Chương 49: What If...Catra Stayed With Adora?
"Okay." Catra muttered as they continued driving towards the Whispering Woods. "There are a few things to keep in mind."
Catra took a breath.
"The world, for a lack of better term, seems to be slowly imploding. The Fright Zone is gone. We'd be erased if we tried to go back."
"The fact that we forgot Tigra likely means that there's next to no chance anyone in the Rebellion would recognize me at their first look. Which means, we'll need to convince anyone and everyone that we need to help us." Adora continued.
Catra nodded.
"We don't know where Tigra is. While she could likely be in her home kingdom, our kingdom was destroyed ~7 years before she was born. Her suddenly missing while the world seems to be twisting around us gives no certainty that she's there."
"While we could look there, it won't be long until Etheria's land is practically cut into two sides from those cracks. Since the Sword, which was used to create the Portal, wasn't with me in the Fright Zone, the next place to check would likely be the Whispering Woods."
"If it's not there?" Catra asked.
"We check in with Glimmer and them. Glimmer and, maybe Angella, should be able to get us to Entrapta much faster than if we tried to drive there. Especially since most of the routes would take us through that purple and pink wall of light."
They both looked in the direction and, even though it was faint from the amount of distance that they had managed to put in between them and the light, it still seemed to be slowly getting closer.
"Through Entrapta, she should either know how to shut it down or how to use her failsafe to stop it." Catra reminded.
"We also don't want anyone or anything falling into the light if possible. For a short period of time, it seemed like Lonnie was starting to forget Rogelio and Kyle. This light could be making people forget what was swallowed."
"But that would imply that people would forget an entire kingdom that they have been at war with." Catra pointed out. "On one hand, that may be good for us not to be treated like enemies. The other, it will make it insanely hard to convince people that something is wrong. It took you and I an unknown amount of time before we realized Tigra was missing because everything seemed too…"
"Perfect." Adora's eyes were wide. "Everything seemed too perfect!"
Catra did think back to what happened.
"The promotion to Force Captains at the same time. Us being able to drive off a Princess without major injuries. The entirety of the Horde respecting us. Shadow Weaver acting like a good parent. She praised us." Catra frowned. "Only when we started remembering how reality wasn't really like this, did it start breaking our view. We started noticing inconsistencies and then the purple and pink light and cracks started appearing more often."
"Lonnie also only noticed the cracks and light after she realized that Rogelio and Kyle were missing." Adora commented.
"Which means…"
"We have to break a few people away from their perfect world and bring them out of their dream and back to reality." Adora grimaced.
"Regardless, who was that person we saw outside the Zone? The one that told us to find her in the Woods?"
"That was Madame Razz. She keeps calling me Mara but seems to know more about She-Ra than anyone else, not counting Bow's dads, seeing as they are historians who are solely focused on First Ones and She-Ra."
"So, if she knew the previous She-Ra, she may know what's going on?"
"That's what I'm hoping for." Adora confirmed. "Otherwise, we need to book it to Glimmer and try to get her to remember me. We physically can't reach Dryl now through physical means."
Catra sighed.
"Never thought this would be the way I would enter Brightmoon."
"You envision yourself leading a large army and eventually overwhelming the Rebellion?" Adora asked with a smirk.
"Hey, it almost worked. If it wasn't for your She-Ra magical shit, it would have worked." Catra rebutted.
Adora raised an eyebrow at her.
"Really? It seemed after everything that your soldiers were worse for wear, all of the Princesses showed up, and Tigra seemed…hesitant on fighting us."
Adora did seem to pause on Tigra's situation.
"...Yeah. Tigra said that she was only confident in facing that Ice Brat. That she was more concerned about you, Mermista, and Flower Power."
"Perfuma? Why would she have worried…the Whispering Woods!" Adora realized. "Even frozen as they were, they were still a magical forest with the Princess of Earth near them. She could have influenced them to wake up for a short amount of time."
"Exactly why she was concerned with her in a fight. She figured that it would have been better to retreat before our escape route was compromised by vines and more."
'Let alone the fact that nearly 10 new, fresh enemies showed up: Each either being a Princess or a member of the Elementalists.' Catra thought.
The two of them kept going forward, yet Catra noticed something.
'We aren't teleporting around as much anymore.'
She looked behind her but squinted her eyes.
'Why does it look like the light is only following us? Shouldn't it be expanding in multiple directions?'
"There's the forest!" Adora announced, drawing Catra's eyes away from the light.
They zoomed into the Woods.
__________
Catra led them around the giant trees, under the vines, and tried to keep them from running into their roots.
It would never have lasted forever though.
One of the roots seemed to have grabbed onto one of the engines before spinning them.
They both screamed out from the sudden lack of control before the Skiff upended them into the air.
They rolled on the ground before finding themselves underneath a large tree.
Catra groaned as she slowly got up and looked over at where the Skiff ended up and winced.
That engine that was grabbed? It was gone.
It looked like it had been torn off of the Skiff as if it had been going full throttle and struck a wall.
The rest of the Skiff wasn't much better. Parts of the controls were broken, the propulsion system that kept the Skiff off of the ground that she had to manually control as the Woods had various heights was broken, and the other engine was banged up enough that it looked like it needed repairs.
Which would take time, which they are already low on.
"Damage?" Adora groaned out, getting up.
"Skiff's done. It would be easier if we just ran." Catra frowned. "I'm good, mainly just a few things that will likely bruise. No broken bones or dislocations. You?"
Adora rolled a shoulder.
"Mostly fine. Bruises are a guarantee but other than that, I should be good to keep on going."
"Alright, let's go."
The two of them started jogging through the forest.
They jogged simply because they needed to conserve as much energy as possible without being too slow.
Only after 10 minutes did something else happen.
"Mara!" An old woman suddenly appeared, taking them both back.
"Madame Razz!"
Razz looked over at Catra before smiling.
"Purrah! It's been ages since I've seen you." She seemed to grow saddened. "Why did you go without Mara?"
"What?" Catra asked. "I'm not Purrah, whoever that is. I'm Catra."
"She does this." Adora assured. "But that's not the point. You told us to find you in the Woods."
Adora rubbed a hand up and down her arm.
"We couldn't save anyone else. They're gone."
"Not yet," Razz shook her head. "There is still time to fix this. To undo everything that is happening."
"You know alot about this," Catra noticed. "This isn't the first time this has happened, is it? It happened with this 'Mara,' right?"
"Yes, dearies. When she moved Etheria into Despondos and took away the stars. It was pretty crazy then." Razz confirmed.
"It's my fault," Adora muttered.
Catra groaned at seeing that problem poke its head, now of all times.
"I was worried so long that I would become another Mara. Destroying the World the way she did, and yet I'm repeating the exact same thing."
Adora got the straw end side of a broom to the face.
Catra did suppress a light snicker at the suddenness.
"Destroy the world?" Razz laughed lightly. "No, dearie. Mara saved the world! And so will you. But you can't waste any time. You must go back to the beginning. You must find the sword. It is the only way to stop this!"
"But the Fright Zone is gone." Catra had to point out. "Wouldn't that mean that it's too late?"
Razz tsked and shook her head.
"The old kingdom of nuts and bolts was never your beginnings. Especially for you, Mara. You must go to the very beginning."
"I…I don't understand. That is my beginning."
Razz softened her look.
"You don't need to understand dearie. You just need to remember."
Catra's ears twitch and looked behind them before her eyes widened.
"Adora! We've got to go!"
She was looking at purple lights and cracks not even 100 feet away from them.
"What!? But they were miles away!"
"Go dearies." Razz told them. "It was nice to see you again, Purrah. Though, I do wish to see your eyes again."
The girls didn't have time and started to run towards Brightmoon.
All while Razz happily walked into the purple light.
"I liked them much more than that emerald."
Madame Razz vanished into the purple light.
__________
They exited the Woods and saw Brightmoon in the distance.
"Alright." Adora began. "We just need to find Glimmer and/or Bow and get them to remember us."
"Preferably you." Catra made sure she understood. "Last thing we want is for her to remember an enemy instead of an ally looking for help."
Adora looked like she wanted to argue but stopped, likely understanding that it was pure logic.
She sighed.
"Okay. How to go about this?" Adora scrunched her eyebrows. "Glimmer is likely to be in her room. So, we just need to get into her room."
"Or," Catra started, seeing a problem right away. "We ask for Queen Angella instead. If you're seen trying to get into Sparkle's room, you'll be seen as an intruder trying to sneak their way into their Princess's room."
Adora frowned at that.
'Likely forgot for a brief second that Glimmer and the guards here don't know her.'
She nodded.
"Fine. We'll try your way first."
They hurried to the front of the palace but Adora had a question.
"What if they don't take us to her?"
"They will. One way or another.
After what felt like minutes, they reached the front before being stopped by two guards.
"Halt! What is your business with the Royals?" Guard #1 demanded.
"We need to speak with Queen Angella and Princess Glimmer regarding the safety of Etheria." Catra spoke.
Guard #2 snorted at that.
"Yeah, that's what they all say. While the ruling Royals entertain this on occasion, we can't allow every child the ability to see them at the drop of a hat."
"Child?" Catra muttered, causing Adora to look at her with wide eyes.
"So please, return back to where you came from."
"Please," Adora began. "We're being serious."
"Enough!" Guard #1 began. "We're trying to be nice, but we don't have time for this."
Catra exhaled through her nose and noticed Adora lowering her shoulders, likely knowing exactly what she was likely going to do.
While she had grown over 1.5 years apart, there were still things that were the same.
"Alright, we tried diplomacy." Catra started as she tensed her legs.
Guard #2 seemed confused at that sentence.
They became surprised when Guard #1 had their helmet and head slammed in by a foot.
Guard #1 stumbled before falling to the ground unconscious.
Catra landed on her feet before standing back up and glaring at Guard #2.
"Now then," Catra took one step forward. "Are they more willing to meet us now? Or will we have to stumble across them?"
Adora held a hand to her head, yet she seemed flustered.
Guard #2 held their spear ready to fight.
"Surrender and I'll ensure that you prisoners will be treated respectfully and fairly until the Queen and King meet you."
'King?'
"How long?" Catra asked.
"1 hour."
"Make it 30 minutes and we'll allow you to tie up our hands." Catra negotiated.
The Guard looked at Catra's legs.
"I feel like it's not your hands I should be worried about."
Catra clenched her hand and her claws came out.
"You sure?"
The Guard decided to be smart and simply tie their hands and call for backup.
"Preferably 4 people. Johnson got knocked out with one kick to the head."
__________
The two of them walked behind the Guard while being surrounded by another 4 guards, each with a hand on their weapons.
"You just had to kick Johnson in the head, didn't you?" Adora asked.
"Hey, they wouldn't take it seriously. Instead of knocking them both out and making us serious issues, I knocked one out and continued with negotiations. Johnson was the unlucky one to be near me."
Two guards moved ever so slightly away from Catra, making her gain a faint smirk.
"We would normally take you to a prison room and wait, but the King and Queen understand that you have made it known that you would just likely escape and cause havoc." #2 informed.
"Smart." Catra nodded. "We would have indeed done that."
Adora sighed.
"Still better than your plan, 'dora." She pointed out.
"Johnson would likely disagree." Adora muttered.
"And does Adora?" Catra raised an eyebrow.
Her silence was telling.
"In here."
Two large doors were opened to reveal a walk way and at the end of it were two figures sitting in two thrones.
On the left, sat Queen Angella: purple skin with long pink/purple hair, dark purple boots, light purple leggings, pink unitard, white gloves that went to her elbows, and a light blue cape that covered her back down to her feet.
On the right was a figure that she had only heard about maybe 5 times and seen once in a book.
He was muscular with a golden collar, a pink and purple shirt that was held done with a purple band, black pants, and purple boots. He held a scepter in his right hand that was indicative that he used magic.
This was King Micah of Brightmoon…someone who has been believed to be dead for the past 12 years. It had been a big commotion when it had happened. It was largely the death blow for the previous Alliance.
"King Micah?" Adora muttered. "He looks a lot different than the mural."
"You requested our presence and, when denied, assaulted one of our guards." Micah asked/told.
"We tried diplomacy, it failed, so we tried aggressive diplomacy." Catra shrugged before two guards made them kneel. "Touch me like that again and you'll join Johnson."
She got two spears pointed at her.
She did withhold from pointing out that she knocked Johnson out before #2 realized what happened.
Micah held up a hand, seemingly telling them to not interfere.
"You have an audience with us now, but not an ideal one. Convince us just why we shouldn't imprison you just for assaulting a Palace Guard but now also threatening two of them."
Adora opened her mouth.
"Do you have a spell that prevents us from lying?" Catra cut in. "We're about to say something that would be insane and would likely not be believed without some kind of Truth or Lying spell."
Micah seemed to raise an eyebrow.
"My love," Angella spoke. "Humor them. This already cut into our time to spend with Glimmer."
Micah nodded before holding his scepter out.
A blue circle appeared underneath the two of them.
"I'm Catra. I'm 18. I worked for a kingdom that likely doesn't exist anymore. I can not…not use magic." Catra tested. "Hm. I can use magic but instead of preventing me from lying, it made me turn a lie into a truth."
Micah nodded.
"I'm Adora. Also 18. I work alongside the Rebellion to take down the Horde alongside the rest of the Princesses in the new Princess Alliance." Adora spoke.
The room is quiet.
Catra elbowed her.
"You need to tell a lie."
"Oh! I dislike Glimmer…when she randomly teleports me to random places as a prank." Adora finished. "Wow, yeah. That is strange."
"Wait," Angella stood up. "You know Glimmah?"
"We both do." Adora told.
"Though, she knows Sparkles better than I do." Catra pointed out.
"Why is that?" Micah asked.
"We're not on good terms at the moment. We had a fight recently."
"About what?"
"King Micah," Catra started. "Can we say what we need to say? While I understand…kind of, your want to know of our relationship with your daughter, our issue is a bit more important."
Micah frowned lightly before nodding.
"Reality itself is collapsing in on itself," Catra started. "Time and Space are destabilized to the point Adora and I have been teleporting randoming to different locations, all the while Time seems to be acting erratically around us. We went through something and suddenly, we're somewhere else and a week has passed. The Horde…do you know the Horde?"
Micah frowned, but she could see it in his eyes.
He remembered something briefly.
"I…I can't say that I do."
"The Fright Zone was the Kingdom under the control of the Horde," Adora picked up. "Earlier, the entire Fright Zone was enveloped in a pink and purple light and we've seen the effect that it has on people who aren't aware of what is happening. They forget about anything swallowed by it. The Horde is a group that has been fighting Brightmoon for the last 30-40 years. The Rulers of the Kingdoms of your Generation fought back for about 10 years before you disappeared during a battle, your majesty. No one could find you and you are believed to be dead after 2 years of searching."
"WHAT?!" Angella yelled.
A sword struck the ground in front of Adora.
"Is that-"
A strong growl rumbled through the room.
"Do it again, we'll have problems." Catra snarled.
Meeting with Angella and a dead King was to try and speed this up.
Now? Adora's head was too close to a blade.
"Bridget!" Micah commanded. "Sheathe your weapon, NOW!"
'Bridget' stiffened before sheathing their sword.
"I apologize, my King."
"You have given us…much to think about. Please take them to the holding room. We are expecting guests to appear within the next few minutes." Micah commanded.
Catra stood up and made sure to stay near Adora.
"My turn?" Catra's ears barely picked up from Adora.
Catra nudged her with her arm as they were led away.
Your turn.
__________
They were led to the holding room where their door was locked.
Catra rubbed her wrists as they had been 'unshackled' after being put into the room.
She looked out the window and saw the purple wall of light and cracks were getting closer.
"Alright, the plan was semi-successful." Catra admitted. "We're in Brightmoon and the soldiers are expecting us to be in this room. Now, we just need to find a way to-"
A shimmer of light was her only warning before two people were in the room with them.
"Glimmer! Bow!" Adora seemed excited to see them and about stepped forward.
Until Glimmer's fists were surrounded in sparkly magic.
"Figured Sparkles would be too dumb to remember us." Catra snarked.
Glimmer glowered at her, before gaining a look before she shook her head.
"Listen crazy ladies, stop acting like you two actually know us! My dad has used that spell too many times to mess it up on the likes of you. So how can everything you say be true?"
"You listened in." Adora commented with a light smile. "Should have known you were there."
"Seriously!" Bow complained. "Stop acting like you know us! We've never met you two before."
"Yes you have." Adora stepped to Bow. "Bow, you saved our lives more times than I can count. You're a great fighter, a genius inventor, and you shouldn't worry about what your dads think. They're proud of you, just like I am."
"Why the heck would they not be proud of him? He's got one heck of an aim." Catra threw out. "He can occasionally be on the same level of accuracy as a Specialist like Kyle."
"And Glimmer, you have never given up or admitted defeat. I know making friends is hard for you, yet you're the one who pulled us all together."
"You're also a royal pain." Catra rolled her eyes.
"Not helping Catra."
"Actually, she likely remembers me being a pain as well. She won't have many, if any, positive memories involving me." Catra pointed out. "If anything, this could help remind her of something."
Glimmer seemed hesitant before throwing her hands up in the air.
"None of that is true! I'm just a Princess, and Bow isn't a fighter. He's a scholar."
Bow breathed in and Catra could see it happen.
Bow remembered.
He looked around before placing a hand over his abdomen.
"This…this isn't right." He muttered. "This is too perfect. Not having to choose between helping Glimmer or staying a scholar. Having a very simple life. None of this happened. Everyone keeps saying that this is perfect…but life is never perfect."
Bow looked at Catra and she saw understanding.
"Life isn't perfect. So what happened?"
"Bow…" Glimmer looked worried before grunting.
She held her head for a moment before her eyes opened.
"He's…right. It's too perfect." Glimmer spoke before looking distraught. "My dad…he's gone, isn't he? He's really gone?"
"I'm afraid so." Adora told.
The three got into a hug for a moment.
They separated.
"What's going on?"
Adora opened her mouth.
"Glimmah!" Angella's loud voice went through the castle. "The Sol family is here!"
"The Sol family?" Catra muttered.
Something about that stuck out, but she couldn't remember why.
"They're a visiting family from a kingdom. But they likely aren't real and were a substitute for-"
A fiery oval appeared in the room suddenly.
Everyone backed up as a foot stepped through. Then an arm, body, and finally a head.
"Sorry Glitter," A very familiar voice spoke. "I told Angella that you may have forgotten and would have liked a surprise."
Catra's eyes widened as they all looked at the figure.
A female magicat with long black hair with the front pinned down with a golden tiara. Orange fur surrounded her golden sclera eyes. A red kimono with flowers held down by a golden band around her waist, pinning it against her black pants. A black tail calmly swished side to side.
"Tigra!" Adora exclaimed.
Tigra looked confused before shaking her head and looking at Glimmer.
"Glitter, I know I don't call you by your name, but the least you can do is tell them my real name instead of a fake one."
"What?" Glimmer muttered, sounding very confused.
Yet all Catra felt was dread as a detail jumped out.
A young magicat kitten in a box watched as a figure appeared in her alley in a bright red light. Once the light calmed down and she could see again, she saw something she hadn't seen before.
A fellow magicat kitten looking around in confusion before seeming to draw in on themselves in fear.
She decided to make her presence known and get to meet her fellow kitten.
"My name isn't Tigra."
'Tigra never got sent to the Fright Zone.'
Catra swallowed as one other fact hit her in the heart.
'She never met us.'
"My name's Py'ra Sol, Princess of Halfmoon."
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