[ She shouldn't be doing this. Catra made it clear the day before she wants nothing to do with Adora. Hell, Adora had suggested they keep out of each other's way.
It's just to find out how things are going with Etheria and Prime, she tells herself. Catra is the one with the newest information here. ]
[ Catra doesn't want to answer, at first. Takes a long, hard look at the message and shuts the journal. It's at least an hour before she finally replies. ]
I was with Hordak and Sparkles. We all got picked up by this transportation beam thing. Zapped us right up to the ship.
[ It's the one thing that nags at her the most. Catra could have gloated about her new place with Prime, held Glimmer's capture over her head like a victory. Instead, she'd freaked out. ]
He think he's perfect. He thinks that the only way to make 'his' universe perfect is to make everything like him. I don't know what that means but he just erased Hordak's memory and personality. Made him just like the rest of his clones. When it seemed like he remembered me, Prime put him in this pool of green stuff and zapped him back into being nothing.
He detected your ship leaving Etheria.
He wants the Heart. He wants to use it to destroy the universe and leave just him and his perfection.
Yeah. I came to see you, I have something important to talk to you about. I found out something about the sword, but I'd rather talk about it face to face?
[ The door is opened to reveal a simple flat, furnished to the bare minimum. Catra has not exactly settled into life here easily. She squints at Adora. ]
Well, I was on the way here and realized it was the first time I've actually come over so maybe I should bring something to eat while we talk, but then I couldn't figure out what you'd like since we had the, y'know, ration bars? And so I figured I should grab stuff I've always wanted to show you, but there was a lot of it and I couldn't decide what to start with and I...I might have bought too much.
...I had dinner with Horde Prime. Ate some stuff he said doesn't exist anywhere else in the universe.
[ The memory makes her feel a little sick. ]
But uh. Yeah. Come in, I guess...
[ It's an uncomplicated flat, only a couple of rooms. Cheap, obviously. She crosses the room to sit on the sill of a large window looking outward to the rest of the town, shutters thrown open to admit what breeze stirs humid jungle air. ]
Well, this, uh. Should be a lot different than that, at least?
[ She hopes.
Adora enters and sets everything down on the nearest table she can find. There's another bag over her shoulder, presumably the sword from the metallic clinking inside. ]
I guess we should start with the sword first. Um.
[ How to start this off. ]
I'm...I'm telling you this because I want to believe I can trust you. Because what I'm about to tell you... If anyone else [ Horde Prime, she doesn't say. ] found out, it could be trouble. But...
[ A deep breath. ]
She-Ra isn't gone. And she's not in the sword. She's- She's in me.
[ Catra rests her chin in a hand, listening as Adora starts her explanation. She's silent, letting the other talk. And as she talks, Catra's eyes widen. ]
You're not bullshitting me, are you? In you? What does that even mean?
I don't fully understand it myself. But there's a guy here, Connor. He's a really advanced robot, and I guess since the sword is part First One's Tech he could read the...data? That's on it.
[ She reached into the bag to pull the hilt of the sword out. ]
The gemstone is still active and connected to me. The sword was designed to...I think... [ She struggles with the word, looking away. ]
It was designed to control She-Ra's power. Draw her out from me, and restrain her-- me-- Us? She's a part of me, somehow. Not the sword.
[ Catra listens. She listens, even if she doesn't quite believe what she's hearing. THere's something itching underneath her skin, a certainty that this just means Adora will be someone else's tool again. ]
[ Catra feels sick. A weight settling in her chest. There'd been something freeing about knowing that Adora had been brought back down to Earth, that she was just normal again.
But no. Adora was still special. Adora was still going to have to save the world, somehow. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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It's just to find out how things are going with Etheria and Prime, she tells herself. Catra is the one with the newest information here. ]
How did you end up on Horde Prime's ship?
[ There. Simple, to the point, no fluff. ]
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I was with Hordak and Sparkles. We all got picked up by this transportation beam thing. Zapped us right up to the ship.
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[ It's the one thing that nags at her the most. Catra could have gloated about her new place with Prime, held Glimmer's capture over her head like a victory. Instead, she'd freaked out. ]
Is he as annoying as his clones?
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[ She should gloat because that would be easier. ]
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So what happens now?
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[ There. The question is out.
For a moment, she's afraid to see the answer, walking away from her journal to pace. ]
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Do something good for once in your life Glimmer had said, but she can't do that one good thing anymore. Not while she's here. ]
I don't know.
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You're acting weird.
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He detected your ship leaving Etheria.
He wants the Heart. He wants to use it to destroy the universe and leave just him and his perfection.
That's what Sparkles thought, anyway.
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One thing at a time. ]
What do you mean our ship leaving? Entrapta is still fixing it.
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You're on the way, right?
[ Not for her, of course, but for Glimmer. ]
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[ She stops writing. She can't admit this. Can't talk about her plan. It's too much. ]
How can he have detected it if you haven't left yet?
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[ another few minutes of silence. ]
Thank you for telling me.
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Not like it matters now that we're stuck here.
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I will be.
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[ Freak out? Feel mocked? ]
I just wanted to let you know so it's not a surprise or anything?
[ The Horde was bad, but it knew about armor and weapons, at least. ]
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[ Well, she would have cared. Good job, Adora. ]
Is your
girlfriendnew friend going too?no subject
[ They're supposed to be trying, after all.
Which is why she says nothing about the scratched-out 'girlfriend'. ]
And I think she is, yes. A lot of people are, as far as I can tell.
You don't have to like her, but please don't start a fight again, okay? We need to focus on the mission.
[ She's also told Jinx twice that she'd take a bullet for Catra if the gun comes out again, so there's that too. ]
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[ Couldn't handle it. Would go crazy, maybe.
She's leaving a lot of sentences unfinished today. ]
Just be careful, okay? I just want us to both arrive back in one piece.
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[ She doesn't believe it. ]
See you on the boat.
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why
are you in tikal???
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Fine, yeah.
[ And she scribbles out her address for Adora. ]
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[ Sure enough, Adora's at her door fifteen minutes later! She calls through the door that she's there, arms full of food and grin nervous. ]
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What's with all the food?
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[ Nervous? Adora? Never. ]
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[ The memory makes her feel a little sick. ]
But uh. Yeah. Come in, I guess...
[ It's an uncomplicated flat, only a couple of rooms. Cheap, obviously. She crosses the room to sit on the sill of a large window looking outward to the rest of the town, shutters thrown open to admit what breeze stirs humid jungle air. ]
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[ She hopes.
Adora enters and sets everything down on the nearest table she can find. There's another bag over her shoulder, presumably the sword from the metallic clinking inside. ]
I guess we should start with the sword first. Um.
[ How to start this off. ]
I'm...I'm telling you this because I want to believe I can trust you. Because what I'm about to tell you... If anyone else [ Horde Prime, she doesn't say. ] found out, it could be trouble. But...
[ A deep breath. ]
She-Ra isn't gone. And she's not in the sword. She's- She's in me.
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You're not bullshitting me, are you? In you? What does that even mean?
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[ She reached into the bag to pull the hilt of the sword out. ]
The gemstone is still active and connected to me. The sword was designed to...I think... [ She struggles with the word, looking away. ]
It was designed to control She-Ra's power. Draw her out from me, and restrain her-- me-- Us? She's a part of me, somehow. Not the sword.
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[ Catra listens. She listens, even if she doesn't quite believe what she's hearing. THere's something itching underneath her skin, a certainty that this just means Adora will be someone else's tool again. ]
So you're still She-Ra?
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[ A grimace, she can't seem to meet Catra's eyes. ]
I don't know how I'm supposed to get her to come out. Connor said he'll try and help me train her out. But even if it does work...
[ Light Hope, The sword. The feeling of the magic dragging her arms up and knowing what it would do. ]
I wanted this, but now that I have it... I really don't know what to do.
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But no. Adora was still special. Adora was still going to have to save the world, somehow. ]
Be careful what you wish for, I guess.