Chapter Three: "Oris"


Upon their arrival, there came a very loud command.

"Put those weapons down!"

He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Moss Man, and Ram-Man arrived in the Elves dimension along with their two escorts. They were standing on a pavilion much like the one they had just left. However, except the statue of the Elf, there were statues of all the people of Eternia.

"Our weapons are down," He-Man said to the lead Elf on this side of the portal. This one was lean, tall, with long black hair that flowed passed his shoulders. Behind him were four other Elves.

"Not you, He-Man," the lead Elf said.

The two would-be assassins lowered their bows and arrows, exchanging surprised expressions. "But these are our enemies!" protested the taller of the two.

"They are our guests!" chided the lead Elf. "How dare you treat them with such little respect?"

"We treated them as your father commanded us to," said the other Elf.

The lead Elf took a step forward. "You will show me respect as well, Vorlon," he grumbled. The second of the assassins bowed a little.

"My apologies, prince."

The Elven prince took in a deep breath after excusing Vorlon and his companion. He then turned to He-Man's party.

"He-Man and guests, welcome to the Elven realm of Oris. I am Prince Lorn, son of King Shorn. Thank you for coming here and meeting with us so peacefully."

"We are honored," He-Man replied. "I'm glad we're both interested in wrapping up this business as fast and as diplomatically as possible."

Lorn smiled. "As am I, champion of Grayskull." He then looked to the others. "Who are your companions, may I ask?"

"Man-At-Arms, Moss Man, Ram-Man, and Teela of Eternos."

Lorn shook all of their hands . . . until Teela. He lifted hers up and kissed it. "A pleasure," he said, his brown eyes meeting her green eyes. He then turned to all of them. "A pleasure to meet all of you. If you'll follow me, my father is expecting us."

They walked along a brick path, observing the differences between their home and this new dimension. The sky was a golden orange. The trees were silver white with very light green leafs hanging from their branches. There seemed to be a vague haze all around them as they walked.

The group came around a bend and saw, down at the bottom of a steep valley, a massively tall silver-white tower that seemed to stretch upward for miles. As they walked along the edge of the valley, they could hear a sort of light humming coming from the tower.

"What is that?" asked He-Man.

"The Tower of Oris," Lorn responded. "It is what maintains our dimension. Without it, all of this would fade off into nothing. It is . . . troubled a bit now.

"What do you mean?"

"All will be revealed at dinner. My escorts with me will take you to your rooms, where clothes are being prepared for you. You will dine with my father and I tonight. A very formal occasion, for we so little often have guests."

Teela rolled her eyes at He-Man, obviously not looking forward to wearing a gown. She then, however, caught sight a sly grin from Lorn. Much to her own surprise, she returned the grin with one of her own.

The Elven palace was quite elaborate, and looked very similar to the one they had passed back on Dellos. As they arrived, Lorn escorted them in.

"I will tell my father of your arrival," Lorn said to them. "Your quarters have been arranged for you in the western tower."

"How will you know our sizes?" asked He-Man.

"The thread has been enchanted by our master spell casters. Put the outfits on as you wish and you shall find that they will resize to fit you perfectly."

"Thank you."

As the group was taken up into the western tower, He-Man turned to Man-At-Arms.

"Think we can trust them?" asked He-Man.

"I think so," Man-At-Arms replied. "So far, so good."

"Yeah. So far."

The quarters were quite ordinary - a bed, a table, a wardrobe, and a vanity in each one. After entering, each of them found a wide variety of formal clothes in the wardrobes. Nearly twenty minutes later, He-Man emerged from his quarters wearing a blue outfit that looked a bit too stuffy for him.

Across the hall, Teela's door opened and she came stepped out. He-Man – and Adam within – had never seen her like quite like this. She wore a beautiful gown that widened at the bottom. It was white with light gold swirls all over it. Her hair was up in a curled bun.

"Shut up," she told He-Man as he started to open his mouth.

"You look - "

"Shush. This is the least poofy and ugly thing in there. And it's your fault I have to dress up in this ridiculous outfit."

"My fault?"

"Yes. You just had to have assassins after you."

He-Man rolled his eyes. "Oh yes. All my fault."

"Teela!" laughed Man-At-Arms. "Just look at my little girl!"

"Father, please."

"But you look so beautiful!"

"You're embarrassing me," she said through gritted teeth.

"Aww, I'm sorry, precious," Man-At-Arms added, pinching her cheek. He was decked out in a green suit, but still wore his Honor Belt and all of his vital equipment.

Moss Man and Ram-Man then joined them. Ram-Man wore a purple number and retained his helmet. Moss Man was wearing a huge brown robe and a lay made of silver roses.

"Ready to eat?" asked Moss Man. "Wow, Teela, you look gorgeous!"

"Oh yeah!" Ram-Man added. "A real beauty!"

Teela buried her red face in her hand and sighed. "Let's just go, huh?"

A few minutes later, the group was escorted once more through the long corridors of the palace. Beautiful statues of Elves stood along the walls along with exotic-looking plants and amazing paintings. Each one of the Heroic Warriors would have wanted to take more time to study what they were seeing, but their escorts seemed to want them to hurry.

They arrived in a large chamber. Four tables stood in a square. Each table was filled with food and an Elf sat in every chair. As the Eternians entered, the Elves stared at them in what could best be described as awe and wonder. The room itself was decked out with more Elven statues, though every statue could be best described as looking relaxed and at rest.

"Good afternoon," He-Man greeted.

"Hello," a man said from what He-Man guessed was the main table. Lorn sat next to the man. The man looked quite like Lorn, save for that he was very much older – long hair silver gray, face wrinkled, chin and cheeks flowing with a beard the color of his hair. Upon his brow was a small crown.

"I am King Shorn of the Elves," Shorn greeted. "Have a seat and let us palaver with a people we have not spoken with in many, many years."

"Thank you, King Shorn. The honor is ours. We mean you no disrespect, but considering there was an assassination attempt made on my life just yesterday by two of your agents, I would like to inspect the food for any . . . dangers."

Shorn gave Lorn a concerned look, but Lorn nodded. "If we are to trust each other, then you must do what you must."

Man-At-Arms waved a small scanner over the food. After a few minutes, he nodded. "It's clean."

And thus, the meal began. Small talk was kicked around, mostly between the Heroic Warriors and the Elven royal family. The other Elves there spoke as well, but mostly amongst themselves. Some would stare at the Eternians, but most others were engaged in talk too much to bother. It was revealed in due time that these Elves were heads of the families of Oris.

Finally, He-Man found that it was time to get down to business.

"As much as I appreciate this fine food and your hospitality," he began, "I would like to figure all of this out. The event that brought us together is one that . . . troubles me."

Shorn nodded a little and turned to Lorn. Lorn leaned forward. "We were attacked."

"I gathered as much," He-Man replied.

"Not in the traditional way, He-Man," Shorn cut in. "The one who attacked us journeyed into the Tower of Oris. The power he gave off disrupted the very delicate energies within. This has led to vast ramifications to the structure of our realm."

"What kind of ramifications?" asked Man-At-Arms.

"It has - " Lorn began, but Shorn lifted his hand.

"Those are questions that we will answer later," Shorn replied. "For now, let us concentrate on the perpetrator."

"You say he looks like me?"

"Yes," Lorn answered, glancing at his father. "All save the colors."

"What do you mean?" He-Man asked, feeling a chill go up his spine.

"His skin is blue. His eyes are yellow. His hair is orange."

"Faker," He-Man said simply.

"Who is Faker?" asked Shorn.

"Part clone, part robot," He-Man answered. "He was created by my enemy, Skeletor. He's almost exactly like me . . . except evil."

Lorn and Shorn looked to each other, trying to decide whether or not they believed him.

"It would explain the shift in Grayskull's power as well," Man-At-Arms then said. "Faker retains a very small portion of Grayskull's power. If his power interacted with that of the Elves, it would explain the disruptions you mentioned."

Shorn leaned towards Lorn and the two were suddenly deeply involved in a hushed conversation. All eyes were now on either the Eternians or the royal Elves.

"Faker is my responsibility," He-Man declared then. "Tell me where he headed and I'll help you track him down and defeat him."

Lorn and Shorn nodded.

"We will give you one night's rest here at the palace," Shorn said to them. "In the morning, we shall hunt for Faker."


He-Man couldn't sleep. Or, really, it was a limited sleep. He kept tossing and turning and waking up at odd hours. Finally, at what he could guess was Five Bells in the Morning, he gave up and wandered out of his room. He found his way to a balcony and watched as light began to arrive on the horizon.

It wasn't long until he heard footsteps. He turned and found King Shorn joining him.

"Is that a real sun?" He-Man asked.

"To an extent, yes. We chose this dimension because its reality was so easy to shape. Our power could affect it vastly, creating the changes we needed."

"I see." He-Man paused. "Why did your people leave Eternia?"

"Mankind," was Shorn's only reply.

"What about it? What happened that offended you so greatly?"

"If Granamyr hasn't told you why the Dragons broke off relations with Eternians, then I shouldn't either."

"He told me that a deal was brokered. That my people came to him for help and after he gave, there were reparations made. No gifts, no thanks."

Shorn scoffed. "He told you only half the story, then."

"What's the other half? Tell me, Shorn, what role did the Elves play?"

Shorn looked at the rising sun quietly, his eyes cast way in search of what to say and the right words to use. "We were drawn into the conflict of Men, He-Man. Your Council of Elders insulted us and we were unhappy with what was occurring on Eternia. So, we left."

"Must have been quite the insult for you to leave and never come back."

"Some of us remained, but not many. The Men of Eternia have broken our trust."

"You distrust us enough to make an assassination attempt on my life?"

"I ordered those Elves to confirm that you were on Eternia and not in Oris. The steps they took were out of anger. Frustration."

He-Man nodded. "I don't care for having my life being threatened like that, Shorn."

"I understand, but I also do not care. Your 'evil twin' placed our realm into grave danger. Steps had to be taken. Despite those steps getting out of hand, the fact remains that you were considered a danger as well."

"Fine." He-Man grunted and turned away from the sunrise. "I'll handle Faker. He's my responsibility. But know something, Shorn. Mankind has changed. Even Granamyr has seen that. We have grown. There may still be those that seek to harm others, but there are obviously Elves that feel that same way. The assassination attempt is proof of that."

With that, He-Man walked off. As soon as he did, another door to the balcony opened up and Lorn walked out.

"Father . . ."

"You heard all of that?" asked Shorn.

"Yes." Lorn looked to the sunrise. "He's right, too. The Eternians have changed. That much is obvious to even me."

Shorn scoffed just a little. "My boy," he stated. "You weren't there a thousand years ago when Eldor came to Dellos and begged us to stay. He needed us, but after what happened with the Dragons . . ."

"It's been a thousand years, father! And you didn't even tell him the truth. Oris is falling apart. It has been for centuries. Faker's disruption only forced it to progress. How much longer to we have? A year? Months?"

Shorn sighed heavily and stepped close to his son. "Weeks, if we are lucky."

"Then we should - "

"We will do nothing. I already have our top mystics searching for another dimension."

"Why do that, father? Why not return to Eternia? Much of Dellos is still intact. Vorlon told me so. In fact, many of our people are wondering about Eternia. Wondering how much of it has changed and what it is like compared to Oris."

"We will not be returning to Eternia, Lorn. Our time there is over."