I Have the Power!

Chapter 10

Kyle stared at Bow, hardly believing his ears. "What?"

"I said that I think you're a princes," Bow repeated, looking just as confused as Kyle felt.

"I'm not a princess," Kyle said skeptically. "You didn't hit your head did you? Do I look like a princess to you?"

"Maybe boys can be princesses too. I mean, there really wasn't ever any rule I can think of that said otherwise."

Kyle shook his head. "I'm not a princess," he repeated.

Bow threw his arms up in frustration. "What else could you be?"

"A hoard soldier? An errand boy? A crybaby? How about a wimp? I don't  think any of that stuff sounds very much like a princess." He fiddled with the rope some more. "Also... aren't princesses kind of crazy?"

Bow raised an eyebrow. "Adora's not crazy."

"I've seen her smash apart buildings with that sword of hers," Kyle pointed out. "And Catra used to be her best friend, but now Adora's trying to smash her too! It's like becoming a princess made her into some sort of human boulder. She's totally crazy!"

Bow seemed to think about this a while. "Well, she does smash a lot of things, I'll admit. They don't call She-Ra the princess of power for nothing."

Kyle nodded. "She's crazy."

"No, Adora just had a change of perspective. Catra's totally evil." Bow pointed at Kyle. "Even you can see that, right?"

"What do you mean 'even me?'" Kyle asked. "And no, I don't think Catra's evil. She's mean, yes. And short tempered. And she'll probably kill you if you wake her up from a nap. But she's not evil. I've seen evil, and I don't think Catra's it."

Bow looked confused. "She tried to kill Adora on multiple occasions. She was the reason that Glimmer and I got taken prisoners by the hoard. She's manipulative, and disloyal. There's nothing good about her!"

"She's a bad person, yes. But she's not evil. Do you think she would have been friends with Adora if she was evil. She's been abused her whole life by Shadow-Weaver, and she's never really had any friends besides Adora. She says that she's better off without Adora now, but when Adora left, she was heartbroken."

Bow looked upset. "I didn't know that."

"But she's still an awful person. Weather it was brought on her by others or not, she still made bad choices." Kyle looked Bow in the eye. Bow looked uncomfortable.

"Can anyone really be abused by others their whole life, without any friends, and not turn out a bad person?" Bow asked.

"I think they can," Kyle said, "because I'm the same way."

Bow looked startled. "Really?"

"Everyone on my team's always said I'm a waist of space. I'm a crybaby, I can't fight or do anything like that, and I'm always slowing the rest of them down. Because of that, everyone always stepped all over me. And I don't have any friends. Rogelio isn't so bad, but he's not what I'd call a friend. I don't even know what that guy's thinking half the time. Anyone who isn't making fun of me just ignores me. And Shadow -Weaver always got on my case when the others weren't around, telling me that if I ever held Adora back, she'd kick me off the team." Kyle didn't know why he was telling Bow all of this. He always found himself opening up to Bow in ways he never had to anyone else before, but with Bow it seemed different. Maybe it was because he knew Bow wouldn't laugh. That was more than he could guarantee from anyone else.

"How'd you deal with all that?" Bow asked, looking awed. "Didn't you ever think of leaving?"

"I tried once. Shadow-Weaver caught me, and the others didn't see me again for a week. I didn't try to run away again after that."

Bow seemed to hesitate as he asked, "What did Shadow-Weaver do?"

"You don't want to know. Trust me."

Bow looked like he might be sick. "The hoard is awful. They're a threat to Etheria, and to everyone living here. If they take over, this planet's doomed." He looked Kyle in the eyes, and continued. "If Light-Hope told you that you can help Etheria, then I want to help too." He walked over to Kyle and untied his hands. Kyle stared at him, not entirely sure what to think. After Bow had untied Kyle, he stood up, and said, "Come on Kyle. I think it's time for you to meet the queen. If anyone can tell you what's really going on, Angela can."

Kyle nodded. If Bow trusted him, then he wanted to return the favor and trust Bow. "Yeah. I want to know what's going on with me too. If she can help, I want to see her."

"Right then," Bow said, smiling slightly. "Let's go to Bright-Moon."