However, the greatest flaw of future visions is their lack of context. I wouldn't call them lies, but one must respond with extreme caution – particularly if they already suffer from hallucinations or delusions.

❂❂❂

The next evening, Nell picked Angella up and carried the tall woman to her bed – without magic to assist him in strength, he would have been unable to lift her. He recovered enough that he could work, but Nell suspected it would be a while before he was fully well again.

Angella inhaled sharply, crushing her eyes shut. "What is it?" Nell asked. "Might I get you something to help with the pain?"

"Nell," Angella said, her voice coming out in a gasp as her face paled. "She's coming." Nell's eyes snapped down to the stained comforter.

Oh, moons. "I'll get the midwives. Stay here."

Angella nodded numbly as he exited the room and prepared for the midwives to come to her chambers. While he was at it, he opened a communication channel and contacted Micah, who was in Alwyn making sure that the people were safe.

"What's the word?" his friend asked.

Nell simply nodded; he couldn't say much else without giving away the queen's secret. Micah's eyes widened. "I'll be there. Sit tight!"

Nell broke the communication channel and rushed into Angella's room again. The woman took heavy, sharp breaths, and Nell rearranged her pillows in a comfortable position. "The midwives will be here shortly." He gripped her hand. "Focus on me. Breathe."

"It's...okay, Nell," Angella gasped, a joyous expression on her face. "She's coming. My baby girl..."

Nell couldn't resist returning her smile.

✧✧✧

As night settled over the Fright Zone, carrying with it an ominous air, Carmen watched as Shads boarded the skiff that would take her to Illuras. She wrung her hands, still unsure if her lady was angry at her or not; Shads was notoriously hard to read sometimes, and Carmen felt as though if she asked Shads about the other things on her mind, she might have an even worse time than when her lady had gotten pissed at her and Beck.

It's awright. She won't kill me. Swallowing, Carmen shoved her hands in her pockets. "My lady?"

"What is it?" Shads sounded exhausted as she pulled the string to activate the skiff.

"It's...about Catra, y'see," Carmen said softly. "Her grades've been droppin' like nobody's business." She scratched behind an ear, heat coming to her cheeks. "D'ya know...what might be causin' that?"

Shads scoffed. "Your daughter refuses to apply herself in class," she said. "That is all her teachers have said."

"But you wrote the notes, didn't ya?"

Shads paused. "A time ago, I did. But..." She slammed her fist down, scowling. "Carmen, you must ensure she applies herself in class. She is falling behind, and her level of reading is even worse than your own."

Carmen's mouth dropped open. "Shads, she's fine. Just because she ain't a genius like you don't mean –"

"I have made myself clear," Shads said firmly. "I cannot be the one to bear the consequences for her failures. If you cannot educate her well, I will end up losing control."

"And what's that s'pposed to mean?" Carmen shot back. "Uh...with respect," she added, balling her fists and staring at the ground.

"It means," Shads said, "that I will dispose of her if she cannot be better at her studies. She has given up on herself, and that is a level of laziness I cannot allow. Have I made myself clear?"

The color drained from Carmen's face, and she felt weak in the knees. There was no reason for Shads to keep Catra around – she'd done it initially because she believed having another Horde soldier would be better for their ecosystem. But if Catra didn't prove herself...

If Carmen lost her...

Her eyes blurred with tears. "Uh...you ain't gonna give her away, are ya?"

Shads shook her head. "It would be far more permanent than that," she spat. "If I am completing this mission on pain of death, Catra must, too. Are we clear?"

The tears fell. No...

Carmen was about to keel over.

No...

"Crystal," she said softly.

"Good," Shadow Weaver said, typing in the coordinates to Illuras. "Now, off you go." With this, she sped away into the night, and Carmen dropped to her knees. Then she let out an agonized, confused sob.

✧✧✧

Ten hours later, Micah cradled his newborn daughter as Nell checked Angella's health. The midwives had made a fuss about wiping the blood off baby Glimmer before Micah held her, but he didn't care. So what if he was soiled a bit? All he wanted to do was take in the fact that he was a father.

Glimmer was fast asleep; Micah handed her back to Angella, though he kept running a hand over the baby's hair – soft, feathery, and pink. Her wrinkled skin, a shade darker than his own, looked otherworldly. And Micah could see his own face in hers.

All the worry about Shadow Weaver's identity melted away, just for a moment, in the light of his baby girl.

Angella placed her other hand on the back of his head, smiling tiredly. Tears streamed down Micah's cheeks. "I'm staying home for a while," he said. "I don't ever want to take my eyes off her."

"That would be well," Angella said gently. "You will lead the Rebellion from here?"

Micah nodded. Now he had another reason to protect Etheria. A reason to keep fighting – his daughter would need a place to grow up strong and wise, like her mother.

Nell spoke after a long while, a smile on his face. "I will attend to the queen, Micah. I believe you were in the middle of a mission?"

"I left a lieutenant there," Micah replied. "It's okay."

"Very well," Nell said. "My queen, might I get you something?"

Angella shook her head, gazing down at Glimmer. "We will be alright, my friend."

Nell nodded. "Congratulations." With this, he reclined on the sofa across the room and took out a book.

✧✧✧

Sweat poured down Beck's back as she did her last set of exercises as punishment. Her mouth was drier than the Crimson Waste, but she refused to give in and drink the disgusting blood that the scientists of the Fright Zone had genetically engineered. Grunting, she fell on her face, having finished her routine. She was so dizzy that she worried she'd pass out.

I have to get to Micah, she thought, her head spinning. Soon.

Clenching her teeth, she forced herself into a sitting position, then dragged herself to the bleachers. Parts of her human body she didn't even know she had hurt. Grabbing a towel, she wiped her sticky hair off and panted, sucking in huge breaths.

"Beck?" a soft voice called.

Beck's head snapped up; Carmen stood in front of her, her eyes red and swollen. Beck blinked. "What happened to you?"

Carmen paused for a second, her bottom lip trembling. Then her face crumpled and she began to sob. Beck watched as her friend collapsed to the ground, rocking back and forth, weeping as though she was about to die. Silently, she watched the felinetta cry until she calmed down.

Through hiccuping sobs, Carmen spoke. "Shads...Catra..."

"What did that bastard do?" Beck snapped.

"B...bastard?" Carmen repeated.

"I...sorry."

"Catra...I..."

"Carmen, use your words. What's going to happen to Catra?"

"She..." Carmen sniffed. "She's going to kill Catra...if she can't keep her grades high..."

Beck's hands tightened until they were bone-white around the towel. She clenched her teeth until her jaw hurt, and she forced herself not to scream. "She's gone, isn't she?" she said through tight lips.

Carmen nodded. "Beck...I can't make her behave. I tried – she was doin' so well in gymnastics –"

Sabotage, Beck thought immediately. There was no reason for Shads to treat Catra this way. Catra was naturally gifted in gymnastics – it was only natural, seeing as how she was a felinetta. There was no way she would slack off without good reason.

But why? Why would Shads want to sabotage her servant's kid? Didn't she have at least a little care for Carmen?

"I'll keep her safe," Beck said. "At least as long as I can."

"What're you –"

Beck walked to the door, seeing red. It's time to make that sorry excuse for a woman hurt. "Trust me," she said firmly.

Then she left to find her holo-pad.

✧✧✧

After Angella and Glimmer had fallen asleep, Micah went into his resting chambers to get an update on the Rebellion's operations. By now, it was nearly eleven at night, but sleep had eluded him because of excitement.

Micah opened the holo-pad and checked his messages. Nothing new...not really...

The comm blinked; Zeka was reporting in. Micah swallowed tensely and accepted the call. She wore the body of the sultry woman with the brown hair, though this time, he could see her better.

She was silent, shuffling in the closet for a while. Finally, Micah spoke first. "What is it, soldier?"

Zeka responded. "I have bad news, Micah. Very bad news."

Micah's hands trembled. "How bad?"

"Worse than the fact that Shadow Weaver is scouting out Illuras for attack. She plans to do it while Angella's still recovering from Glim's birth."

Micah's mouth dropped open. "Now?"

"She's on her way," Zeka said. "And that's not all." She inhaled, morphing into Shadow Weaver – except she wore a floor-length dress and a fashionable overcoat. Imitating the sorceress, the shifter spoke. "She's not mute, my dear. And she does quite poorly at dispelling the rumors about her."

That voice. Slow. Deliberate. Deep, for a woman's.

The voice of Micah's old teacher.

She was wrong. They were all wrong. Light Spinner...she...she...

Zeka had never met Light Spinner, though. She was still in the Crimson Waste when he and his teacher had traveled to Bright Moon.

Tears trickled down his cheeks. Zeka said something else, but he didn't hear it. Micah's hands grew limp, and he dropped the holo-pad – it shattered on the floor.

Please. Please...

He didn't know who he was praying to. Micah couldn't think. He was lost, crushed beneath boulders, screaming and unable to ground himself.

"Micah?" Nell's voice came from the entrance. "You've got to get some sleep. What's going on?"

Micah tried to tell him, but the words wouldn't come. His silent tears turned to sobs; rushing past Nell, he paid no heed to the older man calling his name. But Micah couldn't afford to care. His old teacher was trying to take his city, his home. And she was out for blood.

❂❂❂

Did you know...

- I intentionally chose to desaturate the last illustration. There's this blog on Tumblr called @/sweary-she-ra that chose to do that to show Catra's dissociation in her parody, and I wanted to emulate that for my own work.

- This was one of the hardest chapters to write because of how hurt Micah is. I chose to show a huge rift between him and Shadow Weaver to explain his bitterness toward her in the show.

Tell me what you think...

- What will Micah do now?