Teela stood looking out over Eternia from the northern watchtower. I failed you Adam. I'm so sorry. I don't deserve to be Captain of the Guard anymore. I don't even deserve to be your friend. Orko quietly floated up behind her.

"Are you okay, Teela?" he asked gently.

"No," she answered through the tears standing in her eyes. "And if Adam doesn't get better, I'll never be okay again. I failed him, Orko. I was supposed to protect him."

"Aw, Teela, there wasn't anything you could do," Orko answered, his blue hand patting her shoulder awkwardly. "Adam chose to push his father out of the way. It was his choice, not yours."

Teela shook her head violently. "If I hadn't allowed myself to be distracted by Evil-Lyn, I would have been able to save the King. Adam wouldn't have had to do it." She heard footsteps and turned to see Man-at-Arms. He knew his daughter, and he knew very well the range of emotions she was feeling. The truth was, he was having guilt of his own, but he knew they still had a job to do.

"Teela," he began. She stared at him, fear and hope warring in her green eyes.

"Can Granamyr help?" she asked, refusing the beat around the bush. Her knees gave out as Duncan shook his head, and she sank down to the cold stone floor. The tears she had held back overflowed.

"It's my fault," she sobbed. "I was supposed to protect him. It was my JOB!"

"Teela," Duncan tried again, "maybe it was partly your fault, but not any more than it was mine. We both latched onto Evil-Lyn as the danger, and didn't pay attention to anything else." Her weeping continued, and he had to raise his voice. "Teela, we don't have time for this now. We have to go to Snake Mountain!"

That caught her attention. Her head came up, her eyes flashing with hope. "What? Why?"

"Granamyr can't help us because he either needs to know what talisman was used to cast the spell, or he needs to delve into Adam's mind…or both. He's already on his way to Grayskull. The Sorceress is also working on contacting Zodac to see if he can help somehow. You and I have to go to Snake Mountain and see if we can learn something about that talisman. We're not giving up yet, Teela." Duncan tried to infuse confidence into his voice.

Doing something to help was the crutch Teela needed. She stifled her sobs, wiped harshly at her eyes and stood up. "How long do we have?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," Duncan answered. He didn't tell her the rest. Granamyr had a suspicion as to what Skeletor had used, but it seemed unlikely. No one had ever survived the magic of the Talisman of Kaspanya for more than an hour. It quickly ate away at a person's very soul. Since it had already been four hours, Granamyr was sure it had to be a different artifact he was not familiar with.

"There's something else," Duncan added. His daughter looked at him questioningly. "Adam's heart rate has actually increased since we came to Grayskull. The Sorceress isn't sure if it is Grayskull's magic, or if he can hear us talking. She wants us both to stop and talk to Adam for a minute before we go, just in case."

Teela bit her lip and nodded, but didn't know what she was going to say. Her heart seemed so full of emotions, but she couldn't sort them out right now.

"Ah, there you are," the Sorceress greeted them. "Time is of the essence, so we must get you on your way quickly. But I think that Adam can hear some of what we say when we speak directly to him. It is not a cure, but I believe that giving him reason to continue fighting this spell will buy us more time."

Duncan asked to be alone with Adam for a moment, and the others left the room. He swallowed a few times and cleared his throat.

"Listen, lad, you and I have been through a lot together," he finally said to the still prince. "You've made a lot of sacrifices over the years in order to protect those you love. I have been proud to serve by your side. But I can't help you on this one. You need to fight this, Adam. Come back to us. He-Man is just an amplified version of what is in your heart. You can break this spell. I know it. Please come back to us." He lowered his head for a moment to compose himself, and left the room. At his nod, Teela entered hesitantly. Her tears came again at the sight of Adam lying on the bed, motionless. In spite of his clumsiness, he was strong inside and out. He had held her many times over the years when she needed comfort, and she knew the feel of his arms well. She couldn't believe that he wasn't going to move when she talked to him.

"The Sorceress says you're in a dream-like state, but that she thinks you can hear us," Teela said softly, reaching down in spite of herself to take his hand. "It was so awful, seeing you lying on that platform. I really thought you were dead. Don't you EVER do that to me again," she added ferociously, squeezing his hand tightly. She stared at him, willing him to wake up, but he still didn't move.

After a brief silence Teela went on, her words halting. "I hate seeing you lying here, barely breathing. You…you've been my best friend forever, Adam. You HAVE to come back to me...to us. What would we ever do without you? I know I'm hard on you for running from every battle, but…there are more important things than fighting. You have such a sense of honor, and you always cheer others up. You care so deeply. All that means mean much more to me than your ability—or inability," she corrected herself with a small, weak smile, "to fight. You're my best friend, and…I know I don't say it, but…" She paused and gathered her courage. "I love you," she finally breathed. If Adam remembered this, he'd know she meant it as a friend. But she had never said those words to him before, and the wave of emotion that accompanied them made her wonder if there was more to her feelings than just friendship.

Adam was getting tired. The light behind him seemed to have started pulling on him right at the time he found his sword was missing. He continued to walk away from it, but each step was more and more difficult. To top it off, he felt incredibly alone…and frightened.

"Listen, lad," Duncan's voice came from in front of him. Adam tilted his head to hear better, and found his eyes tearing up at his mentor's words. He took courage at Duncan's faith in him. "He-Man is just an amplified version of what is in your heart. You can break this spell. I know it. Please come back to us."

Adam realized that if He-Man's courage was within him, then he didn't need the Sword of Power to fight the pull of the light. He pushed on, then stopped as Teela's voice reached him. He smiled as she almost threatened him, and silently thanked her as she explained a little about what was going on. His body was lying on a bed, probably in Castle Grayskull, he realized. So everything around him was in his mind…or something like that. And for his family and friends to sound so worried, he must have been—or was even now—close to death.

Adam was so busy figuring this out that he missed part of what Teela said, tuning back in as she said, "…You care so deeply. All that means mean much more to me than your ability—or inability—to fight. You're my best friend, and…I know I don't say it, but…"" There was a pause and then a faint whisper, so quiet that Adam believed he must have imagined it. Nevertheless, the idea that Teela cared so much gave him renewed strength to move away from the light.

Teela and Duncan made it to Snake Mountain in record time, fueled by their concern for Adam.

"Where do we even begin looking?" Teela whispered to her father.

"We'll check Skeletor's laboratory, but I don't think we'll have much luck there," he answered lowly, his dark eyes scanning the area. "I suspect he hasn't let it out of his sight."

"Right you are, Man-at-Arms!" came Skeletor's annoying voice. "This has been a terrible day for the two of you, hasn't it? First you failed to protect the prince, and now you've gone and gotten yourselves captured!"

Teela took a flash bomb from her tunic. "Guess again, Skeletor!" she cried as she threw it. It blinded him for a moment, but Evil-Lyn was behind him, and didn't get the full effect. She quickly captured the Teela and Duncan in a box-shaped forcefield.

"You'll pay for that, Teela," Skeletor said as he rubbed the sockets that should have contained eyes. "But I guess you already have, with your best friend dead." Teela choked back her response as her father's hand applied pressure to her arm.

"Tell me, Skeletor, what was that thing you used on Adam?" Duncan asked curiously.

"The Talisman of Kaspanya," Skeletor answered nonchalantly. "A little something I picked up from the Horde. Don't worry, after I deal with the King and Queen, I'll make sure you experience its full effects." He laughed menacingly.

"Why did you wait, Skeletor?" Teela asked, realizing her father was trying for information they could use to help Adam. "Why didn't you attack the whole royal family at once?"

"Never mind that," Skeletor snapped. "I've got things to do—namely, to contact the Sorceress and demand He-Man turn himself over to me! Otherwise, there will be two more deaths to mourn!" Laughing gleefully, he left, with Evil-Lyn trailing behind him.

Teela turned to Duncan. "Well, we got the information. Now what?"

"Now we try to contact the Sorceress through telepathy," Duncan said grimly. "And hope that what we have is enough to help."

"Father," Teela said hesitantly, a sick feeling in her stomach. "Why does Skeletor think Adam's already dead?"

Duncan looked at her and decided not to lie about this one. She needed to be prepared for the possibility. "Because no one has survived it. Normally the victims are dead within an hour."

Teela paled, but found courage in his statement as well. "How has Adam lasted so long, then?"

Duncan sighed, knowing that the power of Grayskull had probably protected Adam to some extent, since the prince carried the sword with him everywhere. But he couldn't tell Teela that part. "I'm not sure," he finally answered.

Exhaustion was setting in—his muscles were starting to numb, and every step was harder than the one before. Adam had been traveling for hours now, and the best he could say was that it sort of looked like a cloudy day now—everything was gray. That was fine, except that there was nothing there to see or hear.

That changed as a loud purr started suddenly. Adam could almost swear that he felt Cringer. He didn't know that Cringer was actually rubbing his hand from within Castle Grayskull.

"A-A-Adam?" Cringer whimpered. "Please don't give up." Words failed him, and he went on purring for a while, knowing that if Adam was listening, he would understand.

And Adam did. In spite of the fact that all he wanted to do was lie down and sleep, he moved on—smack into the spell's next stage.

"Well, it's about time you got here, son," King Randor roared at him. Adam gaped in astonishment. Where there was nothing before, he was suddenly now in the palace. Although this was like so many other times in his life when he'd been late, mainly thanks to his He-Man heroics, he recognized this scene in particular. It had taken place about six months ago. He'd been more than an hour late for Teela's birthday party.

Most times, the power of Grayskull allowed him to handle being He-Man without too many side effects. Wounds were usually easily healed, and exhaustion was normally done away with when he called on the power of Grayskull to transform into He-Man, although as Adam he that fatigue sometimes returned and he was forced to catch some shut-eye. But as far as Adam knew, there was no magical help for the psychological challenges—the constant weight of trying to save the world from evil. That responsibility was a chain around his neck every minute of his life.

That day, it wasn't a challenge from Skeletor that nearly undid him. It was Mother Eternia. An earthquake had let loose in the vicinity of Rock Haven, where Adam was exploring by himself. He'd changed into He-Man to try to save a family. He'd managed to save everyone except the toddler, who escaped from his mother's arms. The boy had been crushed by a rockslide, and died in He-Man's arms. The family didn't blame him. But Adam still felt responsible.

No one at the palace knew this, though. Not even Duncan knew where he'd been that day.

"I'm sorry, Father," Adam heard himself say quietly. Only he hadn't spoken. Surprised, he turned and saw that what he was seeing was like a play—someone who looked just like him was standing there, playing the role he had played those six months ago. "I was out in-"

"Fooling around again, I suppose," his father interrupted. "Can't you take any responsibility? Showing up this late for Teela's party is unacceptable!"

Adam watched himself as the holographic-like Adam hung his head, feeling beaten from every side, wondering if it was all really worth it. A part of the real Adam knew that the spell was bringing up one of his worst memories to force him to retreat back towards the small tunnel-like light. Most of him, though, didn't care. He took a step backwards.

"Randor, perhaps we should discuss this later," Marlena quietly suggested. Randor nodded curtly. Teela ignored Adam.

The scene faded, to be replaced by the throne room only hours later. King Randor's mood had not improved much.

"It is embarrassing that the Crown Prince cannot handle his own responsibilities," he stated flatly. Adam flinched, knowing what was coming. He slowly realized that this time, he was actually in the memory. It was a relief not to be watching himself. Maybe he could just walk out of this…

"I'm sorry, Father," he repeated instead. His feelings from that day swirled inside him in full force. The memory became stronger, even the lingering smell of dinner tantalizing his nose. "There was an earthquake, and a family in danger. I had to find He-Man." It was as close to the truth as he could say.

"Was everyone alright?" Marlena asked with concern.

Adam shook his head sadly. "A small boy got away from his mother and was crushed in a rockslide. He died in He-Man's arms." His mother gasped.

"Perhaps if you had assisted instead of wasting time looking for He-Man, that wouldn't have happened," his father snapped. Adam blanched and grew rigid.

"Randor!" Marlena said.

"I did everything I could do," Adam ground out. "I couldn't catch the boy and I couldn't stop the rockslide. All I could do was move the rocks and hold him." His voice broke at the memory. Marlena's eyes opened wide, and Adam realized he'd slipped up. Randor, as usual, didn't notice.

By now, Adam was so caught up in the memory that he didn't even realize it was one. It all felt real to him. But Randor's next words caught him by surprise, because in reality, Randor had apologized and they had moved on. But this time…

"That's because you're a failure, Adam. You always have been, and you always will be. And I'm tired of it. From this day forward, you are no longer my son."

Faced with one of his greatest hidden fears coming true, Adam felt an incredible flood of emotions—anger, shame, and just plain exhaustion from having to deal with hiding the truth from everyone. He turned and ran in self-preservation—back towards the light. Once back in the grayness, away from the memories, he suddenly felt a strong magical presence; one he'd known before but couldn't place. As before, the presence of another magic froze him completely. When it left, he collapsed, physically and emotionally drained. It was all he could do to stay conscious as he realized what he needed to do.

"I have to face my fears," he gasped. "Somehow I have to defeat them. I can't get out of here unless I do."