The Brightmoon Institution (Catradora Boarding School AU)

The Blight of Horace Prime

"What the fuck?"

Catra looked at Angella imploringly, the entire group rushing over to the head table as soon as she finished speaking.

"I haven't told you yet, but I'm resigning."

"Sorry, what?"

Glimmer stood dumbfounded in front of her mother, gaping as Adora just kept shaking her head. No way could Angella resign, Glimmer said this school had been founded by her entire family. It was practically her legacy, how could Angella resign?

"I'll discuss the details with you all tomorrow night, nothing's been officially finalized, but everything's already set in action. Next year, a new figure will be taking full custody over the school."

Absolute silence filled Adora's mind.

No. Not the school she initially hated but grew to love, the school that was her home. She nearly felt betrayed, but they all knew there was more to this story. Angella may not reside in the school full time, being an International Business Owner and Director, but she'd give it all up for the school, Adora knew. She didn't want to give it up, it was someone else. The pale lavender eyes were soft, almost a shade of shame.

"I don't want to cloud your mind with concern, you have a big day tomorrow Adora, try not to get worked up over this until I explain everything. I mean it."

She directed her last few words towards the entire group, and her very last ones more so to Glimmer, who stood in silence, completely stunned.

————————

Adora readied herself nervously, wishing she didn't skip her morning run. She wanted to conserve her energy for the game, but she was beginning to think the extra adrenaline was hindering her. She couldn't get her nerves to settle for more than a minute.

"I don't know if I'm gonna be sick or if I'm just nervous. What if I end up chucking when I'm scoring a goal? What if I just fail and everyone blames me, and then I get kicked off the team and-"

"Adora, calm down!"

Glimmer shook Adora by the shoulders, but that really did nothing for either of them.

"You're freaking out so now I'm freaking out goddammit!"

Bow chuckled, wrapping a hand around Glimmer's shoulder while looking at Adora with steady brown eyes.

"You're going to be great, don't stress."

"But what if-"

"You're one of the best players in that team, Blondie."

Adora turned around to face Catra, who gave a glimpse of a smile. Somehow, a simple look from her calmed everything that was jumping in her stomach.

"Besides, even if you do 'fail,' it's not the end of the world."

Catra gave her a half smile and shrugged, causing Adora to scoff as she remembered their childhood. Those were words she rarely heard from Shadow Weaver.

"You got this."

Catra reached up and hugged Adora, making the blonde wish she held on for a bit longer when she quickly pulled back.

"Thanks."

A looming presence overshadowed her peripheral, causing Adora to subtly turn her head in order to see who was behind her. She couldn't say she was exactly thrilled to see that it was Horace Prime.

"I've come to wish the Brightmoon team the best of luck."

Something about the way he talked put Adora off. Maybe it was the way he extended his syllables, or the slight hiss of his tone, but it was fucking creepy. But at least a creepy man distracted her from fears of letting her team down. Adora didn't really want to respond to him, especially since the entirety of her team (besides herself, of course) was still getting ready for the game, and she was the only one of them actually out at that moment.