***Again I don't own any rights to the He-Man characters. This is just for
fun. Sorry this chapter is kind of long.
CHAPTER 6: Introductions
Snake Mountain.. "Did you find anything?" Evil -Lyn prodded Tri-Clops and Clawful as she entered her study. Tri-Clops mechanical eye spun around to see the witch enter the room behind him. "I think we have," he seethed. Then he looked around. "Where's Beast- Man?" Evil-Lyn didn't flinch at the thought. "Taking a nap," she said nonchalantly. "What did you discover?" Tri-Clops held the book he was reading open to her and pointed to a section on the page. Evil-Lyn's eyes flickered with dark energy as a sadistic smile crawled across her face as she read the passage. "I must see Skeletor, NOW!" she laughed. "I believe I have already found the answer to his question, and I think I know where she is." Tri-Clops looked at Clawful and shrugged. "Let's go then." He responded to the witch.
The Royal Palace. Erin had become increasingly uneasy about her surroundings. She didn't know anyone and didn't know who to trust. The fact that her dog was talking and everyone seemed to hear and understand him without a second thought was really weird, but she had a hard time believing she was on another planet. Especially since she had no idea how she got there. She sat in the Royal Garden and looked around. "If I'm losing my mind, this is a hell of a way to go," she thought to herself and put her head in her hands. Her head was spinning and she felt sick. She was dirty, bruised and tired but she didn't trust herself to sleep and most of all, she didn't trust these "people" around her. She was so consumed by her thoughts that she didn't even notice Man-At-arms and a stranger walk up behind her. "Erin, are you feeling okay?" Man-At-Arms asked gently as her put his hand on her shoulder. Erin jerked up and shrugged the gentleman's hand off. "Yeah" she replied quickly. "I'm just trying to sort.." She looked at the man at Man-At-Arm's side. "Um, hello." He said with some uneasiness. "I'm Adam, Prince of Eternia." Erin noticed how uneasy the young man seemed. "Prince" she thought to herself. "He looks about my age." There was something about him, though, that struck her. A familiarity she couldn't explain almost as if it were deja vu. She took a second to study his features, blonde hair, gray eyes, strong build. She stared until he blushed and then she caught herself. "Sorry," she apologized looking down. "But have we met..no we couldn't have. Nevermind." She realized the idea was absurd and that she sounded like a babbling fool. "We came to show you to your quarters." The prince told her. Erin jumped a little. "I'm staying.here. but I don't know you..how do I know it's safe?" The two men picked up on her anxiety easily and looked at each other for a solution to the problem. Finally Adam broke the silence. "Duncan said you were from Earth," he asked. "Is that correct?" Erin didn't speak, only nodded yes. Her dark brown hair covering her face slightly as her head moved. The prince continued, "My mother, the Queen, is also from Earth and has been told of your arrival. She's anxious to meet you." Erin hesitated. "How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" she questioned. "No offense but I'm kind of in a difficult situation here." As the men were about to reply, a green and yellow flash, followed by Jerry came bounding around the corner of the garden. The flash, which turned about to be a tiger-like animal, jumped into Adam's arms and knocked him to the ground. Erin was astounded at the size of the animal. It was twice the size of Jerry yet scared to death of him.. "Cringer, get off of me please," Adam scolded his pet. The great cat was shaking like a leaf. "I don't wanna," he retorted to his master. "The monster is..gonna."gulp" eat me!" Jerry cocked his head to one side. "Gee that was fun," he panted and looked up at Erin. "Can I go again?" Erin, now somewhat accustomed to her pet's new-found vocal abilities, rolled her eyes at the rottweiler. "I think he's had enough, don't you?" Jerry sat down and pouted. He looked at the crumpled cat and his master on the ground and chuckled to himself. The man's scent was familiar to him, but after the busy day, he wasn't sure exactly how. Erin noticed the look on her dog's face. "What do you say Jerry, can we trust them?" she asked her pet as she knelt down next to him. "Only one way to find out," the dog replied. The rottweiler stood and slowly walked over to the Prince, who suddenly looked uneasy and looked up at his friend Duncan. As he got closer, Cringer cowered on his master, thus keeping him pinned to the ground. Before Man-At-arms could stop the dog, Jerry took a long sniff of the Prince's hand. Jerry instantly made the connection to the man they had met in the woods. "Hey," the dog said sounding startled. "You're." He stopped himself when he saw the pleading look in the Prince's eyes. He wasn't sure why, but the big dog knew he needed to stop talking, as if some force were telling him to keep quiet. "You're..okay," he finished, unsure of what just happened. He turned to Erin. "It's fine, we can trust them." Erin eased up a little, but was still apprehensive. "Okay," she said to the prince who was slowly picking himself off of the ground. "Let's go see my quarters." With that the group headed back to the palace.
Snake Mountain.. Evil-Lyn knew what she had learned would be very well received. She handed the book to Skeletor and smiled as he looked up at her. "A visitor, huh?" he questioned. "Is he here already?" Evil-Lyn laughed. "It's not a he, it's a she." With that she explained her encounter with the Earth woman in the woods and how she eluded the witch and the ogre. "I see," Skeletor seethed as Beast-Man entered the room groggily. "And you let her get away!" With that, Skeletor shot a bolt of energy from his havoc staff that hit Beast-Man in the chest and sent him flying a good 50 feet. Evil-Lyn's eyebrows raised a little but nonetheless, she smiled curtly. "I saw her heading toward the palace with Man-At-Arms and that cursed He- Man," Evil-Lyn explained to her frustrated master. "The timing wasn't right, but it will be." Skeletor stood inches away from her face. "Is that so?" he asked. "Don't worry," the witch cooed sensing Skeletor's impatience. "I read her mind. I sensed a great amount of fear and distrust in her. Plus, whatever great power she has, she does not know what it is or how to use it. We can use that to our advantage." Skeletor sat back down and stroked the huge purple cat, Panthor, sitting next to him. "Well, get to work then," he demanded. "I want this power for myself. Get this Earth woman here, soon."
Meanwhile, back at the palace.. Erin had been escorted to a guest room and she sat down on the big, regal looking bed with red velvet blankets and big purple pillows. She ran her hand over then side of the edge of it and thought about her boring, simple twin bed at home. Home. She wondered if anyone was looking for her. She knew that Bill would send out a search party, but that was all. They would assume an animal had attacked her, or the UFO freaks would tell tabloids that aliens abducted her. In a week that search party would become a recovery mission looking for her body. But they would find nothing and eventually give up. She sighed. She had no family, very few friends other than Jerry, and no one that would even care if she were gone. The thought still brought tears to her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly. "What does it matter?" she thought. "No one cares anyway." Next to her, Jerry whined. "I do, boss." She lay backwards and placed one arm over her eyes and the other over her dog. She gave into her fatigue and started to drift off. It was short lived however, and her doze was broken when she heard her door open. She sat up and saw an elegant looking woman, about the age her own mother would have been had she not died years ago, enter the room. She wore a long, flowing green and white dress and a gold tiara sat elegantly atop a pile of beautiful red and gray hair perfectly. She smiled as she slowly approached the bed. Jerry looked up at her, snorted and then went back to sleep. His day had been too long. "Hello Erin," she said. "I'm Marlena, Queen Marlena. Are you feeling well enough to talk?" Erin rubbed her eyes. "Yes...Adam said you would come and see me. He said you were from Earth." The Queen sat on the bed next to her. She felt sorry for the young woman and memories from the time she crash landed on Eternia and was lost and confused came flooding back to her. She looked into the girl's blue, but red and puffy eyes. She had been there, and she knew exactly what she was going through. She told the girl about how she was an astronaut and how she crashed her ship, The Rainbow Warrior, on Eternia when it was damaged in a meteor storm in space. She told her about how King Randor rescued her and how she eventually fell in love with him and decided to stay. She also told her about Adam's and Adora's birth, the girl's kidnapping and how she was brought back by Adam years later. She told her of her life on Eternia and how she wouldn't trade it in for anything. It was a long story that spanned over a long period of time. After listening intently on what the Queen had told her, Erin looked at her sadly. "Am I going to be here a long time?" she asked. "I don't know," the Queen said as she put her arm around the girl who looked like she was about to lose it. "Man-At-Arms is working on finding out how you came to be here, but with so little information to go on, it could take some time." She saw how unhappy Erin was and hugged her tenderly. "Dear, I know what you are going through so feel free to come talk to me anytime. You can trust people here, we'll help you. I want you to stay here with us for as long as it takes," she soothed. Erin looked at the woman and smiled. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. The Queen touched the woman's shoulder. "Many people here are kind, if you let them be. No one here will hurt you, I promise." For some reason, Erin believed her and nodded. She felt safe and that made her relax more than she had since she woke up on this strange planet. The Queen stood up and held her hand out to the woman. "Come now," she said. "Let's get you cleaned up and changed for dinner. I believe I should have something that will fit you nicely." Erin looked down at her dirty forestry service uniform. At that moment, a bath and some clean clothes sounded like just the thing she needed. She took Marlena's hand and thought about her own deceased mother. "Thank you," she said. "For everything." Marlena smiled. "Anything you need," she said and the two women walked out of the room.
Later that night at dinner.. The Royal Dining room was a buzz with activity. Most of the Defenders were at the Palace after Man-At-Arms put them on high alert., but he didn't tell them why. Not even Teela, Captain of the Royal Guard knew what was going on and that really annoyed her. So she took it out the best way she knew how, on Adam. She found him standing in the corner talking quietly to her father and decided to interrupt them. "You missed combat practice today, again." She poked at the prince's shoulder. "I swear Adam, am I going to be your bodyguard forever, or are you going to learn how to fend for yourself?" Flustered, Adam ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry Teela, I was busy..with something else." He looked at her unforgiving scowl. "Yeah, right. Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "I would like to know what's more important than your training?" At that moment, the Queen entered the dining room followed by a stranger that Teela was unfamiliar with. Some young woman she didn't recognize. This made her suspicious. "Who's that?" she asked Adam as the young woman kept close to the Queen. Whoever she was, she looked as if she were royalty, wearing a long, blue and silver shimmery dress that Teela was sure she saw the Queen once wear. The woman's shoulder length hair was tied back with a ribbon. Whoever, she was though, Teela saw that she was obviously worn out, she looked as though she may faint at any moment. She turned back to her friend but he was walking over to his mother and the woman. A slight pang of jealousy hit her. "Father, would you mind telling me what's going on around here?" Man-At-Arms looked at his daughter and scolded himself for not talking to her about the situation earlier. "Yes," he said. "Let's go to my workshop and talk." With that, the two exited the dining hall but no one seemed to notice. Across the room, people whispered and stared, some pointed. All of this attention made Erin nervous. She leaned over to say something to the Queen but Marlena read her mind. "Relax," she soothed. "No one will hurt you, they're just curious. It'll pass soon." Adam walked up toward the women and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Good evening mother," he said warmly. Then he turned to Erin, grabbed her hand and cupped it in his. "Good evening Erin, have you had a chance to settle in at all?" The whole déjà vu thing came back to her again and again, she still couldn't put her finger on it. One thing was for sure, he seemed more comfortable around here than he did earlier that afternoon. "Yes," she replied. She looked over at the Queen who gave her a wink and then joined her husband. "Thanks to your mother, she's a wonderful woman." Adam beamed. "Yes, she certainly is. You seem more relaxed. I was worried about you." This surprised Erin, she wasn't used to anyone being worried about her. "Well, you don't need to worry," she said looking down. "Things are a little better now." Everyone in the room started to take their seats at the table. Adam extended his left arm to Erin, and she took it, but not before she hesitated. Not out of fear, but out of proper decorum, she didn't know what to do in these type of situations. Adam walked Erin to her seat next to his mother, pulled her chair out, and pushed her in after she was seated. The Queen smiled slyly at her son and he took his own seat across from the girl. Adam caught his mother's smile and blushed. Erin was too tired to blush but she did feel a little fuzzy inside. She didn't know how to respond to such treatment. "So, is anyone here going to introduce us to our lovely guest?" Adam and Erin looked down the table. The question came from Stratos, leader of the people of Avion. Erin felt very exposed as all eyes fell upon her and she looked down self-consciously. Adam noticed her uneasiness and spoke up for her. "Um, this is Erin, she's a visitor-uh-friend, from Earth." Everyone at the table raised their eyebrows except for Adam, the Queen and King. "Earth?" Now it was Ram-Man's turn. "How did she get here?" This time Marlena cut in. "Let's not be rude to our guest now," she politely scolded. "She is my guest and I know she will be treated with kindness and respect." Erin looked up as the Queen reached over and squeezed her hand. "Now, where's Orko. I could use some entertainment." "At you service you majesty!" Orko appeared out of nowhere and caught Erin off guard. She still wasn't used to all the different types of creatures and people on this planet so when the Trollan floated over the table towards her, all the color drained from her face. She looked at Adam who was looking back at her with concerni n his eyes. "It's OK" he mouthed the words to her. Everyone's attention was so focused on Marlena's guest and Orko's bad magic that no one noticed one of Tri-Clop's doom-seekers hovering outside the window.
CHAPTER 6: Introductions
Snake Mountain.. "Did you find anything?" Evil -Lyn prodded Tri-Clops and Clawful as she entered her study. Tri-Clops mechanical eye spun around to see the witch enter the room behind him. "I think we have," he seethed. Then he looked around. "Where's Beast- Man?" Evil-Lyn didn't flinch at the thought. "Taking a nap," she said nonchalantly. "What did you discover?" Tri-Clops held the book he was reading open to her and pointed to a section on the page. Evil-Lyn's eyes flickered with dark energy as a sadistic smile crawled across her face as she read the passage. "I must see Skeletor, NOW!" she laughed. "I believe I have already found the answer to his question, and I think I know where she is." Tri-Clops looked at Clawful and shrugged. "Let's go then." He responded to the witch.
The Royal Palace. Erin had become increasingly uneasy about her surroundings. She didn't know anyone and didn't know who to trust. The fact that her dog was talking and everyone seemed to hear and understand him without a second thought was really weird, but she had a hard time believing she was on another planet. Especially since she had no idea how she got there. She sat in the Royal Garden and looked around. "If I'm losing my mind, this is a hell of a way to go," she thought to herself and put her head in her hands. Her head was spinning and she felt sick. She was dirty, bruised and tired but she didn't trust herself to sleep and most of all, she didn't trust these "people" around her. She was so consumed by her thoughts that she didn't even notice Man-At-arms and a stranger walk up behind her. "Erin, are you feeling okay?" Man-At-Arms asked gently as her put his hand on her shoulder. Erin jerked up and shrugged the gentleman's hand off. "Yeah" she replied quickly. "I'm just trying to sort.." She looked at the man at Man-At-Arm's side. "Um, hello." He said with some uneasiness. "I'm Adam, Prince of Eternia." Erin noticed how uneasy the young man seemed. "Prince" she thought to herself. "He looks about my age." There was something about him, though, that struck her. A familiarity she couldn't explain almost as if it were deja vu. She took a second to study his features, blonde hair, gray eyes, strong build. She stared until he blushed and then she caught herself. "Sorry," she apologized looking down. "But have we met..no we couldn't have. Nevermind." She realized the idea was absurd and that she sounded like a babbling fool. "We came to show you to your quarters." The prince told her. Erin jumped a little. "I'm staying.here. but I don't know you..how do I know it's safe?" The two men picked up on her anxiety easily and looked at each other for a solution to the problem. Finally Adam broke the silence. "Duncan said you were from Earth," he asked. "Is that correct?" Erin didn't speak, only nodded yes. Her dark brown hair covering her face slightly as her head moved. The prince continued, "My mother, the Queen, is also from Earth and has been told of your arrival. She's anxious to meet you." Erin hesitated. "How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" she questioned. "No offense but I'm kind of in a difficult situation here." As the men were about to reply, a green and yellow flash, followed by Jerry came bounding around the corner of the garden. The flash, which turned about to be a tiger-like animal, jumped into Adam's arms and knocked him to the ground. Erin was astounded at the size of the animal. It was twice the size of Jerry yet scared to death of him.. "Cringer, get off of me please," Adam scolded his pet. The great cat was shaking like a leaf. "I don't wanna," he retorted to his master. "The monster is..gonna."gulp" eat me!" Jerry cocked his head to one side. "Gee that was fun," he panted and looked up at Erin. "Can I go again?" Erin, now somewhat accustomed to her pet's new-found vocal abilities, rolled her eyes at the rottweiler. "I think he's had enough, don't you?" Jerry sat down and pouted. He looked at the crumpled cat and his master on the ground and chuckled to himself. The man's scent was familiar to him, but after the busy day, he wasn't sure exactly how. Erin noticed the look on her dog's face. "What do you say Jerry, can we trust them?" she asked her pet as she knelt down next to him. "Only one way to find out," the dog replied. The rottweiler stood and slowly walked over to the Prince, who suddenly looked uneasy and looked up at his friend Duncan. As he got closer, Cringer cowered on his master, thus keeping him pinned to the ground. Before Man-At-arms could stop the dog, Jerry took a long sniff of the Prince's hand. Jerry instantly made the connection to the man they had met in the woods. "Hey," the dog said sounding startled. "You're." He stopped himself when he saw the pleading look in the Prince's eyes. He wasn't sure why, but the big dog knew he needed to stop talking, as if some force were telling him to keep quiet. "You're..okay," he finished, unsure of what just happened. He turned to Erin. "It's fine, we can trust them." Erin eased up a little, but was still apprehensive. "Okay," she said to the prince who was slowly picking himself off of the ground. "Let's go see my quarters." With that the group headed back to the palace.
Snake Mountain.. Evil-Lyn knew what she had learned would be very well received. She handed the book to Skeletor and smiled as he looked up at her. "A visitor, huh?" he questioned. "Is he here already?" Evil-Lyn laughed. "It's not a he, it's a she." With that she explained her encounter with the Earth woman in the woods and how she eluded the witch and the ogre. "I see," Skeletor seethed as Beast-Man entered the room groggily. "And you let her get away!" With that, Skeletor shot a bolt of energy from his havoc staff that hit Beast-Man in the chest and sent him flying a good 50 feet. Evil-Lyn's eyebrows raised a little but nonetheless, she smiled curtly. "I saw her heading toward the palace with Man-At-Arms and that cursed He- Man," Evil-Lyn explained to her frustrated master. "The timing wasn't right, but it will be." Skeletor stood inches away from her face. "Is that so?" he asked. "Don't worry," the witch cooed sensing Skeletor's impatience. "I read her mind. I sensed a great amount of fear and distrust in her. Plus, whatever great power she has, she does not know what it is or how to use it. We can use that to our advantage." Skeletor sat back down and stroked the huge purple cat, Panthor, sitting next to him. "Well, get to work then," he demanded. "I want this power for myself. Get this Earth woman here, soon."
Meanwhile, back at the palace.. Erin had been escorted to a guest room and she sat down on the big, regal looking bed with red velvet blankets and big purple pillows. She ran her hand over then side of the edge of it and thought about her boring, simple twin bed at home. Home. She wondered if anyone was looking for her. She knew that Bill would send out a search party, but that was all. They would assume an animal had attacked her, or the UFO freaks would tell tabloids that aliens abducted her. In a week that search party would become a recovery mission looking for her body. But they would find nothing and eventually give up. She sighed. She had no family, very few friends other than Jerry, and no one that would even care if she were gone. The thought still brought tears to her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly. "What does it matter?" she thought. "No one cares anyway." Next to her, Jerry whined. "I do, boss." She lay backwards and placed one arm over her eyes and the other over her dog. She gave into her fatigue and started to drift off. It was short lived however, and her doze was broken when she heard her door open. She sat up and saw an elegant looking woman, about the age her own mother would have been had she not died years ago, enter the room. She wore a long, flowing green and white dress and a gold tiara sat elegantly atop a pile of beautiful red and gray hair perfectly. She smiled as she slowly approached the bed. Jerry looked up at her, snorted and then went back to sleep. His day had been too long. "Hello Erin," she said. "I'm Marlena, Queen Marlena. Are you feeling well enough to talk?" Erin rubbed her eyes. "Yes...Adam said you would come and see me. He said you were from Earth." The Queen sat on the bed next to her. She felt sorry for the young woman and memories from the time she crash landed on Eternia and was lost and confused came flooding back to her. She looked into the girl's blue, but red and puffy eyes. She had been there, and she knew exactly what she was going through. She told the girl about how she was an astronaut and how she crashed her ship, The Rainbow Warrior, on Eternia when it was damaged in a meteor storm in space. She told her about how King Randor rescued her and how she eventually fell in love with him and decided to stay. She also told her about Adam's and Adora's birth, the girl's kidnapping and how she was brought back by Adam years later. She told her of her life on Eternia and how she wouldn't trade it in for anything. It was a long story that spanned over a long period of time. After listening intently on what the Queen had told her, Erin looked at her sadly. "Am I going to be here a long time?" she asked. "I don't know," the Queen said as she put her arm around the girl who looked like she was about to lose it. "Man-At-Arms is working on finding out how you came to be here, but with so little information to go on, it could take some time." She saw how unhappy Erin was and hugged her tenderly. "Dear, I know what you are going through so feel free to come talk to me anytime. You can trust people here, we'll help you. I want you to stay here with us for as long as it takes," she soothed. Erin looked at the woman and smiled. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. The Queen touched the woman's shoulder. "Many people here are kind, if you let them be. No one here will hurt you, I promise." For some reason, Erin believed her and nodded. She felt safe and that made her relax more than she had since she woke up on this strange planet. The Queen stood up and held her hand out to the woman. "Come now," she said. "Let's get you cleaned up and changed for dinner. I believe I should have something that will fit you nicely." Erin looked down at her dirty forestry service uniform. At that moment, a bath and some clean clothes sounded like just the thing she needed. She took Marlena's hand and thought about her own deceased mother. "Thank you," she said. "For everything." Marlena smiled. "Anything you need," she said and the two women walked out of the room.
Later that night at dinner.. The Royal Dining room was a buzz with activity. Most of the Defenders were at the Palace after Man-At-Arms put them on high alert., but he didn't tell them why. Not even Teela, Captain of the Royal Guard knew what was going on and that really annoyed her. So she took it out the best way she knew how, on Adam. She found him standing in the corner talking quietly to her father and decided to interrupt them. "You missed combat practice today, again." She poked at the prince's shoulder. "I swear Adam, am I going to be your bodyguard forever, or are you going to learn how to fend for yourself?" Flustered, Adam ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry Teela, I was busy..with something else." He looked at her unforgiving scowl. "Yeah, right. Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "I would like to know what's more important than your training?" At that moment, the Queen entered the dining room followed by a stranger that Teela was unfamiliar with. Some young woman she didn't recognize. This made her suspicious. "Who's that?" she asked Adam as the young woman kept close to the Queen. Whoever she was, she looked as if she were royalty, wearing a long, blue and silver shimmery dress that Teela was sure she saw the Queen once wear. The woman's shoulder length hair was tied back with a ribbon. Whoever, she was though, Teela saw that she was obviously worn out, she looked as though she may faint at any moment. She turned back to her friend but he was walking over to his mother and the woman. A slight pang of jealousy hit her. "Father, would you mind telling me what's going on around here?" Man-At-Arms looked at his daughter and scolded himself for not talking to her about the situation earlier. "Yes," he said. "Let's go to my workshop and talk." With that, the two exited the dining hall but no one seemed to notice. Across the room, people whispered and stared, some pointed. All of this attention made Erin nervous. She leaned over to say something to the Queen but Marlena read her mind. "Relax," she soothed. "No one will hurt you, they're just curious. It'll pass soon." Adam walked up toward the women and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Good evening mother," he said warmly. Then he turned to Erin, grabbed her hand and cupped it in his. "Good evening Erin, have you had a chance to settle in at all?" The whole déjà vu thing came back to her again and again, she still couldn't put her finger on it. One thing was for sure, he seemed more comfortable around here than he did earlier that afternoon. "Yes," she replied. She looked over at the Queen who gave her a wink and then joined her husband. "Thanks to your mother, she's a wonderful woman." Adam beamed. "Yes, she certainly is. You seem more relaxed. I was worried about you." This surprised Erin, she wasn't used to anyone being worried about her. "Well, you don't need to worry," she said looking down. "Things are a little better now." Everyone in the room started to take their seats at the table. Adam extended his left arm to Erin, and she took it, but not before she hesitated. Not out of fear, but out of proper decorum, she didn't know what to do in these type of situations. Adam walked Erin to her seat next to his mother, pulled her chair out, and pushed her in after she was seated. The Queen smiled slyly at her son and he took his own seat across from the girl. Adam caught his mother's smile and blushed. Erin was too tired to blush but she did feel a little fuzzy inside. She didn't know how to respond to such treatment. "So, is anyone here going to introduce us to our lovely guest?" Adam and Erin looked down the table. The question came from Stratos, leader of the people of Avion. Erin felt very exposed as all eyes fell upon her and she looked down self-consciously. Adam noticed her uneasiness and spoke up for her. "Um, this is Erin, she's a visitor-uh-friend, from Earth." Everyone at the table raised their eyebrows except for Adam, the Queen and King. "Earth?" Now it was Ram-Man's turn. "How did she get here?" This time Marlena cut in. "Let's not be rude to our guest now," she politely scolded. "She is my guest and I know she will be treated with kindness and respect." Erin looked up as the Queen reached over and squeezed her hand. "Now, where's Orko. I could use some entertainment." "At you service you majesty!" Orko appeared out of nowhere and caught Erin off guard. She still wasn't used to all the different types of creatures and people on this planet so when the Trollan floated over the table towards her, all the color drained from her face. She looked at Adam who was looking back at her with concerni n his eyes. "It's OK" he mouthed the words to her. Everyone's attention was so focused on Marlena's guest and Orko's bad magic that no one noticed one of Tri-Clop's doom-seekers hovering outside the window.