Chapter Four – "Kingdoms of Eternos"

"Thankfully, Hordak left us alone for most his occupation."

Adam nodded. "Yes, as Teela here reported."

Emperor Simbar sighed. "I wish we could have done more to help you during the war, but Hordak watched us ever so carefully. Had he access to Hourglass Mountain, all of time and space would have been at his hands."

Teela shrugged. "You did what you had to do, your majesty. I respect that."

"Thank you, my dear. Tell me, King Adam, what can I do to help Eternos in its recovery from the war?"

"There's not much, to be honest, Emperor Simbar. I'd like to open up the trade lines with you, if that would okay."

Emperor Simbar bowed a little. "Very agreeable. I would also like to send Eternos a gift of our many foods for your Harvest Festival."

"I thank you, Emperor. I shall appreciate it greatly. You are, of course, invited to attended."

Simbar sat back upon his throne. "We shall see, but I am more than certain my daughter Kathay would enjoy attending."

"Thank you, your highness."

After a few more formalities, Adam and Teela left Hourglass Mountain and joined their convoy at the base of the mountain. In the far distance, Adam could see the mountains of south, where stands Point Dread. He smiled a little and turned to Teela.

"Ready to head back to Eternos?"

"Is that where we're headed next?"

"Yeah, to see my Uncle Stephan, then my Aunt Johanna. Then it's north into the Evergreen Forest, and so on and so on."

Teela nodded. "Yeah, I figured that out."

"Meanwhile, Adora contacted me this morning. She's just volunteered to meet with the Fire-People."

"What fun for her."

"King Helios!"

Adora stood beside both Bow and Glimmer in the Sands of Fire. As she waited patiently, a hot wind passed over them. Flames flickered up from the ground took the shape a massive figure breathed in fire.

"Who are you?"

"I am Queen Adora of Eternos!" she replied.

"Why have you come here?"

"To treat with you!"

Helios looked to Bow and Glimmer, and then back to Adora. "We will have peace between us."

"And that's it?" asked Bow.

"If there is not peace, there will be war. We have no quarrel with the Men of Eternos. We have met many from your country and have found to be good Men. So we shall peace."

With that, King Helios became thin and vanished into embers on the ground. Adora looked to both Bow and Glimmer and shrugged. "Adam said that may be the best we can get from him."

"It sounds better than the alternative, I guess," Glimmer said.

"What a guy," Bow laughed.

The trio headed back to the Talon Fighter that awaited them. A few minutes later, it was in the air and headed back to Eternos.

Let there be no doubt . . . Adam and Teela were in love. The business of traveling had been a little rough on their newly formed relationship, but they found their moments. After Addison had fallen asleep in his bed in the Attack Track, Teela and Adam would sneak outside for a make-out session. When they walked along the road and Adam would do a meet-and-greet with some of the civilians, their hands found their hand into each others.

In so many ways, there was a need for adjustment. Good adjustments, though. Everything that had happened in the years before Adam left Eternia had been changed. Teela had found herself no longer wanting to or even feeling the need to harp on Adam about anything. They talked to each other like they had whenever he was He-Man. Mature. Knowledgeable. Everything about He-Man that Teela loved had been wrapped up in Adam. It was perfect.

As the convoy entered the Southlands once again, they came to a full stop for the night. The next day, they were scheduled to meet with West Eternos in the morning and were currently ahead of schedule.

They parked in a small grove of trees. A bonfire was built and went high into evening sky. As Royal Soldiers chatted it up, Songster played a few light songs on his guitar, and Orko did a few magic tricks for his best audience – Addison.

Adam and Teela wandered from the bonfire, hand in hand. Adam had removed the silver Prince crown that he had forced himself to wear ever since he and Adora returned to Eternos. Teela wore a variation of her regular uniform, though this one more dressy than he old one. The sun was dimming into the horizon, which accented the blazing colors of the autumn leaves.

They stopped and her arms found their way around his waist and she laid her head upon his chest. Adam kissed the top of her head.

"I can believe this is happening," she said to him.

"Yeah, me neither." He looked back over the bonfire. "So what does Addison think of me?"

Teela blushed a little. "You want the honest answer?"

"Yes."

She looked up at him. "He wants you to be his new Dad."

Adam was a little stunned. "Really?"

"Really. However, I think it may be a little early for that."

"I agree."

She sighed. "I'm really nervous about going to West Eternos."

"Why's that?"

"John."

Adam took in a deep breath. He hadn't even considered it.

"He . . . he might have family there."

Sighing, Adam rubbed her back. "I understand. What . . . what do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure." She paused. "Should I find them? For Addison's sake?"

"We can at least make an inquiry. Make your decision from there."

She paused. "Honestly?"

"Yeah?"

"I've already made my decision. As hard as it is for me to tell them, it's right to. For years, I was uncertain, but seeing Duncan with Addison it . . . made me want to."

"I'll do everything I can to help."

"Thank you."

In the morning, Adam's convoy arrived at West Eternos. It was the hardest hit besides Eternos itself and despite the recovery efforts, it was still vastly damaged. King Stephan and Prince Dell were waiting for them at the city gates. Adam gave his uncle and cousin a hug.

"Good morning, Adam. Or are we calling you He-Man now?"

"Adam is fine, Dell," Adam responded. "Has my sister arrived yet?"

"We just heard from Eternos. Queen Adora will be here within the hour." Stephan paused. "Johanna told me the two of you wanted to see me alone."

"Yes. Did she tell you why?"

"Yeah." Stephan sighed. "Dell, why don't you help Adam's convoy get settled in?"

"Yes father."

Adam and Stephan separated from the group and headed up the stairs. A massive portion of the stairs was taken out and Adam made a mental note to make sure that the right supplies made it West Eternos to take care the damage.

"The boy did a great job during the occupation," Stephan said to Adam as they entered the Palace. "Kept the people organized and did his best to make sure their safety was the priority . . . all the while knowing I was down in the dungeons, rotting away."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. You had a job to do."

"If I had known about this, I would have come back."

Stephan shrugged. "I learned a while ago that there's nothing you can do to change the past."

Adam smiled a little. He was suddenly reminded of all the numerous times he was tossed back in time, fearful of changing the timeline. But he understood what his uncle meant.

Not too long of a wait later, a Wind-Raider arrived with Adora, Glimmer, and Bow. Escorting them were a pair of Talon Fighters and a pair of Sky-Sleds.

"Hello Uncle!"

"Adora! So good to see you again!"

Shortly, the three of them sat down in a small, out-of-the way room. Some food was brought to them and then Stephan locked the door.

"Time to talk," he said deeply.

"Keldor," Adora said.

"Your uncle, yes. Long-lost. Exiled. Fallen. It's time the truth came out in full, isn't it?" Stephan stood up and stepped over to window. Outside, people were busy making all the repairs they could with the help of the convoy. A shipment of fresh tools was due in the next day.

"I blame myself, to be honest." Stephan turned to face his niece and nephew. "Randor didn't help, and neither did father. But I feel as though I am responsible. Keldor was born the same day that our mother died. That you know."

"Yes," Adam answered, though he wasn't sure if Adora knew this as well.

"And his heart? Right? How it was weak?"

Adam and Adora both nodded. "We know the basics," Adora then said.

"I'm not sure how to explain it, but . . . Keldor became withdrawn. He wasn't very active and was rail-thin. Had no interest in anything physical. Man-At-Arms, Randor, and I would push him to his limits. When he would be unable to go any further, he blamed it on his heart. Randor gave him a hard time about it, wanting him to go further. I understood that. But I took the next step. I taunted him for it."

His face turned sullen. "He became distant. Always in his room, studying magic and, though I didn't know it, the dark arts and their dark masters. He kept talking about trying to find Castle Grayskull. I teased him about it. Made fun of him. Hurt him. In the end, despite what he did, he was right about Castle Grayskull – just as you both can attest."

"Right," Adam muttered.

"Uncle, you were wrong to treat him like you did, but it was his decision to betray Eternos in an effort to find Castle Grayskull."

"I know. Your father said the same thing, plenty of times. But that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. To live with." He ran his hands across his weary brow. "He was my brother. Still is. He'll deny it, tell me Keldor is dead. But he's my little brother and I did nothing but to make his life a living hell." Stephan ran his hands across his face. "But now look. He's done the same to us. The way I see it, if he hadn't dropped that Sword of Deception into the Abyss, it would never have ended up on Etheria and in the hands of Hordak."

"That is way of things, Uncle," Adam said. "But as you had said earlier, there is nothing you can do to change the past."

"Indeed." He took a drink then looked at the both of them. "So . . . tell me your tale."

After a long story, the three of them left the room, moods a little brighter. The story of He-Man and She-Ra's origin seemed to have cheered their uncle up. As Adora went off to contact Adam's group at Eternos, Adam spotted Teela and Addison walking into the Palace.

"Hello Captain," Stephan said.

"Hello, your highness. Addison, this is King Stephan."

"Hi," he said shyly.

"Hello young man."

"This is Addison. My son."

"Ah, yes," Stephan replied, his interest only slight.

"I – we had a question," Adam addressed.

"Commander John, son of Lucas. I worked with him after you ordered him to leave West Eternos."

"Yes. A good soldier. My men reported on his death."

Teela nodded. "Yes, sire. I was there when he fell. We had become rather close."

"I see," Stephan replied, not connecting Addison and John.

"I was wondering, sire, if you knew if he had any family?"

It clicked. Stephan glanced at Addison and saw a bit of John in the face. "Uh . . ." he returned. "Well, hmmm . . ." He paused. "Yes, actually. He was the only child, but unfortunately his father passed away years ago and his mother was killed during the attack. I doubt that John even knew she was dead or that she was in the city."

"Or he just didn't tell me," Teela said quietly. "Okay. Thank you, your majesty."

They left two days later, heading on the road to North Eternos. Adam gave the Gem of Life to Stephan, who would use it to help the crops grow. With Adora in tow, the group stopped at various towns and villages along the way to the North Eternos. They arrived a day later, finding the city was in fairer shape than both Eternos and West Eternos.

"Good evening, dear nephew and niece," Johanna greeted.

"Hello, good to see you again," Edwina attempted, though looking far less prissy than she had some five years previous.

"We have prepared a sizeable meal for you and your convoy."

A few minutes later and Adam and Adora were sitting at a large table in the dinning hall of the Palace. Jeremy, now firmly in his teens, sat with them.

"Have you been able to locate my brother and Marlena?" asked Johanna, picking at a salad.

"Not yet, aunt," Adora reported.

"I thought Duncan had the coordinates of Earth programmed away. I thought the same of Gwildor."

"There's a bit of a problem," Adam replied. "The coordinates aren't matching up with the Earth. There's been some sort of shift in the gravitational forces that are preventing Gwildor and Duncan from getting a lock on the Earth."

"How soon will Duncan be able to get them back?" asked Jeremy.

Adam sighed. "Not soon enough, cousin."