The little princess stood beside her father's desk in his study. She could see something sparkly was sitting on it, but because she was too short, the little princess couldn't see what was causing the light show on the ceiling.

Frowning, she looked at her father's very comfy chair behind the desk. Glancing behind her through the opened door towards the hall, the little princess made a plan.

After climbing into the chair, the little princess stood on the seat finally able to look at the desk's surface.

Sitting among black velvet in a wooden tray was an arrangement of natural crystals and polished gems sparkling in the sunlight from the windows.

A very pretty blue crystal seemed to sparkle the most. Slowly, the little princess reached towards it.

"Veena, what are you doing?"

The little princess slowly turned her head towards the sound of her father's voice.

Her father stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips.

"Ah." She pulled her outstretched arm back quickly.

Sighing, he lowered his hands and walked in, as she sat down in the chair. "You know you shouldn't be standing in chairs, young lady."

The little princess hung her head.

"Care to explain yourself."

"I wanted to see what was on the desk." She raised her head. "Then I wanted to touch one of the crystals."

Her father tilted his head slightly. "Which one?" He walked up to the desk.

The little princess looked up at him frowning. "I can't see it now."

"You can stand up now."

Carefully, she stood up and pointed to the pretty blue crystal. "That one."

"This one?" Her father picked it up.

The little princess nodded. "Yeap. It's prettier than the others."

Her father rolled it in his hand. "All right, Precious, you've chosen your crystal."

"My crystal?" She frowned up at him.

Her father smiled at her. "I'll explain later, Pet." He placed back among the others. "Come along. You should be out playing."

"Okay." The little princess climbed out of the chair and followed her father out of the room.

Chapter 36

He-man stared at the empty space the Queen had stood. This had truly gotten more complicated than he had thought possible.

Whatever her name was, was Queen Veena's sister? Great. There was that rumor about Skeletor, and now he knew that he was related to someone he wished he wasn't.

"That went slightly better than I had hoped."

He-man turned to face the Goblin King. "That was better?"

The King nodded. "The only problem is she recognized the sword."

He-man glanced at the sword strapped to his back. "So she might figure out I'm at most a decedent of King Greyskull?"

"Yes. Which may cause some problems later."

He-man nodded. "I'll keep it in mind."

He-man, you and King Jareth need to come to Castle Greyskull immediately.

He-man frowned. "We need to get back to Greyskull."

The King returned his frown. "What did she say?"

"Only that we needed to get back immediately."

The King sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't have enough power left at the moment to teleport us."

"You're more than welcome to ride Battle-cat, Your Majesty."

The King slightly glared at him. "No, thank you."

He-man glanced at Battle-cat, who seemed to be frowning.

The King looked at the towering Castle. "We will walk. I need to have a word with Emeric."

He-man frowned. "Veena could be in trouble, and you need to speak with the Captain?"

The King turned his gaze back to the hero. "I do not wish to cause any issue with your secret, so do not push me, Prince. Also, we both know she is more than she seems."

Then the King walked away from He-man and towards the large group of soldiers standing close to the Castle.

He-man quickly mounted Battle-cat. The massive tiger raced past the Goblin King towards the lowered drawbridge.

He-man didn't notice the smile the Goblin King gave him as he passed.

XOXOXOXOX

The world around her was purple. Actual purple. Mist floated around her. Veena frowned. Was she unconscious again? Just what she needed. The power held within the crystal had to have been more than she could handle. If it hadn't been then why was she here? Where ever here was?

Silence met her. There wasn't even the sound of wind. So how was the mist moving around her?

"This is not how I was planning to do this."

Veena turned towards the voice.

A beautiful woman dressed similarly to the Sorceress minus the headdress walked out of the mist.

Veena frowned. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "The last time I saw you, you were a tiny little thing."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm Veena. Well, Queen Greyskull."

Veena raised an eyebrow. "So Queen Veena?"

The woman smirked slightly. "That will be your title one day, I'm sure, but yes, I'm Queen Veena."

"Why have your powers protected to give to me?"

"To stop someone else from getting them. I could not allow them to fall into the hands of my sister."

"Sister?"

The Queen frowned. "I'll allow your father to explain that." The Queen sighed. "The powers I left to you are tied to this land. Not too unlike the Sorceress's, but you can still call on them even when not on Eternia unlike her."

Veena frowned slightly. "Good to know."

The Queen sighed again. "Veena, I'm here because I have a message to give."

"What is it?" Veena furrowed her brow.

"Not only did Mizumi send your brothers and mother away. She cursed your brothers and took both theirs and your mother's memories."

"So even if we can find them...?" Veena pushed back the fear and anger.

"They wouldn't recognize you, but I doubt they would regardless. You've grown as have they."

"Doesn't matter." Veena shook her head. "We have to find them."

"And you will. I have given you a map of their locations. Although, your father does know where to find your mother."

"You know where they are?"

The Queen nodded. "I've placed counter curses on them. You aren't the only one they will need to escape what my sister has done."

"Where's the map?" Veena looked around her still seeing nothing but the mist.

"In your mind. I'm sorry. I'm only a memory left to help you with what little I knew at the time I placed the power in the crystal. Soon I'll disappear. I can't say if the true me is alive or not, but I do know if I am alive, I will help when I can."

Slowly Queen Veena began to be as translucent as the mist around her.

"Wait! How do I find the map?"

"Return to the room your father held your memories. Put a new crystal in the place of the one that once held your memories. Then all will be revealed in time."

Veena watched as the Queen disappeared into the mist leaving her alone. Suddenly the world around her became blinding bright forcing her to close her eyes.

When she next the opened them, she was met with the ceiling of the throne room of Greyskull and the sound of arguing.

"You aren't taking her anywhere!"

"You have no right to tell me what I will do with my daughter."

Slowly Veena sat up to find the Sorceress, her father, and Adam standing close to the pyramid. She wasn't too far from them. Cringer rubbed his chin against her hand. Giving the massive tiger a quick pat, Veena got off the clearly makeshift bed.

Adam and the Sorceress's backs were to her while her father faced them. He clearly wasn't happy about something.

Adam stood with his arms across his chest. "Don't you think you've done enough."

"Prince Adam!" The Sorceress turned to him quickly.

Adam turned his head towards her. "Sorry, but you didn't see her floating like that."

The Sorceress nodded slowly. "True, but he is still her father."

"Veena should have a say. She's had no say about anything that's happened to her."

"She's a princess. It comes with the title you would know that, Prince." Her father smirked.

Veena walked up to them. "Adam's right. I should have a say if I'm to go anywhere."

Both Adam and the Sorceress turned to face her, while her father frowned.

Adam shared a quick glance with the Sorceress before walking up to her.

"Are you okay, Ve? What happened?"

"I'm fine." She paused for a moment. Should she tell him everything? Sighing, she smiled at him. "I'll explain later."

Frowning, Adam nodded. "You sure you're okay?"

"She's fine, Prince. And we'll be going." Her father grabbed hold of her arm.

Veena pulled her arm out of her father's grasp. "I'm not going anywhere."

Her father glared at Adam. "Veena, you need to return to the Labyrinth."

"Why do I need to return to the Labyrinth so quickly?"

Adam moved to stand between Veena and her father as Veena rubbed her arm where her father had held.

Her father sighed. "Because how else will we find your brothers."

"The map?" How did he know? She'd only just learned about it.

"Yes. I only got a quick message by crystal saying that she would hide a map inside the crystal along with the powers."

"Okay, but that doesn't mean I have to rush to use it and find them."

The Sorceress walked to the Goblin King's side. "She's right. Veena needs time to get used to the power just given to her."

"Veena, I understand you want time, but once I've regained my power we need to return home."

Veena frowned as she looked down at her hands. "Cause the Sorceress can't teach me how to use these powers cane she?"

Her father nodded. "Teela-Na has taught you all she can. You need to return to the Labyrinth for a short time. Once you've gained enough experience, then you'll return." He looked at Adam. "After all, I'm sure he'll want to help you."

Thanks for all the lovely reviews, follows, and faves. Only one more post to go with this story. I can't believe it's almost over. I've already started working a bit on the next book. I hope to begin it early next year. I want to give my main Laby fic more time to get going.

CL