Chapter III: A Matter of Life or Death
PRINCESS GLIMMER'S DIARY
19th DAY IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE HORDE'S OCCUPATION OF ETHERIA
She-Ra is doing as well as could be expected; a few times we thought she was a goner but managed to pull through.
I could feel her pain all to well due to my empathic powers, a few times I had to leave the room to clear my head becasue her pain was overwhelming even for someone who is only partly empathetic, like me.
Bow was taking it badly, he would go over to She-Ra and look into her eyes, the pain he felt in them was too much for him to bear, even for someone without empathic powers. He would curse and swear and finally after he spent all his energy cursing every immortal being he could think of, he would break down and cry.
The sight of it was too much for me to bear, so I went over to him and comfort him.
"Glimmer, what kind of soldier am I, if I can't look Death in the face without crying?" he said as he sobbed his head buried in his hands. The poor man was devastated; in all my years of knowing him I had never seen him so distraught.
"It's okay, even the bravest of soldiers fall" I told him as I stroked his brown hair, he looked up at me, his brown filled with tears.
"If the brave fall, then who will defend the city?" he asked, after about an hour he got up, he looked over at She-Ra, however it was not despair in his eyes this time, now they were filled with hope.
"If we are to save She-Ra, we must be strong," he told himself.
He turned gaze back at me, for a moment we stared into each other's eyes, we leaned closer to each other, our lips touched and we kissed.
I knew that in the end, we would have to be separated, after all, Bow was a commoner and couldn't marry a princess, and my mother probably has a dozen suitors lined up for me to choose from. But, at the moment I did not care, there would only be one man that I would share my life with, and that is Bow!
Just then, mother came back into the room, she seemed happier than before, in her hands was a book made of gold. She had a bag slung about her shoulder filled with ancient scrolls and manuscripts.
"I've found it," she said as she lay the book on a nearby table, she thumbed through several pages until she found the page she was looking for.
"What did you find?" Bow asked as stepped closer to look at the book.
The writing in the book was Angellian Gnostic, a dialect of Gnostic not spoken since Light Hope was king of Infintia.
"A cure, it's called the potion of Kelionus. It is said to cure any illness." She told us as she read the passage from her book. "However, you will need to go collect the ingredients for the potion" she told us sternly.
"Where do we have to go?" Bow asked, he wanted to know what he had to do to save She-Ra. He would do anything to save her and face any danger.
"The first Ingredient is Iridescent Pearls, they can be found in the Iridian Sea at the far eastern side of the planet" she told him. "They are guarded by a fierce creature called Chimera, many have tried to retrieve the pearls, all have failed." She warned him.
"Then how can I get the pearls, if no one has succeeded in retrieving them," he asked concerned that he would not be able fulfill his mission.
Mother smiled at him and said, "You will succeed because you will use the Orphean Hymn," she declared taking a scroll out from her pouch.
"What's the Orphean Hymn?" I asked her, I had only a rudimentary knowledge of Etherian mythology and had never heard of this hymn.
"An ancient hymn of the Gnostics, It is named after its author, Orpheus the Great, the greatest musician of ancient Infintia. According to legend he wrote the hymn to tame the god Viper so he could rescue his lover who had recently died. Since then it said that no creature living or dead; mortal or immortal is immune from its charms" she explained as she wrote the hymn down on some paper and handed it to Bow
"What's my task?" I asked my mother, I was also eager to help She-Ra get well, I would do whatever it takes to save her.
She looked at me with sorrow, "Glimmer, your task is the most dangerous of the two. You must get a bag of Ichorian Diamonds." She told me..
"What are Ichorian Diamonds and what so dangerous about getting them?" I asked her, it sounded safer than facing against Chimera in the Iridian Sea.
"Ichorian Diamonds are like regular diamond except they have red tint to them, caused by blood that was spilt on the ground. There is only one place in the Universe where they exist…Horde World," she stated grimly.
I went pale at the very sound of the name of Horde World, when I was young I heard horror stories that said no one who had ventured to Horde World has ever left it alive unless Horde Prime himself invited them.
"I'll do it mother, for She-Ra's sake," I declared as she gave me a map of Horde World, the map was old, I could since the title of the map read 'Omega Terminis,' the name of the planet before Horde Prime was banished to there eons ago.
"Count me in too!" Bow declared as he drew forth his sword in obedience and loyalty.
Mother smiled and said, "very well, go and prepare for this quest and may Light Hope be with you"
After we thanked mother for the blessing, we went to get ready for this mission.
I went to my room and donned my pink spacesuit; I got it as a 16th birthday present from Bow, who thought it was 'cute' even though I thought it wasn't, it still makes me laugh everytime he tells me that.
I had to keep my sense of humor intact in order to go through with this, the very thought of traveling to Horde World made me pale with fear. I remember hearing the stories of people being tortured and souls being condemned there, it all filled me with dread.
Just then Bow came in, he was dressed in a black wet suit, his brown hair was hidden by the wetsuit's hood. In his hands were a harpoon and the Orphean Hymn in waterproof bottle.
"Are you ready for this?" he asked me as he held my hands in his, I could tell that he was scared, not for himself but for She-Ra and me.
He was scared for She-Ra because he wasn't sure that she was going to make it, the sword of death was dangling over her and at any moment into could come crashing down on her throat.
He was scared for me because he knew all to well the horror stories about Horde World as well, he knew that my mission was dangerous and there was always the chance that I would not make to back to Etheria, he would be devastated if anything happened to me.
But that was a possibility that neither of us wanted to think about right now, right now there was only thing we wanted to think about- saving She-Ra!
"I'm ready as I'll ever be", I told him as checked to make sure I had enough oxygen for an extended trip to Horde World, the planet itself has no oxygen whatsoever and anyone whishing to go there needs lots of oxygen tanks.
"Glimmer, if we don't make it back, there is something I would like to tell you," he said nervously.
"What is that?" I asked curiously, nervous about what he would say.
"I love you Glimmer, more than life itself and there is no other woman on Etheria that I would want to share my life with than you," he declared as he produced a diamond ring.
I was taken aback by his proposal, what would mother say if she found out that Bow proposed to me, she probably wouldn't like it.
"Bow, I don't know about this," I told him, what else could I say to him, I didn't want to break his heart, but I didn't want to anger my mother at the same time.
"Please Glimmer, say yes, I can't live with out you! I'm incomplete without you," he pleaded getting down his knees.
I didn't what to say now, while I knew mother would not be happy, I knew that deep down inside my heart I too would be incomplete unless I was with Bow so I said the only thing I could "Oh Bow, Yes, I'll marry you."
"Thank you, Glimmer! You've made me the happiest man on Etheria" he said as he stood up; removed my space glove; and slipped the ring on hand.
"We'd better get going," I exclaimed as I looked at the clock on the wall. It was about 4 hours past midsun, and She-Ra's time was waning.
Fearing we might not see each other, we shared a passionate kiss, and walked out of the room to start on our journeys.
LORD HORDAK'S JOURNAL
19th DAY IN THE SECOND YEAR OF MY OCCUPATION OF ETHERIA
I underestimated She-Ra's resolve, even when she is sick and dying, she still manages to save her friends, and not only that, her friends took her to Angella to be cured. It is of no consequence now; no cure of Angella's can save her now.
I was watching the monitor, waiting for the right moment to attack when Modulok came in with some good news.
"My Lord, Bow and Glimmer have just left Brightmoon" he informed me.
I walked to the map screen, and looked at the planet, "where are they headed?" I asked wondering what fool quest Angella sent them on.
"Bow is heading towards the eastern half of the planet to the Iridian Sea, according to my sources," he said showing me the rebel's location on the map.
So, Angella is searching for the Iridescent Pearls, no doubt she's attempting to make the Healing Potion of Kelionus, how very clever of her and stupid, Bow won't stand a chance against the Chimera, but just to make sure I'll send him a play mate.
"Modulok, contact Octavia, tell her to go the Iridian Sea and tell her to be ready for a rebel visitor," I ordered, if Chimera didn't kill Bow then Octavia would.
"Yes, my lord," as he contacted her for me, telling her of my plan.
"Where is that meddlesome Princess Glimmer going?" I asked, I had to know as to plan a surprise for her.
Modulok fiddled with the controls and concluded, "She's headed for Horde World."
"Good, Horde Prime will personally deal with her, we have more important things to tend with, come let us claim our prize!" I said as we opened a portal and left for Brightmoon.
QUEEN ANGELLA'S DIARY
19th DAY IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE HORDE'S OCCUPATION OF ETHERIA
While Bow and Glimmer went on their mission, I tended to She-Ra.
I put her in a drug-induced coma to ease her physical pain, but her emotional pain is what I'm more worried about. I've tried to help ease that by using my empathic powers to administer some dream therapy to her, an ancient Angellian technique to help people who have severe emotional and mental pain by entering their dreams and helping them face thiers fears, but even with me guiding her dreams she still is in a great deal of pain.
In her all her dreams, she seems to be trying to achieve some sort of knowledge, various images continue to pop up, chief among them, the ancient Gnostics who founded Etheria, I see her eating a communal meal with them, no doubt an allegory of her regaining her memory.
I also see Death in her dreams, Thanatos, the herald of Viper stalks her waiting to give her the kiss that will steal her soul away, but she is strong and resists his calls.
After about an hour or so, I was beginning to become weak, dream therapy is very exhausting and if done for too long is dangerous to the person administring the treatment, so I left to rest, I set up alarm to alert if anything happened to She-Ra and left the infiramry.
I decided to do some praying in the Baptismal Room of the castle.
The Baptismal Room is the room where every Angellian of the Seraphinian class are baptized and coronated when they became king or queen. The room is dedicated to Light Hope's victory over Prime during the War of Illumination millennia ago.
I knelt down in the front row and prayed.
"Light Hope, you promised your aid to all who serve you. I served you as Monarch of Etheria for twenty-three years now, and not once have I asked for anything from you, but now I implore you, please let She-Ra live," I implored the statue, no answer came.
I had been told as a young girl that Light Hope hears our prayers but now as I stared at the statue of him who has been called, 'The high servant of the Unknowble One' I began to wonder if that was true, the bitter gall of skepticism and tainted my faith and I was pondering if that was true or not, but my higher senses told me that was true.
Just then, I heard the alarms go off in She-Ra's room, I ran to see what happened, to my horror I saw Hordak and his crony Modulok standing in the room.
"Greetings Angella, I have come for my prize," he declared pointing at She-Ra.
Modulok had disconnected her life support machines and had her slung on his back.
"You won't take her, demon, I will protect her till my last breath," I threatened I drew my golden sword, called the Sword of Uriel, from its scabbard.
"If that is your wish," he declared as he made his sword materialize.
It was made of black steel with a red batwing shaped blade. He swung it in the air in a show of intimidation, hoping I would back down, but he would have no such luck.
We clashed for nearly an hour; all I could think was saving She-Ra and stopping Hordak.
"Soon Etheria will be mine!" he gloated as we continued to fight.
"Never, the Magi rejected you before, and I will reject your claim now Ralabad," I said defiantly.
Hordak sprung on me like a wild animal his eyes shone with hatred, "DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT NAME! RALABAD IS DEAD, I SLEW HIM IN BATTLE JUST AS I AM ABOUT TO SLAY YOU!" he threatened.
Just as he was about to kill me, his mind snapped back to his mission, "Farewell Angella, next time we meet, you will not be as lucky," He threatened as he opened a portal and vanished out sight.
"SHE-RA! NO!" I screamed, but I was too late, the archfiend had vanished and had taken She-Ra with him, if I could not recover her, all is lost!
Light Hope help us all!