Magic of Etheria

Chapter 40 | Scratches

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that everyone on Etheria was watching, the day the sky turned green. All the Spires, left behind by the Galactic Horde and untouched since their defeat, started activating one by one. They each fired a blindingly bright beam of green light up to the edge of Etheria's atmosphere, where the light stopped and split apart, forming a lattice around the planet and effectively caging us in. Hordak said it was there for two reasons: to stop people from escaping the surface of the targeted planet, and to protect any ships in orbit from the wildly unpredictable desolation that was to follow.

Everyone in the war room ran outside to see what was happening as soon as the ground started to shake. The nearest terrace happened to be the gardens, Shadow Weaver's greenhouse of suspicious plants still standing—although now filled with a range of delightful gifts from Plumeria—so that's where we found ourselves.

Netossa whistled admirably, remarking on the size and scale of was she said was effectively "just a big net".

As I watched this happen, watched the sky seal off with a wave of green light, watched as Etheria's potential final moments drew upon us (again), all I could think was: where's Catra?

'The Swarm drones have already descended,' Hordak was saying, 'hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Far more than were present at Erelandia.'

'So they're trapped in here with us?' Micah asked, 'that doesn't seem smart.'

'With Horde Prime gone,' Hordak continued, 'I am unsure as to the motivation behind the activation of the Ember Protocol, but whoever has started this cannot stop it without—'

'It's Prime,' I said, speaking up and interrupting Hordak, 'he's back. Or, I guess he never really left.'

'What do you mean?' Glimmer asked, and rightfully so followed up with, 'you were so adamant that it wasn't Horde Prime! To the point you had a panic attack just thinking about it!'

I felt a reassuring hand land on my shoulder and looked to see Bow smiling at me with a soft expression. 'How about,' he started, keeping his voice low and calm, 'we let Adora explain in her own time instead of losing our cool?'

Glimmer sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, nodding reproachfully, 'you're right, Bow. Sorry, Adora. But, please tell us how you know it's Prime.'

I looked down at my hands, but realised I'd left the tracker pad back in the war room. Only Perfuma and Catra knew about me having seen Prime, and only Catra knew that he actually was in my head. I took a deep breath to steel myself and looked around everyone's patient faces before landing my gaze on Glimmer. 'Ever since I picked up that crystal in Dryl, and up until just before Princess Prom, I could hear and see Horde Prime. But he was just in my head, no one else could hear or see him, so I thought for the longest time that maybe it wasn't real. But it was. He was affecting me, making me scared, making me doubt myself and say and do things I didn't mean. When Catra and I were fighting and you left me in her room to talk to her, she tried to make up with me, but I pushed her away again even though I didn't want to. That was him. He did that. I'm sure of it. I don't know what else he specifically had a hand in, but it took until he brought out She-Ra to attack Catra that I knew how bad it really was.'

'Why didn't you say anything?' Bow asked, voice laced with concern and eyes full of worry.

I laughed dryly, 'he was in my head, Bow! I don't think I could've even if I wanted to. The only people who knew were Catra and Perfuma. I don't even know why he let me tell Perfuma. He could have planted little ideas in my subconscious, and I would have acted on them without even realising it.' I sort of had an idea of the moments when I wasn't entirely in my right mind, but thinking about it too hard is not what we need right now. Not what Etheria needs. I need to—I have to—protect everybody, defend the planet from him, whatever it takes.