By the time He-Man reached Castle Grayskull, Adora had gone silent. She was asleep and he was relieved. Finding his sister in her current state was hard and he worried about the torture she had clearly gone through. Only a powerful magic could destroy a person in the space of a day. And Adora was no ordinary person.
Once inside, the sorceress had He-Man lay Adora down on the floor in the throne room. At this point, Adora had awakened but wasn't moving, her breath coming in fast bursts and her eyes wide.
With a flick of a finger, the blanket bindings on the princess had loosened. "Princess Adora, you are safe now." The Sorceress spoke softly. The woman was clearly in a heightened state of fear. "Allow us to help you."
Adora's eyes kept flicking between the Sorceress and He-Man. She was clearly trying to hold herself together. "You align yourself with this monster, how can I trust you?"
He-Man was startled and stepped forward. "Monster? Me?"
"Stay back!" Adora screamed, scooching herself back on the blanket.
The Sorceress wasn't going to let this go on any longer. "Sleep, princess." She touched a soothing hand to the distraught woman's forehead and Adora instantly calmed down and closed her eyes.
He-Man met the Sorceress's gaze. "What's going on, Sorceress?"
"The princess has been exposed to a dark magic. An evil one. It has clearly twisted her thoughts." She frowned, thinking. "Give me her sword."
He-Man handed the Sword of Honour to the Sorceress who placed it in Adora's hands. She grasped Adora's right hand and curled it around the sword. "For the Honour of Grayskull!"
The transformation from normal human to champion was always impressive. This case was even more so since it was triggered by the Sorceress of the Castle. Adora's body was lifted up and hovered in the air briefly while the magic coursed around her and through her. When the transformation reached its peak, she awoke and was on her feet calling "I am She-Ra!" as she normally did.
And suddenly it was done. She-Ra, fit and whole was standing between the Sorceress and her brother, He-Man, looking confused.
"How-? Wha-?" She stammered. "What's going on?"
He-Man stepped forward, smiling in relief. The sword's magic had worked and his sister was restored. "Am I glad to see you!" He enveloped her in a warm hug that lasted a few moments before pulling back.
"And I, you, Brother," She-Ra responded. "But I don't understand how I got here. The last thing I remember was going to sleep in the Whispering Woods!"
"Skeletor spirited you away, sometime in the night." The Sorceress said. "We don't know exactly what happened to you in his care but based on the state you were in when He-Man rescued you, you were subjected to evil magic and cruelty."
"You were terrified of me," He-Man interjected. "I had to tie you up to bring you here."
She-Ra struggled to recall but it was hazy. She knew, though she didn't say, that the sight of her brother in this form caused her a moment of fear that quickly disappeared.
"I'm going to change back to Adora now," She-Ra said.
"He-Man," The Sorceress said, "Remain in this form."
Very shortly, Adora was back. Healed of her wounds but still dirty and dressed in nightwear. The sorceress rectified that very quickly, magically making removing the dirt and handing the woman her normal clothes. "You can go into the side room to change, Princess."
Without a glance at He-Man, Adora left the room. The Sorceress was concerned. The bond between the twins was close and she could sense something blocking it. The events that Adora had been through were perhaps not as easily wiped away as they had hoped.
When Adora returned, she still wouldn't make eye contact with He-Man. She stood uneasily near to the sorceress and looking everywhere but at her brother.
"Princess, won't you look at He-Man?" The Sorceress asked.
She glanced up and away very quickly, the breath catching in her throat.
He-Man stepped forward, concerned. "Sis," he reached out a finger to her chin and tilted her head up. "It's me." He smiled kindly.
Tears filled Adora's eyes. "I know, Brother," She said, "But I see two versions of you. One is loving and the other one is pain. I am having problems separating you in my memories."
"Sorceress," He-Man began, "I want to transform into Adam."
"Not yet, He-Man," The Sorceress responded. "We need to clear this evil magic out of Adora first."
She stepped behind the princess and put her hands on the princess's head. "Look at He-Man and feel what you feel. " She said.
Adora kept her eyes on her brother. Tears rolling down her face. She knew love and fear at the same time, right to her core.
"Breathe deeply, princess," The Sorceress commanded. "And relax."
With every breath, the fear subsided. Adora was no longer seeing both her loving brother and her evil tormenter as one person. The evil He-Man's image in her mind began to transform and change. He became blue skinned though he looked like He-Man he clearly wasn't the same.
Abruptly, Adora stepped forward and wrapper her arms around her brother. The twins embraced and then He-Man pulled back slightly to look his sister in the eyes. "All right?" He searched her face anxiously.
Adora nodded. "It's odd but now I can see what was going on more clearly."
"I've healed your wounds and removed the last of the magic that was affecting you, princess," the Sorceress said. "Can you describe the other He-Man to us?"
Adora nodded and pulled back, folding her arms. "At the time, he was exactly like He-Man, but now I can see that he was only similar. For one thing, he was blue skinned!"
"Faker!" He-Man exclaimed. "I thought he was lost in the abyss outside the castle."
The Sorceress sighed, "Clearly not as lost as we had hoped. Skeletor can do some real damage with Faker if he's not stopped."
He-Man looked grim. "I believe he and I need to have a little chat."
"I think it's time for me to teach Skeletor some manners!" Adora joined in. "It's not nice to wake up in the dungeon!"
She pulled out her sword and called, "For the Honour of Grayskull!"