Chapter 6

Adora’s jaw dropped as she stood before Glimmer Park’s house.

“This is where you live?” she asked, spinning around to look at Glimmer so fast that she nearly toppled over and crashed into the ground. She caught herself, but her arms were still somewhat tangled up with herself, while Glimmer gave a little smile and a shrug of her hands.

“I-It’s not so fancy!” she said, while the glittering, gold studded doors swung open and heavily armored men in House Park livery emerged, capes fluttering, to stand to either side of the daughter of Angela and Micha Park. One bowed low, murmuring.

“Your backpack, m’lady?”

“You’re a m’lady?” Adora asked, then looked at Bow, who gave her a cheerful thumbs up.

“Yeah,” he said. “Glimmer’s parents are some of the richest and most powerful nobles in the whole Belosian Empire.”

“And they-” Adora caught herself, while Glimmer shot her a glower. Then the three of them were ushered inside, where a huge fountain was set in the heart of a fancy ballroom. Everything was done in pale white, light pinks, and pastels. The rainbow hue shining off some of the gemstones was particularly striking, and Adora found it hard to pick what she was goggling at first. She swung her head left, right, up and down, while the door behind them closed.

“Ah, Glimmer!” A cheerful, feminine voice called down from the stairs – and emerging from the second story of the mansion came Angela. At least, Adora presumed she was Angela: Who else would have huge, gossamer wings of glimmering light spreading around a tall, delicate figure that was ... not exactly what Adora had expected, considering Glimmer’s short and compact build. She smiled, warmly, then looked over at Adora. “And who is this?”

“This is Adora Gray!” Glimmer said, throwing her arm around Adora, drawing her in close.

“And why, pray tell, is she a human being?” Angela asked, arching one elegant eyebrow.

“Uhhhh-” Adora said.

“She’s from the human realm!” Glimmer said.

“How did she know?” Adora whispered. “I have...” She put her hands to her ears, expecting to feel the illusions that Eda had placed there. Instead, she felt her normal, actual round ear tips. She blinked a few times – and made a mental note that going Titan-Ra messed up spells that had been cast on her. Angela sighed.

“You have picked a somewhat poor time to visit our realms, Adora the Human,” Angela said, her hand going to Adora’s shoulder, squeezing ever so gently. “The Empire is not as welcoming to strangers as one would want.”

“Which is whyyyy, Mom, I wanted to tell you about a super cool thing Adora can doooo!” Glimmer said, brightly.

Angela pursed her lips, then twirled one of her fingers – drawing a momentary flicker of purple energy, which flashed to life and then, with a lurch, transported Bow, Glimmer, Adora and Angela into a small office full of paperwork and scrolls and books, with a large desk and a chair specially crafted to contain large, glimmering wings. Angela crossed her arms over her chest, her pursed lips turning into a severe frown.

“Glimmer,” she said. “Once again, you are far too young to be involved in my...” She hesitated.

“Rebellion?” Glimmer said, bouncing, her tiny back-wings fluttering with excitement.

“Come on, Mrs. Park,” Bow said, his voice conciliatory. “We can help! Especially with Adora, you’re totally going to want her on your side.” He paused to give Adora a big wink and a thumbs up.

Oh God, he thinks he’s helping, Adora thought, faintly panicky.

Angela sighed, slowly. “Glimmer, you have once more proven why your father and I agree that this is not the place for you – rebellions against Empires are meant to be secret. You do not tell them to your school friends, no matter how human they are.” She glowered at Adora. “I’m sure you are a wonderfully nice young woman, but-”

“She’s the adoptive daughter of Edalynn the Owl Lady,” Glimmer said. “And she can do this! Do the thing, Adora.”

“Uh-”

“Eda.”

Angela did not say Eda in the tone of voice that Adora was hoping for. Adora would have approved of ‘Eda!’ in the same way one might say ‘apple pie’ or ‘free pizza’ – but no, Angela had definitely said ‘Eda.’ in the same way that one might say ‘tax collector’ or ‘anthrax.’ And, worse, she had said it with a hard period. It was like getting a text message from your best friend that was just “hey.” – easily the most nightmarish thing one could imagine.

Adora gulped, then reached behind herself, swinging her backpack around.

“T-This is not an assassination attempt!” she said, very loudly, drawing her sword. Angela’s frown did not relent. Adora held her sword up. Breathed in. “By the Honor of Grayskull!”

Silence.

A ringing, resounding silence.

Glimmer and Bow both stood to either side of Adora, looking at her.

Adora gave a nervous little smile.

“S-So, uh, it, uh, it takes a little-”

“-bit.” Aodra said as the door slammed directly in her face.

A moment later, Glimmer appeared next to her in a spray of pink and purple sparkles. “Titan, my mom is just so unpleasable!” she exclaimed. “Just because it failed ... five or ... six times...” She glanced away from Adora, who blushed and rubbed her shoulder.

The front door of the Park mansion opened and Bow walked out backwards, waving.

“Bye Mrs. Park! Uh, see you tomorrow!”

The door shut and he turned back to Adora, giving her a smiling wince. “Thaaaaaat could have gone better.”

“Well, uh,” Adora said. “I guess that’s that-”

“No, it’s not that,” Glimmer said, her voice fierce. “There’s still one person we can talk to about this.”

She grabbed onto Adora and Bow’s arm and dragged them away from the manor and towards the forests around Bonesburrough. She didn’t seem to notice that, overhead, clouds were beginning to gather. A faint, distant rumbling could be heard – the sign that, in the Boiling Isles, meant one thing and one thing only.

A risk of rain.

Which meant, in the Boiling Isles, a risk of serious pain.

“You know what this means?” Eda asked, rubbing her chin, her eyes slightly as she did so. Glimmer opened her mouth, surely about to say something, but Eda cut her off. “There’s only one responsible thing that I can do here – you have incredible power, which is going to throw you straight into danger, if you flaunt it Adora.” She stepped over, sliding a bony arm around Adora’s shoulder. “You have to go out there and immediately start busting up heads. You need to rob banks, you need to menace the town. We need to really put the fear of the Titan in those cone-headed jerks!”

“I won’t become a super-villain!” Adora exclaimed in shock, while Glimmer blinked, clearly nonplussed.

“Well, she is the Owl Lady, what did you expect, Glimmer?” Bow whispered as Adora shook her head and stepped away from Eda.

“I want to help people, not rob banks!” Adora said.

Eda frowned, then held up her hand, unfurling finger after finger as she ticked off points one after the other. “Firstly, those banks are all run by Belos and his Empire. People have to pay more snails than they make, just so he can pay for armor and weapons for his Conformatorium guards and the rest of the army. Secondly, any crimes you do are going to be crimes written down by Belos, the biggest jerk on the Boiling Isles. And thirdly, the way you’ve described it ... it sounds like your power only responds when people are in trouble and need the first, clawed hand of justice to come punching directly into the face of evil!”

“You know most adults don’t want their children running directly at bad guys,” Glimmer muttered, her voice dripping with jealousy.

Eda smirked. “True. I am the best.” She nodded, then smacked Adora’s back. “I think this is the time to test this. Go out there and start kicking butt, kiddo. The more dangerous, the better.”

“Bu-” Adora stammered as she was pushed towards the door, which closed with a thump behind her, leaving her outside.

Glimmer frowned. Bow leaned over to peer out the window, then turned to Eda.

“We should go after her,” he said, nodding firmly as he did so, while Eda sighed, stretching her arms over her head, her fingers interlocked to make her knuckles pop and crackle alarmingly.

“No, this is the kind of thing girls have to figure out on their own, kiddo,” Eda said. “ ... also, where is the rest of your shirt?”

Bow looked miffed.

“Uh, what’s that?” Glimmer asked, pointing at Eda. Eda followed the angle of her finger and saw the window.

“Huh, looks like a pain storm,” she said. “This is good, it’ll force Adora to change or die.” She nodded, sagely.

“No, that,” Glimmer pointed again.

Eda blinked and then held up a hand covered with bristling feathers, fur, and glistening claws.

“Ah, that,” Eda said, frowning. “I don’t suppose either of you have seen any, uh, glowing, uh, golden bottles around here?”

Bow and Glimmer both shook their heads.

“Rats,” Eda muttered.

Adora walked towards Bonesburrough, her hands tightening before her chest as she gripped her sword. She felt like she had slightly lost the current of her life – and was just riding along a river that was heading towards somewhere dark and dangerous. She frowned and barely noticed the distant rumbling noise – nor the sight of everyone running towards doors and windows being shut. Her head was instead entirely focused on the same circular pattern of thoughts.

Catra.

Amity.

Her mom.

Amity.

Catra.

Her mom.

The mirror vision.

Catra.

“Amity!”

“One second!”

Adora jerked her head up and yelped as she dove behind some cover before Amity noticed her. She peeked out as she saw that Amity was hurrying after a pair of green haired youths – twins, from their look – and then blinked as Amity yelped, tripping over a rock in the road. Her books went scattering and Amity scrabbled wildly for everything she had dropped. She frowned and waved a finger subtly – and a puddle of purple ooze came flowing up and out of a small bottle at her hip, forming an umbrella over her head.

Wow, neat umbrella, but it’s barely dri-

Adora’s thought was cut off as a single droplet of rain hit one of the cloth awnings that stretched over the market stalls and streets of Bonesburrough. It didn’t so much slow down as hiss ominously, shooting through the thick cloth to spatter onto the ground right before her nose, bubbling into the mud like ferocious acid.

What!? Adora’s brain exploded with sudden panicky fear as Amity’s umbrella hissed and sputtered – the purple goo absorbing shot after shot of rain as more and more dropped from the sky. A stinging blast of agony hit Adora’s calf and she realized she was decidedly in trouble.

“Forthehonorofgrayskull!” She hissed as fast as she could, yanking her sword out.

The transformation was faster this time. Darkness swept around her, tightened, bloomed. She stood – and she was, once more, Titan-Ra. She looked around, nervously, and then blinked as she felt the touch of rainwater on her shoulders. A shimmering, golden-white light seemed to pervade her body, surrounding her like a halo. Each droplet of rain hit her and simply ... ran down her body. Her clothing absorbed it as if it was nothing but pure water, and the only thing that made her feel as if she wasn’t on Earth was how warm and pleasant it was.

Titan-Ra held a clawed hand up, her mouth opening in shock as she spread her fingers, claw-tips glinting brightly.

“Whoa,” she whispered.

Then her ears twitched – pointed and sensitive, they heard the glup noise of abomination goo starting to give way. She saw that Amity had gotten almost all of her books up and was starting to stand ... but she apparently had more trust in her magic than she should have. A huge chunk of the goo simply sloughed aside ... and Titan-Ra was there, standing above Amity, her arm and her little fluttering cape spreading wide to cover Amity’s head and shoulders. Amity, her mouth opened in shock and alarm, froze as she stood and looked up into Titan-Ra’s gold on black eyes.

For a moment, the two stood there, rain beginning to sleet down, cascading along Titan-Ra’s muscular arms and back, beading and dripping from the broad brim of her hat. She felt her horns tingle with the touch of the rainwater, as every droplet hissed and sizzled.

Amity stood there in total silence – and the only noise that she made was the thundering of her heart as her entire face went completely, beat red.

“ ... a-are you okay?” Titan-Ra whispered.

“Ohmytitan,” Amity whimpered.

“H-Heh, no, just Titan-Ra. Your. Uh.” Titan-Ra had a faint inkling that maybe now was not the time to add friendly or neighborhood to that. Instead, she coughed. “Come on.”

Titan-Ra realized that she could simply sheath her sword over her back, freeing her other arm to wrap Amity in close against her cloak and pick her entire body up. She felt as light and slender as a twig, and pressed to Titan-Ra’s gambeson with a warmth that was shocking and electrifying. Hunched to make sure that not a droplet of rain got near her, Titan-Ra ducked into an alleyway and under a stone awning. There, she set Amity down, her back facing the wall. Titan-Ra planted her arms to either side of Amity, so that her cloak and her shoulders would keep even the hint of rain away from her.

Only then did she realize that she was, essentially, hemming Amity in with her muscular arms and her cloak. Within the shadows and the darkness, Amity leaned against the wall, clutching her book to her chest, her jaw hanging open as she looked up at Titan-Ra.

“A-Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh,” Amity whispered.

Titan-Ra gulped.

“What weather, am I right?” Titan-Ra asked.

“W-Why did you save me?” Amity whispered.

“I’m not about to let a pre ... a ... a girl get melted!” Titan-Ra stammered.

“I meant earlier, too,” Amity gulped. “I mean. Are you going to protect us all from monsters?” She smiled, slightly. “Seems kind of ... small fry for the avatar of the Titan. The Emperor says the Titan helps people who help themselves.”

“What kind of person would I be if I just let a monster squash you?” Titan-Ra asked, offended. “And, well, people used to say that about ... I mean. A lot of people say that the Titan helps those who help themselves, and I always noticed that they’re the kind of people who ... who...”

“Who don’t need much help?” Amity asked, biting her lip.

“Yeah,” Titan-Ra said, looking into her eyes. She had not realized how bright gold Amity’s eyes were. How beautifully they reflected the faint, eldritch glow of whatever protective field that surrounded her. She wanted to say something, but what seemed impossible to decide on.

Amity bit her lip, harder. She was looking up into Titan-Ra’s eyes even more intently now. Softly, she whispered. “Are ... you ... you always like this?”

“Like what? I mean, uh, it’s complicated,” Titan-Ra said, catching how obvious the question was before she sounded completely stupid.

Amity sighed, softly. “I know what that’s like. D-Does ... does it hurt?”

“The rain?” Titan-Ra asked. “No. But even if it did, I’d still keep you safe.”

Amity’s knees trembled and she let out a tin squeak.

Titan-Ra reached down with one of her hands. Her claw-tip scraped along the wall for a moment, to brush off any rain ... then gently, she caressed Amity’s bright red cheek, feeling the softness of her skin. Amity shivered and didn’t move. Didn’t even breathe. Titan-Ra leaned forward, and a thought crossed her head. It’s easier to be brave like this.

Amity’s lips tasted warm and sweet. Her tongue darted against Titan-Ra’s, and her head tilted as she reached up and around, fingers sinking into Titan-Ra’s purple hair. Titan-Ra flinched, aware that her back was soaked by the rain ... then relaxed as Amity showed no sign, no sign at all, of pain. She pushed against her and kissed her with a feral eagerness that was as shocking as it was addictive. Titan-Ra grabbed onto Amity’s hips, lifting her up, then pressing into the kiss as well, their tongues playing together.

This movement bumped her hat against the wall, and with a lurch, Titan-Ra realized it was slipping back, off her head. The thin awning provided almost no protection ... and suddenly, dribbles of deadly rainwater was pouring down onto Amity’s hair. The stinging taste of it burned against Titan-Ra’s lips, but rather than a scream of pain, she heard only a shocked gasping noise. Titan-Ra blinked, looking down at the girl she had failed to protect ... and saw that while Amity was soaked, the same protective shroud that was keeping her safe was keeping Amity from boiling away in the rain.

Amity looked as if she was about to faint. She slid her hands along her hair, her feet dangling off the ground as Titan-Ra kept her up and against the wall. Her eyes half closed and she tilted her head back, letting the water soak her throat, her neck, her shirt – it clung to her body like a second skin as she whispered. “What ... is this?”

“It’s rain,” Titan-Ra crooned, her eyes shining and bright.