Dreams and memories
When she opened her eyes, for a brief, terrifying moment, she felt as if she was back in the Fright Zone, that all the events of the last five years had been just a dream. That she had fallen asleep, perhaps she had hit her head and passed out, amidst the dark corridors of Hordak's domain . That somewhere out there a Shadow Weaver is just waiting to take out hers fury on her.
"Adora!" She screamed, looking scared. If she's here, if they're here together, it's going to be okay. The two of them will be fine... just like in that strange dream... unless Adora had already left her, gone again, never loved her... Everything was just a fantasy... Then she felt something rubbing against her leg. She looked down and saw Melog. Melog is here…Melog is, it mean, everything was true. That what happened to her, good and bad, really happened. She knelt beside her friend, feeling his fear and anxiety.
"It's okay, we'll be fine. We'll get out of here... somehow." she said and looked around. It really wasn't the Fright Zone. The buildings here were completely different, taller, but much better made. They didn't look like they were going to fall apart at any moment, like they did where she'd grown up. They were much more solid, with sharp angles, intimidating onlookers, making them feel as if birds of prey were watching them. The overwhelming canyon walls rose all around, as high as the mountains of Dryl, adding to the claustrophobic feeling. The walls were riddled with buildings and tunnel entrances, as if someone felt sorry for wasting space. Maybe it really was? She had no idea, she didn't know how she got here. So with Melog they decided to climb to the top of the highest building available to them. Everywhere she saw boards showing products or people of different races and sexes in very unambiguous poses. She blushed at the picture of two almost naked Saiche women who looked like they were about to make love. Melog turned pink.
As she reached the top, she sucked in a whistling breath as she saw the skyline of the gigantic metropolis . She was aware that Etherian cities, even the Fright Zone, were microscopic compared to cities like Icarus or Aquarius , but this stretched beyond the horizon. Millions, tens of millions of beings must have lived here. Only she didn't see any, it seemed completely deserted. She was almost happy to hear someone whistling a tune, but it was so eerie. But she ran that way.
She saw a figure wearing a long brown coat with a hood. She had a rifle with a scope on her back, heavy boots on her feet, a thick leather glove on her left hand. The right hand was made of strange metal. She could see the tip of the tail moving nervously around her feet. She was facing the city.
"So it's true, we walk ... I walk differently than the real Pahtra." she said in a dull voice.
"Pahtra?" she asked, standing at a distance, but Melog was more accommodating. The figure snorted loudly.
"Pahtra from Vesk V, I know it, so you know it, after all, you are just a product of my subconscious." the other one murmured.
"It's starting to get weird."
" Do you know where we are?"
The other figure sighed loudly.
"Does my subconscious have to be such idiot?" Though maybe that's what it's all about? So that I can know my real self and stuff like talking puppets…"she said, her voice seemed bored and tired. The longer this conversation went on, the more confused she became, but Melog approached the other one and started rubbing against it. The stranger glanced at her companion.
"In general, I hate creatures like this, because cats are disgusting, but I actually like that one." the latter stroked Melog . Her friend was a man of character, and if he liked someone, she trusted him too.
"But whoever I am, I still don't know where I am." She stepped closer. Other one shrugged.
"It's Atrax... Probably not long after I was freed. I didn't live here long... at least after I was freed. But i came here often these few weeks."
She thought for a moment and asked.
"I don't know anything about Atrax , but have you heard of Kesler ?"
The other one snorted.
"Kesler has been destroyed." She replied firmly.
"By Horde Prime ?" she asked sympathetically, but the other laughed.
"Crooked Snout and his dumber brothers? Don't talk nonsense! The swarm ate him" she replied sharply.
She was amused because Crooked Snout was a very funny nickname, but the rest of it made her uneasy.
"Swarm, I don't know what it is, I don't know this part of the Galaxy."
She was silent for a long time, until she began to speak in an angry tone.
"So it's you? Listen to me, leave me alone. She turned around, and even though she was wearing a mask, she could see her eyes, a cat with blue spots. "You are dead. Dead for over twenty years."
And then she woke up...
She got up and looked around. She was at the river, a huge river that stretched out to the end of the world. It flowed through many islets, barren and swampy. The waters of the river were black and dead. Everything around was dead, completely lifeless, except for the hideous frog-like creatures splashing in the dark waves. She had spent the last few weeks on Icarus , or rather its smaller continent, Dedalus . It was an extremely exhausting time, she never expected that an ordinary diplomatic visit could be so grueling. It's good that Scorpia and Perfuma were here with her. I mean, there weren't a lot of them here, which made the whole place even scarier. She closed her eyes and reached for the power, She spoke the words.
"For the honor of the Grayskull. – and she felt her body fill with euphoria and ecstasy. Multicolored light flashed. She shifted into She- Ra's form and tightened her hand on her sword. Now she was ready to face anyone…anywhere. Actually, anywhere was a very good term.
"Is anyone here? Let him come out and introduce himself!" she called into space, and for a moment there was only silence. But then she heard the splash of oars, and a small rowing boat emerged from the mist. It was piloted by a tall man dressed in black robes and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. He held an oar in his hands. His face was hidden in shadow, which made her think of the Shadow Weaver. The thought made her take a fighting stance and glare at him menacingly.
"There's no reason to be so angry. After all, I'm only doing what you asked me to do, you summoned me, so I've come. As a side note, I'll just add that this whole transformation is much more spectacular than I remember." said the figure in an old, biting voice.
She didn't like the newcomer's words very much. Neither himself.
"Tell me who you are and what you've done with me and my friends..." She said confidently with the power penetrating her through.
"Well, courtesy first. I am Charon, the Horseman of Death. The leader of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse from time immemorial and the undisputed Ruler of Abbadon" He bowed to her simultaneously politely and mockingly. She snorted contemptuously.
"The title-throwing has already begun, hasn't it? Whoever you are, free my friends, or you will suffer the same fate as Horde Prime "
Charon laughed derisively.
"Oh, what threatening words, and you have not the slightest proof that I have done anything wrong to you or your friend. Perfuma sleeps soundly, and so do you…" said the Lord of Abbadon . She smiled, feeling relieved. She laughed embarrassed and said.
"So it's a dream, I've talked to dreams before." She scratched her cheek. "I think I shouldn't mix fruit liqueur and those Perfuma's cookies."
Charon looked at her with disapproval so great even Shadow Weaver couldn't
"No, it's not a dream. I talk to you in sleep because that's the easiest way to contact you, because death and sleep have a lot in common. And I wanted to talk about the great discourtesy that happened to me on your part." The eye beneath the hat flashed a crimson light. She sensed an aura of terrible evil from him, even greater than that coming from Horde Prime . Behind the Horseman appeared a clock, gigantic as a mountain, made of black and silver metal. She couldn't tell exactly what hours it was showing, the symbols were completely unfamiliar to her, but they seemed wrong.
"Your actions caused the End of Time clock to turn back, which made me very sad."
She gripped her sword with both hands, ready to fight, but suddenly she sensed a new power coming. She also had an aura of evil around it, but much older, both more primal and subtle. She turned around and saw him floating on the ground. He had a crown of flames and an inverted Ankh on his chest.
"We didn't know that the Horseman of Death started stalking. It's so disappointing" said the newcomer.
Charon growled.
"Why are you interfering, Creeping Chaos. You want to protect this girl? Do you like this trophy?"
Creeping Chaos laughed.
"Do you really think she needs anyone's help?"
"Excuse me, but haven't you noticed that I AM HERE?" she cried, waving her sword.
Charon looked at her and stared at her for a long moment before he said
"No, I don't think so.. All I can say is that I won't forget you and your fiancée. I have a surprise for you. Fear the Shadow of the Moon and the Slave of Ice.
The clock struck the hour.
Death was all around her. The earth was scorched and poisoned. The trees were Dead and Twisted . The sky was filled with smoke from countless fires. She saw destroyed vehicles and ruined cities. In those five years, she had seen death and destruction more than any of the princesses, but only her power could heal the wounds inflicted by Horde Prime . But with each such healing, she absorbed the pain and despair left by the Horde. Scorpia was very supportive of her, as was everyone else. But there were pains that could not be shared, had to be endured alone. She has always felt a connection with all living beings. Usually she felt an overwhelming joy about it, a happiness that came from the universe itself.. But that also meant that she felt the suffering of all beings. She wanted to scream for their pain and cry for their despair. But only she could heal the earth, bring it back to life. She had seen terrible things up close. She saw them both with her eyes and with her heart. Everyone thought only the fight was hard. But healing also took its toll, especially when he couldn't help the suffering she witnessed. Adora understood. She, too, faced pain and despair that not even She- Ra's power could ease. But she had to go on because no one else would take her place. Though she didn't know how much longer she would last...
But this place... it was dead... No, it was being killed, it was dying in mortal agony . She guessed it was a dream, she had practiced lucid dreaming more than once, with mixed results. She remembered falling asleep and knew where she had been before. But it was too real to be a dream. She perceived her surroundings with all her senses. Burnt smell and bitter sour taste in the mouth. The pain of fingernails digging into flesh as she saw the school, half dissolved in acid. She could read inscriptions, for example on signposts. One of them pointed to Greater Kesler and the other to Eastern Kesler. There must have been a smaller Kesler somewhere... Wherever she was. At first, she thought this place was a reflection of her experiences in the last few weeks, but if this wasn't a normal dream, then maybe the universe was trying to tell her something. Perhaps it wanted to show her the fate of planets attacked by Horde Prime . Make her realize how much more work lies ahead of her to heal the wounds he inflicted on the Galaxy. Only here was something strange. She had never heard of Kesler , but Horde Prime must have ravaged hundreds of planets over the course of those hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. However, she did not see the remains of the Horde machines, nor the bodies of the clones anywhere. In fact, she hadn't seen any bodies anywhere, perhaps the universe had kindly spared her the sight of it. But she had seen tracks, knew a bit about tracking, though she didn't eat meat. Some of them probably belonged to the inhabitants of this planet or vehicles belonging to them. Others, however, were left by completely different creatures, like huge arthropods. There was no shortage of those on Etheria, but… something didn't suit her here…
She heard the music when, after an hour or maybe a day, it was hard to tell in her sleep, she reached an area covered with hills. She didn't like it much, but she could say the same about Street Music from Icarus . Everyone had their own taste, she had no right to judge anyone. She immediately ran in the direction from where she was coming, maybe she will meet someone or something who will explain to her what is going on here. But as she ran to the top of the hill, she was speechless with horror.
She saw the battlefield, huge, stretching as far as she could see. Everywhere were smoking wrecks of vehicles, tanks, and others whose uses she did not know. There were bodies of soldiers of different races everywhere. Heaps of corpses of huge insects of all kinds, many larger than tanks, surrounded them. Sometimes they were stacked higher than She-Ra. No one gave any signs of life, although there were sounds of fighting in the distance. On the horizon she saw a city surrounded by a glow of flames. Tears welled up in her eyes, she had never seen anything so terrible. Then she saw a figure playing. She held in her hands something like a guitar or lute, the strings of which made sounds that hurt the ears. She was clad in a silk robe with a hood that was gleaming black. Her hands were almost white. She sang in a gentle male voice.
Can you feel the pain of this world?
Shout out, because I can't feel anything anymore.
Can you hear the scream of this world?
Tremble, for I have become indifferent.
Can you see the despair of this world?
Cry because I can't.
He said standing in the midst of death, then lifted his hood. She groaned seeing his face. He was a young man with black hair and a pale complexion, but his eyes were pierced with sharp spikes. It was too much for her.
"Leave me alone. I've had enough of everything already." she screamed, and the young "man" was surrounded by rhizomes binding him, and then ran blindly ahead, away from this place.
She wasn't aware of how much she was running, at this point it probably didn't matter anyway. Finally she stopped and knelt crying. All she wanted to do was go home and hug Scorpia ... and Adora and everyone she met. She already wanted to wake up. Suddenly she felt as if someone were hugging her tenderly, not physically, but as if a friendly soul had hugged her. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a clearing full of horsetails and ferns. They were the first living plants she had seen in this place. She smiled kindly at them, but then she sensed someone's presence. She stood up abruptly and assumed a fighting stance, because in front of her stood one of those terrible insectoids that she had seen so recently, although the other ones were dead ...
"Please don't be afraid of me. I won't hurt you," he heard in his head. She stared at the creature in surprise. She was dressed in ceremonial robes and wore a chitin crown on her head, she exuded gentleness, friendship and ... great sadness. She immediately liked her.
"I'm sorry, I thought you were one of those terrible insectoids"
The creature lowered its head as if depressed.
"I am one of them. These are my children who were taken from me long ago. Now known as the Swarm, they are wreaking death and destruction across the galaxy to my despair," she said in her mind, "I am Hylax . Forever Queen," she added.
She bowed courteously and said.
"It's an honor to meet you, Queen Hylax . I am Princess Perfuma, ruler of Plumeria and princess consort of Princess Scorpii, ruler of Scorpion Country or Centimori as it was formerly known. You're definitely nicer than that horrible individual who accosted me out there on the battlefield."
Hylax exhaled loudly through her windpipes.
"It was Zon- Kuthon . Lord of Midnight . He is also a lost child. Once his name was Dou -Brai, he was a good being who appreciated beauty and joy, like his sister Shelyn. Now he is the patron of suffering and envy." the Forever Queen explained.
But what does he want from me? I never seek conflict with anyone, if I can help him in any way, I will, just let him explain to me what he needs." she said in a desperate tone. Hylax sighed sadly through her windpipes.
"You're a good girl, Pefuma. But you also suffer a lot. And this suffering attracted Zon- Kuthon . Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to help him. Once he wandered behind a dark tapestry where only my unfortunate children can wander without fear. My poor children... Listen to me. Only you can I contact without much difficulty, for you listen to the music of the universe. There's something going on in the galaxy that I don't fully understand, and so do everyone else, except maybe Creeping Chaos and the other Outer Gods, but they're not worth turning to for advice, because they'll give answers that will shatter even the strongest mind. All I know is that it has to do with my poor children, your friend Adora , and an Artifact called the Eye of Sereni . You have little time, because they come. There comes a hunger that cannot be satiated. Remember," Hylax told her , and then she heard a much more wanted voice coming from somewhere outside.
"Darling, Honey, you must wake up because they are coming"
Sari wandered aboard the Memory, a research ship belonging to Doctor Sidonius, a galaxy-famous scientist, esotericist of unparalleled skill, an ancient vampire and above all, her father. She didn't have much to do, because already five years ago, after the fall of Jantar, he abandoned most of his projects, except for the most important and mysterious one, to which he decided to devote his unlife. He amassed vast resources for this purpose and gathered many allies, though many of them resented. One automaton from Carurystal, for example.
"Oh, Miss Sari, how nice to meet you." said Prince Zed, bowing low to her. She rolled her eyes.
'We've been on one, not so big, ship for a month. We meet ten times a day, it's rather boring. Say what you want from me."
The eyes of the ancient mechanism glowed with a mysterious inner glow.
"Your father wants to regain what was taken from him, his greatest treasure. I am looking for my kindred, but what are you looking for Miss Sari. I don't think you were driven here to the most cursed part of the galaxy by the loyalty of a child to a parent. At least not only"
She smiled, revealing the Dhampir's long fangs .
"Revenge. Revenge for my mother's death. I will destroy Light Hope and everything she loved."
Joan has traversed the countless decks of the "Dreams of Eternity" Void Galleon. She didn't feel tired. Her tormented biomechanical body couldn't feel it, or much else. Only pain. Not very strong, but constant. She was never free from it. The Order did not want to believe her. There was nothing strange about it. After all, they were partially responsible for her fate. Even Dilayla refused to listen to her, offended at the world, refusing to look into her sad eyes. She didn't want to accept the fact that it was her fault too. After all, she didn't protect her on the Minitar . Only Captain Blazebringer listened to her and promised ... redress. Unlike her body, no one could help her, not even an Ancient.
The galleon was gigantic, once hundreds of thousands of beings could have lived here, and there were entire ecosystems on board, modeled on the environment of lost planets. Now many of them were dead, and the crew was five, not counting the captain, who had been in temporal and cryonic stasis for many years . He suffered, as did she, though his anguish was much deeper…
She entered the sector where the End of Time Arsenal was kept. All weapons except the "Defensive Systems" floated in the void and huge casemate. Each of them was the size of a starship and had its own propulsion and even AI, though in this case she wasn't sure if that was the right word. Each had its own personality and temperament, and using them was more like bending demons to your will. But that was what she did as mistress of the armaments of this ancient ship. She looked at the list of weapons:
Fireflies: Multi-guide missiles with fusion plasma warheads. Explosive power approx. ten kilotons
Scrapers : Beak Material Weapons: Explosive power of approximately one hundred kilotons
Cleaners: Laser Beak Weapon.
Destructive Punishment Blade: Relativistic Magnetic Weapon. Explosivepower of about ten mgt
Fist of Doom: Gauss' Relativistic Weapon. Power of about fifty megatons
Hunter of Eternal Night Demons: anti-matter anti-air weapon.
A spear piercing the heart of a mountain: a ray piercing up to a kilometer of rock per second
Hornet Sting; Anti-ship electromagnetic cannon
Wreck Burner: Gamma ray to clean ships
Tear of the Sun: Plasma Cannon. Destructive power continental scale
Antiworld Drop: Antimatter Cannon. Destructive power continental scale
Restoring Natural Order: Electromagnetic Cannon on a Planetary Scale
Awakening of the Primordial Gods: Earth-shattering weapons
Godfather's Clenched Fist: Gravity Cannon. Destructive power planetary scale
Purification: gamma ray on a planetary scale
The universe traitor's weapon: a beam of micro black holes. Destructive power planetary scale
Venom of Hearts: Supernova weapon
Summon Firelord: Causes a solar blast that consumes planets
Abyss Key: Turns a star into a black hole.
It wasn't much compared to the Heart of Etheria , but with the Arsenal they had a chance, albeit still a slim one, of destroying Eternia once and for all.