Chapter12; A Brothers love; Wise advice of Grayskulls

Guardian



All went exactly as planned. Hordack led Catra, Clawdeen and Shadow Weaver to the spot where they were to find the princess of power. She was there. Relaxing in the grass, seemingly unaware of Hordacks presence. Hordack didn't waste time gloating he merely motioned for Shadow Weaver to begin her spell. They were going to send She-ra through a portal to another world, far across the cosmos; but first they had to trap her in their prison of dark light. It was agreed that Catra and Clawdeen would lure her to the prison which remained invisible until triggered- then Shadow Weaver would transport her instantaneously through the transworld portal using her dark magilk.

"Ohhh, myssstic powers of darkness, let your evil enchantments be freed, your servant of bane and pain is in need, lend me your fire, I offer you thisss champion of light, consume her in your wicked desire, end her radiance with your blight, as is your will, take her far from this place and wreak your ill!" Dark shadows issued from Weavers bony fingers, flowing out from her like smoky and insubstantial serpents, forming a dark pool of fog on the grass, then shimmering they vanished. "Mighty Hordack it is done." She hissed.

"Good," he snorted, "Catra, Clawdeen take her. And don't be gentle!"

Catra lowered her mask and began her transformation. Silently, the two massive cats padded through the bushes, Clawdeen leapt from the ground into the branches of the lavender Liumas tree shading She-ra's reposing form, leaving Catra to take the front. Catra released a low, throaty snarl.

"Hello pussycat." She-ra said, leaping from her supine position to her feet.



"Heee-yaagh!" She yelled, launching herself into the air, somersaulting over Catra, landing behind her. Catra's leonine form whipped around as Clawdeen jumped from the tree to be at her side. Together they made a strikingly formidable duo. Clawdeen shook out her lustrous pink mane as the two advanced, baring long, ivory canines, growling menacingly. She-ra took a step back, a mocking smile graced her lips.

"Hello kitties, feeling frisky today are we? Okay, catch me if you can!" Spinning about on her gold-booted heel, she ran toward a tall, straight, thick trunked Liumas. The two cats darted after her. Instead of dodging to the side of the tree, using her momentum to give her enough push ran up the tree's trunk and arched over the backs of the large, fanged predators.

"Heeee-yaagh!" She cried, landing lightly on her feet. Swiftly, grabbing Clawdeen by the tail, she swung her around with no apparent effort and slung her into the pool she had lain by just moments ago. She-ra laughed lightly at the fuchsia felines sodden howl of indignation and drew her sword. Circling Catra warily, a wicked glint lit her eye.

"Catra, if I didn't know any better I'd swear you've been in the catnip again." Catra roared and leaping at her throat. "Sword to Shield!" She yelled, backing up. Moving closer to the hidden trap. Smiling, She-ra viciously slammed the shield into Catra's oncoming cranium. There was a satisfying thunk as furry head met metal. The violet Panther fell to the side, hitting the ground and rolling unconscious onto the grass.

"Night, night kitty." She said sheathing her sword. Turning her back on the insensible feline she walked away. Suddenly, without warning she was encased in a cage of dark fire.

"Ow!" She cried in surprised pain.

Her skin burned where it touched the glowing violet bars and she cringed away from them. Huddled down her eyes darting from side to side she gasped in seeming shock as Shadow Weaver and Hordack stepped from the trees.

"Oh no!" She whispered, her eyes widening in surprise.

"That's right," Hordack sneered, laughing in fiendish delight, "I am finally going to be rid of you once and for all! And all thanks to Adora!"

"Adora!" I don't believe you! You're lying. Adora would never betray me." Hordack just laughed.

"Adora has betrayed the entire rebellion. She is mine once more. She will lead Horde forces against the puny efforts of this planets defense and together we will enslave the populace."

"No!" She-ra breathed as if horrified at the idea. "I won't believe it!"

"I don't care if you do. You are not my problem anymore." Hands on his hips he leaned in close to her. She could feel his hot fetid breath on her cheek. "Good-bye, She-ra." He motioned to the crimson sorceress at his side, "Weaver, send her away."

"As you wish , Hordack." Weaver rasped. Black smoke enveloped She-ra and the cage of dark light.

"No!" She cried, to no avail. Her world went black.



Hordack trembled in absolute ecstasy as the Princess of Power disappeared. "I did it!" He gloated, "I defeated She-ra!" Shadow Weaver looked at him sharply and unfolded her arms, straightening her back.

"With all due respect, Mighty one, without my magiks-" His dark look quickly quelled whatever else she was going to say. Gulping she bowed her head, re crossing her arms over her chest. He smiled.

"This is a great day for the Horde. Adora has returned to us and I defeated She-ra. Soon the entire planet will fall to Adora's sword."

"She hasn't won the tournament yet!" Shadow Weaver hissed. Hordack snorted, unconcerned.

"She will. Tomorrow Adora will kill Leech, silencing the dissidents clamoring for justice on behalf of the children he killed. Then she will take over as my new Commanding General."

"Ohhh," Shadow Weaver grated, "only if none of our other generals challenge her!" Hordack frowned. Why was she trying to dampen his euphoria?

"Adora can handle any one of them; the only one to really worry about has no interest in commanding my army." He stressed the word my, leaving his little witch no doubt as to who was actually running things.

"Wait for those miserable furballs to ready themselves, then return to the fright zone. I want you at my side when the commanders begin arriving. Those who have little fear of my technology will be wary of your magic. I will use that."

"As you wish, my lord." She answered bowing her head in consent

She-ra awoke with a throbbing headache. Moaning, rubbing her temple, she sat up quickly. Too quickly. The world spun in a blur of colors and shadows. Her stomach rolled. Gasping she rolled to her knees and began retching horribly, heaving the contents of her stomach onto the ground. She closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly shut, counting to ten before opening them once again. Using her wrist she wiped the side of her mouth. Black magic. Not her ideal way to travel.

"Hey sis. How's life?" She whirled, going from her knees to her bottom, sword in hand, to find a handsome, yellow-haired man in a pink tunic and white undershirt with lavender pantaloons smirking over at her. A green tiger lay at his feet as he reclined by a large boulder. It was Adam. Her brother. She hadn't seen him in so long.

Dropping her sword to the ground, she burst into tears.

"Adora what's wrong?" He asked standing up straight, a concerned expression on his face. She-ra stood, stumbling forward and threw herself into his arms.

"Oh, Adam," She wept, her tears soaking into his tunic, "It's terrible! I don't think I'll ever-be-happy-a-gaiiiin!" She hiccupped this last, wiping her nose on his sleeve. He reached his large arms around her rubbing her back in a soothing motion.



"Hey, little sister it can't be that bad…can it?" She sniffled and stood up, pulling away slightly.

"It is that bad. Adam, I have to kill someone." Adam was silent, not betraying his shock by so much as a flicker of an eyelash. He kept his own counsel, giving her a chance to collect herself.

Drawing in a shuddering breath, she sat in the cool, green grass. Immediately, Adam did the same. They sat close enough that their knees touched. Enough to offer comfort without stifling her. She sat, head in her hands for a short while. Then turning her tearstained features to him she told him everything. He listened without interruption. He didn't condemn her or offer up any moral judgments or try to persuade her of her folly. He was just there. What he heard horrified him, her heartache became his own. He felt so inadequate in the face of her anguish. He wanted to make it better and he couldn't.

Occasionally he would nod encouragement but mostly he simply listened. Finally it was done. She watched his face for any sign of anger, any hint of revulsion or recrimination. There was none. All she saw was the love he had for her, the hurt he was experiencing at having not been there for her and the desire to help.

"Adora, I'm so sorry." He whispered petting her hair and pulling her in for another hug.

"Don't be sorry for me, Adam. Be sorry for my world." Her voice cracked as fresh tears rushed fiery tracks down her face. "It's going to get much worse before it gets better. For any of us." She looked at her brother.

He tried looking serious, solemn, somber, but there was a wicked glint in his eye.

"What?" She asked, puzzled. Her question caused the sides of his mouth to twitch.

"You actually said that?" She still appeared confused so he stood. Pursing his lips and sticking out his chest he pranced in front of her. In a horrible falsetto voice he said, "you're not an animal you're just a slave and your daughter is just a dead slave." He narrowed his eyes a little to appear threatening. She giggled. When she had said it, it had been sooo mean. But when Adam did it, it was- well funny.

"It was worse than that. I was perfectly horrid, Adam." He grinned unrepentant.

"Well, what can I say sis, when you're good you're really good and when you're bad," he lowered his voice dramatically, "you're perfectly evil." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. She laughed, a short gruff guffaw, but a genuine, from the belly, ejaculation of joy.

"I love you, Adam." She said softly.

"I know." He answered back. They were silent a moment.

"Adora, are you sure you know what you're doing?" When she didn't answer he moved to sit beside her. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she was laying her head on her arms, staring pensively at nothing. Finally she spoke.

"Adam, the People of Etheria can not be forced into fighting for a cause they don't believe in. Obviously they don't believe in the rebellion. They think they can bargain with the Horde, retain some of their freedoms and liberties. Too often I have heard the plea for peace- as if the Horde would grant their desire. Who insures the peace which they deem so precious? We do. The Horde would never heed their wish for peace. I am making them face the reality of the Horde now. As Etheria falls and her people realize what they have lost they will inundate the rebellion with their desire and will to fight for freedom. They take what few liberties they have for granted. They will continue to do so if things do not change. Then our last hope for freedom will die in their apathy. Someone has to say 'No more'; in unity my people will find their strength."

"But why must Etheria fall at your hands?" Adam queried struggling to understand his sister without judging her. She-ra mindlessly plucked at the grass next to her.

"I am the only one in a position to ensure that this war remains clean. Without me what Leech did could happen again. Children must not suffer for the actions of adults. They are innocent." Adam frowned.

"Newsflash sis, in war children always suffer."

"But they don't have to be slaughtered!" She snapped. "If Etherians will not fight now, after what Leech did, then they will fight when they lose everything! Freedom, hope, choice, liberty, love, all of these things will whither beneath the cold rule of the Horde. Then my people will realize why they must fight."

"Adora, they will fight you." Adam stated bluntly. "They will not thank you for this." She was still. Adam pressed his advantage, "Adora, forget Etheria, if you no longer fight for the rebellion then come home. Don't become what you hate so much."

"Adam, I don't have a choice." His nostrils flared as she said that.

"You always have a choice!" She looked at him. He wanted to weep at the despair and unflinching resolve he glimpsed in her eyes.

"You want to know why I am committed to this course." She whispered softly, half to herself. Adam swallowed, nodding with boyish uncertainty. Normally Adora would find his innocence cute. He was so unused to the reality of full scale war. But she had to make him understand.

In a voice fraught with self-hatred and guilt, raw with pain and fury the words seemed ripped from her throat, her pupils dilating as she gazed at something he could not see.

"You're wrong we don't always have a choice. Sometimes the choice is made for us. Between the village of Dwyllan and the fright zone lies a trail of small, fresh graves, each marked by a small marker in honor of the small body buried there. Aiden was seven, he had such beautiful dimples. Jerlissa, nine, she liked ponies. Kyla, eight, with the hands of a healer and a way with animals. Morgan, seven and a half, missing a tooth. Lost it fighting with his brother. Sebastian would have been eight tomorrow, tone deaf, but loved to sing. Jonathan," and here her voice quavered, nearly breaking, but coming back with a defiant strength, "Jonathan eight years old and blue. Blue because he was already dead when his parents brought him to me. Leech killed them Adam!" Nose curling in disgust, eyes narrowed in hate she was terrifying and fragile all at once.

"He murdered them before they had a chance to be what they could become. But he is not alone in his guilt. The people allowed it. We warned them. I warned them. They must be made to see the truth. And if they don't want to, then I will shove it down their throats and make them choke on it!" Hands small and white balled into tight fists, trembling with fury.

"If Etheria should fall it will not be because they are ignorant of the true nature of the Horde. I will show them what they truly are."

"But why you? Adora are you blind? You do have a choice. Walk away." She-ra glared furiously at her brother.

"Have you heard nothing?! I can't just walk away- blind? I see only all too clearly. I close my eyes and I see them in my head, Aiden, Jerlissa, Kyla, Morgan, Sebastian, Jonathan. Do you know what it is like to close your eyes and see dead children?!" Adam watched his sister struggle to put into words the tempestuous emotions inside her with compassionate regard.

"No, I don't. But I do know what it feels like to think you have killed a man. It is not something you get over. You will never get over it. So before you kill Leech you think real hard about what you are doing. Because once you have killed there is no turning back from it. Ever."

"Leech is not a man. He is a monster!" She seemed so fragile to him in that moment that all he wanted to do was sweep her up and carry her to Eternia with him. No one should have to hurt as she was right now. No one person had shoulders wide enough to carry the burden she was placing upon herself. But Adam was helpless.

Then, before his eyes he watched his gentle sister become She-ra, the warrior maid.

Her vulnerability slowly disappearing as she stood. Her back erect, her mein poised, her chin tilting at a defiant angle, a stubborn glint in her eyes.

"Adam, thank you, thanks for understanding, thanks for not judging me. Thanks for believing in me." He grinned wryly.

"What can I say, I'm a real prince of a guy." She smiled back.

"Are we ready brother?"

"Sure are." She-ra pulled her sword from her sheath. "Sorceress, can you hear me?" A beautiful woman in a Falcons headdress appeared in the jewel within her sword.

"I hear you, She-ra." A faint feminine voice answered.

"Adam and I are ready to return home."

"Of course child of Eternia." The voice echoed. A golden portal of light appeared in front of her. She-ra looked to her brother who motioned for her to go forward. She moved through the portal. Instantly she was within the walls of Castle Grayskull. Her breath caught in awe as the wisdom of the ancients flowed around her, gentling her mind and easing her troubled soul. Adam and Cringer followed close behind. Once through the gateway, they watched as it shrank into nothing.

"Greetings, Princess and to you as well Prince Adam."

"Sorceress." She-ra acknowledged.

"I trust that man-at-arms homing beacon worked alright?" The sorceress inquired. Adam nodded.

"Like a charm. When I found her she was sleeping like a baby."

"Brother, will you thank Duncan for me. Without him I don't think I could have pulled this off." Adam smiled into his sisters eyes and drew her close. Kissing her forehead.

"I'll tell him. You know, if you ever need me-" She-ra nodded furiously, placing her hand over his mouth to silence him. Tears, once again charting a mindless course of sorrow down her cheeks. She was unable to speak. Adam took her wrist and kissed her hand

"I don't pretend to understand what you're going through. I'm still not entirely convinced of your line of reasoning; but I trust you. I worry for you. Be safe." He released her and stepped back. The sorceress moved forward, her own eyes shimmering.

"Your task is so much more difficult then He-Man's. You don't even have the support of your people behind you. I believe that is why you were chosen as the champion of Etheria."

"What? Why?!" She-ra asked, confusion written across her face. The sorceress smiled a gentle smile full of timeless patience.

"You are a woman. Inside of you is the steel upon which your soul is housed. You get that from your mother you know. You have the mettle and courage to do what needs to be done. Ugly and cruel though it may seem." She-ra's eyes lit with hope

"Am I doing the right thing?" She pleaded.

"Adora, you were chosen for this so you must follow the urgings of your own heart, for therein lies your strength. But I do know that the greatest thing a parent can do for a child is let them be free to live with the consequences of the choices they make. And in so doing give them a chance to grow strong."

"Is that what I am? The mother to Etheria's people. I can't even guide myself at times let alone them!" Bitterness tinged her voice. The sorceress, raising her arms with majestic grace, let the magic of Grayskull wash over She-ra in waves of golden light. She-ra felt empowered. Focused. Strong. And for the first time hopeful and somewhat sure of the path ahead of her.

"She-ra, as a champion of light and goodness and a child of light and hope, you must make the difficult decisions. In your hands rest the eternal argument; do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Should you fight evil one small victory at a time or give up small battles in order to win a war."

"Sorceress," She-ra pleaded, anguished, "my choices all seem so dark." The sorceress lay her hand on She-ra's cheek, as she did so She-ra felt a warm rush of energy suffuse her entire being.

"Let the power return." The sorceress softly said. A vacuum opened inside her and

She-ra the golden goddess of wisdom disappeared, to be replaced by Adora. "She-ra has the powers of Grayskull to give her strength; you, Adora, have the knowledge and wisdom to guide her. Your greatest asset and strength lies not in the warrior woman you become, but in the woman of passion you are."



"Sorceress, I fear I may lose my way and lead my world into a never ending night! Everywhere I turn shadows nip at my heels making my reality a waking nightmare!"

"Adora, princess of power and wonder, remember, everything the light touches casts a shadow. Our first impulse is often to run from the dark places in our soul. But we can never conquer by fleeing. To defeat the night within us all we must understand what we fight. You understand. Your people do not." Adora straightened her shoulders and took a steadying breath.

"Your wisdom, as always helps me mark the path I must travel. I will ponder what you have said and use it as a light for my footsteps when I must tread in dark places."

"I sense difficult times ahead Adora, but you will make it through as you were always meant to. A champion of light." Adora looked down, unable to look into the eyes of this wise woman who placed such faith in her. The sorceress raised an elegant hand, her blue feathered arms rustling gently. A portal opened. The one which would take her home. She stepped towards it. Then she stopped, turning to take one last look at her brother. His eyes proclaimed his love and support. As she moved through the cosmic gate which would take her home, like ice pouring over her shoulders she heard the voice of the sorceress in her mind.

Do not kill using the sword of protection.

She turned quickly, and met the steely-eyed gaze of the most powerful woman on Eternia and possibly in the universe. She nodded slowly, not understanding but bowing to the wisdom of Grayskulls sorceress. She stepped through the portal into Etheria.

Adora's shoulders slumped as she stepped onto Etherian soil, the burden of her world weighing heavily upon her. She wasn't far from the Fright Zone, slowly she began the short trek back to the horde.