaver ordered the guards, who left the chamber.

Adora heard Glimmer scream in pain. Apparently, she was trying to teleport, and the force field wouldn't allow it.

"Are you really crying?" Catra asked Adora, frowning at her "Did it cost you nothing to betray us and are you crying for a princess?"

Adora ignored her and looked back at Shadow Weaver.

"Let her go" she asked "I'm already here, I'm not going to escape. Please. I'll be good"

"Of course, you'll be good, Adora. You are going to be the best Force Captain that the Horde has had" Shadow Weaver declared, getting very close to her "As for the princess, once I'm done, you'll be happy to have her as your prisoner"

Adora opened her eyes in horror. Red rays began to come out of Shadow Weaver's hands. The sorceress firmly took Adora's head in her hands. Adora screamed in pain. She felt an electric current go through her head. She felt her teeth clench, her brain sting, and her eyes were going to explode. She growled and screamed in pain. She wanted to beg Shadow Weaver to stop, but she couldn't speak. The pain was too intense to do anything. She clenched her fists. The sound of the electric current pierced her ears, mixed with Glimmer's screams of pain.

Glimmer... she didn't want to forget about her, or Bow, or her new friends. All she wanted was for Glimmer to escape safely. Wish she could be there to help her.

The pain suddenly stopped.

Despite the intense pain she was feeling at the time, Glimmer was happy as she could feel that the teleportation was finally working. She appeared just behind Shadow Weaver, in the right place to punch her with a sparkle attack. The sorceress fell to the side, and Glimmer landed on the floor. It took her a moment to recover. She felt her skin burn.

"Adora?" Catra said, appalled

Glimmer looked up. Adora fell forward, only supported by the straps.

Catra went to her and untied the straps, catching Adora in her fall. Catra knelt, holding the blonde. Glimmer practically crawled towards them.

Catra looked very scared. She brought her cheek to Adora's nose. Then, she put her ear to the girl's chest. Glimmer felt her heart stop when she understood what was happening.

"No..." Catra gasped, as her eyes filled with tears

Shadow Weaver sat up, adjusting her mask.

"You killed her!!" Catra exclaimed "Your spell killed Adora!"

Glimmer knew that could not be true... no...

Catra launched herself at Shadow Weaver, who quickly raised her hand and pinned Catra in midair. The girl fell to the ground, surrounded by a force field.

"You... kill... her..." Catra repeated, speaking with difficulty

Glimmer approached Adora, hoping to see that Catra was wrong, or that this was all a ruse. She took Adora in her arms.

The girl wasn't breathing. Glimmer imitated Catra and put her ear to Adora's chest, trying to hear her heartbeat.

Nothing.

No, no, no... Adora couldn't be...

"Something must have gone wrong with the spell, maybe it was too strong" Shadow Weaver explained to Catra, releasing her after her powers seemed to suddenly end.

"Adora's dead because of you! Fuck you!" Catra exclaimed, crying, lying on the floor

Glimmer tried to teleport taking Adora with her, but something happened. A red glow enveloped her, and she felt it electrocute her. She screamed in pain, and that was when the other two women seemed to remember that she was there.

"Guards!" Shadow Weaver exclaimed

Glimmer acted totally against her will... She stood up, leaving Adora on the floor. She knew that without magic she couldn't take the blonde with her, and she needed to get out of there... Although without Adora, she wasn't sure why she wanted to get out...

'I'm so sorry, Adora' she thought, and with tear-filled eyes, she started running to the door.

The guards entered just as Glimmer was leaving. She was able to narrowly dodge them, but she felt how they followed her. She had to get out of there, she had to get help... Adora couldn't be dead, just not. She refused to accept it, even though she herself held her inert body in her arms...

The corridors of the Fright Zone were quite empty. Surely all the guards had been chasing Bow and the other princesses. Even so, when she ran into a guard, they joined the chase.

Glimmer didn't stop until she was able to get out. In the distance she saw a skiff approaching at full speed. Glimmer ran towards it, the guards trying to stop her.

She watched as Bow stood on the edge of the skiff and reached out a hand for her. Glimmer ran as fast as she could, and when the time came, she jumped up and took Bow's hand, who brought her on board.

Glimmer put her hands on the floor of the skiff and coughed, feeling her breath go out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw them begin to leave the Fright Zone behind.

"Glimmer, are you alright?" Bow asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Glimmer didn't answer, and instead began to cry desperately.

"She's gone, Bow!" she exclaimed between sobs "Adora's gone! Shadow Weaver killed her right in front of me! I couldn't save her!"

Looked up. Mermista, Perfuma, Sea Hawk and Bow looked at her, horrified. Glimmer felt like vomiting. Adora, She-Ra, the warrior who was going to save Etheria, the girl with whom she was secretly in love... was dead.

Bow dropped to his knees beside her.

"No, Glim" Bow muttered, almost begging "That can't be true"

"I took her in my arms. I checked it out for myself" Glimmer lamented "She's gone... This is all my fault"

Bow shook his head, then covered his face with his hands and started crying.

Perfuma sat without saying anything, with an expression of horror. She looked like she was in shock. Sea Hawk didn't neglect his place as captain, but he also had tear-filled eyes and looked devastated. Mermista wiped the tears from her face and murmured:

"We have bad news too... Entrapta..."

It was then that Glimmer realized that Entrapta wasn't there either.

Catra hadn't stopped crying, with Adora in her arms. Damn, she had vowed never to show weakness to Shadow Weaver and now she was crying.

"Do you want to shut up at once?" Shadow Weaver ordered, finishing recharging her powers "You're a shame"

"How can you be so calm?! I thought your plan was perfect, but everything went wrong! The princess fled and Adora..."

"Do you really think that I would be able to make such a huge mistake? Please"

Shadow Weaver cast one of her spells at Adora, who immediately began to breathe, though she was still unconscious.

"What the...?" Catra was surprised, leaving Adora on the floor and jumping up "But... I thought..."

"The plan remains the same. Only with this small modification" Shadow Weaver explained without giving it much importance

"I thought she was dead! You could've told me!"

"Your pain was what convinced the princess that Adora was dead, don't you see? I ordered them to let her flee! So all Etheria will believe that She-Ra is dead, and they won't bother us wanting to come looking for her!"

Catra said nothing. It had really been a smart move, but she didn't like being fooled like that. She really felt like a fool, especially since she had found that, if she had started to cry like that, she still cared a little for Adora.

"I don't want to leave my job as Force Captain" Catra demanded, frowning "It's not fair. Without me this plan wouldn't have been possible"

"I decide what is fair or not. Also, there's no vacancy now"

"But...!"

"It's my last word! And you had better behave like before with Adora. The only reason I didn't erase you from her mind is for you to be with her and make sure that no one makes any mistakes"

Catra growled. She was so mad at Adora, she even felt like she could hate her, how the hell was she going to pretend they were still friends like nothing? Even more so now that he was going to take her job! That was bullshit. She almost preferred that Adora run off with the fucking princesses and let her free.

"If your spell is so good, why isn't it permanent?" she complained

"It is. With the proper care. The mind is something very complex, it's difficult to change it effectively even with magic. She must not know anything that reminds her of who she was before, nor anything about the Rebellion besides that they're our enemies. And, above all, nothing about her new little friends"

Catra looked at Adora. Damn, from what Shadow Weaver had explained a few hours earlier, Adora wasn't even going to be the shadow of the girl she knew.

"But was it necessary to change her name too?" Catra muttered. It was kind of sad to think that the name 'Adora' was now totally banned from the Fright Zone. To be honest, it was incredible that Shadow Weaver had made a plan that included the entire Horde in such a short time.

"Yes. Not only did I erase her memories, I gave her a new attitude. The truth is, she will be very much like you"

"Like me? I thought you didn't like the way I am"

"She will be you but maintaining her obedience and loyalty. Two qualities that you obviously don't know about"

"You mean she stopped being the good girl?"

"I mean she will be the perfect Horde soldier now. We will crush the Rebellion sooner than you think"

At that moment, Adora began to wake up, putting a hand to her face. Catra noticed that her hand had a red burn mark.

"What happened to me?" the blonde girl muttered, sitting up and looking at Catra

"Despara! I have told you thousands of times that you shouldn't enter without announcing you" Shadow Weaver replied in an authoritative tone "It's for your own good! The Black Garnet reached you this time!"

Adora, or rather, Despara looked at the mark on her hand. She stood up and curtsied to Shadow Weaver, saying

"I'm sorry, mother. It won't happen again"

Catra felt like vomiting.

Chapter Text

Glimmer and Bow were back at Bright Moon. They hadn't said much on the way back. Glimmer couldn't remember ever feeling so bad in her life. The Alliance fall apart, she felt so depressed, her powers didn't work, and they lost two princesses in one day. And not only that... Adora had decided to confess her feelings for her just before... before...

It was very painful to think about it, and it was difficult not to, since Glimmer carried She-Ra's sword. Sea Hawk had stolen it from the Fright Zone to return to Adora later, but well...

"Glimmer!" Queen Angella exclaimed, running towards them

"Hi mom" Glimmer said, without much encouragement

Her mother hugged her very tightly. Glimmer felt Bow join the hug. The princess dropped the sword to cling to her mother.

"Are you two alright?" the queen wanted to know "Did they hurt you?"

Glimmer and Bow looked at each other for a few seconds. Then they both started crying.

"W-what's going on? Oh... right. I received word of Entrapta's loss"

"Adora died, mom" Glimmer said bluntly

Queen Angella was speechless for a few seconds. Then she hugged them both again. Glimmer heard that her mother's breathing was ragged. Bow was crying like Glimmer had never heard him cry, in great pain.

The princess expected her mother to say something to comfort them, but instead, she remained silent. Then she knelt, forcing the guys to do the same, and also began to cry.

"Adora... but that... can't be" she murmured in the most controlled voice she could

Glimmer was a little surprised to notice the pain in her mother's voice. As far as she knew, she still didn't fully trust Adora. But come on, Adora was kind, helpful, loyal, funny... surely the queen had taken a liking to her.

"What happened?" the queen asked

"Shadow Weaver..." was all Glimmer could say

"I'm so sorry, kids"

At that moment, Glimmer's powers started glitching, consequence of Shadow Weaver's spell. Her mother stared at her, scared, and exclaimed:

"Glimmer what's going on?! What's wrong with your powers?!"

Glimmer screamed in pain the entire time the attack lasted. It began to weaken, and the princess was finally able to speak.

"Shadow Weaver did something to them, I don't know"

"We thought perhaps the Moonstone would help?" Bow suggested

"No, that will only make it worse" replied the queen "Don't worry. We'll figure it out"

To be honest, Glimmer didn't mind recovering. She needed Adora back, it was the only thing she could think of.

"Maybe you should go rest" the queen suggested "I know it was a very bad day for both of you"

Glimmer nodded.

Suddenly it seemed that the entire castle was silent. The word had spread, and now everyone knew that She-Ra was dead. There was a feeling of hopelessness all over the place, it was as if happiness had completely disappeared from the kingdom.

Glimmer and Bow went to Adora's room. The princess laid the sword on Adora's bed, and then the two friends sat on the floor, on the sleeping bags they had brought.

It seemed impossible to Glimmer to think that, just two days before, she and Adora had been choosing dresses for the Princess Prom.

"What are we gonna do now?" Bow asked, not looking at her

"I have no idea. The Alliance won't want to meet again and... I don't know if we have a chance against the Horde. I really don't feel like talking about it"

"Yes, me neither"

The room felt empty. It was obvious that a third person was needed. They were so used to Adora that it seemed they had known her a lifetime, and her absence was really hard to accept.

"I miss her so much" Bow muttered, his voice cracking.

Glimmer didn't immediately respond. Tears flooded her eyes and she let out a sob.

"This is all my fault" Glimmer wailed. "I wish I could've gotten free sooner"

"It's not true, it's my fault" Bow replied "It was me who was captured first"

"They caught us both, Bow"

"We put everyone in danger, and now Adora and Entrapta..."

Glimmer hugged Bow very tightly. They were silent for a long time, crying, each deep in thought. The princess never imagined that things would result in this.

"If Adora were here, she would say it's not our fault" Bow muttered

"Yes, totally. She would say it's Catra's fault, or the Horde's, or Shadow Weaver's"

"Well, maybe it is. They were the ones who kidnapped us in the first place"

"Yes. That's what Adora would say. Then she would probably say 'C'mon guys, don't be sad, let's go get some snacks', huh?"

Bow laughed a little and added "And then she would eat everything we put in front of her with that happy face that she had when eating"

"I know! That girl did love food! Then she would try to eat the napkins and we would have to convince her those are not food"

They both laughed for a few seconds. It felt good to laugh at those times. Bow sighed and said:

"I will miss her very much"

Glimmer nodded, frowned, and commented "I hate having left her behind. The least she deserved was a decent funeral. I'll never forgive myself"

"There was no way you could get her out of there. She sacrificed herself to save you, it would have been horrible if you got caught after what Adora did"

Glimmer shrugged. Bow hugged her again and said "She would be happy that you are safe"

"I wish she was here to see it"

She broke the hug, looking at the sword. It was so weird. She almost felt that Adora would appear at any moment.

"Hey Glim" Bow started to say "I don't know if I should tell you, but I will. Adora told me about you. I mean, about things she felt for you..."

"I know" Glimmer interrupted "She told me. It was the last thing she said to me"

"Oh..."

"And I feel the same way about her"

"Oh no... Glim, I'm sorry"

Glimmer burst into tears again. Bow hugged her once more. The princess had the impression that she was going to cry until she ran out of tears.

"It's horrible, Bow!" she exclaimed "I hid it... we hid it all this time and we confessed it right at the end... I wish I had told her before! I can never hold her hand, or kiss her..."

Bow didn't answer anything. Sure, there weren't many encouraging words at the time.

"I don't know what we're gonna do, Bow" Glimmer continued "But we have to defeat the Horde. We're not going to let Adora's sacrifice be in vain"

"We'll do it for Adora. Everything will be fine"

But just at that moment, Glimmer felt electrocuted again.

"I assure you, lord Hordak" Shadow Weaver explained calmly "If Queen Angella had surrendered, Bright Moon would have fallen, of course. But the other kingdoms would not. They would have protected themselves even more. It would have been impossible to take Salineas and the Kingdom of Snows. Instead, with Despara on our side, they will fall one by one"

Hordak said nothing for a few moments. Catra was sure he was going to start yelling. At least she didn't think having Adora back was worth it instead of capturing the Queen of Bright Moon.

"For your own good, I hope you're right" Hordak finally said, much calmer than Catra expected "When will she be ready for her first mission?"

"Right away" Shadow Weaver assured "I'll give her a simple mission to start, but you'll see what she's capable of in no time."

"I want the report soon"

With that said, the screen went dark. Catra snorted. Despara this, Despara the other... she was fed up.

"So, is it true?" Catra asked "Will you give us a mission at last?"

"I'll give Despara a mission" Shadow Weaver corrected her "You are lucky that she decided to take you and the other three as support. She will soon realize that she can have a better team. The only task I gave you was to protect She-Ra's sword and the rebels took it away! You couldn't be more useless!"

Catra frowned. Shadow Weaver did know how to lift her spirits.

"And where will you send us?" Catra asked, trying to divert her attention from the subject of the sword.

"Elberon"

"Elberon? Isn't it a small village?"

"The spell is still recent. Any little memory in these early days could undo it. We're not going to send her to Bright Moon now, are we? Although I really know she could take over"

"Don't you think you have too much confidence in this plan and in your 'daughter'? When the rebels find out that she's alive..."

"You will see that this doesn't happen"

Catra hated being Adora's babysitter. Damn, everything was going so well before she came back...

"And about the nerdy princess?" she asked "She said she could help if we got her some of the First Ones' technology"

That had been an extra point for the Horde. The nerdy princess, Entrapta or something, had stayed in the Fright Zone. The other princesses had left her behind and of course, surely, they didn't even care about her if they had also lost She-Ra. The point was that the princess had started experimenting with robots and technology from the Fright Zone and claimed that she could make super weapons with some of the First Ones' technology.

"For now, let her keep playing with her machines. Let me know if she ever makes an important discovery. And if she's really on our side now, let her know about Despara. But don't let Despara see her until I allow you to"

"Okay. And... I think if I were still Force Captain, I could keep an eye on Despara at the barracks as well and..."

"Very smart. But no. Now go away. Tell her that I'll give her the mission soon"

Catra nodded, waved, and left without further ado.

The whole thing with Despara was relatively easy to handle. She just had to make sure everyone called her by her new name and acted like there hadn't been an Adora. Almost everyone didn't care if it was Adora or Despara, then there was no problem.

It was very irritating for Catra to spend all day with her, even though Despara spoke very well to her. In fact, she was the only one to whom she spoke in a more or less friendly tone. The blonde girl wasn't at all like before. She hardly smiled, and when she did it was in an ironic way. Her gaze was cold, and her voice very authoritative. She relaxed a little when she was alone with Catra, but she was very haughty, still. That didn't help at all to the rancor that Catra already had for her for having taken her job. And yet there was also something she liked. Perhaps because she had ceased to be a people pleaser (except with her 'mother'), perhaps because her formerly silly, though sweet smile was now an ironic but seductive one, or perhaps because it was that being mean gave her that strangely attractive aura. So, hatred aside, Catra found it irritating to have to live with her and feel attracted to her. She wasn't going to fool anyone, she had known for a long time that Adora was very beautiful, and of course she liked her despite everything. But Despara... Despara was... sexy.

And talking about Despara...

"Hey! How are you, kitten?"

Catra growled. She hated that expression on her face, her stupid mocking smile and the way she kept her eyes narrowed all the time.

"I hate when you call me that" Catra replied, without stopping.

"I know" Despara replied, walking next to her "Where are you going?"

“I was actually going to look for you, but since you're here, you can come with me to training. I hope you stay out this time”

"Why? I like to train"

"You're Force Captain, you don't have to train"

"I like being in shape"

Yes of course, being in shape. Catra knew that she joined training only to show off. Lonnie's self-control was surprising, as you could tell she really wanted to beat Despara up.

"And what were you looking for me for?" the blonde girl asked

"Shadow Weaver says she'll give you your first mission" Catra replied

"Really? Did she say where it would be?”

"A place called Elberon"

"It's kind of a village, isn't it?"

"Yes, why?"

“It's ridiculous that they keep send us to villages! She should send us to a real kingdom!”

"Sure. It's your first mission, we must start with something small”

"Please, I could conquer Bright Moon if mother asked me to"

Catra giggled. Despara didn't share this. She looked at her with a frown and asked:

"What's so funny?"

“Please Despara, you're a beginner. We'll be lucky if they don't defeat us in Elberon”

"I guess you think you can do better"

Of course! If it weren't for She-Ra, Catra would already conquer Salineas. Despara had no idea. Plus, it wasn't fair! She wouldn't have to face She-Ra!

"Of course I do" Catra dared to say.

Despara looked at her very seriously for a few seconds. Then she giggled and said:

"And then why aren't you Force Captain? If you are as good as you say..."

Catra felt her blood boil. Despara winked at her and said

"C'mon, or you'll be late. It will be a shame if your Force Captain punishes you, kitten”

Tanks and skiffs were closing in on Elberon. As Catra had anticipated, it was a small civilian village. However, it had a very good location within the forest. From there, they were relatively close to Plumeria, so it was in their interest to turn the village into a base. In addition to small houses, the town had a huge vaulted building that could very well serve to protect the troops.

Catra and Despara were inside a huge tank along with two other soldiers who were driving. Despara was sitting in the Captain's chair, staring at the screen. She was so focused and motionless that Catra, who was standing next to her, could have thought it was a wax figure or something.

"Okay, this will be easy" Despara commented suddenly, startling Catra a little "And you thought they could defeat us"

"I didn't think so. It's just... you were being an asshole" Catra muttered.

Unexpectedly, Despara put a hand on Catra's arm and said:

"I'm sorry. I think you're good. You could be Force Captain soon”

"Shadow Weaver doesn't believe that" Catra replied, looking for a second at Despara's hand

"I can talk to her"

Despara smiled at her, but not with that ironic smile that characterized her. Instead, that smile was sweet, almost like Adora's...

"It's time" Despara said, returning to her role as Captain. She pressed the button of the communicator on her badge to activate the microphone and said "Attention, here's Captain Despara. This is a civilian town, so we should have no problems. The vault is what really matters, you can burn or destroy the houses in any way, that will make the inhabitants leave faster”

Despara turned off the microphone. The first shots started to sound. Soon there was screaming and the sound of people running. Catra saw the first columns of smoke appear on the screen.

"Shouldn't you have told them to make sure no one was inside the house before completely destroying it?" Catra asked, watching a tank crush a small hut

"For what? We would only waste time” Despara replied

Catra was a little surprised by the coldness with which she said it. Well, she was right, but it still felt weird that she was the one to say it.

"Sit down for a moment"

"Where?"

Despara patted the armrest of the captain's chair. Catra hesitated for a few seconds but obeyed. She was practically sitting on Despara's lap.

"I hope mother doesn't fill me with missions to villages like this" the blonde commented, frowning at the screen, seeing civilians running and houses burning "What's the objective? I want a real challenge. I want to get out of this tank and fight with my own hands”

"You just want to show off your training, don't you?" Catra replied, smiling a little

"Maybe. But it's also about showing the princesses who's boss”

Catra didn't reply. She highly doubted Shadow Weaver would allow that, at least for the next few weeks. On the other hand, Catra would love to see Glimmer's face when she saw Despara. She wanted that ridiculous princess to feel what it was like to be robbed of her best friend.

Friend. Was Despara her friend or not? Ah, it was so complicated everything she was feeling about Despara... On the one hand she wanted to please her, she knew that she could help her get a promotion again. She also liked her, despite her horrible attitude, but it was as Shadow Weaver had said, she was behaving just like Catra. And on the other hand, she couldn't just forget that she, Adora, betrayed them... betrayed her, for leaving with the princesses. And Glimmer… God, Adora left everything behind for Glimmer, and the red skin on her burned hand was a reminder of that. Catra wondered if Adora had been able to do the same for her.

After a while, the voices, gunshots, and explosions ceased. Only the sound of vehicles was heard, and the fire was starting to go out.

"Captain Despara, the mission was a success" said a voice over the communicator "Some men tried to defend the people, but we subdued them. We have them here. What should we do with them? Shall we take them as prisoners to the Fright Zone or send them to Beast Island?”

Catra looked at Despara, thinking that she was going to stop and meditate on it for a moment. But no, the Captain's response was immediate:

“They are civilians who felt brave, they don't have any valuable information for me. I don't want prisoners. Get rid of them right now”

Catra gasped for a few seconds, staring at Despara intently. She showed no emotion in saying that. Damn...

What brought Catra out of her thoughts was the sound of the gunshots.

Chapter Text

Glimmer entered the War Room, where Queen Angella, the general, Netossa, Spinerella and Bow were already waiting for her. It had become a bad habit for her to be late for meetings. Before, it was because she spent a lot of time crying and had to wait for her eyes to stop being red to be able to appear in front of her mother. Now she wasn't crying as much, but she was still very depressed, and she didn't really feel like doing things. The only thing that had improved was that her powers worked again. They didn't actually figure it out, it just got better over time, though from time to time her powers failed again or it hurt to try to teleport.

She remembered well what she and Bow had promised that they had to win the war to honor Adora's memory. Glimmer was trying hard, really, but she hadn't gotten over the girl's death yet, and she had a hard time getting on with her normal life. More than a month had passed since that day, but Glimmer felt that she lived trapped in it.

"I'm so sorry" she apologized without spirit

No one said anything to reprimand her. They were used to her lateness. The princess sat next to Bow. The boy had huge bags under his eyes. He hadn't been having a good time since that day either.

"Well, now that Glimmer is here, I have an announcement to make" the queen said, saddened. "Another of our villages was attacked"

Glimmer raised her eyebrows. No, not again...

"Is the pattern the same, your majesty?" Netossa asked

The queen nodded. The general stepped forward a couple of steps and spoke.

"The town was fine and suddenly it happened. Tanks, skiffs, troops on foot. They burned the village, and the people who came to ask us for asylum claim that many people were killed during the attack"

"Was it a civilian town again?" Bow asked

"Yes"

"What wrong with the Horde? They went wild!" Glimmer commented "They are murdering many innocent people for no reason! Before they only took key towns for their strategy, but now they seem to want to destroy everything in their path!"

"We have no idea who's in charge of these troops" the general observed.

"Do you think it's Catra?" Bow asked Glimmer

"Maybe. I wouldn't be surprised" the princess answered

It wouldn't be a surprise to find out that it was Catra who was behind the attacks. On the other hand, they had never seen her attack civilians. Of course, she was aiming to defeat She-Ra before, maybe this was her new mission.

"I would suggest putting troops to guard the villages" Queen Angella commented "Unfortunately we don't have so many soldiers, many villages would be left unprotected anyway"

"Besides that, we can't know which village they will attack next" the general intervened "Until now the attacks seem to be random"

"Well... all the attacks have been within the Whispering Woods" Bow pointed out "Far away from each other, but always in or near the woods"

"Do you think they intend to attack Plumeria soon?" Spinerella asked

"Very likely. After all, they already had a base nearby before we destroyed it"

"Of course, now it seems that we should take whoever is directing them very seriously" Glimmer murmured "It seems that they will kill anyone who stands in their way"

"Perhaps if you could convince Princess Perfuma to re-ally with us, we could count on her people to protect the villages" the general suggested.

"Well, we could try" Bow replied "But the inhabitants of Plumeria are not warriors, I don't know if they can help us much"

"But at least we would warn Perfuma that the Horde is going to try to attack them" Glimmer made him see

"Well it's decided" the queen said "Bow and Glimmer will go to Plumeria to try to recruit Perfuma again"

"Do you really believe that the Princess Alliance will meet again?" Netossa questioned

Glimmer shrugged and replied "Perfuma may accept. With Mermista it will be a little more difficult..."

"But you start with something, don't you?" Angella made them see "Try it, we trust you guys"

The meeting ended in that agreement, and everyone got up to get out of there. Before Glimmer could take a step, the queen spoke again.

"Glimmer, stay a moment"

"I'll wait outside" Bow whispered before leaving

Glimmer growled. She already knew what her mother wanted to tell her.

"How do you feel? You haven't told me anything in a long time"

Yes, the same question as always. Glimmer was obviously depressed, why did she have to ask her the same thing every day?!

"As always" she replied bluntly "I don't really want to do anything"

"Glimmer, it's been over a month" her mother made her see

And what did it matter if ten years passed?! That was no reason to forget Adora!

"I know" she replied, trying not to start screaming "It's just that... I still miss her"

"I know it's hard, honey, but you have to let your friend go"

Friend. Glimmer sighed. Of course, she hadn't told her mother how she really felt about Adora. Perhaps this would have made things easier. Perhaps if she knew, the queen would stop insisting that she forget her and be much more understanding, since she too had lost her loved one. But no, Glimmer had not told her or thought to tell her. And anyway, her mother didn't even notice.

"I worry a lot, Glimmer" the queen insisted " You barely leave your room, you've not wanted to go on any mission..."

"You hated me going on missions" Glimmer reminded her.

"I didn't hate it; I was just worried that something would happen to you. What I mean is that you don't look like yourself anymore"

Glimmer nodded, feeling her eyes fill with tears.

"Adora was important to you, I know" the queen continued "But that's exactly why you have to keep going. I'm sure that Adora would want to see you fight"

Of course, yes. Sometimes that was her only reason for getting out of bed, thinking that Adora would be insisting on making a new plan, going on a mission, having an adventure.

"I know you can reunite the Alliance again" her mother assured "You're a great leader, Glim. The princesses will listen to you. If you really want to honor Adora, you must go ahead with this"

She knew it. She had to remind herself of it. She had to win the war, for Adora.

"I will go to Plumeria" Glimmer said, trying to sound confident "I'm not going to let the Horde keep moving forward. Adora wouldn't give up, and neither would I"

Her mother approached her and hugged her. She really had to. She had to get up and continue fighting, just as Adora did. She had to be strong.

Still, she knew nothing was going to take away that pain in her chest.

"... then we just need you to approve the plan to attack Plumeria" Shadow Weaver said to Lord Hordak.

Hordak growled, as if pondering his response. Catra was a little nervous. It made no sense, she hadn't done anything, and there really was no reason for her to be punished or anything like that, but she hated to admit that being in front of Lord Hordak still made her a little nervous. Despara, on the other hand, was completely calm. Catra growled, of course she was calm. Everyone in the Fright Zone was talking about her victories over the peoples of the Rebellion, so Despara had become even more arrogant. Catra knew it wasn't a big deal, after all, Despara hadn't really proven herself yet. They had only attacked civilians; the defenses had been minimal. There was no reason to be proud of that. Of course, she wasn't going to say it, or Shadow Weaver would kill her.

“Captain Despara, do you think you are ready to attack Plumeria? Tell me why I would risk sending you and not a more experienced captain “Hordak asked.

"I sincerely believe that you have been underestimating me" Despara replied, without being intimidated. "I know that I can direct my troops to any kingdom and succeed, but you still send me to civilian villages. Until now, no princess has appeared to defend the villages because I have ensured that they have no idea where the next attack will be”

"To be honest I think they must already suspect that an attack on Plumeria is coming" Catra commented "They're not so idiots"

"Really? Well then, send me to Salineas. They won't wait for that attack”

"Despara, dearie... I know you are very capable, but we cannot send you to Salineas. Not yet" Shadow Weaver made her see "We're still working on a way to break down the Sea Gate. If you can't get through the door, the trip there is in vain "

Despara growled but didn't reply. She would never dare answer bad to Shadow Weaver.

“There is a village to take, Devlan. It's the last village free in the woods besides Plumeria. I was planning to carry out an attack tomorrow” Despara explained

"Did you hear what I said?" Catra was exasperated “The rebels must already suspect an attack on Plumeria. If they see that we take Devlan, they will notice that they are completely surrounded, and the Queen of the Bright Moon is going to send reinforcements! I think that if you want to take Devlan, you should do so after we already have Plumeria”

"Okay, nice speech, Catra, but I'm your commanding officer. You can't give me orders”

Catra felt her blood boil. She was going to answer something, but Shadow Weaver motioned for her to shut up and said "Despara is the one in charge. Your role is to obey what she tells you"

Catra clenched her fists so tightly that she felt her nails dig into her palms. Really? She’s the only one who saw the flaw in the plan? Why the hell didn't Shadow Weaver or Hordak tell Despara it was a terrible idea? Catra knew she was right. She knew she was a much better captain!

"I will see if we are ready for the attack on Plumeria" Hordak replied at last "Be ready, Force Captain Despara. I can give the order any day of this week”

"Of course, Lord Hordak"

"Shadow Weaver, I need information on... the other matter"

Catra knew what Hordak was referring to. The nerdy princess. Catra had thought it was going to be a little more difficult to convince her to work for them, but it turned out that she was crazy about the technology of the Horde and the First Ones', so she completely sided with them just by providing her with tools. Right now, she was working on lasers, shields, and better robots, and she spent all day in her new workshop with Scorpia.

The reason they weren't talking freely about it at the time was that Despara still didn't know anything about the princess, nor did she know that Despara… well, that Adora was still alive. They weren't going to risk it yet.

"Of course. Despara, Catra, give us a moment-”

"No. I want you to take me there. I want to see it for myself this time” Hordak interrupted her

"As you order, Lord Hordak"

Hordak came down from his throne. Catra took a couple of steps back to let him pass.

"Wait here" Hordak ordered the girls. "We'll see what answer I have for the plans after seeing the progress with the weapons"

"Behave yourselves" Shadow Weaver demanded before leaving after Hordak

Catra followed them with her eyes, and when the door closed behind them, she sighed with relief. Damn, it was as if all the tension in the air came out next to those two monsters.

By the time she turned to look at her partner, she was no longer by her side. Despara had climbed the stairs to Hordak's throne.

"What the hell are you doing? Hordak will kill you!” Catra exclaimed

"Only if he finds out" Despara pointed out, sitting on the throne, and crossing legs

"It's a bad idea, how about he come back?"

"Please! Don't act like you don't want to go up! Come here, kitten”

Catra growled but obeyed. As she went up, she had to admit it. Despara looked really good on that site.

"Come, sit with me" the blonde smiled

"You mean 'on me'?" Catra asked

"If you want to see it like that..."

Of course, yes. she was used to it. Despara always asked her that when she was sitting in the captain's chair inside the tank.

Catra sat on Despara's lap. The blonde moved a little closer to her until her lips brushed against Catra's, without actually being a kiss.

To be honest, Catra had absolutely no idea what Despara was playing with all of that. She had no idea, but it didn't mean she wasn't enjoying it. At first it was kind of annoying because she thought all of that was part of Shadow Weaver's plan, for some reason. Then Catra had made the terrible mistake of asking the sorceress about it. She was surprised, she could even say she was annoyed, and ordered Catra not to continue with all that... seductive situation or whatever. But hey, Catra wasn't very good following Shadow Weaver's orders, right?

So, all that flirting was Despara's own thing. Catra wondered if Adora had felt all this or was it an effect of the brainwashing she had suffered. It was probably the latter, to be honest, because from what she'd seen that day, Adora had something with the Princess of Bright Moon. Ugh, Catra felt sick just thinking about it.

"Why do you insist on opposing me, kitten?" Despara asked, like this, as close as they were

"Because your plan is terrible" Catra replied, letting herself be carried and gently caressing Despara's cheek with her hand "You're gonna alert the rebels"

"Do you think?"

"I do"

"Do you think you can do better than me?"

"Obviously"

Despara kissed her. As Catra kissed her back and threw her arms around her neck, she could only think of how complicated the situation became when things like that happened. Despara was a nightmare, that one moment she could be yelling at her that she was the boss and that she was not going to allow her to disrespect her, and the next they could be like now. Catra hated her and at the same time wanted to be with her all the time. Her desire to hit her in the face was as intense as her desire to kiss her.

"Come on kitten, if we can take that shitty village tomorrow and the day after tomorrow take Plumeria, what's the problem?" Despara insisted

"We need to see what Hordak says first" Catra replied "What is the urgency? It is just one more village, it’s not relevant”

“I just need that one, and all of the Whispering Woods will be owned by the Horde. Getting to Bright Moon will be very easy after that"

"The woods will continue to be dangerous. Also, I thought you wanted Salineas”

"Of course, I want Salineas, but Bright Moon is the true goal. We'll attack with such force that the queen will beg us for mercy”

Catra raised her eyebrows. Hell, Despara was indeed… bad. Catra liked that.

"You wouldn't dare kill a princess" Catra challenged her

"Of course I would. Isn't that our goal?"

"I guess so, but remember they can be tough"

"The princesses? Please, they think they're a great thing but they're not”

"Just like you. You talk too much"

"Fine, I'll stop talking"

The blonde kissed her again without warning. Stupid Despara, with her stupid plan and her stupid kisses. She was going to drive her crazy.

"So, you think the Horde is going to attack us at any moment?" Perfuma repeated for the thousandth time

"This is what their recent activity indicates" Bow explained again "Have you not heard anything about the attacks?"

"Of course, I just... I tried to help, Bow, really, but when they gave me notice it was too late, and they always attacked a village far from the previous one"

“I know. That strategy was very good. They completely surrounded Plumeria, so it stands to reason that they're going to attack here now, right Glimmer?”

Glimmer didn't immediately respond. Since they arrived, they had spent looking at the Entrapta and She-Ra statues that Perfuma had made with plants. Glimmer understood that She-Ra was the hero and all that, but she felt that the statue may have been for Adora. See She-Ra there, represented with her characteristic smile...

"Glimmer" Bow insisted, putting a hand on her shoulder "The plan"

"Ah yes" she replied

"I wanted to pay them a little tribute" Perfuma commented "Well, there was no funeral and... you know"

"I appreciate it, Perfuma"

“I know that you and Adora… well. I'm sorry"

"Yeah. Well... the plan. You should consider evacuating the inhabitants"

"Do you want us to give up before resisting a little?"

"We're not gonna give up" Bow explained "But you have to evacuate the children and the elderly, at least. They can stay on Bright Moon. And we'll be your backup, together with the guards of Bright Moon"

"Do you think if we call the Mermista she will come?"

Glimmer shrugged. Mermista and Perfuma got along very well, perhaps the possibility of an attack on Plumeria would motivate the princess of the sea to rejoin the Alliance. Okay, technically Perfuma hadn't accepted that part yet, but Glimmer wanted to believe that, if they defended Plumeria, the princess was going to accept.

"Okay" Perfuma murmured, a little nervous "We better tell everyone to start evicting and..."

The princess was interrupted by screams and footsteps. Several people began to appear from among the trees. Children, women, men, the elderly, everything ran desperately towards them.

"Princesses!" an older woman exclaimed; almost out of breath "You have to help us"

"What happen?" Glimmer asked, although she already knew the answer.

“The Horde. Devlan is under attack. They destroyed and burned the houses, most of us escaped, but I think there are still some trapped there”

"You guys stay here" Bow said to the people of Devlan "You too, Perfuma, just in case they decide to attack here too. Glimmer and I will go see if we can do something"

Perfuma nodded and set about reassuring the refugees.

Glimmer felt the adrenaline build up inside her body. It was the first time she had faced the Horde since Adora's death. She had to make them pay.

She took Bow's arm and teleported to Devlan. She and Bow found themselves in the middle of a desolate landscape. The houses that weren't collapsed were on fire. The place was full of Horde soldiers. Some of them were surrounding a group of hostages and were pointing their weapons at them.

Bow immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow at these soldiers. It released a cloud of black smoke. Glimmer teleported there to urge the hostages to flee into the woods.

"Get out of here! Bow and I'll cover your back!" she indicated

The hostages ran immediately, while Bow and Glimmer fought against the Horde soldiers who tried to recapture the hostages.

Suddenly, one of the tanks opened its hatch and Catra came out, who shouted loudly

"Retreat immediately! We'll return to the Fright Zone! Quick! They're Despara's orders!"

At that moment, her eyes met Glimmer's. The princess let out a cry of rage and teleported right on top of Catra, who shoved her away to repel the attack.

"I knew you were behind this!" Glimmer exclaimed, launching magic blasts at her nonstop "Wasn't enough what you did to her?!"

Catra didn't answer, simply returned to the interior of the tank, which began to move to withdraw. Glimmer wanted to teleport into it but was unable to. Her powers were over. After having suffered so much with Shadow Weaver's spell, she had finally stopped having those attacks, yes, but now the charge of her powers lasted much less or were ending without warning. She screamed in frustration; her eyes filled with tears. It was incredible, seeing Catra so calm... Being bad even after Adora died because of her.

"Are you okay" Bow asked, approaching her.

Glimmer nodded. They watched as the last soldiers disappeared into the trees. Then they looked around. The town was completely destroyed. Luckily, they had managed to save the hostages.

"Doesn't it seem strange to you that they didn't attack us?" Bow observed "I mean, the soldiers did it, but I'm talking about Catra... there are only two of us, she could have captured us, and she preferred to withdraw"

"It wasn't her" Glimmer explained "Didn't you hear her? She said 'Despara's orders'. That 'Despara' is the one in charge. She's responsible for all this"

"Who's Despara? Adora never mentioned her"

"I have no idea. Maybe she didn't know her. But I think Catra is no longer the one to worry about"

"Well... they'll definitely attack Plumeria soon"

"Yes. We better get ready"

Glimmer took a deep breath. She was furious. The Horde were causing much more destruction than before, and Glimmer wasn't going to allow it. She didn't know who Despara was, but she was going to stop her at all costs.

"Damn it, Catra! I've forgiven you a lot of insubordination because we're friends, but you went too far this time!" Despara yelled, furious

"I told you! I told you that you were going to put the rebels on alert with this attack! That village is useless! But now the Rebels must be preparing the defense of Plumeria" Catra defended herself

They were in the Black Garnet Chamber, with Shadow Weaver present and Hordak listening from the screen.

Things had been like this: Catra and Despara had seen Sparkles and that boy arrive. Despara was eager to fight head-to-head with a princess, so she was ready to come out to face them. Of course, this would have been fatal to their future plans, so, as best she could, Catra had handcuffed Despara to one of the tank pipes and then ordered the retreat.

For Despara, that had been an act of cowardice for no reason, because of course, there were only two rebels against an entire well-armed troop. However, for Catra it had been the only smart move she could make to keep the Rebellion from knowing that Adora was still alive. Shadow Weaver knew that very well. She knew Catra had done the right thing, but of course, under the circumstances, she had to side with Despara. There was no point in supporting Catra, even if she was right.

"You made us look like cowards!" Despara reproached her, then she turned to Shadow Weaver and said "Mother, she deserves to be punished"

"Please! I'm sick of pretending that you're right and that you know what you're doing!" Catra snapped at her. At least she had that other point on which to vent her anger for being unfairly reprimanded "This plan was crap from the start, and you know it! Stop pretending you're a great Captain! You're not!"

"Enough!" Hordak intervened at last "I'm done with you two and your fights!"

Catra said nothing. She bit her lip to avoid talking more.

"Force Captain Despara, your strategy was bad from the beginning, you wanted to take Devlan just to enlarge your ego" Hordak snapped "The attack on Plumeria is not going to be as easy as we had contemplated thanks to your irresponsibility"

Despara looked really furious.

"Cadet Catra, your warnings were correct, and your strategies are generally good" Hordak conceded "However, you must learn where you are. You have no right to interfere in Despara's decisions"

"Are you joking?" Catra spat "This is bullshit! I could be a much better Force Captain than Despara and I'll prove it"

Despara gave a sarcastic laugh. Catra was ready to punch her in the face when Hordak spoke again.

"Are you sure about that, Cadet Catra?"

Catra lowered her fist and nodded firmly.

"Prove it" Hordak continued, with an unpleasant smile "Tomorrow you both will face each other in a fight to the death. The winner will be my second in command"

"Sir?" Shadow Weaver said, surprised

Catra was speechless. Second in command. That was so much more than just being a Force Captain. But... a fight to the death? She was furious with Despara, but she liked her. After all, they had that crazy relationship, she liked it, and besides, since they were little girls, they had made a promise to protect each other from anything.

Of course, that promise was made by Adora. And Adora, after all, had indeed died that day.

"I'll do it" Despara confirmed

"What?" Catra was surprised "Are you serious? It's a fight to the death. To. The. Death"

"Are you afraid, kitten?"

Shit. This was serious. She felt the anger burning inside her, and she really wanted to hurt Despara, but kill her...? She would be able?

"Catra?" Hordak insisted

"Fine, I'll do it" she said at last, with a small voice

"Tomorrow at noon in the training room. I'm sick of you two, it's time to end your fights"

With that said, the screen went dark.

"Shadow Weaver?" Catra muttered

She expected the woman to say something good. That all this matter was a joke. That she wasn't going to allow that to happen. That there was going to be another way to fix this.

"You already listened to Lord Hordak. We'll see what happens tomorrow"

Catra felt like vomiting. Had this been Shadow Weaver's plan from the beginning? Force them to do something like that?

Catra knew she was better than Despara, she could easily beat her in a fight, but kill her? Certainly, she had realized that she might have to get rid of She-Ra, but in none of the scenarios that she imagined she did it with her own hands in a face-to-face combat.

On the other hand, Despara had no scruples and didn't care about anyone. She wouldn't hesitate a second to murder someone. That was what made her dangerous.

"Nothing personal, kitten" Despara commented, with her stupid smile "Maybe you should have kept your mouth shut"

Catra took a deep breath. She was going to fight Despara, not Adora. She should have that in mind. Adora was gone forever, and perhaps it would be good for her evil alter ego to go with her. Despara wasn't her friend.

She would do it.

And if she won, the reward would be great.

Chapter Text

"You know you don't have to do it, do you?" Scorpia said for the thousandth time that day "I mean, if you win, you'll be the Second-in-command of the Horde... Does it matter if Despara takes that place?"

"Would you rather she be in charge?" Catra pointed out "No, I can't allow it"

"Okay, okay... but what if she wins?"

"I'll be glad not to be here to be under her command"

They were heading to the training hall. It was time for the fight. Was she nervous? Of course. But never scared. Not of her. She had spent so much time with Despara that she felt she knew her almost as much as she had known Adora. Despara was impulsive and dominated by rage. Shadow Weaver was right, she was like Catra. Who better than Catra then to understand how she would act? Besides, they had both had the same training, Despara couldn't have any movement that Catra didn't know about. What she would have learned with the Rebellion had been erased along with the rest of her memories.

"Catra... It's not worth it" Scorpia insisted, stopping her before crossing the door.

Catra stared at Scorpia for a few seconds. She looked really concerned.

"Hordak only does this because he wants to have fun with you" Scorpia made her see "This doesn't make sense. He wants this to be some kind of sick circus or something. Catra… I really care about you”

Catra frowned and nodded, her lips tight. It was a sick circus, of course. Everything in the Horde was a sick circus. Hordak, Shadow Weaver... Despara. They were all part of it. But she wanted to be in charge, to show everyone that she was capable of. She had worked hard to become a Force Captain, and Despara had come to wrest the triumph from her… as she had done all her life. She was going to make her pay.

"I'm going to win this battle. No one is going to tell me what to do ever again”

"Catra..."

"I'll be fine, Scorpia"

Scorpia opened her mouth to say something else, but Catra couldn't continue listening. She had to get this over with soon. She entered the training hall. Late, as always.

The obstacles that filled much of the training hall were gone. The terrain was completely flat, with its characteristic hexagonal pattern. There were bleachers around the compound, and at the other side of the hall, some stairways rose to where Hordak had placed his throne. Damn, how arrogant that guy was.

Many Horde soldiers filled the stands. Catra heard the crowd roar as she entered.

"Woah, when I said this was a circus, I didn't mean it" Scorpia muttered.

"I can't say I expected this to be private" Catra said "But this is insane..."

Despara and Shadow Weaver were standing next to Hordak's throne. Catra growled. Oh, of course! You couldn't tell who the favorite was...

"You can still go away" Lonnie said, approaching Catra and Scorpia.

"I'm not gonna to go away" Catra answered "I'm ready"

"Yeah, I assumed you would say that. The boys and I support you”

Catra looked at her. Lonnie smiled for a few seconds, as if to cheer her up.

"Really?" Catra was surprised

"Of course. You're our captain after all” Lonnie sighed.

"Uhh no. Despara is our captain, remember?”

"Despara is a bitch. You better finish her off"

"I thought you liked her"

"I liked Adora. But Adora's gone"

Catra nodded. She had to remember that phrase very well. Adora was gone. Scorpia sighed ruefully and murmured, “Well… I guess I can't dissuade you. Good luck, wildcat”

"Thank you" Catra replied, and advanced towards the center of the hall.

Despara was going down the stairs. She had removed her jacket and was looking directly at her. For a second Catra found herself wishing it was all a joke. She wanted Adora to smile at her and come back to do that silly mouse joke she used to do.

But no. That illusion vanished as soon as she saw Despara's arrogant smile. Catra looked at her with a frown.

"Start right now" Lord Hordak's voice echoed all over the place "There are no rules. The reward for the winner will be great. The loser will perish”

The soldiers began to scream, encouraging them to fight. It was sickly behavior, but Catra understood it. After all, it was uncommon to have entertainment living in the Fright Zone.

"I propose something to you, kitten" Despara said, raising her fists "If you give up now, I won't hurt you, what do you say?"

"Just shut the fuck up" Catra ordered, tensing her muscles.

"Don't be like that, why fight if we can have fun in my room?"

Dammit. That comment managed to make Catra distract herself for a second. And in that second, Despara came quickly over and punched her in the face. Catra fell to the ground, listening to the excited screams of the soldiers. She jumped to her feet.

"I guess you withdraw the invitation" Catra said, furious.

"Unfortunately, yes" Despara replied "But I need you to know, I would kiss you if mother weren't watching"

"Wow, thank you"

Catra lunged forward, but Despara dodged her. This was bullshit. A dead match? Really? Catra was going to make Hordak and Shadow Weaver pay dearly for this.

The second time, Despara wasn't so fast. Catra hit her in the liver, and when the blonde doubled over in pain, she gave her a second elbow strike in the lower back. Now it was Despara who fell to the floor.

Catra knew she was much faster, but she also recognized that Despara was stronger. Proof of this was that, from the floor, Despara kicked her leg so hard that it made her lose her balance and fall again.

Before Catra could do anything, she already had Despara on top of her, holding her by the neck.

"Listen, kitten" the blonde whispered, still applying force "Mother said that if you surrendered, they would let you live"

Catra was trying desperately to breathe. She hit Despara with the knee in the back, then punched her in the throat, forcing her to let her go. It took both of them a couple of seconds to catch their breath.

So that's what Shadow Weaver wanted? Make Catra humiliate herself by surrendering to her beloved daughter? That damn witch...

Catra launched herself against Despara. They both rolled on the floor, between bumps and scratches, until Despara managed to get on top of her again.

"I don't want to kill you" Despara assured, pushing Catra's head back as she tried to immobilize against the floor

"I'm not going to surrender" Catra yelled, hitting her as hard as she could "Do it yourself"

That was clearly not going to happen. Catra bit Despara's hand very hard, so much so that she felt a slight taste of blood. Then, she hit her in the stomach as hard as she could and pushed her back. She stood up, that gave her the advantage.

"Catra!" someone shouted from the cheering crowd.

She turned around and saw that someone had thrown a stun baton at her. Hordak had said that there were no rules. Catra ran to pick it up. Before she could get there, Despara tackled her from behind. She hit her chin on the floor. She was somewhat stunned for a few moments. She felt Despara hold her by the waist, and she elbowed her in the eye. She growled in pain but didn't let go.

Well, if that was what she wanted... Catra slashed Despara's face with her sharp claws. She clearly felt how her claws had managed to tear her skin. For the first time, Despara cried out in pain and let her go, covering her face with her hands. Catra stood up as the soldiers’ roar with excitement, cheering her on.

She picked up the stun baton, but hearing footsteps running toward her didn't even turned it on. She turned quickly, just in time to give her opponent a blow to the head with the baton. Then she turned it on and now yes, she stunned her by hitting her on the chest with the baton. Despara fell to the floor on her back.

Catra hadn't realized how hard she had clawed her until she saw the amount of blood gushing from two wounds on the girl's face. Seeing her lying there, Catra wondered what she was supposed to do now. Should she kill her? How? She didn't know if she was going to endure strangle her, the idea seemed horrible to her.

Shit, she didn't have the guts to do it.

"Do it Catra!" voices shouted in the audience.

She heard sounds of metal objects falling onto the floor. She turned to see that more batons, knives and swords were being thrown at her… Holy shit. Oh shit.

She froze, almost stopped hearing the screams of the crowd.

'She's not Adora' she had to remind herself 'Do it'

Big mistake. Before she knew it, Despara was picking her up and then throwing her hard on the floor. Catra gasped as she hit her back on the cold floor. Despara dropped down on top of her, grabbed her shirt, and began to punch her in the face. Again. And again. Catra felt groggier with each punch. The blood wouldn't let her breathe.

She felt something metallic fall on her hand. No matter what it was, she took it and blindly hit Despara with it. Or rather he said, she stabbed her.

The blows stopped, and Catra rolled onto herself to lie face down and spit a stream of blood. Shit, no, she couldn't stay still. She struggled to her feet and turned to watch Despara pull a knife from her shoulder.

Catra gasped. She hadn't realized when she had started crying.

It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. Not that Hordak made them fight, nor that Shadow Weaver had turned Adora into this...

Adora.

It wasn't fair that the damned Adora had abandoned her to go live with her new friends. Catra hated her for that.

She let out a battle cry and launched herself at Adora. No, wait, she's not Adora... Bah, and what did it matter if she was Despara or Adora?! Catra hated them both

She kicked her in the chest with all her might. Despara fell, and Catra put her foot on her chest. Despara took it, trying to push her away, but Catra was putting all her strength into it.

"I hate you" she said, all the poison in her voice "I'm glad I can get rid of you"

"You didn't kill me when you stunned me" Despara answered in a gasping voice "You don't have the guts"

Catra tried to reach for the knife Despara had taken from her shoulder, but the blonde took advantage of this to knock her down.

For a second, they both stared at each other. Adora's blue eyes ('SHE'S NOT ADORA, DAMN IT' she thought) contrasted with the red color of the blood that soaked her face. Her ponytail had been undone and her hair was tousled and bloody.

Well, this wasn't going to end well for anyone. Catra returned to the attack, and they rolled again on the floor, between blows, scratches and bites. Catra clawed hard at Despara's back with both hands, tearing her shirt and skin. She screamed again in pain. Catra threw her on the floor and then sat on Despara's back, trying to immobilize the girl's arms with her knees. She plunged her hand into the girl's hair, holding it firmly close to the roots, and slammed her face against the floor.

'You look out for me, I look out for you'

She tugged at Despara's hair to lift her head and slammed her face again...

‘Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other'

… and again.

'I promise'

Despara managed to free her arms and tried to get Catra off her back. Catra took the opportunity to stand up, and dragged Despara by the hair, trying to find the knife...

She gave a cry of pain. Okay, she found the knife. Despara had stabbed Catra's forearm for release herself. Catra didn't let go, she wasn't going to lose that advantage. Despara attacked with the knife again, this time lower, cutting the back of Catra's hand and much of her own hair in the process. Catra released her immediately, seeing how several blonde locks fell to the floor. Despara wasted no time. She got up as best she could and launched herself at Catra, screaming and with the knife pointed at her opponent. Catra reacted by hit her arm, but only managed to deflect the knife towards her leg. At least half of the blade entered her thigh. Catra barely had time to scream when Despara punched her in the nose and then in the stomach. After that, she was breathless, which Despara took advantage of that to beaten her in the face.

Catra fell to the floor, hitting herself hard on the head, and Despara kicked her a few more times in the stomach before stopping and punched her face one mora time, which caused a loud crack.

Catra's vision blurred. She heard a buzz, and in the distance, the screams of the public of that sick spectacle. She didn't feel able to stand up again. She couldn't breathe, that last punch had broken her nose.

She tried to get up on her elbows looked around and saw Despara approach her with a sword in hand.

Catra couldn't move. Despara looked exhausted, but she was standing, her face expressionless and staring at her.

Okay, so that's how it ended.

Despara came up to her, panting. She stepped on her shoulder and raised the sword, aiming the blade at Catra's chest.

Catra closed her eyes but didn't feel the stab. In fact, Despara stopped stepping on her shoulder too. Catra opened her eyes and raised her head a little to see what was going on. Despara was lying in the distance, and Scorpia had knelt beside her.

"Catra! Do you hear me?" she heard far away

Catra blinked slowly. What had happened?

"She surrenders!!" Scorpia exclaimed

What? No, Catra wasn't going to surrender! She preferred that Despara finish the job... she felt dizzy and everything went black.

She opened her eyes and looked around. She was still lying on the floor, her head on Scorpia's legs. Then, she looked away. She listened to everything very far away, but everyone applauded and roar while Despara raised an arm weakly.

Shit. That motherfucker was going to... to...

She thought it would be a great idea to get up to stab her in the back, but she fainted again.

When Catra woke up again, she found that she was no longer at the training hall. She was in a bed, at the Force Captain barracks, but what the hell was she doing there? Maybe Despara...? No, it couldn't be...

"Catra! You woke up!"

Ah, now she understood. She was on Scorpia's bed. Catra sat up, groaning. Her whole body ached.

"I have to go back" she said hoarsely "The fight... Despara..."

"Catra, it's too late" Scorpia replied "She won"

"What?"

"Hordak already named her Commander. It's over"

Catra shook her head. No...

"No, I never gave up!" she exclaimed, in a broken voice "Take me back!"

"Ehh... I can't do that" Scorpia replied

"Why?"

"Catra... you were unconscious for two days"

Catra looked at her blankly. Then she looked at her hand. The stab wounds were already a little scarred.

"Two days?" repeated

"I was afraid you wouldn't wake up" Scorpia commented, worried "You did well, wildcat, but those last punches from Adora were too much"

Adora, She-Ra, Despara. The girl who had come close to her and had almost run a sword through her chest.

"Despara" Catra corrected her. "You can't call her Adora, remember?"

"Whatever. I told you it was a terrible idea. You should have retired before you started!"

Catra put her hand to her nose. They had already fixed it, but she remembered very well the snap it had made when it was broken by Despara's punch.

"I should be dead" she murmured "You saved me from her"

"I did. I couldn't let her do it" Scorpia assured "I shouldn't have let you... well, you know"

"But... Hordak didn't order me to be killed?"

"Hordak stopped the fight as soon as you fainted. He said it was clear who the winner was"

"I had to win! I had the advantage the whole fight!"

"I know, Catra, but in the end Ado... Despara really hurt you with those punches. I'm sorry that things didn't go as you expected, but the important thing is that you're still here"

Catra clutched her head with both hands. Fuck. No. Once again, Despara had snatched the win from her at the last minute.

"I didn't want to be here!" she exclaimed, desperate "I told you I preferred to die! What you did was make me look like a coward in front of everyone!"

"Catra, is not like that, I ... I wanted to save you!"

"You should have let me die! Now everyone will think that in the end I was scared and surrendered to Despara!"

Catra got out of bed. She felt a stabbing pain in her leg, where Despara had stabbed her. Scorpia had bandaged it. Catra was in her pajamas, and she could see her arms and legs covered with bruises and cuts.

"Catra, you need to rest" Scorpia tried to calm her

"What I need is to be alone!" Catra replied, taking her torn clothes off the floor.

"Catra!"

"Thanks for nothing!"

Catra left the place as fast as the pain in her body allowed.

Catra had gone up to the roof, where she used to go to think. The anger she had felt upon waking was gone, giving way to a feeling of anguish. She didn't understand, had that really been Shadow Weaver's plan from the beginning? During Catra's time as Force Captain, she gained some respect among Horde soldiers, and she knew that many spoke behind Shadow Weaver's back, wondering why she had replaced Catra with Despara just like that. But now, what that fight had caused was that Catra looked like a coward. It was a fight to the death, and she didn't die. Scorpia had said that Catra surrendered with good intention, she had saved her life! But damn, Catra didn't know if she wanted to be saved. She was totally humiliated.

She still had a lot of pain throughout her body, especially her nose, but of course, she couldn't do anything. There was no place in the Fright Zone to heal wounds or something like that, since it was totally forbidden to show signs of weakness. They only cared for the wounds that really made the soldier in question unable to do her job, and since Catra had climbed to the roof, it was considered that she didn't need to be taken care of, even though the pain was killing her.

She heard sounds behind her, and then footsteps approaching her. Catra didn't turn, since she had tears of pain in her eyes, and she didn't want anyone to discover her like that. She was pretty sure it was Scorpia trying to get her to go back to bed.

"Hey kitten"

Catra caught her breath at the sound of Despara's voice. She bit her lip, which only brought her more pain.

Despara didn't wait for an answer. She sat next to her.

"What are you doing here?" Catra asked, annoyed, without looking at her

"I wanna talk" Despara replied

But what the hell was Despara playing at? Why did she always act that way? She did something horrible, she behaved like a complete idiot, and then she was kind again. Well, that wasn't uncommon after she yelled or punished Catra, but... after almost killing her?

"Get the fuck out of here" Catra demanded, still not looking at her.

"Catra, don't be like this"

"Don't be like this?! Do you realize we were going to kill each other or not?!”

Catra finally looked at her. She was silent when she saw Despara's face. Now, without the blood, Catra could clearly see the wounds she had done to Despara with her claws. One was small, and it ripped the girl's left cheek. The other was much larger and went from above Despara's left eyebrow and advanced to her right cheek, passing right next to her eye. Shit, a little to the right and Catra could have seriously damaged her eye. The wounds were quite deep, Catra was sure they needed stitches to close, but of course, once again, the Horde wasn't going to waste resources on non-fatal wounds.

In addition to this, and like Catra, Despara had smaller bruises and scratches on her face and arms. Her blonde hair was loose, revealing the shorter locks, which had been cut with the knife while causing the wound on Catra's hand. Catra, of course, did not feel sorry for her.

"Shouldn't you be doing commander stuff or something?" she sneered "You must be busy, right? Second in command of the entire Horde”

"Just a little" Despara replied, calmly "I sent robots and some troops to attack the rebel villages. That will keep the princesses busy while I recover to go with them. At last I'll fight face to face with the princesses”

"Wonderful, congratulations. What do you want from me?"

"I wanted to know if you're okay"

Catra was so furious when she heard this that she gave a horrible forced laugh.

"You want to see if I'm okay!" she spat, "Shit, Despara... Not even you can be so hypocrite"

"I'm serious" Despara replied, frowning.

"I'm fine! Thank you for worry! Shit… you're an asshole. I swear to you, it would be much better if you hadn't accepted Hordak's little game”

"Lord Hordak is our leader, we have to listen to him"

Catra clenched her fists. She knew it wasn't her fault. Shadow Weaver had reprogrammed her to think like that. But shit, she hated hearing her say it.

"Then why am I not dead? Hordak and Shadow Weaver just wanted to see me humiliated in front of everyone, and they did it" oh shit, she felt tears fill her eyes "And you...! You listened to them! You were really going to kill me!”

"You were going to kill me too! I have many more injuries than you!” Despara glowered

"And what did you expect me to do?! Stay still while you beat me to death?! Just leave me alone!"

"Catra... I didn't want to kill you. Believe me"

"You were going to! Just because Scorpia…!”

"Yes. But I didn't want to"

"Really? Is that your apology?”

Despara shook her head. Catra tried to understand. For a moment, she thought she was ruining everything by claiming her. Despara was in the middle of a moral debate. For one thing, she was forced to comply with all of Shadow Weaver and Hordak's orders because her mind was programmed for that. But on the other, she knew that she had done something wrong by attacking Catra. And by throwing it in her face, by making her feel bad... Could she break the spell? Could it be that Adora would return if she managed to make Despara feel very bad about how she had acted? Because Shadow Weaver had said that Despara would be cold and feelingless, but Catra... Catra was the only one who knew she wasn't like that all along. At least not being with her.

What would Shadow Weaver do to them if Adora returned? And what did Catra gain from that? She hated princesses more than she hated Despara. It suited her that she stayed like this.

"Let me try again" Despara asked, sighing "I'm sorry I obeyed Hordak, I didn't want to hurt you, but I had to"

"Your apology sucks, and..."

"And…?"

"And I hate you. I fucking hate you, Despara. You're the worst”

Despara nodded, staring at her with a slight smile. Catra growled and tapped her on the shoulder. Could she afford to get away from her? It was the only task Shadow Weaver had given her; she couldn't just decide she didn't want her around. It didn't matter how much she hated her.

"I'm awfully sorry, Catra. You're my only friend, and I never listen to you. I really regret everything that happened" Despara murmured "I'm really a people pleaser, especially with mother and Hordak"

"You barely notice?" Catra snorted "Why should I forgive you?"

"Because you're in love with me"

Catra giggled. Damn, the worst part is that maybe she had a point.

"You would like that, moron"

"Keep denying it, kitten"

Catra looked for a few moments at the wounds on her hand. Forgive Despara, huh? Well… did she have another option? Despara would probably make her life impossible if she decided to reject her anyway.

"You have to compensate me for this" Catra demanded "This was bullshit and you really must do something good for me in return"

"Compensate you?" Despara smiled "Have you noticed the scar on my face will never be erased?"

“You look better like this! You look tough, not like the little fool that you really are”

Despara ran her fingers through the wound on her face. It was still open.

"Don't do that" Catra chided softly "You're going to cause an infection"

"You do care about me, right?"

"Just shut up"

Despara smiled a little. Hell, she had no other option. Catra smiled at her too.

"I have something for you" Despara announced, reaching into her pants pocket and presenting a yellow badge.

"You're naming me Force Captain?" Catra asked, looking at the blonde

"I can't promote you to something else for now" Despara explained "But between us, it's just a formality. You and I know that you're my right hand, and since now I'm the one in charge here…”

Catra raised her eyebrows and took the badge from Despara's hand.

"We did it, Catra" Despara insisted "Now WE are in charge in this place"

"And we just had to try to kill each other to do it. Not bad, huh?” Catra joked

"It's a fair price"

Despara smiled at her again. For a moment Catra thought she would try to kiss her or something, but no. She sighed and said, “Let's get out of here. I have to go do something with my hair”

Catra stifled a mocking giggle "I didn't want to say anything, but you look ridiculous"

"And is it my fault?"

"Uh, yeah. You cut it, not me”

"To be honest, I wanted to cut your hand"

"And you did it, bitch"

"Just come with me"

They both tried to stand up at the same time, not without moans of pain.

"It wasn't fair from the beginning" Despara laughed, with a smile "You have claws! They're a weapon, I had nothing"

"Not that they helped me much when you stabbed me, so..."

"Catra, have you seen my face yet? And don't even talk to me about what you did to my back with your claws"

"I'd have liked to do those in another situation"

Despara giggled and looked at her in a way...

"Not now" Despara replied "Everything in my body hurts too much"

"Weak" Catra scoffed

"Shut up, I know you're in pain too"

Catra was just bragging, of course. She could barely walk.

"Also, now that I'm a commander, we'll have all the privacy we want" Despara pointed.

"I hope the power doesn't go to your head. Don't start behaving like Hordak"

"Bad time to say that Hordak gave me armor much like her own?"

"Really?"

"Really. It even has a mask that looks like his face"

"Ugh... I trust you will know when not to use it"

Despara stopped her, pushed her against the wall and kissed her. That kiss tasted a little like blood.

"I'm going to make up for what I did, kitten" Despara whispered "I promise"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Catra demanded to know, trying to sound somewhat aggressive

"Well... maybe I'll on charge of the Horde, but someone must be on charge of me. If you know what I mean..."

Catra kissed her intensely. The taste of blood grew a little stronger after that.

"Catra?"

Despara and Catra separated. Scorpia had just turned down that hallway, and had frozen in place, watching that scene. Despara broke the hug Catra slowly and cleared her throat.

"Scorpia" Catra said, adjusting her hair "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you... what are you doing with her?"

"That's not your problem, Force Captain Scorpia" Despara replied with an authoritative voice "I asked that all the captains prepare their troops to advance towards Plumeria, so I don't know what are you doing here"

Scorpia looked at Catra for a few seconds. Catra felt somewhat uncomfortable. Scorpia's gaze was of... disappointment?

"You heard Despara already" she said at the end "Get out of here"

Scorpia nodded slightly. It seemed that something had died inside her.

"Oh, and Scorpia" Despara added "Better that no one find out about this. Or I'll get rid of you, understand?"

"Yes, commander" Scorpia replied, before leaving with her head down.

"Why do you have to be so mean?" Catra asked

"Sorry kitten, I don't like your friend very much" Despara explained "She always wants to be the good girl"

That she just said that was very ironic, but of course, that was never supposed to happen.

They left the kisses for later and kept walking until they reached the barbershop. There, the man in charge of cutting the soldiers' hair stood up immediately and stood up, saying "Commander Adora, and..." he noticed the badge on the other girl's chest "Captain Catra. What can I do for you?"

Despara stepped forward and sat in the barber chair.

"I want you to shave my head" she ordered, looking at her reflection in the mirror

Catra and the barber looked at each other, somewhat surprised.

"Not like... a close shave or something" Despara clarified "But leave it short. Buzzed"

The man shrugged and replied "As your wish, commander"

He went to find the necessary stuff. Catra approached Despara and stroked her hair, saying "I thought you were just going to do something so the short locks wouldn't be noticed, not... this"

"After you dragged me by the hair, I think it is an advantage that I won't give to any enemy" Despara explained

"Sure, but... your hair is nice"

"It's just hair"

Catra shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't her business, it was just that Adora's ponytail and her hair poof were something that characterized her. It was going to be weird to get rid of that too.

The barber returned, and Catra took a couple of steps back, watching as the man put a cape around Despara's neck, and proceeded to turn on the clippers.

"Are you sure about this?" Catra insisted

"Yes, go ahead. I think I'll look good"

"If you say so"

She didn't say anything else, just sat to watch the barber took hold of Despara's bangs as he buzzed right down the middle of the girl's head, and the blonde hair cascading down the cape and onto the floor.

Catra wondered how things were going to be now. Shadow Weaver had made it, her beloved Despara was now the most powerful person in the Horde, and surely now that she had control over the entire armada, the real attacks on the princess kingdoms were going to begin. Damn, even if Catra's mission was supposed to be to keep the commander away from anything that reminded her of the past, a part of her was dying to see Sparkles' face if she realized who Despara really was. And yes, Despara could be difficult to deal with and that, but like the others, Catra realized that she was the key to destroy the Rebellion, and that was what Catra wanted.

It was awhile before the buzz of the clippers stopped, and Despara stood up. The girl's blonde mane was now a blonde buzzcut, so short that her scalp was visible. Without the bangs over her eyes or the rest of her hair to frame her face, the huge scar Catra had gave her was much more impressive.

"What do you think?" she asked Catra, running her hands over her shaved head.

Catra shrugged and nodded. Well, on second thought, Sparkles probably wasn't going to be able to recognize her.

Chapter Text

Catra took a deep breath as she walked to Despara's room. Of course, since Hordak had named her commander, she now enjoyed that kind of privilege, like having her own room. Catra couldn't complain, after all, that had also been beneficial to her.

It had been a few days since the fight, and Catra's wounds were improving little by little, luckily, she could already move without feeling pain. Despara had sent soldiers and robots to attack the nearest villages that weren't yet under Horde control, and it turned out that she did have a bigger plan, not just attack to take ground... Wow, and that Catra had thought she was just dumb.

She opened the door to Despara's room to enter, but immediately half closed before entering. Luckily, there was no noise. Shadow Weaver was inside with Despara. They were both sitting on the bed, and the sorceress hugged the girl and stroked her head, while speaking in a motherly tone.

"You must be careful. I know you are very capable of anything, but… I'm worried about you'll finally fight with the princesses”

"I'll be careful, mother" Despara replied, and her voice had lost all authoritative tone.

"Remember that you must wear the armor with the helmet at all times. It has an enchantment that will protect you from direct magical attacks. It's important that you never take it off, do you understand?”

"Yes. Thank you, mother"

Despara smiled a little, and Shadow Weaver held her tight for a few seconds. Catra clenched her fists as she watched that scene. The sorceress had always been like that with the blonde... and with Catra? Ah, no, for Catra she only had screams and painful punishments...

Catra knocked on the door to let them know she was there. Shadow Weaver broke apart from the hug and said, “Good luck. Although I know you don't need it, my child”

After this, she stood up and headed for the exit. As she passed Catra, she stared at her, threatened her "Don't screw it up"

"Thank you. You always manage to motivate me, Shadow Weaver” Catra replied

The woman didn't rebuke her, she just walked away from there. Catra sighed and entered to join Despara.

"Hey, mommy's girl" Catra chortled

"Oh, shut up" Despara replied

She hadn't yet put on the armor. It was a little intimidating, especially because of the helmet that looked like Hordak's face.

"Are you ready?" Catra asked Despara

"Yes" the blonde answered, "What about you?"

"This will be easy"

Despara smiled a little and nodded. The scars on her face were finally starting to heal, but it was pretty obvious they weren't going to go away. They were going to stay as a reminder of their fight for the power.

"Hey, have you noticed that your ears are almost as big as your forehead?" Catra joked, tugging on one of the other girl's ears. She smiled, then winced, but didn't push her away. Catra still wasn't quite used to seeing her without her long blonde hair, but the truth was that she didn't look bad at all. Besides, she liked stroking her short, soft hair, even purring when she did it.

Despara, meanwhile, had been very affectionate towards her. Sure, it had to do with feeling guilty for almost killing her, but hey, the truth was, Catra couldn't resist that the blonde girl's tender side.

"I know you're nervous because it's your first time on the battlefield as a commander" Catra soothed, looking her in the eye. "But you're going to do well. We're all counting on you for today's mission”

"And on you" Despara reminded her "I couldn't do this without you, remember?"

Catra smiled. She was already savoring the triumph. That night, they were going to return victorious.

"Those princesses won't know what hit them" Catra assured.

"We are close, kitten. Soon Etheria will be ours. You and I are going to rule. It will be as we always dream it”

Catra nodded. She hated to admit it, but she loved that Despara spoke in plural. Still, she couldn't help but think that Despara would have gotten rid of her if Scorpia hadn't stepped in... Scorpia ... the one who hadn't dared look at Catra lately if she was with Despara.

"C'mon, it's time" Despara pressure her, standing up "Can you help me put on the armor?"

Catra nodded. Come on, it wasn't like help was needed for that, but she wasn't going to question her at the time.

"Commander Glimmer!" the general exclaimed, running towards her "The spies report that a large number of Horde troops are leaving the Fright Zone"

"Only troops or...?" Glimmer started saying

“Now they do bring with them tanks, lasers, robots... They must be accompanied by their commander. It seems to be something big”

"So, you were right after all" Perfuma muttered, rubbing her hands together nervously. "It makes sense... the woods have been filled with Horde soldiers the past few days"

"Do you think they know that if they attack the Heart-Blossom they will harm the Whispering Woods?" Bow inquired "I mean... after... you know, Adora... destroyed the poison machine near here, they didn't try to repair it again"

"I guess they didn't really realize they were poisoning the land. But we can't complain about it. I don't think they have much idea of how rune stones work” Glimmer replied.

She hadn't overlooked how Bow hesitated to pronounce Adora's name. In general, everyone avoided naming the warrior in front of Glimmer, because they knew that the princess was still depressed. Certainly, Glimmer couldn't say that she had overcome what had happened, but she needed to move on, she had to make Adora's death not in vain.

As they had anticipated, the Horde had surrounded Plumeria, and they were prepared for an attack. Apparently, that day had arrived. Glimmer, Bow, Netossa, Spinerella, and the Bright Moon rebel troops had gathered in Plumeria to help Perfuma and her small army defend their home.

"Do you think we will finally meet the woman Catra named the other day?" Bow asked, "What was her name?"

"Despara" Glimmer reminded him. "At least that's what Catra said. It's she who has been ordering the murder of so many innocent people”

"I know... and it must be recognized that the Horde seems better organized... I think we should take her very seriously"

Sure, it wasn't like they had taken it lightly. After all, most of the rebels were now in Plumeria, and Perfuma had built a great wall of thick roots around the small kingdom. They were prepared, it didn't have to be a big problem... although of course, Glimmer had loved having the help of Mermista, Entrapta, and above all... well, her help and company.

"We have to reunite the Alliance" Perfuma said, as if reading Glimmer's thoughts "It's just... now that the Horde soldiers are much more aggressive, I think we cannot afford to be apart. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here to help me protect Plumeria. I really appreciate it guys"

"Don't even mention it" Bow replied.

"I hope Mermista and Frosta reconsider the offer... We need their help, and let's be honest, they will need ours sooner or later"

Awhile passed, and there was no sign of the Horde. Glimmer was wishing that the alarm had been false, just a mistake seeing the Horde test their machines or something like that...

"Someone is coming!" Spinerella exclaimed, who had been watching everything above the wall that Perfuma had built.

"The Horde?" Bow asked

"No, it's one of ours. Let him in!”

Perfuma made a hole in the wall, and through it entered a young soldier, whom Glimmer identified as one of their spies. The spy was wounded and could barely breathe. He dropped to the ground as soon as he was inside the wall, and in an exhausted voice he exclaimed "It was a trick! The Horde is heading to Bright Moon”

"What are you talking about?" the general asked, in an incredulous voice

"We saw it all! They made us believe that they would attack Plumeria, but it is not like that... All the war machines that we saw a while ago... are going towards Bright Moon because they know that the entire guard is here. I'm the only spy left... the rest... the rest are dead"

"We have to go back to Bright Moon! Quick!"

Glimmer was speechless... How could they be such idiots? They left the castle unprotected! There were hardly a few guards, and of course, the queen, but if they really were as many Horde soldiers as they believed...

"C'mon, don't waste time!" Glimmer exclaimed "We must protect the castle!"

"I can't believe it, they totally fooled us!" Bow complained

Perfuma was also quite surprised. She broke down the walls to allow the soldiers to go deep into the forest.

"Come on, we lost too much time" Perfuma urged them

"No, you must stay here" Glimmer indicated "They are going to attack Bright Moon, but that doesn't mean that there are no Horde soldiers hanging around. Rebuild up the wall, I'll ask some soldiers to stay with you. We'll return as soon as we resolve this”

As Glimmer said all this, a sign appeared in the sky that she hoped she would never have to see. The distress beacon. The Horde troops were already on Bright Moon.

"Let's go, Bow" Glimmer commanded, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder and teleporting.

Upon reaching Bright Moon, Glimmer and Bow were met with an awful scene: The Horde troops had the castle completely surrounded. They were firing their lasers at the castle, there were hardly a few soldiers fighting, and the queen could be seen shielding the Moonstone from the shots.

"Oh no..." Bow muttered

"The others shouldn't be long in coming" Glimmer told him. "We have to destroy the robots and..."

Glimmer was silent when she saw Catra on one of the lasers that fired at the Moonstone.

"And I will destroy Catra" she cautioned furiously

"Glimmer, wait!"

But Glimmer was already gone, and the next thing she knew, she was materializing on top of Catra. They both fell to the floor.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up!" Catra scoffed, pushing her.

"Did you miss me?" Glimmer replied, preparing to launch a magic blast

"Not as much as you miss Adora"

Glimmer screamed and launched herself at Catra, managing to punch her in the face. How dare she mock Adora like that? Catra growled at her and attacked her with her claws

"Don't be so dramatic, Sparkles" Catra laughed again

Glimmer grabbed her by the shirt and teleported them both. They appeared several feet above the ground, and Glimmer took advantage of Catra's surprise to kick her away from her before teleporting herself again. She appeared on the ground, standing in the middle of the water, just in time to see Catra land face down, splashing everything.

"Don't you dare say her name!" Glimmer yelled, with tears in her eyes "She died because of you!"

"Mine? Who was captured? You killed her, Sparkles”

Glimmer launched herself at Catra again, preventing her from standing up. Only then did she notice that the girl had several scars on her face, and some bruises that seemed to begin to disappear, in contrast to the one Glimmer had just provoked.

"Your new boss doesn't seem to treat you well, huh?" Glimmer commented, holding her by the wrists

"I'm my own boss! You'll see what I'll do with you when your whole kingdom is reduced to ashes!”

"You'll never win. When my soldiers arrive…”

Catra smirked. Glimmer had been distracted. She realized it very late, when she received an electric shock in the back and fell into the water.

"Glimmer! Glimmer, c'mon!"

Glimmer opened her eyes as Bow shook her to wake her up. She didn't see Catra nearby, but surely only a couple of minutes had passed.

"Our troops are coming, Glimmer!" Bow informed her “We have to help. We have to destroy as many robots as we can, remember?”

The princess looked around. Sure enough, the Bright Moon guard was suffering from among the trees, and they were starting to fight the Horde soldiers.

"But... Catra..." Glimmer began to say

"I don't know where Catra is" Bow interrupted her "But you have to forget about her. She's not important right now, we have to fight!”

"She... Adora..."

"C'mon Glimmer! You have to forget about Adora!"

Glimmer stared at him, unable to believe what she had just heard. Bow relaxed his expression, sighed, and insisted in a calm voice "Sorry Glimmer. I miss her too, and you know it. But we have a battle to fight. Adora is no longer here, it's up to us. Forget about Catra, she's a problem for later”

Glimmer wiped a tear away with her hand and nodded. Bow was right, Glimmer had wanted to put up a good fight, but was carried away by rage when she heard Catra mention Adora. She couldn't let that become her weakness.

"I'm sorry, Bow" she apologized, and stood up "I got carried away by..."

Glimmer stopped when she saw a giant wave appear on the horizon, and on it, a ship. Bow chuckled in relief, and Glimmer smiled broadly. The wave dragged several of the Horde machines, and in the blink of an eye, Mermista and Sea Hawk were standing beside them.

" I saw the distress beacon" Mermista explained "I'm sorry for the delay"

"Thanks for coming" Glimmer smiled "We need a lot of help here

"C'mon, we have a lot of robots to destroy!" Sea Hawk exclaimed, drawing his sword and running towards the enemy soldiers

Bow laughed and readied one of his arrows. Glimmer knew that she must prioritize robots and cannons, but she couldn't help but look for Catra. She seemed to have disappeared.

The battle ended a long time later, with the Horde defeated and retreating. Glimmer was very sure that, without Mermista's help, they would have been easy prey. Well, it wasn't that Spinerella and Netossa weren't helpful, but Mermista could be relentless. The Horde had planned that surprise attack on Bright Moon, but they had surprised them with the attacks of the sea princess.

The attack had left several soldiers wounded and some damage to the castle, but nothing that couldn't be repaired. There would be time for that. For now, the princesses, Bow and Sea Hawk headed to the war room, where the queen had summoned them to find out what had happened.

"Hey Glim" Bow stopped her for a few seconds, to let the others go ahead "I'm sorry for what I told you about Adora a while ago. I know it wasn't easy for you, and that it was the first time you face Catra after what happened... I wasn't kind there and I'm so sorry..."

"No, no, it's okay Bow" Glimmer reassured him. "You were right. I let Catra distract me... I miss Adora, but... I think I need to move on. I'm trying my best"

"I know you are, Glim. Adora would be proud to see how you kicked Catra's butt today”

Glimmer giggled and kept walking. She was a little calmer. It had to be remembered that Adora's death had been Shadow Weaver's fault. Not Adora's, nor Bow's, nor hers. She wasn't going to let Catra try to make her believe otherwise.

They arrived at the war room with the others. Since a few days, there was something new in the room. The queen had ordered to make a gilt vitrine, within which She-Ra's sword rested now, like a precious relic. In addition, the vitrine had engravings of Adora, in the missions that she carried out during her stay with the Rebellion. The queen had found it a worthy way to honor Adora, and it was, but it was a bit painful for Glimmer to see the engravings, knowing that she had been there, accompanying Adora, that they had been happy...

"What happened?" Queen Angella asked "You were very convinced that the attack would be in Plumeria"

"We were, your majesty" Bow replied "It was all a trap. They sent us a bunch of false signals and we believed them"

"I apologize, your majesty" the general intervened "We shouldn't have left the castle unprotected"

"You had good intentions in wanting to help in Plumeria, there's no need for an apology" the queen assured "However, we can no longer afford to let our guard down. Princess Mermista, I appreciate your timely intervention”

"My pleasure, your majesty" Mermista replied, and looked at Glimmer before continuing "I know that you would have done the same if the attack had been in Salineas... I think I understand the importance of being allies. It was a mistake to separate the Alliance”

"Does that mean you want to rejoin?" Glimmer suggested, relieved to hear that.

"Of course. We have to protect each other”

"This means that we only need Princess Frosta for the Alliance to be complete" Netossa said "I mean... complete under the current circumstances"

Glimmer nodded. It was a relief, of course, but she couldn't help but think that the Alliance would never really be complete.

"I wonder if the Horde liberated the Whispering Woods villages now that they saw that their plan didn't work" Bow muttered.

"Let's go see it" the queen suggested, making the Etheria map appear on the table.

The map was a hologram that filled the entire round table in the meeting war. It was quite useful, since in addition to showing each known site on the planet and being able to make more detailed zooms to where they needed it, it automatically showed who was in charge of each town or kingdom, making the Horde's or the Rebellion's symbols appear, as the case may be. As the map appeared, everyone gave a cry of surprise.

The Horde symbol appeared above Plumeria.

"N-no. No. It can't be" Glimmer stammered "It can't be! You saw it! Most of the Horde army was here”

"They couldn't take Plumeria with few soldiers" Bow murmured "And we left troops there to help Perfuma!"

"Maybe the map is broken" Sea Hawk suggested

Glimmer looked at her mother, waiting for her to say something, but the queen only covered her mouth with her hand. Glimmer didn't like the expression on her face at all.

"We have to go help Perfuma!" Glimmer exclaimed “C'mon! Maybe it's not too late yet!”

The queen agreed but wasn't convinced. Glimmer knew very well why. The map wouldn't show the Horde symbol if they were in battle, it was almost certain that they had lost Plumeria.

Glimmer, Bow, Mermista and Sea Hawk were paralyzed when they saw Plumeria. Or what was left.

The kingdom was completely empty, there were no Horde soldiers, but that only made the landscape look even more desolate.

The root wall that Perfuma had built was knocked down and burned, the houses of the inhabitants had been destroyed, there were some bodies of dead soldiers, including the spy who had warned them of the attack on Bright Moon, and, last but not least, the trees , the grass and all the plants were dying. Little by little, whatever was doing that was advancing, making all the flora die before the eyes of the heroes.

"Quick! We must check for survivors!" Bow urged them

"Perfuma..." Mermista murmured.

The four passed over the smoking remains of the wall and began to advance. It seemed as if an invisible fire was increasing its radius more and more. Glimmer felt a hole in her stomach when she saw that the statues of She-Ra and Entrapta were also knocked down and burned.

"It's much worse than when they were poisoning the land" Glimmer murmured, touching one of the withered trees. It felt like she was touching a dead log that had been drying in the sun for years, but it wasn't. That morning that same tree was very leafy

"It must have been a direct attack on the rune stone" Mermista suggested "Let's see what they did to it"

Glimmer nodded and stepped forward. She wanted to stay calm, but it was costing her a lot. Now she understood. They had thought the siege of Plumeria was a distraction to take over Bright Moon, but it was just the other way around... She wondered if Catra's disappearance in the middle of the battle had anything to do with it.

As they approached the tree in which the Heart-Blossom was embedded, Glimmer could see a figure between the smoke and dust. They needed to get a little closer to realize that they weren't really alone...

There was a person sitting right in front of the Heart-Blossom, in the place that could be considered the throne, or at least a place of honor. This person waited patiently, and to make it even more gloomy, an unconscious Perfuma lay in front of them.

Glimmer prepared her magic attack in her fists, Bow had put an arrow in his bow, Sea Hawk drew his sword and Mermista extracted some water from nearby plants.

"Who the hell are you?!" Glimmer yelled

The person didn't respond. Just stood up calmly, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. For a moment, Glimmer thought it was Hordak himself, but dismissed the idea when she saw that the person was much smaller, it was just that a mask resembling Hordak's face covered their face. The soldier was wearing black armor, and a red cape that fluttered in the wind and contrasted sharply with the black smoke around them.

"Who are you?!" Mermista repeated

The mysterious figure drew a long black sword and pointed it at Perfuma's neck.

"I suggest you lower your weapons" the figure said, in a voice that Glimmer definitely didn't expect.

It was a soft voice, from a girl... it was very similar to hers...

"Get away from her!" Bow exclaimed

The figure pushed the sword a little, a small thread of blood ran down Perfuma's neck.

"Put down your weapons" the girl ordered a second time "Please, we're barely getting to know each other"

Glimmer lowered her fists. In doing this, her friends let their guard down too. The girl put her sword away as well, stepped over Perfuma and took a couple of steps closer to them.

"You must be the princess of Bright Moon, or am I wrong? The leader of the Rebellion" she asked in the same calm but strangely threatening tone

Her voice... her voice sounded so familiar...

"Yes" Glimmer replied, trying to sound more confident than she felt "Will you tell us who you are?"

"An apology for not having introduced me until now, your majesty" the girl scoffed "I'm Commander Despara. You know, the one who is going to destroy you and all your kingdoms"

"You sound too confident, commander" Sea Hawk replied.

"Come on, there's no need for something so unfortunate to happen again. You can always give up"

Nobody answered. They were intimidated. There was no other way to describe it. They were four against one, but nobody did anything.

"Take this as a warning" Despara continued "Consider surrendering, your majesty. You don't want all your soldiers to suffer the same fate as your poor spies, right?"

Glimmer felt her blood boil, but she didn't move. Despara couldn't have simply left Perfuma alone. She felt that if they attacked, Perfuma would die.

"We're never going to give up" Glimmer maintained

"You're signing your death warrant" Despara cautioned "Okay. Then I think we'll see each other again"

"Are you leaving so soon?"

Glimmer didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she launched a magic blast at the commander. To everyone's surprise, she didn't move from her place. The attack bounced off her armor like nothing.

"Not very diplomatic of you, your majesty" Despara commented "Well, I can't help you then. I'm leaving. If I were you, I'd take care of your friend. Next time I won't give you this opportunity, understand?"

Glimmer hated to admit it, but she was intimidated. She really was going to let Perfuma go? How confident was she of her plans?

"You better not try to follow me or..." she giggled "Shoot your little arrow at me. If you try, my spies will kill you all. Take care of your friend, you're lucky that I'm in a good mood today"

Without saying more, Despara went into the forest and disappeared. They didn't move. They didn't want to risk themselves.

Bow was the first to emerge from that trance. She ran to Perfuma and took her vital signs.

"So, she's responsible for everything that happens..."Mermista commented

Glimmer didn't reply. She approached Perfuma, her heart racing. Sure, it was for all the emotions of the day, but for a second, she had thought she heard Adora's voice... coming out of that masked monster. It was ridiculous, she had to dismiss that idea...

"She's fine" Bow determined, looking at Perfuma "She's only unconscious. We have to take her to Bright Moon and..."

"Hey... look at the runestone" Mermista pointed out

The Heart-Blossom, which was usually pink, was now dull gray. On the tree trunk, just above the stone, was a metal device with a small red led.

"That must be what is drying the plants" Bow said

"I'll see if I can remove it" Sea Hawk offered, approaching the tree.

Glimmer looked at Perfuma. Outside of the small wound on her neck, the princess didn't seem to have another wound, and she was breathing.

"So that's Despara" Glimmer muttered

"She's terrifying" Bow commented, not looking at Glimmer. "Catra kidnapped us as soon as she had the chance. If this Despara didn't do the same with Perfuma, it's because her plans go further. That or she has no idea what she does”

"Look around you, Bow, do you really think she has no idea what he's doing?"

She looked back. So much destruction caused by so few elements... What would have happened to Bright Moon if Despara had directed that attack instead of Catra?

"Did you hear her voice?" Glimmer asked

"Yes, but... I didn't notice anything special" Bow replied "What do you mean?"

No, it couldn't be. She was imagining things, it was ridiculous...

"Nothing, forget it"

Glimmer didn't have to answer any more questions, because at that moment they were distracted by hearing Sea Hawk fall to the floor. He had managed to uproot the device from the tree, and immediately whatever dried the plants stopped spreading. At the same time, Perfuma began to move.

"Ha! Another victory for Sea Hawk” he exclaimed, rising to his feet and lifting the small device up high

"Perfuma?" Bow muttered, putting a hand on the princess's shoulder

She opened her eyes momentarily, but then closed them again and didn't answer anything.

"We have to take her to Bright Moon" Glimmer urged "And send troops to... well..."

She looked at the dead soldiers in the field. She bit her lip to avoid saying anything else. The Horde had to pay for so many lives taken...

"Guys... you have to see this!" Mermista, who had taken the device and was watching it closely, exclaimed

She approached the two friends and pointed out what she wanted them to see. At the base of the device could be read in small letters 'I'M ALIVE. FRIGHT ZONE. E.'

"Entrapta..." Glimmer whispered, feeling her heart skip a beat

"She's still alive!" Bow shouted "And... we left her behind..."

"They're forcing her to make weapons" Mermista lamented "That's why the Horde have improved their attacks so much... She was even able to damage a runestone!"

"We have to rescue her before she's forced to build something more dangerous!" Bow exclaimed

"I hope Perfuma is able to fix this mess" Glimmer murmured "It's obvious that they intend to get rid of the Whispering Forests, and if they do it..."

"There will be nothing to stop them from moving freely around Etheria"

Glimmer looked up. The engraving depicting one of the many legends of She-Ra could be seen on the tree. Glimmer took a deep breath and frowned. They weren't going to allow themselves to be defeated so easily.

There was seldom reason to celebrate in the Fright Zone, but today, everyone was ignoring the strict rules of behavior, and even Shadow Weaver was allowing it.

Catra and Despara had left Hordak's Sanctum after he congratulated them on their victory for the day. Not only had they weakened Bright Moon, but they had taken Plumeria, and it was a matter of time before the Whispering Woods disappeared once and for all.

The point was, as they stepped out into the hall, many of the Horde soldiers cheered for them, celebrating the triumph. Despara saluted and had removed her helmet to show her classic arrogant smile, as if she were used to it, but for Catra, this praised was something new. Something she could definitely get used to.

The road to Despara's room had been full of shouts, greetings, and claps on the shoulders, and Catra kept her composure. Of course, as soon as they closed the door behind them, their composure disappeared. Catra giggled and hugged Despara. She hugged her back, but she couldn't keep her balance and they both fell to the floor laughing.

"It was incredible!" Catra exclaimed, and she could see that she was purring “You did it! Your plan came out perfectly!”

"Our plan" Despara corrected, giving her a genuine smile

Catra smiled too and leaned down to kiss her. A kiss different from the ones they used to, this one was slower and more tender. After this, Catra stood up and helped her to her feet.

"It was just as you planned" Catra smiles as she watched Despara remove the pieces of her armor. "They left Bright Moon without any protection. If the plan had been to destroy the castle, we would have succeeded"

"Yes, but give them time" Despara replied, putting the metal pieces on the floor "They must believe they have a certain advantage. This way they will trust and lower their guard. Also, I want to conquer Bright Moon myself"

Catra sat on the bed. She was very satisfied with the result of the mission. Also, having the opportunity to fight with Sparkles had been very stimulating. See her face when she mentioned Adora... oh yes, it was worth it...

Now Despara was wearing only her shorts and tank top, and Catra noticed several bruises on her arms and legs.

"I thought Shadow Weaver said your armor was impenetrable" Catra commented.

"For direct magic attacks" Despara explained. "The flower princess tried to stop me with her little plants. But when the one with the pink hair launched her glitter attack or whatever, it bounced like nothing"

Catra had to admit it. That Despara's armor was totally immune to Sparkles’ magic specifically was an evil detail from Shadow Weaver. Catra loved that.

"How about you?" Despara asked, sitting next to Catra and touching the bruise on the girl's cheekbone "Who did this to you? Because I'm going to destroy them…”

"It turns out that Sparkles can also punch" Catra shrugged

Despara giggled and shook her head. Then, she took a deep breath, ran a hand over the nape of her neck, and drew a very subtle smile without looking at Catra before saying "That girl, the Princess of Bright Moon... She's kinda pretty, huh?"

Catra felt her cheeks light up and her lips tightened. She remembered that day... She remembered very well the expressions of Adora and Glimmer when they said goodbye to each other. She remembered the words they had exchanged, which were only heard by Catra thanks to her sharp ear. She remembered how much that infuriated her to know that they loved each other...

"Are you serious?” Catra replied, annoyed "C'mon! You're better than this"

Despara looked at her and giggled.

"What's wrong, kitten? Don't be jealous”

"I'm not jealous! What an idiot…”

Despara hugged her with a laugh, and Catra tried to push her away, hissed.

"Let me go, you moron!" she demanded

"Come on kitten, it was just a comment" Despara made her see "Please, she's a princess! Fuck her and her friends"

Catra managed to free herself and crossed her arms indignantly. Shit, she was jealous.

"You should have seen their faces when they got to Plumeria" Despara commented, with a somewhat disturbing smile "They have no idea what awaits them... Because the nerdy princess did what I asked her, right?"

"She and I did everything you asked for, commander"

Hordak himself had taken care of the whole thing between Entrapta and Despara. The princess had been informed of everything, Catra had no idea why Hordak was putting so much trust on her, but anyway, he was the boss. Despara had been made up with a story that the princesses had attempted to enter the Fright Zone, that they had been stopped before they even succeeded, and that one of them, Entrapta, had decided to join the Horde to be on the winning side. And since they made Despara aware of what the princess was capable of, she had already entrusted her with a mission. Despara had really put a lot of effort into the plan, and Catra was sure it would work.

A device that would damage the runestone, enough to get the rebels' attention. Despara had ordered Entrapta to write a half-hidden ransom message. The nerdy princess didn't even ask why, she just did it by muttering some of the ridiculous designs into perfectly functional machines without any frills. Despara had placed this device right above the runestone, a place clearly visible for the rebels to take it and feel that they had been the heroes, and of course, to make a rescue plan.

Now, it was a matter of time for them to appear in the Fright Zone. It was going to be a pleasure for Catra to get rid of Sparkles and her friends...

But not everything ended there. Catra had had another key role in the plan. She stayed in Plumeria, watching as the princesses took the flower princess with them, how a rebel squad appeared and take away their dead ones, and when all was left alone, Catra had led her squad to begin building a fort around the runestone, where a second device, a larger and more destructive one, was installed. She wondered how long it would be before the rebels realized this. Their precious Whispering Woods weren't to last much longer.

Soon, Etheria would be under the control of the Horde, and there was nothing the Rebellion could do.

"There was something in Plumeria that caught my attention" Despara commented

"If it's something that has to do with the Princess of Bright Moon..." Catra began to say

"No. There was an engraving on the tree, and a statue. A huge woman with a sword. She-Ra, or something like that”

Catra tried to remain expressionless. She nodded a little, motioning her to continue.

"That sword was the source of all her magical power. I need a sword like that one” the blonde declared

"Uh huh. Do you want to be the princess of the legends?” Catra tried to make it sound as ridiculous as possible

"No! I want a sword, or any weapon, that is able to work with magic, and using it for whatever I please"

"Right... and where are you going to get a weapon like that?"

Despara smiled. That disturbing smile again.

“The nerdy princess knows how runestones work. She was able to fuse magic and technology. Guess I'll pay her a visit tomorrow”

Chapter Text

"You know... This brings back very bad memories," Mermista growled. "This plan went super bad last time."

"Oh, you think so? Well, your negative attitude is not going to improve things" Perfuma replied, rolling her eyes

"Girls, please! It's supposed to be a sting operation!" Bow whispered before Mermista replied "Sea Hawk! Don't you dare attack those guards!"

Glimmer slapped her forehead. Okay, maybe that wasn't one of her best plans after all.

They had decided to go to the Fright Zone to save Entrapta. Apparently, the recent improvements in the Horde technology were due to having the Princess of Dryl working for them. And if the Horde's technology was superior to the Rebellion's without Entrapta's help... well, now they have a serious problem.

Glimmer knew that the rescue mission wasn't going to be easy at all, since none of them knew the Fright Zone, so they had to follow Adora's plan again.

Adora...

"Glimmer, are you okay?" Bow asked, putting a hand over hers.

"Yes. Wait... The guards are still there" Glimmer indicated, trying to sound focused

It was very difficult to go through that again. After all, it had been on a rescue mission just like that one where she had lost Adora. She had died in the place she hated the most, at the hands of the woman she despised...

"Glimmer..."

"Wait a moment"

Glimmer expected to meet Despara that day. She had not told anyone, but she still thought that woman had a voice very similar to Adora's... she wanted to hear Despara speak again... Of course, this to confirm once and for all that it wasn't possible, that she was confusing things. Although deep inside... she just wanted to hear Adora's voice one more time...

Glimmer was sure that their next meeting would be interesting. That girl had made it clear that she was an enemy that they had to fear, and that she seemed to be a brilliant strategist because when they wanted to return to Plumeria, it turned out that they had already been taken by the Horde, they had their camp, and in addition, they had put a device in the Heart-Blossom that caused the Whispering Woods to die at a slow but steady pace. Perfuma's powers were quite diminished. Her attacks were very weak, but not completely useless. Either way, the flower princess had a hard time maintaining a relaxed posture now that she saw the forest drying up and she could do nothing to prevent it.

"The guards are gone!" Sea Hawk indicated

"Mermista, go!" Glimmer ordered

Mermista got up and ran to the sewer. Her role was the same as the last time, she had to go down in the sewers, open the building door and then all together enter to look for Entrapta. It seemed incredible that entering that fortress was the easy part.

Mermista disappeared into the sewer, so Glimmer and the others approached the main entrance.

"This is weird," Sea Hawk whispered. "When I was here with... I mean... the last time, they did the shift change right away."

"It's okay Sea Hawk, you can say her name" Glimmer growled "Bow, I need you and Perfuma to cover that side"

The two of them obeyed, covering the right side of the entrance. Glimmer was left alone with Sea Hawk.

"Glimmer, how are you?" the boy asked "I know it must be hard... you know, to come back here after what happened..."

"I'm fine" Glimmer interrupted "Just... stay focus. I don't want to leave anyone behind this time"

"Glimmer... you think...? I mean, since Entrapta's alive..."

The princess sighed. That idea had also crossed her mind.

"I don't think so" she replied, resigned "I saw her. I checked it myself. Adora wasn't breathing"

"I'm so sorry, Glimmer. I know that you two... well, that you were... something else"

"No. But we could have been, I guess"

Nothing, there was no sign of any guard or Mermista. In fact, not a single sound was heard.

"Hey... I have to tell you something," Sea Hawk muttered "I don't know if this really matters or if I'm imagining things but... the other day, in Plumeria, when that terrifying Horde girl spoke... well, it seemed to me that her voice sounded like... hers"

Glimmer looked at him in surprise.

"You also...?"

"Glimmer!" she heard Bow whisper "Mermista is in position!"

Sea Hawk nodded, looking at Glimmer very seriously, before standing up. The princess followed him, and together they went to the door.

So, she wasn't crazy! Sea Hawk had also heard Adora's voice! Of course, that might not mean anything. There were many people with similar voices. It was just... Glimmer was having a hard time letting her go. Knowing that she wasn't the only one who had noticed that little detail made her feel good.

They met Bow and Perfuma. She could hear a sound behind the door. And then it opened.

Glimmer ducked just in time to dodge a laser that was going to her head.

A Horde soldiers squad were waiting for them, and at least three of them were holding Mermista.

"Let her go right now!" Sea Hawk ordered them, running towards them with his sword raised

"No, wait...!" Bow yelled but was interrupted by a laser blowing up the pipes right next to him.

Glimmer looked back. Dozens of armed soldiers were surrounding them.

"Inside! Quick!" Glimmer ordered

Perfuma and Bow obeyed, rushing to attack the soldiers inside the fortress. The pink-haired girl pressed the button to close the heavy metal doors behind them, leaving them trapped in the Fright Zone.

But that was a problem for later. She teleported to dodge a soldier's attack, only to appear at his side and hit him with a magic blast. Sea Hawk had managed to free Mermista, and now she used the water from the sewers to attack. Perfuma couldn't do much because, although she tried to create vines to immobilize the soldiers, they ended up wilting after less than a minute. At least she stopped them long enough to allow someone else to attack them. Like Bow, who had already caught several with his net arrows.

An alarm went off, and there was a hard knock on the other side of the door.

"We better move out of here," Bow indicated, nodding for them to follow him.

They all ran, making sure no one followed. Shouts and footsteps could be heard in the distance, in addition to a few shots.

"Here!" Perfuma pointed out, turning a corner "We hid with Adora in a closet in this hallway"

Mermista opened the closet door, and the five of them entered it.

"What the hell happened out there?" Mermista asked, gasping "As soon as I got out of the sewer those guys caught me!"

"They knew we would come for Entrapta" Bow muttered

"But that is impossible" Sea Hawk replied "They didn't know that Entrapta told us that she was here"

"Maybe they did" Glimmer pointed out "Maybe... maybe they made her write that note"

There was a brief silence. They heard several footsteps running down the hall.

"Even if that's true," Perfuma whispered "We let a couple of days pass... Are you saying that they were standing guard from the first day waiting for Mermista to appear through the sewer? And how did they know where she would be?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's because we follow the same plan as last time." Mermista slapped her forehead "They know that we don't know the Fright Zone, so it was logical that we would follow Adora's plan again"

"It's still strange"

"It's not so strange," Glimmer made her see "Surely there are spies following us. Is that it or Despara or Catra forced their soldiers to stand guard day and night in that sewer. They are capable of that"

"No matter how they knew we were coming, the important thing is to get out of here!" Bow sentenced

"And what about Entrapta?"

"Glimmer, we have no idea where they hold her prisoner. They set us up, it's very risky. I don't want to leave her behind, but we can't do anything"

"Coming here without a plan was a horrible idea," Mermista declared

Glimmer took a deep breath. Once again, she had put her friends in danger by not wanting to wait to have a plan. And now, there was no She-Ra to save them.

"We have to try," Glimmer asked, his voice breaking. "Only in one place! The Black Garnet chamber! It's where Shadow Weaver... well, you know. Maybe they also have Entrapta in that place"

The others looked at each other, worried.

"C'mon guys, she's our friend," Glimmer insisted, "I think I know how to get there. Besides, they won't expect us to go deeper into the Fright Zone. We will confuse them"

Everything went silent for a few moments, but it was Perfuma who spoke first.

"We already left Entrapta alone once. I think today is the day to correct that mistake"

Mermista took a deep breath and nodded. Sea Hawk held up his thumb, and Bow put a hand on Glimmer's shoulder, smiling and nodding a little.

"Thanks, guys." Glimmer smiled "I'm ready to face Despara"

"Don't be offended Glimmer, but don't you think meeting Despara is the worst thing that could happen to us?" Sea Hawk commented

"Maybe, but together we could-"

"No" Perfuma interrupted "Believe me... we are not ready to face her"

The princess answered nothing. Two days ago, as soon as Perfuma regained consciousness, the first thing Glimmer had done was ask her if she had seen Despara's face, but the flower princess' answer was no. Despara had not removed her helmet at any time. And from what Perfuma had related, the commander was very quick and cunning when fighting. She had to be, since even Catra was under her command.

"I think I can teleport us to the Black Garnet chamber. Let's try," Glimmer suggested.

"Glimmer, you've never teleported four people, we cannot risk you running out of power." Bow shook his head "I think you should save your energy in case we have to escape. And you know we run the risk of your powers not working"

"I hate when you're right"

Perfuma opened the door slightly and peered into the hallway.

"Now" she whispered "We have to move forward"

Sea Hawk took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Mermista interrupted him.

"If you say 'adventure', I'm gonna sink your damn ship, get it?"

"Run!" Bow whispered and stepped out of the closet. The others followed, trying not to make a sound as they moved down the hall.

Glimmer remembered where the Black Garnet chamber was. How could she not? She had recurring nightmares with that place. She had seen Adora die dozens of times in her dreams, and she always woke up from these with her pillow wet with tears.

They advanced through various corridors, passing open doors, and hiding from the Horde soldiers. On a couple of occasions, they had to enter a room, risking that someone else was inside.

"Okay... he's gone," Bow announced, when the footsteps of the man who had just passed by stopped being heard.

"Uh... guys," Mermista murmured. "You better see this."

Glimmer turned to her. Mermista had advanced a couple of steps into the room. Then Glimmer could understand the tone of concern in Mermista's voice. In front of them were dozens and dozens of new cannons, of a type Glimmer had never seen.

"It can't be..." Bow gasped, standing next to Glimmer

"It's already very difficult to face the Horde with their normal weapons, now they have a lot of new cannons?" Perfuma complained

"This is what Entrapta must be working on!"

"Now do you understand why we should get her out of here?" Glimmer noted "She knows how to do this kind of thing, and Hordak is taking advantage of this to make her do weapons for them! That's awful"

"But... you want her to make weapons for us" Perfuma pointed out

"It's different... We're the good guys"

"I found them!" a guard at the entrance exclaimed, "I found the rebels!"

Sea Hawk drew his sword and ran towards the guard, shouting "I think we won't save Entrapta today!"

"We have to get out of here, and quickly," Mermista demanded

Hearing the number of footsteps approaching them, Glimmer knew there was no place to discuss that.

"Woah! It's very cold here, right?” Scorpia exclaimed, "I mean, I know that's why it's called the Kingdom of Snows, but during the princess ball it wasn't so cold, don't you think?"

"Indeed, the closer we are to Princess Frosta's runestone, the cold is more intense," Entrapta explained "But they have some form of temperature regulation in the castle"

Despara growled and advanced toward the front of the huge vehicle they were traveling in. Catra went after her. She wondered if the commander really wasn't cold, or if she just wanted to brag.

"They're really fun, huh?" Catra commented

"Can you tell me again why we brought Scorpia?" Despara complained under her breath "She's so annoying..."

"Because she's the only one Entrapta lets help her with her experiments, remember?"

"If we don't count that ridiculous robot of hers..."

"Hey, at least the robot serves as a weapon"

Despara looked straight ahead. Catra could already see Princess Frosta's castle, in a few more minutes they would be there. She saw Despara again. She was looking at the castle with a frown, but with a spark of happiness in her eyes. Although if Catra was honest, whenever that spark of happiness appeared in Despara's eyes, it meant that something bad was going to happen.

"And you think we are going to conquer the Kingdom of Snows?" Catra asked "It's just... It's the most protected kingdom in Etheria"

"No way, we won't do it," Despara replied, with a half-smile "I told you in the Fright Zone"

"I thought you were joking... or would plan something along the way"

"No, I was serious when I said this was just a test for those new Entrapta weapons. Even if they don't work as they should, why waste the cannon's destructive power?”

"But we will lose the element of surprise"

"But... let's imagine for a second that this thing works properly. We will weaken the Kingdom of Snows, something Hordak never dared to try"

"Hordak has always thought it is all or nothing"

"And I think you have to do as much damage as possible, even if we don't win the battle"

Well, Catra was sure about that. After conquering Plumeria, Despara had sent troops to many more villages, approaching Bright Moon, and beginning to advance on the coast. The Horde was beginning to take even more power, and it was largely due to Despara's plans and the weaponry Entrapta provided them. Just that day they were going to test some of the new laser cannons that Entrapta had invented. Just that, they didn't even carry so many soldiers. They were going to shoot the ice castle, and then retreat. If the cannons were working properly, the rest of the ones that were already built were going to be installed throughout Etheria, and the Princess of Dryl had the order to dedicate herself completely to designing the sword that Despara wanted. Catra wondered what things would be like if Despara had She-Ra's sword and used all that power in favor of the Horde. Ha, sure Bright Moon would have already fallen.

Bright Moon... For two days, Despara mentioned "the sparkling princess" from time to time. They were not always derogatory comments. Catra was beginning to worry that Despara would remember something. Adora and Glimmer. She didn't know how deep were their feelings for each other, or if it really was something significant...

‘Of course it was, Catra. Admit it, you are jealous’

Of course not. She was never going to be jealous of Sparkles. Besides, now Ador... Despara was hers.

"Hey, why don't you put your helmet on?" Catra proposed, seeing that they were about to arrive

"Why?" Despara smiled, turning to look at her "Don't you like to see my face?"

The answer that came to Catra's mind at the time was "no", but not because she didn't want to. She loved seeing Despara's face, because shit, she was beautiful. But seeing her face included seeing her scars and remembering what she had done to her… what they had done to each other on the day of the fight. Catra hated to admit it, but, like everyone else, she was also a little afraid of Despara. That is to say, the commander was kind to her (very kind), but she knew that if she made her angry... Well, Catra wasn't afraid of being hurt, but she knew that she would also react aggressively, and a fight between the two of them could only end one way. Catra didn't want to repeat that fight, that was all.

"It's not that" Catra replied "But we are going to arrive, and Shadow Weaver said you should always wear your helmet. Also, without your hair, your brain must already have frozen”

"Very funny"

Catra was about to walk away, but Despara grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her toward her. Then she gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Just wait, kitten" Despara said, with a slight smile "This is going to be another triumph for both of us"

Catra couldn't help but blush.

Despara smirked as she pulled on her helmet. It was really cold in that damn place but shaking with cold was something that was reserved for the weak.

She turned to look at Catra, who went to order Entrapta to prepare everything. They weren't going to announce their arrival, they would just start the test to see what happened.

Ah, Catra… Despara had to admit that this little seduction game was something fun. She just had to smile, give her a couple of kisses every now and then... and yeah, it didn't bother her to let her sleep in her bed, and let her take control if something else happened. Damn, she was even starting to feel a little guilty. The poor kitten really believed all of this was real.

Catra was a dangerous adversary, Despara had to give her credit for it. She was good at making plans, and even better at fighting. On the day of the deathmatch, she could have ended Despara, but she was stopped by her feelings. It was then that Despara found that the little game that had been playing with her for weeks was working. Catra lost absolutely all her security and her boss attitude when Despara kissed her. It had not been difficult to figure out Catra's character. She simply had to give her credit, make her believe he was in charge from time to time, and pretend she had some control over Despara. With that, the kitten would no longer dare to rise up against her or rethink the ridiculous idea that she might be a better commander than the blonde. Despara had her fully under control, even if she didn't suspect it. The scars on Despara's face served as a reminder that it was better to have Catra on her side. All she had to do was not break her heart.

A little snow, a little ice... Was this why Hordak hadn't even tried to get close to the Kingdom of Snows? Despara was really beginning to wonder why that guy was the leader of the Horde. If Shadow Weaver were in charge, things would be much better. And if Despara were in charge... No, she had to stop thinking about those things. She must obey Hordak, that's what she had been trained to do for so many years. It wasn't the time to want to go against it. She was to conquer Etheria in Lord Hordak's name. And of course, she was going to have a lot of fun while doing it.

It was a pity that the attack was a surprise. She wanted to meet the other princesses again. The flower princess had been easy prey, and surely, she was even easier now with her weakened powers. Despara believed that the princess of Salineas was much stronger, and she was waiting to fight her to check it out. The two boys she had seen with them didn't seem to pose any danger; she could get rid of them whenever she wanted.

And then there was her. The Bright Moon princess. Glitter? Glimmer? There was something about her... Despara wanted to kill her, even more than the others. Something in her head, an instinct, had come to her two days ago, when she saw the princess appear in Plumeria. It was like a voice ordering her to attack and destroy her, but she was able to contain herself. This was not the right time. Their confrontation would come sooner or later, but not on that day. And yet, it wasn't just her self-control that kept Despara from attacking the pink-haired girl. No. For a second, for just a small fraction of time, the princess's face left Despara breathless. Damn… the stupid sparkling princess was cute. Despara had a strange feeling when she thought of a silly princess she had seen only once, and she didn't like that at all. What did that mean? She didn't remember feeling this way before. But somehow, it felt familiar, like something that had happened in a dream that she couldn't remember. 

Anyway, that didn't change anything. She was the princess of the largest kingdom of Etheria. Destroying her was a priority for Despara.

"Is everything ready?" she asked to Entrapta

"All ready! This will be fascinating!” the princess exclaimed “It's my first plasma cannon that works with First Ones technology! Its destructive power must be incredible!”

"I hope so. Catra, Scorpia! Take your positions”

They had carried only three of those cannons. The extra soldiers were in case the Kingdom of Snows guards dared to face them. And princess Frosta… well, Despara expected her to show up. She was eager to meet her.

Despara heard a kind of alarm at the top of the hill where the castle was. The first guards, dressed in blue, began to appear. Despara smiled. Sure. It would have been boring without some fighting.

She was standing on top of her vehicle. Her Horde soldiers began to get off the skiffs and take battle formation. The icy wind blew very hard, but Despara didn't move, she just felt her long red cape was fluttering in the wind.

"You know your orders!" she shouted at the soldiers, "I don't want prisoners, so kill them all!"

'If they survive the canyons' she thought

"Get ready!" she ordered at Entrapta, Scorpia and Catra

Despara saw how an ice wall formed around the castle. Well, it seemed like the princess was going to show her face...

"Fire!"

"What do you mean you don't know what happened?" Perfuma asked, following Glimmer

"I have no idea!" she replied "Just sit down! Stop following me, you're making me nervous”

What Glimmer needed the least was to feel more nervous. They were in the meeting room, and Glimmer felt unable to sit still, so she paced back and forth, her heart rushing.

"Bow, can you repeat Frosta's message to us? There's something new?" Queen Angella asked

"Nothing, your majesty," Bow said, studying the communicator. "It simply says 'Urgent meeting on Bright Moon, I'll be there soon'. I have not received any other message”

"Surely the Horde attacked her, what else could it be?" Perfuma sighed

"It makes a lot of sense" Mermista pointed out "That's why we didn't saw the damn Despara in the Fright Zone. We fell into her trap”

Glimmer was not going to forgive herself if that turned out to be true. It was her fault that they went to the Fright Zone without having a plan. They had barely managed to escape alive the day before. They had to fight many soldiers and robots before they could finally get together for Glimmer to teleport them out of there. They had managed to get out of the fortress, but that had left Glimmer powerless and too weak to help in the fight with the troops waiting outside. In the end, their escape was due more to luck than anything else, and all five had been injured. They hadn't managed to save Entrapta, nor had they gotten anything good out of that stupid excursion to the Fright Zone. Glimmer was lucky that Perfuma and Mermista had decided to stay in the Alliance after that.

It had been a couple of hours since they had received Frosta's message, so Glimmer had gathered the Alliance in the meeting room to wait for the ice princess together. Even Spinerella and Netossa were there. They had always stayed out of the missions, but Glimmer hoped that would change. They really needed all the help they could get.

The doors of the meeting room opened, and Princess Frosta made her appearance, accompanied by a pair of her guards. The princess looked very tired and had some scratches on her cheeks.

"Princess Frosta," the queen said, standing up "We received your message. We're very concerned"

"What happened?" Glimmer asked, going to join Frosta

She didn't seem to be the same powerful princess who welcomed her to the princess ball. At those moments she seemed… well, like a child.

"The Horde attacked my kingdom yesterday," she announced, her voice cracking.

"I knew it!" Mermista exclaimed angrily, knocking on the table

Glimmer led Frosta to her chair. It looked like the little princess was going to cry.

"But that's... unusual," Bow muttered "The Horde had never dared to attack the Kingdom of Snows. They don't have the weapons to-”

"They have them" Frosta interrupted "They appeared with some cannons that... well, let's just say that I was barely able to keep the castle standing"

Everyone was looking at Frosta, concerned. Glimmer's heart was racing. The Kingdom of Snows was supposed to be the safest among the kingdoms of Etheria.

"But... if it was that bad, what are you doing here?" Glimmer asked, "Why didn't you call us to come help you in battle?"

"There was no battle," Frosta corrected her. "They weren't even many of them. They appeared, fired their cannons, and left. I came until today because I had to prevent the castle from collapsing, and to attend to the survivors”

Glimmer felt like she was going to throw up.

"Did your guards fight face to face with the Horde?" Bow asked

"Just a few of them. Several died before being able to reach them. I went to help, and I fought with... her. The terrifying woman”

"Despara?" Glimmer jumped "Did you fight Despara?"

Perfuma was horrified. Mermista clenched her fists upon hearing that name. Only Spinerella and Netossa looked somewhat confused by everyone's reaction

"That's her name?" Frosta muttered, "Yes, I fought her. I fought Catra, actually. But Despara came to defend her, she seemed mad because I was attacking Catra. She didn't seem to care much about her other allies"

So, Catra was important to Despara. Well, that information could be useful in the future.

"Anyway," Frosta continued, "I'm sure Despara could have killed me, but just then was when the first tower fell, so I had to go back to prevent everything from collapsing. I abandoned my guards, and now they… they are…”

Frosta covered her face with her hands and started crying. Queen Angella stood up and went to hug her.

"Oh, Frosta, it's okay" the queen comforted her in a sweet voice "You had to leave. You saved all the people who were in the castle. It's unfortunate what happened to the other guards, but you had no choice. You were very brave”

"It's true, Frosta," Spinerella added "You did everything in your power"

Frosta looked at them all, her eyes filling with tears.

"I still don't tell you the worst part" Frosta sighed "Princess Entrapta was with them"

"Entrapta?" Perfuma repeated, "So they do have her as a prisoner!"

"No"

Frosta separated from the queen's hug and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

"What do you mean?" Mermista asked

“She didn't seem to be a prisoner. She was working with them voluntarily. That's what I saw" Frosta explained

Glimmer had to hold onto the table when she heard that.

"But... it can't be," Bow muttered "She can't...! They… they're surely forcing her to…"

"She wasn't handcuffed or tied. No one was watching her. She seemed quite happy to see the cannons working. I think she betrayed us”

Tears filled Glimmer's eyes. That was her fault. Now, not only had she lost Adora forever... They had also abandoned Entrapta, and she had decided to join the Horde.

"Fuck her!" Mermista exclaimed “Sorry, Your Majesty. We went to the damn Fright Zone to try to save her and she was working for Despara all this time!”

"But it can't be true" Perfuma murmured, without looking at anyone "Entrapta... I know she can be a little-"

"No, don't even try! You know very well that Entrapta would go with anyone who gives her a new screwdriver! The Horde has a lot of technology, she couldn't resist!”

"But she is... our friend..."

"Open your eyes, Perfuma! She designed the device that is destroying the Heart-Blossom!”

Glimmer didn't even try to wipe away the tears, she just let them run down her cheeks. Cold sweat ran down her back.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured

Now all eyes were on her.

"Glimmer?" Bow replied

"I'm sorry!" Glimmer exclaimed “I'm a terrible leader! It was my fault that Adora died, and we left Entrapta in the Fright Zone! I fell into Despara's trap and now she has Plumeria! And we almost died yesterday for my stupid decisions!”

She covered her mouth with her hand to keep her sobs from sounding so loud. Mermista sighed and shook her head.

"Listen Glimmer... I know that I tend to be very negative all the time but let me tell you that none of it is your fault. You always did what you thought best, and that's why we followed you. You didn't fail, we have all failed. But we can still improve”

"It's true," Perfuma added "We're together in this. The Horde is very strong, more than ever, so this is not the time to drop. You can count on me"

"And on me," Frosta assured "I want to join the Alliance. It was a mistake to reject your offer. Now I understand that we need each other more than ever”

"And on us" Netossa smiled, and Spinerella nodded "We have been selfish in not helping you on the missions..."

"But now we’ll be with you, guys" Spinerella completed

Bow put his hand over Glimmer's, looked her in the eye, and smiled a little.

"We're going to keep fighting together," Bow declared. "For Adora, remember?"

Glimmer looked up at the vitrine where She-Ra's sword rested. The Horde had taken Adora from her, she couldn't surrender until she won that war.

"Well, we had better send some spies to cover ground," queen Angella suggested, "It's time to plan our next move."

"We need to stop Despara," Glimmer growled. "She's responsible for the entire advance of the Horde in this short time. We need to capture her, or get her out of our way... forever"

Even she was surprised by the coldness with which she said that.

Chapter Text

"Once again you have only shown me that you are too impulsive!" Hordak yelled, "What's your excuse this time?"

Despara took a deep breath but didn't reply. She knew that if she opened her mouth right now, she was going to say something she was going to regret.

That wasn't exactly the reception she expected to receive after her little adventure in the Kingdom of Snows. Despara knew Hordak had not approved that mission but hoped that he would not be mad at her once he saw what she had accomplished. With only three cannons, she had almost destroyed the ice castle. If she returned with her entire army, the kingdom would fall in the blink of an eye. She didn't understand why Hordak was so grumpy. Was he jealous that Despara succeeded in something he hadn't even dared to try?

"Well?!" Hordak insisted.

"The mission was a success, Lord Hordak," Despara replied calmly. "The Kingdom of Snows will not resist my attack. It will take me less than a day to conquer it on your behalf, sir."

Hordak walked around her, as a predator watching his prey. Even that strange little demon seemed to look at the commander curiously.

"You seem too sure of yourself, Commander," Hordak commented, with a mocking smile.

"I am" Despara assured, without being intimidated "I can fulfill any mission that you ask me."

"Do you think so?"

"I do."

Hordak stopped in front of her and leaned forward a little to look her directly in the eye. "And why haven't you captured any princess yet?"

Despara frowned before answering, “It's not my fault that the guards are so useless to let the rebels escape. I told them exactly the route they would follow to enter the Fright Zone, and still, they let them go!"

"I asked you to personally take charge of that mission, and you decided to go to the Kingdom of Snows to brag."

"I can do what I want, I'm the commander."

"Silence! Do not be flippant with me, commander!"

Despara closed her mouth and stared at Hordak, feeling herself blush slightly.

But what the hell was she doing? She couldn't speak to Hordak like that! All she had to do was obey, and that's it. She couldn't let that kind of insubordination become a habit. This was more Catra's style, not hers. Her mother would be disappointed if she found out.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hordak" Despara bowed "It won't happen again."

Hordak looked at her with disdain and turned his back on her.

"I need you to bring me a princess as soon as possible," Hordak ordered. "Unless this simple mission is too much for you."

"It's not, sir. You know that I was able to bring the Princess of Plumeria with ease, but it wasn't necessary then."

"It's that kind of haughty acts that make you fall from my grace, Commander Despara. Stop feeding your damn ego and focus on following my orders"

"Yes, sir"

“Now, get out of here. And remember… don't come back without a princess."

Despara cried out in frustration and punched the wall of her room. She sat on her bed, took a deep breath, and tugged on her short hair, trying to calm herself.

She was terribly frustrated. Her only mission in life was to serve Hordak, and she was failing at it. But it wasn't just that. She was disappointed in herself for daring to respond like that to her boss... What had that been? Why did she sometimes feel free to respond badly to Hordak?

‘Because he's wrong and you know it.’

'No. Lord Hordak is never wrong.’

She had to obey. That was her purpose. It was what her mother had taught her. She had to stop losing control. Her actions should speak for her, not her words.

Hordak was right. All the flaws in her plans were due to her being too haughty. If she had captured the Princess of Plumeria that day, Hordak would have made a further advance in his experiment. Also, if that went well, it would be beneficial to Despara. She shouldn't fail. She wasn't going to fail. A princess, it wasn't a big deal...

She took a deep breath once more and dropped her hands. Opening them, she saw she had plucked a few hairs. She had to stop losing control. She looked closely at her burned fingers, the skin of which was red. Her mother and Catra said the scar was the product of the Black Garnet electric shock, but no matter how hard she tried, Despara couldn't remember the incident.

In fact, there were many things she couldn't remember. She remembered the moment Shadow Weaver named her Force Captain, but after that... nothing. Until the day she woke up in the Black Garnet chamber, with a terrible headache and burned fingers. Maybe it had all happened the same day, but she had the impression that it wasn't like that...

"Hey, Despara!" Catra greeted, entering the room, very excited "I was talking to Entrapta, she says all the cannons will be working perfectly and..."

Catra interrupted her speech and stood still, looking at her, a little surprised. "Are you okay? What happens?"

Despara stared at her, saying nothing. Then she looked at her hands again.

"Hordak is unhappy about what happened in the Kingdom of Snows," she replied, trying to downplay it. "He says it was stupid."

"Did he tell you that?" Catra was surprised. "We could have conquered the Kingdom of Snows if we had wanted to, something he was afraid to try! Fuck him!"

“You can't talk about Hordak like that, Catra!"

Despara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Catra was right.

No, she couldn't be right. She couldn't say... say those things. She couldn't, Hordak was their boss. They had to respect him, they had... they had to...

"Despara?"

The commander looked up. Catra had sat next to her. She looked her in the eye for a few moments, then looked down at the blonde's hands. Despara dropped the few hairs onto the floor.

"Again?" Catra sighed.

Despara shook her head. She knew she could not fool Catra. It wasn't the first time she had one of those little fits of rage. It made her sick… she wanted to get mad at Hordak, but she couldn't. She knew that sometimes his orders were absurd, but she was forced to obey. She had no right to disrespect him. Her sole purpose was to serve. If she couldn't do that, what was she for? She didn't want to disappoint her superiors. She couldn't.

"Listen... Listen to me" Catra said, taking her by the shoulders "What we did today was amazing! Now we know we can go there whenever we want and take the kingdom. You shouldn't feel guilty. Hordak is just jealous. You did nothing wrong."

Yeah... yeah, that's true! All the feelings of anguish and despair became… rage.

"What the hell is wrong with that guy?!" Despara exclaimed, leaping to her feet “I don't even do this for myself! I do this for him, and that's how he pays me?! I should…"

"Hey, hey! Take it easy" Catra tried to calm her, taking her by the wrist and forcing her to sit down again "Everything is gonna be fine. Forget about Hordak. The sooner you conquer all kingdoms, the better. Hordak will finally leave us alone, and we can be free of this. We will rule Etheria, and the princesses won't be able to do anything to avoid it."

The princesses.

Glimmer.

Why did she dream of Glimmer sometimes? She only had seen her once. She felt she could kill her as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

‘I can't kill her. Not her.’

Why not? Of course she could! She had to remember Glimmer was her enemy.

She had to... Hordak had asked her to capture a princess. Just a princess.

"I have to capture a princess," she said out loud.

"What?" Catra was surprised.

"Hordak orders me to bring him a princess. Come on, we have to-"

"Despara! Calm down! You are not going to Bright Moon now!"

"B-but Hordak..."

“You don't have to do everything he says right away!"

Hordak was wrong. All of his ideas were wrong. All his orders were wrong. 'Why should I obey him? Why did he have to conquer Etheria in the first place?'

"Listen, it's enough. I need you to relax" Catra asked, taking her by the shoulders again "Despara, look at me. You've been under so much pressure these days, and I know Hordak isn't helping you feel better, but it's time for you to take some time to yourself."

"No, what I need is to go to Bright Moon and-"

"Despara, stop it. I need you to go take a shower, come back, and sleep. And tomorrow, take the day off."

"What? B-"

"No buts! I'll take over the mission tomorrow."

"Catra-"

"Listen, I understand that fulfilling what Hordak said is important to you, but you can't go to Bright Moon now! You're exhausted. You need to rest. Don't worry about tomorrow's mission, leave it in my hands!"

Catra ran her fingernails over the back of Despara's head.

"I know you don't like me giving you orders," Catra murmured, "But I care about you."

‘Let me think he has control over you.’

The way Catra looked at her… Yes, it almost made her feel guilty. She forced herself to smile at her the same way.

"Thanks, kitten," she replied, looking her right in the eye.

Catra blushed a little and leaned forward to kiss her.

She had no doubt. She had Catra totally under her control.

But hey, she was right. Fuck Hordak, Despara needed to get some rest. The responsibility of conquering an entire planet was exhausting for anyone.

The spirits of all the princesses of the Alliance were at their lowest. The news that Entrapta was voluntarily working for the Horde had been a low blow. Glimmer didn't understand, Entrapta was supposed to be their friend... A friend for whom they never came back for. Yes, perhaps she had no right to be mad at her for her decision. Entrapta had always been fairly neutral, so it was logical to think she would stay with the ones that offered her the most opportunities to develop her experiments.

Now, Bow was obsessed with being the new tech master, and from the moment the meeting with the Alliance had ended, he locked himself in the armory to work on new inventions to try to combat the new Entrapta's robots.

Frosta had returned to her kingdom to continue with the reconstruction, in the company of Mermista, Netossa and Spinerella. There was so much to do there. If the Horde decided to attack again soon, the Kingdom of Snows would have no chance.

Sea Hawk and some of his pirate friends guarded the Sea-Gate as a precaution. It was thanks to this gate that the Horde had not attempted to take Salineas yet, but some extra help was always needed.

That left Glimmer and Perfuma alone in Bright Moon. Well, in fact, since everyone else was busy with these matters, Perfuma had decided to go to the forest to try to "train" her powers, to see if with practice they would become stronger. The Rebellion spies reported the Whispering Woods continued to wither little by little, and Perfuma was genuinely concerned that there was nothing she could do to stop this. If the Whispering Woods disappeared, there would be nothing to stop the Horde from moving freely throughout Etheria.

It's not like they aren't already doing it anyway...

So well, Glimmer had accompanied Perfuma on her adventure in the forest, to protect her and to be able to flee from there in case they ran into a Horde squad or something. At least that was the plan.

On the other hand, Glimmer wanted to go a little deeper into the forest hoping to meet Madame Razz. She had no idea where she could find her, or what she looked like, but from what Adora had told her, the old woman knew more than she appeared. Surely she could give her answers about whether Adora was really gone, or if her suspicions were true...

The princess sighed, brushing aside a branch to be able to continue advancing. She had separated a bit from Perfuma, but she could still hear her complaining about the training.

'Come on Glimmer, what the hell are you doing?' she thought as she stepped over a fallen log. 'Despara can't be Adora. It's impossible. She has a similar voice, that's it. You saw Adora die. You checked it out. Maybe Razz isn't even real.’

Glimmer dropped to the ground and covered her face with her hands. She remembered very well the path she was following. She, Adora, and Bow had walked it after the blonde told them about her encounter with the old woman, and she wanted to show them that she was real. Sure, they hadn't found anything, but that didn't stop Bow and Glimmer from believing her.

Now that Glimmer remembered that, memories of Adora came to mind... Her blue eyes shining with excitement as she exclaimed 'This way!' and then tripped over a rock. She remembered her laugh, the childish surprise on her face every time she discovered something new. And... and how that day was the first of many that Adora sneaked into the night and climbed up to Glimmer's bed, at least until she had told her she didn't have to do that, that if she wanted to sleep accompanied, all she had to do was ask... And then Glimmer remembered all those mornings when she woke up with Adora curled up next to her.

The princess felt a couple of tears run down her cheeks. It was incredible to think she really was gone forever. There were days when Glimmer felt she had finally resigned to Adora's death. But other days, like this one, she felt this whole situation was nothing more than a nightmare from which she was going to wake up, only to find Adora waking up next to her and saying, 'Good morning, Glim'.

Glimmer looked up, noticing there, among the trees, was a flash of purple. Could it be magic?

"Madame Razz?" she asked out loud.

She stood up, wiping away her tears. Only then she realizes that she could no longer hear Perfuma, but that would be a problem for later. She started walking, and then running towards the direction from which those flashes came. They were further away than Glimmer had thought, but it didn't matter. She wasn't sure where in the forest they came from, so she didn't try teleporting directly there, she just disappeared and materialized a little closer.

But then, she began to hear that those flashes were accompanied by a shooting sound. Well, it was clear it wasn't Razz she was going to meet.

She continued approaching, although more cautiously, until she reached what was left of a small village. This one had been destroyed weeks ago, so Glimmer was surprised to see a Horde vehicle, a few soldiers, and of course...

"Good dammit Kyle! I told you I wanted it to point northeast! Northeast! Not northwest! Do I have to do everything here?!"

Catra.

She and her squad were installing a cannon. Apparently, it was fixed to the ground, that's why Catra was upset to see it wasn't pointing in the right direction. The burned trees indicated they had fired some test shots — the flashes Glimmer had seen before.

Glimmer had to do something. Perhaps she could teleport the cannon to a great height and then drop it to destroy it...

She looked at Catra again. She was there, yelling at a blond boy Glimmer had seen several times before. She guessed that all the members of Adora's former squad were there.

The boy left when Catra finished yelling at him, leaving her alone.

‘No Glimmer... Don't do it.’

Dammit. Glimmer teleported and materialized in midair, right behind Catra's back, and shot her down.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Glimmer demanded to know

"Get off me!" Catra exclaimed, tossing her aside.

Glimmer lunged at her again, trying to keep her on the floor.

"No, leave us!" Catra ordered when her colleagues came to help her "I have it under control! Finish doing the work and get on the vehicle!"

Glimmer groaned and clenched her fist, feeling the magic emanating from it, ready to threaten Catra.

"Where's Despara?" Glimmer asked. "I heard she's your girlfriend or something. Does she let you do these things alone?"

Catra used her legs to push Glimmer away from her. Before the princess reacted, Catra lifted her by the blouse and throw her against the cannon.

"What's up, Sparkles? Do you want to see Despara?" Catra laughed. "Am I not enough for you? Oh, you hurt my feelings, princess!"

"I don't wanna hear your stupid jokes" Glimmer growled, trying to free herself from Catra "Who is Despara? Why we never saw her before?"

"Hey, hey. Take it easy... Too many questions about my girlfriend. Worry about yours. How is Adora?"

Glimmer stared at her, and to her embarrassment, her eyes filled with tears. Shit! She had promised herself she wasn't going to let that become her weakness.

Catra giggled before saying "Ah, right! You let her die."

Glimmer screamed and shoved Catra with magic blasts. The magicat was thrown back, but she stood up almost immediately. Glimmer throws several magical attacks, but Catra easily dodged them.

"Don't be so sensitive, Sparkles! If it's any use to you, I think you were perfect for each other. It's a shame what happened to her."

"Shut the fuck up!"

Magic aside, Glimmer punched Catra in the face. Then she threw herself down on her again, both falling to the ground. Glimmer climbed on top of her.

"Tell me who Despara is!"

"She's the person who will end your ridiculous rebellion."

Catra slashed her on the cheek with her claws. Glimmer grunted in pain and put a hand to her wound. Catra quickly grabbed her by the neck and put her against the ground.

"You know, Despara wants to get rid of the princesses one by one," Catra said, with an unpleasant smile. "But I suppose she won't mind if I get rid of you right now."

Glimmer was beginning to feel short of breath, but she could still do something. She concentrated on charging her magic fist to give Catra a good punch...

It was not necessary. A huge fist made of plants hit her, knocking her away from Glimmer. The princess sat up, taking a huge breath of air, and putting her hand to her neck.

"Glimmer! Are you okay?" Perfuma asked, kneeling beside her.

Glimmer nodded, noting that the plants Perfuma had created just moments ago had already completely dried. That was not a good thing...

"There always has to be someone to save you, right?!" Catra exclaimed, “You are weak, and you know it! Keep letting your friends fight for you! Everyone will end up dead! Just like Adora!"

Perfuma made a move to stand up, but Glimmer stopped her. Catra ordered her soldiers to start the vehicle, and they left before Glimmer could even catch her breath.

"You know that Catra only wants to make you angry" Perfuma made her see, putting a hand on her shoulder "Don't listen to her."

"She's right..." Glimmer muttered

"No, she's not! You're the strongest person I know, Glimmer. What happened with Adora was not your fault. You have to stop thinking that. Catra knows how much those words affect you. Don't give her that power"

Glimmer was going to respond, but at that moment, the cannon fired on its own, knocking down a couple of trees and rekindling the fire it had previously caused.

"Try to put out the fire," Glimmer ordered, standing up. "The cannon is mine."

Perfume nodded and ran towards those burning trees. Glimmer took a deep breath and climbed on the machine. She hugged the cannon and, using all her strength, teleported to some high point in the sky.

She materialized in midair and released the cannon. A fall of that height must have been enough to destroy it.

However, that small triumph failed to cheer her up. As she fell from the sky before teleporting, she saw immense columns of black smoke rising from various points between the trees, and there were flashes of cannon fire scattered throughout the forest.

Oh no... looks like Catra had been busy that morning...

"And why they don't need to recharge?" Scorpia asked.

"As I told you the first time you asked, the cannons use 87.4% of the energy that the First Ones' technology gives them," Entrapta explained, "And to cover the other 12.6%, I installed solar panels. Just in case"

"And its regeneration capacity?" Catra inquired.

"It will work perfectly unless they specifically damage the main chip. It's pretty sheltered. If they only hit the outer structure, it should have no problem repairing itself."

Catra smiled. It had truly been fortunate Entrapta had joined the Horde. Those ridiculous princesses had no idea who they left behind.

Entrapta was already fully installed in the Fright Zone. She had her own workshop, big enough to store her inventions. She was even working with Hordak on a few things. Catra was impressed by her inventive skills, but even more so by the fact that she was not the least bit guilty about her inventions being used against her friends. Catra liked that.

"It was fun today, wasn't it?" Scorpia jabbered, approaching Catra "The old team gathered to install cannons for all the Whispering Woods"

"It would have been much more fun if you and your squad hadn't taken so long," Catra pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the installation instructions were difficult to follow the first five times," Scorpia giggled, "But you know... It was nice to go on a mission together. And I don't know... if you're not busy tomorrow-"

At that moment, the door opened and Despara entered the workshop. It was a little strange to see her outside her room without her armor, it was the only thing she had worn since the day Hordak gave it to her. She looked much better compared to the previous day, Catra knew a day of rest had been very necessary.

She couldn't stop thinking that Sparkles thought Despara and Catra were girlfriends. Where had that idea come from? And why did Catra like how it sounded? And most importantly... What was she really for Despara? Well, they did 'girlfriend stuff’ and all that, but they had never mentioned that word.

Catra was aware of how ridiculous it was, after all they'd been through, but she was… in love with the commander. Ugh, she hated to think about it.

"Well?" Despara grinned, approaching the trio "How did everything turn out?

"All cannons are installed, commander," Scorpia replied, somewhat discouraged by the blonde's presence.

"And working perfectly!" Entrapta added, getting too close to Despara "We shouldn't worry about them, they will do their job without any maintenance"

"Uh... personal space," Despara complained.

"Ah yes, sorry" Entrapta stepped away a bit "Now we can focus on Hordak's new experiment! Your sword!”

Despara smirked. Entrapta started chattering about how the sword she was doing was going, how she was going to fuse technology with magic and stuff. Catra had stopped listening, the only thing she could hear in her mind was Sparkles saying, "I heard she's your girlfriend."

Catra moved closer to Despara to see what her reaction was. She took a deep breath and continued to move forward slowly until her shoulders touched the commander's. Despara looked at her for a few moments, then saw Entrapta again, listening intently. However, Catra felt Despara hug her around her waist absentmindedly.

Catra smiled to herself and rested her head on Despara's shoulder. She even purred a little. Despara giggled at that, hugging her a little tighter.

"... so we only need a magic power source to feed the sword," Entrapta finished.

"You mean the Black Garnet?" Scorpia speculated, trying not to look at Catra and Despara.

"Ideally I need a runestone, but Shadow Weaver won't let me use it," Entrapta continued. "So, the alternative is to use magic channeled through a person connected to one of those."

"Oh, I understand! Mmm... No, not really"

"It means that we are going to feed the power of the sword extracting the magic of a princess" Despara clarified.

Catra raised her ears and separated from Despara, exclaiming "So that's why Hordak needs a princess!"

"That's right!" Entrapta smiled, "I was working in the extraction cell."

Entrapta pressed a button and the lights at the far end of the workshop came on, revealing a kind of glass container attached to huge electrodes.

"The subject gets here," Entrapta explained, rolling her chair to the machine "Then I turn on the machine and bam! All the magic power will be extracted to be redirected to the sword. It will be a deadly weapon! One that only you can control!”

Wow, Catra had thought the princess affair was just a Hordak whim to test Despara. Come on, as if it were so difficult. Catra could have captured Sprinkles that morning if she had wanted to, not to mention the flower princess.

"Is it designed for a specific princess or...?" Catra began to ask.

"No, the powers don't really matter," Entrapta interrupted, "I'm going to extract the pure magic energy, and it will be modified to be a lethal ray. The origin and nature of magic are not important.”

"Wow, so much trouble for a sword," Scorpia commented, "We would have saved ourselves a lot of work if we had kept Adora's"

Entrapta grimaced. Scorpia widened her eyes, realizing what she had just said. Catra could have killed her at the time but preferred to look at Despara. She had raised her hands to her head, as if in terrible pain.

"Hey, are you okay?" Catra asked taking her by the wrists

"Yes, I don't know what happened to me" Despara murmured, blinking several times before fixing her gaze on Catra "Who's Adora?"

Entrapta and Scorpia moved away from there. Catra growled. Yeah, thanks for nothing...

"Adora?" Catra repeated, keeping calm and releasing Despara's wrists. “Ah, she was one of the generals of the Rebellion. She died in battle recently."

"I see. I don't know, her name sounded a bit familiar to me…”

"It's ridiculous, you never met her."

Despara shrugged. Apparently, she had decided to believe that story.

"By the way" Catra added, smiling a little "She was the girlfriend of your beloved Sparkles. Oh, she's still so sad about it...! Don't mention it if you fight against her. It's very painful for her to remember Adora."

"It would be a shame if I say something, wouldn't it?" Despara commented, raising her eyebrows.

Catra was relieved. Despara was able to hear her old name without further complications. That meant the spell was no longer weak.

"We need to go to Bright Moon as soon as possible," the blonde declared, staring at the Entrapta machine "All the princesses are gathered there."

"Sure. Also, you listened to Entrapta, the fact that the machine works with any princess will make our work much easier."

“Of course, but why settle with anyone? I know which one I want."

Oh no. There was that disturbing smile again.

Chapter Text

She walked through the halls of the Fright Zone. She knew exactly where she was going, but she didn't understand why two guards were escorting her, as if she were a prisoner.

As she had anticipated, she soon found herself in front of the Black Garnet chamber door. And as one of the guards keyed in the access code, she felt a pressure on her chest. She was very worried but had no idea why.

When the door opened and she entered the chamber, she saw the Princess of Bright Moon on the floor, trapped in a strange device. She didn't understand, that was a good thing! The princess was her prisoner!

And yet, she felt anguish and fear growing in her heart when she saw the princess there. She opened her mouth to shout:

"Glimmer!"

Catra shouted in surprise. Despara had woken up screaming the princess's name.

The blonde's heart was racing, and a sharp pain pierced her temples.

"What the hell was that?" Catra asked, still scared "Are you okay?"

Despara didn't reply. Her room was in complete darkness. The princess was in her dreams again... But she had never screamed after one of those dreams.

"Despara?" Catra insisted, "Hello?"

"I'm fine," she finally answered, still unable to calm down, with her hands on her head.

"You... were you dreaming about the princess?"

She was silent. Catra took her by the shoulders. Despara could barely make out the other girl's eyes in the dark.

"You have to tell me what's going on," Catra insisted, anguished "I'm worried about you. You wake up every night. I don't know if you are ready for the mission that you have planned and-"

"Enough," Despara ordered curtly. "Stop worrying so much."

"Hey, take it easy. I just want you to be okay. I can't help worrying."

The girl felt Catra put a hand on her cheek, and she could see she was getting a little closer, probably to kiss her.

But just then she wasn't in the mood for those silly little games. She separated from the magicat and got out of bed before Catra realized what she was doing.

"I'm gonna take a walk," she announced without much encouragement.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Catra offered immediately.

"No. No. I need a moment"

"Hey, wait..."

But Despara had already left the room without further ado.

The Fright Zone was even more gloomy in the early hours. The normal lights were replaced with emergency green lights, which barely allowed to see but saved a lot of energy. The silence was almost absolute, if not for a few occasional beeps, produced by some robot or other machine in the distance.

Despara allowed her feet to move without really knowing where she was going. She was dressed only in her pajamas and was barefoot. The cold metal under her feet wasn't comforting at all.

She didn't know why she was having those dreams. From the day she first saw the princess; her mind played tricks on her. Especially lately. The dreams didn't even make sense, that was the first time one seemed to have any context. From the other nights, she simply remembered images of the princess. It was always her — Glimmer, smiling. Smiling at her.

It didn't make any sense. Why her? Why not any of the other princesses? Why were her dreams about her so… happy? Okay, except the one she just had. She didn't understand why she had been worried in her dream. Something about Glimmer made her feel very strange. So, she preferred that Catra didn't start talking about her. She hated being confused. She hated not being in control. And that strange feeling in her chest every time she thought of Glimmer was something she definitely couldn't control. Her heart was racing, and she was getting a little nervous. What the hell did that mean?

Her meeting with her would be inevitable, of course. Despara hoped that by having Glimmer in front of her, she could finally put aside that idealization of her. To be able to say goodbye to the mystery and realize that she was a real person. One that by the way was her enemy and which she had to defeat. Not without first letting her know that it was Despara who was in charge, who was going to destroy her and her friends.

"Despara"

She stopped dead in her tracks, letting out a gasp of surprise. In front of her, in the hallway, was Shadow Weaver.

"Mother," she replied, her heart racing.

"What are you doing up? It's three in the morning" Shadow Weaver chided.

The girl didn't respond immediately. She was standing by a window. Down below, the "streets” of the Fright Zone were illuminated with dim lights and in the distance, a huge shadow could be distinguished: the half-built wall that would stand on the outer perimeter.

"What are you doing here?" Despara asked, turning to look at the sorceress.

"You know I'm always watching out for you" Shadow Weaver replied in a tone that was meant to be sweet "What's bothering you?"

Despara bit her lip. She hesitated to tell the truth for a few seconds. It was humiliating, she didn't want her mother to find out that something so pathetic was bothering her so much.

"Nothing important. I had a bad dream, and I wanted to walk a little to clear my mind," the girl explained.

Shadow Weaver walked over to her and put a hand on her cheek. Despara froze. She realized that her mother had never been mad at her. She didn't know what Shadow Weaver was capable of when she was really upset, but Despara definitely didn't want to find out. The blonde was a little intimidated by her. She didn't even dare to look directly at her face — well, at her mask… Wow, she didn't remember seeing her mother without the mask.

"Would you like to tell me about that dream? It could make you feel better" the woman suggested.

"It's nonsense actually," Despara replied, downplaying it. "I saw the princess of the Bright Moon in my dream."

Shadow Weaver stroked the girl's cheek with her thumb, while insisting on knowing more, "And why does that affect you?"

Despara was under the impression that there was something Shadow Weaver was not telling her. She had to be cautious. She didn't want that matter to become a problem.

"I'm just a little confused," she explained, not looking at the sorceress. "I don't know why I dreamed that. That's all."

"Have you dreamed about her before?"

"I... Yes, a couple of times"

Shadow Weaver released her and looked out the window, saying nothing.

"Mother?" Despara murmured, hoping she hadn't said anything wrong "What does this mean?"

"Did you meet her after that day in Plumeria?" Shadow Weaver wanted to know

"N-no. Only that day"

Her mother seemed very interested. So, it wasn't a small matter. But then what was going on?

"It occurs to me that she might cast a spell on you," Shadow Weaver said at last. "I don't know for what purpose, but it's entirely possible that that princess has that kind of ability."

"A spell?" Despara repeated, "Like the sirens of myths?"

"Indeed."

Despara breathed a sigh of relief. Of course! She had been so focused thinking there was something wrong with her, that she didn't stop to wonder if it wasn't due to some kind of magic from the princess. That was the only logical explanation!

"Can you undo that spell?" she asked to Shadow Weaver.

"I can" assured the woman "But it's a little painful."

"I don't care. I'd rather that than keep dreaming about that dumb princess every night."

"Alright. But we'll do it tomorrow. For now, you must rest."

Despara relaxed her shoulders and sighed in relief again. She looked out the window again. Suddenly, the Fright Zone no longer seemed so gloomy.

"The mission you've planned is somewhat risky" Shadow Weaver commented suddenly "Hordak would never approve."

"So, he doesn't have to know," Despara whispered. "I'm sorry, mother. I know my obligation is to serve Hordak, but I think we would do much better without him."

"I know, my child. But we must still pretend for a while. When the time comes, you and I will be the ones to rule Etheria once and for all."

Despara must have guessed earlier. It was obvious the entire act of obedience to Hordak was just a mask. That guy was useless. Soon it would be time to eliminate him from the equation.

"I need more people working on that wall," Despara observed, looking at that structure out there. "I can't visit Bright Moon without the wall finished."

"I'll send more workers tomorrow" Shadow Weaver replied "You have something big planned, Despara. I'm proud of you."

The girl drew a slight smile and nodded.

"I must go back to my room," she sighed. "Before Catra goes crazy"

Shadow Weaver groaned and turned to face her.

"I see you and Catra are very close, right?" the sorceress inquired, in a dismissive tone.

Despara couldn't help it, she giggled. She had managed to fool her mother!

"Mother, please... do you really think I might have any interest in Catra?" she sniggered.

"Wait... so you don't-?" Shadow Weaver sounded frankly surprised.

"No, never. But I admit she's a powerful rival. This is the only way to keep her on my side." she laughed again. "I have her where I want her."

Shadow Weaver was speechless. Despara could see her surprise, even through her mask.

"Everything is fair in love and war, huh?" Despara shrugged.

"Try not to break her heart then" Shadow Weaver replied.

"Not as long as she's useful to me. Good night, mother."

Shadow Weaver nodded. Despara smiled and turned to go back the way she had come.

She felt much better. Even her headache was gone. Knowing that the whole Glimmer business was due to a spell and that Shadow Weaver could undo it made her feel good. Once again, she felt like she had everything under her control.

She opened the door to her room. Catra was sitting on the bed, and when she saw her come in, she raised her ears and her tail swayed from side to side.

"I'm sorry I left like this" Despara hurried to say before Catra could even open her mouth "I was a bit upset by the dream, but I'm fine now."

The girl sat on the bed and put her hand on Catra's.

"And I'm really sorry for how I spoke to you," she added, "I think it's nice you care about me. Thank you."

"I... Yeah. No problem," Catra stammered.

The magicat looked away, cleared her throat, and spoke, somewhat authoritatively "Don't go away like that again. It's rude. You're such a nightmare."

"Really? Sorry, kitten. It won't happen again."

"Great"

Despara got into bed, followed by Catra, who immediately leaned on her chest and purred very quietly.

Yes, Despara had everything under control.

She felt intense pain throughout her body, as if every fiber of her being was on fire. But she had to keep trying, she had to be able to teleport out of the restraints. Adora was screaming in pain, and Glimmer was doing nothing to help her.

At last, she felt her body finally respond to her commands and was able to free herself. She appeared in the right place to punch the sorceress to get her away from her friend.

But when she turned, she saw that Catra had already released Adora, and was taking her vital signs before turning to Glimmer and shouting "Well done, Sparkles! It's too late! She's dead, and it's all your fault!"

"No..." Glimmer muttered "No, it's not true. I- I couldn't break free before. I..."

Catra was no longer there. Instead, it was Despara who was holding Adora's body. However, when she spoke, it was in Catra's voice "You're too weak! Your powers are useless! You killed Adora!"

"That's not true! I tried! I did what I could! I just-!"

"Glimmer"

It was no longer Catra's voice. In fact, Catra — or Despara, or whoever it was, was gone. Glimmer was now on top of a huge cliff, and Adora was standing on the edge. Seeing her made Glimmer feel her heart crush.

"Glimmer, why didn't you save me?" Adora asked, her eyes filling with tears, "I thought you loved me, but you didn't save me."

"I tried to do it, Adora! I swear I tried!" Glimmer cried desperately.

"You didn't. I don't get it, Glimmer. Didn't you love me enough? Why did you let me die?"

"Adora, no... Adora, please come back! I need you! You don't know how much I need you!"

"I can't go back. And it's all your fault."

Adora stepped back, approaching the edge of the cliff.

"Thanks for nothing"

"Wait!"

Adora took another step back, but her foot didn't touch the ground. She fell into the void. Glimmer ran to catch her, but her fingers didn't reach her. The princess saw the hero fall, and she screamed:

"Adora!"

Glimmer had woken up screaming. She felt her heart leap out of her chest, and she was crying.

That dream again. And again, she had heard how Adora blamed her for her death.

She couldn't take it anymore. Every night she woke up like this, calling out her friend's name, and forced herself to try to go back to sleep on her tear-damp pillow. But not that night. She was tired. Tired of feeling like this.

Without much thought and no matter how rude it might be, she teleported directly to her mother's room.

To her surprise, Queen Angella was standing with her purple silk robe on.

"Glimmer! I was about to go to your room," the queen exclaimed, "I heard you scream. What's wrong?"

"A-Adora" Glimmer spluttered, running to hug her mother.

"Adora?"

"I dreamed of Adora again! I dream of her every night, and she blames me for not saving her!"

Angella hugged her very tight and sat on the edge of the bed without letting go. Glimmer cried with her face hidden on her mother's shoulder.

"Glimmer... we've already talked about this," the queen began to say.

"No, it's not true! We never talked about it!" Glimmer contradicted her "You don't know how much it hurts me to dream about these things, mom!"

"Then tell me! Glimmer, how do you expect me to understand how you feel if you don't talk to me? First, you locked yourself in your room to mourn the loss of Adora, and now you've been trying to hide your pain by keeping yourself busy, but you haven't really told me how you really feel. It's been months since that day, and I don't even know exactly how it happened."

Glimmer separated from her mother and wiped away her tears. She nodded decisively and confessed, "There's something I haven't told you..."

Angella looked her in the eye and nodded, encouraging her to speak. Glimmer began to feel nervous. Oh, right. It was due to this that she didn't say anything before.

"Okay mom, I..." the girl hesitated, "I was... I am... in love with Adora"

Angella gave a little gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. Glimmer ducked her head and glanced at her mother to see her reaction. Would she be angry or...?

Angella hugged her very tightly again. Glimmer was out of breath for a few seconds.

"Oh no... Glim, why didn't you tell me? Honey, now I understand how hard these months have been for you"

"A-aren't you angry?" Glimmer muttered, pleasantly surprised

"Angry? Why should I be-?"

Angella broke the hug but didn't remove her hands from her daughter's shoulders.

"Oh... Glimmer, did you think...? Is that why you didn't tell me before?"

Glimmer felt herself blush uncontrollably and nodded, embarrassed.

"Glimmer-"

"Adora had told me how she felt about me just before she died," Glimmer blurted out, her eyes filling with tears. "Mom, if I could have freed myself a few seconds earlier-"

Angella cupped her cheek with one hand, wiping her tears with her thumb.

"I'm so sorry, honey. I have been a terrible mother" the queen apologized.

"No! Mom-"

"No, it's true. First for not realizing my little girl was in love. And then... I let you mourn alone."

"It's not your fault... I didn't let you get close either."

"Still. I'm so sorry, Glimmer. Really."

Glimmer hugged her mother again. They spent so much time fighting over nonsense! Glimmer now realized that. They were in the middle of a war. They didn't know if one day something could happen to any of them. It would be really horrible if the last thing they had done together was fight.

"Glimmer, I have to confess something to you too," the queen announced.

"Oh yeah?"

"I ordered the battle you father perished in."

Glimmer looked at her mother's face. Now she was crying too.

"Every day I think I should've stopped it from happening. If I had said 'no, we should wait a little longer' ... I've never forgiven myself."

"I-I didn't know that" Glimmer muttered.

"Well, you never talk to me, Glim. I'm telling you now because... I want you to know I know how it is. I also blame myself for the death of the person I loved. But you know... We couldn't have known what would happen."

Glimmer didn't know what to answer. Why, of all the things she could share with her mother, was this precisely what they had in common? Why did fate always seem to act in favor of misfortunes?

Either way, Glimmer felt strangely calmer. She hadn't realized that hiding her feelings for Adora from her mother for so long had been so draining. Now she felt free... she could be herself.

"Promise me that there aren't going to be any secrets between us," Angella said, lovingly stroking Glimmer's hair.

"Promise," the princess replied.

Angella smiled at her, but then let out a long sigh and commented, "I also miss Adora a lot," she giggled sadly, "She thought I didn't notice that she was hiding desserts in her room."

"So, you did notice?" Glimmer smiled

"Of course. Adora was a very nice girl. You should have seen her the day she went to rescue you and Bow. She was so worried... now I understand why."

The pink-haired girl smiled, imagining Adora planning the rescue mission with the other princesses. Glimmer couldn't believe she was gone...

But... was she really gone?

"Mom"

"Yes?"

Glimmer hesitated to say it or not. It was so ridiculous... But if she didn't talk to someone, she was going to go crazy.

"There's something I've been thinking about," Glimmer continued, "I know it's crazy, but... I can't help it."

"About what?" Angella wanted to know.

"The Horde Commander, Despara. I think she..." wow, it was so strange to say it out loud, "I think she might be Adora."

The queen didn't respond immediately. She looked at her with wide eyes.

"I know it doesn't make sense" Glimmer confessed, "But I'm sure it's Adora's voice that I heard when we met Despara, and Sea Hawk thinks the same."

"Glimmer... You said you saw that Adora was... well, you know... that she wasn't breathing"

"I know! And that's why I hadn't told anyone about my suspicions. But when I saw Despara... There was something strange about her. Something familiar"

"Honey, I don't want to disappoint you, but you haven't even seen her face. No one has."

"I know. I need to see her face to verify she's not her. The doubt is driving me crazy."

"Well, I think this explains your dreams. I think it's this uncertainty that makes you refuse to let Adora go."

Glimmer nodded. She knew that was true. She hoped she was wrong because her mind refused to believe that Adora was responsible for so much destruction.

"There's no other choice," she finally sighed, "The only way to find out is to face Despara."

"Glimmer, please... Try to forget about this matter," her mother implored, "It's very unlikely. Besides, Despara is our greatest enemy right now, more than Hordak. Don't put your hopes on a hunch."

Glimmer knew it was too late to receive that advice.

Yeah, Despara has everything under control again. Shadow Weaver had cast a spell on her several days ago, which was certainly very painful, but it had worked. The princess of Bright Moon hadn't appeared in her dreams again. She wishes she could forget about her completely but of course, that was impossible.

She had to be able to stand in front of Glimmer without having to spend days and days with her in mind. And today was the day to test if the spell had been effective.

On that day, the Horde would return to Bright Moon. She had taken a couple of weeks to attend to other matters, and of course, give the workers time to finish the wall around the Fright Zone. She had not forgotten the mission Hordak had given her. Capture a princess.

Despara entered Entrapta's laboratory, looking for Catra. The magicat was talking with Entrapta and Scorpia, and as soon as she saw Despara she ran towards her and took her hand, saying "C'mon! You have to see this!"

Despara let Catra take her with the other two. They were gathered around an object...

"Is this-?" Despara asked, looking at Entrapta, surprised

"Yes! Isn't amazing?" the princess replied.

Despara's new sword was ready. It had a long blade of shiny black metal and a silver hilt with a red gem embedded in it.

"Is this a fragment of the Black Garnet?" Despara asked, pointing to the gem.

"That's right. It wasn't easy getting it!" Entrapta grinned. "It works like a receiver. All rune stones are connected to each other, so the energy I'll draw from the princess you bring will be transferred to this fragment of the Black Garnet."

Despara raised her eyebrows. She wondered how Entrapta convinced Shadow Weaver to give her a fragment of the runestone.

"I forged the blade with First Ones tech inside," Entrapta continued. "In addition to its function as a cold weapon, it can fire a destructive blast of energy! Kinda... like the power Scorpia would manifest if connected with her runestone. I would say than even stronger"

Despara looked at her reflection in the shiny black surface of the blade. After all that time, it was obvious that the scars on her face were no going to disappear. Her hair had grown enough to flop annoyingly over her ears. She had dark bags under her eyes as a result of her few hours of sleep, but who had time to rest with a war to win out there?

"I call it the Sword of Destruction," Entrapta finished, "You know, to make it the opposite of She-Ra's sword."

"Very creative of you," Catra commented.

"Hey, I think it's great!" Scorpia exclaimed, "Now we just need things to work out for us today."

Despara looked away from the sword and looked at Catra and Scorpia.

"Everything will be fine," she assured, "I'm counting on you. I know you can take charge."

Catra smiled and nodded. Despara returned the smile. Ah, she was eager to see their mission successfully completed.

Glimmer had felt calmer since the day that she had talked with her mother. Telling her about her feelings for Adora had been quite liberating. And indeed, the past few days she had been quite close to her mother and had even told her all about her relationship with the blonde. At what point did she fall in love with her, all the things she felt when she was close to her... Well, everything. Except, of course, that Adora used to sleep in her room. Perhaps that was too much information.

It felt great to be able to talk about the hero. All that time, the people around Glimmer preferred to pretend that Adora had not existed so as not to make her feel bad. And not only that, talk about Adora with her mother... well, it was something quite nice.

At the same time, Angella had told her a lot about her father. Glimmer felt that she didn't really know much about him, so listening to her mother's stories was very special.

In fact, that morning she and her mom were having tea in the garden. Mornings were the only quiet times of the day, before having to return to the reality of the war in which they were living.

In that couple of weeks, the Horde had been relatively calm. Sure, they had had to deal with the dozens of cannons that Catra had left throughout the woods. They didn't destroy them all, Bow had taken some to reconfigure and use them to their advantage. The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Snows castle had been evacuated, and Frosta was still busy with rebuilding. Unfortunately, Perfuma's powers continued to worsen, and at least a third of the Whispering Woods were already dead.

That day, Glimmer, Bow, and the rest of the Alliance planned to go to the Woods for the rest of the canyons. It seemed like it would be a quiet day.

"Your Majesty!"

Yes, it seemed so.

The general was running towards them. Queen Angella and Glimmer stood up immediately. Of course! Things seemed too good to be true.

"Your Majesty," the general repeated, panting, "The spies report that the Horde are heading this way."

"Again?" Glimmer growled, "If they couldn't take the kingdom the last time, what makes them think they will now that the entire Alliance is here?"

"Glimmer, you know we can't underestimate the Horde. Not now that Despara is leading them," her mother reminded her. Then she turned to look at the general and ordered "Prepare the troops, general. Evacuate the nearby villages. We are not going to risk civilians."

"Yes, your Majesty"

The general withdrew immediately. Glimmer covered her face with her hands and groaned.

"What do you think they want this time?" she asked, in a tone of frustration, "Did they plan a surprise attack on another kingdom?"

"I don't think they will try the same plan again," the queen mused, "I do not know what they want, but something tells there are no tricks this time."

Glimmer nodded. Well, at least she expected to see Despara that day.

"Go warn the Alliance," Angella asked, putting a hand on his shoulder "They shouldn't be long in coming. Be ready."

Glimmer nodded. There was no time to lose, so she teleported immediately.

The troops and all defenses were ready in a matter of half an hour. Bow had arranged the cannons around the castle. They only waited for the arrival of the Horde.

Glimmer was at the Moonstone chamber. The sky was overcast and suddenly a fairly strong wind was blowing. She saw the troops standing in formation down by the water. In a few more minutes, she would teleport there with her friends.

"Glimmer"

The princess turned to meet her mother. She smiled at her and said "Well, I'm going to stay here to protect the Moonstone. I'm sure you will be okay down there, commander."

Glimmer nodded. The queen reached out summoned a purple staff. She handed it to her daughter and sighed “Glim, this was your father's staff, I think it's time you had it."

Glimmer felt some tears in her eyes as she took up the staff. She was... well, moved. She hugged her mother, very tight.

"Glimmer, listen," her mother said calmly, "I know what you're thinking, and what your suspicions are... But please promise me you won't go looking for Despara. Perhaps that's what she wants."

"Mom, you..." Glimmer mumbled, "You don't think I'm crazy to suspect Despara, do you?"

Angella sighed and stroked her cheek, saying "I don't think it's impossible. But I also don't want you to get your hopes up, honey. What we do know about Despara is she's dangerous, so... be very careful."

Her mother kissed her on the forehead. Glimmer sighed. She knew her mother believed her, even a little, and that gave her some peace of mind.

They began hearing screams down there, and the first Horde soldiers made their appearance.

"They're here," Angella sighed, "Go ahead, Glimmer."

Glimmer nodded and teleported. She materialized right next to Bow, who was already preparing an arrow. The rest of the princesses were also nearby.

"You know what the plan is!" Glimmer shouted. "Tanks and robots first. Don't let them advance towards the castle!”

Mermista and Frosta began to attack together. Spinerella and Perfuma used their powers to prevent the Horde troops from advancing, and Netossa caught some tanks in her nets.

Glimmer teleported on top of some robots and stabbing them with her father's staff. She knew she couldn't let her guard down. Was that a simple attempt to take the kingdom? No. It was impossible that the Horde didn't know the entire Alliance was gathered there. They're not stupid. There must be something more. A less obvious purpose. She had to be alert to any sign of Catra or...

Glimmer looked up. There, on top of one of the cliffs that surrounded the castle, was Despara. She was standing there, just like that, supervising everything. Her red cape fluttered in the wind, like a flag indicating danger.

"You guys destroy the robots" Glimmer ordered her friends "I'll go for her."

"Glimmer, no!" Bow exclaimed as she looked at Despara.

But Glimmer had already disappeared in a cloud of pink sparkles.

She materialized just behind Despara. The time had finally come.

"Princess!" the commander exclaimed, turning around, "I was beginning to wonder when you would come."

"You were waiting for me?" Glimmer growled.

She was trying to keep calm, but that was impossible for her when she once again heard Adora's voice.

"Will you grant me the honor?" Despara asked, slowly drawing her sword.

"Do you really think you have a chance?" Glimmer boasted.

Despara laughed. Damn, it was maddening that she couldn't see her face behind that helmet. As much as her voice sounded like Adora's, her laughter was completely different from the hero's. It was filled with sarcasm and — to be honest, evilness.

"Please, princess" Despara provoked "Have you forgotten that your powers don't work with me? It's just you and me, sweetheart. Without magic"

"Go ahead"

Despara darted forward, stabbing with her sword. Glimmer deflected it with her father's staff. Please, please... She hoped the staff had been designed to withstand that kind of fight. She knew magic didn't work against Despara's armor, but she still kept her magic energy flowing through the staff.

Glimmer was at a disadvantage, and she realized it. Despara was taller, stronger, and maybe had more experience in hand-to-hand fighting. At least Glimmer had the teleportation... but damn, she hadn't taken time to fully recharge. Who knows how many teleportations she had left?

Despara shoved her against a huge rock. As Glimmer stopped the sword attack with the staff, she could barely see her enemy's eyes through the red glass of her helmet.

"What do you want?" Glimmer asked, feeling her hands tremble, about to yield to Despara's force "All the princesses are here, you can't take the kingdom. We both know it."

The princess managed to deflect the commander's sword again, and in that brief moment off guard, she kicked Despara. Glimmer tried to be quick, hitting her with the staff, as many times as possible. Then, she teleported behind her and throws her to the ground with another hit.

Despara laughed, as she crawled to the nearest rock, panting.

"Okay, so you do know how to fight," she commented with a mocking tone.

Despara turned to look at her and stood up, leaning against the rock, still holding her sword. Glimmer threatened her with the staff.

"I don't want your kingdom" Despara replied, clutching her stomach, where Glimmer had kicked her "I came for a princess. I won't leave without one."

"You won't be able to kidnap any of them" Glimmer replied, pressing the staff tight against the commander's throat "The others won't allow it."

"That's right. So, I need to separate one from the group."

Glimmer felt a cold sweat. "Maybe that's what she wants" her mother had told her. Had she just fallen into a trap?

Despara took advantage of her distraction to snatch the staff from her and throw it away. The Horde commander attacked again, but Glimmer was able to get out of her way in time, teleporting above Despara. They both fell to the ground, and Glimmer managed to get Despara to drop her sword.

Glimmer didn't know what to feel at the time. She heard the tanks in the distance and the screams. Despara was guilty of all that destruction. She felt so much hatred towards her.

Despara jumped on top of her and pinned her to the ground. The princess was barely thinking what her next move would be when Despara took her by the neck. Glimmer coughed, holding onto her arm trying to break free.

"Catra told me you recently lost someone important to you" Despara provoked "What was her name? Ah yes... Adora"

Glimmer felt her eyes fill with tears. She couldn't breathe and her vision became blurry. She tried to teleport, but of course, she couldn't. Her powers were completely nullified by being in contact with Despara's armor.

"I imagine how sad it must be," Despara continued, "Maybe I should do you a favor."

Glimmer could see that Despara raised her fist and was about to strike her. Perhaps it was because her vision was cloudy, but... Did Despara's fingers are... red?

She was about to pass out. It wasn't that terrible. Maybe she could finally be happy with Adora.

Despara released her neck. Glimmer gasped for a breath and immediately sat up. She places her hands on her sore throat as she lets out a few coughs.

Who had saved her?

It was a surprise to her to see... no one. No one had saved her. Despara was still there. Her hands were shaking, and Glimmer noted she hadn't hallucinated. Despara's right-hand fingers (index, middle, and ring) had red burn marks.

"What-?" Glimmer started to say, but talking made her throat hurt

"I-I can't," Despara murmured, more to herself than to Glimmer.

Her voice. She had spoken in a fearful, almost repentant tone.

Glimmer considered teleporting back to the castle. It had been crazy to want to face Despara alone.

But she didn't go away. Neither did she approach Despara. She was in shock. Was it a damn joke? Despara had been responsible for many deaths and now... didn't she dare kill Glimmer?

"What's this?" Despara demanded to know, turning her head towards Glimmer "Is this some kind of spell or something? Why couldn't I kill you? What did you do to me?"

"Shit, just when I thought there was some good in you" Glimmer accused, realizing she couldn't let her guard down "I didn't do anything to you. You're just a coward."

Despara screamed and lunged for her. Glimmer teleported out of her way and when she materialized again, she saw that Despara was about to fall off the cliff. Glimmer hastened to save her, grabbing her by the breastplate of her armor. She looked into Despara's eyes through the red glass and saw her surprised look. If Glimmer released her, she would fall to her death.

Oh great. Now what? Was she going to release Despara, after she had spared her life?

Of course! She's not a good person! She just didn't dare kill you! Just do it!

Glimmer could hear Despara's heavy breathing inside her helmet. Come on, she just had to let go. Her death technically wouldn't be the princess' fault. Despara was going to fall anyway, Glimmer had mistakenly intervened.

'We are the good guys, you must remember' said a voice in her head, one that sounded very much like Bow's.

Yes, but... She was bad! Even worse than Catra!

‘But… what if she is Adora?’

Glimmer growled and pulled Despara toward her, taking her away from the edge.

"I guess now we're even," she growled, releasing her with a sound of disgust.

Despara fell, still breathing heavily. Glimmer also dropped to her knees next to her. She suddenly felt very exhausted, even though their fight had been very short. She frowned, raised an eyebrow, and commented "You couldn't kill me because you've never killed anyone with your bare hands, have you? I guess you're not as bad as you thought."

Despara was going to respond, but at that moment a signal was heard. Maybe a war horn.

Despara immediately threw herself at Glimmer, but not to hit her. Rather she was hugging her. Not an affectionate hug or anything remotely similar. She was immobilizer her.

"What- what was that?" Glimmer asked, surprised

"Retreat," Despara explained, "I have the princess."

"Are you serious? I just say you're not that bad after all and you still want to kidnap me?"

Despara giggled. It was such an annoying sound...

"Oh, sweetheart," Despara whispered in her ear, "What makes you think you are so special?"

They were very close to the edge of the cliff, so that Glimmer could clearly see the castle. The window of the throne room was broken as a skiff passed through it. The vehicle drove away quickly, but even so, Glimmer could see the people in it — Catra and Scorpia... who carried an unconscious Queen Angella.

"No... NO!!!" Glimmer shouted desperately, "MOM!!!"

She tried to teleport, but of course, she couldn't.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Glimmer demanded

"Language, princess"

Glimmer screamed, trying to break free, but it was useless. The skiff was out of sight, taking her mother away.

Her mother... With whom she finally felt she had connected after so many years.

Despara finally released her. Glimmer tried to teleport but couldn't do it anyway. Either she finally runs out of magic, or Despara's armor had drained it. Be that as it may, she stood there, looking at the castle and the Horde vehicles and robots began to retreat.

"C'mon! Don't worry, princess," Despara laughed, "I promise to take care of your mother. I need her alive for now. I'll tell her you said hello."

Glimmer was unable to speak. It wasn't possible — her mind refused to believe there was such a despicable being as Despara. She began trembling with anger.

"Oh, don't be like this," the commander continued, "After what happened to Adora, you should be used to-,"

Despara couldn't finish the sentence. Glimmer had turned around, and without warning, she punched Despara's helmet. With such force that she broke the red glass that protected the girl's eyes.

Despara groaned in pain and busied herself pushing the glass shards away from her eyes. Glimmer felt a throbbing pain in her knuckles, but she didn't care.

She didn't care she was running out of magic or being smaller than her opponent. She just wanted to hurt her so much.

She was preparing to throw herself towards her opponent when Despara looked at her.

Now, without the red glass, Glimmer could clearly see Despara's eyes.

Glimmer felt her breath catch in her throat. Brilliant blue eyes were looking at her.

Adora had the most beautiful blue eyes Glimmer had ever seen.

No. Shit, no. Her mother had said so. It was very unlikely, right?

"Good morning, Glim," Adora murmured, looking at her with her pretty blue eyes.

It was a cruel joke of destiny. Damn, it had to be, right?

"I feel things for you that I have not felt for anyone else before," Adora confessed, her blue eyes full of sadness.

Despara was motionless. Glimmer felt she need to do or say something. But she can't. Her throat was dry.

At that moment, a skiff passed over Glimmer's head, and a soldier dropped a rope ladder down.

Despara said nothing more, just stood up and went up the first step of the ladder. The skiff moved quickly away from there.

Glimmer watched her go away. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

It was possible? Was it just a series of coincidences?

Oh, stars. She really didn't know what she was going to do if her theory was true, and it turned out that Adora was responsible for the kidnapping of her mother.

Catra opened the door of Entrapta's lab, where she knew the geek princess, Shadow Weaver, and Hordak were waiting for them. She let Despara in first.

Hordak couldn't hide his expression of surprise when he saw the commander enter carrying Queen Angella.

They had already attacked Bright Moon twice, and Catra wondered why Despara hadn't taken the kingdom. Okay, perhaps with the entire Alliance gathered in Bright Moon and without any special weapons, it would have been difficult to do. Keeping the princesses busy, and most of all, having Despara take care of distracting Sparkles, had been a very good plan. Capturing the queen had been very easy for Catra and Scorpia.

Despara threw the queen at Hordak's feet. Her arms and wings were tied with a rope.

"Mission accomplished, Lord Hordak," Despara announced, with pride and mockery in her voice.

Hordak didn't immediately respond. He looked at Despara, then at the unconscious queen at his feet, and at Despara again.

"I... asked you for a princess," Hordak growled, who was obviously impressed.

Despara giggled. Shadow Weaver bowed her head slightly in recognition.

"Well done, Despara"

"Thank you, mother. But I couldn't have done it without Catra and Scorpia," the girl replied.

Catra smiled proudly. She liked that Despara recognized her effort in front of the sorceress. She felt it was a direct blow to the pride of Shadow Weaver, who always makes her feel small.

"Well, maybe I'll have to make some slight modifications to the machine" Entrapta pointed out, leaning over the queen to get a better look "I did all the calculations thinking that I would have the energy of a princess, not the queen's"

"But you can make it work, right?" Hordak asked.

"Of course! This is going to be incredible!”

Entrapta immediately dragged her chair to her computer and started typing things.

"I hope this makes it clear I'm quite capable of doing my job, sir," Despara teased, staring at Hordak.

He didn't answer, just growled. Then he watched at the queen, who was beginning to wake up. Angella shook her head from side to side before opening her eyes.

"Your majesty" Catra smiled, looking at her "Welcome to the Fright Zone."

"What do you want from me?" the queen muttered.

"You will see," Hordak replied, turning his back on her, and going to meet Entrapta.

The queen seemed somewhat confused, as Scorpia's poison was still affecting her. Shadow Weaver approached Despara and put a hand on her shoulder, asking "What happened to your helmet?"

"Oh, the princess knows how to fight," Despara replied, lifting her hands to her helmet to remove it.

For a moment Catra thought she should stop her, but she saw that Shadow Weaver didn't do anything. Also, part of her wanted someone to know.

When Despara took off her helmet, some glass shards fell to the floor. She had a few small cuts under her eyes, but nothing serious.

"Adora?"

Catra had to try not to smile. The queen's voice was weak, somewhat confused. There was certainly a note of surprise, mixed with... fear.

"Adora!" the queen repeated, with a little more energy "It's you!"

Despara looked at the queen with a raised eyebrow. Then she stared at Catra as if waiting for an explanation. Catra just shrugged.

"We will take care of the queen," Shadow Weaver said, stroking Despara's hair, slightly damp with sweat "You need to rest."

"Adora... Adora, what did they do to you?" the queen sobbed, frankly concerned.

"Yes, I think I will," Despara replied to Shadow Weaver. "Catra-"

"Leave us a moment," Shadow Weaver ordered, "I have to talk with Catra."

Despara took one last look at the queen, who was staring at her as well. Then she just turned around and got out of there.

"What did I do this time?" Catra asked.

"What? The ghosts of your past failures don't leave you alone?" Shadow Weaver replied, "I'm not going to scold you. Not today"

"So, what do you want from me?"

"I want to know if Despara told you something about that princess. I know that today she came face to face with her.”

Oh yeah. Catra had been concerned about that part of the plan. If one thing made Despara unstable, that was Glimmer. But no, Despara had not told her anything. And she was sure that if something relevant had happened, or something that disturbed her, Despara would have told her, right? Catra was the one she told everything.

"Nothing. She said nothing," Catra declared, "I think that second spell you cast on her really worked."

"That's what worries me. There shouldn't be a second spell in the first place. She seems to forget about everything except that princess.”

Queen Angella giggled. Both Shadow Weaver and Catra turned to look at her.

"Oh! I understand," she smiled, looking at them with superiority, "You're talking about Glimmer, right Shadow Weaver?"

The sorceress didn't reply. She stood in a dignified pose.

"You know very well that there are forces that magic cannot eliminate," the queen continued, "You sorcerers know this very well. And you know that love is one of those forces."

It took Catra a few seconds to realize what the queen was referring to.

"Admit it," Angella grinned. "You yourself realize that the love between Adora and Glimmer will not let you get away with it. No spell can erase that feeling from Adora's mind. She's still in love with my daughter, and you know it! It's a matter of time for that love to make her remember who she really is.”

Catra felt herself blush when she heard these words. She knew it. She knew it wasn't just her imagination. That was why Despara used to say the name of Glimmer in her dreams, and why she got a little weird when talking about the princess, even if she tried to hide it. The past few days she had been calmer on the subject, but it was because Shadow Weaver had convinced her that Glimmer had cast a spell on her. Despara confused love with the effects of a spell because she didn't know how it felt to be in love.

Wait! She did know because she was in love with her... She was in love with Catra... right?

"You're wrong," Catra grunted, frowning, and clenching her fists. "She... She forgot about Glimmer. She can't be in love with her 'cause she doesn’t remember her. Right, Shadow Weaver? She doesn't feel anything for that princess anymore.”

Shadow Weaver leaned over Angella a bit before saying “I'm the most powerful sorceress you'll ever meet. The love between them won't be a problem for me.”

Catra growled. That wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

Chapter Text

Catra had been feeling a bit anxious for a few days.

The presence of the queen of Bright Moon had only bothered her. She had done everything in her control to keep Despara away from Entrapta's laboratory, where Queen Angella was already trapped in that glass cage. The queen, of course, didn't miss the opportunity to try to speak to 'Adora'. Luckily, the blonde didn't seem to have given it too much importance at first, much less now that the glass cage had been filled with a green liquid, making the queen's voice inaudible. Still, Catra couldn't risk Despara starting to ask questions, so she endeavored to keep those lab visits sporadic.

However, that task was not always easy. Now, the sword was finally complete, and Despara had to receive instructions from Entrapta before going out to train.

The sword was truly a powerful weapon. As Entrapta had anticipated, the energy blast emanating from it was quite intense. The first time, Despara had tested the sword by shooting at a tree. The blast that came from the sword had not only destroyed it, but also, it did with the other five trees behind it. The only bad thing is that once the blast began to emanate, Despara lost control of the sword and it escaped from her hands. The commander had to learn to control the intensity of the blasts at will, and then not to let that force overwhelm her. So, they had gone on a couple of missions to the coastal villages of Etheria, but Despara hadn't carried the sword yet.

But putting that aside, what was causing Catra's anxiety was the... ugh... love thing. She needed to know what to do to help Despara completely forget about Glimmer. With the objective of dominating Etheria of course. That had nothing to do with her being interested in Despara. And what if she was? It was she who was by her side now, not the ridiculous princess. But since Shadow Weaver wasn't telling her what to do to help, Catra could only think she should continue in her role as an attentive girlfriend... because they were already official, right? Right, she hadn't asked, but she supposed it was something that was clear to both of them.

And speaking of... Despara entered the room. It was already night, at any moment the lights would go out to be replaced by the emergency ones.

"Hey Catra" Despara greeted, yawning.

The magicat smiled involuntarily and felt her cheeks heat up. She couldn't help but notice a change in Despara's hair. Now she had an undercut, and the hair on the top was slicked back. It looked pretty good, but Catra couldn't help but think how much it resembled Hordak's own style.

"Hey, hi" Catra replied, feeling her tail wag involuntarily.

Despara giggled and went to look at herself in the mirror. Her hair was wet, so Catra guessed she was coming from taking a shower. She was already wearing her pajamas, so her slim but muscular arms and legs were visible. Catra blushed. She just couldn't help it. She liked Despara very much. She had never felt anything like this when she was Adora. Sure, Adora was cute and kind of dumb, while Despara had that haughty aura that Catra hated and loved at the same time.

The truth was that she did not feel herself being with Despara.

The blonde let out a sigh as she sat on her side of the bed. Catra approached her immediately and stroked her freshly cut hair with both hands. It felt like velvet.

"You look very good," she assured.

Catra came over to kiss her. Despara only allowed that in those moments when they were alone. She said they should take care of their reputation, and Catra agreed with that. But hey, that's why she didn't want to waste those moments of the day when Despara used to take off the mask of the authoritarian commander to be a little softer.

Catra looked at her gently. She brought her hand to Despara's cheek, but she immediately withdrew her face away from her touch, as if Catra had hurt her.

"I'm sorry" she hastened to say.

Well, technically she did hurt her. Despara did that whenever Catra touched her scars. She didn't know if it actually hurt or if it was just something that bothered her. She hadn't wanted to tell her, but she had made it very clear that neither she nor anyone should touch the scars on her face, not even by mistake.

"Don't worry" Despara replied with a growl "Just be careful."

The lights went out. Despara leaned back on the bed, and Catra hurried to lean against her chest, as she always did.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Despara whispered suddenly.

"Sure, whatever you want" Catra replied, daring to lift her head and kiss the blonde on the cheek, being careful not to touch her scar.

Even in the dark, Catra could see Despara smiling at her as she stroked the magicat's cheek.

"Do you know why the queen called me Adora?"

Oh shit. Well, Catra knew Despara would ask that sooner or later.

"Well, it's weird, don't you think?" Despara added.

"It's not that weird," Catra began explaining, trying to sound convincing. "Look, this Adora was her daughter's girlfriend. As I told you, she died recently in combat, but to my knowledge, her body was never found. It's lost on the ocean or some shit like that. I guess Octavia knows more about it. She was the one who told me all this."

Catra hoped Despara couldn't feel her heart racing. The blonde gave a small grunt before insisting "Okay, I get it, but... what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, she sure thinks this Adora girl looked a bit like you. It's silly, surely Scorpia's poison affected her brain."

Despara said nothing. Catra sat up so she could see her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, somewhat worried.

"Yeah, of course" Despara reassured her "Adora... That name sounds somewhat familiar to me."

"Well, she was the commander of the Rebellion, surely they told you about her in Force Captain Orientation."

"I don't remember attending Force Captain Orientation."

"What? Of course you attended! How would you forget something like that?"

Well, she had managed to sound quite confused. Despara ran a hand through her hair, sighed, and commented "You know, I didn't tell you, but there are several things I can't remember."

"Are you kidding?" Catra pretended to be surprised.

"No, really... My memories from before the day of the Black Garnet incident are hazy."

"Incident?"

In response, Despara raised the hand on which her fingers were burned.

"Oh that incident!" Catra exclaimed "Yes, I remember. Well, I don't know. Maybe that magic rock damaged your memory. But you're the same as always! What does it matter if you forgot a couple Orientation sessions? I've never attended and look at me!"

"Yeah... I guess you're right."

Despara sounded much calmer. Well, for now that was controlled.

"Don't listen to the queen" Catra insisted, returning to her place on Despara's chest "She must already be delirious from so much energy that Entrapta is extracting from her."

The Moonstone energy that was channeled through Queen Angella didn't just fuel the sword. The wall that Despara had ordered to build on the outer perimeter of the Fright Zone had several antennas distributed over it. These formed a magical force field, specially designed to not let similar magic pass through it. In other words, the Princess of Bright Moon could not teleport into the Fright Zone to save her mother. She would necessarily have to cross the wall without magic, which would be impossible with the number of soldiers guarding the entire perimeter. No one entered or left the Fright Zone without Hordak and Despara knowing.

"I wonder if what we're doing with the queen also weakens the princess," Despara muttered, more to herself than to Catra, "Do you think her powers are damaged?"

"Probably," Catra replied, "Why do you care about the princess's powers?"

"I don't know, maybe because since we have her mom, she's the leader of the Rebellion. It's important to be aware of what the enemy is doing and feeling."

"Ahh, sure. I thought it was because you were still affected by the princess's spell."

Catra hadn't stopped thinking about Angella's words about the love between Adora and Glimmer. She wanted to believe it no longer existed but... What other explanation could there be for Despara still thinking about the princess?

That stupid princess... If it weren't for her, Catra wouldn't have to worry about Shadow Weaver's spell being broken. Everything would be fine.

"The other day I... I was about to kill the princess" Despara confessed, almost ashamed.

"Why didn't you do it?" Catra asked, somewhat surprised. Despara was a great strategist... There's no better strategy than to kill the leader of the opposing side.

"I couldn't do it."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, I just couldn't. Something stopped me. She was there, defenseless... It was something very simple, but I couldn't. I guess... I'm still under her spell."

Catra didn't reply. Despara was frowning and staring at nothing.

"She told me that maybe it was because I'm too cowardly to kill her," she complained. It sounded like it hurt her pride deeply.

"You're not a coward, Despara."

"I hate feeling like this. Have you ever been put under a spell?"

"No, I guess not... how does it feel?"

"Well... I think and dream about her constantly. But they're weird thoughts... I mean, most of the time I imagine her smiling."

Ugh, Catra hated seeing Sparkles smile.

"And... When I think about her, I feel weird. My heart races and my cheeks heat up. My hands feel sweaty and I want to... laugh. I get nervous. And the other day, when I saw her... I felt all that multiplied by ten."

Catra clenched her fists. Even she knew those were things that happened when you were in love. She herself felt similar things when she was with Despara.

"Have you never felt like that before?" Catra asked, somewhat annoyed.

"I don't think so," Despara replied.

"Never? Seeing someone else?"

"Nope"

"Do you feel that way when you look at me?"

"Why would I feel that way about you?"

That was a low blow to Catra. She wanted to get out of there, but she couldn't. Despara would not understand her annoyance.

"Don't you feel anything when you look at me?" she inquired and struggled to keep her voice from breaking.

"I wouldn't say anything," Despara laughed, "But none of those things. Why are you asking? Did you try casting that spell on me?"

'Yeah, thanks for noticing' Catra thought bitterly. It was lucky it was dark, because she could feel some tears in her eyes.

"No, I just wanted to know," she finally answered. "But anyway. If the princess makes you feel so bad, I can fight with her next time..."

"No," Despara interrupted, "The princess is mine."

"But..."

"I said no. I don't want you to get close to her. In fact, no one can get close to her unless I allow it. I want her."

Catra didn't take her eyes off Despara. Her cheeks felt very hot. Despara seemed to realize how strange what she had just said sounded, because she hastened to clarify, "I mean I want her to... umm... 'cause I want to be the one to... yeah"

"Okay, okay," Catra growled, "I'll tell everyone that no one is allowed to touch your girlfriend."

"That's not what I meant, but thank you."

Catra broke the hug, annoyed, and lay down on her side of the bed, her back to Despara.

"What?" Despara said, "What's wrong with you?"

Catra didn't reply. She felt Despara's hand slide down her bare abdomen, but she growled immediately. She heard the blonde snort.

Catra had to do something. If she let Despara start putting the pieces together... well... Would she stay in the Horde even knowing her true past? Or was history going to repeat itself and Adora will leave her behind once more to go with Glimmer?

Either way, Despara no longer tried to get close to Catra that night.

"Your Majesty?"

It took Glimmer a few seconds to realize they were talking to her. She glanced at the general, who was sitting to her right.

"Sorry... what were you saying?"

"I was saying that since the refugees from the coastal villages arrived, it would be good if our troops and Salineas ones began to gather near the Sea Gate in case the next Horde attack is there."

"Yeah, okay. Send in a couple of troops," Glimmer muttered.

"Ummm, hello? Glimmer?" Mermista sounded a bit annoyed,"I just said the Horde attacked the villages of my kingdom. I even fought with Despara in Octopus Cove and all you say is 'send a couple of troops'. Don't you think we need a little more than that?"

Glimmer realized all eyes were on her.

Okay, she was a bit distracted that day, but they couldn't blame her. Her mother had been kidnapped by the Horde, and when she had gone to rescue the queen, Glimmer found she couldn't teleport into the Fright Zone. It was practically impenetrable, and Bow had to drag her back to Bright Moon.

Now, as provisional queen, she was in charge of leading the entire Rebellion. That wasn't going well for her either. The Horde had already occupied several coastal villages, and rumors were whispered that various Hordian spies were prowling Bright Moon. The rebuilding of the Kingdom of Snows was not going as well as could be expected. Virtually the only kingdoms standing were Bright Moon and Salineas.

Oh, and Mystacor, of course. Aunt Castaspella had appeared a couple of days after Angella's kidnapping to offer Glimmer help. The princess was grateful, but she really had to try not to blame her aunt and day it would have been good if she and the sorcerers of Mystacor had come to help earlier.

So Glimmer was dealing with the loss of her mother, the Rebellion being a disaster, and with her thoughts about Despara...

"I just... I think Despara has shown that her favorite tactics are distractions and cheats" Glimmer finally replied, "Maybe she just wants us to believe she's gonna attack Salineas"

"I think Glimmer is right" Bow opined "You have to keep all your troops there just in case, but we can't send the entire Bright Moon army."

"Well, I suppose it's true" Mermista agreed, with a grunt "At least the civilians have already been evacuated. I could have finished with Despara if it weren't because she fled at the last minute! When I see her again, I swear I'm gonna...!"

"Glimmer, are you okay?" Castaspella muttered, leaning toward Gimmer, as Mermista continued her speech.

"Yes, everything's fine" Glimmer replied.

She knew she had to face Despara. She had to be the one to do it. If she let Mermista take over, she would kill her without question. Glimmer couldn't allow that.

She hated feeling like this. Since that day... Glimmer couldn't stop thinking those blue eyes didn't belong to a murderer... Something was wrong.

"Some of my guards have reported seeing Horde soldiers near our perimeter" she heard Frosta say when she pays attention to the meeting again "And I think it would make many sense for them to attack my kingdom again, taking advantage of the fact that we are weakened."

"The last time they didn't claim it as theirs," Netossa noted, "Maybe they will return to conquer it officially."

"Besides there's nothing to stop them," said Perfuma "What remains of the Whispering Woods only protects Bright Moon"

Glimmer sighed. It was truly heartbreaking to watch Etheria's green landscape turn increasingly gray. Perfuma's powers were barely working, but she, as always, tried to stay positive.

"Do you think they're gonna attack Bright Moon again?" Spinerella asked.

"I'm not sure" Bow hesitated "It's very strange they haven't taken this kingdom yet, after two attacks."

"Both times they just wanted to distract us" the general reminded them "Surely their next attack here will be another distraction"

"Or they want us to think so," Castaspella muttered.

"So what are we going to do now, Queen Gli...?"

"I already told you I'm not the Queen" Glimmer reminded her calmly "Mom isn't here right now but... She hasn't left, okay?"

They all fell awkwardly silent. Glimmer had realized she had no idea how to be the queen. She didn't think she had to learn. After all, her mother was an immortal being. Having to absorb all those responsibilities so suddenly was exhausting. But hey, at least this was temporary. They just had to bring their mother back, that was all.

"I'm sorry, princess" the general apologized.

"We have to find a way to save Mom" Glimmer sighted.

They all looked at each other. Glimmer knew what they were thinking, but what else could she say? She just wanted her mother back.

"Listen, honey..." Casta started to say "You already tried to go to the Fright Zone. You yourselves reported that you cannot teleport inside. There are soldiers guarding the new wall day and night. Sorry to say, but rescuing Angella is impossible for now"

"So you're saying we should abandon her?" Glimmer accused

"I didn't mean that. But for now, we cannot focus on her rescue. The Horde troops continue to advance, and we only have three kingdoms standing."

"It's true, your majesty" the general opined "We are playing totally on the defensive. Unfortunately, I think we cannot afford to take the offensive. The Horde is stronger than ever thanks to their commander."

Their commander. Sure. The Rebellion was stronger thanks to She-Ra. It made sense they were the same person, didn't it?

"Well... since all the refugees from all over Etheria are here, I think Bright Moon should be protected by the sorcerers" Bow suggested, "Protecting innocent people should be our priority"

All the princesses nodded.

"Since you don't think they will attack Bright Moon again anytime soon and there are already troops protecting Salineas... do you think the Alliance could help me with the rebuilding?" Frosta asked, "I just need you guys to stand guard for a few days. We haven't finished putting everything in order because we're afraid the Horde will attack us by surprise."

"Yes, I suppose we can do that" Glimmer replied "If all of you want to come, of course."

The others agreed, including Mermista, who muttered something about Sea Hawk could take over the protection of Salineas for a few days. And Glimmer knew Bright Moon would be alright. Everything would be easier with the sorcerers on their side. Also, as soon as things were a little more stable, they could focus on rescuing Queen Angella.

The meeting ended after they had arranged to go to the Kingdom of Snows in a couple of days, after making sure things in Bright Moon and Salineas would be fine for their respective inhabitants.

As everyone said their goodbyes and left the room, Glimmer had been staring at Angella's mural.

She still couldn't believe she had fallen into Despara's trap.

'What makes you think you are so special?'

Those words echoed in her mind. Shit, she would have preferred Despara had taken her instead of her mother. But of course, Despara surely enjoyed making her suffer like this...

She had never hated someone so much... or at least, she had never wished she could hate someone so much.

Glimmer was tired. Adora's death, the fall of the kingdoms, the kidnapping of her mother... it was all too much. And she was keeping all those feelings for herself. The princess could no longer afford to break. She needed it, but she tried to keep herself as calm as possible.

"Hey, are you okay?" Bow asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Glimmer turned to him. They were left alone in the meeting room.

"No" Glimmer replied with a chuckle,"I don't think so, after everything that has happened."

Bow chuckled a little, but immediately went back to using her worried tone "Hey... I know everything seems to be super wrong now, but you'll see... We can do this. We just have to stick together."

"I'm surprised the Alliance has not been broken apart yet," Glimmer confessed.

"They know that we need each other now more than ever."

Glimmer looked at the mural again. Bow cleared his throat before continuing "I'm sure she's fine"

"I know she is" Glimmer pointed out "I know I could feel if she d... You know."

Bow nodded and sighed, "I'm so sorry, Glimmer. I know things were starting to go very well between you two."

Glimmer nodded. That was what hurt her deeply. She and her mother had never been as close as Glimmer would have liked, at least until a few weeks ago. Between all the bad things that happened, being able to spend time with her mother had been truly comforting. For the first time in years, Glimmer felt a true connection to her, and all of that changed in the blink of an eye.

She was afraid. The Horde was taking her loved ones from her. She didn't know if it was just a coincidence or if it was a premeditated plan but… If the goal was to destroy her emotionally, they were succeeding. And no matter how many months had passed, she kept waiting from Adora to appear and give her words of encouragement as she always did when Glimmer was down.

Adora... Glimmer's eyes immediately fell on the gilt vitrine where the Sword of Protection rested.

"Bow... I wanna tell you something" Glimmer let out suddenly, thinking she had to tell someone else, or she would explode. "But it's gonna be really strange and you're gonna think I'm insane."

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" she replied, somewhat concerned by the slightly aggressive tone in Glimmer's voice.

The princess went to sit at the table. Bow followed her and imitated her without saying a word.

"It's about Despara," Glimmer began.

"Oh right. You fought her the other day" Bow agreed, frowning, "Does it have to do with that?"

"Well... yes and no. Listen Bow... I think..."

Suddenly, all the feelings she had kept seemed to fight for her to let them out. Tears welled up in her eyes, but Bow didn't flinch and waited for her to continue speaking. Glimmer appreciated that very much. She didn't like them feeling sorry for her.

"Bow... I think Adora didn't die" Glimmer sobbed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bow was surprised, but didn't sound aggressive.

"I mean Despara... is her. She is Adora."

Bow opened his mouth a couple of times and drummed his fingers on the table.

"I know it sounds crazy" Glimmer continued "But... I told mom and she thought it was possible too."

"Why do you think this?" Bow wanted to know. Glimmer had a hard time deciphering her tone.

"Well... doesn't it seem strange to you that suddenly a very dangerous commander appeared and Adora never told us about her? I mean, she was supposed to train for this all her life. Despara is who Adora was supposed to be if she had stayed with the Horde."

Bow rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He seemed to be thinking very well of his response to this.

"Well…" Bow stammered "As we said in Devlan, maybe Adora didn't know her"

"Her voice, Bow. That's Adora's voice."

Bow pursed his lips. You could see that he was really trying hard not to say the wrong thing.

"Glim... don't be offended, but we haven't heard Adora's voice for a long time" he pointed out, his voice soft.

"I broke her helmet the other day," Glimmer informed him, not paying attention to what Bow had just said.

Bow raised his eyebrows and leaned forward in his chair.

"What? Did you see her face?," he asked

"No. I only saw her eyes," Glimmer muttered, "But you know... I don't think I forgot Adora's eyes."

"Glimmer..."

"Not only that! She has scars on her finger..."

"Adora had no scars on her fingers."

"She got them the day when... well, that day in the Fright Zone. I saw them."

Bow bit his lip thoughtfully. Glimmer crossed her arms without looking at him and added, "There are too many coincidences, don't you think?"

"But... do you really think Adora is capable of all this?" Bow inquired "Do you know how many people have died?"

"No. Adora wouldn't. But Despara would. I told you, what Shadow Weaver wanted that day was to wipe Adora's mind. She turned her into this."

Bow shook his head. Glimmer wiped her tears with the back of her hand and exclaimed,"Do you think I don't realize what it entails?! That Adora did all this... that she kidnapped my mother... It hurts, Bow! But she's not herself, this is what Shadow Weaver is forcing her to do. She needs our help!"

"You want us to help Despara?"

"Help Adora !"

Bow wiped a tear that was running down his cheek, sighted and lamented "I don't know, Glimmer. It's so unlikely... I miss Adora too, but..."

"Do you think I'm making this up because I miss her?" Glimmer reproached him "You really don't see that everything is too convenient? Besides, there's Catra. Catra knows something."

"But... Entrapta is with them! She would say something, don't you think?"

"I think Entrapta has already made it clear which side she's on."

Glimmer didn't even wipe her tears anymore. She just let them roll down her cheeks. Bow sighed again, not looking at Glimmer.

"Sorry, that... wasn't okay" Glimmer apologized "I mean Entrapta is with them now because we didn't come back for her... and we are doing the same with Adora."

"Assuming it's true... what do you want to do?" Bow asked, clearly affected by this assumption. "She's a Horde officer now. If Shadow Weaver brainwashed her, she won't want to come back. She's going to kill us if we give her the chance."

"She could kill me the other day, and she didn't," Glimmer informed him,"I thought I would die, but she couldn't kill me. There was nothing to stop her. Adora is still there, Bow. We have to help her."

"Glimmer... Despara has destroyed Etheria. She's responsible for many deaths, and she's using your mom for who knows what. If she were Adora, would you forgive all that? Would you still love her, despite everything?"

Glimmer did not respond immediately. No. She would never forgive that. But Adora was not the one to blame. She was just a puppet. Shadow Weaver was to blame for all of this. Adora would never do something like that.

"Wouldn't you forgive her?" Glimmer asked,"Tell me Bow. If Adora was acting under a spell... what should we do? Let one of our friends kill her, so we don't get our hands dirty? Are we going to let Adora die knowing we could save her?"

"You're too sure about this, Glim. What if she's not Adora?"

"Then we'll have to stop her at any cost. But I know it's her. Now I know."

Bow sighed once more, saying "I... I don't want to... I can't accept it, Glimmer. I'm not going to believe it until I see it myself. And honestly... I hope you're wrong."

"I'd like to be wrong too, Bow. But I need your help. We can't let them hurt her until we're sure."

"So should we tell the others?"

"They won't believe me. You don't believe me."

"Glimmer..."

"It's okay Bow. I don't want to believe it either."

"I just… I know this isn't going to end well. The others already hate her."

"Well... we can still fix things. I know they can forgive her. We just need to stop her before she causes more damage."

Bow shrugged and crossed his arms.

"And... yes, Bow." Glimmer confessed, feeling like a fool, "I believe in her. And I still love her, despite everything."

It didn't feel right. Having feelings for her was horrible. But once again, Glimmer believed that Adora was still inside Despara. She had to rescue her from herself. It was not too late.

Despara entered Entrapta's laboratory. She was already wearing her armor, and as she walked she was finishing removing the last bits of glass shards from her helmet visor. Boy, was it lucky not to have hurt an eye when the princess broke the visor. Now she knew she should take her a little more seriously.

She would not lower her guard against her. Although to be honest, Despara didn't know what to do with the princess. She didn't feel capable of really hurting her, but she had to overcome that silly spell or she was going to look like a coward in front of all her subordinates, to Shadow Weaver and Hordak.

"Entrapta!" she exclaimed, “I need the sword. We are about to leave! Where the hell are you?"

Despara stopped in her tracks and felt a weight on her chest as she looked up and saw Queen Angella. The tank she was in was filled with a bright green liquid ( 'It's a liquid that can be breathed while providing the body with all the nutrients to eliminate the need to feed, isn’t it fascinating?' Entrapta had said.), and when she saw the girl, the Queen put her hands against the tank, tapping to get her attention.

Despara hesitated for a few seconds, but moved closer to see her better. The queen didn't look good at all, she was haggard and exhausted...

"Wait. I don't care about that."

The queen was trying to tell her something, but of course, only a few bubbles came out of her mouth.

Despara didn't know exactly what to feel. She should be proud, she had captured the leader of the Rebellion, but… she felt sorry for her. Something felt very wrong, but the blonde didn't know what it was. And in a way, being near the queen, which didn't happen often, gave her a feeling of… strange tranquility. As if everything would be alright as long as she was around her.

The royal family of Bright Moon had her very confused. But she couldn't let that... that distracts her...

She closed her eyes for a moment. Just for a fraction of a second, the image of the queen in front of a mural appeared in her mind. She was looking directly at her with a frown, and Despara felt… worried. She was afraid . But not because she felt the queen was going to hurt her, no. She was afraid the queen didn't like her ... but why?

Tapping from inside the tank snapped her out of that thought, and she found herself looking the queen straight in the eye. She kept talking without making a sound, but Despara could understand she was repeating the same word over and over again.

Adora.

"You have to stop" Despara said aloud, still looking at the queen "I'm not Adora, okay? You're confused."

The queen shook her head and pointed a finger at her.

"Did you hear what I said?" the blonde insisted. “I don't know what the hell you're thinking, your majesty, but I'm not who you think I am. It's enough."

Despara was quite confused when she saw the pained look in the queen's eyes. She even felt bad for her.

"I..." Despara muttered, feeling a bit strange "I..." she cleared her throat "Glimmer is fine. I... I won't be the one to hurt her. I promise."

Why the hell had she said that? Wasn't she just thinking she should do something with the princess so as not to look foolish in front of her entire army? What the hell was happening to her?

Still, she couldn't help but smile a little at the reassuring look the queen gave her. Why had she captured her? The queen seemed like a nice person, and she gave her the impression... she cared about her...

Perhaps the queen could answer her questions? Too bad she couldn't hear her. Of course, if she asked Entrapta to...

"Despara! Glad you arrived!"

Speaking of Entrapta. Despara separated from the tank. Entrapta ran to her, her eyes bright with excitement, and exclaimed, “I managed to make some adjustments to your sword's previous programming. In theory, it should be easier to control!"

"I..." Despara took a quick glance at the queen "Okay. I hope so. It can't fail. I need the sword to conquer the Kingdom of Snows."

It was weird, but she felt a little guilty for saying that. She was ashamed to say that in front of the queen.

"Don't worry! I'm 97% sure that there will be no failures.” Entrapta assured, going for the sword “By the way, Catra asked me to tell you some troops had already left there, so you must hurry.”

"Then give me the sword."

She crossed her arms, turning her back on the queen. Still, she could feel her gaze locked on her.

“The Sword of Destruction is ready! This time I'm serious!" Entrapta exclaimed, handing her the weapon.

Despara still didn't get used to the weight and shape of that black sword. As soon as she took the hilt, the fragment of the Black Garnet began to glow. Despara felt a tingling run up her arm.

"Wow, this is new," she muttered.

"Do you feel that on your arm?" Entrapta asked immediately, "It's your connection to the sword. Believe me, you will know how to use it,"

Despara smiled. However, her initial excitement was eclipsed when she glanced at the queen. She was wincing in pain, and the green liquid around her had started to glow in time with the sword.

"That's too vague," she murmured in response to what Entrapta had told her.

"Well, that same instruction worked between She-Ra and her sword, so I guess it's the same thing."

" She-Ra ?"

Entrapta looked at her for a few seconds, then shrugged and added, "It's what the legends say"

"Yes, but..."

"Catra is waiting for you. You better go now."

Entrapta pushed her chair with her hair and stepped away from her. Despara was confused, but yeah... she needed to leave.

She took one last look at the queen, who was shaking her head. It seemed like the fact that the sword was feeding on her magic was causing her so much pain...

She looked at the sword in her hand. Despara turned around and hurried out of there. She couldn't allow herself to feel sorry for the queen right now. She couldn't afford to show mercy.

Most of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Snows had already been evacuated, save for some castle workers and of course, the guards and army.

Glimmer and the other princesses, Bow, and Sea Hawk (who, according to Mermista, is supposed to have stayed in Salineas), had been in the kingdom for a couple of days now, and to be honest, camping in igloos was not as comfortable as it seemed. The castle had some form of temperature regulation, as everyone had noticed during Princess Prom, but of course, with the castle partially destroyed they could not expect it to continue working properly.

Everyone had done what they could to help with the rebuilding, but of course, it was Frosta who was ultimately responsible for putting everything in place with her powers. Well, at least the Fractal Flake hadn't been damaged like the Heart-Blossom.

Glimmer could not recall being so cold in her entire life. It was the first time she had visited the Kingdom of Snows without entering the castle, and she had never been to the Northern Reach. She was very used to the mild climate of Bright Moon, and those days had truly been torture. Also, despite the fact she had to help by making moderate use of her powers, since she was not going to be able to recharge until she returned home, she already felt the magic was going to run out at any moment.

“Bow, Sea Hawk… do you think you can hold this piece of the wall while I put the one next to it? I don't want it to fall again," Frosta asked.

"Maybe if Bow hadn't slipped last time..." Sea Hawk joked

"Hey, my hands were freezing!" Bow defended himself "It's a miracle my fingers haven't fallen off or something."

Perfuma giggled nervously and approached the edge of the cliff slowly as if to go unnoticed. Glimmer couldn't help but feel a little bad for her. In the first attempts, Perfuma had tried to hold the pieces of walls together with her vines, but these had dried very quickly, and the fall of these pieces had caused the collapse of a part of the castle that had remained intact. No one had blamed her for that, but of course, Perfuma had tried to help as much as she could without using her powers and she was very ashamed with Frosta.

"We have to do something with Perfuma," Mermista muttered, moving closer to Glimmer.

"Something like what?" Glimmer asked

“Something to help her. We have to get Plumeria back!"

"I know, but more and more Horde soldiers have come to guard the Heart-Blossom."

“I can't help but think this is our fault… We shouldn't have left Plumeria that day. And we should have attacked Despara! She was alone that day."

“We didn't know how dangerous she was. Besides, I don't think she was alone at all."

"Anyway, I swear to you when I see that bitch again..."

"Girls, you better come see this!" Perfuma exclaimed.

Glimmer and Mermista went to meet her. In the distance, among the mists, it seemed that something was approaching...

"What is that?" Mermista asked, squinting "Are we waiting for backup or something?"

Glimmer shook her head, feeling a lump in her throat.

"Frosta...!" Perfuma's voice was a bit broken.

"Give me a moment!" they heard the younger princess reply.

There were not four, not eight, not ten... at least twenty-five Horde tanks came out of the mist, not counting the skiffs and the soldiers on foot.

"Frosta!" Glimmer insisted, and her voice cracked.

This time the youngest princess, Bow and Sea Hawk went to meet them, and they contemplated the unencouraging landscape.

"No... not again," Frosta muttered.

"We have to prevent them from reaching the bridge!" Bow exclaimed, snapping them all out of their trance.

"We have to finish tearing it down" Sea Hawk suggested "And destroy the skiffs."

"We need you to call your entire guard" Glimmer instructed Frosta "Let's go!"

Frosta nodded and ran into the ruined castle. Mermista and Perfuma looked at each other meaningfully, and then both turned to Glimmer.

"Do you think we have a chance?" Mermista whispered.

Glimmer didn't reply, just looked at them with a concerned look.

Catra rose from her seat on the tank as she saw the Kingdom of Snows castle. Well, the time had come. A new kingdom of Etheria would become the property of the Horde.

Catra climbed through the hatch, which Despara had exited minutes before. She found the girl standing, staring at the half-destroyed castle. Her blonde hair and cape were fluttering, and her nose and cheeks were red from the cold wind from the region.

The black sword seemed to vibrate in her hand, and a strange red glow was present at the point. Catra hoped that whatever Entrapta had done to simplify swordplay would actually work.

"Hey," Catra said, getting out of the tank and standing next to the blonde.

Despara didn't answer, just nodded and smiled a little.

"This will be easy" Catra assured, crossing her arms "Just look at that. They couldn't even rebuild the castle. Sure their guard is a mess."

"It's a shame," Despara replied "I like challenges."

Catra looked down and could see one of the foot soldiers running towards the tank where they were.

"Commander! Captain!" a male voice exclaimed from under the helmet "The princesses are here!"

Catra grunted. Despara, on the other hand, drew a smile on her face and asked "Which princesses?"

"All of them, I think,"

"Tell everyone to take position as close to the castle as possible. I will take some soldiers and together with the squads of Captains Catra and Scorpia we will attack closely. Wait for my signal to get closer."

"Yes ma'am"

The soldier walked away. Catra cleared her throat before saying "We are gonna do it?"

"Are you afraid of princesses?" Despara scoffed.

"Of course not! It's just... usually, you always send the troops ahead."

"I know. And the Princess of Bright Moon thinks I'm a coward for it."

The magicat found it a bit strange that there was no threat in Despara's voice. She only wanted to get rid of Sparkles once and for all...

"Stay here, tell Scorpia my plan and prepare your squad," Despara ordered, "Meet me up there."

"Don't you prefer… wait for me?" Catra suggested, "I don't want you to go alone."

"Then do what I told you soon, so you won't leave me alone for so long. Hurry up, kitten."

Despara put on her helmet, which without the red glass allowed her blue eyes to be seen. She gripped her sword hard and prepared to leap from the tank.

"Wait!" Catra exclaimed.

"What?"

"Be careful. I… love you."

Even under the helmet, Catra could feel Despara raise an eyebrow. She cleared her throat and replied, "Sure. Don't be late."

With that said, she leapt from the tank, leaving Catra feeling like an idiot.

Despara had taken a skiff, ordered a few soldiers to accompany her, and flew to the top of the hill. The mist surrounding the castle that day made it easier to go unnoticed when approaching. And anyway, even if they could see her and her squad approaching, they couldn't do anything.

Down below, she could see the bridge that provided access to the castle collapse. As if that was going to do any good. With Entrapta upgraded tank cannons, they didn't need to be close to deal damage.

Despara ordered them to begin their descent. And of course, what better way to make a grand entrance than by showing off her power?

She grasped the sword in both hands and felt it vibrate. The fragment of the Black Garnet in the hilt began to glow, and a kind of bright red cracks appeared on the black blade of the sword.

Despara could feel the destructive power accumulated at the point of the sword, waiting for her to let it out. She couldn't explain how, but the sword was connected to her, just as Entrapta had explained, and no one else could use it.

She took a deep breath, aimed at the already half-destroyed castle, and a red energy blast shot toward it. The next thing that happened was a blinding flash appeared, there was a loud explosion and then the sound of screaming.

The commander could not help but smile when she saw she had succeeded. She had kept control of the sword. When she was close enough to the ground, she jumped off the skiff, commanding her soldiers to cover her.

It was difficult to see through the mist and smoke that had risen after some of the castle's ice walls collapsed and began to evaporate. Still, Despara walked slowly, hearing the voices of the soldiers and princesses screaming, asking for help.

There was not much left of the castle. It might even appear that they were the ruins of a much older castle, from the time of the First Ones. Despara narrowed her eyes to focus. Yes... definitely what she saw between a couple of walls that were still standing was the runestone of the Kingdom of Snows...

"Stop there!" a voice exclaimed. 

Despara turned. Princess Frosta was frowning at her, and a huge chunk of ice floated above her, probably a piece of wall.

"Princess!" Despara exclaimed, with a jovial voice "I hope you don't mind I have returned to claim what's mine"

Frosta tossed the ice at her. Despara didn't think much about it. She simply raised her sword, with those red cracks shining on the black blade, in front of her face. The ice snapped in two like nothing. Frosta's eyes widened, unable to believe what she had just seen.

"As I told you last time," Despara smiled, "I don't like the idea of fighting with a child."

At that moment, she heard a hiss in the air approaching her. She ducked down, and an arrow struck a rock behind her.

"Here we go, Frosta!" she heard the arrow boy shouted.

There was an explosion of pink sparks, and Glimmer materialized between Despara and Frosta. The princess opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment the Horde soldiers accompanying Despara appeared and attacked without waiting for orders.

Well, that would be enough to keep the other princesses busy for now. With one quick movement, she let out another energy blast from her sword, and another one of the castle walls shattered into thousands of pieces.

"It's over, child" she said to Frosta, who kept throwing pieces of ice that Despara destroyed or dodged "Just get out of here."

"Never!" she exclaimed.

The little girl formed fists of ice around her hands and lunged forward. Despara turned off the power of the sword to defend herself. She could end that girl easily, but come on, even she had her limits. She didn't attack, only blocked the youngest princess's blows with her sword, as she advanced backwards.

Despara felt Frosta freeze her feet to the ground, which made her lose her balance and was about to fall. In that little moment of distraction, Frosta lunged forward to hit her with her ice fists, but Despara knocked her out of the way with a swipe of her hand, as if she were an annoying insect.

She busied herself breaking the ice around her feet with her sword. These hurt a bit now, as her boots weren't exactly insulating. Well, maybe refusing to wear an extra coat to boast a bit hadn't been a good idea. But anyway, she walked over to Frosta, who was recovering from the blow, took her by her coat and lifted her to face level. The princess tried to break free.

"Tell me something, little one," Despara mocking, raising her sword, pointing towards the Fractal Flake, floating in the distance "What if I destroy your runestone? You simply run out of powers or will all the snow and ice melt?"

"You wouldn't," Frosta muttered, with some fear in her eyes.

"No? Did you see what we did to your friend's runestone? You know, the flower princess."

The point of the sword began to glow.

"Just tell your friends to stop, and I'll tell mine the same. Stop all of this and get out of here."

Frosta looked down there. The bridge had been destroyed, yes, but as Despara had predicted, the tank guns were capable of firing their blasts from that distance. Some had been destroyed by Bow and Perfuma, but it was clear that it was a losing battle. The castle was already completely in ruins, and once the princesses left, Despara and her troops could also take the small villages of the kingdom.

"We have a deal?" Despara asked.

Tears appeared in Frosta's eyes, and of course, it was understandable. Her kingdom was falling apart right before her eyes.

"I don't have all day, your majest..."

Despara did not finish the sentence. At that moment, she was thrown to the side by a strong blast of water. Every pore of her body screamed in pain as she felt the cold water and the icy wind blowing, and it was even more painful to fall on the snow. Her back felt numb and for a moment she was afraid she couldn't move anymore.

She shook her head to come back to reality, expecting to see Mermista in front of her, but no. Who she met was the pirate who always accompanied the water princess.

Further back was Mermista, who fought with Catra using her trident. In the distance, she saw Scorpia and another group of soldiers fighting with the other princesses and the few remaining guards.

Despara looked at the pirate, Sea Hawk or something like that, took her sword out of the snow and leaped to her feet, lunged forward. She couldn't help but notice that Sea Hawk looked somewhat concerned, as if he didn't want to fight her.

"Hey, I think I know your secret," he assured, as he stopped the blows of Despara's sword.

"I have no secrets for you," she replied, increasing the speed of the attacks.

Once again, if she invoked the destructive power of the sword, she could finish the boy in a second, but that would spoil the fun too soon.

In addition to the blows from her own duel, she could hear the fight of Catra and Mermista.

"What happened to you?" Sea Hawk asked between gasps, without stopping the duel "I know who you are. And Glimmer knows it too. You have to stop."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Despara had been forcing Sea Hawk back, and at the same time, Catra was doing the same with Mermista. At one point, the pirate and the princess were fighting back to back.

"Finally!" Despara shouted at Catra.

"A simple 'thank you for saving me' is enough, dear," Catra replied.

"Wait till I'm done with you two!" Mermista exclaimed.

"Oh please! You're no match for me, princess," Despara scoffed.

That phrase served its purpose. Mermista turned to answer her, and at that moment Catra took the opportunity to hit her square in the chest with her stun baton, and as Mermista fell to the ground, the magicat threw her away with a kick.

"Mermista!" Sea Hawk exclaimed, turning 180 degrees and slashing Catra's shoulder in the process.

Catra grunted in pain, but this only made her more furious. Sea Hawk gasped. Now he was alone against the two of them. He stepped back, trying to guess who would strike the first blow when a new blast of cold water appeared and threw Catra near the edge of the cliff.

Despara was going to help her, but she saw Scorpia rush to save her from the fall to certain death. So instead, she and Sea Hawk looked the other way. Mermista looked tired, yes, but the electric shock hadn't been able to stun her.

Sea Hawk giggled as Mermista smiled back. This was a moment of distraction that Despara was not going to miss.

She did it almost unconsciously, as if it was the only thing to do at the moment.

Her sword dug into the pirate's abdomen.

For Glimmer, that scene happened in slow motion.

She saw Sea Hawk and Mermista smiling at each other. She saw the black sword dug into the boy's body. She saw how his face showed surprised, and then pain as Despara pulled out her sword, and an increasingly extensive red spot appeared on his shirt.

And finally, Glimmer saw Sea Hawk collapse on the snow.

For a brief split second, the frown on Despara's face disappeared, as if she didn't believe what she had just done. But her dark gaze returned upon hearing Mermista's piercing scream.

Glimmer launched a magic blast at the Horde soldier she was fighting to shake him off, but immediately a couple of new soldiers attacked her. Bow seemed to be in the same situation, he looked more desperate and missed a few shots. Perfuma and Frosta had been frozen for a second, but resumed their attacks together as more Horde soldiers surrounded them.

The situation was chaos. Between the fights, Mermista's screams, and the sound of lasers destroying what little of the castle was left standing, Glimmer could barely focus on winning her own fight.

By the time she looked back at Mermista, she was fighting Despara using the Sea Hawk's sword, having lost her trident when Catra had electrocuted her. Mermista's attacks were so fast and strong that even Despara looked surprised. At one point, she saw Mermista hit the commander with the hilt of the sword in one eye, taking advantage of the fact that her helmet no longer had the glass in the visor. Glimmer saw Despara put a hand to her eye, but then reacted just in time to step backward as Mermista attacked her. Even so, Glimmer noticed the sea princess had slashed the commander near the hip bone.

'No no no no'

She had to hurry. Now she had no doubt that Mermista wanted Despara's head.

Glimmer hit one of the soldiers with a magic blast, fighting with all her might. She teleported behind the other and attacked in the same way, leaving both of them momentarily stunned on the floor.

She turned to the two girls. They were still fighting with their swords, but Mermista, without even using her hands, was raising a wave behind her. At that moment, Frosta pointed her hands towards it, and the water froze, forming three sharp, huge icicles. Glimmer's blood ran cold.

"Mermista, no!" she exclaimed, as Mermista threw the ice at Despara.

Glimmer immediately teleported and tackled Despara to get her out of the way of those deadly weapons.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Mermista yelled behind her.

Glimmer ignored her. She had heard a horrible creaking noise and was afraid she had been too late.

She snorted as she fell to the ground on the commander's chest. Her heart was racing. She opened her eyes and saw something lying in the snow.

It was Despara's helmet, split in two. She gasped in horror and sat up immediately, so she could look at the girl.

Confused blue eyes stared back at her. Glimmer felt her heart sinking and her eyes filled with tears.

The uncovered face of the commander was there, right in front of her. Blood trickled down her forehead, right where the ice nearly killed her. She had a black eye from the blow Mermista had given her minutes before. Two huge claw scars cut across her face, and her blonde hair had been cut into an undercut, but now Glimmer had no more doubts.

She was right. Adora was alive.

She heard gasps of surprise and murmurs behind her. Adora sat up, still looking at the princess curiously, but almost immediately she winced and clutched the site where Mermista had hurt her.

Glimmer didn't know what to say. It was as if she had forgotten how to speak.

"You… you saved me," Adora stammered, turning to her again.

Glimmer didn't answer.

And she didn't have to. At that moment, a laser passed right over their heads and blew up a wall.

"Glimmer, we need to go!" she heard Bow scream.

More and more skiffs were landing on the hill, and the Horde soldiers would corner them at any moment.

Glimmer was lost in Adora's bright blue eyes. She had to say something. She had to ask her to return to Bright Moon with them...

"Glimmer!"

"A-Ad-Ado…" Glimmer stammered

"Get out of here," Adora ordered.

Glimmer didn't understand, she only saw her stand up, pressing her hand against her wound, as the blood spot on her clothes grew larger.

"Didn't you hear me, princess? You have to leave," the blonde yelled at her.

But Glimmer was still in shock. Adora grunted and took her arm to pull her to her feet. 

"You saved me, so I'll do the same for you this time" she assured, looking at her with a slight frown "Go now or I'm not going to cover you."

Glimmer turned. Some of Frosta's guards had stolen a skiff, and they'd already boarded Perfuma, Frosta, Mermista, and… well, Sea Hawk.

Only Bow was still in the same place, as stunned as Glimmer.

"Hey you!" Adora yelled, "Get her out of here!"

"Come with us" Glimmer asked in a weak voice.

Adora laughed, but it wasn't her sweet laugh… it was Despara's laugh.

"What, you saved me and suddenly we're friends?" the blonde mocked, "We're not friends, okay? Now, get out of my sight before I regret it."

"Adora...!"

That simple word seemed to change everything. The expression on the blonde's face relaxed, and she looked back at Glimmer, intrigued, but at that moment Bow grabbed the princess arm to force her to the skiff.

"Adora! You have to remember who you are!" Glimmer exclaimed.

"Glimmer, we have to go" Bow made her see, as he forced her to keep walking.

"I'm going to save you, I promise!"

Adora was still looking at her without saying anything, but suddenly, behind her, Catra appeared. The magicat frowned at Glimmer as she put her hand on the blonde's shoulder and forced her to look at her, while wrapping her tail around the commander's hand.

Adora took one last look at Glimmer and followed Catra.

Before she could react, Glimmer and Bow were already on the skiff. Glimmer couldn't see clearly because of the tears in her eyes, but she could make out Mermista hugging Sea Hawk's body while crying uncontrollably. The skiff rose, and because of the mist they could barely get one last glimpse of the now destroyed Kingdom of Snows.

"It's over" Frosta, who was also crying, lamented "My kingdom has fallen"

"And now we know... Adora is the one who is doing all this to us" Perfuma pointed, her voice muffled.

Glimmer didn't know how to feel. She wanted to be happy because Adora was fine, but how? How to be happy for someone who had just destroyed an entire kingdom? How to celebrate that the person who had just killed their friend was alive?

"Y-you don't understand. Sh-he's not acting like herself" Glimmer stammered "They're making her do this! You saw it, Bow! She doesn't remember us!"

"I think she remembers you" Bow muttered, who was clearly affected "She does know who we are, Glimmer."

"Are you implying she's doing all of this because she wants to ?"

"I don't care" Mermista intervened, looking up directly at Glimmer "Whether she wanted this or not, she's still the person who did this to Sea Hawk. I'm going to kill her. I swear I'm going to kill her."

Chapter Text

The days passed, and if Glimmer felt that things couldn't be worse, now she realized how wrong she was. Although to be fair, at least the Horde hadn't carried out any attacks either. It was as if all of Etheria had decided to take a break.

Sea Hawk's funeral took place in Salineas. Glimmer had thought Mermista would be consumed by sadness, but in fact the sea princess was letting anger and a desire for revenge motivate her to get up in the morning.

Glimmer couldn't say the same about her. She'd spent all this time wishing for a sign, anything, to confirm that Adora was alive, but now that she knew the truth… how was anyone supposed to handle that? No one really cared. As for her friends, they all considered Adora the enemy, leaving no room for speculation.

With that in mind, Glimmer had called the Alliance to a meeting. They needed to take action. The Horde had been calm, but it was a matter of time before they attacked again, and the princesses had to take it very seriously, since the Rebellion had barely been able to defend themselves. They were going to need a miracle to win the war.

As soon as Glimmer saw the Alliance, it was clear to her that this miracle was not going to come from any of them. They all looked tired and hopeless. Mermista had huge bags under her eyes, but she was the most attentive of all those present. On the other hand, Frosta was completely lost, as if she could never be happy again. She now lived in Bright Moon, quite depressed by what happened.

"Okay, it's time to decide what we're going to do with... the Horde," Glimmer began, swept her gaze across everyone present.

"What are we supposed to do?" Perfuma asked, "We have very few soldiers, only have three kingdoms left, I have no powers-"

"If what you are suggesting is that we should give up, forget it," Mermista interrupted. "Adora has to pay for what she did, I'm not going to let her get away with it."

"It's not ‘Adora’, okay?" Glimmer replied "It's the Horde, Adora just-"

"Of course! It's the Horde, but tell us who is leading them?"

"Okay, calm down" Bow intervened, putting a hand on Glimmer's shoulder "We are not going to discuss this."

"We have to discuss this, Bow" Frosta pointed out "You cannot pretend that Adora is not guilty of anything."

“But she's not,” Glimmer assured. "Shadow Weaver is controlling her. Come on, you know she would never do something like-"

"You saw it yourself!" Mermista exclaimed, "I'm not interested in why she did it, I only know what happened and that she's going to pay for that."

"And what? Are you going to kill her? After what she did for us?"

"Look, the things she did as She-Ra doesn't even come close to all the damage she's been doing as Despara, so shut up"

“Well, hurting her is not the answer. We need She-Ra. We have to make her remember who she is and..."

"Yeah! And you want to explain me how the hell are we going to do that? It's a waste of time. We have to get rid of her, and you know it, but you don't want to accept it because you're in love with her."

Glimmer just glared at her.

"Glimmer..." Bow muttered

"Killing her is not going to revive Sea Hawk," Glimmer spat.

Anticipating disaster, Perfuma stood up just in time to stop Mermista.

"Maybe I should kill you and return the favor to her!" Mermista yelled.

"You just want revenge, your not even thinking on a real solution" Glimmer pointed out.

“And you only want your girlfriend back. You don't care what she can do, what she's doing to our people right now. Maybe nothing is wrong with her, and she's always been that evil.”

"That not true and you know it."

"Glimmer, we know you're not sure about that!" Bow exclaimed

The queen sighed. She knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later, and that she was alone in this. No one was interested in Adora, but Glimmer couldn't just leave it at that.

"She showed no mercy to Sea Hawk, why should I do it for her?" Mermista asked.

"She also showed no mercy to my citizens," Frosta said, discouraged.

"Nor with mine," Perfuma added.

"Glimmer, you I love Adora too, but... they're right" Bow mused "Besides, she hurt you too. She has your mom."

Glimmer sat in her chair, running a hand over her face and sighing deeply. She didn't need to be reminded of that, she thought about it every day.

“Still, I don't think we should just… kill her. Listen, I know Adora is not herself. I trust her. I know they are forcing her to do this and… I don't know about you, but I would never forgive myself for hurting her knowing I could have done something… anything… To try to bring her back."

Nobody said anything. Glimmer knew it wasn't going to be easy, they had all suffered from Despara's actions, and she knew, she really knew, that she couldn't blame them for acting that way.

"Glimmer" Aunt Casta spoke for the first time in all that time "Did you say that Shadow Weaver wiped her memory with a spell?"

"Yes," Glimmer replied "Why? Do you know the counterspell?"

Glimmer looked at her hopefully, but the sorceress shook her head as she said “Modifying the mind is a very delicate thing. It takes a lot of power to do it. It's a miracle that Shadow Weaver did it without harming Adora. If I or some other sorcerer tried, it would be too much for her mind. Two memory modification spells… I don't even want to imagine it."

Glimmer grunted. Wow, just when she thought there was a chance...

"However, from what you told me, you think Adora still has memories of her own, right?" Casta continued

"Yes. She… I think she reminds me. She hasn't hurt me even though she could."

Mermista snorted.

"Of course" Casta sighed "There are certain feelings... or we can call them forces... that not even magic can eliminate. Love is one of them."

"Love? Really? So are we going to solve this with love?" Mermista asked.

"I think it makes a lot of sense," Perfuma said, with a slight smile.

"And what am I supposed to do?" Glimmer questioned

“Well, first of all, you would have to capture her, remind her who she is. Glimmer, you have to make her remember"

“Capture the Horde general? Sure, it sounds simple" Bow commented.

"Are you sure you don't know of any spells you can cast on her?" Frosta asked.

“Well… We're not considering the magic within her” Casta began to explain “She's She-Ra, after all. Maybe that magic could do all the work. I'm very sure Shadow Weaver's spell will be nothing compared to She-Ra's magic."

"We can't make that magic... activate, or something like that" Bow pointed out, "Her magic arose when Adora had contact with the sword for the first time."

Casta nodded, looking at all of them meaningfully.

"No, stop," Mermista said, "Are you saying we should give her back the sword?"

All eyes fell on She-Ra's sword.

"Yes!" Glimmer exclaimed "If she has her sword back, she may remember everything!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Mermista insisted, "What if that doesn't work? If she doesn't remember who she is? We will have given the most powerful weapon of Etheria to the enemy."

"It's the only thing I can think of" Casta sighed.

“No.” it was Bow who spoke this time “I'm with Mermista on this. We cannot give her the sword. It's too risky."

"But it's the fastest way to get her back" Glimmer made him see.

"No, we're not going to do that."

From the looks from Frosta and Perfuma, Glimmer knew they would not be on her side either.

"Fine, okay" Glimmer accepted defeat "So how about this... We have to capture her, talk to her... and under our watch we give her the sword, is that alright?"

"Are we really going to go through so much trouble?" Mermista asked.

“I only ask you not to kill her. We have to do what is necessary to capture her" Glimmer said, with a frown "Later... we'll see what happens."

"It's ridiculous."

“My mother is not here, so I'm the queen. This is no longer a suggestion. It's an order."

Mermista opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment the general entered the meeting room.

"Your Majesty! Civilians are trying to attack the Fright Zone."

Glimmer blinked a few times, trying to understand what she had just heard.

"Civilians?" repeated Bow

"Yes, various groups of refugees got together and marched towards the Fright Zone"

"What? And why didn't anyone stop them?!" Glimmer exclaimed.

“Some soldiers left with them. They say they were tired of nobody doing anything these days and-"

“Shit,” Mermista muttered, standing up. “At least they understand what it feels like. We better go help or whatever."

Glimmer grunted, as everyone got up from their seats. She had never wanted to say it out loud, but she really questioned the usefulness of Bright Moon's royal guard.

Despara wondered what the hell the rebels were playing at. The Horde troops in the Whispering Woods had reported attacks by rebel groups heading for the Fright Zone. How the princess minds worked was a mystery. After their defeat in the Kingdom of Snows, what made them think they had a chance to take over the Fright Zone? And what was more intriguing, why were none of them accompanying their troops? They were being sent straight to the slaughterhouse.

But hey, that was their problem. Despara wasn't going to care about such trifles, so she just sent Catra to take over. And she could rest from her for a while. The truth was she was getting tired of her little game with Catra, so she tried to do her obligations and send Catra to another place. Besides she wanted to keep her mind occupied.

She had killed the pirate. Right in front of the Alliance. She had shown Glimmer she wasn't a coward, that she could take charge of anything… And yet she let her go. And why? Just because she had promised the queen not to hurt her? It was ridiculous, really.

Despara didn't wait to see if Entrapta was in her lab, she simply entered and walked with a firm step towards the tank where Queen Angella was.

"I keep my promise" Despara said, not really knowing if the queen could hear her at that distance "I didn't hurt Glimmer."

The queen looked at her, putting her hands against the glass. She looked very tired. According to Shadow Weaver, the queen was immortal, but suddenly it seemed as if she had aged several years. Even her hair had lost color.

"There is something they're not telling me, right?" the blonde girl asked, staring at the queen "There's a reason I can't stop thinking about Glimmer"

Angela nodded.

Despara turned her back on her. What was she doing? She knew she was forbidden to speak to the queen, she had been ordered to. It had been a lot of thought in the last few days. There was something about the way Glimmer looked at her that day. Something that had made her dreams of Glimmer increasingly complex. In her dreams, they did so many things together, and she called her Adora… that name she had heard over and over again.

"And how do I know it's not just a trick?" she asked, looking back at the queen "All this weird stuff... Mother says it's a spell. That you want to implant me false memories"

She had to stop looking at the queen. Whenever Despara was certain of something, she felt her confidence disappear when she saw the worried eyes of the queen.

"I need to know the truth," Despara said, her voice volume barely high enough for the queen to hear. "Can you tell me what's wrong with me?"

She nodded. Despara couldn't help but smile a little. Being in front of the queen gave her a strange peace...

"Despara!"

The commander looked back. Shadow Weaver was heading towards her.

"Mother... I-I was just..." she began to stammer.

"Calm down, my child, you're not in trouble" Shadow Weaver assured "I knew you were here, the magic is intense... This woman attracted you to her to convince you to get her out of there."

"What?"

She turned to look at the queen, who was shaking her head, but Shadow Weaver put her hand on the girl's cheek and forced her to look at her immediately.

"Do you feel it? We believed that the spell came from the princess, but now I think it could be Angella's work."

Despara didn't respond. The spell... sure, that's why she felt dazed and confused with the queen nearby.

“Listen… I think it's not a good idea to have her here. At least not like this" Shadow Weaver commented, "This will continue to affect you... Do you doubt your memories again?"

"No." Despara lied, "Of course not, mother. You're right. She's doing something to me..."

“I'm going to put a magic barrier around her. Her magic is weakened, she won't be able to defeat the power of the Black Garnet"

"Alright..."

Wow, it was as if that little drop of hope that she had felt a few moments before had just vanished. Now she had a strange emptiness in her chest, but come on, that was the truth after all, and there was nothing she could do to change it. Because her mother would never lie to her, right?

Shadow Weaver put both hands on Despara's cheeks and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course," she replied, without much encouragement.

“Don't worry, I'll take care of this… Now… why don't you go help Catra? They say some rebels are closing in on the perimeter. They won't get in, but you know… you can have fun for a bit."

"Yes, I think I'm going to do that."

"Then go"

Despara didn't look back again as she left, but felt the queen's eyes on her.

"Back down right now!" Glimmer shouted to be heard between the screams, blows and shots, while attacking a couple of Horde soldiers "It's a damn order!"

Things had gotten out of hand for them, although to begin with, she didn't expect the rebels to be willing to follow orders so easily. Only a few had heeded Glimmer's instruction and pulled out, but most were determined to enter the Fright Zone, demanding Despara's head. They were angry and uncontrollable. Glimmer and the rest of the Alliance had nothing left to do but join the fight. Well, she couldn't just walk away and leave them there.

"Watch out!" Bow exclaimed, firing a net arrow and stopping a soldier running towards Glimmer.

They were getting pretty close to the Fright Zone. It was obvious they weren't expecting an attack, that's why the rebels had managed to advance so far, but come on. They were in enemy territory. Getting to the Fright Zone for real was the worst that could happen, simply because they would be facing their entire army and defense weaponry without having any plans. She didn't know how, but she must make this entire army of civilians withdraw from the battlefield. Glimmer had always encouraged people to take up arms and fight for their rights, but this just couldn't work. Not under these circumstances.

"Sparkles!"

Glimmer heard that voice again, only to be knocked down by Catra.

"I knew you'd be behind this," Catra laughed, "But what a stupid plan! I thought you were better than this."

"What the fuck did you do to Adora?!" Glimmer exclaimed, not bothering to use magic, trying to punch the magicat in the face, which she dodged.

"The important thing is she will never return. What she did to the pirate will be repeated with all your friends, and I bet you are such a coward that you won't do anything to prevent it."

The princess screamed and this time she remembered to use magic. She managed to shake Catra off her with a magic blast from both fists and leaped to her feet.

Catra was on all fours, preparing to jump on her, but at that moment a water blast hit her.

Mermista appeared next to Glimmer, looking at Catra as if she were an insect.

"We didn't say anything about not getting rid of her, did we?" Mermista asked in a cold voice.

Wow, Catra was so affected by the water that she didn't even notice when Bow captured her with the help of one of his rope arrows.

"So that's what we should did to her" Glimmer muttered "What's wrong kitten?! Does a little water bother you?"

Catra grunted and tried to bite Bow. Her soldiers were so busy trying to stop the rebels who came closer and closer to the Fright Zone that they didn't even bother to save her. Or maybe they believed she would have it under control.

Either way, no one came to her side when Mermista approached Catra threateningly. Glimmer, foreseeing the danger, teleported next to the princess of the sea and said, "Wait, maybe we should keep her with us."

"What? Are you gonna save all the Horde soldiers?" Mermista asked, still looking at Catra with distaste.

"Trust me, Catra would be the last Horde soldier I wanted to save. But maybe this whole mess is worth it. We could make it into the Fright Zone now that we have Catra hostage."

"If you think I'm going to tell you how to get in..." Catra started to say.

"Oh, sure!" Bow exclaimed "If she's as special to Adora as she says, she'll surely want her back, right?"

"And we can exchange her for the queen," Mermista added, understanding the plan.

Glimmer nodded. Maybe it could work. If Adora wanted Catra back, perhaps they would come to an agreement. And in case Adora wanted to take Catra back by force, they could distract her and her army long enough to enter the Fright Zone and save Queen Angella. They just needed a little time. As soon as she got her mother back, she knew what to do to get them out of that. And then she could make a plan to rescue Adora.

"That will never work, you idiots" Catra scoffed.

"Why not, huh?" Glimmer challenged her, "You were bragging to my face that she was your girlfriend. If she cares so much about you she will want you back, don't you think?"

"She knows that I can escape from you."

"Do it. I dare you."

Right at that moment, Perfuma and Frosta appeared next to them. Frosta didn't wait for instructions, as soon as she saw Catra, she hastened to freeze the rope that bound her. Catra struggled a bit, but of course, she got nothing.

"Go ahead, c'mon," Glimmer scoffed.

"This is cheating," Catra complained, shaking a little.

"Sure. Let's see what Adora offers us," Mermista smiled, pushing the magicat to walk.

The scene before them was incredible. The rebels were at the foot of the wall surrounding the Fright Zone, screaming and trying to tear down the entrance. Apparently the soldiers with whom they had been fighting had retreated, since no one was fighting hand to hand anymore. However, there were several corpses, from both sides, scattered on the ground.

Up there, at the top of the wall, dozens and dozens of soldiers pointed their weapons down, and right in the center, a cannon, just like the ones they had installed throughout the Whispering Woods, also threatened the rebels.

Above the latter stood Despara, Glimmer knew it was her because of the long red cape that fluttered behind her, like a flag that the people of Etheria now associated with death and destruction. She hadn't gotten a new helmet. Her face was uncovered, but of course, knowing the truth didn't make things any easier.

Glimmer teleported close to the wall, long enough for Despara to see her. Noticing the queen's presence among them, many rebels stopped screaming, as if waiting for her to do or say something.

"Princess Glimmer!" Despara yelled from on high "So you're approaching me instead of running away? How brave of you, to come to my territory with your pathetic army attempt"

Even in the distance, Glimmer could see perfectly well her bright blue eyes and the scars on her face. She wondered what she had done to Catra for her to have hurt her like that.

"You're wasting your time, princess," Despara smiled, "For your sake, I suggest you get out of here with your people. You know you can't penetrate these walls."

"Adora, I want to offer you a deal!" Glimmer spoke in a firm voice, clenching her fists, emphasizing the name.

"You know that is not my name."

"I want you to release my mother."

Despara laughed out loud. Glimmer stood firm, staring at her.

That can't be Adora. She doesn't remember you. You have to help her.

"You didn't say 'please'. What terrible manners for a princess," the commander laughed.

"I think you should listen to me. You are going to let my mother free. That's all, I'm not asking for more" Glimmer explained.

"Sure. And why should I?"

Glimmer looked back. Bow, Mermista, Perfuma and Frosta were escorting Catra, who really didn't seem the least bit worried.

"Release my mother, or we will keep Catra" Glimmer threatened her.

Glimmer had spent the last few minutes wondering what Despara's reaction would be when she saw they had Catra, 'cause it will give her a clue whether she was going to accept the deal or if he was going to attack and they would have to sneak into the kingdom.

Yet of all the possibilities, Glimmer hadn't anticipated that Despara would burst out laughing.

"Is this your plan? Really?" she asked, as if that whole scene amused her.

"We're serious!" Bow intervened "Give us Queen Angella or we'll keep Catra!"

"As I see it, you're not in the power to negotiate. You are in my kingdom, without weapons or a real army, and you're demanding me to get free a prisioner without giving me anything in return."

Apparently not even Catra expected such a reaction. She was looking at Despara with a mixture of bewilderment and pain. Glimmer broke out in a cold sweat. They had come so close to the Fright Zone because they were confident in that plan, but now they realized that was a terrible mistake.

"Glimmer…" Frosta muttered weakly.

A hum had begun to sound, coming from the cannon.

"She won't," Glimmer muttered.

"You dared to attack us thinking we would be surprised!" Despara yelled proudly, "But what you did was bring the Alliance to its doom!"

A glow began to form at the bottom of the barrel of the deadly weapon. The soldiers were beginning to take up fighting positions.

"She wouldn't dare" murmured Glimmer "Catra's here."

But Catra no longer seemed calm. She didn't take her eyes off Despara. Many of the rebels began to run when they realized what was happening.

"Despara, stop!" Catra shouted, "I don't know what the plan is!"

"You had only one damn job!" Despara yelled, "Keep the rebels out of the Fright Zone! And you let them capture you! I don't need someone so useless by my side!"

"Glimmer, she won't stop!" Bow exclaimed

Oh shit.

Glimmer turned quickly, gathered all her friends and Catra, and teleported.

As soon as they materialized, already somewhat away from the wall, a loud explosion was heard and they felt the shock wave hitting them, they even fell to the ground.

Glimmer heard a buzzing inside her ears, but it didn't last long. She felt very weak. Never in her wildest dreams she had dared to teleport six people at once. That had definitely used up her magic for that day.

"... she didn't even think about it! But what the hell...?! That bitch was willing to kill Catra!" Mermista exclaimed, horrified.

Glimmer looked around. They were near the forest. Many rebels went into the trees. In the distance, shots were heard. It was obvious many had not managed to escape.

"I always say everyone has a good side, but Adora..." Perfuma said, 

"Are you really going to keep defending her, Glimmer?" Frosta asked.

The queen didn't reply. It was still processing what had just happened. Bow, on the other hand, approached Catra, who was still tied, to help her up.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked her.

Catra didn't answer, didn't even dare to look at him. Wow, apparently she and Despara weren't as close as Catra claimed, but even Glimmer realized that throwing it in her face would be a very low blow.

"Okay, fine... I guess... we have to go home," Perfuma murmured.

"Aren't we going to help the wounded?" Frosta asked, looking in the direction of the Fright Zone.

"Frosta… I don't think that if someone stayed there they would be just injured. You know what I mean," Mermista sighed.

"And what will we do with Catra?"

Catra was still in shock. Glimmer even felt a little bad for her. Only a little.

"She's coming with us," she finally answered, "Maybe she can tell us a few things about Despara."

In the distance, Glimmer could see some vehicles coming out of the Fright Zone. Despara was surely not happy to see they had managed to escape.

"Your majesties! Run!" a soldier who just passed them exclaimed.

The princesses didn't need to hear it twice. They went into the forest, Catra with the help of Bow. That day was definitely being horrible for everyone.

"There is no trace of any of the princesses, Commander" one of the force captains reported "The soldiers searched the entire forest for 3 miles around."

"Well, I suppose they were able to flee to Bright Moon," Despara sighed,"Order a retreat. We'll return to the Fright Zone."

"We found a few rebel soldiers. Do you want us to…?"

"No prisoners. I hate paperwork. You know what to do with them."

"Yes, commander."

Despara ran her hand through her hair and yawned. So there were no princesses. Well, it had been another wasted day after all. The soldiers began to climb the skiffs to return home. She heard a few shots in the distance.

"Commander! Hey!"

Despara turned. Scorpia was running towards her.

"What is it, Scorpia?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, it's just you ordered the troops to get back home and stuff..." Scorpia started "And you know, I don't question your orders or anything, but ... You're going to send someone to rescue Catra, right?"

Despara blinked a few times before saying, "Ah, right! Catra. I'm pretty sure she will be fine."

"You're not sending anyone?" Scorpia's voice wavered.

"It's Catra. She'll be back eventually."

"B-but… what if she needs our help?"

"Don't worry about it. Now, gather your squad and return to the Fright Zone. It's an order."

Despara didn't wait for another answer. She just turned her back on her and went into the woods, walking home.

She wondered if Catra was really coming back. She always had an ace up her sleeve, but now it was her against the entire Alliance. Bah, to be honest, it wasn't something that was going to keep her awake. She would be fine, show up one day and voila. Although she might not be happy with the fact that Despara nearly blew her to pieces with a cannon.

She would surely understand. The entire Alliance was at her mercy, she was not going to miss that opportunity. If not for Glimmer...

Despara stopped short. She thought she saw something bright in some bushes. She walked slowly there, not wanting to make a lot of noise, but quickly realized that it was not a person at all.

She pushed the branches out of her way and grabbed a cape. A blue cape with sparkles. That was definitely Glimmer's. It was a bit ripped, so Despara guessed it had gotten stuck in the bushes during the escape, and Glimmer had simply left it behind.

The next thing that happened was very strange. As Despara stared at the cape, several fleeting memories flashed through her mind. She saw Glimmer putting that same blue cape on her after taking off her red jacket. Then they were in a town where people were gathering, laughing. There was music. Then, she saw a sword...

"Mara, dearie!"

Despara was startled, drew her sword quickly and pointed it at their backs. A few steps from her were a small old woman hunched over, her eyes looking huge behind her thick glasses.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, without lowering her sword.

"Oh, you're forgetful, Mara! You don't remember Madame Razz?" the old woman laughed "Where's your sword?"

Despara lowered her sword. Clearly, this old woman couldn't be a threat.

"You better go, Razz. This is not a safe place," she warned.

"Then I suppose you shouldn't walk around here alone, Mara dearie," the old lady replied. She obviously didn't know who the blonde was "You have been far away from your friends, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. And my name's not Mara"

"Oh sure! You have to excuse this forgetful old woman. Adora, that's it."

Despara groaned as the old woman leaned closer to get a better look.

"No, I think you're confused," Despara snorted, "I'm not Adora."

"No, not anymore" Razz commented, adjusting her glasses as she stared at her "But you can be again."

"What-?"

"So this is why the magic in Etheria is even more unbalanced! Get your sword back. That will help. Restore the balance. And only then will you be able to help Madame Razz to pick berries as you promised."

Despara couldn't make sense of that strange advice. But before she could ask, the old lady turned and started to walk away.

"Hey! That doesn't make any sense," Despara said, "I'm not who you think I am. Just go take refuge and don't go out into the forest anymore. It's dangerous, the Horde..."

"I'm here alone with you, the commander, and you had no intention of hurting me. I think you are who I think you are, Mara."

That said, she just disappeared among the trees, leaving Despara very confused, clutching Glimmer's cape very tightly in her hand.