Authors Notes: Evening folks, and we're back with a new chapter for Heroes of Power. So without further delay lets begin.

Ben 10 (c) Cartoon Network

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (c) Dreamworks animation.

:Reunion:

As the sun rose on another day on the planet Etheria, Bow sat on the spire of the castle of Bright Moon. He was still pondering over his tracker pad and a certain message in First Ones writing.

"Serenia, portal, Mara." He spoke into his recorder. "Maybe Mara's last name is Serenia, or the portal is a Serenia?" He tried to make sense of his findings. "I'm gonna be honest with you, future Bow, I'm getting nowhere."

In the events of the previous night under the alignment of the Moons of Enchantment. The Best Friend Squad his had managed to decipher the message they discovered at the Alwyn trading post. However uncovering its meaning was still a mystery.

"Rook did say the name sounded familiar maybe it was part of either his or Bens planet culture?" Bow wondered before slumping back in exhaustion and defeat.

All of a sudden the birdsong of the morning was shattered by the beeping coming from Bow's red glowing tracker pad. Hearing the alarm he looked at it, and what he saw put a petrified look on his face.

"No. Was that today?" Bow gasped. "This can't be happening, not now. No, no, no." With haste he jumped off the spire and ran down the roof in a panic.

Meanwhile:Adora's room:

Waterfalls sounded harmoniously with the hanging ornaments in the roof over a peacefully sleeping Adora. She smiled happily in sleep. Until all of a sudden. "Adora, get up!" Glimmer teleported in and pulled the covers off Adora waking her up.

"AHH!" She screamed with a knife at the ready. "What's going on? What is it?" She then asked tiredly.

"It's Bow. He's in trouble." Glimmer answered her as she showed her one of Bows arrows and a message. This got Adora worried.

Bens Room:

The room was loud with snoring coming from Ben, who was also fast asleep in his own bed. Then suddenly. "BEN!" Glimmer exclaimed teleporting in with Adora who was still in her was startled so much he fell right off his bed and hit the ground with a thud.

"Ow." He groaned. "I've really gotta get a sign for that door." He grumbled on the ground.

The Council Chamber:

Meanwhile Rook who was now up and and dressed in his white Proto-Tech armour was in a meeting with Queen Angella. In front of them on the table was a small circular device with a red light on the top and four small prods.

"Rook what exactly is this device you wanted to show me?" Asked Angella.

"This is a proximity sensor your majesty." Rook explained. "It can sense the presence of a being or machine and then sends a signal to alert us of any intruders." He then pulls out a piece of metal and a helmet he won from a Hordesman on one of his last missions.

"I have programmed this one with the ore found in the Hordes armour and vehicles and the robots used to attack." Rook placed the metals near the sensor and it immediately started beeping. A holo screen then emerged on Rooks right gauntlet.

"Excellent work, so these would alert us to any Horde attacks near Bright Moon." Angella said most impressed.

"Indeed." Rook nodded.

"Impressive, I can see the Horde finding it very difficult to slip by that." Angella said impressed. "How many of these sensors can be produced?" She then asked.

"No need your highness, I have a great number of these in my Proto Truck." Rook then brought up the holo map on the council table showing green markers indicating the sensors. "I have already had them dispersed to the other villages and Kingdoms and should be installed within a few Earth hours."

Angella was most impressed with the young Plumber agents ingenuity, and resourcefulness. "I do admire your thinking Rook, I can see how you earned your marks at this uh Plumbers Academy I believe you call it."

"Why thank you, your highness I often find that acting with patience and focus can we accomplish our goals. It is something that Ben recognised when we started working together." Rook bowed in respect. "Though at times we do possess a different mindset."

Angella let out a small chuckle at that. "Indeed, he does remind me much of Glimmer. Though I do wish she would…"

Before more could be said Glimmer teleported in. "Hi mom sorry gotta borrow Rook for a mission bye!" She then grabbed Rooks arm and teleported away before Angella could say anything.

"Be less impulsive." Angella simply said.

The Whispering Woods:

Sometime later, Ben now Wildmutt was sniffing the ground of the woods trying to pick up Bows scent after sniffing the arrow Glimmer showed him earlier.. He was followed by said princess pulling on Adora now fully clothed and Rook.

"So how long has Bow been gone?" Rook asked after being briefed on the situation.

"I don't know an hour maybe more." Glimmer said frantically. "All I know is tracker pad and arrows are gone. He must have left after he shot that note through my window." She said.

"The not that says, "I'm fine. Don't follow me."?" Adora read said note on the arrow as Rook looked and examined it.

"Which also appears to be decorated with a smiling picture of him." Rook said. "I do not see how this could be a cause for concern."

"He's not fine. We have to follow him!" Glimmer exclaimed in panic. Then hurried to Wildmutt who was still sniffing out the scent. "Ben have you found anything?" However all she got was a loud beast like yawn which meant he was still tired. "BEN WAKE UP!" She yelled surprising the Vulpimancer who then growled in his language.

Glimmer just looked confused as she couldn't understand the aliens language. "I think he's saying hey you woke me up before my morning smoothy." Adora said.

"How can you understand him?" Rook wondered.

"Eh She-Ra mojo I guess." Adora shrugged.

"Guys focus!" Glimmer exclaimed before turning back to Wildmutt. "Look Ben I know your tired but we have to find Bow."

"Glimmer I do understand your concern, but I am sure Bow is unharmed." Rook tried to assure her.

"Rook if he was fine he would've told us he was leaving." Glimmer And after finding out the signal is about Mara…" She looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

"Glimmer please calm yourself." Rook told her calmingly as Wildmutt came over. "Now inhale." Glimmer took a deep breath in. "Exhale." She then breathed out calming her down. "We are concerned about Bow but panicking is not going to help us find him or understand his reasons behind it."

"He's right and we agree, he would've told us if he was going somewhere." Adora added assuringly. Wildmutt growled an understanding reply.

"So, where does Bow go when he's not at Bright Moon?" Adora then asked.

"Uh…" Glimmer had an unsure look on her face. This told the group she wasn't sure herself which was a surprise considering how close friends she and Bow were.

"Eh?" Wildmutt growled just as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted him back to Ben who was fully dressed. "Wait you mean you don't know what Bow does in his off time when we're not battling Horde goons?"

Glimmer gave a nervous looking nod. "Seriously? How long have you two been friends, again?" Adora wondered.

"Yeah I thought you guys told each other everything?" Ben wondered as well.

"I must agree this is quite irregular." Rook agreed.

"Look, Bow really values his privacy. He's never talked about his past or where he came from." Glimmer said a little defensively.

"Seriously, not a thing?" Ben asked genuinely surprised.

"Never. And you know how talkative and open Bow usually is." Glimmer replied.

"This is true he is very talkative." Rook agreed. "Perhaps his past is too painful to talk about."

"I don't know in my experience when someone keeps secrets sometimes it's not always a good thing." Ben said a little uneasy. Given how many times he's met people who keep secrets especially a certain air force colonel, who hid an alien prison even from the Plumbers. Even certain former allies of his had secrets.

"Ben come on your not saying Bow is hiding something from us?" Adora wondered. "He's more than loyal to the rebellion."

"I'm not saying that at all, I get we all have things we don't like to talk about." Ben explained. "But sometimes if we withhold certain things it can lead to disaster or worse."

"Ben is correct, but regardless perhaps Bow is simply doing a recon patrol or maybe is doing a morning routine." Rook said.

"If he was he'd be back by now." Glimmer said pulling Adora by the arm. "Something's wrong, I can feel it. What if he's in trouble?"

So with that the group ventured deeper into the forest. Soon Adora was looking at the tree sap in a nearby tree. "Bow definitely came this way, judging from the broken twigs, the sap and his incredibly distinct footprints." She said as Rook looked at said footprints that strangely bore a heart shape in the soles.

"Agreed and judging by these tracks they are less than seven minutes old." Rook analysed as Glimmer crouched next to him. "Which means he must be close by."

"Guys over here!" They heard Bens voice and Glimmer immediately teleported everyone over to him.

Glimmer gasped when Ben revealed in his hands were Bows quiver and weapon. "There's no way Bow would ever leave his trick arrows behind." She said taking said items from him. "I told you, he's in trouble. What if the Horde got to him!"

"Whoa whoa hold on Glims let's not jump to conclusions here." Ben said calming her down with an assuring hand on her shoulder. "I don't remember there being any reports of the Horde around here."

"Nor does there seem to be any signs indicating a struggle." Rook agreed looking around their environment, no signs of a battle or any other footprints than their own.

Just then Adora noticed something in the bushes close to where they were standing. She squinted her eyes for a minute before speaking. "What is that place?" Everyone looked in the direction Adora was pointing and were surprised. It seemed to be a rather large looking building with roots around the pillars, and a large looking dome.

"It appears to be a building of some kind." Rook looked.

"How come we never saw this before?" Ben asked as in the time he spent around the forest he never came across anything like this.

"Don't know there's a lot more to the Whispering Woods than meets the eye." Adora said from personal experience.

"So what is it? A Horde base?" Glimmer asked.

"I do not believe so Glimmer, it does not look like a Horde structure." Rook said looking at the building. "Though I will admit its design does look rather familiar." Ben had to admit his partner was right, for some reason this building reminded him of something too. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Still we will not know what lies within unless we investigate." Rook notioned to which everyone nodded in agreement. So they put their hands on Glimmers shoulders who teleported them inside.

Upon appearing inside it looked rather dark. "We have to find Bow, and get him out of this, uh…"Glimmer and everyone looked around in surprise as it wasn't a fortress but a. "library?" Glimmer said in surprise.

It was indeed a library of some kind with display cabinets and shelved chocked full of books, artefacts scrolls and artefacts in glass cases. It was then Ben realised why it looked so familiar it reminded him of the museum of alien artefacts back in Bellwood not to mention Hex's library.

"Whoa, even across the universe we find a library." Ben was surprised. "Kai would be giggling right now if she was here."

Rook picked up one of the books and looked through it. The book contained information about Etheria and its history. "It appears to be an archive of Etheria's history and artefacts possibly predating the Hordes arrival."

Adora looked at one of the vases in the display cabinet. "Have you ever heard of a library in the Whispering Woods?" Adora asked Glimmer who could only shake her head in response as she didn't even know about this place.

"Hold up if this place is some kind of library wouldn't the other princesses or Angella even know about it?" Ben wondered. Before anymore could be said they suddenly heard the door open catching them by surprise. Adora and Rook quickly drew their respective weapons while Ben readied the Omnitrix.

However what they saw they weren't ready for. It was Bow, however something seemed different, he was wearing a light and dark blue coloured shirt with his normal pants and boots. He was carrying books and scrolls. He let out a sigh, however he jumped in fright when he saw his friends and dropped his stuff.

"Bow?" Rook said in surprise.

"Bow, I'm so glad we found you." Glimmer said very happy to see her friend was okay.

"We're here to break you out, or fight your kidnappers." Adora explained as Bow kept trying to shush them to be quiet. "We're not exactly sure what we're – uh…" Adora then noticed Bows current attire.

Glimmer gasped in horror seeing that Bow was wearing a shirt that covered his midriff. "What have they done to you?" She cried. Before crying in shock.

"Dude, what's with the shirt?" Ben asked genuinely surprised. "I thought that wasn't your thing?"

"Bow what exactly is going on here and why did you leave Bright Moon without notifying us?" Rook then asked.

"We got your arrows. Who are we fighting?" Adora then asked holding up said weapons.

"No one. You guys shouldn't be here." Bow whispered quietly. "You need to leave now, before.." All of a sudden Bow heard the door started to open and he quickly took his weapons, Adora's sword and Rooks Proto-Tool taking them completely by surprise.

"My Proto-Tool!" Rook said surprised. Bow quickly hid his arrows and bow under the table, slipped the sword into a vase then quickly hid Rooks Proto-Tool in a box and shut the lid just when the lights shot on.

"Who's there? Who are these people?" Said a voice as two men entered the room and saw the four strangers in the room.

"Play along." Bow whispered to them. "This is Adora Ben, Glimmer and Rook, my friends from the academy." Bow introduced them.

"Academy?" Ben questioned only for Bow to give him a look that said shut up. "Uh yeah yeah the Academy." Ben said.

"Adora, Ben, Glimmer, Rook." Bow then said gesturing to the two men. "meet my dads."

Bows dads were quite a surprise for the group, one named George had dark skin dark brown hair with traces of grey and a moustache, he wore a white, yellow and red shirt with a heart in the middle brown pants and brown shoes. His husband lance had long hair in dreadlocks rectangular glasses and wore a white and gold lined robe, with a red belt over a light violet shirt, beige pants and brown sandals over white socks.

"Dads?" Rook said awfully confused. Their demeanour seemed to change to a very warm happy look.

"Adora, Ben,Glimmer and Rook." George said happily.

"Oh, we're so happy to finally meet Bow's school friends." Lance said happily with sparkles in his eyes as he and his husband pulled them all into a group hug while Glimmer and Ben gave Bow a look telling him he had some explaining to do. As the latter looked away a little guilty.

The Fright Zone:

In the gathering gloom of the Fright Zone, Scorpia, Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio were all lined up in a room and standing to attention as Force Captain Catra gave her orders. Rather angrily.

"I need you to beef up security. Bring all reports directly to me." Catra ordered as she paced the floor. "No one else. I want patrols doubled. And above all…" Suddenly she noticed a shadow behind her troops that looked an awful lot like a certain recently escaped sorceress.

She yelped in shock and pounced back with her hair standing on end. Only to see the shadow wasn't there, Lonnie, Kyle, Rogelio and Scorpia all looked a little confused by her actions.

"Uh... You were saying?" Scorpia cleared her throat changing the subject.

Catra quickly straightened herself up. "Yes, and report anything suspicious directly to me."

"You mean like the fact that Shadow Weaver's cell is empty?" Lonnie questioned which resulted in Catra getting right up in her face.

"I threw the prisoner into solitary last night." Catra exclaimed in her face as Lonnie squinted her eyes. "Not that I need to explain myself to underlings." Catra then walked away leaving a rather frustrated looking Lonnie behind.

"Hey now Catra, Lonnie was trying to answer your…" Scorpia tried but to no avail.

"You have your orders!" Catra said getting more angered as she leaned on the table her back turned to the troops. "Next person who questions me gets to see Shadow Weaver's cell up close." She scratched the table with her clawed nails. "Move." She pointed to the direction of the door.

However the group looked very confused by the Force Captains behaviour giving everyone questionable looks.

"I said. MOVE!" Catra slammed the table angrily causing Kyle to run out of the room with Lonnie and Rogelio close behind. Scorpia still looked shocked by that outburst but then left the room.

However she then took one last look back at Catra in some form of concern. "Catra." She then saw said Force Captain give an angered glare at her as the door slammed shut.

"Sheesh what's gotten her tail in a twist lately?" Scorpia looked and saw Lonnie,Kyle and Rogelio gossiping.

"Come on its obvious, Shadow Weaver escaped and Catra's too scared or too proud to admit when she's messed up." Lonnie said to him.

Rogelio growled a sentence saying. "I don't get why she's so sensitive about it, I mean Shadow Weavers just treated her like dirt even before Adora defected." He said (in growls)

"Man I'd hate to be her when Hordak finds out." Lonnie chuckled as she and the others walked away. They all walked away leaving Scorpia alone trying to figure out what was really wrong.

The Library:

Adora, Ben, Rook, Glimmer and Bow were now sat opposite Bows father George in front of a fire place as he sipped a cup of tea. The Best Friend Squad also had cups of tea of their own. To say the air of awkwardness filled the air was an understatement. Adora, Glimmer and Ben all bore nervous looking looks while Rook simple looked neutral as he was calm and professional in situations. While Bow looked a little sad and ashamed. As he sipped his tea. Rook took a sip of his own tea.

"This is, very nice tea sir." Rook said for sake of conversation.

"Why thank you it's my own special blend." George said rather friendly like. Just then his husband excitedly rushed in.

"You want anything, you just tell me, and I'll get it." Lance said rather energetically accidentally causing George to nearly spill his tea."You want snacks? I'll get you snacks." He then zoomed away to get snacks.

"Well he's…uh energetic." Ben said a little nervously.

"Oh don't mind him, its been a while since we had guests. He's just excited as all." George insisted. "You kids must must love attending the Academy of Historic Enterprises with Bow."

Adora took a sip of her tea while Glimmer was very nervous. "Uhh... Yes. Absolutely." She nudged Adora causing her to spit out her tea.

"Yup. Wouldn't change a thing." Adora chuckled nervously as well. "At the academy, that we all go to." She just jugged down his tea even more awkwardly.

"Y…yeah that." Ben said. "I gotta admit though I'm surprised that a library was even here at all."

"Yes yes with the ever changing environment of the Whispering Woods it can be tough to find it." George chuckled understandingly.

"Ah yes I see, so uh George sir. I take it this library holds historic artefacts concerning the history of Etheria." Rook then noticed.

"Yes absolutely!" Lance popped up surprising everyone. "I bet you're here to see our collection of First Ones artifacts."

"Wait you got First Ones artefacts too?" Ben questioned in surprise.

"But of course." Lance said. "We got some new pottery shards." He gestured to a wall frame containing broken pottery shards with what looked like First Ones writing.

"Whoa, who knew First Ones did pottery?" Ben said surprised.

"I do agree upon…ah our arrival from the academy we have come across some First Ones sites but none had traces of broken pottery." Rook agreed in observation.

"Had deadly tech though." Ben said to himself.

"Oh yes I-" Just then Lance forgot what he was doing in the first place. "Oh, what was I doing?" He then asked his husband.

"Snacks." George reminded him.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes. Snacks." Lance remembered and hurried off to get the snacks.

"But yes the First Ones did leave behind more than just their advanced technology but artefacts that looked like it belonged to their cultural heritage." George then explained to them. "Its really something isn't it. Bow's older brother sent it."

Glimmer spat out her tea and choked in shock on hearing that. "Brother?!" she choked.

"Oh, Bow has an older brother? How nice." Adora simply said.

"Yeah nice." Ben agreed shifting Bow a look of suspicion.

Lance then came in with a plate of cakes and sweet treats. "Youngest of 13." He said, and Ben spat out his tea choking.

"Thirteen!" He choked in shock. While Rook looked genuinely surprised.

"Yep, all historians just like us." Lance said as he and his husband held hands. "And just like Bow when he graduates and takes over the library. Right Bow?" Bow looked a little shocked by that mention as he looked to see his friends looked equally shocked and in surprise. Bow dropped his tea from his mouth back into his cup.

"Don't bother, Lance. It looks like he's not very cha-tea today." George joked in laughter while Lance rolled his eyes and placed the treats on the table.

"Oh ha yeah chatty and tea because Bows so chatty and we're having tea thats a good one!" Ben chuckled as well.

"I do not understand it?" Rook questioned.

"It was a joke son." George told him.

"You'll have to excuse Rook, sometimes he doesn't understand humour quite well." Glimmer smiled nervously.

"Ah cha-tea." Rook finally understood. "I get it now."

Bow then stood up looking nervous as he rubbed his arm. "Okay, thanks for the tea and the snacks, but I think my friends would really like…"

"A tour of the library." Lance the popped up interrupting his sons sentence. "Of course our Bow would find people who share his zest for history." He said cuddling him. "Just wait till we show you the oldest part of our collection. A shard from an ancient, defunct runestone." He said dramatically.

"Defunct runestone?" Ben asked in wonder. He wondered if it was a certain runestone that possessed a certain ability.

"It would not happen to come from a runestone called the Spirit Ember by chance?" Rook then asked.

Lance gasped amazed. "You know about it oh I like this one he has a thing for history!"

George then put down his tea cup and it looked like his mood had changed. "If it wasn't of historical value, that thing would be long gone. No need to keep a reminder of the Princesses and their war here."

Bow dreaded hearing that, while Glimmer looked genuinely confused. "Say what?" Ben asked confused.

"But... uh... But the Horde started the war. The Princesses are fighting to save Etheria." Glimmer tried to explain.

"You're too young to remember the first failed Princess Alliance. I'm not." George said as he stood up and looked at the fireplace. "I enlisted, fought for what I thought was right."

"You mean you were there when King Micah was killed in action?" Rook asked seeing he was a veteran during the time of the first alliance.

"Yes I was." George said having a heavy heart on the subject. "When I was young I lived a peaceful life in a small village and when the Horde attacked, I wanted to protect my home. I thought joining the Rebellion would help do that. The king and Queen of Bright Moon seemed to hold such hope in their hearts, despite the war being long and savage."

"Dad, can we not…" Bow insisted but his father didn't listen.

"When I came home, there was nothing left of my village but ash." He said sadly looking at the flames.

"Let me guess, you were the only survivor?" Ben asked with sympathy.

"Yes." George answered much to Glimmer and Adora's shock. "I vowed then that my family would never get mixed up in fighting or the Princesses again." That last line did hurt Glimmer a little while Bow looked rather saddened himself.

"I am truly sorry for your loss." Rook said in sympathy.

"But there's a new alliance and its succeeding where the first one failed." Glimmer said.

"Glimmer, not everyone is going to see it that way." Ben explained. "In war it's kinda hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys."

"This is true, both sides of a conflict may believe they are doing it for the right reason." Rook agreed. "However the battles fought only catch innocents in the crossfire that can sometimes have grievous effects on those affected by war."

George was surprised how well that the two boys described these events. "You two speak like you've experienced conflict?"

"Oh well we've heard stories at the academy and just wonder thats all." Ben said covering it up.

George's attention was then drawn when his husband took his hands to comfort him, then kissed his hands as they smiled. Lance then turned his attention back to the kids with a more upbeat attitude.

"Well, I know what will lighten the mood, baby pictures." Lance suggested. "I've got some great ones from Bow's first bubble bath." Bow looked indignant at the mention at that while Ben was just trying to keep himself from laughing. Bow quickly stood up.

"I'm gonna show Adora, Ben, Rook and Glimmer my room now!" Bow said to his fathers rather loud.

"I wanna see the bubble baths." Adora insisted.

"Yeah and I wanna see the baby pics." Ben teased. While Bow looked at them with a glaring look.

"Now!" He groaned in annoyance and a glare.

Seconds later he was pushing the group through the door and closed it behind him. Before he let out a breath of relief. "Okay dude." Ben said with crossed arms. "You got some s'plaining to do!" Adora was just eating treats while Rook also crossed his arms awaiting an explanation.

"I'll say, a secret family, a library we've never seen!" Glimmer said almost about to explode. "Bow, what is going on?"

Bow breathed and put his hand on his head as he knew it was time to explain. "My dad's don't know I'm a Rebellion fighter. They think I'm at boarding school and I'm supposed to be on break right now."

"So, this is why you never talked about your past?" Glimmer questioned. "I thought it was because it was dark and painful for you, but your dads seem so nice and normal."

"I am actually surprised you have two fathers." Rook then said. "I was not aware the males of a species could conceive children."

"Wait Rook, you don't know about same sex marriages?" Glimmer wondered.

Rook just gave a look of confusion while Ben realised this was another thing he'd have to explain. "Dude, you know how Spinerella and Netossa are very close with each other right?" He asked.

"Yes." Rook nodded.

"Well its like that only with dudes, it's a thing back on earth as well." Ben explained. "Some judge but others accept it which is an awesome thing to do."

Then the Revonnahgander began to see. "Ah I see it sounds much like the way Necrofriggians experience their breeding season. Much like you did when you gave birth to your offspring." Rook explained which resulted in Ben grabbing Rook by the suit collar and looked like a panicked maniac.

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT?!" He yelled in his face.

"Wait what?" Bow said in surprise.

"Offspring? Breeding season?" Adora wondered as this was the first she'd heard of it.

"Uh Ben is there something you want to tell us?" Glimmer asked with a curious yet teasing tone.

Ben realised it was time to explain, so he let go of Rook and looked at the trio rather embarrassed. "Well long story short, some years ago Big Chill was acting weird and I had no control of him whenever I transformed. Heck even when I changed into Jet Ray he took control. I thought at first it was a remake of what happened when Ghostfreak went rouge, but then I found out its because Big Chill was going through some kind of reproduction phase."

"Wait Big Chill can reproduce on his own?" Adora questioned. "How?"

"Well Necrofriggians, that is Big Chills race are genderless and lay eggs only once every eighty of your Earth or Etheria years. During this reproduction stage they seek out and consume large quantities of metal to construct their nests which they regurgitate." Rook explained which did give rather grossed out looks to the Best Friend Squad. "The nests have to be large so they can lay their eggs, and after several days the hatchlings are born."

"Yeah and from what Julie told me I ate loads of metal, but when I eventually changed back I couldn't remember anything, though I did have a strange craving for pickles." Ben explained. "Until she, Kevin and Gwen caught me up on it."

"So…you actually gave birth to baby Big Chills?" Bow asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah." Ben then pulled out his phone and showed them a video that Kevin had sent them of said babies which were the same colour as Big Chill and were very small and had large cute green eyes and small wings.

"Awwwwwww." Glimmer, Bow and Adora gushed over seeing this. "They look so cuuuute!" Bow gushed.

"So how'd you explain those to your parents?" Adora asked.

"Didn't need to." Ben shrugged. "The little guys flew off into deep space."

"Wait why?" Glimmer asked.

"Because once hatched, the hatchlings fly to deep space due to the extreme cold temperatures where they spend the rest of their life cycle." Rook explained.

"Yeah so, I wouldn't see them again anyway." Ben said before turning to Rook. "But Rook, how did you find out. I swore Kevin, Gwen and Julie to secrecy after that and…" Then suddenly it dawns on him. "Wait…Gwen told you didn't she!"

"Actually no. Kevin told me while we were working on his car, while you and Gwen tracked down Charmcaster." Rook explained.

Ben honestly wasn't surprised that Kevin told him that. "Remind me to have a word with him when we get back to Earth." He simply said.

Adora couldn't help but snicker at that. "You had babies."

"Ho ho ho me and Frosta are gonna get some serious milage on this." Glimmer said teasingly.

"IF YOU TELL ANYONE ELSE ABOUT THIS I'LL TURN INTO RATH AND SKIN YOU ALL ALIVE!" Ben growled with an anime style rage look on his face.

"Okay okay calm down." Glimmer giggled as Ben calmed down a little and they turned back to Bow. "Mommy." She snickered much to Bens embarrassment.

"Yes well onto the matter at hand." Rook then turned to Bow. "Bow why is it you would keep your personal life a secret? Are you embarrassed about your fathers?"

"No no it's not like that." Bow shook his head explaining. "Look, I love my dads, okay? I never mentioned them, because…" Bow creaked the door open slightly to look at his dads as Lance laid out some biscuits but the moment George tried to reach for one, Lance gave him a look. "…they decided when I was a little kid that I was gonna be the one to stay home and take over the library when they retire." Bow explained

"But I wanted to travel, to fight. So, I did the only thing I could." He closed the door and turned back to his friends. "I secretly taught myself archery, ran away, and pretended I was at a made-up boarding school."

Adora, Ben, Rook and Glimmer all looked rather surprised at that. "That seems really elaborate, Bow." Though she was secretly impressed.

"Well at least he didn't make a chart or obstacle course about it." Ben pointed out to her. "But I don't know dude that seems a bit much to hide your hero self. And this is coming from an expert."

"Why not simply be honest with them Bow, hiding the truth does no one any good, least of all you." Rook then said.

"Rook you saw what they're like. They don't listen to me. They just assume they know what I want." Bow explained whining.

"Well yeah I mean, thats standard parenting procedure." Ben said. "But it doesn't hurt to talk to them and tell them how you feel."

"This from the guy who's parents grounded him when they found out about the Omnitrix and battling aliens." Bow reminded him.

"At first!" Ben pointed out. "But when they saw what I could do they were accepting of it and understood."

"Ben you don't understand if Lance knew I didn't want to be a historian... Worse, if George knew that I'm a Rebellion soldier fighting alongside Princesses or a shapeshifter it'd kill them."

"I do understand Georges feelings towards the Princesses and the war with the Horde and it is a natural thing to experience." Rook said to him. "That and the approval of a parent."

"So, you're gonna lie to them forever?" Glimmer questions a little annoyed.

"Not forever. Just… for the foreseeable future." Bow admitted.

Ben and Glimmer just shared a raised eyebrow look at that response. "Dude, thats the same as lying forever."

Bow had to admit they had a point. "Look It's worked so far. Please? For me?" He then gave a certain cute look in his eyes.

"Oh no not the puppy dog pout!" Ben whined. Glimmer just looked away.

"Gah he gets me every time with that!" Glimmer groaned.

"My friends." Rook said getting their attention. "While I do disagree on maintaining a lie to please Bow's fathers, perhaps it maybe of benefit to explore this library more." He said which seemed to get their attention. "Judging by what George and Lance have explained their archive contains information on Etheria's history, writing and even artefacts related to the First Ones, perhaps we can take advantage of this knowledge."

"Like for example doing research on answers about She-Ra, Mara that message, Serenia everything." Bow added backing Rooks logic.

Adora could see the advantage of this and secretly Ben and Glimmer couldn't really ignore the possibilities. "Sure, why not? We can be scholars. Right guys?" Adora said in a British like voice.

"Well…it is hard to ignore that kind of logic, plus Kai's an archeologist and this would be her kind of scene so I do know a few things." Ben said.

"Right? How hard can it be?" Adora asked.

"Please do not say that." Rook shook his head in dismay.

Glimmer groaned and pulled her hand down her face. "This is gonna be a disaster."

"Well, maybe with that attitude it will be." Bow said but before he opened the door he turned to his friends. "By the way, I may have said in my letters that Glimmer is a physics major, Adora's an art major, Ben is a culture major and Rook is a major in agriculture. Nobody is a Princess or has magical powers, can transform into aliens or have high tech weapons and we all met freshmen year."

Ben and Adora's jaws dropped and eyes shrunk at that explanation while Glimmer's eye twicthed and Rook just had shrunken pupils. "Okay? Let's go." Bow put his arms around his friends and went back into the library.

"Ohh this is going to be a long day." Rook sighed.

The Fright Zone:

Back in the Fright Zone, Catra was in her quarters looking over some files and documents that used to belong to Shadow Weaver. She was trying to keep herself distracted from certain events. Just then the door opened to reveal Scorpia.

"Hey, Catra." She greeted walking in as Catra kept going over documents. "Listen, I've been looking for anything suspicious just like you said, but this is the Fright Zone, so, that's pretty much everything." She said chuckling nervously. "I was hoping you could tell me what I'm supposed to be looking for?"

Catra just snarled as she looked at the Scorpi Force Captain. "If you spent more time following orders and less time questioning them, you wouldn't need me to." She crushed a piece of paper in her hand. "Now get out. Go!"

However Scorpia wasn't going anywhere. "Okay, wildcat." She said with her claws on her hips. "I really didn't wanna have to do this, but you leave me no choice."

Much to Catra's surprise Scorpia picked up her bed sheets scattering her papers to the ground. "What are you doing?" She looked at Scorpia who had a dead serious expression, was she going to torture her? However her face changed to a smile.

Suddenly Catra shrieked as Scorpia wrapped her up in the sheet and was now cradling her like a baby. Who saw that coming? "Just let all your cares go. You're safe. You're safe here." Scorpia said in a calm tone whispering tone. Catra just shrieked and snarled as she tried to get out of this grip.

"Stop it stop it!" She shrieked.

"Shh shh. You're safe here, okay?" Scorpia rocked her back and forth ignoring her friends protests.

"Are you crazy!" Catra yelled.

"There's nothing we can't handle." Scorpia said sympathetically and by this time Catra had just about enough of this cuddling.

"I. LOST. SHADOW WEAVER!" She exclaimed admitting it. "How are we supposed to handle that?"

Scorpia was completely taken aback by what Catra had just said. Was this the reason she was so spooked earlier. "What?"

Catra was silent and looked away from Scorpia, before she spoke again. "Sh-Shadow Weaver escaped, I snuck an old possession of hers because she wanted to see it then she goes on about how she wanted me to go further and in reality she was just using me so she could escape! She admitted. "I have to find her before Hordak learns the truth."

"Well, you don't have to do this alone. I'm here." Scopria tried to assure her. "And I bet Entrapta can whip up some sort of locator."

However Catra wasn't keen on asking a certain tech princess for help. "NO!" She exclaimed. "Entrapta spends all her time with Hordak in his lab and is bad with secrets. The minute we tell Entrapta, she tells him, then it's all over for me."

Scorpia could see how truly dire Catra's situation really was. She saw what happened to Shadow Weaver after Glimmer and Adora escaped the Fright Zone with Bens help. She couldn't bare the thought of that happening to Catra.

She lowered her onto the bed and sat next to her as the sheet dropped from Catra's head. "Then we make sure that doesn't happen." She told her. "We'll find Shadow Weaver, the two of us, and not a word of it will leave this room."

However little did the two of them know a pair of prying eyes watched from the vents. It was Imp who had just heard every word that was spoken, and giggled as he crept away.

The Library:

Lance, and George were showing Adora, Ben, Glimmer and Rook around the library accompanied by Bow.

"This is the 1000-year-old Colonia pitcher." Lance showed a display cabinet carrying a strange shaped pitcher. Adora and the others looked at it curiously. "And this tablet dates back over two millennia." Lance continued to explain. While Adora looked intrigued as did Rook.

"Interesting, I take it this was an artefact that predated the First Ones?" Rook asked.

"Yes, in fact it dated back to a time long before uh, certain events." Lance explained while avoiding the subject about the war for his husbands sake.

Just then he ran over to a closet, but it didn't look ancient. "And this…" He knelt down to a small cloak covered area below the closet. "…is where Bow played pretend as a little boy."

He pulled back the curtain to reveal a small play den full of stuffed toys, blankets and lights. Bow blushed with embarrassment while Ben snickered but tried to be sympathetic.

"Heh cute." He said crouching down to look with Glimmer and Adora.

"Yeah, and let me guess, playing pirates?" Glimmer guessed knowing how Bow liked pirates.

"Oh, no. Bow doesn't like pirates." Lance crouched down explaining much to Glimmers surprise. "Playing historian, getting ready to take over the library even then. Right, Bow?"

"Right." Bow explained/lied as Lance closed the curtain.

"Man Kai would love this place." Ben said still looking around.

"Who?" George asked.

"Oh uh she's my girlfriend back on e…uh the Academy, she's an archeologist and digs ancient relics." Ben explained. "And at times raiding tombs for museums."

"Really!" Lance peaked up interested. "Tell me has your girlfriend found anything unique or rare?"

"Oh yeah loads of things, she's even from a native tribe of people and does a great rain dance too, aboriginal cultures are her thing." Ben said.

"Ha ha I like this boy, I'd really like to meet this Kai someday." Lance seemed impressed.

Adora cleared her throat to then get his attention. "Mr. Bow's dad, sir, as First Ones historians," She said in an accent that wielded out Glimmer and Rook. "do you know anything about the lore of She-Ra?"

"Ah... Great question." Lance explained. "Accurate translations are hard to come buy, but we think the name was actually, Her-Ra."

"Her-Ra?" Ben questioned with a titular scoff.

"Well, that's not right." Adora chuckled secretly knowing better.

"But you don't know that for sure, Adora." Bow pointed out chuckling nervously.

"She'd fight for the power of Grayskull." Lance said with a dramatic pose.

"Isn't it really "By the Power of Grayskull?"" Ben asked still playing along.

"No it's "For the Honour of Grayskull."" Adora denied as she knew enough of her own alterego.

"And rode on a dragon." Lance stepped aside and showed a vase depicting First Ones drawings of She-Ra riding what looked like a dragon.

"DRAGON!" Adora and Ben said in surprise.

"Wait, she got a dragon?" Adora said completely surprised. "I wish I had a…" Before she could finish that sentence Bow covered her mouth so she wouldn't say anything that might blow his secret. He chuckled nervously with his arm round her.

Rook however looked at a stone tablet that seemed to depict something that resembled a castle with a skull on it. "Uh Lance sir, what is this artefact depicting?" Rook called, which brought Lance and Bow over to him.

"How come I didn't get a dragon?" Adora whispered to Ben.

"Eh must've been one of your predecessors? Maybe Mara had a dragon instead of a winged horse." Ben whispered to her as they both knew there had been many She-Ra's before Adora.

Lance then came over to the tablet Rook had taken an interest in. "Ah I see you've taken a keen interest in this ancient tablet that depicts the legendary Lore of Grayskull."

"Wait Lore of Grayskull?" Adora asked which got her attention.

"Oh yes, legend says that our planet Etheria is a sister planet to another, and it is home to Castle Grayskull." Lance said with some dramatic effect.

"There's a Castle Grayskull? I kinda thought it was just a cool battle cry?" Ben asked.

"Well the legend says that inside this ancient fortress of mystery houses the ancient power of the universe itself." Lance explained. "Those who control Grayskull control the Power, the power to be….Masters of The Universe." He said dramatically which brought awing eyes among the group.

"Ahem." George said getting their attention. "If you believe such nonsense as other worlds beyond our own." Ben and Rook looked at each other nervously, as obviously Bow didn't point out they were from another planet for obvious reasons.

"Ah yes anyway where was I?" Lance wondered.

"Princess nonsense." George said as he passed Glimmer who had an indignant look on her face. George then pulled on a cord which pulls back the curtain revealing a shard of a Runestone.

"The runestone shard. It's the oldest First Ones object in our collection." Lance introduced.

Adora and Rook took a close look at the runestone. "Incredible truly incredible, I was not aware that runstones could be chipped."

"Neither did we, it was a procured shard from the Spirit Ember. From the lost forgotten city of Candila." Lance explained. The Best Friend Squad looked at each other uneasy as they had their own views on said runestone (in later chapter)

"But enough about us. Tell us about your studies, kids." Lance then said to the group, as Adora, Ben, Rook and Glimmer looked nervous.

"Uh, you know, the physics are good." Glimmer chuckled nervously.

"Ah yeah and cultural studies are awesome, so much to uh discover." Ben also said.

"My studies in agricultural history are most insightful." Rook said calmly.

"The history is also good." Adora then said nervously.

"Uh... I thought you were and art major?" Lance asked rather confused by what Adora said.

Bow quickly pushed past Rook and Glimmer and grabbed Adora by the shoulders. "Uh, she's a double major."

"Yeah uh, history and art history." Ben added with his arm around her.

"Uh, yes. History, art, art history, that's three. I'm a triple major." Adora said rather nervously. And I also teach, unless that's not a thing students do. Is it hot in here? I mean…"

Rook just silently shook his head, this wasn't going very well. Glimmer shook her head in agreement. George then approached her. "It's really great to finally meet you, Glimmer. Gotta be honest, we thought Bow was making you up." George said to her.

"Really?" Glimmer chuckled slightly which was ironic as her aunt said the exact same thing.

"You know how Bow is, shy, quiet, not so many friends." George told her as he looked at his son, Adora and Ben. "From his letters it sounds like you really brought him out of his shell."

"Uh, yeah. I guess I did." Glimmer said a little down hearted.

"Yes Glimmer does have that affect on people, she can inspire others to become so much more." Rook agreed.

"He's also talked a lot about you Rook." George said to him. "It sounds like he looks up to you a lot, in fact he even said you're like a brother to him." Rook was honestly surprised by what George had said, Bow really thought of him as a brother.

Before Adora could say anything more awkward Bow jumped in front of her. "So, for school, heh, we got this First Ones puzzle to solve." He explained. "But the last word is giving us trouble. Have you ever heard of Serenia?"

The very question made Lance rather excited about knowledge. "Ooh!"

Moments later a whole load of books, artefacts and scrolls were dumped on the lounge table. To say the group was surprised by the amount of documentation was an understatement as they sat round the table.

"Wow, thats a lot of books and scrolls." Ben said surprised.

"Serenia was the name of a mythical First Ones hero." George explained to them, then suddenly Rook gasped in realisation.

"Of course, that is why it sounded familiar!" Rook realised. "I remember hearing tales of the hero Serenia from my childhood. Master Kundo would tell us stories of her during the stellar shower. Though there was no mention of the First Ones."

"Master Kundo?" Lance asked.

"Uh his agriculture teacher." Bow pointed out.

"Yes anyway, she was a mythical hero, Although some of us think she was a real person." George shifting a look towards his husband.

Lance hummed seeing that his husband was still on that whole debate. "Umm-hmm. Some of us also think the Elberon vase dates back only one millennia."

"Let me guess long time debate?" Ben asked.

"Yes." Lance and George said.

"Is this everything you have on Serenia?" Bow asked.

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry. Ha, ha." Lance chuckled adjusting his glasses. "Everything from the first floor. There's lots more on the second." He explained as it showed a second floor of more books and scrolls.

"Uhh, this is gonna take hours." Glimmer groaned.

"Hours, days, maybe weeks. And if you're really lucky, it might take you a whole lifetime." Lance said so passionately as he stood close to his husband.

"Uh. You're so corny." George said.

"Uh isn't there a digital version of this we could read?" Ben asked while Adora was looking at a scroll.

"What's digital?" George asked.

"Oh uh nothing sometimes I say random things that don't make sense." Ben chuckled with a nervous smile.

Just then Lance noticed a certain something on Bens wrist. "Wow what kind of watch is that?" Lance asked.

Ben could see he noticed the Omnitrix, Bow gave him a look and shook his head saying don't mention the aliens thing. "Oh yeah its uh an old watch my grandpa gave me when I was a kid."

"Hm a rather strange looking one." George had to admit.

"Uh yeah he was into weird stuff like that." Ben chuckled.

Rook was looking into the scrolls and research. "Hm this is a very detail account into Serenia." He said despite the fact that most of it was written in First Ones language. However one member of the party had no trouble.

"Well, this one's just about aqueducts, so, it's mislabeled." Adora pointed out putting down a scroll. This instantly caught George and Lance's attention as they zipped over startling her.

"Wait, you can read First Ones writing?" Lance asked intrigued.

"Uh, I also study linguistics." Adora explained nervously. "It's a fifth major or fourth major. I'm losing count."

"Yeah you could say she has natural born talent when it comes to First Ones lingo, our Adora's just full of surprises." Ben added which resulted in a thankful smile from his friend.

Suddenly George rolled up his sleeve and thrusted his arm in front of Adora, it seemed to have First Ones writing on it. "What does this say?" He asked excitedly.

"Uh, it says, "lunch"." Adora translated.

George looked a little embarrassed and surprised. "Oh, no. I thought it said love."

"Uh why is there First Ones writing on your arm in the first place?" Ben asked.

"Oh funny story, we actually tried to do some words in First Ones language once, and I thought I'd written love." George said while Lance couldn't contain his laughter any longer.

"You thought it said...? HAHAHAHAAHAH!" Lance then stood up to catch his breath from laughing. "I like this girl!" He exclaimed. "Actually, there's one more debate you can settle for us, Adora." He said as George helped her to her feet.

"I dunno. Maybe I should help with the, uh, school project." Adora insisted until Lance gave her the same puppy dog eyes Bow gave her and the others earlier. "But I guess it couldn't hurt." She gave in.

"Great. Onward, best research squad." Lance exclaimed righteously as he linked Adora's arm and they walked away.

Ben couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Best research squad? Man now I see where you get it from Bow."

"Indeed, it would seem Bow is more like his fathers than he realises." Rook agreed.

"Uh yeah." Bow said bashfully. "Hey Ben why don't you go with Adora while we do research."

"Is that code for make sure she doesn't get into trouble?" Ben then asked.

Bow was silent for a moment before he replied. "Yes please."

"Okay you got it." Ben got up and followed the Best research squad to the next , Rook and Bow all looked at each other before they got to work on the research.

Hours later:

Some hours later and the research continued. Bow was now on the couch looking at the First Ones artefacts while Rook and Glimmer looked at some of the books and scrolls. However it seemed they had made little progress in deciphering the riddle of the message. Bow eventually took a break and lay down on the couch.

"We're still getting nowhere" Bow sighed. "What does a mythological First Ones hero have to do with Mara?"

"Unclear, and despite combing these notes over and over I can still see no connection to her or even anything to the mention of a portal in the message?" Rook wondered. "Deciphering texts are more Gwendolyn or Kai's area of expertise."

"Well maybe Serenia was a real person who came through a portal?" Bow wondered.

"It is a thought." Rook sighed rubbing his head. "Glimmer have you uncovered anything?"

The Bright Moon princess however was being strangely quiet, and Rook could see it wasn't because she was stuck into the research. Something was wrong, the Revonahgander then made a hinting look to Bow to ask her.

"Hey, Glimmer, what's up?" Bow then asked.

"What's up with you?" Glimmer said rather upset. "You have a secret family, and you're supposed to be a historian, and you apparently hate pirates, and you never told me about any of this." She cried with tears now streaming down her face. "I feel like I don't know you at all."

Bow sat up and smiled at her placing a hand on her shoulder. "Glimmer, you know everything about me, the real me." He explained. "I act like someone I'm not with my family because the truth would hurt them."

"And it's making you miserable." Glimmer told him as she put her hand on his. "Bow, your dads love you. I'm sure they'll love the real you, too."

"You don't know that." Bow said not believing it. "They've had a plan for me since I was a baby. But the truth is, I'm nothing like the rest of my family. I've tried to tell them, but they don't want to hear it. So, I pretend."He said somewhat ashamed by lying to his parents even though he felt he was doing so for the right reasons. Glimmer felt greatly sorry for Bow that he chooses to maintain a lie.

Rook sighed as he got up then sat next to Bow. "Bow, I understand you wish to protect your fathers, but Glimmer is right, hiding your true self will not help anyone not them and especially not you."

"Rook, you don't understand. You don't know what its like to have so many expectations on your head and parents who won't even listen." Bow sighed.

"Yes I do, more than you know my friend." Rook said to him which perked Bow and Glimmers attention. Rook sighed as he began his story.

"As you both already know, I grew up on my home planet Revonnah." He said. "We had many traditions and cultures for our harvest, and me being the eldest of five siblings my father always wanted me to be home for the harvest season. However I wanted to see what lay beyond the confines of my home, hence why I enlisted for the Plumbers Academy. However when I told my father he was not very pleased, he wanted me to stay home but could not stop me from leaving."

"See your dad wasn't happy about it you get what I mean?!" Bow said.

"Uh Rook this isn't really helping." Glimmer gritted her teeth.

"That was not the end of the story." Rook said which made them listen. "When Ben and I traveled to my home for the harvest, I did not get quite the welcome from my father, he felt I had shamed our family and traditions by leaving home. I sometimes felt like I had been selfish in my decision."

"Oh Rook." Glimmer could see how badly this affected him. She could see some resemblance to the relationship with her own mother.

"However when Fistrik was training the Muroids to steal our native fruit Amber Ogia he saw what I was capable of and what I learned during my time away. He was proud of me." This seemed to perk Bow up a little. "Some months after that when the Incursians invaded my home for its resources we had freed my people but I was not sure about leaving them. However father convinced me that they could handle themselves and that he was very proud of the hero I had become, that I had become an inspiration to my people, even my sister Rook Shar wanted to be a Plumber like me."

"Wow." Glimmer said amazed. "So when you left and returned a Plumber it made you a better person for it, and while your dad was against it he saw this was who you are."

"Yes." Rook nodded with a smile before he turned to Bow, with a hand on his shoulder. "The point is Bow, you may think your fathers may not accept the real you, but you do not know unless you tell them. If they could see you in action, and see who you truly are, they will see this is who you are."

"Its easier said than done." Bow said still unsure.

"Bow. I know they will understand so trust me..Trust us and tell them." Rook told him. Bow looked to Glimmer who gave him an assuring nod.

Bow sighed before he came to a decision. "Okay, I'll try."

Elsewhere in the Library, George and Lance were showing Adora and Ben a strange looking gray orb on a pedestal. It had First Ones writing on the front.

"What's that thing?" Ben asked.

"This was found in the same dig site as the runestone shard." Lance explained to him and Adora. "Thing is, we can't agree on what it is."

Ben took a look at it as did Adora. "Hmm well I'm no expert but it could just be a First Ones bowling ball?"

"Thats exactly what I thought!" Lance exclaimed.

"Yes but it could also be an ancient relic that could depict the civilisations culture." George disagreed while Lance just pouted.

While Ben took another look he couldn't help but wonder, he felt like he'd seen this somewhere before. The same was said of Adora the markings and design did look a little familiar but she just couldn't place it.

"Well I don't really know what it is, but it could be a pod of some kind." Adora wondered.

"Okay so what does the writing say?" Lance asked. So Adora took a look at the writing read it and soon realised she'd seen this before.

"Oh, this one's easy. This is a password to open it." Adora said gloatingly. It's says…"

"Hold up Adora." Ben said stopping her mid sentence.

"Ben what is it?" Adora asked.

"Is something wrong?" George asked.

"I don't know, I've just got an uneasy feeling about this."Ben explained.

"What do you mean?" Adora leaned in close and asked.

"Well doesn't this seem weird to you? You know like familiar weird." Ben asked as he looked to the pod. "Lets just say I have a bad feeling about First Ones tech left behind at abandoned sites."

"Maybe, but we won't know for sure unless we open it, thats the whole point of these things discovery." Lance encouraged.

"He has a point, what could happen?" Adora shrugged and then pronounced the password. "Eternia"

The orb surged into life emanating a large light from the etches inside it. It was beginning to open. Ben was still worried."Ooh, ooh. It's working!" Lance looked very excited.

The orb opened but what came out of it were, pointed legs. It was then Adora and Ben realised in horror what this thing was It's – it's…" It was a large creature with pointed legs and glowing red eyes. It was a similar creature to what they saw at the Northern Reach and the Beacon.

"A monster!" George breathed in horror. As the beast roared loudly.

"Oh no NOT THIS THING AGAIN!" Ben exclaimed. "Run!" He yelled as Lance, George and Adora ran for their lives with Ben close behind. They ran down the stairs as the creature rolled into a ball and jumped off the upstairs balcony taking Bow, Glimmer and Rook completely by surprise as George and Lance ran over to them and held them close.

The beast unrolled as Ben and Adora slid to the side. "Man I knew this thing looked too familiar its like those things we saw at The Northern Reach. Only smaller."

"Its an Elemental." Adora realised she then saw she was close to a vase that hid a certain weapon of hers. "Uh Ben I know what we promised Bow but, maybe its time we…"

"Go hero yeah I was just thinking the same thing." Ben ran out towards the group while Adora reached into the vase. "Hey bugzilla over here!"

The Elemental turned its attention to Ben who instantly activated the Omnitrix. While Adora pulled out her sword from the vase, Bows eyes shrunk seeing what they was about to do. "So you like to roll, then how about we fight rolling! With a little Cannonbolt!" Ben exclaimed.

"Guys wait!" Bow exclaimed but it was too late.

"FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL!" Adora proclaimed as Ben slammed down the Omnitrix dial and their epic transformations began. Adora had fully transformed to She-Ra, while Ben now had the appearance of what appeared to be a tall muscular frog man with a distinct jaw line, green sunglasses, three fingers and two toed feet. He wears a black suit with a green line running down the middle with a belt with white lines and buckle, fingerless gloves and black boots with green cuffs. He had white pipes and a tank on his back and around his collar area and the Omnitrix symbol lay in the middle.

She-Ra glowed in her aura while Ben looked at himself. "Bullfrag huh? Not what I was going for but eh it'll work!"

Bows fathers couldn't believe what they were seeing, She-Ra in the flesh and on top of that a boy transforming into a giant man frog. They looked to their son for an explanation.

"Adora is a sixth major in She-Ra? And Bens other major is aliens?" He said nervously. The Elemental swatted away all the artefacts and cased items as they crashed to the ground. It was about to attack Bow's family until Bullfrag stepped in the way.

"No ya don't bub!" Bullfrag exclaimed as he rolled forwards then bounced landing an uppercut square under the beasts jaw catapulting it back because of his immense strength.

The Elemental roared as it charged at Bullfrag again only for She-Ra to stand next to him. "Ben how about a little combo action."

"Ye read my mind." Bullfrag smirked.

The two charged towards the Elemental. She-Ra leaped up onto Bullfrags shoulders as he buffed up his chest and bounced up into the air She-Ra jumped off as Bullfrag spat out his tongue and she grabbed it. With one swing the Incursion tossed She-Ra towards it sword first and jammed it straight into its back causing it to scream in pain. Bullfrag landed feet first onto its head slamming it into the ground.

"Ha boom baby!" Bullfrag exclaimed. However their victory was premature as the Elemental roared and with a roll it knocked She-Ra and Bullfrag right off its back and sent crashing into the upper floor.

Glimmer and Rook looked at each other and realised they couldn't stand by. "Hey leave them alone." Glimmer exclaimed.

The beast charged and was about to swing its tail. "DOWN!" Rook quickly tackled George, Lance and Bow to the ground. Glimmer acted quickly she teleported away and reappeared on the beasts back. She screamed as she fired her magic blasts at the beast trying to hurt it. However it didn't affect its thick armour.

The beast shakes back and fourth to shake her off. So Glimmer teleported away and reappeared next to a certain box. She opened it and pulled out Rooks weapon.

"Rook catch!" Glimmer exclaimed throwing the Proto-Tool towards him before the Elemental swatted her into a wall with its leg.

Rook quickly caught his weapon in hand. Pulled on the back of it as the Omnitrix symbol shot into life. He fired several laser blasts at the Elemental and while they deflected off the armour all it did was get its attention off Glimmer.

"Wait…is that a laser gun!" Lance exclaimed.

"Proto-Tool sir." Rook corrected. "All of you stay here and do not move, we can handle this!" Rook then leaped out and shifted his Proto Tool into its missile launcher and fired it at the beast.

The impact blasted the beast back but it just roared in anger and charged at Rook. The Plumber quickly leaped out of the way and flipped over it splitting his Proto-Tool blaster in half and fired on the beast.

Again, Bows dads looked to their son for an explanation. "Uh he's a good major in gymnastics." Bow said nervously. She-Ra and Bullfrag had recovered on the top floor seeing Glimmer and Rook were being swatted at by the Elemental.

"Rook! Glimmer, hold on we're coming!" She-Ra quickly transformed her sword into a shield and tossed it Captain America style, the shield slammed into the beast like a frisbee pushing it back. Bullfrag leaped into the air with a bound then slammed on the Omnitrix symbol transforming him to Cannonbolt in his ball form and slammed right into the Elemental sending it crashing into a book shelf.

"STI…RIKE!" Cannonbolt cheered as She-Ra landed next to him and caught her shield which changed into a rope. Cannonbolt then tapped the Omnitrix again and transformed to Diamondhead.

Bows dads were even more shocked than before, seeing the boy change from monster to monster even more at the girls abilities. Again they looked to Bow.

"They really get into their studies." Bow chuckled even more nervously than before.

The Elemental roared and crashed another display cabinet with its leg, She-Ra quickly leaped up and over the incoming case. Diamondhead fired several crystals from his hand at the Elemental and it did seem to dent its armour. However the Elemental swung its tail at Diamondhead to send him crashing into a book case.

"Gah." He groaned and then noticed the captive audience in the room. Not to mention the mess. "Uh sorry we'll clean this up later Bows dads." He got up and charged at the Elemental.

Rook fired a grapple line from his weapon and it tied around the Elementals middle right leg, while She-Ra tied her rope around the middle left leg as they tried to restrain it. They both grunted and growled as Glimmer teleported in and unleashed a massive blast onto the creatures face. However the Elemental shook its legs and swung Rook and She-Ra into each other.

The Elemental charged and was about to attack again, Diamondhead quickly created a shield in front of them. It crashed into the shield.

"Grr we're not getting anywhere with this thing!" Glimmer exclaimed as she came over.

"We gotta stop it before it tears this whole place apart!" She-Ra agreed.

"Agreed if we contain it we maybe able to keep it at bay until we can neutralise it." Rook agreed.

"Alright, Rook cascade with Glimmer, She-Ra you and me on the offensive!" Diamondhead said to them. "But first time for a little Omni-Kix!"

With that he twisted the dial on his belt 90 degrees and in one flash he was armouring up. He now bore Omni-Kix armour. He wore a grey coloured form fitting helmet with a green visor for his eyes, the neck collar was protected with a pale green coloured plating his shoulders are reinforced with triple plated armour the top area being pale green and the bottom black. His upper arms consist of great segmented armour whole his forearms have white gauntlets with yellow plating. His hands are still his exposed diamond skin. He now wears a large white chest piece with the bottom half in yellow. They are separated by two lines, in green and black. His body is covered by black armour and white leg high armour in black knee caps and white armoured boots. There are dark grey pipes leading from his belt and the Omnitrix symbol remains on his waist.

"OMNI-KIX DIAMONDHEAD!" He exclaimed as the diamond wall exploded.

The Elemental yelled as it attacked, Glimmer and Rook fired their respective powers/weapons at the Elemental keeping it distracted. Omni-Kix Diamondhead then formed diamond blades on his gauntlets leaped in the air and fired several projectiles from his gauntlets hitting the beasts eyes while She-Ra swung her sword unleashing an energy wave from it.

Bow quickly escorted his parents from the battle and took cover behind a tipped over desk. "Bow, are your friends Princesses and rebel fighters?! One that transforms into monsters!" Lance exclaimed while She-Ra was tossed into the air by the Elemental only for Omni-Kix Diamondhead to grab her on a diamond slide he'd created.

"You are going to tell us what is happening right now, young man, or –" George demanded but was cut off mid sentence by Bow who had just about enough he couldn't keep a secret anymore.

"Now we have to act before the Elemental turns on us." Bow exclaimed.

"Y-You know what that is?!" Lance exclaimed while George looked completely surprised.

"We've run into them before." Bow explained. "We saw some at the Northern only attack when they're trying to protect something. So, what is it trying to protect?" He wondered while Rook kept firing at the Elemental only for it to swat him into a display cabinet.

"You've run into them before?" George exclaimed about to lose his mind. "Who are you?!"

Omni-Kix Diamondhead faced off against the elemental, It charged at him then Diamondhead fired a crystal right past the Elemental as it struck the floor behind his body turned to crystal and with one swipe, the Elemental shattered him like glass.

"BEN!" Glimmer cried seeing him shatter like that even She-Ra and Rook were horrified.

However they didn't notice the crystal trail crawling along the floor with a certain green visor. It reached the crystal then suddenly it reformed his body. Taking advantage the armoured Petrosapien grabbed it by the leg and tossed it in the air. She-Ra quickly jumped in the air and changed her sword into a large hammer slamming it right in its back sending it crashing to the ground.

"Ben! You okay?!" Glimmer exclaimed in worry after seeing what she saw.

"Yeah, feeling weird after that but yeah I'm good." The armoured Diamondhead breathed. However he saw the Elemental getting back up. She-Ra quickly landed next to him.

"We're not making a dent in this thing!" She-Ra exclaimed. "Ben how long until you time out since Omni-Kix drains a lot?"

"Hard to say but we gotta try and stop it before it hurts anyone!" Omni-Kix Diamondhead said.

Back behind the table Bow was still trying to think of what the Elemental could possibly be protecting. Then, Lance suddenly remembered something. "It was found alongside the runestone shard. Could it be that?"

Then Bow realised it with wide eyes. The Runestone shard was the first thing that made sense out of this. "Dad, you're a genius!" He exclaimed. "I promise I'll explain everything, but right now you have to trust me."

He got up and jumped over the table much to Georges shock. "Bow? Bow!" He exclaimed.

She-Ra was flung onto the floor and was about to be crushed by the Elemental until its turned to Bow's dads. "Bow, you get back here!" So it rolled into its ball form and went for an easier target.

Lance quickly pulled his husband down and waved his arms. "Never mind. Stay away! Stay away!" He exclaimed.

"Ben! Glimmer!" Bow called to his friends.

"On it!" They replied, the armoured Petrosapien quickly ran in front of the incoming Elemental and as it slammed into him Diamondhead pushed back trying to stop it. He looked and saw a petrified George and Lance.

"GRR YOU MIGHT WANNA MOVE!" He growled with effort. Luckily Glimmer teleported in then teleported George and Lance to safety.

They reappeared on the upper floor, and the two were petrified and their clothes and hair were messed up. "It's been really nice meeting you." Glimmer said before she teleported away again. The two looked down to see their son running towards a cabinet only to have his path cut off by the Elemental standing in front of him.

"BOW!" George and Lance exclaimed.

Rook saw his friend needed help and saw his namesake and trick arrows under the dresser. Firing his Proto-Tool grappling cable it catches the weapons and pulls them towards him and grabbed them.

"Bow!" Rook called to the young archer who turned to face him. "I believe these belong to you!" The Revonnahgander tossed his weapons to Bow and he caught them by leaping into the air.

"Thanks Rook!" Bow smirked and with that he tore the bottom half of his shirt off and tossed it into the air much to the shock of his two fathers who looked with shrunken pupils.

She-Ra and Omni-Kix Diamondhead stood in front of Glimmer who looked rather weak from the fight. They were ready to fight the Elemental. Suddenly a certain arrow struck the beast in the side of the head, with an explosion. The smoke cleared and revealed Bow was armoured up and ready for battle. Lance and George looked at each other confused.

The Elemental turned and rolled into its ball form and rolled towards Bow. Rook quickly formed his Proto-Bow and fired energy arrows at the incoming target.

"Bow now!" Rook exclaimed, Bow nodded and fired his arrow at the runestone shard in the display. The arrow had a rope trailing behind it as it broke the glass on the cabinet, it formed a pair of pincers on the tip and grabbed the shard. The rope retracted and Bow now had the shard in hand.

"Bow!" Lance cried and just as the Elemental was about to flatten Bow, he held up the runestone shard, and suddenly. Miraculously Bow opened his eyes and saw he wasn't hurt, then saw the Elemental had stopped attacking, it was uncurled and just staring at the shard.

Just then it used its pincer to grab the shard and after a bright blinding glow of light it curled up into its ball form and returned to its dormant state. Bow stood triumphantly, and Glimmer appeared next to him. "That's my Bow!" She said happily.

"Well done my friend, so the Elemental was a sentry to guard the shard, and when it was awakened it must have sensed it was in jeopardy." Rook said smiling.

"Yeah, good thinking Bow and way to show your real self." Omni-Kix Diamondhead smiled behind his helmet.

She-Ra punched his shoulder in acknowledgement and smiled proudly. "Great job."

"Aw thanks guys." Bow smiled happily.

"WHAT! IS! GOING ON!" They all turned to see Bows fathers still stunned by the events. George breathed heavily like he was ready to explode while Lance looked worried.

The air of awkwardness filled the air, as She-Ra changed back to Adora and the Omnitrix timed out turning the armoured Petrosapien back to Ben. It would seem Bows secret was out. Bow looked saddened as did his friends. He looked at Rook who gave an assuring nod telling him it was time to tell them the truth. So Bow walked up to his fathers his head hung in shame he looked at them awaiting an explanation so with a deep sigh he began.

"I... I lied to you." He breathed. "There is no Academy of Historic Enterprises. I've been living at Bright Moon, fighting in the Rebellion alongside Adora, Princess Glimmer, Ben and Rook of Earth."

Lance and George looked at each other surprised by what their son had told them. However they were more confused than hurt. "But... why?" Lance asked.

"I don't wanna be a historian. I've never wanted to be a historian." Bow admitted letting it all out. "I'm not a shy bookworm. I'm not a genius like you two. I make things. I'm a soldier. This is who I am. And I can't lie about it anymore, a good friend once told me that hiding my true self won't help anyone." Bow said and Rook gave a smile at that. Bow still held down his head in shame. "This is the real me, and I hope you can accept that, even though I know I'm breaking your hearts."

Bow looked heartbroken, and there was still silence from his two fathers. Then out of nowhere George walked up to his son, and embraced him in a hug, much to the surprise of the latter.

"What's breaking our hearts is the fact that you thought you had to lie about who you are." George said softly as he then looked at his son.

"You're not mad? But I'm a fighter, and you hate fighters." Bow said in surprise.

"I could never hate you." George told him. "Never. If you feel like you belong in the Rebellion, that's where you belong."

"Oh, Bow, why didn't you just tell us?" Lance then asked.

"I tried, but you didn't listen." Bow explained. "You only listened to me if I said what you wanted to hear."

"We had no idea you felt that way." Lance said. "We, we were just trying to encourage you to pursue your dreams." Lance and his husband started to swell up tears. "We thought we were being supportive when we really were being terrible." Lance started weeping.

"We love you the way you are, Bow." George told his son. "And, we're proud of you, no matter what path you take in life." Bow couldn't help but weep up some tears too. The three instantly embraced each other in a hug of tears and acceptance. George then looked to the others.

Glimmer was sobbing in tears of her own and Adora had a lone tear running down her face. Rook was more than happy for his friend while Ben couldn't help but shed a tear of his own.

"Ben are you crying?" Rook asked.

"N..no." Ben tried to deny it but there was no use trying.

"This is a family hug, Princesses and rebels." George said rather sternly before smiling. "You're Bow's family, too."

Without a word the girls, Ben and Rook rushed in and joined this beautiful family hug. Sometime later after making sure the Elemental was offline and cleaning up the place, the Best Friend Squad explained the reason for their interest on Serenia to George and Lance. Bow handed them his tracker pad and showed them the message.

"On one of our missions, we received a message from an unknown source." Bow explained.

"The message seemed to have a connection to Adora's predecessor the previous She-Ra Mara. However the rest of the message we could not find any connection or significance behind it." Rook added.

"Right, so if we knew what Serenia meant, I think we could figure out the rest." Bow finished explained.

George and Lance took a look at the message and the First Ones symbols they described. ""Serenia, portal, Mara" Okay. But what are these other words?" Lance asked refereeing to the other writings in the message.

"I don't know. It's too degraded to read." Adora sighed.

"We hoped during the recent alignment of the Moons of Enchantment, the signal strength would have been strengthened to get a clearer look." Rook explained.

"Yeah but so far it's only given us more questions than answers." Ben said.

Just then George noticed something in the degraded message. "Wait a second. Lance, what does this pattern look like to you?" He asked and his husband took a closer look at what he was referring too.

He gasped in realisation at what he was talking about. "Oh, I think you're right." Lance gasped.

"What is it?" Bow asked as Adora, Ben, Rook and Glimmer looked confused at what they were talking about.

"Look at it, Bow. Really look at it. What do you see?" George handed the tracker pad to his son to take a closer look.

Bow looked at the writing hard, he couldn't understand what he was seeing. Until suddenly seeing the patterns and symbols in the language he soon figured out why.

"These aren't words at all, are they?" Bow realised in amazement. Ben and Rook came over and took a look as well.

"But if they're not words, then what are they?" Ben asked, Rooks eyes widened in realisation when he started to see what Bow and his fathers were talking about.

"Constellations!" He gasped.

"Oh, now you've got it." Lance said excitedly before turning to his husband with his hands together. "George, get the projector." However this made the group even more confused than before.

Many hours later:

As night began to fall, the inside of the library was dark, the Best friend Squad were all gathered around a large spherical projector that looked a lot like a large globe with George and Lance.

"The world of the First Ones was different from ours." George explained to them. "Climate, language, even the sky was different, filled with cosmic formations they called…"

George touched the projector and it shot into life showing a projection of a nebular and many constellations. Ben and Adora gasped as they instantly recognised them as.

"Stars!" They said together.

"The First Ones used them to navigate and named constellations after mythical heroes, including Serenia." Lance explained as the projection showed the constellation of Serenia above them in First Ones language.

"Wow, just like how sailors or travellers on Earth navigate by the stars to help them find their way. Following the North Star." Ben realised.

"Wait Earth?" Lance asked confused.

"Oh right Ben and Rook are from a distant planet called Earth they got to Etheria by accident after falling through a wormhole." Bow explained.

"Another planet?" George said amazed. "Now I've seen everything." As they explained Rook was in thought as hearing about stars and how the words resembled constellations had made him think back to something.

"Oh of course this explains it!" Rook realised slamming his fist into his hand.

"Explains what Rook? What are you talking about?" Glimmer asked.

Rook then turned to Ben. "Ben, do you recall when we first arrived on this planet we discovered that First Ones ruin?"

"Yeah and we tried using our Plumbers Badges to translate the language but it couldn't." Ben remembered. "Which was wired."

"Uh guys care to clue us in?" Adora asked.

"Well as we have explained, mine and Bens Plumber badges are equipped with universal translators to translate any language into our own english." Rook explained showing the Plumbers badge on his belt. "But for some reason it could not translate the writings of the First Ones."

"Neither could the Omnitrix, and its programmed with the DNA of a million aliens in the known universe." Ben explained too.

Rook then looked back to the projection of the constellations. "But seeing how the words in the message were really showing constellations, it leads me to one conclusion. The translator cannot translate a language it does not recognise, because it is written in the stars themselves."

Ben was starting to get what Rook was saying. "So the First Ones language is in the stars, and the badges and the Omnitrix can't read star signs."

"So what's the significance of Serenia?" Glimmer asked.

"The constellation Serenia would only appear in summer and only over one place." George explained as the projection then showed the image of what looked like a desert landscape with mountains. It appeared in purple.

"The Crimson Waste." Glimmer breathed recognising the location.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that The Crimson Waste isn't exactly a luxury vacation paradise." Ben guessed.

"Oh quite the opposite Ben." George said.

"Yeah its a no mans land a giant lifeless desert with unknown beasts and perils that await any who enter it." Lance explained.

"So it's one of those many have ventured there but none have ever returned things?" Ben asked.

"I'm afraid so." Lance said.

"Of course." Ben slumped.

"Hmm one does not simply walk into the Crimson Waste." Rook pondered. "However if the signal we discovered at Alwyn came from here that means there is a likely hood there is a First Ones ruin there as well."

"Then that's were we have to go." Adora said determined.

"What?! You can't go just into the Crimson Waste, did you not hear the no mans land part!" Lance implored against it.

"We did, but I've seen my fair share of barren wastelands and scorching deserts." Ben said. "Plus if we learned about this place how much you willing to bet it's only a matter of time before the Horde find out about it as well."

"Ben does have a point, we know Hordaks been gathering all the First Ones tech he can find and Entrapta's helping him build something." Adora agreed. "If this is connected to Mara we can't afford not to investigate."

"Kids I do understand the need for answers but that doesn't mean you shouldn't venture off to a place you know very little about." George said to them. "Promise me you kids will stay away."

Bow, Adora, Ben, Glimmer and Rook all took in the warning that Bows fathers had given them. However the signs in the message and the connection to Mara was still preying on their minds. Do they dare venture to a wasteland that they may never return from?

Much later the group returned to Bright Moon to turn in for the night. They agreed they should discuss the matter of the Crimson Waste in the morning and consult Queen Angella.

"Hey, Rook." Bow called to the Revonnahgander in the hall. "Thanks for convincing me to tell my dads the truth, and for believing in me."

Rook smiled back at his friend and comrade. "You are more than welcome my friend, and I am glad your fathers accepted the real you. Parents can surprise you if given the chance.'

"Don't I know it." Bow chuckled. "Night." He bid his goodnight and headed to his then headed into the room he was settled into, however as he turned out the light a shadow appeared on the walls, and moved along the ground.

The Fright Zone: Hordak's Sanctum:

In the darkness of Hordak's inner sanctum, Catra had arrived and looked rather nervous at her surroundings. She was summoned by Hordak to discuss important matters. Perhaps her master was finally beginning to let her into his circle of trust.

She walked into the light and was surrounded by wires and pod like devices. "You wanted to speak with me, Lord Hordak?" She asked.

Hordak was tightening one of the cables in his lab with a screwdriver and didn't turn to face the Force Captain. "Yes, Force Captain. I wish to touch base, as you put it. See how my orders are being carried out."

"Everything is running smoothly." Catra simply answered.

"Does this mean Shadow Weaver has been transferred to Beast Island per my orders?" Hordak then asked turning slightly. Catra was rather silent at that question, she didn't dare tell Hordak about how she escaped. Since she still hadn't found her yet.

"Yes." She answered with a fake smirk. "I sent her yesterday, just like you ordered. Believe me, we're never going to see her again."

Then suddenly a voice caused her to look in horror. "I. LOST SHADOW WEAVER!" Hordak glared as Catra looked above and saw a certain Imp fly down to his master "Shadow Weaver escaped. I have to find her before Hordak learns the truth." Imp giggled in his masters arms while Catra looked terrified. She was busted.

"You… lied to me." Hordak growled as he walked to a certain lever in the room and placed his hand on it and activated it.

"Wait!" She heard a humming sound above her as the light went out and a purple field emerged around was then Catra realised what she was standing in.

She suddenly couldn't breath as she held her chest. She chocked as Hordak walked over to her. "I know your lax security allowed Shadow Weaver to escape. I know you've been covering it up, lying about her whereabouts." He was now standing above her glaring. Catra looked up at her master on her knees as she was losing consciousness. "But worst of all, I gave you the chance to come clean, to prove your worth to me, to the Horde." He kneeled to her level. "This was a test. And you failed."

Catra collapsed to the floor and fell into an unconscious state.

Bright Moon:Adora's room:

At Bright Moon all was quiet and peaceful, Adora slept in her bed to the sounds of the waterfalls in her room. However a shadow was now hanging over her, the shadow of someone who no one thought would ever set foot in Bright Moon. Standing above Adora's sleeping body was. Shadow Weaver.

To Be Continued.

Authors notes: DUN DUN DUN! Oooh this doesn't look good Shadow Weaver is in Bright Moon and she's come for Adora in her sleep! So it seems The Best Friend Squad have uncovered the true meaning behind the First One message and the language. Because in rewatching the episode I wondered if the First Ones language was quite literally written in the stars so I added that element to the story. Also about the runestone shard I decided to make it look like it was from the Spirit Ember from the comics, as it wasn't made clear which runestone the shard came from so I got creative.

Also the crews learned one of Bens most embarrassing secrets, and Rook now knows about same sex marriages (apologies if this is a touchy subject.) Now we enter the season 3 arc of the story and of certain revelations our heroes will come across.

I will try and update soon. So until next time.

FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL!