Time did slip away from me faithful readers, but also my words were taken for another purpose during the break. Short version is a personal moment demanded some expression even I was not aware of until it was upon me. Now that is it gone I feel the whirlwind of Eternia calling me back. So sorry for the wait.
As always He-Man and the Masters are not owned by me but by the corporations of Mattel and associated friends...maybe they will bring things back for another go around someday!
998 AH Vine Jungle - Sanctuary
Six months have passed since Hordak was revealed to the rebellion and Grayskull. Eternos has been reestablished as a kingdom currently under the leadership of Avion and Adrenos together. Orko was appointed its representative as a legendary hero in his own right after he and Chlora activated the old fortress home of the former royal family.
The Ram Temple was sacrificed, but the Ram Stone endures in the care of Lyn, her magics as strong as ever but now as subject to the ravages of time as anyone. She still holds the leash to Skeletor who has been taken to the last place even Hordak would think to look and for now it seems to have worked.
The leadership of the rebellion has gathered for the first time since She-Ra's return to discuss the current situation with Skeletor and his future...
Muscles burned with every step. The wooden pole in his hands seemed to be covered in some kind of oil as it kept trying to get out of his grip no matter how hard he held it. He was supremely grateful for a lack of smell at the moment, but his vision could not deny what he was doing.
He had been the Overlord of Evil. He had stood face to face with He-Man and had beaten him if not outright come closed to defeating him. He had defied death, no matter the cause, and had nearly conquered all of Eternia before being stopped. He had held millions of lives in his hands, hands that now held a shovel to clean latrine lines and sewer sludge.
Hands that were callused with the blistering effects of manual labor. Labor his current holders relished in he was sure. He was imagining several amusing pieces of luggage he could make out of them, but then his glance took in the slicked blonde hair of his closest helper.
Skeletor had his suspicions about the blonde youth, her sapphire eyes held a familiar glint, even if he did not have a name, he recognized Grayskull in the child. Her annoying honesty and ability to overcome her deserved rage also spoke volumes to the mage. More than that however was something only someone like him would notice, the family resemblance.
She had the same way of standing with both fists on her waist in a rage to the quiet exuberance of confidence only someone of her family could engender. The last thing however was what she was doing right now. This was work that needed to be done, and while a roster existed, he could not help but notice that every time he was assigned this task she was here.
After 2 months he began to suspect what she was about, but the silence was starting to grate on his nerves, the overseers did not help. The Snakemen made fine guards, their bodies flexibility allowed them to use the local jungle to blend in and seem invisible, but you could always feel their eyes. They need not fear his escape however, but he very much doubted they feared that...more hoped for it was likely.
Their orders are very clear Skeletor, if you slip free of your manacles, you are to be killed on the spot. Lyn had said the worlds quite calmly, but there had been a desperate plea in her eyes. They both knew he was the key to Hordak's plan, and death was no bar to his call on Skeletor's body. Only whatever that blasted He-Man had done to him somehow was keeping him free right now.
The shovel slipped free, again. Cursing his keepers, Evil-lyn, He-Man, and the Elders just to be very clear to the universe at large that he was growing annoyed with it, Skeletor bent to pick up the tool, only to find a shadow standing far too close to him now.
He straightened slowly until we was looking down into those burning orbs in the cream colored skin framed in the sweat drenched lochs. Her beauty was obviously from that wretched Sorceress, but those eyes, those eyes were his.
He felt all the old hatred flame anew. Randor had his life pampered to him, given everything Skeletor deserved and then even given the right to rule from the Elders themselves. The final slap had not come until much later, when that pathetic Prince Adam was finally revealed to be He-Man! Of all the galling things done to him, that was the worst!
"What would you do?" the question caught him off guard. He felt the strain of the day demanding he rest, but he would be damned if this lithe little thing bested him even that much. He saw she was being serious, and not enlightening him on exactly what she was asking. He cast his mind about the gossip even his guards indulged in and quickly came to a conclusion.
"I would execute me child. I would parade me for the fool I have been and destroy me as a symbol to gather around and raise the pathetic spirits of your rebellion against that monster Hordak," it felt good, even if it was his own end he was spelling out it felt good to talk at last. "More than that, I would make sure to inspire fear in anyone that would threaten what you would build for the next ten generations with what you would do to me. Make anyone think at least 3 times before crossing the government you create."
He could see it all now, it would hurt, but maybe at last it would end. A part of him did want to die, better death than this slow humiliation at the hands of the beings he had crushed and ruled for nearly a decade. He also wanted revenge so badly he could taste it, the very thought brought red to his eye sockets he had no doubt.
He saw her eyes cloud over. Her clothes were a simple leather tunic and cloth pants covered in the dirt and less desirable bits they were working with. He realized suddenly that the wagons they had filled all day were gone. The feeling of being watched remained, but the wagons were gone meant the day was over. The sun was still a 1/4 of the way to go to night, but apparently the child had finally worked up her courage. Perhaps too late to do anything about the debate going on in the main chambers, but who knew with these fools.
"No, that is not justice, that is revenge," again her voice was quiet, but there was also the tremor of disbelief in it. She was surprised by her words as much as he, yet resolution appeared in her eyes and face. He saw she would not be moved by whatever she had decided. "If we did that, we would be no better than you or Hordak, and worse we would invite more to come like you that wanted power and only had to be not afraid of the consequences to do it. Such a person would be far worse that even you were this past decade."
Interesting. She did not just ask for curiosity, she truly did not know what she would choose. Skeletor felt a spark of relief to know he was not going to die, but he felt irritated that like her predecessors she was far too honorable to reason with.
"I despise all of you, all the power you have and you choose to do this?!" the rage would not be denied. He flung out his blue arms to encompass all of the rotten latrines and the wider unkempt jungle beyond Sanctuary. All they could do, all that was at their fingertips and they wasted it on these fools! "With your power I would have crushed Hordak ages ago, assumed control of his forces, and brushed aside the fools that had allowed so much suffering to happen even before I came along child. Do you think the world will change simply because you wish it to be so? No you must grasp it and force it to the path you want it to follow. There is no other way!"
His chest heaved as he realized he had been yelling. The golden scaled guard had dropped from the tree far to the left of where Skeletor could swear he had been standing, this one had dark diamond shapes patterned all over him, another rose from the leafy green brush. Her scales were a deep earthy color with just a spare striation of white criss crossing over her. A female was rare, even Skeletor did not think they existed before the Vine Jungle exile.
The subject of his ire did not seem phased by his words. If anything he suddenly felt small. He towered over her physically, but it was as if his words had transferred power to her. Now he felt like he was about to be crushed by this tiny girl, barely 16 years old, yet others deferred to her!
Worse she did not seem to realize it, she did not abuse or overrule people as was her right! He was even more irritated that she dismissed the guards so her words would be for him alone. She held no fear of him even knowing of what he was capable?!
"The world did change Skeletor. Hordak tried to take it, and King Grayskull sacrificed himself to stop it, and thus the age of the Elders came to pass, an age even you must acknowledge!" her eyes blazed as he felt power sing in her veins. "The Elders stepped aside so that He-Man could come forth and challenge not just you, but Hordak as well! Again he sacrificed so much, lost so many friends, but he endured and for a time a peace unlike ANY Eternia had known came to pass."
She began to pass on the bare patch of earth as sunlight streamed through the leafy fronds of the jungle trees. Skeletor did not understand, but he saw what her words brought forth, as if the truth would also imprint images on his mind. He saw all of it, the fall of King Grayskull, the rise of the Elders, and even He-Man weathering the storms both he and Hordak threw at him. He tried to shake it away, but it would not go.
"And now I carry that choice as they did. I thought only of ridding Eternia of you, of doing as exactly as you suggested, but I could never answer the question that came afterwards, I could never face myself in a mirror...what would I do next?" she stopped cold and in true fashion put both fist on her hips and stared him down. Something broke inside him, something he was not sure he could put a name to.
"Well Skeletor, what would you do next?" and again the images assailed him. His exact suggestion unfolded without remorse. Rather than have a kingdom that lasted forever in his memory, it would be ripped apart by factions nearly the next day and his corpse left to feed the birds. The world would be deluged with wars large and small for the next thousand years and once the dust settled, the survivors would not even remember his name.
Do you finally understand Bonehead? Skeletor snapped upright. That thought had not been his own, but that voice had been terribly familiar. It was also impossible, the man was dead! He carefully felt for any connection but there was no telepathic signal. Perhaps an old memory of He-Man had surfaced, but the question was valid. Was that all his grab for power amounted to? An empire that only lasted as long as him and no more?
"I don't know child," the gasp of words escaped him, and he saw she was as surprised as him.
"My name is Anna, Skeletor, I have to go," she turned from him and ran off toward the main structures of Sanctuary that blended in so well with the Vine Jungle. Strange creature, but at least I have a name now.
Skeletor returned to his labor, he was quite sure he was not done yet, no matter what those guards wished. He was going to live now, if only to see what that child...Anna...came up with.
"ORDER! ORDER!" the crack of wood brought the murmuring hall to order. Grath leaned at the back wall bored nearly to tears. For being the leadership of the rebellion, these leaders could have been replaced with 5 years olds for all the effectiveness they were having. Back and forth they had argued what to do with Skeletor and the stalled battle against Hordak.
All the early success had gone to their heads, the only forces not thrashed were of Avion and Adrenos. There careful planning had kept them free from Skeletor, and now it had spared them humiliating defeat at Hordak's forces.
It had been natural really, the humans had wanted to push ahead after Eternos was remade, and Subternia had seemed for the taking after Drak's antics against Cryoc. Hordak's changes in the Evil Warriors had been far more dramatic than the leaders had believed, if not for She-Ra and the Masters, there would be a few empty seats at the table right now.
Small loss that would be! Grath snorted as she saw Roboto quietly sitting in the corner across from her. The machine was a strange fellow, undoubtedly clever, he continually surprised her by his battle prowess and desire to participate. Even the Sorceress had never truly learned where that desire came from, but she had learned grudging respect for the artificial Master.
Now she suspected he was running routines in his mind to see what would work best against a new offensive, but oddly he never created plans of attack until after Anna asked for them. Grath thought she knew why, but if true it seemed even odder that he desired combat. It could be he did not think in terms of attack, but in terms of goals. Goals that he had to be given before he could speak them. The spotty history records never truly said how he became a Master, but the Sorceress spoke for him and Anna accepted him, that was enough for the Caligar warrior.
Grath fondly eyed her spiked club and wished devoutly for a surprise attack. The conversation was spiraling back to a split choice again. Half the leaders wanted Skeletor's head, the other half wanted him to explain the secrets of his magic and followers. Neither side could agree, and often members would switch sides as they wished to, almost as if they were afraid to make a choice!
Grath jumped with the rest as the doors slammed open. The hall was made of a strange material that was hard as any stone, yet very definitely allowed plants to grow and feel warm to the touch. The Snakemen were less than forthcoming about it and honestly Grath did not care to learn much beyond its resilience to blaster fire. It was damn impressive there!
A beauty of a Snakeman came in, bulging muscles and carrying a massive blade hilt in his scaly hands. He almost shone because he was completely white. That sword had never been used by what Grath's practiced eye could tell, but the crest was hard to miss right below the hilt on the blade itself. The old maps had it all over it, the ancient emblem of Eternos the Kingdom.
Behind him came the Queen of the Snakemen. That oddity had never been explained either. The best records of anyone agreed on one thing, there had only ever been Snakemen. Yet there was obviously females among them, only now they stood out from what the records indicated. It was long believed that the snakes simply were sexless or could change genders to reproduce and thus all looked alike.
Now the Queen entered with a sizable bust and clothed in a close fitting tunic that was of finer make that the simple loincloths of the males and the other females usually had two strips covering their tops, each to a side. Only the Queen seemed to get a full tunic, or maybe it was symbolic? Again however the symbol of Eternos was stitched to the right side, just above the breast in the Queen's case. No one else held that symbol. No crown, jewels, or other accessory marked the Queen from her people.
Her scales were a deep green that were pleasantly complemented by dark swirls Grath could not decide were natural or some kind of makeup. Like most of her people, her eyes were golden slits, and Grath could not help but notice that her neck was fully exposed where most of her kind seemed to wear medallions around their neck.
I would bet Drak all I owned she can expand her head and poison people as she wishes. For all that they had been worthy companions in this war, there was still a part of Grath that instinctually distrusted them. She buried it, but did not ignore it. Their streak of honor had strange twists in it that allowed duels to end in death, and did not exclude outsiders.
The person that slipped quietly in behind the Queen was noticed only by Roboto probably. Even Grath only noticed her because she recognized her. Anna had finally come to this sad excuse of a meeting. The Queen had gone to attend to some business with the swelling refugee problem the Snakemen were having. As a location that blended in to the mass of the Vine Jungle, massive numbers of people had been funneled here from the front lines to be distributed as they could be to Avion, Adrenos, and the finally up and running facilities of Eternos.
That little magician had surprised them all by how well he ran Eternos. Children loved him and the adults quickly learned that for all his foolishness, there was iron in the little Trollan. Grath smiled at a story Chlora had told her that Brythia and Frosta had been publicly chided for arguing about petty things and ignoring their duties. It had been LONG overdue and probably made worse by Orko doing it.
It was well known his patience was very long.
Grath focused as the Queen joined the quiet table and the argument began anew. Her respect for the Queen grew as she saw the distaste on her face. Yes in the four hours you were gone we accomplished nothing! Grath prayed hard to the Elders, Ancients, and any deity that cared to listen for an attack or emergency to occur. She would gladly face death than the tedium of security right now.
Her sharp eyes noticed Anna watching from the small audience, mostly made up of scribes or runners in case anything was needed. The security of Sanctuary was bought at the cost of technology, yet it had endured when so many others had fallen. Her face was hard to see from here, but as nothing was going on sadly, Grath slowly edged around the circular hall.
She had never been sure of the Champion, even with all she saw at Grayskull, Anna had always seemed to walk a razor edge between hero and villain. The masses loved She-Ra, not only as a symbol, but because she was there for them in their darkest hour. Countless battles had been turned from towns and caravans by her presence alone. The politicians however, found her difficult to work with.
She-Ra would not choose sides, she would not endorse a leader to the rebellion, neither claim it for herself. Grath found it highly amusing they did not get it. She-Ra chose to inspire, not command. A far more difficult road, but one Grath could understand. However a long life as a warrior showed the danger She-Ra faced as well. The leaders could do a thousand tiny things because they were threatened by She-Ra's public position, because they could not see the world any other way.
In that battle She-Ra could become an enemy before she realized it. Anna on the other hand seemed very different. She had more than impressive skills in combat as Grath knew, but her political skills were unknown. She had stayed away from the halls of power, but the rumors were impossible to ignore or avoid. Two months of it was downright depressing.
Grath could see her absorbing what was being said, and her eyes were disturbing. It was like staring into She-Ra's strength all at once. A shiver passed over as Anna stood up and the resolution was like a thunder head. A battle was indeed going to occur, only Grath wisely chose retreat than face what was coming. She even felt a small stab of pity for the leadership of the rebellion.
Well of Darkness
Cryoc barely withstood the searing heat of the lava flows around the Well. Her azure scales felt far too dry just trying to breathe. It was finally done! Hordak was pleased, and the others were now afraid. Graal especially had taken the news badly after his recent victories over the rebels.
Caltrops was the only one above her now. He was worthy however, his inventions had reinforced the front lines as well, but his true work had never stopped. It was not yet ready, but now that hers was complete, his could progress much more quickly.
She placed the final artifact into the stone slot, and murmured the words Hordak had drilled into her very being. They flared brightly, but nothing else happened. If she had done it incorrectly the world would have begun to be sundered apart. Now it was a mere month from being ready, far more time would pass before it would be used.
Cryoc quickly moved away and left the Spelean guards around the Well. She thought it odd Grayskull had not moved against this place, but she had not seen all Hordak had put in place she was sure, more than that was the practical realization that Grayskull likely did not know the danger of this place beyond its direct threat to Eternia.
She smiled wide at the foolishness of She-Ra and her friends. Of all beings, Grayskull should have known that magic can be used for more than one purpose!
Sanctuary
"Excuse me child but what did you just say?" Queen Farina seemed to stand rigid staring at her. Stratos had said she was a fine leader and a good woman, but beyond that he had also said she was always putting Avion first. Not a bad thing with the amount of lives in her hands, but it meant that anything that put less burden on her kingdom was her primary concern.
Anna well remembered her lessons from her Mother and the Sorceress right now. Most of the lessons had been on history and battle, but she saw parallels suddenly and wondered if they had planned this confrontation between them. Their silence on the disposition of Skeletor had left his fate in these hands.
The other leaders only knew her as an emissary of Grayskull, certainly not just an errand girl, and more than she appeared. Some attacks had not given her time to change and she had acted out of instinct to save lives. Queen Adra of Adrenos respected her because one of those moments had saved the life of her favored son. Anna still sighed inwardly anytime he sent her another proposed "outing."
Queen Khar found Pyth's faith in her interesting, but again she had seen Anna do something out of instinct. A blasted cart from the quarry had broken and no one else had been close enough to save the children nearly crushed by those rocks. Anna had gotten a deep gash across her back, but the two children had been saved. Pyth had tried to keep it quiet, but apparently Anna had made a bit of a legend in the Snakemens' eyes.
"I said you are arguing like children, not the adults you are supposed to be," Anna felt quite calm. She had confronted her nightmare with no Grayskull to back her up. Two months working next to him, something Pyth had deeply objected to, only Stratos had been as strongly against it, but her Mother and the Sorceress seemed to understand. At last she had some much needed clarity.
"You sit here arguing the fate of a man used by our real enemy, a single man while thousands fight and die out there for us," she was still covered in sweat, dirt, and somethings best not considered, but right now she felt like she was armored against the fools in front of her. "You debate and change opinions based not on actual facts but how you will be perceived by your followers. A leader is not the person the public wants, but what the public needs."
She suddenly felt something click into place. She finally understood these people.
"You want to rule when this is done. You want the people to rise up and affirm your places as their head when Hordak is gone, but you do not want to endanger that by unpopular choices!" Anna felt the room grow silent, Grath seemed to be smiling insanely at her while Roboto had his head tilted at 45 degrees at her. Hard to tell what he was thinking right now.
"How dare you?!" one of the leaders of the local human cells stood up indignantly. His clothes seemed ragged, but were completely spotless aside from the rips and holes. Anna noticed that all the leaders seemed too clean to her. No, not all, just most of them.
"Yes I dare. I dare as the daughter of one of the many parents that man out there killed. I watched as both were dragged away when I was only 4 years old. Where were you?!" it was the first time she had spoken of that night, but rather than the normal terror and grief, now was just a calm inside her. It was as if the horror of that night was far away. "I was IN Eternos when it fell saved by people who risked their own lives to save who they could, where were you?!"
She saw the horror and the pity begin to form in their eyes, but she noted neither Adra or Khar had it. The former seemed to nod and the latter only looked on in interest.
"I do not ask you to change the past but I DO ask you to stop prattling and make a choice. We have a war to fight, an enemy to stop, and you worry about a future job you clearly do not deserve," the words flowed like a river from her. Anna felt no rage, just the need to speak what she had seen. "If you deserved to rule you would not be here debating what to do with Skeletor. You would be trying to save lives, trying to stop this monster from achieving his goals, but most of all...you would not be trying to hold onto your position, you would be doing what has to be done for all of Eternia, not just you."
She saw it before her, how Eternia had fallen to Hordak, how Skeletor had corrupted a Senate so far gone already, and finally how her family had been exterminated until only she remained. They keep putting their interests before others. They keep running away from responsibility while others shoulder the burden.
"Get her out of here and consult Grayskull to send us someone more aware of her place in things," another human representative, she could not keep track of them all, had spoken. Grath and Roboto looked at each other, and she could almost feel the smile between them.
"Do you think she is wrong?" the quiet tones of Roboto echoed across the chamber. He had not spoken once since the debate had began and now all heads turned to him. He sat stiffly looking back at them. "I have sat here for the entire week you have been here. I have absorbed your words and analyzed them for the logical tactics you have used. She is correct."
He rose up quietly and marched forward and projected a chart. The vertical side was labeled "Effect on the War" while the lower part was labeled "Fate of Skeletor." In between was nothing.
"No matter what you choose here, Skeletor's fate has no impact on the war from all the data I have collected, however," the vertical bar changed to "Leadership" and the horizontal bar moved to the halfway mark up and remained the "Fate of Skeletor" Two bright orange bars appeared one rising to the top of the graph and the other dropping to the bottom. "His fate does affect your future."
The rising bar was labeled "Ruler" while the other was labeled "Removed."
"This is what you have truly been debating. You have been trying to assure your continued rule and avoiding being removed by someone else...but no one here knows what choice will bring what result," Roboto now turned to Anna for the first time and bowed slightly to her. The effect was most satisfying to Anna. They all respected the old Masters and the new. It was rare that they showed Anna anything as overt as this, only Pyth had explicitly had to give a report to his Queen, but even that was subdued compared to what he could have done.
"What would you do Anna?" she just barely stopped her head from twitching backward from the question Queen Adra posed. A part of her had known it would come, but it was still a hard thing to face. All the faces turned to her now. Some were full of contempt, others curious, and a few...a few truly seemed to want to know.
"Skeletor does not matter anymore. He has a purpose to be understood by Enchantress Lyn and the Sorceress so let them do their jobs. I would focus on Hordak and stopping his endgame. He has one, he has pulled all these strings and bragged that our fall was at his doing. The time for punishment will never come. The time for work has come," Anna let all her conviction blaze forth and was surprised when both humans numbly fell into their chairs. The others looked at her in a new light and she saw Khar especially look at her closely. I have come this far, why stop now?
"What I would do is plan our attack on Snake Mountain, plan our division of the Evil Warriors and their capture or defeat, and finally I would let She-Ra do what she does best," she closed her eyes to break them free of her stare for this, the final step must be their own, "I would let her fight Hordak wherever she is needed and stop worrying about things she will never care about...politics." That is what I am for it would seem.
Adam's words suddenly made far more sense from the journal. I never wondered why people just accepted that He-Man was a wandering warrior for good. It never occurred to me until much later that I as Prince, and King, brought my strength to leadership that people never thought He-Man would challenge. They all accepted we ruled together, he through his battle for justice, and me through my compassion as King. Why would a force for good ever have to remove a fair ruler?
"That is why you are afraid of this choice, you think She-Ra will work against whatever you choose. She is not like us, she wants only justice, peace, and harmony," Anna spoke from her heart now. A very scarred heart now, but healed thanks to her friends, and wiser thanks to her Mother, the Sorceress, and Adam's Journal...and perhaps even a bit of Skeletor.
"If you will not choose than Grayskull will go on as best it can with those that wish to go with us," Anna faced them full on now. The indignation shone from quite a few in the room, but so did fear. The ones who noticed the Masters hanging on her words and the two Queens that seemed to respect her as well.
"And Grayskull will follow your suggestion?" Queen Farina did not seem on sure ground now. She was looking at Anna differently than a few minutes ago. Grath snorted with laughter and drew the eyes this time. She cocked an eyebrow at the leaders of the rebellion.
"In a few words Anna made a choice you were afraid to, and revealed the truth for all to hear," no humor was evident now, this was a battlefield and in battle Grath was always serious. "The Masters will follow her, She-Ra and Grayskull trust her as their liaison and none other, that should really tell you all you need to know after seeing what She-Ra can do."
Snorting more laughter as the heads turned back to Roboto and saw him nod again to Anna in respect. One last time all the heads turned back to Anna and instead of nervousness, she felt the calm just grow in her. She had made the choice with Skeletor outside, the choice to shoulder this burden of his fate, and now she would take this on as well. It was time to stop running away for her as well. She-Ra was only apart of her life, Anna was the rest too.
"Who are you?" it was yet another human cell leader, one of the few that had looked at her with honest curiosity. Before Anna could answer, Queen Khar stood up and swept over to her. Her eyes glistened with almost tears the woman could never shed.
"To the Blazes with Pyth for hiding this, I knew it!" she flicked her left hand behind Anna, and the sound of cloth falling to the floor was heard in the now dead silent hall. It was now brighter in the hall as a window had been exposed to the fading sunlight, but also behind that cloth was a mural of two people.
They were clearly related and after the last 6 months they were known to exist for fact, not just legend. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and dressed in the old styles of Eternos, they could be no one else. More was that Anna recognized the male in the mural, Adam was handsome even as a painting.
The more damning one however was Adora. Anna had never seen her before, but now that she did, she knew what all would see at the table. Turning back she saw something she hoped never to see...awe.
"You are the descendant of either King Adam or his sister the Princess Adora!" Queen Khar seemed beside herself with joy and immediately took a knee in front of Anna. The others were quick to follow suit as was the rest of the room. Only Roboto and Grath remained standing.
Welcome to the family Anna. The Sorceress' amusement was completely uncalled for, and Anna could swear that Grath had heard that thought.
"Get up, I am not royalty, just someone with a job to do," Anna saw the smirk on all the Queen's faces as they rose. Even Grath seemed to find it amusing enough to laugh out loud.
"I hate to break this to you chi-...Anna, but being a leader is EXACTLY that," Queen Adra hugged her, but the awe was broken a bit. At least the first step was taken in the right direction.
Skeletor is yours and Mother's to deal with Sorceress, get on it. The smug acceptance of the order riled Anna a bit, but she had more pressing concerns.
"Roboto, I know you have about a hundred plans in your head for Snake Mountain, start prioritizing targets and work with intelligence to work out how best to beat the Evil Warriors, take those away from Hordak and he has only normal soldiers to call on. The rest of you," she saw it in their eyes, for now they would obey but some would try to wriggle their way free of blame. "Go back to your people and prepare for bloody battles. We have to stop Hordak or what we have dealt with so far will seem a fond memory, assuming we live long enough to have memories."
The reality was sinking in at last. The conviction in her voice and the quick response the 3 Queens and the Master gave her words got the others believing. Their time was running out and Hordak still loomed over them all.
"Grath, I need the Masters to gather at Grayskull in a month's time, hopefully by then we will know how to stop Hordak," she saw that Grath was not as cheerful as she normally would be. "What is wrong?"
The yellow eyes showed their surprise at reading her so well, and she smiled wide more truly than before.
"Nothing much, I just owe Drak and Stratos this time, I thought you would have gone longer before sitting these overgrown children down and set them straight, they bet on you losing your patience before me," the surprise must have shown on her face because Grath broke out in loud laughter that echoed around the quickly emptying room.
Sometimes I think my friends are crazy, and sometimes I am sure. Anna smiled wide as she left the hall with her friend and began to plan her own next steps as both Anna, and She-Ra.