Epilogue

Castle Grayskull

Graylands, Eternia

12 June 2017

Gabriel Burns started a project a year after the Sorceress arrived on Earth involving establishing communication links through small magical time/space portals. He worked out the technology side of the project while the Sorceress completed the mystic end. The end result was a pair of devises which 'might' work given the right conditions. Gabe nearly jumped out of his skin then the devise that had spent the better part of a year on his desk suddenly crackled to life. Several hours later, the Sorceress opened a portal to Earth so that Gabe could fulfill his dream of visiting her home.

She was surprised when General Hammond stepped through the portal first, Gabe following close behind, and then the portal dissolved. The trio spent the next two hours going over the interesting sights inside the ancient castle. The Sorceress even took them briefly into the revitalized Crystal Chamber. The tour ended with the same demonstration she had done for Lieutenant Garber several days ago with the different sized boxes to show the size difference within and without the castle.

"Don't even pretend like you understood that," Jo-jo warned Colonel Markson. The pair had wandered over when the Sorceress started her explanation of the trans-dimensional laws governing the interior.

"Who? Me?"

"Yes, you. I have nearly finished a PhD in physics and even I don't understand this Trans-dimensional Law."

Gabe was escorted to the museum where all sorts of technology was on display. He heeded the Sorceress' warning not to get carried away, and then guided General Hammond, Colonel Markson, and Captain Majourny to the small library in the west tower.

The debriefing lasted for hours even though they didn't go into great detail except where requested by Hammond. The unknown starship that had showed up at just the right moment was a disturbing issue the scientists would debate for months. The issue the Sorceress dreaded the entire time finally came up. Her intervention when Colonel Markson was going to shoot Teela. She had been debating how to explain without revealing the secret of her relationship with the warrior woman.

General Hammond looked slightly uncomfortable especially since he knew he had to broach the subject.

The Sorceress solved the dilemma for him, saying, "Just say it, General. We have never danced around subjects in the past two years. Why start now?"

"As you wish. I am concerned with the incident regarding the enemy commander," General Hammond paused to collect his thoughts before continuing. "You knew when we started those sympathizers from Eternia, Etheria, and other planets might be encountered. Some might even turn out to be people you know. Do you know this enemy commander?"

There was no getting around it now. General Hammond was too smart for that. And he was the last person she would want to lie to, if she could ever lie to anyone.

"Yes, I know her. She used to be Captain of the Royal Guard when King Randor was in power," Sorceress answered.

"She got a name?" Colonel Markson prodded.

"Teela. Her name is Teela," Sorceress reluctantly replied.

Hammond nodded. They knew of her from the information the Sorceress had provided about the people and cultures of Eternia. "Is Teela as formidable a commander as she displayed today?" General Hammond said. "If she is, we have a new threat to this castle."

"She is every bit as capable as the colonel, but she is no threat to us."

Colonel Markson disagreed. "Oh, she looked pretty dangerous to me."

"She has done what she has to in order to survive, and to allow as many others as possible to survive." Markson and Hammond looked unconvinced. More importantly, they wanted to know how she knew that. "She came to me the night before King Hiss planned to have me killed."

Colonel Markson scoffed at that. "I'll bet she was real impressed. Impressed enough to bid farewell."

"She wanted to see if it was true that I had returned. King Hiss and the Horde have pretty much stamped out all pockets of resistance. I think some still remain here on Eternia. I got that impression when we talked," Sorceress explained at length.

"I could be the impression she wanted you to have," Hammond countered. "I don't see any reason to think she would be a part of any continued resistance."

"I know her, general. I know how she thinks and acts. I know the morality has not been driven out of her despite being married to the monster that now rules this planet."

Jo-jo shivered at the thought of some poor woman married to King Hiss even if it was only to help save lives. She could not fathom the depths one would have to sink to in order to subjugate one's self to a creature like that. On the flip side, there were tangible indications that many lives had been saved by the arrangement.

"So because of this past affiliation with the Royal Guard you felt it was enough justification to interfere with Colonel Markson when he had the shot?" General Hammond asked pointedly.

"No," Sorceress whispered.

"Is if because she's a woman?" the colonel added bluntly, bristling with irritation.

"No."

"Then what? What makes her so special that you had to step in?"

"That's personal," Sorceress said. That's all she could think to say. He-man and Duncan had known this secret. Could she trust these people with it? Obviously, Teela had not compromised it, and she had had years to decide just how to reveal, if that had been her intention.

"Sorceress, I can't allow you to participate in any future missions unless I know where your loyalties lie. I realize this is your homeworld, but you are now a part of the Guardian Force. I have to be sure of each and every person in my command. Especially one who commands a suit of armor as powerful as yours." General Hammond had no trouble getting his point across. His fears were justified by her actions. He was in an awkward position as much as she now was.

"She's the enemy!" Colonel Markson snapped.

"She's my daughter!" Sorceress snapped back without thinking.

All three were stunned. Colonel Markson was rarely left speechless, but this was one of those times. Of all the reasons the Sorceress could possibly have had for saving Teela from the colonel's bullet, this was the absolute last one anyone would have expected.

"Does that amaze you all so much that I would have found to time for a family?" Sorceress continued when she had calmed down. "It happened somewhat by accident, but not an unwelcome one. Skeletor's evil had not risen in the land yet so I left Castle Grayskull to explore a world which had changed so much since I first took over as the castle's guardian. I met a man in the Royal guard. He was a decent, loving man who loved family as much as he loved serving the king. I was pregnant with Teela when he went off to fight the Horde's first major invasion, though neither of us knew it at the time."

The Sorceress paused to clamp down on her grief. She had come to terms with the loss of her husband thanks in large part to his spirit, which was now beyond the veil of this life. "I was devastated when he did not return, but he won the day. Later, when I gave birth to Teela, I came to realize our blood relation would be a danger to both of us. Our enemies would use that against us so I made the decision that her identity be kept secret." They knew the rest of how Duncan had raised Teela as his own daughter. Now they knew why, though no one had ever thought to ask about Duncan's wife, which of course, there had never been one.

Colonel Markson argued that the Sorceress was now compromised, but she resisted the idea on the grounds that Teela had plenty of time to reveal their relationship. Jo-jo added that such a revelation would likely make Teela's life forfeit in the eyes of King Hiss. General Hammond listened to all the arguments, weighed the facts, and decided it was worth the risk to leave things as they were to see what happened.

For now.

Palace Eternia

King Hiss had been taken to his private chambers to recover from the beating the Sorceress and dealt him. No one could remember him ever suffering a defeat like that. Not even He-man had been able to so thoroughly thrash the leader of the Snake Men. Everyone not born a serpent was well advised to keep away from the snakes until their leader was recovered and repressing the land once more.

It was more than a day before the minions who once swore loyalty to Skeletor noticed they were short one member. Tri-Klops, Beast Man, Clawful, Two Bad, and Trap jaw searched for the better part of a day trying in vain to find Evil-lyn. No one could remember seeing her after she snuck into Castle Grayskull behind King Hiss. Tri-Klops thought she might still be hiding somewhere inside the castle, but if that were the case, they would have heard something by now.

The other possibility was that Evil-lyn might have been captured. That was certainly possible given the amount of enemy troops and their allies in the area. It would have been close to impossible for Evil-lyn to escape if she was unable to use her magic. The only other alternative was she managed to get to one of the access points to the powerful magic stored deep inside the castle and was killed before she could secure it.

None of Skeletor's former minions shed a single tear for Evil-lyn. They had despised her as much as she did them. Having her out of the way meant one less obstacle to King Hiss' favor. Thus, the search was called off after nearly twelve hours.

Teela spent the majority of the past two days sequestered in her quarters. She had barely escaped the blast radius when the mobile canon's fusion reactor breached. Amazingly, there had been little damage to the landscape. Now that she had time to think about the events more clearly, Teela concluded her mother must have absorbed the massive, uncontrolled energy release. Where all that raw power went was anyone's guess, but judging by the increased defensive power of the castle's magical shields later in the battle, one didn't need to be a genius to figure out how that had happened.

And then there was the problem of her mother seemingly returned from the grave. No contact in over seven years and suddenly she is back with no explanation as to where she had been. Not that Teela had given the Sorceress a chance to explain, of course. Her return complicated matters greatly. Would the Sorceress return to her post as guardian of Castle Grayskull? Or would she remain with her new friends and leave to the castle undefended?

"Castle Grayskull now has the power to protect itself," the spirit of Grayskull replied, materializing before the warrior woman. The red-tinged head was a familiar sight to Teela; one she had not seen in years. "I have your mother to thank for that."

"Yes. She's a real saint," Teela muttered.

The anger Teela had felt all those years ago when confronting the Oracle of the Crystal Sea about the identity of her mother flared like a star going nova. She had been angry and bitter for weeks afterward. Growing up under Duncan's tutelage to become the best warrior the Royal Guard ever had was quite an accomplishment, tempered against growing up without a mother. Eventually, Teela came to realize it must have been just as hard on the Sorceress, if not more so, to watch her daughter grow up and not be a part of that.

"Try not to be too hard on her, Teela," Spirit replied, soothingly. "She has had a rough time, also. And I discovered something else while she was rejuvenating in the Pool of Power."

Teela addressed the apparition directly for the first time. "What?"

"There is a hole in her mind. Where there should be memories of what happened when the Eternia left Planet Primus there is only a black void. I tried to probe that area of her memory and was violently repelled by some force I've never experienced before." The Spirit explained.

Teela nodded. "He-man refused to say what happened. Even Skeletor was unusually quiet on the subject." She paused considering the information, and then asked, "Does she know?"

"She suspects something isn't right. At the moment she figures it is just a repression due to the travel though the time/space corridor, which was not a smooth one. Sooner or later the Sorceress is going to attempt to access those hidden memories," the Spirit answered in a neutral tone.

"And?" Teela prodded.

"I don't know what will happen. It all depends on who put the block there and how badly those memories need to be hidden."

Teela hung her head, whispering, "She needs to know."

"Not now. Not yet. The results would most likely be – unpleasant."

That the Spirit knew something was obvious to Teela. Some bit of knowledge even more dangerous than her relationship with the Sorceress being made public. One thing was certain. Things had just gotten a lot more dangerous for Teela than she would ever have imagined.

Guardian Command

Area 51, Earth

13 June 2017

As soon as the information was decoded, General Hammond called an emergency conference. Eternia was just starting her return trip and wasn't due to arrive for another day or two. Traveling through time/space portals definitely had its advantages.

The entire crew was present for a full house. Colonel Markson, the six Guardians, Gabe Burns, and Nick Jackson took all the seats around the massive conference table. The general sat at the head of the table while Catherine O'Rourke and Andre Wardman worked feverishly at the other end to get the holographic display working. The technology was still new and had a few teething problems.

Colonel Markson cracked his usual jokes while Jake and Jeromy argued over who had the highest number of kills in the Battle for Castle Grayskull. Dhalon had boasted a pretty impressive number, which Corporal Frost pounced on with a higher number. Snipers weren't known for boasting, but when it came to capping off robots, anything was possible. Naturally, there were going to be limits set on any future competition.

The Sorceress remained unusually quiet while waiting for the presentation to begin. Her friends figured it was just fallout from the mission to Planet Eternia. She had been through a lot, like the others, but there seemed to be more going on. Everyone respected her privacy, though. She would talk when she wanted or needed to.

"Almost got it, general," Catherine replied. She hooked up several more electrical connectors while Andre checked the power pack one more time.

"I'm going to miss my date with a lake in Montana, if you two don't hurry it up," Colonel Markson teased, looking and sounding totally serious.

Finally, the holographic system started up. The projector sitting in the center of the table came to life displaying a globe of stars in the air at about eye level for a person standing up. A set of six stars brightened more than those around it indicating – something.

"What are we looking at?" General Hammond inquired, leaving the discussion open for anyone to speak up.

Gabe leaned forward in his seat, mouth dropping open slightly and eyes widening considerably. He pulled the mission report closer, opened the folder, and began flipping through the pages.

"What is it?" Nike asked. He vaguely remembered what the significance of the stars was, but could not recall their meaning.

"Here it is," Gabe said, locating the page he sought. "According to the analysis by Blain Robards, those are pulsar readings with gravimetric lightyear measurements." He looked up, finishing, "Spacial co-ordinates."

"Come again?" Colonel Markson said immediately.

"They are celestial bodies used to locate an object in space. Think of it as a box in space. You use a point on each side, draw a line to the center of the box, and you have the target location. In this case, the target is a planet apparently deep in Horde space," Gabe explained. "One whose location is supposed to be a secret."

General Hammond finally caught up. "Is this the planet we were trying to get information on?"

Gabe nodded. "Looks like King Hiss doesn't always follow Horde Prime's directives. This – "he gestured to the holographic map, "– is the location of the penal planet called Hel. Named for its unpredictable climate, among other things."

"Well, looks to me like we have our next mission," Jake said, bubbling with enthusiasm.

"Let's not get carried away here," Nick cautioned. "While we have the co-ordinates for the planet, we have no idea how deep into Horde space a ship would have to go."

General Hammond nodded his agreement. "I agree. We need more information about that sector, defenses, observation posts; anything that could end a mission real quick."

"I know someone who might be able to help," Adrian said quietly.

At the general's gesture to proceed, Adrian explained that Anyssa was of the Val-kyrie race. Colonel Markson attested to her battle skills in his report, so there was no question that she was even without her eventual admission. If anyone had any knowledge of Horde defenses and fleet movements in any sector of Horde space, the warrior race would have it. It was a long shot, but one Hammond was inclined to go with.

General Hammond asked the Sorceress to create a portal back to Castle Grayskull where Anyssa and Dhalon waited patiently. They had not been invited to Earth just yet because the base wasn't quit ready for it. Hammond personally assured them it wouldn't be long before they would be allowed to fulfill their pledge to join the Guardian force.

With nothing further to be added to the discussion, Hammond dismissed the group. Everyone filed out except Colonel Markson.

"You know that's going to be our next mission whether you want to admit it or not," Jon said.

"I know, Colonel. I just want to be sure you all come back alive. We've lost quite a few people already in only two missions. A mission to the Horde prison planet will be your most dangerous one yet," Hammond explained. "Doing the impossible is what will land this planet at the top of Horde Prime's hit list before we're ready, if we aren't careful."

Colonel Markson nodded, and left to keep his appointment with a little lake in Montana.