*DISCLAIMER: I don't own any rights to all this He-Man stuff, this is just for fun.

***Writer's note: This is part 2 to "The Visitor" story and takes place seven years after the first one ended.

CHAPTER 1: SOMETHING'S WRONG

Princess Erin was exhausted. She leaned her head against her hand as she sat in her rocking chair watching her son, Adacan, play with his numerous toys.

She marveled how much the boy looked like her husband, Adam, and he definitely had his energy as Erin had struggled to keep up with the boy all day. At only five-years-old, the child was quite a handful.

Which is why she wasn't so anxious to have another one, much to her husband's chagrin. She closed her eyes and remembered the quarrel they had had the night before:

"If you were to help me with him a little, maybe I wouldn't be tired all of the time!" she had said angrily to Adam who had moments earlier asked her why she was so dead set against having another child.

"Or is that too much to ask of you, great Defender of Eternia," she argued a little more loudly than Adam was comfortable with.

Erin frowned at the recent memory. She didn't really know why she went off like that, but Adam didn't like her response and left for a walk rather than stay there and hash it out with her. She went to bed and arose before he woke. She hadn't seen or heard from him all day and she figured she was avoiding her to let her calm down.

The truth was, it wasn't Adacan's or Adam's fault. She didn't know why she was so tired all of the time and she had just chalked it up to being the mother of a young, very spirited child. But there was something inside her that just felt off. It was almost as if she was waiting in anticipation for something to happen, but she didn't know what. She just felt with every fiber of her being that having another child at this moment in time would be a very bad idea.

In spite of that, she promised herself that she would talk to Adam about it later that day.

At first, she thought it was a residual affect from the great battle she and Adam, who was disguised as He-Man at the time, had fought against Skeletor seven years ago. She had been immortal before the fight but was ironically destined to die the day that she banished Skeletor. Although she came as close to dying as someone could, she was saved by her father and sent back to Earth to heal, as a mortal.

That's when Adam showed up and brought her back to Eternia and the life she knew now. She remembered how angry she had been to find out that she had not defeated Skeletor as she thought she had, her power was too weak in the battle and she merely banished him.

Despite Adam's many reassurances, she knew Skeletor would be back someday. She just hoped it wasn't within hers or her child's lifetime.

She smiled a little as she watched Adacan pick up his blocks and started arranging them in a circle on the floor. She had named him Adacan after his father and Man-At-Arms, who's real name was Duncan. The day the boy was born was joyous in the palace, Queen Marlena and King Randor organized a huge celebration that Erin, unfortunately could not attend due to being so weak after the birth. They were wonderful grandparents but had the tendency to spoil to boy.

As Adacan started building something else with his blocks, the door to his room opened. The Queen, hiding something behind her back, strolled in with a bright smile on her face.

"Where's my grandson?" she cooed as the child turned his curly blonde head towards his "gramma."

Erin smiled and nodded as Marlena produced a teddy bear from behind her back and gave it to the hyper child sitting on the floor. He snatched it up and hugged it tightly before holding it up to Erin and blurting out "Look mama, I got a new bear!"

Erin chuckled. "You sure did, sport. Now what do you say?"

The Queen was already scooping Adacan off the ground and she hugged him tightly. The boy squirmed in her arms.

"Thank you gramma, but your squishing me!" he squeaked out. She released him and he went running out of the room. "I'm gonna go show daddy!"

Erin sat up to follow him, but the Queen held her hand up.

"He'll be okay, Randor's down the hall," and just as the Queen said that, they heard Randor's booming laugh coming from outside the room.

"Yes that is a bear!" he said, undoubtedly to his grandson. "Yes, we can go show it to your daddy."

Erin leaned back as the Queen took a seat in the windowsill.

"My goodness he's growing up fast isn't he," she started.

Erin grimaced. That was the same thing Adam had said numerous times, usually when he was about to push the whole another child thing.

"He sure is," Erin replied, hoping the Queen hadn't seen her scowl. "He becomes more of a handful everyday."

Erin loved her mother-in-law very much. The two were very close, since Marlena was really the first person she had been able to trust since her own mother died many years ago. She had helped her adapt to life on Eternia during one of the most confusing times in her life. There normally wasn't anything she couldn't tell her, but today, she just didn't feel like talking.

That didn't stop the Queen.

"Erin, not to butt in, I hate the thought of becoming one of those 'nosy mother-in-laws' but are you okay? You've been looking a little piqued lately," she prodded consolingly. "Is there anything wrong?"

Erin just sighed again and leaned forward. She really didn't feel like discussing her physical and marital problems with Marlena. As much as she was devoted to the Queen, she felt some things were better kept quiet.

"I think I just need a little exercise," she said, trying to distract the Queen from asking any more questions. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Adacan while I go for a run."

The Queen nodded in agreement. "Of course I wouldn't mind, it gives me a chance to spoil him a little more."

Erin turned to give the Queen a "you-spoil-him-too-much" look only to be greeted by Marlena's whimsical "Gotcha" smile and a wink.

Erin smiled and walked out of the room, her long blue skirts brushing against her legs. She didn't mind wearing dresses on certain occasions but everyday was a bit of a hassle. She desperately missed the khaki pants and blue jeans she used to wear when she worked for the U.S. Forestry Service on Earth.

At least she could change into her shorts for her run, she thought. She looked at the clock in the hallway and concluded she had a couple of hours before she had to get ready for dinner. That was more than enough time for a quick run through the woods, her favorite place to run.

She was about to enter the bedroom she and Adam shared when she saw Teela, a newly appointed General in Randor's Army, coming down the hall. At first the two women didn't get along very well, but Teela stood up for her in the great battle that had almost killed her. Since then, they had found it in their hearts to be civil to each other, most of the time.

"Good afternoon, Princess," Teela said nonchalantly. "Is your day going well?"

Erin groaned and was about to go into her "Please-call-me-Erin" schpeel when she figured it was pointless and just caved.

"As well as can be expected, I guess," she replied dryly. "I was just about to go for a run, would you care to join me?"

Teela gave her a look of surprise, obviously she wasn't expecting an invitation. But none-the-less, she declined.

"Thank you but no," she said. "I'm actually on my way to meet with the Prince and the other military advisors."

Erin cocked her eyebrow. "Is there a problem, Teela?" Eternia had been a peaceful place since Skeletor disappeared so not much military action was required.

In fact, He-Man hadn't been needed for years. Adam's power sword was still in its hiding place in the secret compartment behind the bookshelf. The only time he used it was when he went to Etheria to help his sister, Adora, fight the Horde.

Teela's look of surprise didn't leave her face. Obviously she knew something that Erin didn't. She also knew that Erin didn't like being treated like a helpless little girl, let alone being kept in the dark and this made her uncomfortable.

The fact that Erin had come back to Eternia bothered Teela anyway, but what really stung her was the way He-Man fell all over himself to save her, then she comes back and marries Adam. Secretly, Teela blamed Erin for He-Man being gone all this time and didn't feel like getting all chummy with her, but she was a princess and her best friend's wife, so she couldn't totally ignore her.

"Um, something has come to our attention, yes," she said slowly. "I assumed you were aware of it."

Erin was getting visibly frustrated, and wondered why her husband hadn't bothered to tell her that something was up. She knew he and Teela had been the best of friends growing up and were still very close but she didn't think they were keeping any secrets between them. Why, Teela didn't even know that Adam was He-Man.

"Well, what is it, then?" Erin demanded while trying not to sound jealous.

Teela opened her mouth and then shut it again in hesitation.

"I think Prince Adam should be the one to discuss it with you," she finally said with a half-smile, her green eyes flashing with delight.

Erin smirked and nodded. "Of course you do," she said sarcastically.

With that, Teela bowed her head, something Erin just hated, and walked away.

Erin entered her room and slammed the door behind her. She didn't know why she was so angry, but it did upset her that Adam hadn't at least MENTIONED something to her. If something was wrong, she wanted to know about it and she thought her husband knew her well enough to know that.

She turned to the closet to get her running clothes out when she noticed something strange in the reflection of the mirror.

She turned around to find the bookcase had been moved and Adam's sword was missing from its secret compartment.

"Whatever it is that he's not telling me, it must be something big," Erin thought to herself.

Prince Adam watched from the large window in the Palace conference room as his wife jogged through the gates and out into the forest. Part of him seriously considered sending a guard to follow her in case anything happened, but he knew Erin well enough to know that she would pick up on her tailing escort and then he would have to explain to her why the escort was sent.

And he wasn't ready to tell her what was happening, yet. He reconciled that she never went too far into the forest on her runs and would be safe.

He had meant to talk with her earlier that day but things had been so tense between them lately, he decided it was best to give her some space. He made a mental note to bring her some fresh flowers from the garden before dinner as kind of a peace offering.

He turned and looked at the table of his seated advisors: Teela, Man-At- Arms, Stratos, Buzz-Off, Ram-Man, Fisto, Mekaneck, and some of the other generals that had been stationed at various points on Eternia.

Adam had changed dramatically over the last seven-years and everyone noticed, including his father, the King. He had become more responsible, more informed, and much less lazy and intolerable as he had been for so many years. Therefore, being able to finally trust his son with kingdom affairs, the King put him in charge of the military and all security issues, something Randor figured wouldn't be too much for him since Skeletor appeared to be out of their hair.

Adam held his hands behind him and looked across the large map of Eternia on the table in front of him.

"Teela, do you have something to report?" he asked gruffly, obviously unhappy about something.

Teela stood and pointed to the wastelands that outstretched around the ruins of Snake Mountain.

"Our scanners indicate a strange signal coming from here," she said pointing to the outskirts of the wastelands near the Sea of Rakash. "We haven't been able to determine what it is, but it appears to have a very high energy output. We can't get close enough to inspect it because all of our equipment fails within a half mile of it."

Adam looked at Man-At-Arms with concern.

"I see," he replied. "Do we have anything visual?"

Stratos and Buzz-Off stood and produced aerial infrared pictures. Erin had explained the concept to Man-At-Arms years ago and he had built many devices utilizing it, including infrared cameras.

Stratos held one up to the Prince.

"As you can see," Stratos started. "These photos indicate something is there, a vortex or portal of some kind."

"One that is not visible to the naked eye," Buzz-Off continued. "But again, we can't get too close to it."

Adam sat down at the head of the table and looked at his instructor. Man-At- Arms had a strange look in his eyes, which meant he was working something out in his head. Before he could ask him what he thought, Man-At-Arms stood up and walked around slowly to Adam, investigating the map and the pictures laid out before them.

"This is using an immense amount of energy," he said. "So much so that nothing and no one can function properly around it. The atmospheric balance around it is affected in a phenomenal way."

He stopped and looked Adam right in the eyes.

"I believe we've seen this before, Adam." he prodded his pupil's memory. "Remember?"

Adam thought for a second and it dawned on him as a familiar fear crept up his back. The possibility of such a thing had been a fear in the back of his head since he brought Erin back from Earth seven-years-ago. He stood with his hands on the table and turned to Teela.

"General, I need you to send one of your men out to the forest and bring back my wife," he commanded as Teela started to open her mouth in protest. "NOW."

The General stood, bowed her head and walked out of the room, muttering something under her breath. As she walked out, King Randor walked in, carrying a blonde ball of energy in his arms.

"Hi daddy!" the child waved as she squirmed to get out of his grandfather's grasp. The King put him down and he ran over to his father who looked at him with a mixture of love and distress.

The King picked up on it right away.

"What is it, son?" he asked curiously. Usually Adacan had Adam's undivided attention, but today he seemed so distracted.

Adam patted his son's head as the child latched himself onto his father's muscular leg.

"Man-At-Arms and I need to go to Grayskull, immediately," he concernedly said. "Can you keep an eye on Adacan until Erin gets back from her run?"

The King laughed and scooped his grandson back up and put him on his shoulders.

"I don't think that should be a problem," he chuckled. "Good luck and be careful son."

Adacan waived energetically.

"Bye daddy, I'm going for a ride now!" he beamed.

Adam nodded and turned to Man-At-Arms. Seeing his son had instilled more determination into him to find out what was going and on and put it stop to it, fast. Although he wasn't sure why, but he had never felt more protective of his family, and this scared him a little.

"Let's go," he said, his voice fraught with determination. "If anyone can help us, it's the Sorceress."