Chapter Six

"Forces of Good, Evil, Life and Death"

As they crossed over from the Evergreen Forest and into the Fertile Plains, the group began to notice armies marching across the lands – most of which were heading east from Eternos and the newly restored Light Hemisphere. These armies looked like they had once been heavily armed, but were beaten and battered, now carrying their dead and injured with them during their journeys.

Each army moved on their own, despite their proximity to each other. From what they could tell, it didn't seem like they wanted to stay in one place for long, though they didn't seem to be moving very fast. That didn't make a lot of sense to them, but the group had no other choice but to shrug it off.

There were some very jumbled reports coming in on the radio, and there was a lot of overlap in the communications. He-Man had informed them of what he knew. There had been a huge army that went against Eternos, and he assumed that that's what they had seen the remains of heading to the Dark Hemisphere. There was hope with that. However, there were also wars to the north between the Cats and the Bears; the Tree-People and the Cave-People; and the Avions and Insectoids. There was also a conflict between the Golden Isles and the Aquaticans.

These were facts, pure and simple.

What was coming through on the radio was still unclear. There was mention of Granamyr, King Hiss, King Randor, the Great Rebellion, Darksmoke, Shadow Wing, and many other names.

He-Man sighed heavily as he rode on Swift-Wind's back. It was frustrating, hearing all this and not being certain as to what really happened. Teela was next to him, on the Air Chariot, listening in on the jumbled information that they were hearing. The Wind-Raider, which contained Queen Marlena, She-Ra, SeaHawk, and Battle-Cat, stayed a bit behind the others in the journey back to Eternos. Malik and Karin separated awhile ago, heading back to Stone Mountain to rebuild their home – leaving the others to return to their own home.

At twenty miles, huge pillars of smoke were seen coming from the direction of Eternos. At ten miles, it was obvious where it was coming from. At five miles, jaws dropped at the sight.

The fields that surrounded the city were blood-soaked and muddy – the grassed ripped up by thousands of boot steps. The city itself was in shambles, with big, gray pillars of smoke fuming upwards from the shattered portions behind the wall.

Everyone in the party went silent as soon as they saw it. Huge sections of Eternos were reduced to rubble – especially on the lower two levels. The upper levels, though, were scourged with flames and were the origin points of the smoke. The gates were smashed in, nothing more than scattered and shattered debris.

He-Man glanced at his mother and nodded. Queen Marlena picked up her radio and entered the royal arrival code.

"This is Queen Marlena arriving Eternos with He-Man, She-Ra, Captain Teela, Captain SeaHawk, Battle-Cat, and Swift-Wind. We are requesting entrance to the main docking pad."

There was a brief silence, followed by a somber response. "This is Eternos, your highness. The main docking pads are out of commission. Please proceed to docking pad four."

Marlena acknowledged and He-Man, Teela, Swift-Wind, and the Air Chariot followed the Wind-Raider to the docking pad. As soon as they did, Marlena, He-Man and Teela made for the entrance. SeaHawk helped She-Ra out of the Wind-Raider and Battle-Cat and Swift-Wind lingered behind.

As soon they all entered the Palace, a young aide met them. He had a bruise on his left cheek and part of his uniform was torn. "You're all asked to go to the throne room to join the others," the aide told them.

Marlena nodded and the others followed her up there. When they arrived, He-Man stood in surprise as to who he saw up there.

"Miro?"

"He-Man, Marlena, good to see you again. The rest of you – thank the Ancients, eh?"

With King Miro were Man-At-Arms, King Randor, King Stephan, Queen Johanna, Queen Angella, and Zodac.

Randor looked shamefully at Marlena, but said nothing. They all looked terrible, save Zodac who didn't display any emotion at all.

"You did it," exclaimed Angella, trying to smile.

"Yes," He-Man replied emotionlessly. "We did."

Marlena turned to She-Ra. "SeaHawk, get She-Ra down the infirmary wing. Get her checked out, then bring her to one of the royal bedrooms. Adam's or Adora's – it doesn't matter. She needs to rest."

She-Ra nodded and squeezed Marlena's hand. SeaHawk and She-Ra then walked out of the throne room and into the main corridor.

"Father," Teela began, stepping up, "what happened here?"

Man-At-Arms gestured to a nearby table and the whole group sat down. "King Miro debriefed us on what you already know. And we saw the visages of the Ancients, so we can only assume that the Light Hemisphere has been restored."

"Yes," He-Man answered.

Man-At-Arms nodded. "Skeletor launched his army against Eternos in full strength. At the same time, apparently, the Spirit of Evil pushed Queen Johanna, King Stephan, and myself into betraying King Randor. Luckily, King Miro arrived just in time and took command of the kingdom just as the battle began."

Miro picked it up from there. "The battle was pretty nasty. Took some hits, though we held out longer than we ever would have because the Spirit of Evil was working the troops the way it did. By the time Skeletor came after us, Rokkon and Stonedar arrived with a force field device from Zodac. It kept the enemies away for a while."

"At some point during that time," Man-At-Arms now continued, "King Hiss turned against Skeletor. Skeletor was then delivered to Hordak and hasn't been seen since."

"Are you serious?" questioned He-Man.

"Deadly," Man-At-Arms remarked. "In exchange, Hiss was given a device that helped destroy the force field. It fell and . . . King Miro?"

Miro nodded. "That's when we got hit even harder. Ol' Hiss was a lot more aggressive than Skeletor. He struck hard, smashing through the Second Gate and getting inside. The Heroic Warriors did their best, and then . . ." He paused. "And then Granamyr brought some Trolls and dragons from Darksmoke and was looking to take Eternos for himself. It got ugly then, because some of the army attacking us went against King Hiss. It just went to chaos after that. The Great Rebellion showed up at one point and from there . . . yeah. Zodac here showed up and took care of things with the rest of his Cosmic Enforcers."

"We separated the affiliations and kept them there. After the Light Hemisphere was restored, everything changed," Zodac explained. "We detected a sudden and very incredible loss in aggression overall. We released the armies and they all made their back to the Dark Hemisphere. Granamyr and his dragons were the first to leave, with his Trolls in tow."

"Any casualties?" asked Marlena.

"Many," Randor replied, the first words exchanged since he beat her.

"The Heroic Warriors?" wondered He-Man, not wanting the tension in the air.

"Some are injured. Stratos and Buzz-Off went to Avion and Insectia to sort out what happened," Randor answered. "Moss Man left as soon as they realized what they did. The others are out in the city, helping in recovery and reconstruction efforts."

"Reconstruction," snorted Stephan. "Already."

"We need to move fast, Stephan," Johanna chided gently. "This was one of the worst things to happen to Eternia since the Horde War."

"We've got scouts moving to the other kingdoms, trying assess what happened," Randor told Marlena, Teela, and He-Man. "I talked briefly with Stratos and Buzz-Off before they left and they agree that there needs to be a summit to come up with a new set of peace treaties. What happened . . . it's horrid."

"We need to move on, Randor," Marlena said, and those that knew what happened wondered if there was deeper meaning to that.

"What about the Great Towers?" asked He-Man.

Miro smiled a little. "Your court jester. Orko. We got a message from him about an hour ago saying that after the Light Hemisphere was restored, he went to the Great Towers found it swarming with Skeletor's robotic sentries. He, Rokkon and Stonedar have secured it."

"What about Adam and Adora?" asked Randor.

"They're on Etheria at a secure location," Angella replied.

He-Man stood up. "Teela and I should be outside," he said. "There are people down there that need our help."

"Agreed," Randor said. "Dismissed."

"I will aid you, He-Man," Zodac said, following.

Everyone stood up and the room emptied – all save Queen Marlena and King Randor. Randor grunted and walked towards the balcony.

"I . . . Lubic is okay. I gave him a beating, but it was . . ." he trailed off, then stopped. He turned his back to her. "He's in the infirmary and he'll make a full recovery. Whether or not he'll be joining us after he recovers is a . . ."

Marlena nodded. "Okay."

She stepped forward, frowning. Randor grunted again. She bit her lower lip and put her hand on his large shoulder. Randor turned around, and Marlena sighed heavily at what she saw. Tears were forming Randor's eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered, and fell to his knees. "I'm sorry, Marlena. I don't deserve your love nor your forgiveness after what happened."

Marlena dropped to her knees and grabbed his hand. "It wasn't your fault. I forgive you."

He fell against her and started to sob. She held him and began to cry as well. "I love you," he told her, holding her tight.

"I love you, too."

***

The Heroic Warriors worked quietly for hours and when He-Man caught up with them, they perked up a little bit.

"I can't what happened," Mekaneck said. "This was . . . this was a mess."

Sy-Klone nodded. "The best thing for the both of us now is to work on repairing the damage. I forgot to ask, my friend, how is Phillip?"

Mekaneck frowned a little. "He's okay, I guess. He was hunkered down in the vaults during the battle. He's helping out in the Palace right now."

"It wasn't our fault," said Ram-Man all of a sudden. "Not totally, at least."

The pair made no response and just continued to clear the debris. Ram-Man frowned and walked off.

***

At Snake Mountain, King Hiss joined Evil Lynn in the throne room with the others. "Skeletor is gone," Hiss announced. "And he will not return."

Evil Lynn tilted her hips. "What are you doing here, Hiss?" As she recalled, she asked him that same question right before all this started.

Hiss snarled a little. "I've come to reclaim Snake Mountain!"

The Evil Warriors that gathered around Evil Lynn began to laugh. "Really?" asked Evil Lynn with a taunting smile. "Despite the fact that I have the superior numbers? Bare in mind that we even have hundreds of Skull Warriors and Centurions walking these corridors that are now under my control."

"Get to your point, Evil Lynn!"

"You're homeless. You've been expelled from the Great Towers. You stopped there on your way here, and found it crawling with Royal Soldiers, plus a few Heroic Warriors. You need a place now. Not just a headquarters, but someplace secure and to call home. And you want it to be here. Especially since Skeletor's no longer here. Well, I'm not Skeletor and his 'capture' by Hordak (orchestrated by you, might I add) has given me . . . a promotion, of sorts. So, how about an alliance?"

"An alliance?"

Evil Lynn nodded. "An alliance."

King Hiss took a breath. "An alliance, then. We shall take the lower chambers, if that is permissible."

Evil Lynn gestured towards the tunnel leading there. "Of course."

King Hiss down the tunnel, followed by his Snake-Men.

The other Evil Warriors went their separate ways. Evil Lynn did so as well, but stopped when she went to the corridor containing the doors to the quarters. She paused in front of hers, then went down two doors and knocked.

Tri-Klops answered the door.

"Evil Lynn?" asked Tri-Klops. "What is it?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

Evil Lynn looked harshly at the triple-sighted villain. "You know what I'm talking about."

Tri-Klops leaned against the doorframe and smirked. "I thought we were going to die. I felt impulsive. I get impulsive when I'm in that sort of situation."

"A situation when you're about to die?"

"Yes."

Evil Lynn nodded in understanding, then reached over and kissed him deeply on the lips. When they broke, she smiled. "I get impulsive when I'm in this sort of situation."

"What kind of situation is this?" wondered Tri-Klops.

"A situation when I know I'm going to live."

They began to kiss again, more passionately this time. They moved into Tri-Klops' quarters, the door shutting and locking behind them . . .

***

The twilight hours passed by, and the night came. It was clear and remarkable night, the moons high in the late spring sky – settled in with the vast array of stars. He-Man sat alone on one of the large stones within the walls of the city, gazing up at the beautiful sky. Most of the work was on hold for the night – everyone was so tired from the events of the day and the ones leading up to it.

"He-Man," came a soft and sweet voice. He-Man looked over and saw She-Ra making her way over. He smiled and patted the stone she sat down.

"You're supposed to be resting," he told her.

"I can't sleep," she replied. He frowned. She had been crying, but whatever it was about, he would let her bring it up. "What are you doing out here?"

"Thinking," he returned, and looked back up at the stairs.

"About what?"

"Skeletor, of all people. I keep wondering what's happening to him now that he's a prisoner of Hordak."

She-Ra frowned. "Public execution, most likely. When I was a kid, Hordak used to talk about a great betrayal when he was on Eternia. It wasn't until I met you when I realized who it was that betrayed him. He hates Skeletor, He-Man. Far more than anyone here on Eternia or Etheria."

He-Man nodded. "Probably."

There was a brief pause, and then She-Ra began to cry again.

"What is it?" asked He-Man, putting his hand on his sister's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's stupid, Adam. It's so stupid . . ."

"Procrustus?"

She-Ra produced a tissue and dotted her tears. "I kept telling myself 'It's just a surrogate. He's not yours.' But then, when he saved my life and when we were attacked by Locus, and all that time he spent inside me, kicking, living off me . . . it was . . . I love him, I love like he was my own child . . ."

She began to sob. He reached over and held her for a while, rocking his twin as she bawled her eyes out against him. After a few minutes, she pulled away and began to calm down.

"We're leaving tonight for Etheria. I'm going to spend some private time in the Crystal Castle. Tell Mother and Father that Adora is on a secret mission or something. I need to lose some of this baby fat before Adora can make a reappearance. Keep in touch, okay?"

He-Man nodded. "Of course. Let me know if you need anything."

"I will."

They hugged and She-Ra walked off, back towards the Palace to meet with the Great Rebellion. He-Man sat there and brooded for awhile, adding another thing to worry about. At least his parents had worked things out.

It wasn't long until Teela came over. "Hey."

"Hey. Have a seat."

"I saw She-Ra. Is she okay?"

He-Man shrugged. "Sorta. She's heading back to Etheria tonight. She'll be helping Adora with a secret mission or something."

"Don't tell me – they're going to rescue Skeletor?" asked Teela with a bit of a laugh. He-Man smiled a little, but didn't laugh out loud. "I think she's got a case of post-partum or something."

He-Man looked over at her. "Huh?"

"Yeah. She told me she was upset over what happened with Procrustus."

He-Man perked an eyebrow. "Oh? She told you that?"

"Yeah. He-Man, we're like, good friends now. We're tight."

He couldn't believe his ears. "You're . . .you're joking, right?'

"Nope."

"Wow. Huh."

Teela smiled a little. "What?"

He-Man smiled widely at her, then looked back up at the stars. "Will wonders ever cease?"

At that moment, two figures came walking towards them, speaking in heavy but hushed tones. Teela and He-Man immediately identified them as the Master and Zodac.

". . . the test is still inconclusive," Zodac told Master.

"Perhaps, but you must be aware that the Ancients are - "

The conversation ceased as soon as they reached He-Man and Teela. Once they did, He-Man and Teela were on their feet and stood before these two mighty beings.

"I'm surprised to see you here," He-Man confessed to Master. Only for a moment could he remember a book, but the memory seemed was fading a little more with each passing minute.

Master nodded easily. "There are still a few matters to attend to. I wanted to thank you. Both. Not just for your incredible assistance against the Spirit of Evil, but also for helping to gather my family once again."

"Where are the others?" questioned Teela.

Zodac glanced at Master, who only shook his head dismissively. "Don't worry about them, Teela. They're . . . around. In the meantime, I have something to return to you."

Master pulled out the Sword of the Ancients and handed it her. Teela gasped as the hilt was presented to her hands. "Are you sure? I mean . . . ?"

"It's your weapon to have, Teela, daughter of Duncan. When the time comes for you to no longer claim as yours, it will happen. Until then, the Sword of the Ancients is best used in your hands."

She bowed graciously. "Thank you, Master of the Ancients."

"He-Man," Master then addressed. "The Son always Rises upon the Road of his Destiny. And that on that Road, it is never alone."

Though cryptic as it was, it still brought a smile to He-Man's face. "Thank you."

"Where are you going now, Master?" wondered Teela.

Master looked up at those beautiful stars. "Somewhere . . . out there . . ." he said in a sing-song voice. "Good journey."

Master began to fade away, leaving Eternia.

Zodac took a breath and turned to the pair.

"I'm not sure when we shall see him again. Perhaps again, perhaps never. I must be going as well. There are many matters to attend to."

Zodac walked passed them. Teela let out a long sigh and perked an eyebrow.

"You do know we just had a conversation with two of the most powerful people in the known universe, right?"

"Yes."

"And they were quite happy to talk to us, right?"

"Yes."

"Are you as amazed as I am?"

"Yes."

The two sat down once more and He-Man put an arm around her shoulders. The first steps of lifting up from this conflict had been taken. But there were many more roads to travel before it could be properly settled. And He-Man knew . . . he would never be alone on that road.