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The letter sat on the table where Adora had dropped it. It would be better to say the letter sat on a piece of the table on the floor because the table was shattered. The letter had no part in the business but when it’s punched by a screaming, eight foot tall woman in a rage, whatever it’s sitting on is ending up on the ground.
Glimmer and Bow had both jumped up from the breaking table and the guards had all snapped on alert, thinking something else was happening, but Catra just sat in her chair, a few pieces of tabletop resting on her legs as she stared down at the letter. She took a deep breath before saying, “Adora, please tell me you all hashed out a plan in that meeting today.”
Adora eyes snapped to Catra, ready to verbally lay into her for being so nonchalant when she saw the tears welling in her eyes. Adora closed her eyes and returned to normal size before looking back at Catra. A tear ran onto Catra’s face as she looked at Adora and whispered, “I can’t lose them. I’m not strong enough to lose them. Please tell me we have a plan. Please. ”
Adora sagged as she sat down on the chair and poked at the table pieces with her foot.
“We got some stuff laid out,” Adora said, watching her foot.
“Adora, look at me. What does that mean?” Catra said.
Adora looked up with sadness in her eyes and said, “That we set up a massive search for her and hope we find her. There’s more to it but… yeah, that’s the main part.”
Catra stood up from the table. She looked around the room for a moment before saying, “I’m going to go spend time with Finn. As much as I can.”
“Catra, wait, we need to talk about this,” Glimmer said.
“No, we don’t. It’s pretty obvious that what we’re going to do is hole up down here and hope she makes enough noise getting in that we can nail her. I have nothing more to say,” Catra said.
She walked across the room and Adora couldn’t help but feel like she was seeing young Catra just as she was beginning to figure out the world didn’t care about her. Except this Catra wasn’t building up rage, she was just drained.
“I’m… uh, I’m going to go with her,” Adora said.
“We’ll give you all a few minutes and then come in,” Bow said. “We want to be there for Finn as well.”
As Catra opened the door, Finn looked up at her from where they were crouched beside the door trying to listen through it.
“Let’s sit down on the cot there for a minute, kiddo,” Catra said.
Finn nodded and they both sat down as Adora walked in and shut the door behind her before sitting down on the other side of Finn. Finn picked up their stuffed whale and held it as Catra said, “How much did you hear?”
“Nothing really,” Finn said. “I did hear you scream, Mom. It wasn’t good was it?”
“No, sweetheart. It wasn’t good at all,” Adora said.
“What did it say?” Finn said, looking between the two.
Catra looked up at Adora for a moment before looking back down at Finn.
“You don’t want to know,” she said.
“Yes, I do. You always said I could ask you anything and you would always give me an answer,” Finn said.
“It’s scary,” Adora said.
Finn looked at her with accusing eyes and said, “You said anything .”
“Yes, we did,” Adora said with a sigh and a look at Catra who just nodded her head.
“Shadow Weaver has said she’s going to come and take you away from us and keep you away from us. She said it’ll be soon but we don’t know when she’s planning to try and we’re scared,” Adora said.
Finn said, “Ok. What’s the other scary part?”
Catra said, “That’s it, kiddo. That’s the scary part.”
Finn hugged their stuffed whale a little tighter before saying, “That’s not any scarier than what’s going on. She’s already tried to take me. That’s just her saying the same thing. I’m not going to go with her, no matter what she does.”
“Honey, this is serious,” Adora said.
Finn gave her a look and said, “I know, Mom. Remember that song you both sang to me when I first came to live with you and I was scared at night all the time?”
Adora and Catra both nodded.
“I just gotta be strong and brave, like the song says,” Finn said. “I know everyone else is doing it.”
Catra wanted to pull them tight to her and tell them that it wasn’t that easy. That those were just words to a song people had sang as a tribute to the princesses after the occupation of Prime had ended. That they didn’t need to be thinking of old songs but to be realistic and prepare for even the absolute worst possible outcome.
They need to understand. Songs won’t save us, Catra thought to herself. Then she looked into Finn’s eyes and could see that it might just be a song but thinking of it gave them hope and there was no way she could ever snatch that away from them.
“We are doing all we can, Finn,” Catra said. “She’s not going to take you. I promise.”
Adora looked at her in shock as Catra looked at her and said, “I said what I said. I promised.”
Adora looked into Catra’s eyes and where in the past few days she’d seen various mixes of fear, anger, hopelessness, sadness, and despair, now she saw calm assurance. She leaned forward over Finn and rested her forehead on Catra’s forehead.
“Then I promise as well,” Adora said.
The three hugged tight when the door suddenly opened and Glimmer came in. They all looked at her and could see fear on her face as they heard Bow crying in the room behind her.
“What happened!?” Adora said, standing up.
“She attacked Scorpia and Perfuma’s family in Plumeria,” Glimmer said. “Two of the children have been kidnapped and Perfuma is by Scorpia’s side. The messenger who contacted us said they don’t know if Scorpia is still with us or not. Shadow Weaver left a message behind.”
The room went still as Catra and Adora waited for Glimmer to continue. When she didn’t, Adora said, “What did it say, Glimmer?”
Glimmer looked at Finn for a split second before Catra said, “Glimmer, Finn’s in this with the rest of us. They deserve to know.”
Glimmer swallowed and said, “It said, ‘Just a little insurance to be sure that Catra and Adora don’t try and deny me what is mine when I come for them.’”
“Jump me to Plumeria, Glimmer,” Adora said. “I have to save Scorpia if I can.”
“What if it’s a trap?” Glimmer said.
“Leave as soon as you drop me in then,” Adora said. “I’ll call you when it’s time to go back.”
“You think I’m going to leave you there!?” Glimmer said.
At the same time Catra was saying, “Adora! No!”
“Everyone stop arguing with me!” Adora yelled. “I know the risks! You act like I haven’t taken risks before! I’m not chasing after Shadow Weaver; I’m going for Scorpia! Now let’s go! The longer we argue, the more certain it is that we lose Scorpia!”
Glimmer was shaking her head but she still stepped forward and grabbed on to Adora and jumped. As she did, she thought she heard Catra shout and then she felt a weird pull that seemed out of the ordinary for a jump. They popped into Plumeria and Adora instantly transformed and then jumped a little and looked down when she heard Catra say, “Finn! What were you thinking!?”
Holding on to her leg was Finn, still holding their stuffed whale, and Catra, holding on to Finn’s leg.
“That I need to be brave and that means coming to help like all of you do,” Finn said defiantly.
Catra was spinning in circles, trying to keep an eye on everyone who were peeking out of tents or walking towards them.
“Finn, we gotta go back RIGHT NOW!” Catra said. “This is not safe!”
Finn stepped back and said, “No! I’m staying with Mom and Aunt Glimmer!”
Adora looked at Finn and said, “This isn’t play, Finn!”
Finn set their face in stubbornness and said, “Why do you think I don’t know that!? You just told Glimmer I’m in this with you! I’m not leaving!”
“We don’t have time for this!” Adora said, pinching her nose before scooping Finn up in her arms. She started to march through the mass of temporary structures that the people of Plumeria preferred to live in towards the large tent that Scorpia and Perfuma occupied with their large family.
“You’re staying right beside us, Finn,” Adora said to Finn trying to struggle out of her grip. “So quit squirming. You do not move more than arm’s length from any of us without explicit permission. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” Finn said, calming down.
Glimmer looked at them and said, “I better go back and tell Bow that Finn is with us for now. He’s going to be freaking out otherwise. I’ll be right back.”
Adora nodded, uncomfortable about losing the ability to quickly leave but understanding her worry, and said, “Ok. Be quick, please.”
“I will,” Glimmer said as she disappeared in a cloud of sparkles.
It was only a few minutes before they were in the tent. Scorpia and Perfuma had started their family not long after the war had started. They figured out that both of them loved children so on top of having their own children, they’d adopted some as well, and there were always some who had their own parents but spent a large amount of time with the other kids. Adora looked at the huddled group of kids in one corner of the sprawling tent, from older teenagers to almost infants, and each of them looked back at her with fear in their eyes.
I’m getting tired of seeing fear in everyone I meet these days, Adora said as she felt a part of her harden. Then she saw Perfuma and Scorpia and she felt a part of herself break.
Scorpia was laid out flat on a futon mattress rolled out on the ground, covered in bandages, and for a moment Adora wasn’t sure she was even breathing. Then her chest rose and fell, barely, and Adora knew she wasn’t too late. She sat Finn down beside Catra and went over to where Perfuma sat beside Scorpia.
Adora didn't know how to react when she knelt down beside her. She was ready for crying, she would completely understand screaming and accusations, but she wasn't ready for Perfuma to not even look at her as she sat silent and unmoving as she gently held Scorpia's claw as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Adora's here, Lovebug," she said quietly without moving her head.
Catra could see Perfuma’s eyes from where she stood and they broke her heart. They were the eyes of someone who wasn’t looking into the world anymore and instead had fallen into the abyss of their worst nightmares and had no hope left. She pulled Finn to her and felt guilty as she did so because she still had her child.
“I’m going to heal her. I’m going to make this right,” Adora said as she carefully placed her hands on either side of Scorpia’s face and concentrated as golden light filled the tent. Finn watched and when it didn’t end after a few moments like it had when Adora had healed Bow, they looked up Catra.
“Why’s it taking so long?” Finn whispered.
Catra simply squeezed them and shook her head. She’d heard over the years the rumor that She-Ra could raise the dead but she knew from personal experience that wasn’t true. Adora could pull a person back from the very brink of death but she’d once confided in her, after Catra had asked her about the time she’d saved her, what it was like. Adora had looked out over their backyard where they’d been relaxing after dinner that night before answering.
“It’s like fighting the most immense weight you can ever imagine,” she’d said. “You can feel this pull on your whole being and you know that if you slip, for even a split second, that you’ll lose that person. Every second is an eternity and the worse the damage, the harder it is and the longer it takes. You were hard but your damage, while bad, wasn’t horrendous. I can’t imagine trying for someone who’d had something truly awful done to them. Honestly, I’m terrified that I’d go with them if I kept trying and didn’t break free.”
Catra remembered that comment and a shiver ran down her spine as she took in the extent of the damage to Scorpia and realized that there didn’t seem to be any part of her body that wasn’t bandaged or splinted. Then she realized that Adora had been concentrating for not seconds but minutes and her blood ran cold. She stood frozen to the spot as she realized she was probably watching both Scorpia and Adora die.
Have I told her I love her today? Why can’t I remember? I should’ve told her more, Catra said.
As she thought that, Adora suddenly became herself again and pulled her hands back from Scorpia’s face. She wavered upright for a second before collapsing across Scorpia with a rattling sigh. Catra felt like she didn’t touch the ground as she went to her side and pulled her into her arms. Finn was right there with her, grabbing Adora’s hand, and Catra felt the dead weight of Adora in her arms and felt like screaming and never stopping but nothing seemed able to come out of her mouth.
“It isn’t to be then,” Catra heard Perfuma say in a monotone behind her as she lay a hand over Scorpia’s eyes and lowered her head and the kids in the corner began crying.
“Mom? Mom!?” Finn said, stroking Adora’s hand while Catra had Adora’s head held tight to her chest and her eyes squeezed shut as her mind went blank in sorrow. Silence seemed to stretch out from the small group around the mattress and radiate out into the world.
Then suddenly, Adora and Scorpia both arced their backs and screamed towards the sky before collapsing back into coughing fits as they both gasped for breath.
“Adora!” Catra said, terrified for Adora as she shook and gasped for air but elated that she was moving.
“I’m alright, I’m alright, what about Scorpia?” Adora gasped out, barely getting the words out, while Finn hugged her.
Perfuma cradled Scorpia’s upper body in her arms. Scorpia shook her head like she’d walked through a cobweb and wanted it off right that instant.
“Lovebug?” Perfuma said with her voice full of desperate hope.
“Flower, are the kids safe? Did I give them enough time to get away?” Scorpia said, trying to reach up for Perfuma.
“Just rest for now,” Perfuma said. “Please.”
Scorpia was now fighting to get up as she pulled bandages off and looked over at the pack of kids who’d stopped crying and were coming over to them slowly, nervously, as if they didn’t want to believe what they say because to believe it and then have it yanked away would hurt worse than to just deny it now.
After only a moment of looking, Scorpia turned back to Perfuma and said, “Where’s Artho and Oak?”
No one answered and Scorpia tried to stand, wobbled, and sat back down hard.
“Where’s Artho and Oak!?” she shouted.
“Shadow Weaver took them,” Catra said. Scorpia immediately tried to get to her feet again but was stopped by Perfuma putting her hand on her shoulder.
“Stop! You’ve done enough already! You fought those creatures, you almost died! Rest!” Perfuma said. Then her voice went soft and full of sorrow as she said, “I almost lost you. Please. I can’t face that again.”
Adora had managed to catch her breath as she said, “We’re not going to let her keep them. I promise.”
Scorpia looked at her and said, “You know I know what promises mean to you.”
“That’s why I said it,” Adora said.
“Ok,” Scorpia said as she lay back down and the kids crowded onto the bed with her.
There were a few quiet minutes as everyone found that happiness could enter their lives, tentatively, carefully, like a wary animal ready to bolt, when Catra suddenly looked around and said, “Where’s Glimmer? She was supposed to be back by now.”
Adora shrugged from where she lay on Catra’s lap with Finn curled up next to her as she said, “Maybe she got involved in some queen business?”
Catra could see Adora was trying to play it off but it wasn’t successful.
“Perfuma, I need your data pad please,” Catra said. Perfuma passed it over with one hand, refusing to let go of Scorpia with the other and Catra called up Bright Moon. When someone answered, she could hear shouting and crashing in the background.
“What’s going on!?” Catra said in alarm.
“Princess Catra! Hold!” the guard who’d answered said before turning and shouting out, “Your Majesty!”
Glimmer came onto screen and Catra stared in shock. Her clothes were covered in scorch marks and her hair had been half burned away.
“Are you alright!?” Glimmer said.
“Are we alright?” Catra said. “Your hair’s half burned off!”
“As soon as I got back in, the castle came under attack! It’s those things! They haven’t got into the archives but they’re everywhere else! We’re all fighting them! I’ve heard from the other princesses and they’re having the same problem! You’re the only one we haven’t heard from!” Glimmer said.
Catra listened but heard nothing outside and said, “It’s quiet here. Adora healed Scorpia and we were just sitting here when we realized we hadn’t heard from you.”
“Listen, I’ll come get you out as soon as I can but I gotta help here,” Glimmer said. “Can you hold for twenty minutes?”
“We can,” Catra said.
Glimmer dropped the connection without a goodbye and Catra looked up to everyone else.
“Why didn’t she attack here again?” Scorpia said in confusion.
Catra shrugged and then jumped to her feet when she heard screaming from outside. She stepped over and flipped open the tent flap and looked out to see Shadow Weaver standing across the clearing from the tent. Suddenly, she was shoved aside as Adora stepped out as She-Ra and sent a blast at her without saying a word. The blast was as wide as a truck and she’d aimed it slightly down so when it hit Shadow Weaver, it was already plowing up the ground in front of her as she disappeared into the blast. The blast leveled trees for twenty feet behind her before burrowing into the ground. Adora kept it up for a few seconds and then let it stop and sagged a little before straightening back up.
Finn had come up behind them and had hit the ground when Adora had fired but now looked back up in awe. They only thing they could think to say when they saw the deep trench, settling dust, and falling branches from the exploded trees was, “Wow!”
“It should have lasted longer,” Adora said. “She deserved worse.”
Catra nodded and said, “Yes, it should have.”
Then she stiffened up as Shadow Weaver flowed out of the dust cloud and said, “Well it would seem I’m wrong as to why you were here. When I realized the Queen had teleported here, I thought perhaps you had accepted reality and were making it easy for all concerned. I should have known better.”
“HOW ARE YOU STILL STANDING!?” Adora screamed as Finn crawled behind Adora’s leg and peeked out, clutching their stuffed whale tight.
“Of course, you wield magic but you’ve never really bothered to study it have you? I’m projecting a specter form, Adora. Now enough education. You never really paid enough attention to it anyway. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard about the attacks on your friends. You know of the annoying brats I hold right now as insurance to your good behavior. I’ll ignore your little outburst right now and this can end right now, with no more issues, if you want,” Shadow Weaver said. “If not, well, I haven’t even begun to unpack my tricks. Continue to misbehave and deny my will and I’ll make Etheria a nightmare realm for every person on this planet. When I do I’ll make sure everyone knows it was the mighty She-Ra who is the reason it happened.”
Adora stood there and started to bring her sword up when Catra stepped forward. Adora looked at her in shock and Catra gave her a look for a moment and then turned back to the form and said, “What are you asking us to do?”
“Catra,” Shadow Weaver said in a sweet tone. “I should have known you’d break. You always were about your own self-interest and while it pleases me to see that it’ll work to end this, it’s also why you’re not a good parent. You don’t care for them more than yourself like I do.”
“Just tell me,” Catra said, her hands balled into fists.
“Very well,” Shadow Weaver said. “Bring Finn to the Fright Zone by tomorrow at nightfall. Send them into Horror Hall, alone. You leave before they get anywhere close to the entrance to Horror Hall. I’ll happily meet them there. If all of that happens, the other two will walk out of Horror Hall unharmed. Do not attempt to bargain. Just tell me yes or no, do you agree to this?”
Catra looked at the ground and said, “Yes, I do.”
“CATRA!” Adora screamed at her and turned the sword towards her.
“I’ll let you two have your little spat. Remember, nightfall tomorrow, or the two brats won’t return and everything gets worse,” Shadow Weaver said and then vanished.
“Why!? Why would you agree to that!?” Adora screamed as Finn looked at Catra in fear.
Catra looked up at her and said with a soft smile on her face, “I love you.”
“Answer me!” Adora screamed.
“Adora, I would have thought after all these years together, you would be able to tell when I’m lying,” Catra said and then shot a thumb over her shoulder towards where the figure had disappeared. “She sure hasn’t.”
Adora lowered the sword and looked at her, hesitant and worried, as she said, “That’s not a good way to make me feel more comfortable you know.”
“I know but remember, hardly even an hour ago when we were sitting in the safe room?” Catra said as she looked between Adora and Finn. “I promised I wouldn’t let her take Finn. Promised. So, do you trust my promise?”
Adora turned back to her regular self and the sword disappeared.
“I do,” she said.
Catra crouched down and looked at Finn and said, “What about you, kiddo, do you trust my promise?”
Finn ran out from behind Adora and slammed into Catra with a hug. Adora walked over and hugged her tight as well as she said, “I love you too.”
“Too?” Catra said.
“You said, I love you, just now and I screamed at you instead,” Adora said. “I had to say it back.”
“Goofball,” Catra said with a little smile.
That evening all the kids were piled in the corner of the tent sleeping. Finn was curled up with them as on the other side Catra, Adora, Scorpia, and Perfuma were quietly discussing what to do. They kept trying to raise Glimmer on the data pad but they couldn’t get through and it only added to their worry. Outside the sound of trucks and skiffs could be heard as people decided to evacuate away from what they saw as sitting on the bullseye of a target.
“Alright, we’ve been round and round on this for hours,” Scorpia said. “I still think we should call the old Horde soldiers living in the Fright Zone and have them surprise her.”
“And I say that’s just sending good people to their doom,” Catra said. “Besides, if she’s been hiding out there this whole time, it’s not like they’ve spotted her. That place is almost as bad a maze as Dryl is these days the way parts of it are collapsing.”
“But if she’s been down in Horror Hall, our family are the only people who use it and we haven’t been there in a few months,” Scorpia said.
Perfuma, sitting in Scorpia’s lap, said, “Lovebug, it’s very late and we’ve had a long day. Maybe we should all sleep a little bit. The universe has a tendency to talk to us in our sleep and maybe we’ll wake with a better idea.”
Adora yawned and said, “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea. At least for a few hours.”
She stood up to go check on Finn when she suddenly realized, Finn wasn’t in the tent.
“Where’s Finn!?” she said.
Catra jumped to her feet and said, “Are they not…”
Then she saw the empty space where they’d been asleep with a folded piece of paper sitting on the pillow. Catra scurried over to it and picked it up. The paper was the kind Scorpia and Perfuma’s kids used for school and Catra unfolded it to see Finn’s handwriting. She read it and cried out before covering her mouth and started to cry.
Adora was by her side in a flash and took the note from her and read it out loud.
“Moms, I know what I have to do. I must be brave like all of you. I’m going to go stop this myself. I love you,” Adora said as she saw Finn’s signature at the bottom and the note dropped from her hand as the four looked at each other in horror.