Black lines nearly covered the King's body while the two warriors gaped at the scene. At a glance it would seem as though the segments outlined the veins on Lily's body, but as the warriors gazed upon Lily, they knew it couldn't be so. The lines were orderly and straight as if they followed a specific pattern on her body. Lily's dress was now Horde armor with a few worn pieces of rags peaking out. She-ra's eyes widened as she saw copious amounts of disgusting tentacles stick out of her back. The ends of the slime covered cords were fastened to the rebels by the back of their necks. Luminak gaped at the sight, but quickly maintained a calmer gaze.
So this is the power of a necronic golem…she used magic to hide her true form and those disgusting tentacles, The warrior glared at Lily.
Lily's once soft and flawless skin began to gain a blotchy, pale color. Patches of different skin colors appeared all over her body. The King's appearance became more and more grotesque; the patches of skin were obviously sewn on her body creating uneven ripples of flesh with pieces peeling off on older patches of tissue. Lily opened her eyes, which were once crystal blue color were now completely black (including the whites in her eyes).
The king grinned at the two warriors, showing off her now sharp, jagged teeth.
Luminak clenched his fists while a bright, white light formed in his hand. She-ra looked over at Luminak and then at Lily. Truly this creature was Lily's 'ugly side', but was she more powerful now than before? Luminak wait a moment to see if either She-ra or Lily were going to make a move. The King laughed at She-ra's expression of disgust towards Lily's true form.
"Hehe, I told ya it wasn't pretty. But now that you've made me transform I need to kill you! You see I don't like to fight cause then I gotta look like this, but you two deserve to die either way. I kept telling you that it wasn't a spell but noooo-"
"Enough!" Luminak shouted as he charge two light beams in Lily's direction.
She-ra quickly covered her eyes as a bright white light threatened to blind her. The priness thought at first that Luminak's move was a little reckless, but necessary. Neither of them could possibly understand the true powers of a necronic golem. Books and tales of their existence were very scarce nowadays that it seemed as if their existence was merely fiction. Suddenly the cloud of dust created by Lumiank's blast began to disperse into the air. The warrior's eyes widened when he saw the Unholy King standing in the same spot, completely unscathed.
Darn it LightHope! What? Did you only give me enough power to win one battle? ! , the warrior complained.
"Luminak," the princess spoke, "don't waste your energy. I am the only one who can fight her."
Luminak quickly looked at a She-ra with a surprised expression on his face, "What? Why? As strong as you are you can't fight this thing on your own! I have to help you!"
"No Hordak, light must destroy the darkness within people's hearts; this creature does not have a heart or a soul to react to your light powers. My sword was meant to dispel hatred, which is something I can do to her. Love defeats hatred," the princess spoke calmly.
"Hatred?" the unholy king's once melodic voice was now raspy and dry. " How dare you! I am pure love! Let me show you how deeply everyone loves me!"
The ground shook as more rebels emerged by Lily's side, chanting her name. Luminak and She-ra had to back away from the immense army of people.
"Don't you see? Can't you feel it? Thousands of people have found peace with their burning love for me! You're right She-ra, love is the most powerful force. But that's exactly what it is: power. Power can be used in either good or evil, She-ra. And there is one thing I know for certain, when a warrior's heart is driven by love, then no other force on any planet can stop them. I am the true guardian of peace and you are the disrupters. Daddy MagiTek's goal is to bring ultimate peace to the universe; although that weird Horde Primey guy is in the way, but that won't be for long! Silly destruction! It does nothing! Let me bring you peace, true peace. Won't you love me?" the Unholy King smiled as two more tentacles emerged from her back.
The heads of the tentacles had small sharp teeth inside of them while more slime oozed from their mouths. Luminak fires another beam at the tentacles, but the attack just goes right through them. The warrior's eyes widened, his powers were truly useless on a creature such as this. She-ra charges Lily, hitting a few of the people under her control. The princess then drew her sword and sliced off one of the tentacles that tried to control her, but the King just smiles as the tentacle grew another head.
She-ra gripped her sword tightly. Lumiank's power wouldn't work on these things and if she just kept using her sword the cords would just regenerate. The princess dodged another tentacle after another; Lily's attacks were pushing her away from the Unholy King herself. She-ra tried to get near the King, but either another cord would come her way or a warrior under her control would intervene.
The warrior woman panted for a moment as she sliced off another cord.
Even though she knew it would grow back, it was the only thing that could stall Lily's attack. As another group of warriors headed her way in their zombie-like trance, She-ra clenched a fist and prepared to hit the ground. If she could use enough force to make a small hole in the ground maybe she could trap them for a while and not have to worry about their presence. As the princess was about to unleash her attack two men stood before her. Bow and Seahawk's skin had turned gray and now She-ra could clearly see the tentacles attached to their person. Suddenly more tentacles emerged from their fingertips. She couldn't kill them and she didn't want to hurt them; there had to be some way to save everyone!
"What are you going to do?" taunted Lily. "Are you going to destroy their peace? How do you think they are going to feel when they lose their connection with their true love? You monster."
More tentacles sprouted from Lily's arms she shot out a cloud of blue gas in She-ra's direction. The princess was too distracted with Bow and Seahawk, until she suddenly dropped her sword and held her head. She felt dizzy and disoriented until the princess noticed a lush grassy field before her eyes. On the right was a beautiful village with many happy people, while in front Bow and Seahawk stood before her smiling.
"Adora we're finally free from the Horde, we can now live in peace; together," Seahawk grasped her hand gently.
"Yeah Adora it's great! Every planet is free and we can finally relax. Look! We even have a house!," Bow exclaimed.
"Adora once you come with me you'll feel such an amazing burst of love that you'll never want to fight again," the pirate smiled.
"What?" Adora pulled her hand away from Seahawk's as she grasped her head. "Is this a dream? It feels so real. I can feel the both of you, but aren't we all under Lily's spell? Yes that must be it!"
"Spell?" Seahawk took her hand again. "See? I'm real, you can feel me."
Lily grinned, the princess was soooo easy to control. It wouldn't be long before she truly felt Lily's love like the rest of the warriors. The Unholy King all of a sudden found her cheek aching and her body flying into a nearby tree. Luminak punched the King in the face and smirked at his handy work.
"Hah! So I can fight her after all!"
The princess shook her and immediately saw the true Seahawk and Bow walking towards her with the other tentacles. She-ra immediately dodged the cords coming after her.
"Luminak!" She-ra cried out, grateful for his assistance.
"OOOWWW! Hehehe just kidding!" the King stood up grinning.
Luminak faced She-ra, " She does have a lot of power, but her body is completely physical. Aim your attacks at her body without hurting the rebels!"
"Hey," Lily grinned, "you're pretty smart. Where was that brain all these years when you fought the rebels? Hehe, you forget though, I am in control."
The Unholy King snapped her fingers and suddenly every rebel and warrior grabbed a sharp weapon, holding it up to their neck. She-ra picked up her sword and clenched her fists; what could she do? This king was a horrendous being for using her comrades this way. None of her comrades deserved this fate and she couldn't save them. With all the power that She-ra had she was completely helpless in this situation.
Lumiank glared at Lily, but also stood down. His light attacks wouldn't work on this creature and if they made a move Lily would simply sacrifice the innocent people under her control. The princess gasped for a moment and looked at the sky; they were in space. She-ra could see the Whispering Woods coming closer to Horde Prime's Velvet Glove.
"You both should just do yourself a favor and jump off the edge," Lily suggested. "Or maybe I could just make the rebels slit their throats or jump off the edge too! By lack of air with lots of blood when you splatter on the ground; it makes me just giddy to think about it!"
She-ra grasped her sword and then held it in the air and transformed back into Adora. Luminak's eyes widened, as did Lily's; has the princess given up? The king grinned, it was for the best.
"Everyone!" Adora yelled. "This is the last stand of Etheria if you wish it to be! I know you may feel love, but look at what she's done to you. What kind of leader leads by deciet? She made you join the Horde. This isn't true love, it is self-gratification; you were forced into love. This is not what you are truly feeling, what you do now is completely at odds at what this village, rebellion, and forest stands for."
Most of the rebels had tentative looks in their eyes and the King could feel her hold on them weaken.
"No!" the king shouted. "Come back! I love you and you love me!"
Bow's eye twitched slightly as he turned to face Lily, "No….we..love Etheria…"
"H-how can you! ? A-a-are you guys breaking up with me? !" Lily stuttered in disbelief.
Luminak smirked, "Sorry lady, that's just the way it goes."
The Unholy King grabbed her pink tails and screamed at the top of her lungs. Lily released any cords that were attached to the rebels as her warriors that were taken years ago disappeared in the ground. Suddenly the cords wrapped around her body. The King's voice was low with a slight rasp when she spoke.
"What are you all? Some kind of breed of demons? I'll crush you all into itty bitty pieces, you'll see."
Luminak gazed at the rebels who were just coming out of Lily's spell and then glanced at the power resonating from the King's being. The warrior covered his entire body with light and moved so fast that Adora could barely see him. Luminak grabbed as many people as he could away from Lily. The ground shook violently and then more warriors and political leaders emerged from the ground with tentacles attached to them. Each being repeated Lily's name over and over again with their weapons drawn. Luminak managed to get the rebels away from Lily's army and panted slightly. That was a difficult move and took a lot of energy to pull off, but he managed to stand by Adora's side ready to fight.
"There are no hope for these souls Adora. As much as you want to save them it isn't possible," Luminak took a breath.
"I know what has to be done." Adora grabbed her sword again and held it high. "For Peace on all Worlds!"
The princess began her new transformation as Luminak gazed at the army approaching them. The warrior held his stance; even if he was a little tired he would not go down easily, for Adora. Suddenly a few men in Lily's army were knocked away in at random; Lumiank looked at the scene with confusion until he saw She-ra standing above them. The warrior smirked and began to join in the battle. The Unholy King gazed upon the two; if possible they were fighting better now than they had done so far. Despite that these warriors from other worlds were very skilled, both Luminak and She-ra had little trouble knocking them down. How could such powerful beings exist?
As Luminak knocked out another warrior he grabbed a small piece of technology from his pocket and approached Lily. The King's warriors could not match She-ra and Luminak's strength. Lily remained baffled at the scene. No no no no no no no no! How can I lose? Meeeeee? No! It can't be possible! This isn't real! No no no! , Lily panicked. Luminak stood in front of Lily after taking care of the guards closest to her.
"Poor girl," the warrior spoke softly. "Sometimes we all have to deal with the things that life throws at us. Love comes and goes, that's just how it is."
"Really?" Lily looked at him helplessly.
"No."
Luminak slapped the device on the King's back that shocked her entire body. Lily screamed as loud as she could while her body was being electrocuted. The pain was immense as if her entire body was burning. Luminak kicked Lily in the stomach as she stumbled near the edge of the whispering woods. The King felt bones in her body crack while her flesh started to emit smoke; the pain was too great that she fell off the edge near the dangerous lasers that surrounded the woods.
"Magic is a nice touch, but it's technology that you can rely on," Luminak smirked.
"Did we just..?"
Lumiank looked at She-ra, "You can't kill something that wasn't alive. It was only a tool created by MagiTek, whose plans differ from Horde Prime's apparently."
She-ra looked away from the ledge and then at her father, "What was that device anyway?"
"A little piece of technology I saved when I was with the trolls. Basically it's some lost equipment I managed to build in an armory with some extremely flammable sticks, though the trick was to keep the sticks burning. Either way I'm thankful that LightHope didn't get rid of it." Luminak gazed at the rebels who were panicking due to being in space.
The warrior sighed slightly, this was going to be annoying to explain to everyone.
She-ra looked at the rebels then at Luminak, The Trolls? When was he with the Trolls?...,Maybe I should save that question for later…
MagiTek look out into space while running his hand over a control panel in the Velvet Glove. The King felt his 'daughter' lose the battle and walked away from the window.
MagiTek tapped his chin with one finger, "Everything is going as foretold. Come to think of it, what is the difference between a prophecy and a calculation? Not much I suppose. Oh Lily, a fine companion, but a lack of soul can be one's undoing. She never could understand what true love really was."
The King looked out the window and saw the massive structure of the Whispering Woods enter the ship.
"Wh-what are you going to do with the Whispering Woods?" Imp spoke in a cage next to the wizard.
"Me?" the King glanced at the tiny demon. "No, I am much more interested in the little bubble following the woods. Oh Razzella what are you planning to do?"
Whoa, going away to college in a few days. Hopefully I'll find the time for this fic, but don't worry I do not intend to give up on this story! The reason as to why I haven't updated in a bit is because I was entering this design contest and I really wanted to win; sorry! You see the judge is a comic book artist so I wanted the picture to be as perfect as possible. But now let me tell you, I got second place in the contest (to which he even said was a close call for first! (you can see the picture on my deviantart account in my profile here! The monster's name is RedMoon!)
Well anyway: Enjoy the story guys!