The Power in You

Chapter 2

When she was younger, Calliope loved sitting outside the Fright Zone, at the edge of the Whispering Woods, and listening to them sing. Lexie always told her she didn't hear anything, that the woods were creepy and she heard funny animal noises that made her skitter back to the safety of the Fright Zone but not Calliope. She swore up and down that the trees were singing, a melody flowing through their branches with harmonizing bird calls intertwining into the song.

This sound was different from the song Calliope knew the trees sang. This was... familiar. A memory she couldn't grasp, a warmth within her she couldn't place. It wasn't coming from the trees, it was coming from deeper inside, beckoning her to it.

Calliope took a few hesitant steps forward before freezing, staring into the dark trees. The melody seemed to wrap around her, drowning out the rapid beating of her own heart in her ears. It was sad, it was heartbreaking. She could feel her feet move on their own accord as she ventured into the woods, not looking back onto the glowing green lights of the Fright Zone.

She felt like she was in a trance as she wandered through the woods, following the haunting melody over fallen tree limbs and through crooked creeks. It wasn't until she noticed how dark the sky overhead was getting that she realized that she had been walking for a couple of hours. Calliope turned her head frantically, seeming to fall out of whatever trance she had been in.

Nothing looked familiar, she couldn't even tell which way she had come from and she grunted out in frustration. "Sure, Callie. Let's follow strange noises into the creepy woods and get ourselves hopelessly lost as it grows dark!" she chastised herself out loud, kicking a rock.

That's when she noticed a soft glow about 100 yards away from her. With nothing to lose, she walked towards it, pushing the thickening vegetation out of her way as she stumbled towards what she hoped was safety.

Calliope stumbled into the clearing and, standing before her, was a large, triangular building with ancient carvings along the entirety of the building. Vines wrapped around the bottom half of the building and it glowed softly. Calliope stared up at it in awe, taking a couple steps forward as it glowed brighter as she approached.

She nearly tripped over a small brick that laid before her and as she righted herself, she noticed multiple bricks similar to it, all embedded deep in the ground and creating what looked like a pathway from the building to... the woods again.

Calliope doesn't know what came over her but as she stared down at the bricks, she felt the urge to sing. A simple, four-note tune escaped her lips and the brick in front of her started to glow. She stared at it before hesitantly taking a step forward to stand on it. It felt like it was humming underneath her feet.

She faced towards the woods, taking a sharp breath before letting out the tune again. The bricks started lighting up before her, leaving a trail of light deeper into the woods. Calliope started to follow the glowing bricks but stopped in her tracks as the building behind her started to make noises.

She whirled around and froze as the doors opened and out stepped She-Ra. The two froze as they stared at each other. She-Ra was the first to move as she let out a battle cry and charged at Calliope, swinging her sword towards her head. Calliope yelped and ducked quickly, feeling a couple of hairs shave off the top of her head from the force of She-Ra's sword.

She rolled before getting into a crouching position above the bricks, the lights had died down. "She-Ra, don't! I'm not a threat!" Calliope pleaded as She-Ra charged again, stabbing downwards at the intruder.

Calliope flips backward, landing back on her feet with her fists out in front of her, ready to defend herself.

"What are you doing here?! How did you find this place?!" She-Ra demanded as she continued to force the intruder back, swinging her sword wildly at the shorter girl. It took everything in Calliope to dodge the taller woman's attacks.

"ENOUGH!" Calliope screams, feeling the force of her words leave her mouth as the air pushes She-Ra back, her landing on her backside as she stared up at the dark sky in confusion.

Calliope gasps, covering her mouth with her hands. What was that?! She thought frantically as she stared at She-Ra in horror.

"I-i'm s-so s-s-sorry! I was just f-following a voice..." Calliope muttered, taking a couple of steps towards She-Ra, who had morphed back down to Adora.

"What was that?" Adora asked her in amazement, slowly getting to her feet with her hand gripping the sword tightly.

"I don't know! I'm freaking out! What's happening to me?!" Calliope said, voice elevating in her panic and she could feel the force build up again. Adora felt it too as she took a reassuring step towards her, raising her hands in a friendly gesture.

"Hey, it's okay. There's nothing to freak out about. You... you seem familiar. You're from the Horde, right? What are you doing out here?" Adora said reassuring, continuing to take slow steps towards Calliope, who was now wrapping her arms around herself.

"Force Captain Adora... I was following a voice coming from the woods. I realized I was lost and was going to turn around but I saw the glow of this building and then the bricks... the bricks started to glow when I sang and... and..." She was hyperventilating at this point, sinking down to her knees.

"They were glowing?" Adora asked curiously, crouching down in front of the shaken girl.

"Yes! Oh no, they're gonna kill me when I go back! And Lexie... they're gonna kill her!"

"Hey! Hey! Look at me," Adora said, Calliope lifting her eyes to meet the former force captains.

"No one is going to hurt you. If you want, you can join the Rebellion. Join me. You obviously have some powers that we could use if you can learn to use them. And your friend, we can have her join us too, if she wants. You don't ever have to go back there... uh..." Adora stuttered, realizing she didn't know the other girl's name.

"Calliope," Calliope provided, slowly calming down.

"Calliope! That's right! I do remember now! You're the one that they all called... princess..." Adora muttered, cheeks flaming in embarrassment as she remembered all the times the girl was bullied and she did nothing.

"They call you that now. I guess we have that in common," Calliope giggled softly, causing Adora to rub the back of her neck sheepishly and laugh.

"Let's head back to Brightmoon, Glimmer and Bow would love to meet you," Adora told her, standing up and extending her hand out to Calliope, who took it and let the taller girl help her stand.

"But..." Calliope started, staring down at the bricks leading to the woods.

"We can explore more tomorrow. We need to get out of here and rest up, you look like you had a long day." Calliope nodded in agreement and followed Adora towards Brightmoon.