A glint of light peeked through her eyelid.
Catra's eyes fluttered open.
She was alone.
She couldn't sense Melog or any of the Horde kids nearby.
She did not recognise her surroundings.
She was floating in a void.
Her hair curled over her head, charcoal lined her eyes and she was dressed in cream coloured robes that were held on by a golden band around her neck, attempting left her shoulders and wrists exposed. Golden gladiator sandals over her feet. Hemeras crown sitting proudly on her head.
For a moment, she was confused.
But then she felt it.
A divinity unlike any she had felt before.
She looked up, to meet the swirling kaleidoscope eyes of fate.
She craned over her neck to see if she catch a glimpse of the Verena Xalia. But no such luck.
She turns back to Fate, who holds out his hand to her.
She pauses momentarily, and then she takes it.
They seemed to pass through an invisible portal, as the next thing she knows they're standing in a magical garden.
A silvery stream pours into a lake in the left, Yew trees and whin bushes are growing on the right, and three tall thrones sit right before them.
Fate sits on the one closest to the lake, and he becomes a lot more noticeable.
His hair is a darker shade of chestnut, fringe falling over his eyes, and the rest held back with a crown of silver laurels. He was dressed in plain robes with a neckline that came to his hips, revealing the dark shadow of his muscular chest.
'Welcome home, Hemera'
She was quiet, before she collapsed.
Sobbing and broken, on her knees.
Fate was silent.
She did not hear him cross the ground, but felt the soft draw of his talons across her hair.
'You have gotten further then last time.. '
'W-what do you mean...?' She met his eyes.
'You will know when the time arrives.'
She did not feel glad.
When she finally pulls herself together, she looks up to meet lavender-violet eyes staring back at her.
'Thank you'
She is quiet.
'Let me show you somewhere' He adds, holding out one calloused hand.
She takes it
He takes her across the room, through the window, to a bridge. But it is not a bridge. It is a long, slim, silver pole that goes from the teetering edge of the windowsill to a mysterious, shadowed place that she was yet to discover.
'Cat bridge?' Fate suggested.
She smirked.
'Cat bridge.'
And with those two words, she was cautiously crossing the pole, completely alert.
She slipped through the larger gap between the cracked bricks of the shadowed area. Vines with withering flowers curtained the entire exterior of the building.
Fate finally followed, because he had known that there was no room for two on the bridge at the same time.
Catra stood from her place on the wooden floor. Mold and rats had eaten away at the planks.
She noticed that she was standing in a long, chandelier lit room.
Closets sat nearly spaced apart in the four sides.
'Up here!'
She turned to see Fate halfway up a grandiose staircase, smiling broadly at her.
She followed quickly.
The staircase led up to an even bigger room, with a large open balcony on the right, and a railed view of the theatre stage below.
There was no chandelier here, atleast not one with its candle wicks aflame. This entire floor was silvered by the moonlight that spilt through the open door balcony and massive windows.
Fate led her out onto the balcony, and Catra gasped at the sight.
A beautiful opaque sky of rose pink, dark blue and golden mists swirled and changed above them, orchestrated by will alone.
She breathed out, a small puff of chilled air.
Her eyes fall on the rolling fields of Heather, snapdragon and pinked zinnia. There's the silhouette of a village in the distance.
'Beautiful, isn't it?' Fate smiles as they lean over the fanciful, ornate rail.
'I can't even deny it.' She sighs, smiling.
'Do you want to know what's even prettier?' He smirks.
She raises an eyebrow at him.
He walks back into the room, she watches from the balcony.
He turned to face her, and snapped his fingers with a smirk.
All of a sudden, the paintings adorning the walls spurred to life.
The people within the portraits floating away from the plated frames, their spirits dancing on in the hall.
Phantoms in shades of dim blue and navy danced in the edges of the room, and Fate snaps his fingers once again.
A chain of silver much akin to liquid starlight flowed from his fingertips and surrounded Catra.
Attaching at her hips, and spinning in a frame, a dress worked on route. Until a moment passed, and she was standing in the most opulent of gowns.
The colour a copper orange, enchanted with intricate golden embroidery and jewellery.
Her hair still it's natural mane.
And Fate conjured up an illusory Adora, dressed in silver-blue and hair pinned in a shining braid.
They encouraged Catra to lead a waltz with the illusion of her beloved.
Catra had first thought that she would not enjoy a simple illusion, but dancing with one's of ancient times and her heart, was just enough to offer her joy.
They danced until the sun rose above the distant village.