Forever Fallen (Catra x OC She-Ra Fanfic)

32. The Proposition

Harley recoiled away from Horde Prime's intense, burning gaze like three, scorching, fiery green suns bearing down on her. She felt her rigid shoulders tense and her spine straighten as he stared at her probingly, his fists held tightly behind his back.

The girl gulped as he spoke, cold and calculating, "so you are the Rebel aiding She-Ra, no?" Harley opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off, "You are capable of so much more than destruction, little sister. You are so far from home and there is so much pain inside you..." He reached forwards to place a hand on her shoulder but she lurched backwards and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Your She-Ra will not help you in the end, Sister. She will lose this war and then what? She will die and you will never go home."

Harley shook her head, lips twisting into a snarl, "Did you say that to Catra, too? I've seen movies, I know what you're trying to do and it won't work. There is nothing that will make me leave her and go to you, you giant, alien bitch!"

Prime watched her blankly, undeterred by her insult, and he nodded curtly. He moved to the side, arms behind his back and smouldering gaze tearing her apart as he encircled her like a shark thirsting for blood.

"Nothing?" He hummed, "Are you sure?"

The girl narrowed her eyes at the extraterrestrial man, shifting to follow his movements and always keep an eye on him.

"Not even the chance to right your wrongs? Rewrite your mistakes?"

"Stop beating around the bush, sweetheart, spit it out." Harley snapped, whirling on him and tensing her shoulders.

He laughed darkly, mirth in his eyes, "I see why the Firestone chose you, Harley. You, too, have a fire burning within your soul. Pity you don't know how to access its full potential, but I do. I am en route to Etheria, little sister, meet with me and I will help you. The Firestone is all-powerful, are you not curious as to what it can do? Who it can save?"

Her eyes narrowed to slits and her lips formed a thin line as she considered his words. There was no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks that she would ever join Horde Prime, but he was right. If the Firestone really can do anything, what could she do?

"I will stop 'beating around the bush' as you say. If you bring the Firestone to me, we could not only open a portal to send you back to Earth... But we could reverse the effects of your little accident. You could be reunited with your parents" Horde Prime explained, his face coated in a vacant glaze as he stared at her but a chill ran down Harley's spine and she froze, jaw dropping.

'I could... See them again? They would be safe?' She wondered as the onset of tears formed behind her eyes, the very thought overwhelming and terrifying and alleviating all at once. 'I could go back home... I could be happy... I could finally be happy again.'

She fought back a smile, her future lighting up in a vivid image before her, but a nagging voice in her head screamed at her.

'You've seen movies, Princess, ' It spoke to her, smoky and sultry, 'you know how these things turn out. If they do come back, they won't be the same. You know this. You don't need them. Don't trust Prime.'

She shook her head, drawing an overcast cloud over her dream and glaring at Horde Prime again. That voice was right.

"I told you, Prime, nothing will make me join you. If you truly believe what you're saying, then you're lying to yourself. She-Ra will defeat you and there will be no more Horde; no more legacy; no more Horde Prime." Harley spat at him, voice laced with venom and eyes arching daggers at him.

"Very well." He spoke again, coolly, "When you change your mind, little sister, I will forgive you."

A scorching pain arced through her side and she gasped, clutching at her waist as the world blurred around her. She lifted her hands away and they were soaked in red. When Harley glanced down, a web-like stain the colour of terracotta had spread across her side like veins and she fell to her knees, her head and shoulders too heavy for the rest of her body to bear the weight of. She gasped in agony again, rust on her tongue and blood on her lips. Her skin paled and she screamed, squeezing her eyes shut to fend off the pain.