****Disclaimer in chap. 1
******Getting close to the end here.maybe one or two chapters left. I'm
debating on making this a trilogy but not sure how I would do it. I would
be more than happy to take any suggestions on this from any interested
parties...anyways enjoy and feel free to review!
CHAPTER 16: DOWN TO ONE
It was Erin, but it wasn't. And Skeletor knew it.
Physically, it was the princess. Appearances, sound of voice, facial expressions, and the same pure aura.
He hated the latter the most and remembered how much he delighted in watching her die the first time. It had been among the greatest kills he had. Or so he thought.
He saw past those traits though. He looked through her blue eyes into her soul and saw that it was partial. There was something vacant about her now, something almost lifeless. The very essence of who she had used to be seemed nonexistent.
This one, however, was a mortal then and appeared to still be one. Once part of some glorious prophesy, she had died a useless woman whose only real talent before her death was turning oxygen into carbon dioxide.
So why was she back? Skeletor examined her more closely. There was no way she could have survived the blast. She was dead and buried. He had watched from the fiery pits as that pathetic prince fell apart more and more over the years because of her demise.
Once more, she still smelled of death. He smirked as a thought entered his head. She is dead. There is no life inside her...yet somehow, she is here..walking, talking and again daring to take him on.
Finally it dawned on him. It must have something to do with the Sorceress. It occurred to him that he hadn't seen the same lifeless qualities in his mystic nemesis but it was probably because of the vastness of her magical abilities, she could shield still herself from him.
But this one had gotten in his way twice before. Third time was always the charm, he thought. This time, she wasn't coming back.
Saliva shone on his exposed teeth as he sneered. Around him lay the bodies of a dozen soldiers he had cut down without them a second thought.
"This is going to be fun, princess," he whispered loudly enough for only her to hear.
Erin tilted her head in confusion, as if she didn't recognize her royal title. She gritted her teeth and held her makeshift staff in front of her. She didn't know what he was talking about, she just knew that he needed to be stopped. Even though the counsel hadn't dispatched her, she knew they would want this destruction prevented.
Skeletor saw her eyes behind the wasps of hair blowing in her face. She meant to do some damage, but she wasn't going to get her chance. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught the glimmer of a shiny object. His skin rippled.
He-Man was coming closer. Soon the warrior would be right on top of him.
A plan formed in Skeletor's devious mind. One so easy, he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
******
He-Man was behind the monster. He was in position. He was undetected, well to the best of his knowledge anyway. He had a clean shot to finish business and end this misery once and for all. He could do it, he just had to convince himself that killing Skeletor was the right thing to do.
He could taste the sweat on his lips and it stung his eyes as it rolled down his dirty, scratched face. His determination to end the destruction his enemy caused was undeterred though. There would never be a more opportune time to alleviate Eternia of this wretched creature.
A foot away, he raised his sword and aimed for Skeletor's back. "This will be quick and painless," he thought.
That's when Skeletor surprised him.
*******
Teela watched in horror as the events started to unfold in front of her. Words caught in her throat. She saw He-Man raise his sword to kill Skeletor. She wanted to stop him, she couldn't let him do this, it would destroy everything he was and everything he believed in. He might not realize it now, but he would.
Then, she saw the overlord flip up into the air, averting the oncoming blow. He-Man looked at him in anger and his head turned to follow Skeletor to the ground. The monster laughed and pointed to the warrior.
Her eyes widened as reality slapped her. Skeletor was not pointing at He- Man, he was pointing past He-man to the figure standing in the doorway.
Teela started running towards them. Even from a distance she saw Erin's blue, vacant eyes filled with hatred.
"Gods, they've divided," she breathed. "Please don't let him see her."
She remembered when they first came to her, after her fourth year of training under Zodac. At first, she was unaware of her new advisor's identity.
"I don't need another advisor telling me this and that and what to do in this situation or that," she had bellowed at Zodac. "You're a big enough pain in my ass! Tell him or her or whatever it is to go back to the counsel and tell them 'Thank you very much, but I am more than capable of doing my job now. I no longer require their interference.'"
The titan looked at her with a mixture of apathy and kindness, a rare reaction for him.
"I don't think you fully understand the situation," he had calmly told her.
Zodac sighed and placed his right hand on her head. In doing so, he placed a vision in Teela's mind. When he did that, Teela saw who the advisor was. Her mouth dropped and tears formed in her eyes. Zodac removed his hand and she started to walk toward the advisor, crying and smiling.
Her happiness was not to be, however, as Zodac grabbed her by the arms and kept her from getting any closer. She was confused and furious with his attempt to stop her. He knew the situation could escalate to something violent if he didn't explain it. He hoped she would understand.
"Only one of them was destined to die that day, Teela," he told her. "When they were died, they both died as a result of powerful magic...both dark and light magic. It..caused a rare accident, one never seen by anyone at the counsel before."
The titan removed his hands from her shoulders and sat down on Teela's throne.
"Their souls...well somehow, they combined and we didn't know who was supposed to go where," he continued. "The whole bloody mess threw the fates for a loop because even they hadn't predicted this. We couldn't send them both to the afterworld, the guardians of the dead refused to take them until it was determined who was really supposed to be there. We couldn't send them back here only to take one of them away again. Can you imagine telling the prince, 'Here's your wife back..oops sorry she was supposed to be dead so she's going to have to leave you..again.' The situation was the same with your mother. Our hands were tied, so the counsel decided to make them an advisor. Your advisor to be more precise."
Teela had been stunned by the revelation and stared at the cloaked being.
"Mother, please say something to me..." she whispered.
But all she got was silence.
"Um, there's the catch," Zodac butted in. Teela looked at him angrily. "You see, to spare them of the pain of not being able to return to their lives, their memories have been...mostly erased."
Teela raised her eyebrow.
"Mostly?" she responded.
Zodac waved his hand and shooed the advisor away. He looked at Teela.
"She knows the basics, Castle Grayskull's power, the forces of evil and the forces of good," he explained further. "She does not remember you as her daughter or Adam as her husband. She does not remember that Adacan is her child but she knows that he has a special destiny here. She knows of a warrior that defends Eternia when needed but does not remember her link to him. All she knows is what the counsel has 'programmed' her to know."
Teela tried desperately to process what she was being told. How was she going to spend every day with her mother and not be able to be close to her? She choked back bitter tears as they started to spill down her face. Her mother was taken from her once before they had any real time together, and now that she was back, she had no feelings for her.
And what of Erin? She was in there too, somewhere. How was she supposed to keep that from Adam? He was devastated by her death. In fact she hadn't spoken to him since that day, as much as she wanted to. How could she call herself his friend and never tell him that the spirit of his dead wife was a live and well and living inside the walls of Castle Grayskull?
Zodac read her thoughts and stood up. Having to offer comfort was something he was not good at and the situation frustrated him.
"Adam can't know...ever," he said as he walked down the stairs. "It would only destroy him. She doesn't have any recollection of him or their life together. It has to stay this way. And there's another catch."
Teela sat down and put her hands in her head. She was reeling.
"What catch?" she asked bitterly. "Am I not tortured enough for you?"
Zodac stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned to look at her. He started walking back up and knelt down in front of her...something he NEVER did. He was a firm believer in these mortals having to look up to him to carry on a conversation. But that day, he decided to give Teela a break.
"Understand this," he said softly to her as he put a hand on her shoulder. "They cannot separate or divide into two spirits again. To do so would to go against the counsel's decree and they cannot be made to look fallible."
She looked at him with a measure of worry on her tired face.
"What happens if she does?" she asked half hopefully, half worriedly. "What's the worst that could happen?
Zodac stood up and looked at the advisor who was still standing at the base of the stairs. He turned back to Teela.
"The one who decides to separate will be given a death sentence by the counsel," he explained. "And since they already mostly dead, they would go straight to the afterworld. No arguments, no trial. It would be over. The remaining one...well the counsel would have to find a way to deal with her."
Snapping out of her memories, she continued to run to the mouth of Grayskull. In her mind she prayed it wasn't her mother who had made the decision to separate. Then she scolded herself because she knew what that meant for Erin.
She also remembered Zodac's warning about Adam and hoped that she wouldn't be too late.
Despite her advances to get closer, she wasn't anywhere in time to stop the inevitable as He-Man turned and looked behind him.
*****
Erin stood cold. Her gaze still focused on Skeletor, intent on destroying him, that she did not notice the warrior standing feet away from her with a look of confusion on his face.
Skeletor cackled uncontrollably as she looked at him with a blank expression.
"This is priceless.." The monster howled.
Erin raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what was so funny, or why the warrior was looking at her as though his heart was being ripped out.
"She doesn't remember you champion.." Skeletor boomed.
******
He-Man was disconnected. He looked at the cloaked figure in front of him, searching her eyes for something that would make the situation make sense. He got nothing from her. No glimpse of hope, love, or recollection. He wanted a reaction.
Instead, he got a blank expression. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him. How could she not see him the way she used too.
The situation was too much for him to bear. This was he second time today he had seen an image of his dead wife. The first time was a trick, he wouldn't allow himself to be fooled again.
"A trick," he thought to himself. "This is another trick, that isn't Erin. It's one of Skeletor's demons. Don't be fooled."
He-Man's eyes narrowed. He had to stop this demon from getting into Grayskull and there it was standing on the bridge. He raised his sword and ran towards the imposter, ready to slice it in half if necessary.
Erin raised the staff she was holding above her head as He-Man dealt the first strike. The sound of the branch splintering into many pieces rang in his ears. She fell to the ground and looked up at him with fury, her blue eyes blazing.
They blazed the same way Erin's use to blaze when she was angry.
The knot in his stomach made him falter a little, but it subsided quickly as his determination to stop this torture re-built inside of him. Again, he raised the sword over his head and prepared to strike.
That's when someone forcefully grabbed his arm.
******
Five feet away, Teela stopped dead in her tracks as she watched the titan restrain He-Man from splitting Erin's head open and sending her back to the afterworld himself.
"I'll be damned," she smirked in disbelief.
*******
Zodac held He-Man's arm tightly. The warrior glared at him with a mixture of anger and confusion. Hovering above him, Zodac had the upper hand, even if He-Man was the strongest man in the universe.
The titan looked at him patronizingly.
"I don't think that would be wise, my friend," Zodac explained as he forced He-Man's arms down and then positioned himself in front of Erin. "You see, you don't really see what you're seeing. There's nothing there...trust me. It's merely your mind playing games with your heart."
Teela listened to the interaction. She marveled at Zodac's idea, and her newfound respect for him grew a little more. She walked up to them and offered reinforcements. He was convincing He-Man that she wasn't really there, thusly saving both of them.
"He's right He-Man," she said soothingly, trying to calm him. "Keep your focus on Skeletor."
He looked at her, searching her face for an explanation. He found her smile and a comfort in her eyes that told him to trust what he was being told. He turned and faced the now very angry Skeletor.
"No more distractions, bone head," he yelled as both he and Teela took battle stances. "Let's finish this."
Skeletor scowled. "Finish it we shall warriors!"
He raised his bulking scaly arms to the sky and held his havoc staff above his head. He brought one arm down and fired the staff at both of their feet. The two dove in opposite directions to avoid the blast.
Zodac, on the other hand, looked at him with apathy.
"Is that all you've got?" he wondered as her returned his attention to Erin who was getting off the ground. He placed a temporal shield up around them that cloaked them from sight.
She looked at the titan as if she was going to explode.
"Why did that warrior stop me from destroying that beast?" she howled. "I could have ended this. And why did he feel the need to attack me, is he not supposed to be on our side?"
She searched her master's face for some answer. All she got was a headshake and a half smirk. He ran his hand over his head though his thick, curly dark hair, a gesture that seemed familiar to her but not one she had ever seen him do.
"Well, here's the thing...I can't tell you anything right now..but you will be filled in soon and I don't think you're going to like it," he explained pensively.
She stomped her foot.
"I hate it when you speak in these cursed riddles," she yelled.
He winced and tried to calm her.
"You weren't supposed to get involved remember?" he chided her. "Besides, weren't you supposed to be the quiet one? Do me a favor and play that part now will you?"
Zodac removed the shield and transported himself and Erin to the tower where they could watch the rest of the battle.
*******
Below them, the fight raged on for what seemed like an eternity. Both sides putting up everything they had.
Shots were fired and averted, dust formed in clouds as it was kicked up and screams filled the air.
He-Man and Skeletor were locked, sword and havoc staff, staring each other down. From the right, Teela tried to strike but was hit from behind from one of Skeletor's demons. She lay unconscious on the ground, something that made He-Man's blood boil more.
His lower lip bled but his face was undoubting in it's determination. Skeletor sensed his focus was on his friend and used the opportunity to finish the game.
With his free hand, the monster grabbed a small blade from his belt and thrust it into He-Man's side. The warrior screamed in pain as Skeletor twisted it and dug it in more.
******
From her perch on the tower, Erin doubled down in pain as blood stained the right side of her cloak. She clutched her side and looked down at the warrior. Strangely, a flash passed through her and at that moment, things came rushing back to her, memories poured into her head as the floodgates opened.
She looked pleadingly at Zodac who seemed quite distressed about the situation.
"Oh great," he rolled his eyes. "That was what I was afraid of."
Erin looked back down at the fight, her eyes glistening from tears of pain, widened in terror as she watched He-Man fall back and pull the knife from his side.
She reached out from her perch. Everything came back to her and she almost passed out from the realization and the pain of her injury.
"Adam," she whispered.
******
He-Man pulled the knife out and dropped to all fours as he watched blood stain the ground, his blood. He could taste it in his mouth as he coughed it up. He looked into Skeletor's empty sockets as the demon raised his head to meet his.
"I read her mind warrior," he hissed. "I know what your plan was."
He sneered.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your son and your sister."
He-Man tried to stand up but the loss of blood and his fatigue finally caused him to pass out and he collapsed at Skeletor's feet.
"Adacan.." he whispered through blood stained lips.
As the light faded, he heard the maniac cackle.
******
She-Ra paced back and forth inside Grayskull. By the stairs, Adacan sat watching his aunt's discontent.
In her head, She-Ra tried to figure out ways she could get outside and help He-Man but her promise to her brother kept her inside with her nephew.
When the portal opened inside, she smirked at first at the irony that she had just been thinking about this moment.
Then she fell to her knees and started sobbing uncontrollably at what the situation meant. Adacan ran over to her and put his arms around her shoulders.
"Ads! What is it?" he yelled confusedly. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
She-Ra sobbed so hard her shoulders shook, any attempt for her to get a cognitive sentence out was futile.
"Adaaaammmmmm, noooooooo," was all she could muster over and over again as the thought of her brother's death destroyed her soul.
******
Erin couldn't stay on top of the stupid tower any longer, but she had no magic, so she could not teleport, and given her present condition, she couldn't walk down the stairs and through the castle.
She looked at Zodac hoping for once, his neutrality wouldn't get in the way.
"Please," she begged. "I need to help him, I implore you, don't deny me this?"
Zodac flinched as he agonized over what to do. He finally looked at her without compassion.
"Damn you for making me do this," he muttered.
She looked down at the fallen warrior on the ground.
"I'm already damned," she replied softly and sadly as Zodac teleported her to the ground.
*******
Skeletor stood in the midst of his triumph. He-Man was dead, soon he would also have She-Ra and that brat prince so the bloodline of the countenanced. The Sorceress had disappeared and Grayskull was open to him for the taking.
"Finally," he roared as he took triumphant strides towards the door. "After all these years!"
A bright light filled the dark entryway, it was so bright that Skeletor stopped in his tracks. It got closer and brighter every second. He took a few steps back and shielded his eyesockets from it.
"What in the name of.." he bellowed as the light burned into him.
The Sorceress stood in the doorway holding the large crystal orb in her hands. She smiled as the magnificent light filled the area.
"Oh Skeletor," she scolded. "We couldn't you have just stay put? Were the hells really that bad?"
She sounded like a teacher scolding a pupil.
"I almost hate to do this, but maybe this time, you'll learn..."
From the orb, she pulled a long, glowing, sharp crystal, almost shaped like a sword, but more jagged. The orb rose above her and floated back into Grayskull, illuminating the hallways as it disappeared back into it's home.
She pointed the crystal at the monster. He laughed at her and mocked her intensity.
"You kill me, you will join me in the hells," he said. "You're above killing anything Sorceress. You will not harm me."
The Sorceress smiled and tightened her grip on the crystal.
"Yes, that is ironic," she replied slantedly. "But it's funny how destiny works isn't it. I mean, you really never can tell how things are going to turn out."
He scowled at her inane mumblings and started advancing towards her. He walked right up to her and pressed his chest against the sharp end of the crystal.
"You make your own destiny witch," he seethed. "Or rather, I'll decide it for you. Go ahead, do it."
She paused and the monster laughed at her hesitation.
"I told you so...you're pathetic." He ranted.
The Sorceress held her ground and smiled. "Oh really?"
Skeletor's felt an icy chill rush up his spine as her heard a low-pitched growl behind him. He turned, slowly to meet the red-eyes of the human's pet staring at him. Foam dripped from his teeth as his lips curled up around his mouth in a ferocious sneer.
Jerry saw his friends laying on the ground, he felt the pain his young master was feeling and he smelled death in the air. His anger was ravenous.
The rottweiler jumped into the air and pounced on the blue demon who killed his best friend so many years ago.
Skeletor was taken off-guard by the dog's attack and in his attempt to block it, he fell backwards. He screamed in agony as he felt the sharp jaggedness of the crystal tear through his inside and puncture through his chest.
The Sorceress let go of the weapon as Skeletor flailed around, the crystal still inside him. The bright light from the crystal seemed to eat him, as it burned away at his flesh. He jumped around as pieces of him fell away from his body, turning to ash and floating away in the air. His body seemed to combust, and soon the crystal fell to the ground amidst a pile of ashes, and a battered skull.
*******
In the battlefield, the demon army disappeared. Inside Grayskull, the portal closed.
"What the...?" She-Ra said as she wiped her eyes.
Adacan helped her up. He looked down the vast hallway.
"I think the fighting has stopped," he smiled and started running for the bridge.
*******
Outside, Jerry looked at the Sorceress and grunted.
"Thank you," she commended. "You've done us a great service."
He didn't say anything, he just walked over to where Erin sat next to He- Man's body. She managed to turn him over and knelt next to him. She looked at the woman who had been her counterpart for five years.
"He's not dead yet," she said as she clutched her side. "He's nearly dead, but I can help him."
The Sorceress nodded and looked at her sadly. Next to her, Zodac appeared. He looked like he wanted to say something, but merely waved his hand.
Erin leaned over and kissed her husband's lips for the last time. "You need to go on. You must live for your spirit is not dead," she whispered into his ear. She brushed some hair from his face as a tear rolled from his closed eye. "For our son.."
She smiled and sat back up opened her cloak enough that the others could see a handprint shaped red scar on her chest that seemed to stand off of her skin. She picked up He-Man's scarred hand and held it against her chest. With her other hand, she caressed his face.
"This time, I get to say 'goodbye' my love," she said soothingly. There were no tears and there was no remorse. She closed her eyes as the Sorceress uttered a few words. The crystal on the ground glowed. A blinding light surrounded all of them. Then, she was gone.
The light eventually faded and the fallen soldiers on the field stirred, as if being awoken from deep sleeps, even Teela stood up and walked over to the group gathered on the bridge. Along the way, she stopped to pick up something.
She knelt down as He-Man opened his gray eyes. He propped himself on his elbows and looked around him. Teela kneeled down next to him and flashed him a dazzling smile.
"Congratulations," she beamed. "Skeletor has been defeated."
He looked in awe as Teela handed him a contorted skull. He-Man examined it for a minute, and then scowled as he took it from her hand and threw it into the abyss.
CHAPTER 16: DOWN TO ONE
It was Erin, but it wasn't. And Skeletor knew it.
Physically, it was the princess. Appearances, sound of voice, facial expressions, and the same pure aura.
He hated the latter the most and remembered how much he delighted in watching her die the first time. It had been among the greatest kills he had. Or so he thought.
He saw past those traits though. He looked through her blue eyes into her soul and saw that it was partial. There was something vacant about her now, something almost lifeless. The very essence of who she had used to be seemed nonexistent.
This one, however, was a mortal then and appeared to still be one. Once part of some glorious prophesy, she had died a useless woman whose only real talent before her death was turning oxygen into carbon dioxide.
So why was she back? Skeletor examined her more closely. There was no way she could have survived the blast. She was dead and buried. He had watched from the fiery pits as that pathetic prince fell apart more and more over the years because of her demise.
Once more, she still smelled of death. He smirked as a thought entered his head. She is dead. There is no life inside her...yet somehow, she is here..walking, talking and again daring to take him on.
Finally it dawned on him. It must have something to do with the Sorceress. It occurred to him that he hadn't seen the same lifeless qualities in his mystic nemesis but it was probably because of the vastness of her magical abilities, she could shield still herself from him.
But this one had gotten in his way twice before. Third time was always the charm, he thought. This time, she wasn't coming back.
Saliva shone on his exposed teeth as he sneered. Around him lay the bodies of a dozen soldiers he had cut down without them a second thought.
"This is going to be fun, princess," he whispered loudly enough for only her to hear.
Erin tilted her head in confusion, as if she didn't recognize her royal title. She gritted her teeth and held her makeshift staff in front of her. She didn't know what he was talking about, she just knew that he needed to be stopped. Even though the counsel hadn't dispatched her, she knew they would want this destruction prevented.
Skeletor saw her eyes behind the wasps of hair blowing in her face. She meant to do some damage, but she wasn't going to get her chance. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught the glimmer of a shiny object. His skin rippled.
He-Man was coming closer. Soon the warrior would be right on top of him.
A plan formed in Skeletor's devious mind. One so easy, he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
******
He-Man was behind the monster. He was in position. He was undetected, well to the best of his knowledge anyway. He had a clean shot to finish business and end this misery once and for all. He could do it, he just had to convince himself that killing Skeletor was the right thing to do.
He could taste the sweat on his lips and it stung his eyes as it rolled down his dirty, scratched face. His determination to end the destruction his enemy caused was undeterred though. There would never be a more opportune time to alleviate Eternia of this wretched creature.
A foot away, he raised his sword and aimed for Skeletor's back. "This will be quick and painless," he thought.
That's when Skeletor surprised him.
*******
Teela watched in horror as the events started to unfold in front of her. Words caught in her throat. She saw He-Man raise his sword to kill Skeletor. She wanted to stop him, she couldn't let him do this, it would destroy everything he was and everything he believed in. He might not realize it now, but he would.
Then, she saw the overlord flip up into the air, averting the oncoming blow. He-Man looked at him in anger and his head turned to follow Skeletor to the ground. The monster laughed and pointed to the warrior.
Her eyes widened as reality slapped her. Skeletor was not pointing at He- Man, he was pointing past He-man to the figure standing in the doorway.
Teela started running towards them. Even from a distance she saw Erin's blue, vacant eyes filled with hatred.
"Gods, they've divided," she breathed. "Please don't let him see her."
She remembered when they first came to her, after her fourth year of training under Zodac. At first, she was unaware of her new advisor's identity.
"I don't need another advisor telling me this and that and what to do in this situation or that," she had bellowed at Zodac. "You're a big enough pain in my ass! Tell him or her or whatever it is to go back to the counsel and tell them 'Thank you very much, but I am more than capable of doing my job now. I no longer require their interference.'"
The titan looked at her with a mixture of apathy and kindness, a rare reaction for him.
"I don't think you fully understand the situation," he had calmly told her.
Zodac sighed and placed his right hand on her head. In doing so, he placed a vision in Teela's mind. When he did that, Teela saw who the advisor was. Her mouth dropped and tears formed in her eyes. Zodac removed his hand and she started to walk toward the advisor, crying and smiling.
Her happiness was not to be, however, as Zodac grabbed her by the arms and kept her from getting any closer. She was confused and furious with his attempt to stop her. He knew the situation could escalate to something violent if he didn't explain it. He hoped she would understand.
"Only one of them was destined to die that day, Teela," he told her. "When they were died, they both died as a result of powerful magic...both dark and light magic. It..caused a rare accident, one never seen by anyone at the counsel before."
The titan removed his hands from her shoulders and sat down on Teela's throne.
"Their souls...well somehow, they combined and we didn't know who was supposed to go where," he continued. "The whole bloody mess threw the fates for a loop because even they hadn't predicted this. We couldn't send them both to the afterworld, the guardians of the dead refused to take them until it was determined who was really supposed to be there. We couldn't send them back here only to take one of them away again. Can you imagine telling the prince, 'Here's your wife back..oops sorry she was supposed to be dead so she's going to have to leave you..again.' The situation was the same with your mother. Our hands were tied, so the counsel decided to make them an advisor. Your advisor to be more precise."
Teela had been stunned by the revelation and stared at the cloaked being.
"Mother, please say something to me..." she whispered.
But all she got was silence.
"Um, there's the catch," Zodac butted in. Teela looked at him angrily. "You see, to spare them of the pain of not being able to return to their lives, their memories have been...mostly erased."
Teela raised her eyebrow.
"Mostly?" she responded.
Zodac waved his hand and shooed the advisor away. He looked at Teela.
"She knows the basics, Castle Grayskull's power, the forces of evil and the forces of good," he explained further. "She does not remember you as her daughter or Adam as her husband. She does not remember that Adacan is her child but she knows that he has a special destiny here. She knows of a warrior that defends Eternia when needed but does not remember her link to him. All she knows is what the counsel has 'programmed' her to know."
Teela tried desperately to process what she was being told. How was she going to spend every day with her mother and not be able to be close to her? She choked back bitter tears as they started to spill down her face. Her mother was taken from her once before they had any real time together, and now that she was back, she had no feelings for her.
And what of Erin? She was in there too, somewhere. How was she supposed to keep that from Adam? He was devastated by her death. In fact she hadn't spoken to him since that day, as much as she wanted to. How could she call herself his friend and never tell him that the spirit of his dead wife was a live and well and living inside the walls of Castle Grayskull?
Zodac read her thoughts and stood up. Having to offer comfort was something he was not good at and the situation frustrated him.
"Adam can't know...ever," he said as he walked down the stairs. "It would only destroy him. She doesn't have any recollection of him or their life together. It has to stay this way. And there's another catch."
Teela sat down and put her hands in her head. She was reeling.
"What catch?" she asked bitterly. "Am I not tortured enough for you?"
Zodac stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned to look at her. He started walking back up and knelt down in front of her...something he NEVER did. He was a firm believer in these mortals having to look up to him to carry on a conversation. But that day, he decided to give Teela a break.
"Understand this," he said softly to her as he put a hand on her shoulder. "They cannot separate or divide into two spirits again. To do so would to go against the counsel's decree and they cannot be made to look fallible."
She looked at him with a measure of worry on her tired face.
"What happens if she does?" she asked half hopefully, half worriedly. "What's the worst that could happen?
Zodac stood up and looked at the advisor who was still standing at the base of the stairs. He turned back to Teela.
"The one who decides to separate will be given a death sentence by the counsel," he explained. "And since they already mostly dead, they would go straight to the afterworld. No arguments, no trial. It would be over. The remaining one...well the counsel would have to find a way to deal with her."
Snapping out of her memories, she continued to run to the mouth of Grayskull. In her mind she prayed it wasn't her mother who had made the decision to separate. Then she scolded herself because she knew what that meant for Erin.
She also remembered Zodac's warning about Adam and hoped that she wouldn't be too late.
Despite her advances to get closer, she wasn't anywhere in time to stop the inevitable as He-Man turned and looked behind him.
*****
Erin stood cold. Her gaze still focused on Skeletor, intent on destroying him, that she did not notice the warrior standing feet away from her with a look of confusion on his face.
Skeletor cackled uncontrollably as she looked at him with a blank expression.
"This is priceless.." The monster howled.
Erin raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what was so funny, or why the warrior was looking at her as though his heart was being ripped out.
"She doesn't remember you champion.." Skeletor boomed.
******
He-Man was disconnected. He looked at the cloaked figure in front of him, searching her eyes for something that would make the situation make sense. He got nothing from her. No glimpse of hope, love, or recollection. He wanted a reaction.
Instead, he got a blank expression. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him. How could she not see him the way she used too.
The situation was too much for him to bear. This was he second time today he had seen an image of his dead wife. The first time was a trick, he wouldn't allow himself to be fooled again.
"A trick," he thought to himself. "This is another trick, that isn't Erin. It's one of Skeletor's demons. Don't be fooled."
He-Man's eyes narrowed. He had to stop this demon from getting into Grayskull and there it was standing on the bridge. He raised his sword and ran towards the imposter, ready to slice it in half if necessary.
Erin raised the staff she was holding above her head as He-Man dealt the first strike. The sound of the branch splintering into many pieces rang in his ears. She fell to the ground and looked up at him with fury, her blue eyes blazing.
They blazed the same way Erin's use to blaze when she was angry.
The knot in his stomach made him falter a little, but it subsided quickly as his determination to stop this torture re-built inside of him. Again, he raised the sword over his head and prepared to strike.
That's when someone forcefully grabbed his arm.
******
Five feet away, Teela stopped dead in her tracks as she watched the titan restrain He-Man from splitting Erin's head open and sending her back to the afterworld himself.
"I'll be damned," she smirked in disbelief.
*******
Zodac held He-Man's arm tightly. The warrior glared at him with a mixture of anger and confusion. Hovering above him, Zodac had the upper hand, even if He-Man was the strongest man in the universe.
The titan looked at him patronizingly.
"I don't think that would be wise, my friend," Zodac explained as he forced He-Man's arms down and then positioned himself in front of Erin. "You see, you don't really see what you're seeing. There's nothing there...trust me. It's merely your mind playing games with your heart."
Teela listened to the interaction. She marveled at Zodac's idea, and her newfound respect for him grew a little more. She walked up to them and offered reinforcements. He was convincing He-Man that she wasn't really there, thusly saving both of them.
"He's right He-Man," she said soothingly, trying to calm him. "Keep your focus on Skeletor."
He looked at her, searching her face for an explanation. He found her smile and a comfort in her eyes that told him to trust what he was being told. He turned and faced the now very angry Skeletor.
"No more distractions, bone head," he yelled as both he and Teela took battle stances. "Let's finish this."
Skeletor scowled. "Finish it we shall warriors!"
He raised his bulking scaly arms to the sky and held his havoc staff above his head. He brought one arm down and fired the staff at both of their feet. The two dove in opposite directions to avoid the blast.
Zodac, on the other hand, looked at him with apathy.
"Is that all you've got?" he wondered as her returned his attention to Erin who was getting off the ground. He placed a temporal shield up around them that cloaked them from sight.
She looked at the titan as if she was going to explode.
"Why did that warrior stop me from destroying that beast?" she howled. "I could have ended this. And why did he feel the need to attack me, is he not supposed to be on our side?"
She searched her master's face for some answer. All she got was a headshake and a half smirk. He ran his hand over his head though his thick, curly dark hair, a gesture that seemed familiar to her but not one she had ever seen him do.
"Well, here's the thing...I can't tell you anything right now..but you will be filled in soon and I don't think you're going to like it," he explained pensively.
She stomped her foot.
"I hate it when you speak in these cursed riddles," she yelled.
He winced and tried to calm her.
"You weren't supposed to get involved remember?" he chided her. "Besides, weren't you supposed to be the quiet one? Do me a favor and play that part now will you?"
Zodac removed the shield and transported himself and Erin to the tower where they could watch the rest of the battle.
*******
Below them, the fight raged on for what seemed like an eternity. Both sides putting up everything they had.
Shots were fired and averted, dust formed in clouds as it was kicked up and screams filled the air.
He-Man and Skeletor were locked, sword and havoc staff, staring each other down. From the right, Teela tried to strike but was hit from behind from one of Skeletor's demons. She lay unconscious on the ground, something that made He-Man's blood boil more.
His lower lip bled but his face was undoubting in it's determination. Skeletor sensed his focus was on his friend and used the opportunity to finish the game.
With his free hand, the monster grabbed a small blade from his belt and thrust it into He-Man's side. The warrior screamed in pain as Skeletor twisted it and dug it in more.
******
From her perch on the tower, Erin doubled down in pain as blood stained the right side of her cloak. She clutched her side and looked down at the warrior. Strangely, a flash passed through her and at that moment, things came rushing back to her, memories poured into her head as the floodgates opened.
She looked pleadingly at Zodac who seemed quite distressed about the situation.
"Oh great," he rolled his eyes. "That was what I was afraid of."
Erin looked back down at the fight, her eyes glistening from tears of pain, widened in terror as she watched He-Man fall back and pull the knife from his side.
She reached out from her perch. Everything came back to her and she almost passed out from the realization and the pain of her injury.
"Adam," she whispered.
******
He-Man pulled the knife out and dropped to all fours as he watched blood stain the ground, his blood. He could taste it in his mouth as he coughed it up. He looked into Skeletor's empty sockets as the demon raised his head to meet his.
"I read her mind warrior," he hissed. "I know what your plan was."
He sneered.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your son and your sister."
He-Man tried to stand up but the loss of blood and his fatigue finally caused him to pass out and he collapsed at Skeletor's feet.
"Adacan.." he whispered through blood stained lips.
As the light faded, he heard the maniac cackle.
******
She-Ra paced back and forth inside Grayskull. By the stairs, Adacan sat watching his aunt's discontent.
In her head, She-Ra tried to figure out ways she could get outside and help He-Man but her promise to her brother kept her inside with her nephew.
When the portal opened inside, she smirked at first at the irony that she had just been thinking about this moment.
Then she fell to her knees and started sobbing uncontrollably at what the situation meant. Adacan ran over to her and put his arms around her shoulders.
"Ads! What is it?" he yelled confusedly. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
She-Ra sobbed so hard her shoulders shook, any attempt for her to get a cognitive sentence out was futile.
"Adaaaammmmmm, noooooooo," was all she could muster over and over again as the thought of her brother's death destroyed her soul.
******
Erin couldn't stay on top of the stupid tower any longer, but she had no magic, so she could not teleport, and given her present condition, she couldn't walk down the stairs and through the castle.
She looked at Zodac hoping for once, his neutrality wouldn't get in the way.
"Please," she begged. "I need to help him, I implore you, don't deny me this?"
Zodac flinched as he agonized over what to do. He finally looked at her without compassion.
"Damn you for making me do this," he muttered.
She looked down at the fallen warrior on the ground.
"I'm already damned," she replied softly and sadly as Zodac teleported her to the ground.
*******
Skeletor stood in the midst of his triumph. He-Man was dead, soon he would also have She-Ra and that brat prince so the bloodline of the countenanced. The Sorceress had disappeared and Grayskull was open to him for the taking.
"Finally," he roared as he took triumphant strides towards the door. "After all these years!"
A bright light filled the dark entryway, it was so bright that Skeletor stopped in his tracks. It got closer and brighter every second. He took a few steps back and shielded his eyesockets from it.
"What in the name of.." he bellowed as the light burned into him.
The Sorceress stood in the doorway holding the large crystal orb in her hands. She smiled as the magnificent light filled the area.
"Oh Skeletor," she scolded. "We couldn't you have just stay put? Were the hells really that bad?"
She sounded like a teacher scolding a pupil.
"I almost hate to do this, but maybe this time, you'll learn..."
From the orb, she pulled a long, glowing, sharp crystal, almost shaped like a sword, but more jagged. The orb rose above her and floated back into Grayskull, illuminating the hallways as it disappeared back into it's home.
She pointed the crystal at the monster. He laughed at her and mocked her intensity.
"You kill me, you will join me in the hells," he said. "You're above killing anything Sorceress. You will not harm me."
The Sorceress smiled and tightened her grip on the crystal.
"Yes, that is ironic," she replied slantedly. "But it's funny how destiny works isn't it. I mean, you really never can tell how things are going to turn out."
He scowled at her inane mumblings and started advancing towards her. He walked right up to her and pressed his chest against the sharp end of the crystal.
"You make your own destiny witch," he seethed. "Or rather, I'll decide it for you. Go ahead, do it."
She paused and the monster laughed at her hesitation.
"I told you so...you're pathetic." He ranted.
The Sorceress held her ground and smiled. "Oh really?"
Skeletor's felt an icy chill rush up his spine as her heard a low-pitched growl behind him. He turned, slowly to meet the red-eyes of the human's pet staring at him. Foam dripped from his teeth as his lips curled up around his mouth in a ferocious sneer.
Jerry saw his friends laying on the ground, he felt the pain his young master was feeling and he smelled death in the air. His anger was ravenous.
The rottweiler jumped into the air and pounced on the blue demon who killed his best friend so many years ago.
Skeletor was taken off-guard by the dog's attack and in his attempt to block it, he fell backwards. He screamed in agony as he felt the sharp jaggedness of the crystal tear through his inside and puncture through his chest.
The Sorceress let go of the weapon as Skeletor flailed around, the crystal still inside him. The bright light from the crystal seemed to eat him, as it burned away at his flesh. He jumped around as pieces of him fell away from his body, turning to ash and floating away in the air. His body seemed to combust, and soon the crystal fell to the ground amidst a pile of ashes, and a battered skull.
*******
In the battlefield, the demon army disappeared. Inside Grayskull, the portal closed.
"What the...?" She-Ra said as she wiped her eyes.
Adacan helped her up. He looked down the vast hallway.
"I think the fighting has stopped," he smiled and started running for the bridge.
*******
Outside, Jerry looked at the Sorceress and grunted.
"Thank you," she commended. "You've done us a great service."
He didn't say anything, he just walked over to where Erin sat next to He- Man's body. She managed to turn him over and knelt next to him. She looked at the woman who had been her counterpart for five years.
"He's not dead yet," she said as she clutched her side. "He's nearly dead, but I can help him."
The Sorceress nodded and looked at her sadly. Next to her, Zodac appeared. He looked like he wanted to say something, but merely waved his hand.
Erin leaned over and kissed her husband's lips for the last time. "You need to go on. You must live for your spirit is not dead," she whispered into his ear. She brushed some hair from his face as a tear rolled from his closed eye. "For our son.."
She smiled and sat back up opened her cloak enough that the others could see a handprint shaped red scar on her chest that seemed to stand off of her skin. She picked up He-Man's scarred hand and held it against her chest. With her other hand, she caressed his face.
"This time, I get to say 'goodbye' my love," she said soothingly. There were no tears and there was no remorse. She closed her eyes as the Sorceress uttered a few words. The crystal on the ground glowed. A blinding light surrounded all of them. Then, she was gone.
The light eventually faded and the fallen soldiers on the field stirred, as if being awoken from deep sleeps, even Teela stood up and walked over to the group gathered on the bridge. Along the way, she stopped to pick up something.
She knelt down as He-Man opened his gray eyes. He propped himself on his elbows and looked around him. Teela kneeled down next to him and flashed him a dazzling smile.
"Congratulations," she beamed. "Skeletor has been defeated."
He looked in awe as Teela handed him a contorted skull. He-Man examined it for a minute, and then scowled as he took it from her hand and threw it into the abyss.
