Chapter Ten
The strongest man in the universe slumped to the floor of his prison, weaker than he had ever been in his entire life. He wanted more than anything to escape the machine draining his energy; but power chains held him in place, right in the path of something called the Magnabeam. His mind whirled with thoughts of escape, but he knew that he was physically unable to do anything without the Power Sword; and that was across the room, where Shadow Weaver had flung it after finding herself incapable of uncovering its secrets. The Sword of Protection lay beside it, and He-Man felt a pang when he saw it, thinking of the young woman who would never be allowed to wield the blade of her destiny.
He had been angry, at first, to find that her journey to the outside had apparently had no effect on Force Captain Adora; something that had become quite evident when she had placed him under arrest mere seconds after he had approached her in the Fright Zone. As he was imprisoned for the second time in as many days, He-Man decided that the woman was most definitely not the one the Sorceress had wanted him to find, and he was more than a little annoyed to think of all the time he had wasted sneaking back into Horde territory and trying to find her. Anyone who could see what he had seen and still serve Hordak was not worthy of Grayskull's treasures!
Then Hordak had contemplated draining He-Man's energy with the Magnabeam, and something had changed in the woman. The warrior remembered how the force captain's blue eyes had gone wide with horror at her master's plan; she had vigorously shaken her blonde head, as if clearing it of cobwebs, before vocally opposing Hordak. The witch had grabbed the woman as she moved toward the door of He-Man's cage, holding her head in strong hands and rasping in her ear while Grayskull's champion looked on in shock. He watched Adora fight, biting her lip in obvious pain; then he watched her eyes cloud over before closing. As one of the robot troopers carried Adora away, He-Man suddenly understood exactly how the woman could see plain proof of Hordak's evil and still serve him; because the spell she was under made her unable to do otherwise.
Now, as his heavy head fell forward, He-Man looked out through a curtain of blonde locks at the door of the Plunder Room. He could feel himself beginning to slip into unconsciousness, and wondered what would happen once the Magnabeam was finished with him. He thought about his father. What would Duncan say to explain Adam's permanent absence? He thought about his mother. Had she known fear like this before she died? Would she be waiting for him, wherever he was going? He spent the remaining seconds of consciousness thinking about Force Captain Adora… and praying to the Ancients that he might one day be forgiven for failing to save her.
For the first time in five years, the voice in Adora's dreams was not her mother's. In fact, it was not a voice Adora had ever heard before; but it was calling her name, softly, but so persistently that she soon had no choice but to awaken. To her surprise, the voice remained. She buried her face in her pillow, trying to drown out the sound. Her head pounded, and as she attempted to fall back asleep, Adora gradually began to realize that she had no memory of going to bed. In fact, her memories of the last day were pretty hazy; but the fog was clearing, and the voice was getting louder. Finally, Adora groaned and forced herself out of bed. She hastily donned her uniform, and then slipped out of her room and down the dark halls. Adora allowed the voice to guide her, and soon found herself standing before the door of the Plunder Room. She shivered as a raspy voice ordered her to retreat; but the other voice was louder, stronger; and when Adora finally summoned the courage to enter the Plunder Room, the gentle voice was the only one that remained.
The first thing Adora noticed was a cage in the center of the room, where the warrior called He-Man dangled, unconscious, from power chains. The Magnabeam was aimed right at him, and a golden shaft of light streamed from the machine to the man's chest. Adora shuddered; her brain told her that what was being done to He-Man was for the good of the Horde, but her heart screamed that no one had ever done anything to deserve this. She was debating whether or not to turn off the Magnabeam when a light on the other side of the room caught her eye. Adora turned and gasped; the sword, the one she believed meant for her, was floating six feet off the floor. It was also glowing, and in the center of the jewel was a woman's face. Adora walked, as if entranced, toward the weapon. She stood before it, but dared not touch it. The jewel was at eye-level, and as Adora gaped at the image inside, the woman began to speak.
"You must save him," she said in the same voice that had drawn Adora from her room, "You were born to save him. You were born to save millions."
"I… I cannot." Adora gasped out. "It would go against the will of the Horde."
"You were never meant to obey the will of the Horde." The woman murmured gently. Her green eyes held Adora's blue ones, forcing her to listen to her words. "Hordak took you from your family. He murdered your mother… and if you do not take this sword and follow your destiny, he will have also murdered your brother."
"My brother?" Adora breathed. The woman looked past her, and Adora followed her gaze to the man in the cage. Her eyes narrowed, then widened as understanding dawned. She turned back to sword. "My brother!"
The woman in the crystal nodded, the motion ruffling the feathers of her strange headdress. "Your brother. You are the only one who can save him."
"How?"
"For the Honor of Grayskull, Adora." The woman answered. Her features began to blur, and then fade away. When she spoke again, her voice was little more than a wisp of sound. "For the Honor of Grayskull."
For several seconds, Adora was unable to move. She thought about everything the woman had revealed. Absurd, all of it! Yet even as she tried to dismiss all that she had been told, Adora's hands crept toward the weapon before her, caressing the crystal. "For the honor of Grayskull." The words flowed naturally from her lips, as if she had been born to say them.
You were born to save millions.
Her fingers danced over the hilt. "For the honor of Grayskull." Her voice was stronger now, more confident. She suddenly knew that these were the most important words she had ever said; more important, even, than the pledge she had made to the Horde.
He murdered your mother.
She looked back to the cage. The beam of light was fading, which meant that the Magnabeam had almost collected all of He-Man's energy. The prisoner looked thinner, and his once-tan skin was now almost gray. He was clearly unable to take much more of the Magnabeam's power.
You are the only one who can save him.
Adora grabbed the sword, swung it over her head, and yelled the words that would alter the course of her destiny.
"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!"
She was suddenly encircled by a rainbow of light, and warmer than she had ever been in her whole life, as if the light was also inside her. She did not need a mirror to know that her appearance was changing; she felt taller, stronger, and more powerful than ever before. It was like she was morphing into a whole other person; and by the time the lightshow around her faded, she knew exactly who she had become.
"I AM SHE-RA!"
She raced to the Magnabeam, which she grabbed and hurled at the wall. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of He-Man- her brother- hanging from the power chains, cold and still as death. She-Ra ripped open the door of the cage, then threw herself down on the floor and placed her hands on He-Man's shoulders. She bowed her head and concentrated on making the mystic warmth flow from her body to his. "For the Honor of Grayskull," she whispered over and over again, "Please wake up." Tears fell from her eyes, onto He-Man's pale cheeks. "Please wake up, my brother."
It took a long time, and she felt slightly weaker than when she first transformed; but eventually the warrior's eyes fluttered open. She had not noticed it before, but He-Man's eyes were the exact same blue as her own. Of course, it made sense now.
He-Man sat up and regarded her suspiciously. "Who are you?" he growled.
She-Ra brushed tears from her face and laughed shakily. "Well, hello to you, too…. Brother."