#the lord and lady of dryl

[yourfellowhuman07]

Alliances of the Heart

A She-Ra: Princess of Power 2018 fanfiction

For centuries, the All Princess Ball has been a time for the nobility of Etheria to let loose. Flaunting their power, prestige, and fashion for all to see. The ball had always been politically neutral, but, as tension from the war rises, not everyone is so keen to forget what happens beyond the walls of Castle Chill.

Lord Hordak, along with Princess Scorpia and Force Captian Catra, have come to the party to make alliances and find out everything there is to know about their enemies. Careful to not arouse the suspicion of the Princess Alliance.

Princess Entrapta, being the scientist she is, decides to come to the party to decode the secrets of body language, despite getting the same data from every other party she has ever attended.

When the two rulers cross paths, their plans flip on their heads as the two grow closer. Now it is up to Catra and Scorpia to push the two together as Adora and Glimmer stick their noses where they do not belong.

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I apologize for not posting this soon enough today. I got really wrapped up in this novel called Daughter of the Moon Goddess, it's amazing please read it. Other than that, please enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 3: Status Report

Catra and Scorpia sat together on a bed ringing in Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio.

“How did it go?” Lonnie sat the pad down on a table, Kyle and Rogelio sitting beside her.

“It went well, Lord Hordak found a war ally.”

“Who is it?”

“Princess Entrapta of Dryl, apparently she’s some big tech wiz.”

“I thought we didn’t like princesses?” Kyle inquired.

“This girl is no ordinary princess. She showed up in a pair of work coveralls and an oil-stained top. She cared more about scientific pursuits than making political moves.”

“What does Lord Hordak think of her?”

Catra and Scorpia gave a knowing look to each other.

“What happened?” Lonnie said raising an eyebrow.

“Only that we might have a Lady to go with our Lord.”

“Say what now?”

“First of all when the two first met they were sitting way too close for it to be a political discussion, and when there was a group dance they didn’t separate once.”

Lonnie and Rohelio looked at each other while Kyle looked puzzled.

“I didn’t even know he was capable of feeling anything but rage.” Rohelio and Scorpia sniggered.

“Alright, so Lord Hordak has a girlfriend, why do you care?”

“Because a happy Hordak equals an easier time for us. If he’s distracted by a pretty girl he’ll be down our backs less. You see?”

“I guess, but you better be sure about it. If he finds out you were screwing with him behind his back he will be livid, and I’m not getting in trouble because of your actions.” Kyle and Rohelio nodded in agreement.

“Trust me guys, I know what I’m doing.”

“You better.”

____________________________________________________________

Entrapta sat on her bed reviewing the data she collected from yesterday evening. Surprisingly, being in the crowd was not at terrible as predicted; granted, she spent most of the evening talking to Lord Hordak about tech, but a win is a win. There was just something so natural about being with him; it was like they both just clicked. She wished this week would end so she could see the Fright Zone in all its glory. She spent most of the night listening to Lord Hordak describe the place so her excitement was like a lit firework. Allying with Lord Hordak was the best decision she ever made.

Lord Hordak was a curious subject. She had never seen anyone like him before. Maybe, when she enters the Fright Zone he would be willing to tell her more about himself, but for now, she only has theories. Perhaps, he is a leftover from a lost species of Etheria. Maybe he was created through magical means, or he might be the result of a genetic experiment. Whatever he was, Entrapta wanted to know everything about him.

With the thought of her recently acquired ally, she remembered she would need the permission of the Drylian council. She slapped her palm against her face for forgetting an obvious fact. Without their consent, she could never go through with the alliance. By giving Lord Hordak the ok, she has completely bypassed the authority the elected officials possessed. Rolling her eyes, she took a moment to make herself presentable. She swapped out her pajamas for her work clothes and tied up her hair in her pigtails. She set up her datapad and begrudgingly called the seven members of the council. As her datapad buzzed, she masked the shades of annoyance across her face with layers of friendliness.

It wasn’t like she hated the council members. She appreciated their work, and they make her job as a monarch less strenuous. With their aid, she has more time to conduct whatever scientific excursions pass her mind. The only downside to their presence is that whatever steps she did take to better her kingdom they had to approve of every single move she makes. It was like she was kept on a leash, but she knew it was necessary. Without it, she would be allowed to run wild which could result in some rash decisions on her part. So, she deals with the restrictions of the council as best she can. Speaking of the council members, all seven of them had finally joined.

“Hello, your Royal Highness, I trust your visit to the Kingdom of Snows has been well.” greeted Morella, or Mother Morella of System One of Dryl. She was a kind middle-aged woman who represented the more hospitable parts of Dryl. Such as the shopping districts and family homes. When Entrapta’s parents died after a mining accident Morella always helped her, and Entrapta will be forever grateful for her.

“Yes, Miss Morella, it has gone well. I called this meeting to discuss the events of last night.”

“What happened.”

“Nothing bad… depending on your perspective.” How was she going to word this?

“What did you do?” Asked Lenox with his trademark icy tone. He was a lean man with small, dark eyes and an impeccable knack for finances. A talent that landed him the job of overseeing System Two, which mostly comprised banks and other big mining businesses. He and Entrapta often butt head over what he calls ‘exorbitant spending costs’. 

“I… may or may not have engaged in a political alliance with Lord Hordak of Scorponi.”

“What!” They all shouted, causing Entrapta to wince.

“Princess Entrapta, you do realize what allying Dryl with Scorponi means?” Asked General Vespas. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with streaks of silver hair contrasting against his ebony locks. Scars littered his body from his fights with the creatures that lived deep within the mines of Dryl.

“Yes, I do General Vespas. By allying ourselves with Scorponi we will gain their protection and trade. The Princess Alliance will also stop pestering us.” Despite her attempts at a neutral face, Entrapta’s nervousness was evident. She would be mortified if she had to tell Lord Hordak she withdraws her claims of allying with him. Would he hate her and seek to destroy her kingdom?

“What does Lord Hordak wish for in return?” Lenox inquired, always wary at the thought of ‘unnecessarily’ losing money, even though his spending habits say otherwise.

“He wishes to combine forces to strengthen his army, as well as my aid in building better battle bots by teaching him how to wield first one's tech.”

“My men have never seen a real battle, only the ones with monsters, never humans.”

“Lord Hordak and I have already spoken about that. He has agreed to take robotic forces, not humans.” The general nodded in agreement.

After ironing out the rest of the details six members agreed to the terms of the alliance. The only approval needed was from Haemal the overseer of System Six of Dryl. System Six was the deepest part of the mines where many creatures lurked in the shadows. He was a small elderly man with larger sapphire eyes and silver hair. The underside of his nails was black with dirt and scars from mining accidents littered his body.

“I will agree with the terms, but at the first sight of trouble you back out, understand?” Haemal had known Entrapta since the day she was born so he always was protective of her.

“I will Haemal, I promise.” With that six members of the council signed off, except Morella.

“Is something wrong Miss Morella?” Entrapta inquired.

“Oh nothing is wrong, sweetie. I was just wondering if there was any other reason you would wish to ally with Lord Hordak?” Morella asked, a playful smile lighting her aging eyes.

“I wish to learn more about his tech and the kingdom he rules,” answered Entrapta, who was confused by the woman’s question.”

“Anything else?”

“No ma’am.” Heat started to prickle Entrapta’s cheeks.

“Apologies Princess Entrapta, enjoy the rest of your festivities.” Before Entrapta could say anything else, Morella signed off. Leaving Entrapta staring at her reflection on the black screen. She took off her gloves and patted her pink cheeks. Her eyebrows knitted together, why had she reacted in such a way? She flopped down on her bed in frustration at her inability to read people, especially herself. 

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Update: Miss Morella is whatever species inhabits Elberon. She has lilac skin and dark purple hair. Sorry for not mentioning this in the chapter. Perks of making everything up as you go.

[blackcur-rants]

What if “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” was a novel and had an epilogue?

There was much rejoicing all across the lands and the realms of Etheria in celebration of Emperor Anillis Kur’s final destruction. From Bright Moon to Green Arbour, the peoples of that world called out with joy and triumph to celebrate their liberation from the great tyranny of the Lord of Aegyssa. For no longer would the long and terrible shadow of that pale and horrid Emperor loom over them or any other people or populace.

In the land of Plumeria, every city and every village rang the Chimes of Victory that had lain sad and silent since the days when Lord Hordak had first settled himself in Horror Hall. Queen Perfuma II declared the first Day of High Jubilation her people had seen in five-and-twenty years as the farms of her lands produced the finest fruits they had borne since the days of Queen Anthelia’s foundation of this realm. And the Queen called for all of high and low estate to come and stay with her in Rosenholt for a feast that lasted for five days and nights. And it was at the end of this festival that Perfuma II took as her bride and love Scorpia IV of Pinceria, now restored into her rightful duty as High Queen of the Scorpioni and Protector of Pinceria. 

“Here’s hoping we have twins!” Scorpia cried out in a drunken stupor in front of every Princess on Etheria, resulting in fun and laughter for almost all of the rulers on the planet except for Frosta II of the Snows and Mermista III of Salineas. 

For the Sea Queen still grieved for the loss of half her people at the hands of Hordak and the paws of Catra. Salineas was still a shadow of its former self, its temples and museums in worse ruins than the Titan’s Left Arm and all but a twentieth of its homes and houses left uninhabitable. Ethan the Sea Hawk called for his love to calm down and not call for the ritual drowning or scaphism of Izdubar and Eabani’s orphan daughter, but the Senate of Salineas declared that Catra would not be allowed within twenty miles of the Sea Gate for nine-and-twenty years without Lady Adora’s firmest supervision. And meanwhile, the child Queen Frosta II of the Snows could not forgive the mischievous cat girl for destroying the Princess Prom she had hoped to host for her entire short life. Catra had begged and begged for Frosta not to hold the Princess Prom against her, but it was to no avail, and Catra only barely managed to survive a perilous hockey game against a bunch of angry Frost Titans before Frosta would even look at her approvingly at the later Council Meetings. 

Things in Dryl fared a little bit better. Hordak and Entrapta had taken to living as hermits in their mountain kingdom to escape the wrath of those who were still calling for their heads on a spit for what had happened in the Great War of 1003-1028. Hordak had taken to enjoying the technology of Dryl immensely, and it was he who was best at keeping records and managing the day to day running of a realm while his wife fiddled with her machines and her robots. Catra, Adora, Bow, and Glimmer had once had dinner with the monarchs of Dryl two years after Horde Prime’s Defeat, wherein Hordak and Bow had joked and bonded over their mutual love of technology and machinery only for an awkward silence to ensue once the subject of how they’d chosen to use their technological gifts they’d created for themselves. There were not many reunions between the former Supreme Leader of the Horde and the Best Friends of Bright Moon after that. 

And Glimmer, of course, became Queen of Bright Moon as Glimmer IV. It was strange to think of how relatively short her mother’s reign had been considering the strange genetic mutation that had given both Angella III and her daughter immortality. The thought of outliving all those she loved grieved Glimmer immensely, and she found herself plagued by nightmares about the future.

“Glim, are you okay!?” Bow asked after the Queen woke up panting and screaming from yet another nightmare. 

“I’m fine, Bow” Glimmer had answered, “Just another bad dream about bones and dust and hooded cloaks”.

Bow hugged her tight and did not let go for the rest of the night. She responded in kind for five nights in a row, but the only thing that could truly assuage her fears was the return of Catra and Adora into her life. The great heroine and her new love were happy to oblige their best friend, and there was a great celebration in the land of Bright Moon as soon as they arrived at the castle. Instead of a feast, however, there was simply a quiet meeting of reconciliation between friends torn apart by war and violence. And at the end of the evening, Glimmer made the firm announcement, repeated the next day in front of the public, that she and her found family would be leaving behind the Hidden Castle in the Glen where they had been concealed from the Horde since the death of Queen Luminesca the Great during the tragic end of the First Great Princess Alliance twenty years ago and returning to Bright Moon’s ancient capital city of Crystallium Adamantis by the end of the Winter Solstice. And there was much rejoicing in the Realm of Bright Moon at the rebirth of the long lost city which the Horde had destroyed so long ago. Every realm on Etheria vowed to pledge their money and resources to the rebuilding of Crystallium Adamantis, with even Queen Huntara of the Crimson Waste and Peekablue of Apiaria and the High Regent Rogelio of Pinceria (who ruled the former Fright Zone while Queen Scorpia was absent on official business or off gallivanting with her wife through flowery fields and forests) contributing to the Great Reconstruction. Frosta of the Snows contributed the finest crystals to light up the streets of the city and granite stone to reinforce its walls. Perfuma and Scorpia sent forth flowers to decorate the streets and vines to help with construction machines and two pets for Glimmer and Adora to cherish and nurture alongside Melog, a greyhound named Nathanoel and a cat named Molly. From Salineas came the finest marble and fountains to  provide material and sustenance respectively to the workers and to the citizens. Even Pinceria contributed its finest crystals and fire liquid for the sake of the city’s growing infrastructure. Not one expense was spared as the city was reborn from its own ashes and into a brand new light and dawn. 

And one day, as they sat together bathing in the sunlight in a field where the sound of the city’s rebuilding could still be heard going on in the distance like the cosmos’ most bass and percussion heavy orchestra, Catra turned her gaze to Adora’s beautiful face and looked at her with the kind of hard won love and admiration that could only come from long years apart in darkness and sorrow. For a while though, Catra did not want to gaze upon the object of her heart’s desire, for she felt unworthy of the love of someone so magnificent and so beautiful. For so long she had tried to destroy Adora, to obliterate the Great She-Ra from her life just so the aching in her soul could cease and she could sink into a passive, apathetic contentment of the kind she had briefly felt both as de facto leader of the Horde and when she was under the thrall of Horde Prime’s terrible hive mind…but that was not true happiness. That could not fill the void that Shadow Weaver had torn in her soul so long ago, or heal the wounds that life had cut into her heart. It was a kind of ‘happiness’ that more resembled silently slipping into quicksand while being too apathetic to resist its pull, not the true kind of bliss that comes from reaching out to love another soul with all your heart. 

And with these thoughts, Catra began to weep profusely, her head buried in Adora’s chest as she begged silently for forgiveness and absolution. And yet Adora did not say a word, but merely stroked her love’s short brown fur and sang a lullaby of long ago that Glimmer had taught her to calm and soothe the woman whom she adored so much. 

You're okay You're alright I'll never, ever leave your side I will stay and I will fight With you

Aah aah aah Aah aah aah

You're okay You're alright I'll stay here through the darkest night All the way, I will fight With you

We may not have sunshine, or starlight, or weather But we've got each other, and that's even better

You don't need the sun to keep you warm when you've got arms Wishes come from you and not a random shooting star We may not have storm clouds, but the sky's always blue

We've got something special here And what we have is you What we have is you What we have is you

And with that having been sung, Catra lifted her head from Adora’s chest and wiped her nose and let Adora pull her into a hug which she gladly reciprocated (though she still continued to weep rather profusely into Adora’s strong, broad shoulders as Adora continued to sing to her). 

And as the two girls continued to hug each other as tightly as they could, Catra began to find herself overwhelmed by an emotion she had never truly felt before in her life, except mayhaps when she was a little newborn kitten during the tiny, precious sliver of eight months wherein she still had her fathers to love and cherish and nurture her before Shadow Weaver had killed both of them and taken her away to the pain and torment of the Horde. It was the love of a family, a love that Catra and Adora had not been given much of in their childhoods and for which they had been forced to tear and grab and scrape and stitch together out of the torn and broken pieces the universe had left them. 

“It’s alright, my love” Adora said, “I’m here. He’s gone, she’s gone…neither of them can hurt us ever again”. 

Catra smiled at that declaration of hope and reassurance and ceased her tears. For it was true. Horde Prime was dead and Shadow Weaver was gone, and both of them had been cast forever into the Oblivion that awaited all those who were wicked and cruel and mistreated their fellow beings. And Catra was free, and Adora was free, and all of Etheria was free. No longer would they live in cold and darkness, frightened of punishment and pain and desperately trying to hide themselves away in the shadows and corners of their minds. The scars would always stay on their souls, but at long last they had begun to heal and the hurt was weakened. 

With that having been thought, Catra turned her face to the sky and Adora followed suit. Before them stretched an infinite universe of wonders and possibilities, filled with strange and beautiful creatures and worlds who were all living and hoping and dreaming in much the same way the peoples of Etheria were doing in their lives. One day, they would all hear the stories of the two heroines who had saved them all with their hard-won love, and even if they never sang hymns or praises to the glory of either Catra or Adora, Catra prayed that they would all be okay and safe and overthrowing any remaining Horde Clones who still oppressed or hurt them. 

Right now though, Catra and Adora were just so, so happy.

“We'll have eight kittens, my beloved” Adora said, “and we will raise them all with the love and happiness that was denied to us and tell them stories of Etheria’s great and wonderful history and protect them from anyone who wants to hate or hurt them because of you”. 

“Sounds great” Catra purred, “I bet you’re already thinking of names for them”.

“I am, my dearie” Adora chuckled. 

Melog came to join his mistresses not long afterwards, curling himself contentedly on their laps as all three of them fell asleep dreaming of the wonderful stars. 

[etherian-affairs]

So like Lord and Lady of Dryl is just straight up obsolete now.

That fic was started because I wanted to give Entrapta and Hordak an epilogue together during a time when it was very unsure if they'd get one.

And now like...

I mean it happened?

[alexologyart]

Commission complete! Lord and Lady of Dryl

⭐⭐⭐

Commissions Open! via ko-fi.com/alexologyart/commissions

Contact me at Discord (Alexology#2283) or DM

[lazydemonboy]

@etherian-affairs I had a question about Lord and Lady of dryl. Are you planning to continue it? If so, when? In these days or mostly after the show finishes?

[kuurankaiho]

Repost, Tumblr has been glitching a bit lately. I wanted to add some extra thoughts.

“Lord and Lady of the Fright Zone“, standalone work and an illustration for my fanfic. Featured in @maireadralph‘s Entrapdak Zine; this is the full piece. Hordak ought to have been wearing a black crown, but I ran out of time, as the first two designs didn’t quite match my mental image. Perhaps that’ll materialize in some upcoming piece.

The background appears rather more dramatic than originally intended, but after sampling some colors from Hordak’s hair and cloak lining, I ended up with this smoky sky looming above a tenebrous, rocky barrenness surrounding the capital of Hordak’s dominion. I’m still relearning digital painting, and have some issues with light sources, but it’s coming together step by step. I’m quite happy with the result here, even if the background illumination ought to create additional shadows.

I have gotten some questions about the height difference between Hordak and Entrapta again, so I have included a screenshot from “Signals” on which the current arrangement is based, among other S2/S3 scenes. My Hordak has “gained” some height since the first drawings a year back, and he’s a few inches over seven feet tall in his current form. While I grant him quite a bit of muscle mass, his arms are still atrophied and protected by the exoskeleton, beneath which artificial muscle groups enhance his strength. I was going to post sketches of my hc’s concerning the functionality of the entire ensemble some months back, but ended up detailing it in the fics instead. 

Hordak’s royal uniform was inspired by G2/MOTU 200x, and Entrapta’s by that of late 19th/early 20th century aristocratic fashions. I’ve sampled the colors directly from her coveralls and accessories, however aiming for a regal look befitting the Queen of Dryl.  

[n7punk]

ISoHM Extra #1: Nobility

The first chapter of ISoHM just went up, so have an extra right away! I’m posting this to give context, even though most of the titles I’ve used are drawn from real life and thus their authority can be inferred. I have made some changes, however, so I wanted to have this as a handy reference. The exact rank of every nobility title isn’t really important to the fic, but I wanted to have it here. The royalty system is consistent across all the countries for simplicity in titles. The ranks are mostly based off the British monarchy system, though I don’t follow it exactly.

Monarchy ranks:

The King/Queen rules and has command of the army. In some countries this means the King or Queen is literally out planning battle strategies and maybe leading the charge themselves and in others this means they have commanders who handle that aspect for them. In Eternia, Bright Moon, and Salineas, the King commands the army on the front lines (this could fall on the Queen, depending on the couple ruling, it just currently falls on the King for all of them). Halfmoon, Plumeria, Dryl, and the Kingdom of Snows all use commanders and military officials. Royals or nobility are often appointed to those roles. In Halfmoon, the Queen’s second son leads her army. The other three kingdoms don’t have any excess princes/princesses to appoint to such roles.

The Prince/Princess is either a) a direct child of the current monarch or b) the next person in line for the throne (if the monarch has no suitable children). They take on royal duties, assisting the monarch in their duties as well as assisting the lesser nobility and resolving disputes between them. This is also a good time to mention someone is usually referred to by their highest role, thus Catra has been both a Duchess and a Princess, but she was referred to as Princess. However, Mara is nobility but referred to by her role as chancellor as it is more important than the fact that she is the daughter of a Duke.

Dukes/Duchesses rule a portion of the land (a duchy) in the King/Queen’s stead so they can see to national matters, though the monarch can always intervene as they see fit. Their children are generally referred to as Lord/Lady, but as Catra’s mother was dead and her father had become the grandmaster, upon her graduation from warrior training she became the acting Duchess of their duchy. When she left, the third-youngest prince took it over.

I then skip to Barons/Baronesses, who rule baronies within the duchies, reporting to the Duke/Duchess and ultimately to the monarch above them.

Earls/Earlessas are essentially members of the monarch’s court that oversee details of governing on more local levels than a central figure can achieve. Yes, there can be female Earls, that’s the Earlessa, bite me Britain.

So you have the kingdom, divided into a few duchies run by Dukes/Duchesses in the monarch’s name, and those duchies have smaller baronies within them that report to their duke/duchess and ultimately to the monarch. Earls assist in governance within towns and cities and the such.

The final two titles are slightly different. One is Knight, referred to as Ser. The title is nontransferable to spouses or children and must be appointed by the current monarch. Ser is also used to refer to anyone holding an honourable title or an important position in governance, even those outside the nobility.

Count and Countess are the final titles, and actually refer to non-royals. Basically, though most titles are hereditary, the monarch may at any time appoint of more benefiting person to a position. For instance, if a duke is failing his duties, a monarch might appoint a Baroness to rule the duchy instead. If they give the existing Duke no replacement title, they become a count. Counts/Countesses are still considered perfectly acceptable spouses for royals and may be heirs to any titles for which they were once eligible (for instance, that same Duke would become a count, but if the Baroness has no heir or spouse, he would become the Duke again upon her death).

One can also be completely stripped of royal titles and may not be allowed to inherit any titles, in which case they become commoners and have no special name.

Marriage:

For most titles, in most countries, if you marry someone with a title, you then possess that title and it will be passed down to the children you have with your spouse when you both pass. A man marrying the Queen will become the King, though the royal lineage line will favour those related by blood to the Queen (or the monarch before her) if there is anyone in the bloodline who can take the throne before they will turn to the King or his sole descendants.

There are exceptions to this, however. Princes/Princesses are the biological children of the current monarch or, if there is no one suitable to take the throne, the next in line for the throne/appointed heir. You cannot marry a princess and become a princess unless that marriage puts you in line for the throne as well. As Princess Adora is the sole heir of Eternia, should she die before she becomes queen, Catra would become the ruler instead, and thus Catra becomes a princess upon marrying her. If Randor had a sibling, especially one with children, or more than one child himself, one of those individuals would become the heir instead to carry on the bloodline, but Randor was also the sole heir.

Most countries pass down leadership based on the closest, eldest relative of the current monarch, irrespective of gender. Thus, the eldest biological child of the current monarch becomes the next ruler. If the monarch has none, it instead turns to the monarch’s biological siblings. If they have past, it then turns to their eldest child.

Exceptions can be found in Halfmoon, where they only have a singular queen. The line of succession is the closest female relative (usually her child) of the current queen. The Queen has a consort(s) which may be her husband/wife, but because they do not want the monarchy to get used to dividing duties, any wife of the queen still isn’t allowed to take on duties related to ruling lest that becomes standard and a man possesses the power next time around.

Aside: This is because magicats firmly believe that if you want decisive action, you turn to a woman. There are historical reasons for this related to a terrible King whose indecision led to them being driven from their homeland and completely underground, but they have thrived under their Queen-only model and aren't looking to change it. This is what led to the situation with the Queen detesting Catra, but being unable to appoint one of her sons as the heir because it would cause an instant revolt in the people. Magicats once ruled the Crimson Waste and they are not losing another kingdom, especially not one so profitable.

Another exception is Salineas, which allows for multiple marriages. Any individual may have one wife and one husband. You could be married to woman who is your sole wife, but she also has a husband, who has his own husband, etc. As a result, marriages lines and family trees are a fucking disaster. As such, titles are passed down to the closest blood relative of the current holder. So, when King dies, the next monarch would be his eldest child (by blood). If he had a husband and wife who had produced a child together that was older, that child wouldn’t be in line unless there were no blood-relative options (or the king declared them as his heir). Princess Mermista has both a wife and husband, but if the wife were to get pregnant, her child wouldn’t be in line for the throne. On top of that, affairs are common and not at all secretive affairs. If you have a child with your mistress before you have one with your wife, that child will be first in line for your title. It’s a clusterfuck over there, but so is lineage in most countries.

The reason that Salineas and Halfmoon cultures are so divergent is that they are physically separated from the rest of Etherian, with Salineas spread under the ocean and across several islands and Halfmoon beneath the Arid Plains/Crimson Waste, so they have had some isolation in which to develop their own divergent cultural norms that may seem a bit odd to the other countries.

A final note, nobility is expected to marry people of similar social stature, but this does not necessarily mean other nobility. It is perfectly acceptable to marry a non-noble mayor, or a non-noble merchant, etc. It is also perfectly acceptable to marry citizens of other countries of similar stature. This helps prevent the in-breeding problem of European monarchies. Also, while your family may be disappointed, marriages with the lower class happen all the time, at least outside of Salineas where marriage is almost exclusively a matter of title and inheritance. Especially in Eternia, if someone takes up a lower class mistress, they usually end up married to them.

[crypticpaw]

Thunder Spooked

A Entrapta X Hordak fic!

Author's note: Yay! My second ever fic I posted! Got the idea while drawing today! Again, tell me if there's any grammar errors, 'cause english is not my first language, and if you think there's anything I can improve on! Enjoy the puppy kitten content!

—And then the whole thing caught on fire! -Entrapta cackled, troting ahead of Hordak.

His tail up and straight and hers wagging excitintly, filling him in another tale of Sea Hawk's arson incidents.

—Does the Princess of Salineas never tires from her consort's antics?

—Mermista? No, I don't think so. She does tell him off if he irritates her, though! -she cackled again and Hordak smiled.

The tip-tapping of Entrapta's small paws on the floor was normally very loud, in a endearing way, but the pouring rain outside the castle outran most of the noises around Hordak. So much so, he was a little uneased when the rain started.

Entrapta noticing her lab partner's hesitance offered to end today's research ealier and go to bed, relunctant, he accepted, and she tried to distract him with her friends' funny moments and taking the long route to their room.

Hordak seemed much more at ease and she lost herself in her talking again. She turned back to him and found the Lord of Dryl staring at her with a loving smile. She blushed a little.

-What? -she tilted her head.

-I...

KABROOM!!!

Lightining struck. They had stopped under a window, the rain beating againts the glass and the roof, the wind howling like a starved beast. It made Hordak stop on his tracks. He had never heard such a huge storm, as it barely rained in the Fright Zone.

KABROOM!!!

The crack of the thunder sounded awfully familiar, and it brought back unpleasent memories. His ears drew back, his tail dropped and he unsheated his claws.

Entrapta's ears perked up and she started to get worried.

—Hordak? -she called again. —What's wrong?

He snapped back.

—N-nothing! Apologies... -he recomposed himself. —You were saying, beloved?

KABROOM!!!

He flinched. Entrapta looked at the window and back at him, reaching for him with her ears.

—It's not nothing... Are you scared of thunder?

—Of course not! -he growled. —Why I be scared of a noise?

KABROOM!!!

That one was louder. Hordak took four steps back, the Lady of Dryl could feel him shaking and he had his tail between his legs.Entrapta realizing how serious it was tried to approach him, speaking in a calming voice.

—It's okay! There's nothing to be afraid of! It can't hurt you, I promis-

KABROOOM!!!

And that one was the loudest. It must have struck nearby, because it shook the intire castle. It flashed a blinding light at the window and even Entrapta flinched. It was so loud it took her a second to realize her lab partner was gone. He must have been so scared! To run off like that? Something was up and she wouldn't leave him frightened alone in the middle of a storm!

She went after him, calling his name through the corridors, careful to avoid the traps, asking the servants if anyone saw him.

No luck.

With the storm still coming down, Entrapta doubted Hordak would come out of his hidding place, and she doubted even more that he would acknoledge this happened at all in the following morning.

—Hordak! -she called again. —Where are you? You're worrying me!

KABROOM!!!

—OH, SHUT UP! -she yelled at particularly nobody, cursing the storm under her breath.

Her ears perked up again as she heard a tiny screech and the sound of flapping wings.

—Imp!

The little kitten flew straight down to her paws and purred in her tight hug.

—Do you know where Hordak is?

Imp opened his mouth and let out a huge yowl. But it wasn't his voice, it was Hordak. And he sounded absolutely terrified.

—Can you take me to him? -she put him back down. —Where's your daddy?

Imp chirped and took flight as Entrapta followed him.

--------------------------------------------------

Imp flew to the other side of the castle to a deposit, where Emily was also waiting at the door, pawing it trying to get it open. Entrapta petted the robot, who beeped in a sad tone, as she opened the door and peeked inside.

And sure enough, there he was. Between the dusty shelves and the cleaning products there was an old, moldy couch, with a ragged blanket covering a very shaky and noisy feline form. A tuff of dark blue fur and a paw with red claws poked out of the blanket, as Hordak growled loudly in a scared tone.

KABROOM!!!

Hordak yowled and withdrew his tail and paw, shaking even more. Entrapta trotted over to him, nudging her way into the blanket, her face lit with her lab partner's eyes' red glow.

—There you are! -she smiled. —What happened? I looked for you everywhere!

He did not anser, unable to look her in the eyes, he turned his face away ashamed.

—Hordak, what's wrong? I can't help you if you don't talk to me! Are you upset about the thunder?

—I should've known better than to run off like that! -he spat. —What if you were in real danger?! What kind of worthless soldier runs from noise?!

Entrapta frowned and cupped his face with her fur.

—Excuse me, sir! You are NOT a soldier anymore, and you are NOT worthless! -the Lady of Dryl growled. —You're allowed to be scared! Everyone is scared of something, even if it's something silly! Frosta is scared of thunder!

—She's an infant, Entrapta.

—Well... Bow is scared of cockroaches!

—The archer is a coward!

—Hordak!

—He is!

—He isn't afraid of telling people he's scared of something!

Hordak lowered his head, defeated.

—My point is: You don't need to be afraid to admit that you're scared! -she reached out and touched his paw with hers and he withdrew his claws.

—Would a cuddle make you feel better? -her tail wagged.

Blushing, he lift his paw and made some space for her to fit. She snuggled against his chest, wrapping her fur around him, spooning his body.

—Were you just planning to stay here the entire night?

He thought for a while.

—Maybe...

—Silly! -she giggled and kissed his forehead. —If you thought I would just let you hide yourself and not make sure you felt loved and safe you thought very, vey wrong!

He purred loudly, wraping his tail around her, kissing her cheeks.

—Your stuborness may be my only anchor to sanity in this mess of a planet, beloved...!

Entrapta smiled and kissed him, blushing at his compliments.

—And you know what?!

—What...?

—I think the storm stopped!

They waited, and listened. Nothing. The storm had stopped. And so they made their way back to their room. Through the short route this time, of course.

Talking and showering each other with compliments and kisses while they walked.

Entrapta took off her mask and jumped in the bed, wich bounced her back and forth until Hordak had completely taken his armor off and joined her.

They embraced each other in purss and tail waggs and Entrapta made herself a mental note to make Hordak a noise-muffling set of earphones as she drifted off to sleep.

I hope you guys like this one too! Let me know what y'all think! Should I do more? You tell me!

[prince-toffee]

Entrapdak Positivity Month

19. Surprise

They had to admit this was quite surprising. Entrapta and Hordak did not expect the scene that played infront of them as they walked into the Sanctum. After Emily notified them that there was a perimeter breach in Dryl. The Lady and Lord of Dryl marched in expecting a fight, and the opponents would not get out alive. But what greeted them wasn’t threatening at all, if anything it was confusing, and strange.

Entrapta and Hordak were looking forth at the sight of Adora and Catra over seeing the decoration of their Sanctum - what looked like Bright Moon and Horde troopers, were moving in and out of the room, carrying many boxes and other random objects. Colourful lights were hung around the walls, there were tables set up with cups and various liquids, Hordak even noticed a few confetti and smoke machines - which definitely gave rise to his blood pressure. Adora could tell he wasn’t bursting with acceptance. But that was to be expected.

The scene was strange as neither Hordak nor Entrapta allowed them to enter the premises. So naturally Entrapta asked, before Hordak could burst out with a yell and unleash his fury of them, “Girls, what is happening here?”

Adora answered cheerfully, “Why we’re celebrating, of course!”

“Celebrating what?” The ‘what’ was sharp, almost as if the word itself spat in her face. Hordak wasn’t fond of people entering his private space - well no one really was, but Hordak especially. This was to be expected.

“Well,” Adora pushed out her chest, one arm behind her back, one pointing up to the ceiling, “It’s Etheria Day. The anniversary of Prime’s defeat, a year back. We thought setting up a party here would be... appropriate... We thought if anyone deserved to celebrate and have a good time it’d you. We also knew you wouldn’t come over for a party, you like to keep to yourselves, I get that. So we brought the party to youuuuuu!” She gave Hordak and Entrapta some playful finger-guns.

“...” Hordak remained quiet. Seething with anger, grinding his teeth.

Entrapta had an opposite reaction to this, she flew immediately over to the set up table, as it had tiny snacks next to the cups and drinks. She was stuffing her face full of the savoury snacks and sweet deserts. Adora was glad Entrapta was enjoying herself, but she did worry that if she didn’t stop the lady she might eat all the food before the party even starts. Adora also noticed that at the sight of Entrapta’s wide ear-to-ear smile Hordak had relaxed, no longer tensed up. Entrapta was Adora’s ticket to convincing Hordak. He almost smiled, but he managed to keep up his mask of displeasure. “ And why are you celebrating here, in OUR Sanctum.”

“I told you this was a bad idea.” Catra said matter-of-factly turned away from them, arms crossed. Adora pouted at her in disappointment.

Hordak bounced off of Catra’s dialogue, “Yes, and perhaps next time you would like to ask us for permission to enter the premises.” Adora had now turned her pout to him, something about the expression was strangely disarming, it made him lower his defences for a slight moment. It was probably the fact that she looked a little bit like Entrapta in that moment, similar to that disapproving look she gave him all the time, it always put him in his place.

Adora spinned back into Entrapta’s direction, and asked, “Entrapta can we party on your premises?”

Entrapta didn’t even turn back, “Sure.”

“Sweet.” Adora replied carrying on with her business.

This drew an exhausted sigh from Hordak, his eyes felt like they were about to roll out of their sockets, “Will you at least be quiet?”

“No.” Adora replied with an innocent smile.

[spacecrier]

drew a scene from @etherian-affairs fic the lord and lady of dryl on ao3

[princehec-tor-kur]

Vampire x Vampire Hunter

Entrapta hoped the door bell wouldn't have been drowned out by the loud roaring of thunder in the completely blackened skies. She tried the door knocker the next time. Maybe it faired better that the bell or maybe the bell was heard, but the response to the door was delayed. In any case the short woman heard the components of the rusty lock turn and twist with clicks and clanks. The huge wooden door, with the stature of a tree, slowly swang open.

In the door way was a woman, tall, thin. Her skin grey and tarnished by the elements. Her hair black and untaimed, Entrapta could relate. The woman's lower face was covered by a cloth, her eyes white like marble. She quirked her brow at the abnormally small woman and asked, "Well?"

The shorter lady responded with a bounch in her step, "Oh! Hey, I'm Entrapta. Entrapta Vesselak," the other woman stares with a blank expression on her face waiting for anything significant, "I-eh, I'm the world famous vampire hunter: En-trap-ta... rings a bell?"

That got the servent woman to change her expression, it worpped to an expression of surprise and confusion. Her eyes narrowed and her head leaned forward. "What?"

Entrapta wasn't sure if the woman didn't understand so she continued, "I was invited here. For a dinner feast to discuss funding for further projects." Entrapta began gesturing with her hands hopeing it would set some alarms off in the womans head. She hoped she didn't take a wrong turn and entered up at the wrong haunted looking castle.

"Invited by wh-"

"Shadow Weaver."

The woman, Shadow Weaver, was cut off by a deeper, smoother voice. It imerged from the shadows, accompanied with the sound of heels clacking against the floor. Weaver's head snapped back, her posture folding up in fear.

"Why is the quest in the cold?" A figure stood half cloacked in shadows, maybe Entrapta was going crazy, but she could swear his eyes were glowing. Weaver stumbled and mummbled, the tall man dismissed her with a single gesture.

Entrapta happily hopped in, "You must be, Lord Hordak. Neat castle."

"And you must be the infamious Dr. Entrapta Vesselak... you're smaller than I expected." A smirk playing across his face. Entrapta didn't know what it was, but she liked it.

The two walked and talked for what felt like hours, Hordak showing the hunter around the castle, which he dubbed The Fright Zone. How it ran. And all the occupents taking residence in it. Entrapta found out that the Lord didn't live in the castle alone. With their was his adopted daughter Catra and her wife Baroness Scorpia. His servent Shadow Weaver who was the care taker of the children. And his son, Imperium. Strangely enough, Hordak always talked about Imp, as he nicknamed him, as if he was with them at all times, but Entrapta didn't see a living soul except a lone bat fluttering over the chandellier. Following them.

They finally made their way into the dinning hall, which was a blessing, because Entrapta was starving. The table was massive in length, the two opposite seats seemed like they were carved out of gold. Much to his surprise Entrapta chose the regular seat next to his.

That shocked him more was to learn that the young woman was a scientist, focusing on study, observation and research, but she didn't mind getting her gloves dirty if need be. The dinner was grand and feast rich with variety of flavour like no other. But Entrapta barely touched her plate, her mouth was too occupied with riddling the lord with questions. She was intrigued. Nothing stopped Entrapta when she was intrigued.

Hordak himself had to admite he was inthralled with the woman. A first glance she seemed nothing more than childish, but the more she opened up the more she revealed herself as an intellectual and quite the amoral type. She had a dark sense of humour, he noted. She passively joked about how she ran out of subjects from her home town of Dryl so she resorted to running after squirels.

She, in fact, was quite the joker, dry humour that clearly was made to make herself laugh. Very much what a person would consider dad humour.

Hordak was guilty himself of chuckling at some of the aweful punchlines. Against his better judgement he smiled, revealing his sharp canines. His nose scrunched up and a snort came out of his giggle.

That seemed to have caught the woman's attention, because a brief moment of silence ingulfed them. Hordak swore her eyes darted to his lips at least twice before she restablished direct eye contact with him. This time the look was different. Not just intrigue now, something else, something that made Hordak gag on clean air.

The dinner was cut short the moment Entrapta manifested a mischiefious grin, this time Hordak saw her teeth. He ubruptly stood up in a hurry, wished her good rest and waltzed upstairs to, presumably, his bedroom.

She was quite confused by the action, but followed suite and found her way towards her own guest room. She set her things up in her room in record time. All her traps and hunting apparatus was laided out around the floor in rows in alphabetical order.

Entrapta stared up at the ceiling from her queen sized bed and it's strong wooden arcs. She smiled and sounded a victorious 'yes' to herself. She was bad at using or understanding social ques, but from what she could gather, the dinner went well. She had the funding garanteed. A squeal of excitement escaped her, some proper money for research and materials would be a nice change from scavenging scarps around Dryl for weapons. After the Church of BrightMoon pulled their support, the whole hunting vampires business went slightly stail. But now with THE Lord Hordak and his wealth, the research could continue. So much studing to be done.

She had a good feeling. This time maybe she could actually capture one instead of burning them like usual. Vampires, such facinating creatures. So much to learn. It is unfortunet that some fear knowledge, like BrightMoon, they just wanted the creatures gone. Entrapta would've done anything to get to cut one open and take a peek inside.

A strange feeling crept up on her. Like someone was watching. She turned her head to the giant open window, white curtains bellowing inward. The window framed a perfect picture of the moon, not a single cloud in the sky. No stars either strangely enough. A thin, croocked, withered tree stood infront of the moon. It's trunk swaying from side to side as if about to snap in half anytime. It's branchs like claws reaching for the moon as if to grasp it.

On one of the blackened branches, Entrapta noted, was the same bat that was following her and Lord Hordak in the halls earlier. It starred at the woman with judgemental annoyance. As if examining her for something, in puzzlement.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. She hesitently dragged her eyes away from the curious bat and stepped to the wooden door. Entrapta swung the doors open, her head skimmed the hallway, left to right. No one was on the outside of the door. She scratched her scalp.

She heart almost jumped out her throat when she turned around to see two new faces in her room. How did they get in? From the descriptions give to her by Lord Hordak earlier, she could presume these were Catra and Scorpia.

The skinner girl, the one with heterocromic eyes, Catra, reminder her a lot of Hordak. The slightly pointed ears, the sharp nails, the teeth, very similar. Curious. The lord specified the girl was not of blood, yet she seemed like a perfect mirror image of him.

The other was much taller, more muscular, platinum hair and firm hands. The taller woman was humbly sitting on a stool, her knees inward, her left hand giving a slight wave. The shorter one was looking away, out the window, at the bat. She asked without turning to the visitor.

"So... you're the new chew toy the boss has been so wind up about?" Her heterocromic eyes sized her up with a judgemental expression. "She don't seem like much."

"Hey!" Entrapta pouted.

"I think she's nice. So does Lord Hordak. It might be a nice change. Lord Hordak is rarely nice and often so grumpy."

"I'm in the room you know... so... hi. I'm Entrapta, you probably know that already." The scientist scratched her head at the awkward introduction. She wasn't good at social interactions. Not good with people. She was always more of an outcast, a weirdo. An outsider looking in. She observed people, analysed how they interacted, how they acted in particular situations. Then, she copied them. Put a mask on. Surprisingly enough, she hadn't found a need to put one up today, infront of Lord Hordak. He didn't seem repulsed by her morbid sense of curiousity and sense of humour. He actually seemed to gravitate towards her because of her quirks.

She enjoyed that. Having someone locked into her own pull. She enjoyed being in the presence of another intellictual and being able to converse with one. Their session of bouncing ideas off of each other was refreshing, no one ever took interest in her line of work. Not a surprise. Not many people want to be vampire hunters. It was tidious work.

"You must be Catra and Scorpia, right? Cool beans."

The scientist extended her hand to the slightly hairy woman, she looked like she just woke up to a bad hair day. Entrapta could painfully relate. The cat-like figure starred at the forwarded hand and back at Entrapta. And back and forth a couple of times.

"I don't see it. 'Dak must be getting desparate."

"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean?!" Entrapta replied with a slightly angered face now.

Catra scoffed, slowly making her way to the scientist, circling around her. Her heterochromic eyes wondered up and down seemingly unimpressed by the woman. Entrapta didn't pay much attention her her and tried to ease back into the conversation.

"Soooo. You guys live here right? How long? How long have you been married? Did you guys see that little bat followin' me around? Do you know if the castle walls are made from hellstone or brickdwell? Are there any secret doors or passageways? 'Cause I definetly spotted a couple on my way here. Do you think Lord Hordak is more of a milk chocolate guy or dark chocolate? ...Too many questions?"

"Yeah, kind of." Scorpia jestured a tipping shake with her hand. "But definetly milk chocolate." The taller woman stood up and slowly made her way to the scientist and extended her hand to her with a proper greeting. "So yes, I'm Baroness Scorpia and my wild cat over here tring to pull off an intimidating Hordak impressions is my lovely Lady Catra."

At that remark, a slight blush crept on Catra's face. She attempted to hide the rising red by looking away. Entrapta smiled at that.

Scorpia questioned the hunter one more time, "Umm, Professor Entrapta. If we may ask you a question... why are you here? Your arrival here, was not announced to us. What does Lord Hordak wish to gain from you?"

"A one night stand."

"Catra."

"What?! You know he's a freak! And a vampire hunter, dude's a weirdo."

"That's not true. And you know it. Lord Hordak will faint faster keeping direct I contact with a woman than standing in the sun."

"Again. Still in the room you guys... also what was that thing about the sun?"

The two of them looked back at her, Scorpia with an expression of guilt and worry and Catra of confusion and annoyance. "She doesn't- he didn't- *sighs*. Of course he didn't."

Once again there was an unannounced knock on the door. All of the three heads shot to the dark wood. Everything in the room became colder and quieter. Catra gave off a 'pfft' and waved her hand dismissably, while Scorpia posed up right more honorably and seriously. Entrapta decided she would be the one to open the door, since the other two just stood back silently. After the turn of the nob, the other side of the wood revealed Lord Hordak himself.

The lord opened his mouth to say something, a sensire expression on his face, however he stopped. His brow quirked up, he looked back at the room behind Entrapta. She herself turned around to bring the other two into the conversation, but to Entrapta's surprise no one was there. The bedroom was empty. However the frown on the man's face suggested he was aware of the self-invited guests.

Lord Hordak looked back down to the woman, shifting gears, he opened his mouth again. There were those canines again. Real sharp... really... really sharp. Almost... abnormally. "I must apologise doctor."

"For what?" Entrapta tilted her head to the side.

"Well, rather someone else is to apologise for there actions," just then Entrapta noticed a smaller figure step around from behind the lord's black cape. A young boy stepped out, hands figiting together at his tummy, eyes looking down at his feet. A look of embarasement was on his face. "This is Imp and the boy had the audacity to spy on you, and I also see other unwelcomed guests have violated your priva-"

"HE'S SO CUTE!"

Entrapta immiediately knelt down to the boy and flashed a wide grin, she extended to pat the young child on head and ruffle through his white turf of hair. Which prompted the child to show a rosey blush across the cheeks. The little kid's enjoyment was interupted by a forced koff from the lord. Imp immiediately straightened himself out and signed with his two hands 'I'm sorry.'

"Sorry? I did-"

"It means 'I'm sorry'."

"Oh, that's alright." Entrapta waved it off with a hand gesture, she turned back to Hordak. Their eyes locked, the hunter finding the red glow of them quite aluring. "I thought you said you were going to sleep mister." Her lips curved upward. Hordak's eyes grew twice the size with nervousness, he could feel himself start to sweat.

"I- eh- couldn't sleep... I wished to speak with you about uhmmm any possible future projects."

"Uh huh."

"Perhaps projects to involve us both."

"You specialise in traps my lord?" Entrapta asked curiously.

"I tinker. Idle hands are the devil's workshop."

"So you're a man of God?"

"I'm half the man I used to be. But what is left of me is of science... shall we talk later? I must escort the young fella to his quarters." Hordak felt the little boy clench closer to his leg. The man picked the child up in his arms and pulled him closer to his chest.

"It's a date."

Hordak did his best to ignore the remark and turned around to leave with the boy. He turned back briefly, "Oh and if anyone else bothers you during the night. Let me know." He continued off.

"Okky dokki! Sweet dreams!" Entrapta waved them off.

Imp signed with his hands to Hordak as they decended the staircase, 'I like her.'

"Me too. But let's not get too cozy. She IS the enemy and it's good to keep your enemies close."

[emperorsfoot]

Adora think’s she’s rescuing Entrapta from Beast Island but has no idea she’s already running the place by now. 

(( Art curtesy of Asterops on dA ))

“…of course I haven’t been able to translate any of it.” Entrapta was saying. Speaking a mile a minute as she flitted around the control room. She pointed to the many consoles and terminals as she spoke, occasionally lifting her hair to indicate the main display screen –which was still deactivated. “But this is the most well preserved First Ones settlement I’ve ever seen! A complete structure, fully intact, and the technology untouched!”

She cackled happily, arms and hair being thrown up in the air with maniacal glee.

Scorpia offered a gentle smile. She didn’t quite understand everything her friend said, in fact, it had a similar feel to when she was talking about the Runestone network, or portal destabilization. Lots of fast words and high excitement. But Scorpia missed a great deal of what was supposed to be important. She was just happy her friend was happy.

“The whole building functions like one big machine!” She continued, speaking to no one in particular, as if she still had her recorder and was logging notes. “As an amplifier of some kind. The interesting detail is that I can’t decide what it’s meant to amplify. A cursory exploration of the compound indicates that it might actually go deeper than the two accessible basement levels. This would imply that it might connect with the network of Runestones that maintain Etheria’s equilibrium. If that is the case, then it might amplify the magic of the Runestone network.”

She cackled again.

Running up to Scorpia, Entrapta took the other woman’s hand in her hair and spun them both around the room happily. “Isn’t this exciting!” She exclaimed. “If the First Ones built this place to boost the overall power of the Runestone network, then that means the Runestones were meant to do more than just regulate the planet’s ecosystems and seasons. But what more!? That’s the mystery. I have no idea. Isn’t it exciting!?”

Entrapta would find unsolvable mysteries left behind by dead races exciting. The thing was, she was actually remarkably good at solving said unsolvable mysteries. She spent her whole life –that Scorpia knew of- studying First Ones tech, integrated it into Horde technology, deciphered the mystery of the Runestones and used that knowledge to hack and control the planet itself, she brought First Ones power to the generators of the Fright Zone, and cut a portal through the very fabric of reality. If anyone was going to unravel the mystery of why the First Ones might want to amplify the power of the Runestone network, it would be Princess Entrapta of Dryl.

But it was the ‘of Dryl’ part of her title that concerned Scorpia at the moment.

When she left to come and rescue Entrapta, she left someone behind in Dryl. A young child –younger than their physical age- whom Entrapta created. Entrapta’s child. Scorpia wasn’t sure of the scientist even knew the experiment lived or not. But she promised Baker, Soda Pop, and Bus Girl she’d bring their Lady back to them. She promised young Hordak Second of Their Name that she’d bring their mother back to them.

“Can you study this from home?” She asked. Then realized Entrapta might not know what place she was referring to when she said ‘home’. The Fright Zone? Dryl? Scorpia’s home? Entrapta’s home? What was ‘home’? “From your lab in Dryl? Can you study this from Dryl?”

“Well, it’d be difficult…” She tapped her chin with her hair in thought. “Inefficient and slow… why can’t I just study this place from right here? This is where it is, after all.”

“Yeah, but, don’t you wanna go home?” Scorpia pressed.

Entrapta did pause in her frenzied slitting around the room.

Lowering herself down from where she had been examining the connection cables between the main monitor and the First Ones consoles, she pillowed her hair under her. She did want to go home. Before. When she was trapped in a filthy cell that was tiny, contained nothing to hold her interest, was being slowly starved, and stank of her own organic waste. She missed her lab then. She wanted to go home then.

But things were better now. She was out. And she had this whole, and complete First Ones outpost to study. Why would she want to leave?

Besides, the island was pretty insulated. Part of the world, yes, but also remote, isolated, and apart from it. If she stayed on Beast Island, she wouldn’t have to face the rest of the world beyond its shores. She wouldn’t have to learn the conclusions to certain hypothesis about certain people she knew.

“Not really.” Entrapta shook her head, then lowered her welding mask over her face.

She moved back across the room, pushing a rolling chair out of the way, to bend down and examine the inner workings of a console. This was safe. This was easy. There was a kind of sterile safety in machines and technology. Machines and technology rarely betrayed you. If they did, it was a fault in their programming that could easily be fixed, a line of code that just needed to be trouble-shot. If a person betrayed you… if a person shocked you in the back and sent you to a gulag… if a person had the power to bring you back with a word, but left you to rot there instead… or if a person went back to their brother without ever saying ‘good-bye’ and had no idea what happened to you… Entrapta didn’t know how to trouble-shoot those kinds of betrayals.

But… still…

As much as she didn’t actually want to know, and she knew she did not want to know, Entrapta had to ask. “What happened to Catra?”

“I don’t know.” Scorpia admitted.

“And-“ she hesitated, she was more nervous about asking about her lab partner than she was about her ex-friend. “-and, Hordak…?”

Now it was Scorpia’s turn to hesitate. She drew in a long breath. She never presumed to understand the relationship between Entrapta and the leader of the Horde. But she did know that it was more than simple colleagues and friends. Entrapta created a child from her own DNA combined with Hordak’s. For all intents and purposes, they had a child together. That meant something. Scorpia didn’t know what –exactly. But something. They were significant to each other. Maybe not ‘lovers’ in the traditional sense of the word, but more like ‘mates’ in the practical application of the term. They had an offspring together.

“Lonnie and her team were in charge of clearing out the lab after the portal blew.” She began, unsure of how exactly she should phrase things. “She told me- Entrapta, I’m so sorry –but she told me that Hordak is gone.”

Sliding out from under the console, Entrapta sat up on her hair and lifted her welding mask. The expression of hope on her face was not what Scorpia was expecting to see.

“Gone?” She repeated. “Like, ‘gone home’?”

Without her. Without saying good-bye to her. She should feel sad, but… it was just a relief to hear that he was still alive at all. He hadn’t abandoned her on Beast Island because he was mad at her, or hated her. He left her on Beast Island because he didn’t know. Because he wasn’t here anyone. He went home. Like he always wanted. She hoped he was happy. Entrapta wanted Hordak to be happy.

Scorpia paused, suddenly unsure. As far as she had always known, the Fright Zone was Hordak’s home. She didn’t think he had any other.

But that wasn’t what Lonnie said.

Scorpia shook her head. “No. The other kind of gone. Lonnie told me that Lord Hordak is dead.”

For half a second, Scorpia had to wonder if Entrpata even heard her. The older woman just sort of froze. Sitting on her hair, staring at Scorpia.

An odd kind of silence dragged between them. Like the non-existent sound of a computer loading screen. Entrapta’s mile-a-minute mind needing to take extra time to process what she’d just been told.

Then.

Her shoulders began to shake.

Entrapta lifted up a tendril of hair to lower her welding mask back over her face, but the hair was trembling so bad it couldn’t connect with the metal visor. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“That can’t be right.” She muttered, more to the room as a whole than to Scorpia. “Hordak couldn’t…”

Except that he very easily could be dead.

He was frail. He was ill. He had a degenerative medical condition that made him weak and gave him fainting spells. Yes, the exoskeleton she made for him compensated for these handicaps. Enables him to continue to function and live as he desired. But the exo-suit was not a cure. Under the armor, he would still be sick and frail. He could still die. He could still be killed.

A battle with an enemy. The portal explosion. Falling debris fleeing the lab.

Any number of things could have killed Hordak.

And easily too. He was not as strong as he liked to appear.

Entrapta’s vision blurred and she reached her gloved hands up to wipe away the tears.

It was like when Micah suggested he might be dead, only worse. Back then, she recognized the real and tangible possibility that her lab partner might be dead. But Micah didn’t know him. She didn’t know if Micah ever met Hordak, like, back during the first Rebellion or whatever, but she did know that Micah didn’t know anything about him. Not like she knew him. All Micah suggested was a hypothesis.

A hypothesis she could easily deny.

But this time- from Scorpia- who heard it from the one that cleaned up the sanctum- Entrapta felt the truth of it in her bones. Hordak, her lab partner, a person whom she felt more strongly for than the rest of her friends, was… gone. Not gone like ‘gone home’, the other kind of gone. The permanent kind of gone. Dead, gone.

She didn’t realize her eyes were closed until she felt Scorpia’s arms wrap around her again. Her wet face resting on that hard scorpion exoskeleton.

“Hey, hey, it’ll be okay.” Scorpia muttered into her hair.

That was about the moment Micah walked in. He paused when he saw Entrapta crying in Scorpia’s arms. “I miss something?”

Lifting her head, Entrapta blinked dripping eyes. “My- my lab partner-“

It took the sorcerer a moment to realize what had just happened. He remembered her telling him about her beloved lab partner. The one with health problems that the Horde left for dead once before. Her young man that, when Micah asked if he had been killed, she instead of admitting that she didn’t know, started throwing out unconfirmable denials that he just went away somewhere else and didn’t know she was on Beast Island. It took Micah a moment to realize, but when he did, his expression melted into nothing but sympathy.

“Oh, Princess, I’m so sorry.” He tried to assure her. “I wish I’d gotten to meet him. He sounded like a very fine fellow.”

At that comment, it was Scorpia’s turn to lift her head and blink at him. But she did not offer a comment. But it was just so weird hearing –anyone- but especially a former rebel leader describe Hordak as a ‘very fine fellow’. King Micah must not have any idea who her ‘lab partner’ really was.

Entrapta pushed away from the other woman. “Why’d you have to tell me!?” She demanded, her mood taking a swing into anger –which was supposed to be a normal stage of grief, she was told. “If I didn’t know I could have just kept working on my own projects by myself and believing he went home!”

“But- you asked…” Scorpia was so confused.

“I didn’t actually want to know!” Entrapta snapped her welding mask down over her face.

This was just- this was too much. She could not deal with this. Using her hair, she leapt from one end of the room to the other, placing as much distance between herself and Scorpia and Micah as she could. Crouching down, she began fiddling with another First Ones console. Trying to get it to power up.

Scorpia just stood there, staring. Entrapta had always wanted nothing but the truth before. And Scorpia was pretty sure she would have been more upset if she had lied to her and told her Hordak was fine, only to have her learn some other way later that he was gone. Scorpia wanted her to hear it from a friend –and Entrapta had recently announced that Scorpia was her best friend.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see King Micah, his expression gentle and sympathetic. “Everyone reacts to loss differently. She needs to grieve in her own way. She’s not actually mad at you.”

“How do you know?” Asked Scorpia, turning to face him. “You’ve known her, what, like two weeks?”

Micah offered her a rueful grin. “In truth, I don’t know Princess Entrapta at all. I don’t think we really connected all that well during our time together. “But I know people. She’s a little… she’s not like most, but she’s still a person. She’s going to need time to process. Time to come to terms with her loss and her feelings about it.” A pause. “Did you know him?”

Sort of. He was her boss. They were not close. “Kinda…”

“It might help to have someone who also knew him to commiserate with.” He suggested. “Share stories and fond memories. Remind her of the good times to distract her from the bad.”

Scorpia opened her mouth to disagree. Her experiences with Lord Hordak were vastly different from Entrapta’s experiences with Lord Hordak. But King Micah of Brightmoon did not know that, neither did he need to know that. All that came out was a noncommittal croak of dismay.

“I’ll see if I can find some fizzy drinks in the Mess.” He added, moving to leave the control room. “Indulging in favored drinks and foods does help.”

He left.

Looking across the room, Scorpia wondered if she should go over and talk to Entrapta, or give the other woman her space. She decided to compromise. Halfway through the room, Scorpia sat on one of the consoles. It felt oddly like the last time they spent time together. Entrapta punching away at a computer keyboard, Scorpia sitting on some piece of lab equipment that was not meant to be sat on, talking about their feelings. Except this time, it wasn’t venting about frustration with difficult friends, and it wasn’t frantic double checking of a volatile experiment.

“I can’t say I know how you feel.” Scorpia announced honestly. “I’ve never really had a serious relationship before. The last woman I liked turned out to be… well, Catra. And –as it turned out- she and I weren’t actually as close as I thought we were. We weren’t as close as you and Hordak turned out to be.” That, and Catra wasn’t dead (she didn’t think), just missing in action. “I don’t even remember when my moms died. Not really. Like, I sorta remember when it happened. But, I don’t remember how it felt. I don’t remember the feelings. Just that it happened.”

She looked across the room to Entrapta to see if this admission had any effect on her.

The other woman’s shoulders slumped.

Her welding mask was still down, in front of her face. Scorpia saw one round eye-lens glowing fuchsia in her profile.

“I don’t think I felt anything when my predecessor passed away.” She finally admitted. “She… never approved of me showing much emotion. She used to get so mad when I would cry. By the time she died- I guess I was used to- just… not.”

“Oh.” Scorpia didn’t know that. Of course, no one in the Horde ever talked about their parents. The vast majority of people in the Horde didn’t have parents, so Scorpia never thought to ask, and Entrapta never volunteered it before. It wasn’t like parental passing was particularly relevant to what they were working on at any given time. Then she raised an eyebrow. “You call your mom ‘predecessor’?”

Entrapta shrugged. “It’s accurate. She never liked being called ‘mother’. She thought it undervalued her position of ruler. When she was alive I called her ‘my Queen’ or ‘Your Grace’.”

“Wow.” Scorpia blinked. “That’s pretty… wow.”

Her back still to Scorpia, shoulders slumping slightly, hair drooping, Entrapta went on to say, “That’s one of the reasons why really felt for Hordak. He might view Horde Prime as his ‘big brother’ not his father, but he was still a parent figure in his life. A parent figure that he desperately wants –wanted- to impress and make proud, but who –at least from the sound of it- was never satisfied.”

Scorpia opened her mouth to reply, then realized she had no idea what Entrapta was talking about. Who was this ‘Horde Prime’ guy? Lord Hordak had a brother? Lord Hordak had an inferiority complex? You wouldn’t know it from standing in on any given meeting in the throne room. He always seemed so powerful and imposing. Scorpia couldn’t even imagine someone ‘bigger’ or ‘scarier’ than Hordak that he wanted to impress and live up to.

“I guess you two got really close working so long in the Sanctum together.” She finally said instead. Obviously, they got close. Entrapta made a child from him. So… that was a thing.

“I don’t know.” Entrapta admitted, welding mask still down over her face. “I stopped inputting data in my interpersonal relationship algorithm by that point. When I was around him I just didn’t think about it. I’ve never had a relationship like that before. And then when he told me about his Brother I just- wanted to help him…” Finally, she turned back to face Scorpia, and lifted her welding mask. Her eyes were dry, but red. She had been crying. “I was building a new body for him when you and Catra came back with Adora and the sword. A healthy body. So he could go back to his Brother without having to worry about his defects.”

A new body? Was that what little Dak was supposed to be. Not their child, but just a spare case to house Lord Hordak’ brain. (Or mind. Or soul. Or whatever.) The idea disappointed Scorpia more than she expected it to. She had only known little Dak for a few days before she left them in Dryl. Most of that time, the little hybrid spent crying loudly, babbling non-sense, and pooping themself. Scorpia had to teach them how to speak, and use a toilet, and hold a fork to feed themself. But affection was a natural byproduct of care-giving, and Scorpia couldn’t help but for an attachment to the pseudo-clone. The idea that their mother –or, at least, the person she had decided was Dak’s ‘mother’ in her mind- didn’t view them as anything more than a custom made exchangeable part broke her heart a little.

“Listen, about that body you were making…” Scorpia began.

But then Micah walked back into the room and Scorpia promptly shut up. King Micah of Brightmoon, leader of the First Rebellion was blissfully ignorant of the fact that the Princess he’d been working with worked for the Horde, and the Princess to care to rescue her was a Horde Force Captain. There was no need for him to know that the person they were mourning was Lord Hordak, leader of the Evil Horde. Or that Entrapta tried to make a new clone body for him that –supposedly- would have made him stronger and more formidable than before.

Scorpia was friendly and talkative. She was not an idiot.

“They actually did had a carbon pressure fizzer in the Mess.” He announced, coming in with a tray holding a bottle and two empty glasses. “This is just sparkling water, but its fizzy. They only had regular sized cupcakes, I’m afraid.”

Standing from the console she was sitting on, Scorpia took the tray from him. “Thanks.” She offered a friendly smile. “Uh, we were kinda about to make a breakthrough. I don’t wanna be rude, but could you give us, like, five more minutes or something? Please.”

“Oh.” Micah paused. He looked across the room to Entrapta. Her eyes were red and puffy. She’d definitely been crying. But her cheeks were dry. Her best friend really was helping her much more than he could. Maybe he could go back and talk to Sea Hawk. He assumed the pirate from Salineas was going to be their ride off the island. As the younger man announced forlornly while under the influence of a truth spell, he was everyone’s ride. “I’ll just leave you two alone then.”

Scorpia waited until the doors had shut behind Micah to open the bottle of sparkling water and pore two glasses for herself and Entrapta. Crossing the space between them, she offered one grass to the other woman.

Reaching with her hair, Entrapta pulled a rolling chair over to her and sat down.

“You know, it’s strange.” Entrapta began, speaking between slurps of the bendy straw Micah was thoughtful enough to include. “Even with all the data I entered in my interpersonal relationship algorithm, the data just showed you as an average friend. But then, it showed Catra as my best friend and, well- we both know what happened. I guess I didn’t program it right. You’re the only one of all of my ‘friends’ who ever came to rescue me. And here you are trying to console me.”

She leaned back in her chair, putting her feet up on a console and selected a regular sized cupcake from the tray. Entrapta made a face of displeasure at it. She really, really, really preferred tiny food. But, if nothing else, her time on Beast Island did teach her to appreciate decent food even if it wasn’t tiny. Goodness knew, what the guards gave her in her cell was usually ‘food’ in name only.

“I guess that’s the thing about friendship.” Scorpia nodded. “Friendship is measured in actions, but actions are motivated by feelings. Catra is very good at acting like she cares about you. But… all those affectionate actions and smiles aren’t actually motivated by feelings of friendship.”

“I will never understand people or their motivations.” Entrapta admitted, speaking more to the frosting of her cupcake than to Scorpia. “Science tells us that organisms are motivated by the base needs of food, water, shelter, and the desire to mate. But none of the people I know personally seem to care about those things. At least, not in proportion to how important they are to an organism’s survival. You know Adora didn’t even serve snacks at the strategy meeting where we tried to plan Glimmer and Bow’s rescue. And I didn’t see Hordak ever hydrate as much water as I think a being in his condition should.”

“People are more complicated than a basic organism.” Scorpia mumbled.

But then, Entrapta already admitted that she would never understand people. Not from lack of trying, just from a lack of ability to connect. Entrapta tried very hard. She observed, and studied, and tried to learn. But she could only reach so far. She needed people –not everyone, just the people in her life- to reach back and meet her half way.

“But, um…” Scorpia began, suddenly feeling inexplicably awkward. “Swinging back to that whole, ‘organisms are motivated by mating’ thing. That body you were building for Hordak… was that the one you mixed your own DNA into…?”

Entrapta nodded. “To fill in and replace the corrupted lines of code in his DNA, yeah. That’s all DNA is, really. Just lines of code, no different than a computer program. If I line of code becomes corrupted, you just go in and rewrite it. Easy fix.” There was another forlorn pause as she remembered that Hordak was dead. “I wish I could see him one more time…”

Then she forced a shrug, lifting the regular sized cupcake to her mouth, Entrapta braced herself for the unpleasant tactile sensation of frosting and crumbs all over her face. There was a reason she preferred tiny food.

But she didn’t get the chance to bite into it.

Because, at that exact moment, the ceiling above them cracked, then broke open as someone burst through.

“Entrapta! I’m here to rescue you!” Shouted She-Ra, in all her golden, glowing glory.

…

“There it is! Down there!” Adora pointed at the only structure on the island that looked man-made.

A large complex close to the shore, with an attached harbor. It was big, obvious, and hard to miss. There was no need for her to point it out as if she was the only one who saw it.

“Swift Wind, drop me off on the roof.” She commanded.

“Wait, how are you going to get through the roof-?” Bow began to ask.

But his concerns were cut off by her shouting, “For the Honor of Grayskull!”

There was a flash of light and they felt her weight leave the horse. Then She-Ra was in freefall. Plummeting down through the otherwise empty air. Sword extended in front of her to break through the roof below.

Leaning precarious far over Swift Wind’s side, Dak peered down at the legendary warrior princess. “Since she was the one making a plan, I thought the plan would be better.”

Heaving a sigh, the only thing Bow could do was shrug. “This is about as good as most of our plans.”

Perched on Dak’s shoulder, Imp squawked something with a bit of a tone. Ruffling his wings and crossing his tiny deamon arms in contempt.

“Reluctantly, I agree.” Swift Wind sighed, disappointed in himself for actually sharing an opinion with Hordak’s minion. “It really is a wonder how they managed to beat the Horde at all.”

Dak glanced from Imp to the horse, then back at Bow. “These bad plans of yours, they actually… work?”

Bow heaved another sigh. “Amazingly, yeah. Actually. They do.”

The hybrid nodded, as if coming to a decision. “Okay.”

Then jumped off Swift Wind after Adora.

“Wait! No! Don’t-!” Bow shouted after the young clone.

Imp’s suddenly hysterical screeching echoed the archer’s sentiment. The little deamon fluttered his wings and dove down after master’s heir.

Swift Wind tried to turn his head to look at Bow. “You gonna jump too?” He asked. “Everybody’s doing it.”

Bow only groaned.

Then leapt down too.

Putting the sword in front of her, She-Ra made a rough landing on the roof, cracking the not-quite-concrete construction. It took two more smashes, but between the sword’s magic and She-Ra’s own brute force, she was able to break through the roof and burst into the building.

She wasn’t quire sure what kind of room she’d just entered. It was the top of the prison, so the expected some kind of command center, or office.

It was dimly lit.

But Entrapta was there. She’d recognize that mass of thick lilac hair anywhere. “Entrapta!” She shouted. “I’m here to rescue you! I left you behind in the Fright Zone, I’m not doing that’s again!”

“Oh.” Still sitting in her chair, holding a cupcake in her hand, and her drink in her hair, Entrapta just stared wide-eyed at the legendary Princess of Power. “Thank you.”

She-Ra blinked back at her. That wasn’t how people normally reacted to a rescue.

“Scorpia already came to rescue me.” Entrapta indicated the woman sitting next to her, pointing with her hair. “But it was nice of you to come too.” She glanced at the regular sized cupcake in her hand. “Snack?”

She-Ra just stared at the offered treat, not understanding what was happening here.

Then another body fell on her. The two collapsing on each other in a disorderly heap of glowing eight-foot tall Princess, and thick mohawk of blue hair that moved and thrashed as if it were an arm or a leg. Then Bow fell on them, adding even more limbs to the tangle.

With some unnecessary expletives, the tangle of limbs and hair eventually straightened itself out to once again be the three separate bodies of Bow, She-Ra, and…

“Hi. I’m Hordak.”

[etherian-affairs]

You are all real sweet.

This wasn't like a self negging post though! Be aware! It was a very positive post! Like Lord and Lady was born out of a mindset of "there's no way these two get to be together in the end so I'm going to give them that in fic way ahead of time."

Then like... It happened! They get to be together! It's real!

So it's not like I'm going "Aw man there's no point to L&L" it's more like "Oh man... The vibe behind L&L is real???"

Just for funzies though, full disclosure.

My original plan was after S5 to rework the first L&L fic. Incorporate post S2 canon aspects more directly and stuff, mostly keep it the same.

Then completely rewrite The Faithful (I was never happy with it.)

And I might still do that!

But now it's like... I can just write Post Canon Lord and Lady? Like I can retread the concepts in that fic but... Not even an AU just am Epilogue story???

And that's so amazing? So awesome? Like my original claim to fame fic is Obsolete and to me that's a good thing! That's wonderful!

[alexologyart]

WIP, commission, Lord and Lady

I am just so proud of this background, Dryl is such a beautiful kingdom.

Commissions are open! via ko-fi.com/alexologyart/commissions

[purple-patches]

tbh most of the time, I read @its-a-trapta’s posts in entraptas voice then things just started spiraling down from there.

I kept imagining that its-a-trapta’s prompts are just entrapta’s self insertxHordak side ideas on Hot for Hordak

All the entrapdak fan fictions are now in Hot for Hordak subsections for people who ship their Lord and the Lady of Dryl.

Hordak reads them at leisure out of “curiosity”

[etherian-affairs]

Lord and Lady - The Portal

I finally figured out how this sequence played our in L&L So take this as an apology for all of my delays.

================================

"I have to tell Hordak! He'll understand!" Entrapta let the words out almost without thinking, starting to run forward. They can't activate the portal, it will ruin everything they've worked towards. Also it will destroy the world but that was going to happen either way really.

Then the stun baton hits her back. The energy courses across her body. Normally this would quickly incapacitate any Etherian, even one as tough as Entrapta.

But Entrapta is Lady of the Horde, and Hordak had insisted on her current garments. The electrically insulated bodysuit stops the worst of the energy from coursing into her. The pain is immense, but Lady Entrapta does not fall. She cannot call. Not yet. 

Her fair flails, it grabs at Catra and throw her aside. Entrapta's heart is racing, her mind is so shocked and confused. This betrayal, of someone she considered a friend. It has to be pushed aside though. She knows what she needs to do. Hordak. Hordak has to know. The Lady charges forward, stumbling and spasming, having to rely even more on her hair than normal. She spots Scorpia staring in horror at all of this.

"Stop her!" She can hear Catra call out. The thug from the crimson wastes tries to get in Entrapta's way. There is no time for that. One of Entrapta's tools is pulled from her hair, a driver, she plunges it into the thug as she runs by. 

No time to stop. Catra is fast. She needs to get to the Sanctum.

…

"She did it..." 

Lord Hordak couldn't help but smirk, even smile, at the operational portal frame standing before him. There's a pride in seeing it. The sword integrated into the machine. He knew Entrapta could make it function. The Lady never ceased to amaze with her technical skills. 

Adora was making a particularly valiant effort of squirming and trying to scream through her gag when he hears Entrapta. "Hordak!" His smile, for a brief moment, grows. Then he notices the voice is not the happy sound one would expect from this success. His expression falls.

"Entrapta?" He spins around. Worry fills him, and rage. She's panting, she looks frazzled and panicked. "What is wrong?" 

"We can't open the portal!" She says as she stumbles forward. Hordak watches her lose her step and begin to fall. He charges forward to catching her, kneeling on the ground to hold her.

Then he hears the next voice. "She's a traitor!" It is Catra. Hordak feels his anger swell further. "The princess are here! We have to open the portal!"

"We can't!" Entrapta lets out weakly. He can see the scorch marks on the back of her bodysuit from this angle. She was attacked and tazed, an

at maximum settings. It was almost definitely Catra. The Lord feels his eyes narrow.

"We have to! She's lying Hordak! She let them in! She wants you to not open the portal so they'll win!" 

"Silence!" Hordak howls. "Do you think I would trust you over Entrapta?!"

Catra looks taken aback for a moment. Then her own eyes harden, her fingers flexing.

Hordak shifts, and picks his Lady up carefully, she's weak and on the verge of passing out by the look of things. How she even got this far is a question worthy of its own scientific investigation. His eyes never leave the disgraced Force Captain as he stands. She's readying to attack. It is painfully clear in her body language.

"It'll cause reality to collapse." He hears Entrapta try to explain to him. His sensitive ears twitching and rotating ever so slightly to pick her up better. "I ran the simulations... It'll consume everything."

"I understand." Is all Hordak says. He does. He hasn't seen her calculations but he trusts Entrapta, and he knows the portal physics well enough to understand immediately what she is trying to get at. A Cascade failure of some kind. Due to interaction with the empty dimensions physics in some unexpected way perhaps? It is irrelevant, they will solve the problem later. Catra will be dealt with and the area will be locked down.

Then the rebels enter the sanctum. The arrow boy, Princess Glimmer, that evil wench Shadow Weaver. Hordak finds himself scowling deeply. 

Catra takes the moment of confusion to charge toward the portal. Hordak roars and even with Entrapta in his arms moves to intercept. He can fight Catra with no arms if he must. She is nothing compared to a Clone of Horde Prime.

Then the arrow hits his side. 

With his hands full he could not grab the projectile. 

His pain tolerance is immense, and his physiology strong, it won't put him down or even lay him up, but it does make him falter long enough for Catra to run past him. These idiotic rebels will doom them all!

The traitorous witch and the princess rip machinery out to throw at Hordak at the same time. Fools, all of them, focusing on him. 

"NO!" Hordak shouts as he dodges the incoming mass of metal. Catching sight of Catra near the controls.

He catches Adora's voice as well. "Catra don't do this!"

Then the damnable cat pulls the lever.

…

It had been a rather fine day for Hordak. His soldiers were in good spirits after a recent flawless victory led by some up and coming new Force Captain. No one was bothering him. He could simply take the time to work within his sanctum. Quiet and uninterrupted.

At least that was the plan for the Lord.

He heard Imp screech at the Intruders. These force captains that have snuck into his sanctum. They entered his private area without permission, poking around like rats, and Hordak will see them punished for this. Scorpia he knows but this other one, this new one. Shadow Weavers Ward. The one everyone is praising for her victory in Thaymore. Leave it to the witch to produce such disrespectful officers.

"The portal machine!" The new one calls out in a panic as Hordak approaches. His anger dispels, met instead with confusion. How does she know? Did Shadow Weaver inform her ward of Hordak's work? The most heavily classified project in the Fright Zone and his second in command simply gave the information to this… child?!

"You." Hordak begins with a growl, only to be interrupted.

"You and Entrapta completed it! Why isn't it here?!"

Shock overcomes Hordak. Completed it? He and...

Entrapta.

The memories flood back. Entrapta. His lab partner. His beloved. His Lady. The portal machine, they had finished it, but they didn't activate it. There was a problem. Entrapta came to warn him. So they didn't activate it. Catra did.

Catra.

He needs to focus. No time for the rising boiling rage at the feline woman.

"I..." Hordak glances around. The portal machine

 Why isn't it here? Adora was right to search here by all logic.  "I do not know… This lab should be the epicenter…" He notes as the calculations run through his mind. "Unless…"

"Unless what?!" Adora shouts. Unfortunately for this obnoxious traitor Hordak can see reality starting to crumble apart. He spins around to Adora and Scorpia.

"You need to find Entrapta." The Lord commands. "You will likely need the teleporting princess as well. Glimmer. Wherever the portal has located itself in this reality it is likely going to be difficult to get to. Consider where the sword might have taken it."

"That's it?! That's all you can tell me!?" She looks angry, good, she should be.

"There is no TIME! Go! It must be closed quickly before the signal can go through!" 

He sees Adora look confused. "Signal? What sign-"

"Go NOW!" Hordak shouts. Stepping forward and literally throwing the girl out of his sanctum.

The Lord turns to glance at the encroaching end of his reality. Trying to determine his options. There aren't many. He doesn't really exist after all, or perhaps he does exist but none of this exists? Either is a valid and mind bendingly accurate way to observe the situation. Entrapta will likely come to the same conclusion.

Perhaps he can jam any outgoing communications. It really would be best if Horde Prime does not get etherias location if opening a portal upon it can cause such destruction. At least until they have solved the problem. Hordak would hate for his brother to arrive only for everything Hordak has built to crumble away. It would make all of this… pointless.

As Hordak moves the nearest sanctum terminal to attempt his new work his mind fills not with thoughts of his brother or the goals he's held for decades. No, his mind fills with thoughts of Entrapta. Hoping she is okay in this unstable world. Hoping she can guide Adora to success. No. There is no need to hope. Entrapta is capable, she'll fix this where he could not, as she did him.

As Hordak works the collapsing reality simply consumes him. There is no fear. No need to rail against fate. The Lord does his part. The Lady will handle hers.

… 

The moment Entrapta comes to she realizes what's happening. She remembers what has transpired. The portals been shut down. She looks out towards the machine. Spotting Catra near it, looking shocked and confused as gravity seems to momentarily fail in the sanctum. Anger fills the Lady. A white hot rage at the betrayal she has suffered. 

Then she feels herself being lifted up! It's surprising! It's less than comfortable! She doesn't like this unexpected touching! Then she realizes it's Hordak and it gets better. She can trust him, he would only do this because he thinks it is necessary. The Lady looks up at him, he's watching Catra and the portal too. All the while standing with Entrapta in his arms.

She-Ra destroys the frame a moment later. Catra runs first, escaping quickly in the confusion.

Hordak and Entrapta can only stare for a moment as their beloved project crumbles, as their sanctum falls apart. As everything they’ve worked so hard for is destroyed. Entrapta feels a pit of sorrow inside of her, and she knows Hordak must feel it too.

"It would be best to go..." Entrapta speaks finally. Shifting herself and extending her hair to let him know she can move on her own.

"Yes." Her Hordak agrees as he lets her go. She glances at him again, noting the arrow lodged in his side still. They’ll need to remove that once they’re safe.

So the Lord and Lady retreat from the sanctum, it is simply too dangerous to stay between the collapsing state of the lab and the fact they are outnumbered by the rebel forces present. It'll be a fight they cannot currently win.

But one does not need to win every fight. There will be others.