Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The waters were calm and the cool sea breeze grazed Mermista’s face. It was relaxing as she stood on the bow of Seahawk’s skiff, just out in open water with only the wind and the sound of the sea, the sun setting off in the distance. Much of the chaos from the ongoing war was nothing more than a distant memory at this point. If there was one thing Seahawk was good at was taking Mermista away from her troubles, even though she’ll never admit it.

Speaking of Seahawk, he had just finished anchoring off the skiff and joined her at the bow, wrapping his arms around her. She softly moved into his embrace and gave a slight smile.

“You’re smiling.” he slyly whispered.

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are, don’t deny it.”

“I’m not denying anything. I’m not smiling, I’m smirking.”

“There’s not much of a difference, you know.”

Mermista rolled her eyes and continued to gaze off into the sunset. The water was surprisingly calm, the only waves were the small ones crashing against the skiff. There were hardly any seabirds in the sky and the ones that were present were indeed quiet. This was what Mermista wanted more than anything in the world. Just time with her beloved in the middle of the calm sea with no one for miles to bother them.

As she contemplated, Seahawk asked, “What’s that?”

She opened her eyes and saw it. Off in the distance, there was something floating in the water. It was probably just junk, but that didn’t stifle her. She wanted to do her part in keeping the seas clean. When they broke apart, they pulled out their binocs and scanned for it. If they were lucky, it was something they could pull up out of the water and take it back to shore. However, when she finally had a visual, she discovered that it wasn’t junk.

“That’s a person!” she gasped. She could just make out the shape of someone in the water, half their body was submerged with only their upper torso floating on the surface. Tossing her binocs, she ordered, “Seahawk, get the anchor up! I’ll start her up!”

Just as ordered, Seahawk raised the anchor and Mermista took off across the water. It took them little time to reach the spot, but Mermista cut the engine and let the skiff softly glide to their destination, making sure whoever was in the water wasn’t hurt. They got close enough and could make out the person, making an interesting discovery.

She was a Lova, a subset of the Etherian species called Faladiine. Faladiine were a cat-like humanoid that were almost brought to extinction, much like the Lova. However, the Lova were more wolf-like and far more dangerous.

This didn’t deter Seahawk who wasted no time in removing his boots and shirt to jump in after the Lova. Mermista dropped down a line and Seahawk tied it to the Lova so she could bring the body up.Once the Lova was onboard, Mermista immediately began applying first aid, pumping the Lova’s chest. As she pumped, Mermista noted that the Lova was female.

After a few moments, the Lova female gasped loudly and began to cough.

“Easy, easy!” Mermista said as she lifted her up. She also pulled her head back so the Lova could open up her airway. Once she caught her breath, Mermista soothed, “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Seahawk could only gawk at the Lova’s sight, gasping, “Incredible. An actual Lova. I thought they were wiped out.”

“Seahawk, she can hear you.” Mermista growled. However, the Lova didn’t seem to notice as she clung onto Mermista, still trying to catch her breath. Mermista held her tight and continued to sooth her, “It’s okay sweetheart, you’re safe.”

The Lova looked up at her and wheezed her first words, “Where am I?”

“You’re in the Selenias Sea. We just found you in the water. What happened?”

The Lova began to speak, but her words refused to escape her mouth. She took a moment and tried to gather her thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, she said, “I-I don’t remember.”

Seahawk asked, “What’s your name?”

“I can’t remember that either. Who am I?”

Mermista and Seahawk made land and rode right to Plumeria to see Perfuma. Perfuma was no regular Princess of Etheria. She was gifted with healing abilities thanks to the Force. The Jedi tried to take her in as a child, but her parents refused and let her power naturally grow with her age. She used her gift to try and heal the Lova as well as try to read her mind.

After some time, Perfuma rested and placed her hands on the Lova girl’s shoulders to sooth her, using the Force to ease her into sleep. Once the Lova girl was asleep, Perfuma lowered her onto the bed and left her to rest. She ordered her orderlies to get food ready for the girl when she woke up and went over to where Mermista and Seahawk waited.

Shaking her head, she told them, “There’s nothing. Her mind’s blank.”

Confused, Mermista asked, “What do you mean her mind’s blank? What does that mean?”

“I mean her mind is a blank slate. I can’t sense any past from her, nothing locked away.”

Seahawk asked Perfuma, “Is it amnesia? She might have been thrown from a ship and-”

“I thought the same thing, but I’ve dug as deep as I could. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing there.”

Both Seahawk and Mermista looked over the sleeping Lova, both wondering the same thing.

What are you?

Perfuma sighed and said, “The best thing we can do is try to take care of her. We need to help her build an identity for herself.”

Mermista agreed. In some strange way, she felt responsible for the young woman. They found her out in the water with no past to speak of, no name, nothing. Normally Mermista wouldn’t feel obligated to even bother with such matters, but this seemed different. Seeing the Lova laying on the bed, helpless and alone, she couldn’t help but feel sorry.

She asked Perfuma, “What should we do?”

“For now? We let her rest.” Perfuma said as she turned to look at the Lova girl. Perfuma also felt for her, sensing the fear. She wasn’t sure what to do at the moment, but she didn’t need to ponder it for the time being. She told them, “We’ll figure out everything when she wakes up.”

“Zoey! Zoey, wake up!”

Zoey opened her eyes slowly at the sound of Entrapta’s cheerful call. It was the same ever since Perfuma and Mermista left her here in Dryl over a year ago; Zoey stays up with the tech princess as they work on different weapons and gadgets, goes to bed then Entrapta wakes her up early. The Lova was beginning to feel the strain on her body due to her lack of sleep, but they were coming up to solstice and this was usually the time when Entrapta slowed her experiments and would just rest up. Even the overly hyper princess reached a burnout period and when she did, it was like coming down from an intense caffeine surge.

It wasn’t hard for Zoey to get used to the tech princess when she arrived in Dryl. Entrapta was enthralled by the sight of a live Lova, Zoey learning that her own species was all but wiped out by the Horde, the reasoning still unknown to everyone. Zoey didn’t know how to feel, still didn’t, since she didn’t truly know of her own origins. This was why she was left with Entrapta, there was hope that the genius would find a way to understand Zoey’s unknown history. The first thing she ever did for the Lova was give her a name.

“You look like a Zoey. You like Zoey? I certainly do!”

Zoey certainly did, not knowing any other name for herself. Afterwards, Entrapta did everything she could for the Lova girl, hoping to find some answers as to where Zoey came from and why she had no memory of her life before. Every so often, both Mermista and Perfuma would stop by and check up on her. The four became very close, Mermista and Perfuma taking on a bit of sisterly roles. Entrapta, being slightly older, was like a mother figure for Zoey. Despite her rather eccentric and wacky personality, Entrapta took good care of Zoey. While the princess herself enjoyed her tiny food, she made sure Zoey got the right amount of nourishment and got plenty of sleep, minus now while they worked on weapons and technology together. It was mutual though, they both loved working on tech.

This led Zoey to believe that she was some kind of mechanic or engineer in her past. Her knowledge of such things was mind boggling. From the moment she first picked up a broken device, it took her no time at all to fix it. While everyone gawked in awe, she only stood in confusion, thinking that such knowledge was commonplace. Even Entrapta was entranced.

Speaking of which, Entrapta dangled over Zoey as the Lova slowly woke up from her nightly slumber. She gave a groggy groan as she stretched her limbs. Looking up at the tech princess, she asked, “How long this time?”

“Four hours! You’ve been asleep for four hours!” Entrapta cheered. She threw herself over the bed and landed on her feet, continuing to cheer, “C’mon, get up! Today’s the day, Zoey!”

Rubbing her eyes, Zoey replied, “Yeah, I know. Let me just wake up first.”

“We don’t have time for that! Mermista and Perfuma will be here any minute!”

Zoey smiled at the thought of the first people she ever saw in her life again.

Something that didn’t take long at all since Perfuma came walking into the room.

“Perfuma!” Zoey happily cried and ran up to her.

“Zoey!” Perfuma happily replied, embracing Zoey tightly. “It’s so good to see!”

“You too!” When the two separated, she noticed the bandage around Perfuma’s hand. “What happened?”

“Oh this? I was just being careless with some torns, that’s all.”

Zoey shook her head and asked Entrapta to get some Kolto ointment for Perfuma’s hand. She unraveled the bandage and saw all the scratches on her hand. When Entrapta returned, Zoey rubbed Perfuma’s wounds and applied a fresh bandage. Perfuma sweetly smiled at her.

“You’re always so caring, Zoey.” Perfuma softly said, rubbing her hand. Noticing her messed up hair, she patted Zoey on the head and said, “You need to get cleaned up. Mermista’ll be here any minute.”

Zoey nodded and did just that, leaving Perfuma and Entrapta alone. The princess of Plumeria turned to Entrapta and asked quietly, “So, how has she been?”

“She’s doing great. I’ve been keeping her busy with all of my experiments and-”

“I mean her memory.”

“Oh! Nope, nothing.”

Perfuma stood in both worry and frustration. They’d all been working hard to try and figure out Zoey’s history. Even though Perfuma discovered that her mind was blank, there has to have been something. A fully grown Lova doesn’t just appear in the middle of the sea out of nowhere. It’s been over a year and despite her knowledge of medicine and technology, there was nothing else. At this point, Perfuma believed it was just best for Zoey to just live out her life as is, just go about her days just living.

After a moment of thought, Perfuma looked up to see Zoey fully bathed and dressed. Today was the day of the Festival of Hope in Brightmoon and all the princesses were invited as well as anyone they wished to invite. Entrapta wasn’t interested, but Perfuma wanted to take Zoey as her guest while Mermista brought Seahawk. It was a break to take everyone’s minds off the war and just relax. Zoey hadn’t had much interaction with the rest of Etheria outside Dryl or Plumeria so this was a good chance for the Lova to get out and see the world and meet other people. Hopefully, the world at large will accept her, being part of a thought to be extinct people. Perfuma hopes that this will be a positive time for Zoey.

The Crimson Waste was a wretched hive of scum and villainy on Etheria. Any outlaw, bounty hunter, thief or beggar would find this desert hovel a home where they were free to do whatever they wanted. This was also the perfect place for the Horde to find whoever they wanted to go on their most dangerous missions. Throw enough money in the face of these people and they’ll do just about anything. Of course, more often than not, these desperate souls wouldn’t live to collect their rewards.

However, this time the Horde needed someone to work a job that required the deepest of discretions and they knew this was their best bet. A representative, a human, was sent to the desert to seek out someone who would work this job. He entered a lone tavern out in the middle of the desert, greeted by the smell of cheap alcohol and the unkept patrons. He was given the eyes of all inside and he stood clearly nervous, but he knew the consequences of backing down now. He had no choice but to push on.

He walked up to the bar and nervously asked, “Hey bartender, I’m looking for someone.”

The reptilian bartender turned and hissed, “We have no more people for your sick missions, Horde scum.”

“I just need one person.”

“You must think we’re stupid. You keep sending our people on suicide missions. You best get out of here before we turn you into-”

“Let him be.”

Everyone looked over to the shadowy corner of the bar where the random patron called out. Most of him was shrouded in darkness, but his legs up on the table were clear. When he looked up, a hole in the ceiling showed his eyes glaring at the Horde representative.

“Have a seat, let’s talk business.” the stranger said.

Nodding, the Horde representative nervously scurried through the tavern to his table. Placing a satchel full of coins on the table, he introduced himself, “My name is Kyle, I was sent here by the Horde.”

“I know who sent you.” the stranger plainly said. He kicked his feet off the table and leaned forward, revealing his full form. He was a man dressed in gray and white Mandalorian armor. He introduced himself, “The name’s Kain. I understand you have a job for me.”

“Only if you agree to our terms.” Kyle replied, still nervous. He placed two items on the table, a bounty puck and a tracking fob. He activated the puck and the image of a Lova projected. The image caught Kain’s attention intensely as Kyle explained, “One of our assets had disappeared over a year ago. We need you to track her down and capture her alive. Termination will result in no payment.”

“Alive? You clearly have no idea who you’re dealing with. I know this Lova, she’s dangerous.”

“Oh, have you discovered her recently?”

“Recently? She’s been a thorn in my side for years. I thought she was killed over a year ago, but that just proves how cunning she is. Bringing her in alive will be next to impossible.”

Kyle shuffled nervously, but he continued, “I’m afraid my superiors demand that she be brought in alive. She’s very important to the Horde.”

Kain pondered for a moment, but eventually asked, “What’s the full reward?”

Kyle pushed the satchel towards Kain and said, “There’s ten thousand for the down payment. The full reward is one hundred thousand.”

Kain took a sip of his drink and said, “Five hundred.”

Kyle gulped and asked, “Why so high?”

“You mean besides everything I told you? She’s a Lova, those are hard to come by nowadays. If you want me to stick my neck out, I’m going to need more than one hundred thousand. Tell your superiors that if they want my help, they better up the ante and pay me five hundred. And good luck trying to find anyone else willing to help you after all the stunts you pulled out here.”

With that, Kain stood up, collected his helmet and took the satchel and left. Shortly afterwards, Kyle stood up and walked out. Without Kain in sight, he pulled out his holocom and made his call. An image of a woman with darker features appeared and asked, “How did it go?”

Still nervous, Kyle replied, “I found someone but I think I screwed up, Lonnie.”

Groaning, she asked, “What did you do this time, Kyle?”

“He’s asking for five hundred.”

“Who did you hire?”

“A Mandalorian.”

Lonnie gave Kyle an impressed glance and said, “Well, that’s an improvement. Looks like you finally got lucky, Kyle. I’ll let Prime know, you head on back.”

“Righto.” Kyle smiled, feeling pride after Lonnie complimented him. It was true that Kyle was the weakest link in the Horde’s chain of power, but sometimes the sun shines on a dog’s tail. Kyle felt some relief, but he would feel even better once he got back to his ship and far away from the Crimson Waste.

Zoey stood on the bow of Seahawk’s ship as they sailed across the sea to Brightmoon. She loved the feel of the rushing air through her fur and the smell of the air. The last time she was here, she was just rescued by Mermista and Seahawk. Still to this day, she wondered how she got all the way out here, but she didn’t let the event startle her to the sea. She wanted to explore and that would mean turning to seafaring one day. Plus she knew when that time came, Mermista would be there for her. Just like now with Perfuma, all three on the bow looking out at their destination, the ever increasing Brightmoon. Entrapta had told Zoey all about it and she wanted so badly to visit the capitol. She was excited but also nervous, she didn’t know what to expect. She just hoped that this Festival would help her learn more about the surrounding world and meet new people.

She hoped that today would be a lovely day

Chapter Text

All her time with Entrapta, Zoey never really had much interactions with large crowds so being amongst the party goers was nerve wrenching. For the past year, she only had interacted with only a few people at once, this many was just too many. Zoey felt her legs go wobbly and the pit in her stomach just grew. She didn’t know what to do nor to say. What made matters worse was that everyone was looking at her. Mermista and Seahawk had gone off to be alone, Perfuma was chatting with some random people and Entrapta was distracted by the tiny horderves, much to Zoey’s annoyance so she felt like she was abandoned. Again, the eyes on her didn’t help her feel any better.

Suddenly she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder and give her a slight tug. She turned around and saw a young woman smiling at her. Her pink hair sparkled in contrast to her orange tinted skin. Like her hair, her dress sparkled with fluorescent colors in a royal design.

“I’ve never seen you before!” she chirped as she gleefully stood before Zoey. “My name is Glimmer, Queen of Brightmoon. What’s yours?”

“I-I’m Zoey.” the Lova nervously replied. She was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the perky young Queen. She heard of Glimmer but never thought in a million years that they would be face to face. She stammered, “I-I’m with Perfuma and Mermista.”

“Oh, I’ve heard so much about you! C’mon, I’ll introduce you to everyone!”

Before Zoey could protest, the bubbly young queen took her by the hand and pulled her. Glimmer frantically looked around, but gasped when she noticed a young dark skinned man in a fancy tuxedo with the midriff exposed. He noticed and waved her over. Still excited, Glimmer rushed over to him with Zoey.

Glimmer looked at Zoey and introduced the young man, "Zoey, this is Bow, my fiance. Bow, this is Zoey, the Lova Perfuma talks about all the time."

Bow held out his hand and greeted, "Nice to finally meet you, Zoey."

The concept of shaking hands was foreign to Zoey so she didn’t know what to do. After a moment of awkward silence, Bow slowly closed his hand and realized that she didn’t understand. With his free hand, he softly took her right hand, lifted it and linked their hands together.

“Nice to meet you, Zoey.” Bow repeated. Once Zoey got the hang of shaking hands, Bow asked her, “Is this your first time in Brightmoon?”

Still nervous about meeting a complete stranger, she nervously said, “Yeah. I’m here with Entrapta, Mermista and Perfuma.”

Glimmer looked around for the other princesses, noticing that they were off doing their own thing. She also wasn’t ignorant to Zoey’s clear discomfort about being alone in a crowded room full of strangers. It was with that thought that she had an idea.

Taking Zoey’s hand, Glimmer softly said, “Come with us.”

Both Glimmer and Bow had brought Zoey out of the party and out to the balcony. There were a few people out there, but Bow and Glimmer were focused on one couple. Two women, one a human and one Felediine, a feline-like species similar to the Lova. The human was a tall blonde haired fit woman with blue eyes and dressed in a flowing white gown and the Felediine had orange fur with a poofy brown mane, one eye blue and the other yellow and dressed in a formal dress suit. 

Zoey couldn't explain it, but for some reason she felt her anxiety grow stronger at the sight of the two women. It's as if their presence was making her feel more on edge than ever before and what she felt before was nothing in comparison. She couldn't explain it, she never felt like this before. She didn't have as much time to understand emotions so she didn't know if what she was feeling was bad or good.

As Bow and Glimmer drew closer to the couple, Glimmer called out their names, "Adora, Catra, come here!"

Taking notice, the two smiled as they walked over. As they did, the feelings Zoey had amplified. The only thing that made sense to her was that she was feeling panicked, but she didn't understand why. These two did nothing to her so why did she feel like this? She would have to ask either Entrapta or Perfuma about these feelings later.

When Bow and Glimmer brought Zoey to the two, Glimmer introduced the three, “Catra, Adora, this is Zoey. Zoey, these are our friends Catra and Adora.”

“Hi, nice to meet you!” Adora cheerfully said as she held out her hand. Zoey was confused, not sure how to respond to the hand. Adora waited for a moment until asking, “Do you…not know how to shake hands?”

“S-Shake hands?” Zoey nervously asked.

“Yeah, like this!” Adora softly took Zoey’s hand and pulled it out a bit and gave it a gentle shake.

Zoey took note that Adora’s hand was fairly rough. Not as rough as Entrapta’s though, but still had calluses that signified that Adora was handy. She was curious as to what the blonde did to make her hands so rough.

Then there was Catra, who only smiled at Zoey as she took her hand. Like Adora, her hand was rough, much rougher than Adora’s. It was possible that it was because she was a Felediine and they used their hands for climbing and defense, but something in her eyes told Zoey a different story. These two fascinated Zoey, much like a new piece of technology fascinated Entrapta. She wanted to know more.

Almost nervous to ask, she asked them, “S-So what do you two do?”

Wrapping her arm around Adora, Catra said, “You’re looking at it. Just look hot all day.”

Zoey gave a laugh, but quickly stifled it, hoping not to offend the two. She glanced at them, but neither of their smiles faded. This was good. She let her laughter out in a quiet snicker before calming down.

“Sorry, sorry.” Zoey giggled. “I don’t get out much.”

“No sweat, we’re glad to have you.” Adora smiled. Placing a hand on Zoey’s shoulder, she asked, “How about we show you around? Get to see the best parts of Brightmoon.”

Zoey didn’t say anything, just nodded and  followed the group as they made their way out of the castle.

A speeder bike parked on the edge of the Brightmoon border, Kain dismounting after shutting it off. He pulled out binocs from the satchel and scanned the landscape. Off in the distance, he saw Brightmoon castle. Now knowing where to go, he put the binocs away and activated his jetpack, jetting towards the castle.

Perfuma gasped as she felt a strong surge through her body. The Force was telling her something, something terrible. Worst of all, she felt that Zoey was in danger.

Perfuma scowered the party in search of her friends, hoping to either find Zoey or hope that someone had any idea where she was. After not finding anything, she found Entrapta hanging from the curtains with a handful of horderves.

“Entrapta, get down from there!” she shouted at the tech princess. Entrapta didn’t respond, just scaled down the curtains and landed on her feet in front of the Force wielder. Perfuma asked her, “Have you seen Zoey?”

“No, why?”

“I sense she’s in danger. Keep an eye out for her and bring her to me.”

Entrapta gleefully saluted her then Perfuma walked away to find Zoey. However, instead of doing what she was told, Entrapta went back to her handful of tiny snacks.

Adora, Catra, Bow and Glimmer showed Zoey around Brightmoon. First they showed her around the palace. Zoey was overwhelmed by the palace, but in a good way. Everything was so sleek and clean, nothing like the dark and archaic halls of Castle Dryl. She didn’t hate Dryl at all, but this was so much different than she was used to. Then there was Brightmoon itself. Unlike the cliffs and dreary mountains of Dryl, Brightmoon was more picturesque, like something out of a fairy tale. The air was clean and pure, a single breath felt like it cured her of any ailments.

Then there were her guides. All four were so kind to her, granted Catra was more sarcastic and had a vindictive tone in her voice. Despite that, she along with her friends were so kind to her that she didn’t know how to respond. No one aside from Mermista, Entrapta and Perfuma had ever treated her with such kindness.

Between the four, Catra and Adora drew her attention more. She couldn’t explain it, but they just caught her attention so much. There was something about Adora’s ocean blue eyes and golden hair that just seemed to make Zoey’s heart flutter. The same with Catra’s spunk and heterochromic eyes. There was also something about the way the two interacted that Zoey wished for, the way they talked to each other. It was something she felt like she longed for, but this was the first time she ever felt this way. She didn’t know if she was supposed to feel this way at all. She’d have to ask either Perfuma or Entrapta about this later.

Perfuma pushed her way through the crowd, frantically asking if anyone had seen Zoey to no avail. She began to panic as she tried to find the Lova, wondering how hard it could be to find the only Lova in the party. Her panic grew even more as she felt the threat grow closer. She could only hope to find her friend before this threat does.

Looking out over the balcony, she finally saw Zoey out in the fields with Queen Glimmer and her friends. She had to find her way down and warn them. Not knowing where the nearest staircase is, Perfuma only knew one way down and that was to lift herself over the balcony railing, much to the utter shock and disbelief of the nearby partygoers. As she plummeted below, she called on the Force to cushion her feet as she landed. Regaining her strength, Perfuma got back to her feet and ran for the group.

Meanwhile, Adora was showing Zoey a rare breed of flower that she explained only grew in Brightmoon, “The sunlight here in Brightmoon hits it a certain way, making the flower bloom like it does.”

“It’s beautiful.” Zoey said, examining the flower.

“The petals have a weird silky rubbery feel to them. Do you wanna feel?”

Without answering, Adora took Zoey’s hand and helped the Lova softly caress the petals. Though Zoey was fond of the feel of the petals, the fact that Adora held her hand made her face heat up. There was something about Adora’s presence that made Zoey feel lightheaded and tense. Not just Adora but Catra as well. Entrapta never explained these feelings to her so she didn’t know what to make of it. She thought it felt nice.

“Zoey!” Everyone turned to see Perfuma running up to them. “Zoey, are you alright?”

“Yeah, wha-” Zoey was cut off by the sound of a jetstream.

Before anyone could react, there was an explosion that went off right next to her. Thankfully, it didn’t kill her or anyone near her, but the ground was scorched viciously and the flowerbed was destroyed. Recovering from the explosion, Zoey looked up to see someone flying over. She could tell they were using a jetpack, but there was something else about the assassin that instantly clicked in her mind. His armor, it was Mandalorian. She remembered the design from Entrapta’s teachings, but she swore she had seen such armor before.

Seeing the armor also triggered something else in her. There was a primal rage that was seering in her at the sight of the armored assassin above and she wasted no time in getting back to her feet. The assassin raised his arm and a rocket fired from his vambracer, narrowly missing her as she leaped out of the way.

Adora and Catra recovered and saw that Zoey was under attack. The two looked at each other and got back up. Adora threw her hand out and a small golden cylinder shot out from her bracer. The device in hand, she pressed a button on it a light blue beam burst from the opened end and she wields it like a sword. The Mandalorian noticed immediately and drew his blasters upon her. As he fired, she deflected each blaster bolt with her blade. After a few blasts, she deflected it right back at him, making the bolt hit him in his armored shoulder. He cried out in pain, even though it didn’t graze his skin. It also caused him to be thrown off balance and he lost control of his jetpack. In the commotion, Catra leaped up and clung to his back. He tried to knock her off, but she snarled and scratched at him. She sunk her claws through the jetpack and it began to fail. Once it lost power, both plunged to the ground. Catra leaped off him and landed on her feet as he crashed down on his stomach.

Everyone surrounded him, but Zoey gave him an uncharacteristic snarl. She wanted to leap on him and rip him to shreds, but before she could, Perfuma stood before her and held her hands up. Using the Force, Perfuma tried to calm her Lova friend down. Thankfully it didn’t take too long and Zoey relaxed, not realizing what just happened. She took a breath and looked up at Perfuma in confusion. This caused Perfuma confusion as well, but they didn’t have time to ponder it. The Mandalorian groaned as he pushed himself up. He saw he was surrounded and did the only thing he could. He held his hands up.

Chapter Text

Kain stood in the middle of the court, bound in chains and stripped of his armor and weapons. Glimmer sat on her throne overlooking the court with Bow seated next to her on her left and Adora on her right. Catra sat with Zoey, Entrapta and Perfuma in the gallery along with many of Brightmoon’s subjects. Everyone was fascinated by this human stranger despite him trying to kill everyone just the day before during their celebrations, Zoey more than ever. It was strange but this man seemed so familiar to her. It wasn’t his armor, beskar was universal with all Mandalorians, but it was his face, his voice, his demeanor, everything. It was like another lifetime had tried to break through to her mind.

Zoey’s thoughts were interrupted when Glimmer began the court procedure, “Kain Dhrea, you stand before this court for the crimes of desecration of sacred land and attempted murder. Do you have anything to say?”

“Just one thing.” Kain said. He paused, making everyone anxious. After a moment, he said, “Give me back my armor.”

Angered, Glimmer told him, “Your armor is the least of your concerns right now. These are serious charges against you and you need to be able to defend yourself.”

“Give me my armor and I will.”

“What does your armor have to do with your defense?”

“So I can use it to rip your guts out.”

Along with the collective gasps, Bow stood up and shouted, “How dare you! This is the queen of Brightmoon, show respect!”

Kain’s eyes glanced at Bow and he said, “Like she’s the only queen I’ve encountered.”

“Keep it up and she’ll be your last!”

“Sit down, crop top. Grown ups are talking.”

“That’s enough!” Glimmer shouted, prompting Kain to look back at her. She stood up and demanded, “Kain Dhrea, you are ordered to answer my questions!”

“Ask away, then give me back my armor.”

Ignoring the last statement, Glimmer asked in a calmer tone, “Why did you attack our people? We’ve done nothing wrong to you.”

“I wasn’t. I was attacking one person.”

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

“I only went after the others because they went after me. If you all just stayed out of the way, I wouldn’t have gone after you.”

“Still, you desecrated a sacred patch of rare flowers. That’s a crime.”

“Plants can be easily cultivated. I can show you how to restore them.”

“Then that will be your punishment. As for the attempted murder, there are still some issues we need to address. Such as who hired you.”

Kain groaned and asked, “Do you really need to ask?”

Murmurs grew among the crowd about the Horde. It shouldn’t have been a secret but with bounty hunters, anything could be possible.

Glimmer asked, “So you’re a Horde agent.”

Smirking, Kain said, “I’m an agent of the highest bidder. You pay, I play.”

“Who was your target?”

“My target is…” Kain slowly turned around to glance at Zoey. The Felediine felt a cold chill go down her spine under his icy glare. He turned back to Glimmer and said, “Her.”

Before anyone could respond, Perfuma stood up and said, “How dare you! Zoey has done nothing wrong!”

Kain couldn't contain his laughter, highly uncharacteristic for someone in his disposition. As he calmed, he asked, Is that what she's going by now? Zoey? Where did that name come from?”

Entrapta stood up and said, Uh, excuse me. I came up with that name.”

“Well you might as well call her by her real name.”

“And that is?” Glimmer asked.

“Sara Deletiv, hunter from Ord Mantel and one of the most cold blooded mercenaries in the galaxy.”

Zoey's blood turned cold. Was he speaking the truth? Was she actually a cold blooded mercenary in her past life? It can't be!

“Actually if I could?” Entrapta interjected. “Zoey has lived with me for the past year and I can vouch that she is far from a mercenary. And I've never heard of anyone named Sara Deletiv so it's clear this is all a mistake.”

“It's no mistake, I'll never forget her face.” Kain replied. Giving Zoey another icy glare, he said, “I'll never forget when she left a whole village to die. A village full of people who did nothing wrong.”

There were murmurs among the crowd of people after that declaration. Zoey froze at the Mandalorian’s glare, ignoring the talks about her. She didn't know what stunned her more, his gaze or what he just said. Was she really this murderer he said she was in her past life?

Glimmer slammed down her scepter and shouted, “Order! There will be order in these proceedings!”

Everyone, including Kain, turned their attention back to Glimmer.

“Now, what proof do you have of these accusations, Kain Dhrea.”

Kain rolled his eyes and said, “I have a holopad with my gear but you took it, remember?”

“I will take a look at it later. For now-”

“It’s encrypted. It needs my binary to access it.”

“Then you will access it after we sentence you. For now, Zoey is merely a citizen of Etheria and is protected by her laws. We will not punish nor will she be accused of crimes there is no proof of.”

Zoey felt a bit of relief when she heard those words, but it didn’t relieve the accusations the Mandalorian just layed out. She needed answers and she needed them now.

Glimmer declared, “Kain Dhrea, you are sentenced for the crimes of destruction of sacred grounds, attacking citizens of Etheria and cohorting with The Horde. Your sentence will be imprisonment until further notice and to labor in the reconstruction of the damaged property.”

Kain rolled his eyes and turned with the guards to be led away. As they went across the court, his eyes gazed upon Zoey one more time. Still, she felt a cold chill down her spine in his glare. However, if he had any idea about her potential past life, she needed to know. If there was any chance of any answers, she needed to know. As the court began to clear out, she began to formulate a plan.

The guards brought Kain to a room that would act as his cell, one of the guest rooms the palace has. They brought him to the center of the room where a luxury sofa waited and removed his shackles. They stepped back and ray shields surrounded him. He looked up at them and asked, “This is a prison cell?”

The guards said nothing, only walked out. He just sat down on the sofa and waited for something to happen.

Meanwhile, outside the palace walls, Zoey tied a line from a balcony and began to scale down the wall. If Brightmoon palace was anything like Dryl, there had to be an access panel outside the palace wall, you just needed to scale down a bit and hope the line doesn’t snap and you end up plummeting to sheer drop to your death. She dropped to a few yards down and found a panel and used her tools to pry it open. The metal fell after it popped open, exposing the wiring. She knew exactly what she was looking for. Ray shields were wired by carbon fiber and it popped out from the many colored wires. She pulled out her cutters and with one strong snip, she cut the wire.

Inside, the ray shields flickered off and Kain looked up to see them go out. He sat for a moment to ponder the fact that the shields just shut down, wondering if it was a ploy or if they legit were faulty. Trying his luck, not having his first time dealing with ray shields, he stood up and slowly walked over to where they were originally and lifted his leg out. Sure enough, they were off. Most importantly, there was no alarm so no one was aware. He looked up at the door and walked over.

Outside, the guards heard a knock from the inside of the room. They were confused and concerned, there was only the prisoner inside. One agreed to go in, only to be greeted by an elbow to the face. The other guard raised their spear, but Kain took the other guard’s weapon and fought back. It was plain that a Brightmoon castle guard was no match for a Mandalorian because Kain disarmed them and knocked them out. He dragged both into the room and locked the door.

“Has anyone seen Zoey?” Perfuma asked around at the crowd in the docking bay, getting no answer. She turned to Entrapta and said, “I’m worried. I haven’t seen her since the trial, I hope she’s okay.”

Entrapta candidly, “Well she did walk off and told me not to tell anyone.”

Perfuma blankly stared at her.

“...Oh wait, I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”

“You don’t say.” Perfuma groaned loudly, throwing her hands in the air and called out, “Can someone help me locate a Felediine? She’s got silver fur! Please, anyone?”

“Hey, what’s up?” Perfuma turned to see Catra and Adora standing behind her.

“Zoey’s vanished and I have no idea where she went! Please, we need to find her!”

Adora grabbed her shoulders and told her, “Perfuma, you need to relax. Panicking isn’t going to help anything.”

“Adora, Catra!” Glimmer came running up to the group, telling them, “The prisoner’s escaped! He’s walking around as a castle guard!”

“What?” Perfuma screamed, gripping her hair. “We need to find Zoey! Did you see the way that man was looking at her! If he finds her, he’ll kill her!”

“Probably not.” Entrapta interrupted Perfuma’s outburst. Everyone looked at her confusingly and she explained, “Well you’ve seen her, Perfuma. You’ve watched her train with Mermista, she can hold her own in a fight.”

Catra said, “Maybe but this guy’s a Mandalorian and they don’t mess around.”

Glimmer told them, “Either way, we need to sound the alarms. Lock the castle down.”

One guard finished putting his armor on in the castle’s locker room when the alarms began to ring out. He rushed to finish and grabbed his weapon before rushing to the door. When it opened, he was greeted by another guard. Before either of them could say anything, the guard in the doorway punched him in the face, knocking him out. With the alarms blaring, the guard still standing looked up and muttered, “Damn.”

The guard walked in and pulled his helmet off, revealing it was Kain walking around in disguise. He fumbled around the lockers until he came across one in particular and smiled. He found where they were storing his armor.

As guards patrolled the corridors, Zoey snuck around to try and find Kain. She managed to scale down to the room they were supposed to be holding him, but he wasn’t there. That part of her plan worked, but she didn’t think he’d be brazen enough to actually attempt to escape. If he’s been gone this whole time, he probably got his armor and equipment and made his way out.

As she peered around a corner, she felt something cold and metallic against the back of her head. It wasn’t a spear so she knew it was the barrel end of a Westar-34 blaster.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this, Deletiv.” Kain’s voice hushed through the amplifier of his helmet. “I thought I lost that opportunity over Dromund Kaas, but now I’ve got you right where I got you.”

Zoey gulped and asked, “Then why wait? Why not just kill me?”

“I want to savor this moment, so you can feel the fear you inflicted on others.”

“Was I really that bad?”

“Don’t play stupid with me. I’ve watched you toy with your victims for years. Consider this their revenge.”

“I…I have no memory of any of this.”

“Just another day for you, huh?”

“No…If you want to kill me, can I at least get one final request?”

“Why the hell would-”

“It’s a matter of honor. You are a Mandalorian after all, you are a man of honor.”

Kain said nothing, he only stood silently. This drove Zoey insane, not knowing what was going through his head. He could very well grant her request, but he could also pull the trigger and end her life now. The only certainty was the cold steel of the dallorian blaster against her head.

“Fine.” Kain lowered his blaster but kept it pointed at her. “Say your peace but be quick.”

Zoey’s breath hissed in release after straining it for so long, it was almost painful to let go. She took a couple of breaths before finally explaining, “I woke up in the Salinas Sea over a year ago. I have no memory of my life before that. I've been to every healer in Plumaria to recover my memories but all of them have told me that my mind was a blank slate. I swear, that’s the truth.”

There was silence once again, but not as long.

“I believe you.” Kain said as he holstered his blaster.

Zoey’s eyes twitched in confusion when she turned to face him, asking him, “Wait, what?”

He tapped the side of his helmet and explained, “Lie detector, built right into my helmet.”

“And you didn’t have that going before when I was explaining because…”

“I know your face. I know you as a murderer, I guess I just wanted to believe that you were the cold blooded killer I remembered. But you were right, I am bound in my honor to the Mandalorian Creed.”

“So that’s all it took for you to believe me? You know, you’re a real ass.”

She couldn’t see it past his mask, but Kain smiled at her. He then turned and walked away.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“The hell out of here.”

Zoey ran in front of Kain and said, “Hold on, I broke you out of prison. You owe me.”

“We don’t have time to discuss this.”

“I need answers and you’re the only one who has any idea about my past. That’s why I broke you out of prison.”

They both looked over and saw a guard standing there looking at them. He heard everything they both said. Kain quickly raised his arm up and fired a stun dart. It hit the guard and he shook and groaned as the electrical surge spread through his body before he fell to the ground out cold. Zoey just stared at his unconscious body on the ground, worried but fascinated at the same time.

Kain looked around for a second and said, “Well, I guess I have no choice at this point. We better get out of here.”