Author's Note:
These characters don't belong to me. They do, though, belong to Mattel, despite the fact that they are in their Mattel Closet and they won't let Val Staples and the MVC gang do anything with them. Oh well. I'm not making any money off of this and so on.
This story is set about ten days after the final episode of "She-Ra: Princess of Power" - the episode entitled "Swiffty's Baby."
This fic takes place in the same continuity as "Preludes and Beginnings," "The Elfsong of Eternia," "The Crossroads of Destiny," "Prophecy & Change," "Just Another Day," "The Final Adventure," "A Winter's Heart," and "The Shroud of the Horde." It serves as a basic sequel to "Just Another Day" and continues the Destiny series that started with "The Crossroads of Destiny," continued in "Prophecy & Change" and "Just Another Day."
This story is the sequel to "Liberty and Valor - Book One: Hope," which is summarized below.
Previously:
Hordak, defeated once more at Unicorn Island, gathered his greatest generals, dukes, Elite members, scientists, and other allies and gave the man ultimatum: develop a plan to conquer Etheria over the course of six months in the next 48 hours or perish. It took them 47 minutes and 30 seconds to come up the plan.
The plan, as Hordak and Horde Prime found it, was full-proof. Horde Prime, dealing a resistance movement led by his own son Prince Zed, declared that if Hordak failed in this new, seemingly full-proof plan, then he would surely die. This was a bad time for failure and the more Hordak wallowed in his own losses, the more Horde generals would lose faith in the Horde Empire and would gather around Zed.
Thanks to Shadow Weaver, Hordak uncovered a way to put into motion part of his plan. Hordak's attempts at destroying the Great Rebellion had been continuously halted by the protective power of the Whispering Woods. By seeking out Dark-Hope, the evil counter-part of Light-Hope, Hordak hoped to shatter the protection of the Whispering Woods.
However, He-Man, She-Ra, and a band of Heroic Warriors and the Great Rebellion were able to stop Hordak and Shadow Weaver from awakening Dark-Hope from his slumber. Yet, as victory seemed clear, Hordak was granted a bit of Dark-Hope's power for his effort to destroy the Great Rebellion.
Meanwhile, Queen Angella's spy within the Horde - Double-Trouble - stumbled upon the plans for conquest and brought them to her attention. Upon She-Ra's return, Angella shared with her the plans and both are currently preparing for a counter-attack . . .
Chapter One - "The Second Meeting"
Mark was sitting alone by the stream not far from his home in Greenthatch Village. The stream would eventually meet up with Lavender Lake, which was just south of Greenthatch. This was one of the few times Mark had to himself. He had attempted to get as many of these moments in, where he could just sit and think.
Raising children was a hard thing to do at times like these. Mark deeply wished that Thad and Kyle had the chance to living of during peacetime instead of during a time of war. But wishing never got anyone anywhere and he had long since accepted that fact.
Mark sat up as he heard someone approach. He turned around and saw his oldest son, Thad, cross over to his father.
"What is it, son?"
"A messenger just stopped by, Dad," Thad answered, a light early spring breeze ruffling his blonde hair. "This is for you."
Thad handed over a sealed envelope. Mark took it and examined it. There was a pressed seal on the fold and he recognized it as that of Kingdom Brightmoon. He broke the seal, opened the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"What does it say, Dad?"
"I'm to represent the citizens of Greenthatch Village and Lavender Lake at a meeting. I guess the Mayor has already been informed and trusts me. This is . . . very odd."
"Where's the meeting? With who?"
"It's at Castle Brightmoon. And it's with the Great Rebellion."
"How long will you be gone?"
Sunder glanced at his wife and gave her a tight smile. "A few days, I hope."
Mali nodded. "Okay." She paused briefly. "Do you know what it's about?"
"Not yet. But it's from the Great Rebellion. Most likely, it's concerning the Horde. I've heard rumors that there was some sort of large gathering in the Fright Zone a few days ago. Could have to do with that."
Tilsi, Sunder's adopted daughter, looked to the man she now called her father with reluctance. "Do you have to go, Dad?"
"I do, Tilsi," he replied and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sorry."
After lengthy good byes, the former Horde general emerged from his home, hopped onto his horse and rode towards the Whispering Woods. Nearly thirty minutes of travel later, a second horseman drew near.
"Ho there," said the fellow traveler. He was a larger fellow with a thick mustache.
"Greetings," replied Sunder.
"Where are you headed, sir?"
"The Whispering Woods. Yourself?"
"The same. I am the Mayor of Elberon."
"Former General Sunder."
The Mayor's eyes widened. "Sunder . . . yes . . . I've heard you'd defected."
"I did. The Horde's atrocities have gone on for far too long. Elberon was freed nearly a year and a half ago, wasn't it?"
"Yes. We even had a potential member of the Great Rebellion in our midst and didn't know it! Sorrowful the Dragon!"
Sunder smiled a little and nodded. "I've met him. A little on the absent-minded side, but his heart is in the right place even if his head isn't."
"Indeed!" The Mayor then looked to his left, where a road that went west merged with their own. "It looks like we're not alone, then."
Sunder looked over and watched as three travelers rode towards them. Sunder stopped, as did the Mayor. Nearly two miles directly north was the Whispering Woods.
"Fellow travelers!" yelled the first one, a man in regal clothing.
"Good afternoon," the Mayor said cordially. "And just who might you be?"
"I am Prince Highcliff, the heir of the Blue Mountain," the regally clothed one introduced himself as.
"I am Catillus," said the second one, a wizard now that Sunder had the chance to take in his robes and appearances.
The final pair, a woman in her early thirties and a boy, introduced themselves. "I am Serena, and this is one of my students, Corey. We come from Northland."
"We met on the road, just as we have met you," Sunder explained shortly after he and the Mayor told them their identities.
"Don't tell me, then," Highcliff guessed, "representing a village, Mayor? I guessing that all of us save the wizard here and Sunder are serving as emissaries for our respective homelands."
"Too true," the Mayor replied.
"Then I guess this means that Brightmoon has something very important planned for us," said Serena.
"For all of Etheria, it seems," Sunder added.
"What do you mean by that?" questioned Catillus.
"There."
Sunder pointed just east of them. An entourage of Trolls were marching towards the Whispering Woods.
"What are they doing here?"
"I'm not sure, but those markings are of Spikeheart. That means King Ahgo is with them," Sunder told them. "And there. Look there!"
Half a mile behind the Trolls was a second entourage, but this one had snow swirling around it.
"Snow?" gasped Corey. "It's spring!"
"And why is it moving with them?" asked Serena.
"Selkies and, it appears, members from Castle Chill," Catillus observed. "Look! Even more travelers!"
A small group of horsemen bearing markings and flags from all over Etheria were now on the same road as this one.
"What is going on here?" asked Sunder and suddenly found himself smiling.
Adora stood at the shore of the Whispering Woods and watched as the ships dropped anchor. As the Sea Elves began to row into the harbor, members of the race of Salinius emerged from the water. King Mercia and his daughter and Great Rebellion member Mermista came onto the shore and immediately transformed their flippers into legs.
"Princess Adora," Merica greeted. "My daughter has told me this is an important enough meeting to take me away from the Sunken City. I had best not be disappointed."
"You won't be, your highness."
Mercia grunted and walked towards the path that would lead to Brightmoon. Mermista attempted to give her friend a confident smile and Adora returned it best she could. She turned back to the ocean, wear the waves were slowly rushed against the shore. A new boat had entered the water was soon to be on the beach.
"SeaHawk!" she shouted.
SeaHawk waved back and Adora had to remind herself that it was She-Ra who had been with him only a few days ago, not Adora. After the war was over, she decided right then, there would be no difference between the two. It was a time of change for Etheria and Adora had come to the decision that it was best for her to change as well.
"Ahoy there!" shouted SeaHawk, leaping out of his boat. "How does this lovely day find you, Princess?"
"It finds me as well as can be," she replied smiling.
The pair hugged and Adora fought a brief urge to kiss him.
"What's this all about? I don't think I've ever seen so many Etherian kingdoms in one place. Were those Seaworthy ships I saw?"
"Yes. Sea Elves are here, along with two dozen other kingdoms and villages."
"Something big going down?"
"You better believe it."
A few hours later, as evening came upon Kingdom Brightmoon, the races and kingdoms that gathered at the Whispering Woods moved towards the main castle. Led by aides and escorts, the mass gathering of royalty, emissaries, and ambassadors entered into the castle and went to the large meeting room.
The meeting room was usually used as the main dinning hall, which was a beautiful and very large and open chamber. Tonight, however, the hall was closed up and banners and flags draped from the ceiling. A huge, round table was situated in the center of the room, with at least one chair for each faction there.
The people to be seated at the table were as follows:
Darius of Delvan.
Mark of Lavender Pond and Greenthatch village.
The Mayor of Elberon.
Marcus of Thaymore village
Serena and Corey of Northland.
Colin of Dyl.
King Gruff of Greenvale.
King Ahgo of the Trolls of Spikeheart.
King Duplis and Prince Hazor of Erelandia.
King Sprite and Queen Sparkle of the Twiggets.
Prince Highcliff of Blue Mountain.
King Varn and Prince Storm of Elfworld.
King Akion of Argo.
Chord, Jamilla, and Tahndi of the Jungle.
Prince Orwall of the Margicats.
Baron Condor and Prince Norb of the Sand Valley.
King Arbor and Princess Allegra of Island Green Kingdoms
King Mercia of the Sunken City of Salinius.
Bibbet Elder of the Bibbets and Bibbetland
Queen Frosta of Castle Chill and the Snow-People.
King Selkia of Glacia and the Selkies.
Castaspella of Mystacore.
Queen Angella and King Micha of Brightmoon.
She-Ra, Princess of Power, guardian of the Crystal Castle, and champion of Castle Grayskull of Eternia.
Needless to say . . . it was very large table.
Seated in a circle around the table with enough distance to move were the members of the Great Rebellion and their many allies:
Flutterina.
Mermista.
Netossa
Bow.
Sorrowful.
Spinnerella.
Glimmer.
Peek-A-Blue.
Madame Razz and Broom.
Kowl.
Red Knight
Captain SeaHawk.
Former Force Commander Loni.
Loni's father, Simon.
Catillus, a wizard ally of the Great Rebellion
Fritz, Madame Razz's ex.
The Wizard, the fence-sitter who has yet to decide which side to serve on
Ariel, Castaspella's apprentice.
Norwyn and Arden, master and apprentice in magic
Shakra, the woman who raised Princess Adora while with the Horde
Romeo, former Corporal with the Horde.
Former General Sunder.
Also needless to say, it was a very large room.
No one save the Great Rebellion was completely aware of the reason for the assembly. This was, as SeaHawk had said earlier, the greatest gathering of Etherian powers in known history. That fact was not lost on those present and so most of them - even the most outspoken and impatient of the group - kept their mouths shut.
After a very short dinner, attention was called to She-Ra, who was chosen to introduce the reason for their grandiose meeting.
"Good evening," She-Ra greeted. "I must say right now that you are witnessing history in the making. The Horde, for all their evil, has driven us all together - the mightiest forces on all Etheria. This is the first time such a meeting has taken place and I can only hope that it will not be the last time."
She-Ra paused a little to allow those words to sink and for a few words to be passed from person throughout the crowd. She then continued on.
"We have asked you all to come here to represent your various kingdoms and villages in what will be the first step towards a massive offensive attack against the Evil Horde. The time has come, at long last, to strike out against our great enemy and once and for all, deal him a mighty blow."
"And just why is that?" asked King Ahgo.
"I'm glad you've asked," She-Ra responded. "The Great Rebellion has come into some very disturbing information. The Horde has orchestrated a massive six-month plan. These plans were conceived in a similar fashion as our plan to counter-attack. Hordak assembled the various powers and mightiest minds of the Horde and had them all create the perfect six month plan of conquest. The results of which, I must say, are astoundingly frightening."
She-Ra pressed a few keys on a computer panel in front of her. A three-dimensional model of Etheria appeared above the table. Small tags labeled the various lands and it was quite detailed as it slowly rotated in front of their eyes.
"The plan calls for the withdraw of half the Horde's Troopers from certain battle sites across the planet. This was designed to lull us into a false sense of security. These Troopers, however, were going to be secretly re-stationed in two areas: Horde Harbor, the Horde's oceanic headquarters; and Ice Lands.
"The reason for these two places is relatively simple - there are huge mineral deposits underwater and in the Ice Lands. With these minerals, the Horde will be able to increase their army size by 300. And I don't have to tell just how much trouble that will cause for us. With the recent tax hike, the Horde will be able to pay for new weapons. Over the course of the three months after that, the Horde's power base will swell. Disputed lands will be easy to take. Freed lands will be even easier."
"How do you purpose to stop them? If this plan is so perfect, why have you brought us here?" King Varn questioned.
"Because there is still hope. Now that we are aware of these plans, we can stop them from happening," answered She-Ra.
"What's to say these plans are authentic? That these may just be theoretical?" wondered King Mercia.
"Or perhaps even fake plans to throw us off the real thing?" added King Akion.
"They are true because it has already begun. Part of the overall plan is to destroy the forces that keep evil out of the Whispering Woods. Hordak attempted to seek a power of pure evil that would do so just a few days ago. Just yesterday, we got word that Horde Troops were being pulled out of the fighting in the Crimson Waste."
"And I should mention that it has been reported to me that there has been unusual activity in the Ice Lands for a few days now," Frosta brought up.
King Mercia coughed and nodded reluctantly. "I myself have heard reports of . . . scouting parties and Horde ships in new locations."
"The plans are already set in motion. They must be stopped."
"Just how do you purpose we stop them?" asked King Gruff.
"We have a few plans, but we're willing to listen to new ideas."
"The scouting parties need to be attacked," Mark added, a little nervous.
"Yes," agreed King Duplis, "they need to be destroyed before they can find the deposits they are looking for."
"Which means added security in the Ice Lands," King Selkia stated.
"The Great Rebellion is more than willing to aid you," Glimmer told him.
"And what about the seas?" asked Mercia.
"That's a different issue, father," Mermista told him.
"We need to destroy Horde Harbor. It will be blow to the overall plan. Not only will it disrupt all sea-faring traffic, but the lands surrounding Horde Harbor shall be freed from the grasp of its hold. Not to mention, the launching point of the Horde's oceanic assault will be destroyed," She-Ra explained.
"Just how do you purpose we do that?" Mercia wanted to know, somewhat surprised by the answer he got.
"We'll get into the details soon enough, father," Mermista said to him.
"What else can we do?" asked the Mayor.
"Taxes," Angella tossed. "Every single village still paying them needs to stop."
"Then every single village will be burned to the ground!" the Red Knight shouted, aghast.
"No necessarily," Glimmer replied. "Not if we stage huge riots and secretly help them out. If even two or three villages stop paying their taxes, kick off a riot that prevents the Horde from killing them all, then the word will spread. In a matter of days, the Horde will be loosing millions in taxes."
"And that kills their monetary in-come. The Horde won't be able to buy their weapons," Netossa finished.
"We'll take care of Great Rebellion assignments when this is over. Over the next two days, I hope we are able to pound out the details of this plan," She-Ra then said. "Right now, though, we all have to decide whether or not you all agree to this course of action?"
"What other choice is there?" King Arbor asked.
"Sit in your homes and wait to die," She-Ra said harshly. "All those in favor of this plan, raise your hands and say 'aye?'"
All hands rose. "Aye" echoed throughout the large hall.
She-Ra nodded. "Good, then. There is one more thing we must discuss before we move on. This is the final portion of the plan, one that we would like to put into motion as soon as possible. We are still getting the logistics straight and there are still more allies to win over before we go on with this. But we are currently discussing a far more . . . long-term plan to stopping the Horde."
"And just what is that?" questioned Baron Condor.
"An all-out attack on the Fright Zone."
A deep silence followed her words. Even the slightest whispering went mute in the aftermath of what she said.
It was King Sprite who spoke then, breaking the silence. "The Fright Zone is an evil place," he said innocently.
"It is. And that is why we must purge its vilest darkness from Etheria," She-Ra responded. "With Etheria united against the Horde, we can muster an army to shake the very walls of the Fright Zone and shatter them! With the might of our combined armies, we can crash Doom Tower! With the power of the free peoples of Etheria, we will be able to tear through the darkness with such a brilliant light that even Hordak will be blinded!"
Her words went out into the silent hall and stirred every heart and mind seated before her.
"The time has come, my friends," Queen Angella stated, "to end the tyranny of the Horde once and for all. As soon as these meetings end, I am leaving Brightmoon to conduct negotiations with a few other Etherian kingdoms not currently present here. I will ask of them the same thing I ask of you. Whether or not they agree will not change what we do here. Understand that, all of you. However, if you all do agree to this battle, then those that sit on the fence will be far more inclined to join us."
"What say you?" asked She-Ra.
A brief moment of silence followed.
The silence was then shattered by the raising of all hands and a resounding "Aye!"