Maledictus Renascentis

Chapter 2: Se Rappeler

The purple haired princess, (Glimmer, she deducted), quickly cast a truth spell, blasting it on Light Spinner. As the odd, slightly uncomfortable feeling settled in, they began to question her.

"Are you Shadow Weaver, once of the Horde?" The blonde, Adora, asked.

"No, I am not. I am not even aware of who that is." She replied, the words truthful and yet somehow feeling like a lie. She assumed it was just nerves, however. "And I would never, in a thousand years, work for the Horde. They are- were, apparently- evil."

"You're not here to spy on us, are you?" The Salinian Princess, Mermista, said in a bored, unamused tone. Light Spinner shook her head.

"Why would I spy on my own kingdom?" She asked, indignant at the suggestion of it. "I am completely loyal to Mystacor. To spy on it would be to betray my home, something I would never do."

Finally, the catlike girl whose name she hadn't caught piped up. "How did you come back to life?"

"I don't believe I've ever died." Light Spinner replied. "I am not the person you think I am. This... Shadow Woman-"

"Shadow Weaver." The cat replied.

"Whatever." She replied flippantly. Already, the cat was getting on her nerves. "She sounds like an absolutely terrible woman, but I'm not her. Understand?"

"I think we should believe her." Adora spoke up. "The truth spell would have dispelled any illusions on her appearance, anyway, and she's way too young to be Shadow Weaver. Like, fifty years too young. I think this is a case of the Maras."

"What?" Mermista asked. "Like, She-Ra, Mara?"

"No, like, everyone and their cousin is named that." Adora replied. "Two people with the same name, but they're not the same person."

"So all Shadow Weavers are Light Spinners, but not all Light Spinners are Shadow Weavers?" The youngest Princess, Frosta, asked.

Adora nodded. "Exactly." She turned to Light Spinner. "I apologize for the misunderstanding, but we had some problems with someone we knew a long time ago, someone with the same name."

"It is fine." Light Spinner stood up, brushing off completely hypothetical dust. "I am glad we could have cleared up that misunderstanding. Hopefully our future interactions will be more favorable."

"Well, we can always use more friends." The scorpion, who wore a small name badge, like one that an attendee at a seminar would wear, with her name and pronouns on it (Scorpia, She/Her), said optimistically.

"I have not had a real friend in many years." Light Spinner replied. "Thank you."

<><><>

A few weeks passed. Castaspella had noticed the new member of the Princess Alliance's ranks, and she did not approve. While this woman was unlikely to be the Shadow Weaver that they remembered, it did not change the fact that Light Spinner of Mystacor had been greedy, malevolent, and cruel, almost killing her brother with her foolishness. She was dangerous, and she wished the princesses would realize who they were associating with.

But at the same time, she was curious. The original Light Spinner, the one who had cast the Spell of Obtainment and became the cruel woman who raised Adora, had been a hermit, isolating herself from everyone except her students. When one thought of her, the words that often came up were 'stern' and 'mysterious'. Not downright friendly.

As much as she didn't want her niece and her friends to associate with her, not even she could deny that the princesses were a good influence. Even in the few years they had been in Mystacor together, Light Spinner was obviously miserable. The stress of the Horde Invasion and Norwyn's pacifistic tendencies had eaten away at her soul, eventually breaking her and forcing her to make the decision that led to her becoming the woman they feared.

If there was something she could do to stop her from going down that path again, she would do everything in her power to prevent it.

<><><>

"Come on, we're gonna be late!" Glimmer yelled.

Light Spinner sighed, putting down her book. She had been troubled with nightmares since she returned to Mystacor, dreams of a many-eyed beast of shadows tearing her apart. While the Dream Almanac did not speak of anything like this, she assumed it was likely from the recent revelation that she had been missing for almost fifty years.

Fifty years. She had not expected to wake up from a coma, still alive and young, in the middle of the Whispering Woods. It seemed rare, even impossible, but she could not deny the truth of what had happened. Light Spinner stood to her feet, Light Spinner stood to her feet, a brief moment of dizziness hitting her-

The mask, where is my mask? Can't show them any weakness. She thought to herself, digging through her things. Where am I? This isn't the Fright Zone. No, is this Mystacor? How?

Light Spinner jolted back to reality, looking around at her room. Her things were torn apart, as if she had lost one of the Runestones in her room, but in search of... she couldn't remember. She hadn't been sleeping well lately, and that was likely the cause of the strange lapses in behavior she had been having in the past couple weeks.

"Hurry up! You're gonna miss the eclipse!" Glimmer burst in, grabbing Light Spinner's arm and dragging her out the door. "You need to clean your room, girlie."

"Yes, I know." Light Spinner sighed, reluctantly allowing herself to be led to the Lunarium. She would have much rather have continued studying, but she had learned in these past few weeks that friendship is a two-way street, that she had to contribute to her relationships in order to keep them alive- just like her daisies.

When she reached the Lunarium, she watched as the new head sorceress, Castaspella, began her spellwork, designing an intricate rune in the air in front of her. Even at her young age, she could see the minute errors in the spell, nothing that would cause any damage to anything or anyone, but enough to keep the spell from operating at peak efficiency.

"This is the cool part." Glimmer whispered. Light Spinner rolled her eyes.

"I have seen this ceremony many times before, Glimmer. I doubt it will be much different... what?" She watched as shadows filled the room, a dark entity, the one she had been dreaming about, appeared in the air above the scrying bowl. Light Spinner reacted quickly, throwing her friends out of the way with her magic and running to assist Castaspella.

Shadow Weaver... The entity screeched, though somehow she could understand it. You dare betray me? I gave you your power, and you throw it away for nothing.

"I don't even know who you are!" She screamed, casting a protection rune and holding over their heads, her and Castaspella's combined strength enough to force it back into whatever dimension it came from.

Before it vanished, however, it lashed out one final time, striking Light Spinner's arm and leaving deep, gnarled scars on her flesh.