Hello again! I had no idea it has been over a month since I last posted. The time just flew by. I've been busy with work and I started taking classes online, on top of a few other things. At any rate, I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to review and those of you who are still with me. It means a lot to me! Enjoy!
Adam and Teela joined everyone in the ballroom and they were having a wonderful evening dancing, talking and laughing.
Adam took turns dancing with Rain and Jevren, while Teela danced with Vlacan and Vloren.
King Randor surprised Teela by asking her to dance, so Adam took that opportunity to dance with his mother.
After they had returned to their friends, Adam and Teela each took turns dancing with the others again and then they went to mingle with the Eternian nobility and several of the visiting dignitaries. By the time they had returned to join their friends once more, it was growing quite late.
When Adam saw his wife stifle a yawn for the second time, he grinned and looked at Rain and Jevren, who were also stifling yawns. "I think it's time for us to take our women to bed," he told the other princes.
Vlacan blinked and his mouth dropped open and Vloren was blushing furiously.
Adam laughed at their expressions. "They are all trying hard not to yawn and we should make sure that they get to their suites so that they can get some sleep," he said. Quirking an eyebrow at them, he asked, "What were the two of you thinking?"
Jevren grinned as Teela and Rain looked at each other, trying hard not to giggle like school girls.
"Never mind," Adam said, shaking his head and waving his hand as Vloren and Vlacan looked like fish out of water trying to come up with an appropriate reply to the question.
"Will we see you all at the games tomorrow?" Teela asked as she wrapped her arm around Adam's waist and deliberately changing the subject.
"Of course," Vlacan replied, relieved, smiling as Rain mimicked her cousin's actions by wrapping her arm around his waist. "My father is excited to see them and he insisted that we all attend, but I assured him that we already had plans to do so since Rain has talked about how exciting they are and had already piqued our curiosity."
Jevren looked up at Vloren, and smiled as he took her hand and kissed the top of it, as they all began to head out of the ball room and towards the corridor that would take them to their suites.
They were nearly to the suites when Adam stopped and his eyes grew distant, his expression changing to one of dismay before he looked at his wife. "The Sorceress just contacted me; Skeletor is attacking Castle Grayskull."
Teela's expression grew dark as she hugged him tightly before pulling away and nodding. "Kick his butt for me, will you?"
Adam grinned and stepped away from her, glancing around to be sure they were alone. He had forgotten that Vloren was the only one not aware of his secret, as he pulled his sword and raised it in the air. "By the power of Grayskull!"
The others watched in amazed awe as Prince Adam was transformed into the mighty He-Man.
When the transformation was complete, Vloren looked at him with wide eyes. "You're He-Man?!" he exclaimed.
Everyone looked at Vloren in surprise and then looked at He-Man, who was looking somewhere between chagrined and shocked.
He-Man groaned. "The Sorceress is gonna kill me..." he muttered before looking at Vloren. "Yes and we can't talk about it right now; we need to go stop Skeletor."
Jevren used her magic to change her and Vloren's clothing into their winter battle gear as He-Man hurried down the corridor to go find Cringer to change him to Battle Cat. "Make sure Teela gets to her suite, would you?" she asked her brother.
Vlacan nodded as he watched his sister and Vloren hurry down the corridor to go meet the other Masters in the courtyard.
When Jevren and Vloren got to the courtyard, He-Man and Battle Cat were already there, along with Man-at-arms and the other Masters. "I'll create a portal to take us straight to Grayskull so we don't have to use the vehicles," she told them all. "It'll be faster."
"Deh... where's Prince Adam?" Ram-Man asked, looking around.
"He's with his wife," Jevren replied. "She's not feeling well."
He-Man gave her a barely perceptible nod as she opened the portal and then he and Battle Cat jumped through, knowing the others would be right behind them.
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Skeletor and Evil-Lyn were sending magic through their staffs to try to break through the magical defenses of the castle and his other minions were standing behind them, guarding their backs. They knew that the Masters would be showing up any minute.
They saw the magical portal appear just a second before He-Man and Battle Cat appeared and Tri-Clops yelled in warning just as the other Masters began barreling through the portal, weapons at the ready.
Jevren sent a blast of magic towards the evil warriors, sending many of them to the ground, but they quickly recovered and began to engage the Masters.
Beastman rushed at Vloren, who grabbed the mangy half-man and hurled him over his head, spinning around to be ready for another attack. Beastman growled and rolled to his feet, turning and swinging a huge claw at the giant Master.
Vloren jumped backwards to avoid the claw and then grabbed his arm, swinging him around and sending him sailing through the air.
One of his gryphons caught him just moments after he fell into the abyss outside of the castle, lifting him to safety high above the battle.
Tri-Clops used the blaster he carried to shoot at Man-at-arms, who barely managed to avoid the blasts by jumping, rolling and dodging. He finally brought his hand cannon up as he rolled to narrowly miss another blast and fired at the warrior, who was caught by surprise and fell to the ground, stunned immobile.
As Man-at-arms began to make his way towards the evil villain to encase him in irons, he was taken by surprise as Stratos tackled him to the ground and kept him from being caught by Whiplash's spiked tail. "Thanks," he grunted as he quickly regained his footing and Stratos shot up into the sky.
"Don't mention it," Stratos grinned, swooping behind the green monster and kicking him in the back, knocking him to the ground.
Whiplash grunted as he fell, but was quickly back on his feet and using his great tail to try and catch the flying Master with it.
Stratos flew around him in circles, which made Whiplash, who was trying to keep up with him, become dizzy. The great monster fell to the ground with a groan as he tried to regain his equilibrium.
Man-at-arms, who had just finished encasing Tri-Clops in magically charged handcuffs, stunned the creature with his canon and then hurried over and snapped a pair of cuffs onto Whiplash as well.
Jevren sent a bolt of magic toward Evil-Lyn, who stopped her attack on Castle Grayskull just in time to deflect it. "What's the matter, Witch; did I interrupt you?" she grinned.
Evil-Lyn's eyes narrowed as she sent a blast through her staff toward Jevren, who easily deflected it with a wave of her hand. Enraged, Evil-Lyn began a full-force attack on Jevren.
Jevren had no trouble deflecting the blasts sent her way and when she saw the evil sorceress pulling power in for what she assumed would be a stronger attack, Jevren took a breath and, at the moment Evil-Lyn sent the blast her way, she put up her shielding and the blast bounced back and hit Evil-Lyn, sending her flying backwards.
The witch screamed as she hurtled past the edge of the abyss, only to be caught a few moments later by the same gryphon that had rescued Beastman.
Skeletor whirled around when He-Man and Battle Cat came out of the portal and he shot a blast of magic towards them that was easily deflected by the big cat's armor.
He-Man jumped off of Battle Cat's saddle and rushed toward the bone-faced warrior, as Skeletor continued to send blasts of magic toward him. Using his sword to deflect the magical bolts of energy, He-Man made steady progress until he and Skeletor were feet away from one another. "Give up, Bone-brain," he said.
"Never, you muscle-headed buffoon," Skeletor cackled. "The power of the Elders will be mine."
"Never," He-Man declared, gripping his sword tighter and setting his jaw. He deflected another blast from Skeletor's Havoc Staff and, with a swipe of his sword, he sent the staff sailing over the edge of the abyss.
Skeletor's eyes glowed red. "You will regret that," he said menacingly, pulling his own sword and separating the twin blades from one another. He rushed at He-Man, swinging.
He-Man blocked each of Skeletor's blows, as the two of them dueled for several minutes. He watched with raised eyebrows as the evil warrior stopped for a moment, breathing heavily. "Getting tired old man?" he asked with a grin.
Skeletor's eyes glowed red and bright. "Not at all," he growled, lunging for the hero once more.
He-Man brought his sword up to keep the blows from coming close to him and sent one of the halves of the sword skittering away from the overlord of evil.
Skeletor gripped the remaining half of his sword with both hands and rushed at He-Man. With a clang, the two swords came together and the battle between them became even more focused and intense.
He-Man used a roundhouse kick to send Skeletor flying backwards and he lost the other half of his sword.
Quickly getting back to his feet, he held out his hand and, magically, the sword flew back into it.
With a scream of frustration, he charged the hero and was taken by surprise when He-Man knelt to the ground and turned his shoulder toward him, sending him flying over him to land flat on his back. Skeletor looked up just in time to see Beastman hurtle toward the edge of the abyss, followed a moment later by Evil-Lyn.
A gryphon rose from the great chasm holding each of them in a giant talon and, looking around, he realized that several of his other allies had been taken prisoner.
As the rest of the gryphons swooped in to snatch up those they could, including Skeletor, he laughed maniacally and shook his fist.
"Another time, He-Man," he called.
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He-Man grimaced as they flew away and then he sheathed his sword and moved towards where the others were gathering around Whiplash and Tri-Clops.
"I'll open a portal directly to the prison so we can get these two secured," Jevren told Man-at-arms, shivering slightly in the cold despite the warm clothing she was wearing. Using a burst of magic, she warmed herself and the others up, smiling at their startled looks, and then opened the portal.
They stepped into the prisons and Man-at-arms ordered the guards to help secure the prisoners in the cells that had been designed for them.
Jevren waited until they were secure and then she placed a spell around each cell. "That will help to keep them from escaping and Skeletor won't be able to break them out."
"Thank you, Jevren," He-Man said with a smile.
"NO!" a voice cried out in alarm from another cell. "I thought I KILLED you! The prince must die! I must kill the prince of Eternia!"
Jevren turned and her eyes widened in alarm when she saw the man who was frantically trying to escape his cell by clawing at the bars. "Lord Garaven?" she asked tentatively as she moved closer to the cell.
The crazed man didn't even appear to hear her as he continued to cry out that the prince must die.
"Garaven," Jevren tried again, "what has happened to you?"
Garaven stilled and looked at her for a moment. "Queen Jevren?" he asked softly.
"Queen?" Jevren asked in confusion, moving so that she was standing in front of the bars so she could look him in the eyes. "It's Princess Jevren, Garaven... what's happened to you?"
The old sorcerer shook his head and took a step back, the insanity returning to his gaze. "No! No; you're one of them! You betrayed your people and married the giant! You and your brother allied yourselves with the king of Eternia and everything changed." He started pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. "I must go back... go back and kill the prince of Eternia... that will stop all of this from happening... we will not turn our backs on millenia of traditions and allow our people to be infected with the blood of outsiders... it's all his fault... I must go back and kill the prince of Eternia..."
Jevren's eyes filled with tears as she watched her former teacher pace around muttering in insanity. "Oh, Garaven, what has happened to you?" she asked softly.
He-Man came closer and Garaven stilled, his eyes filling with hate. "I MUST kill the prince!" he shouted as a blast of energy erupted from his hands and the bars of the cell disintegrated into nothing.
When he raised his glowing hands a second time, Jevren instinctively threw up a shield to protect them all and, a moment later, they stood in shocked silence as Garaven fell to the ground, his body charred beyond recognition.
"Garaven!" Jevren cried out as she lunged for the cell, only to be grabbed and held tightly by Vloren.
"He's gone, Ren," he said softly. "There's nothing you can do for him now."
"No," she sobbed, "no... please, no..."
He-Man came and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You saved us," he told her. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Jevren clung to Vloren, crying in anguish over her mentor's demise.
"Take her back to her suite, will you?" He-Man requested softly of Vloren. "Tell the others what has happened; we'll take care of what needs to be done here."
"He's an elf," Vloren replied, "and they have very strict guidelines for handling their dead. You'd best speak to Queen Elevren and find out what she wants you to do, since she's their queen."
He-Man nodded and Vloren led Jevren out of the prisons.
As soon as they were gone, Man-at-arms told He-Man that he would go and speak to the monarchs, including their own. Since it had happened on Eternian soil, King Randor would certainly want to be informed of what had happened.
"No one will touch the body until we know what Queen Elevren wants us to do," He-Man promised.
Man-at-arms hurried out and He-Man dismissed the other Masters. "You may be called as witnesses, but please my friends, go and try to get some rest."
The others reluctantly agreed and left the prison as He-man closed his eyes and contacted the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull. After apprising her of what had happened, she spoke.
'You said that he was speaking to Princess Jevren as if the things that had happened were in the past, such as calling her 'queen' and speaking of her marriage, though she and Prince Vloren are not yet married?' she asked.
'That's right,' He-Man replied. 'He said he 'must go back and kill the prince of Eternia; that will stop all of this from happening.' What do you think he meant by that?' he asked.
'You and Teela saw Garaven while you were in Aragnor and he not only didn't know you, but he was completely sane,' she replied. 'I believe that the Garaven that died tonight was from the future. He somehow found a way to come back in time to try to kill you so that you would never meet Prince Vlacan and Princess Jevren, and you and they would never become friends and, eventually, allies. It would also explain why I have not been able to retrace his steps and find out why he attacked you. I will try once more and see if I can find some answers now that I have a theory to work with.'
'Thank you, Sorceress,' He-Man replied.
'Oh, and He-Man?' the Sorceress' voice said in his mind, this time sounding stern. 'I know that Vloren knows your secret and how... do we need to have another discussion on the importance of keeping your identity from becoming common knowledge?'
He-Man grimaced. 'No, ma'am,' he replied. 'I understand.'
'Good,' she replied and then was gone.
"Fabulous," He-Man muttered just as the doors of the prison opened and the bleak faces of the kings and queens of Eternia and Aragnor entered, followed by a grim-faced Man-at-arms.
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He-Man bowed as Man-at-arms introduced him to the king and queen of Aragnor. "Your Majesties," he said politely.
"I'm terribly sorry we must meet under such dire circumstances," King Vlancar said.
"As am I," He-Man replied.
"Do you have any idea how Lord Garaven came to be in an Eternian prison cell?" Queen Elevren asked. "I saw him just minutes before we left the palace in Aragnor, yet your Man-at-arms tells me that he's been here for months, locked up for trying to kill Prince Adam, and that he was completely insane."
"I contacted the Sorceress of Grayskull to tell her what has happened and to see if she possibly had any insight and she suggested that he might have been from the future," He-Man replied. "He was speaking of events that have not yet happened as if they were in the past, and he kept saying he had to 'go back' to kill the prince to stop them. She thinks that he found a way to travel into his past, which is our present."
"It would explain how he could be in Aragnor with no idea as to any of the events that have recently taken place," Man-at-arms nodded. "There is a theory that time travel can cause madness, as well, especially when traveling to the past to tamper with it."
"The Sorceress said she will look into the matter further and let us know what she finds. In any case, Your Majesty," He-Man said to Queen Elevren, "we are very sorry for what has happened. Princess Jevren is especially distraught and Prince Vloren said there are guidelines which must be followed for handling his body, since he is an elf. No one has touched him; we were waiting to find out what you would like us to do."
Queen Elevren nodded and held out her hands, and a beautiful cloth of dark green appeared. "This is the traditional burial cloth for us," she told them. "It is infused with special herbs and spices. We must wrap his body completely in the cloth, which will then seal itself around him. As the ruling monarch I mustn't touch the body, but he must be wrapped by another of elven blood... I'm afraid either Vlacan or Jevren will have to come and handle the task, since there are no other elves here in Eternia."
"I believe Prince Vlacan would be the better choice," He-Man replied.
"I agree," Queen Elevren nodded. She got a distant look in her eyes and, a moment later, a portal opened up and her son stepped through.
Vlacan bowed to the monarchs and turned around, his gut roiling when he saw what remained of Lord Garaven. Clenching his teeth, he turned to face his mother once more. "Vloren told me what happened," he said and then gestured to the green cloth she still held. "Since Jevren is still a sobbing mess I suppose it falls to me to wrap his body?"
"Please," Queen Elevren nodded.
Vlacan squared his shoulders and took the cloth from his mother before moving into the cell and kneeling beside the body of his former mentor. He softly chanted the prayers of the elves as he wrapped the body in the cloth.
The others watched as Queen Elevren quietly chanted the prayers along with her son and when he was finished, the cloth gave a soft green glow as it sealed the body of Lord Garaven inside.
"Normally we would transport his body to the Jevalire Forest for a formal burial, but given the circumstances, I feel it would be best if Vlacan, Jevren and I quietly take him through a portal and inter him in our ancestral burial grounds."
"I'll go fetch Jevren, if you'd like to do it tonight," Vlacan told her.
"No," Queen Elevren said with a shake of her head. "It is very late and we have promised to attend the games tomorrow; we will deal with it later tomorrow or the next day."
"Your Majesty," King Randor replied, "we understand if you would rather bury your dead than attend the games."
Queen Elevren gave him a small smile. "I appreciate it, but I would rather leave it for later. Is there someplace we can keep his body until we're ready to take him to Jelvarin?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Man-at-arms replied. "We can transport him by hover-gurney to our morgue's cold storage unit."
"Now that the ritual prayers and wrapping are completed, it is all right for others to touch him," she replied with a nod.
"I will see to it personally," Man-at-arms promised.