ADORA'S POV

Weak, so so weak. So useless. How could I have turned into this? Failure, disappointment, not good enough. I have to be perfect. Why do I keep slipping? Memories that were once stolen from me swarm my brain with the thoughts associated with them. It's overwhelming and it made my vision fuzzy and faded. I wanted to scream, but they choked each other out in my throat forming a lump as tears welled up in my eyes. Don't cry, crying means you're weak!

"You need to watch her, Adora. Keep her in line, she's your responsibility." I know, Shadow Weaver.

"You have to do better! You can't make Force Captain by messing up!" Yes, sir.

"Get back up and fight! It's just a little blood and a few broken bones! If you can't handle that, how will you ever make a good Force Captian?" I'm sorry. I'll do better! I'll keep fighting! I'll be perfect!

"Adora?" I'm sorry!

"Adora!" I know I failed!

"Adora!" This voice is accompanied by an abrupt shake as someone grabs my shoulders and moves me. "Are you ok, Adora?" It's a comforting voice. A soothing voice. I can't place it, but it's a safe voice, so I let them scoop me up and ignore the pain in my back. Their grip is so delicate, but the cuts on my back burn under their comforting grasp.

"She tried to kill me, " I mutter to myself and I feel the grip around me stiffen and become tense. The world around me fades out more as more memories flood in.

ANGELLA'S POV:

"Adora?" I call out when I notice a shaking figure on the ground, the red jacket giving her identity away. She had been mumbling something, otherwise, I might not have noticed her. I thought she was still in her room, not curled up in a little ball in the corner of an empty hallway hiding in the shadows.

"I'm sorry!" Her voice sounds hoarse and she sounds broken.

"Adora?" I call out again, flying over to her. I'm not sure if I should touch her, she seems so out of it right now. I don't want to scare her, especially not this soon after a big battle. The Battle at Bright moon is probably the biggest battle she's been in to date. It certainly signified big changes for her. It cemented her decisions. She chose us over the Horde and there's no turning back from that choice.

"I know I failed!" I wanted to tell her she hadn't, but I wasn't even sure if she was listening to me. Scaring her might be the least of my concern, I wasn't sure if I could even drag her out of this.

"Adora!" I call out louder, grabbing her shoulder and trying to shake her out of whatever has taken a hold on her, it's tendrils grasping her tightly. A plant of misery pulling her tighter into the thorns. "Are you ok, Adora?" She doesn't answer, so I pull her closer to me, gently lifting her off the ground hoping it's enough to pull her from the vines of her thoughts even if I knew it wouldn't. She likely needs medical help, she probably hit her head in the battle. It was hours ago, but it wasn't hard to imagine the former Horde Soldier hiding her injury until now. She had been hiding since the battle, locking herself in her room the second we turned our backs to her. In the second it took to turn to look at the damage caused, she was gone. We just assumed it was hard for her to have such a serious battle against the people she once called her family, people she still called her family when she wasn't focusing on not calling them that like it was a habit she had to break to stay here. They raised her, of course, they were family. It made sense that she would want some time to herself to cope with it, I assumed the best thing was to give her that space and ordered the princesses to leave her alone for however long she needed. Still, we should have checked on her. We shouldn't have been so afraid of infringing on her personal space. We should have at least checked for injuries, it was an intense battle. She needed us and no one noticed while she was curled up in pain for who knows how long, but likely for several hours.

"She tried to kill me." I feel my heart sink in my chest. It was obvious who she was talking about, even I knew how close she had been to Catra and how she always took the cat girl head on every battle. I heard the children discussing it often.

"Are you hurt?" No answer. I look down and notice that her eyes are glazed over. She was somewhere else mentally, trapped behind the iron bars of her mind. I set her back down, looking for any obvious sign of injury. It doesn't take very long to find it, the red on my white gloves screams that there is an injury on her back where my arm was only seconds ago. "Guards!" Immediately multiple pairs of footsteps pound against the tile as they make their way to me. How could none of them have noticed the poor child curled up on the ground before now? Did no one see her stumbling over here? Why wasn't I summoned to come to help her? How could they be so blind when they lined the castle walls? Adora was known to sneak around sometimes, waiting for the guards to switch positions before she rushed through the temporarily deserted halls to fetch a glass of water or to go outside of the castle walls for a quick breath of fresh air at night, but even then someone usually spotted her. It was surprising how she ever snuck out of the Fright Zone with how clumsy she could be. If she could never sneak by completely unnoticed when she was trying her best, how could she ever do it successfully when she wasn't completely here? There's no way she was on full alert when she snuck over here.

"Your majesty!" I barely glance up at the guards standing at attention in front of me.

"One of you go get me some medical supplies. I need bandages, water, rubbing alcohol, and a clean cloth." One of them bows before running off and I look up from Adora's mangled back to give the remaining guard a cold glare, watching as they go stiff. "Explain to me how Adora got over here unnoticed."

"I thought you said she wasn't a threat?" How could that be the first thought to enter their mind? Couldn't she see the blood soaking the teen's clothes? Or the concern on my face? Now that we all knew her better, how could anyone think Adora was still a threat? She was just a child caught up in an unforgiving world. She had been lied to and used her entire life. How could someone like that ever be discarded so easily in their minds?

"She isn't a threat! She's injured! Didn't you see her stumbling around? Can't you see the blood?" I could feel my anger bubbling, rising and threatening to spill over. "If you don't care about her health, then go find me a guard that cares about my family's safety and don't come back! You are relieved of duty!" Her eyes widen and she looked like she wanted to protest, but instead, she scurries away as the other guard cautiously approaches with the requested medical supplies in hand.

GLIMMER'S POV:

"Princess Glimmer!" I turn and see a guard running towards me, intercepting me before I could make it to Adora's room. I was hoping to sneak in to check on her and give her some food, but I guess that'll have to wait for a while.

"Yes?" I answer, trying to get this over with quickly.

"I was just with the queen. She found Adora injured in a hallway in a more damaged part of the castle." Worry shook my entire body and I mentally kicked myself for having been annoyed by this.

"Where are they specifically?" I try to keep my voice calm, calling on things my mom used to teach me when I was young, 'Princess Etiquette'. It helped to ground me even if for just a moment. It gave me something to focus on so my mind couldn't be completely clouded with worry.

"Several corridors away from Adora's room, closer to Angella's private quarters." I felt anger start to boil. That wasn't specific.

"I said 'specific'." I could hear the venom in my voice and it made even me wince. "So either tell me where she is specifically or get out of the way."

"The one Bow broke that vase in two years ago." Now that was specific enough. In a blink, I'm rushing to my mom.

ANGELLA'S POV

"I apologize, your majesty. We left our stations a few hours ago to assess the damage of the castle. We assumed Adora wasn't going to leave her room nor did it ever cross our minds that she was injured. We'll pay better attention from now on, to all of the princesses that enter this castle, Adora, Bow, and Seahawk included." My features soften and I open my mouth to speak, but a flash of glitter leaves my apology in my throat as Glimmer rushes over.

"A guard just informed me that Adora was hurt, is she going to be ok?" She sounded like she was trying to act how I raised her, act like a proper princess, but her voice was twisted with worry. She was behaving better than I was and I suddenly felt immense guilt about losing my temper.

"She is unresponsive, Glimmer. I don't know how much we can help her here. Bright Moon isn't equipped for handling this if it's a brain injury. We either need Castaspella or better technology. I want you to go convince your aunt to help us and recruit her for the rebellion. She might know a healing spell."

"I'll go get Bow and head out now." I know it's just a trip to Mystacore, but we have to play it safe right now.

"Wait! You should bring Swift Wind, Netossa, and Spinerella with you just in case. Without She-Ra, you're a bit low on firepower. However, I do not want you to engage with the Horde if you run into any of them, do you understand?" She nods and for once I know she'll actually listen to me. She knows how important it is to make this as quick a trip as possible.

"Of course, mom."

"Oh, and Glimmer?"

"Yes, mom?"

"Recharge before you go and be safe." After a quick hug, she's off to round up her team.