Dream Weavers
Chapter Two: But All Dreams Must End
Earlier that same day…
"Are you sure this is where you wanna go?" Adam asked Orko as he landed their Wind Raider outside what looked like a cave.
A very fancy cave. The entrance was chiseled smooth and very well-lit with soft warm lights. Statues were erected leading up to it. Statues of people with eyes closed and serene, resting faces that gave the impression of not only sleep but happy dreams. But the place itself was a hole in the side of a cliff. That made it a cave.
"Yeah!" Orko insisted. "I heard about it from Ram-Man. He used to come here a lot before all the trouble with Skeletor kept making it too hard to make time for himself."
"Oh, but we have time to make for ourselves." Adam pointed out. "That doesn't seem fair."
"Yeah, but you're He-" Orko cut himself off before he could blurt out that Prince Adam of the House of Randor was the legendary hero and post powerful man in the universe, He-Man. It was supposed to be a secret. "You have a lot more responsibilities than Ram-Man. You deserve some R & R."
Adam looked at the softly lit and well decorated cave entrance with a raised eyebrow. "And this will be relaxing?"
"Uh-huh!" Orko assured him, nodding so enthusiastically that his whole body bobbed up and down in the air. "The Dream Weavers' Retreat. A vacation spot that offers the most relaxing sleep you'll ever have and assures pleasant dreams tailor made for each individual customer."
"Tailor made dreams?" He remained skeptical and wary.
Crafting dreams was not unprecedented on Eternia. In fact, Skeletor's henchwoman, Evil-Lyn, did that to two of the Masters on two separate occasions very recently. Dreams and illusions designed for a specific person was not a strange idea to Adam. The problem was, those kinds of things usually involved some kind of telepathy. Mind reading. Which meant that if someone did it him, there was a risk of them learning that he was He-Man. Which was a risk Adam wasn't sure he wanted to take just for one good night's -um, day's sleep.
"Yup!" Orko clasped his hands together and sighed wistfully. "I could get to see what it would be like if my magic actually worked right in this crazy dimension of yours…"
"Hm, that would be nice." Adam had to admit.
Just that morning, he had been complaining to the Trollan sorcerer that it was hard to keep wrinkles out of his white mandarine shirts, and Orko tried to help by 'ironing' them for him. But all Orko succeeded in doing was summon multiple anvils from seemingly nowhere.
Taking a moment to pause and think, Adam wondered what he might like in a custom-made dream.
"Would be nice to see what a world that didn't need He-Man might be like." He finally admitted. "A world without Skeletor. Huh, ya know, all of his minions are so skilled, I wonder if Skeletor never showed up if they might have been Masters themselves! Oh! And Teela being nice to me would also be cool! And to fly. Not on a Wind Raider or a Sky-Sled, just fly."
It was hard to tell if Orko was smiling at him or not. All Adam could see of the Trollan's face were his eyes. But his eyes did seem to crinkle as if he were smiling as Orko tilted his body to the entrance of the cave.
"Okay." Adam finally relented. "One hour. I'll try out the Dream Weavers' Retreat for one hour. Then we go back to Eternos. I don't like being away from the capital for too long. What if Skeletor attacked while we're gone?"
…
Meanwhile, at Snake Mountain…
"Myehehehehehe…!" Skeletor cackled, sitting on his throne. Proud of himself for thinking up what could be his most brilliant evil scheme yet.
"What're you so happy about, Boss?" Asked Beastman.
At the foot of the dais, sitting on the steps leading up to the throne next to Panthor, Evil-Lyn crossed her arms over her chest and sneered. "Another absurd plan that'll never work, I'm sure."
"You say something, Evil-Lyn?" Skeletor demanded.
She stood, glaring up at him. "It wouldn't matter if I did." She informed him. "You never listen to me anyway."
Evil-Lyn stormed from the throne room, a hiss in the lava the only fanfare for her departure.
"Have you heard of the Dream Weaver's Retreat?" Skeletor demanded of his henchmen, proceeding with the briefing of the Evil Plan as if Evil-Lyn's interruption never happened. "I don't care if you have or not. It is a place where people go to be intentionally put in a deep sleep and treated to their fondest dreams. We're going to steal whatever magic they use at the retreat, and we're going to use it to put that presumptuous usurper Randor in an eternal coma!" Skeletor indulged in a mirthless cackle, congratulating himself on a seemingly perfect plan. "Myehehehehehe!"
…
-Early 2000s CG animation of the Power Sword flying at the screen-
"We're only gonne be here an hour." Adam was explaining to the concierge that was showing them to a softly lit room with pillows and hanging, and soft lulling music playing from somewhere unseen. It looked so comfortable, one could almost forget they were in a cave. "So, do you guys have, like, alarm clocks or something?"
"We do not usually wake our guests before they have concluded their dream." The concierge informed him. "But if the Prince so desires, I can inform the Weavers that you desire a short respite."
No one would wake him until whatever magic they put him under was concluded? Adam didn't like that.
And what if these 'Weavers' discovered he was He-Man? What then?
"This was a bad idea." Adam said to Orko. "We should go."
Orko was about to object. Adam needed a vacation. He-Man deserved a peaceful respite every now and again. One could not be a hero all the time. They would drive themselves mad.
"But-" Orko began to object.
Except he didn't get the opportunity to voice his thought, because at that exact moment, there was a commotion in the cave-tunnel outside. Adam pushed past Orko and the concierge to see what was going on.
He was expecting to walk out and have to break up a disagreement between two patrons. About whom got the better pillow mints, or whatever customers at the magic sleep-away spa might have to argue about. He was not expecting to walk out and see Skeletor with Trap Jaw and Beastman holding a second concierge hostage and forcing their way through the cave system that made up the Dream Weavers' Retreat.
"Skeletor!" Adam snarled, one hand going up over his shoulder to grip the Power Sword. But Adam couldn't transform here. Not right in front of his enemy! He would have to get away if he was to become He-Man and repel the villain.
Unfortunately for Adam, Skeletor noticed him before he could dart back into the privacy of the room.
"Well, well, what do we have here!" Skeletor taunted. "If it isn't the inept Prince Adam. Taking a vacation from his mediocrity while better men look after the planet, no doubt. Trap Jaw, Beastman, capture the Prince! We'll get him out of the way too!"
Adam wasn't nearly as powerful a warrior as himself compared to when he was He-Man. But as Adam he was smaller and quicker. This was the only advantage he had over Trap Jaw and Beastman whom were bulkier and bumbling in the narrow space of the cave corridor because of it.
Ducking low, Adam managed to slip between Beastman's bowed legs and get behind him and Trap Jaw.
He drew his sword, but without privacy to transform he still could not become He-Man. He needed to get away somehow. He needed a distraction. "Orko, can you-!"
Adam was just off when a blue hand grabbed him from behind. Yanking on a first full of his mop of blond hair.
"Idiots!" Skeletor snarled. "Must I do everything myself!"
Struggling in the sorcerer's grip, Adam tried to free himself. He kicked at Skeletor, and while he didn't seem to do any damage, he did succeed in throwing him off his balance a little. The two grappled clumsily in the narrow corridor.
Skeletor's Havoc Staff was a poor choice of weapon in the close quarters, but so was Adam's sword. It scraped on the cave wall or ceiling more than once, and he still didn't have an opening to get away and transform into He-Man!
Adam resheathed his sword over his back, deciding his bare fist were better in the tight space.
He did manage to land one lucky kick that sent Skeletor careening against a side wall. Adam didn't think he hit the sorcerer very hard, but the wall cracked under the force of the impact and Skeletor fell into an entirely different passage all together. Adam would have thought that should end the fight right there, at least long enough for him to get away and transform into He-Man to defeat Skeletor properly.
Except at the last moment as Skeletor fell, one of the curled hones of the Havoc Staff hooked on his vest and Adam was pulled in with him.
Both men fell into a thick tangle of spider webs.
The passage was very dark. No soft mood lighting, no pillows or hangings in soothing colors, no relaxing music. Just spider webs.
And then spiders.
Tiny little golden spiders. They glinted metallicly in the dim light streaming in from the main cave passage outside, and they swarmed on both Skeletor and Adam. Like bees defending a have. Countless tiny gold spiders crawling all over them and spinning new webs.
Both Adam and Skeletor struggled. Trying to brush the spiders and the webs off themselves.
But there were too many spiders and they were all so fast.
And the webs were making them inexplicably sleepy for some reason.
For some magical reason, both Adam and Skeletor began to feel sluggish. Their movements slower. Their eyes heavier.
They sank to the ground.
Leaning against each other's backs. Adam's eyelids felt heavy.
And then…
Both men fell asleep, tangled in the same web. Multiple strands from multiple spiders connecting them.
Orko was the first to follow them through the hole in the broken wall. "Oh no! What's happened to them!?"
Trap Jaw and Beastman were just half a moment behind the Trollan sorcerer. "Boss? Hey, Boss!"
It Skeletor did not stir.
Neither did Adam.
The concierge that was previously showing Adam and Orko to a room came up to the. "Oh my! This has never happened before."
"What's never happened before?" Orko demanded.
Skeletor never broke into the Retreat before? No one caused a cave-in into this seemingly unused side passage in the cave system? These weird gold spiders never ate anyone before? What!?
"The Weavers." They tried to explain. "They've tangled the webs together! Their sleeping minds are connected. Prince Adam and Skeletor are sharing the same dream!"
Adam's dream would be perfectly fine and safe. A happy peaceful world where the Evil Warriors weren't evil, and everyone was friends, and there was no need for He-Man. But what kind of deranged horrors would Skeletor's unconscious mind introduce into the landscape? What did Skeletor long for most, deep down in his heart of hearts?
"Can we separate them!?" Orko pleaded, fearing for Adam's safety and sanity.
"We- we have to wait for the dream scenarios to run their course." The concierge shoot their head, chewing on their bottom lip with anxiety. "Unless they're able to wake themselves from inside the dream."
"How they gonna do that?" Demanded Trap Jaw.
"I don't know." Confessed the concierge. "No one's ever done it before."
The Dream Weavers' Retreat was closed, all other patrons -as soon as they woke from their own respites- were sent home. The concierges brought in lights to set up around the web that Skeletor and Prince Adam were tangled up in. Orko never left the Prince's side. Beastman and Trap Jaw meandered about the cave system, unsure if they should abandon their boss and return to Snake Mountain, or if they should stay in case he woke and wished to continue with his plan.
Neither of them seemed to be in any distress.
Adam's expression looked a little confused and tense at the beginning. But after a while, his sleeping face melted into a smile. Whatever was happing in their heads, Adam was at least having a good time. That meant that whatever elements Skeletor introduced into the shared dream state might not be as dangerous as Orko first feared.
In fact, it was actually Skeletor that showed any kind of sleeping distress first.
Twitching and struggling against the web. Breathing hard as if from fear. The lower mandible of his skull moved, his sleeping voice trying to call out.
"Mal~kyn…!"
It was only after Skeletor began thrashing as if in the throes of a nightmare that Adam began to do the same. His arms pulling against the web as if he were trying to fend off an attacker.
Then both men jerked awake. Their eyes snapping open with adrenaline.
The strongest threats of the web fell away as they broke out of the dream and Adam was able to lift a hand to his throat. As if he expected to find something there choking him. Then he felt over his shoulder for his sword, but he didn't draw it. He looked at Skeletor, his eyes a little wild, still processing what had happened when their minds were connected.
"Skeletor, you're-! …Keldor."
At hearing that name Skeletor reached out a hand, calling the Havoc Staff to fly to him.
There was a blinding flash of light, but that's all there was. Just a disarming spell of cover a retreat. When Adam's vision cleared, Skeletor was gone.
And he left without his trademark evil cackle or vows of vengeance and retribution too.
All the time he'd been fighting the evil sorcerer, Adam had never experienced one of his exists that was so… subdued.
…
-Early 2000s CG animation of Havoc Staff flying at the screen-
There were no shouts of rage or promises of fire and blood when Skeletor returned to Snake Mountain. In fact, his return was so subdued and… quiet, that Evil-Lyn didn't even realize he was back until she heard the door of his private chamber slam shut.
Clearly defeated by He-Man again. It didn't take much figuring out to know that was what happened. That was what always happened.
Evil-Lyn barged into his room to taunt him for his foolishness.
Then froze.
Skeletor's back was to her, but he wasn't brooding over his latest defeat. But he was brooding.
Holding piece of paper in his hands. Old, yellowing, the fold-creases browning from dust and handling. But it was not the paper itself that he was brooding over, it was what was on the paper.
A drawing.
A child's drawing.
Rendered in wax crayon. Evil-Lyn could only see a corner of it from over Skeletor's shoulder, but she knew what it was, she was there when it was given to him. In another life, when Skeletor was another person.
Evil-Lyn moved to leave the room without saying a word.
"Do you still think of him?" Skeletor asked, not turning to look at her. There was an odd little tremor in his voice. If he still had a throat, or eyeballs, Evil-Lyn might have thought he were holding back tears. But she knew that wasn't what it was because Skeletor could not cry.
Unconsciously, Evil-Lyn placed a hand to her abdomen. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about him."
Gently, delicately, Skeletor folded the old drawing back up and stowed it in the bottom of a drawer where it could not be easily seen unless he were looking for it. He pushed the drawer shut, then rested his hands on the frame, his shoulders sagging. "I try to think about him as little as possible."
Evil-Lyn didn't know what to say to that. She pursed her lips, wondering if she should even say anything at all.
"I try not to think about how he always wanted my attention, but I was always too busy for him." Skeletor continued without prompting. "I try not to think about how he wanted to pet Panthor but I would never allow him around the cat because Dylinx are dangerous. I try not to think about how he told us about his night terrors, his- his Unnamed tormentor that gave him nightmares of being taken far from Eternia. I try not to think about how I told him they were just nightmare and that he was a Prince, he needed to be stronger than that, I would not coddle him, I- I try not to think about if I had just listened- if I had just- -done something different, he-"
Evil-Lyn crossed the room to wrap her arms around him. "He was my son too."
"They call me the 'Lord of Destruction'." Skeletor continued. "But they don't understand just how right they are. Everything I touch is destroyed. My crown, my honor, my- my son! Goddess below! Even Adora! We would have Adora right now, you and I, if I hadn't involved Hordak-"
"Keldor, your brother's children would not have replaced the one we lost." Evil-Lyn reminded him.
That was when Skeletor pulled out of her hold. "Keldor is dead!"
She backed up as well, recognizing that his moment of vulnerability was over. She said the wrong thing, and his walls went back up. The walls between them that kept them apart and kept him from getting hurt again.
"Of course." Evil-Lyn moved back to the door, but paused in the frame. "You'll understand my confusion, though, since when I came in you were examining a keepsake that was given to Keldor."
She slammed the door after her when she left.
"Keldor is dead." Skeletor repeated to the empty room. "There is only Skeletor now."
…
END