WHAT: Adam and Teela are playing paintball when they stumble across the Crystal Castle and decide to check it out; Teela is Not A Fan WHERE: Somewhere in the forest WHEN: Today WARNINGS: Some bad memories and a smidge of angst STATUS: Complete
Adam didn’t quite hold his breath, but he was making an effort to breathe as quietly as possible, hidden in the branches of the tree, gun clutched to his chest. He kept his eyes peeled for danger, scouring the ground below him, both hunter and hunted.
He heard the snapping of a branch; if he was still before, he froze now, holding his breath so that not even his chest moved. Only his eyes, as they followed the motion below him, waiting for his chance to strike. And then it came.
With a fierce cry, he leapt from the branches, firing two shots from his gun, sure that there was no way that he could miss.
Adam’s aim was, unfortunately for Teela, true. The balls of paint hit their target. The first (a big ball of red) skittered across the stomach of her dark denim jacket, and she turned just in time to let the second (yellow) skid over her side instead.
However, she didn’t waste any time striking back, grinning wildly as she pulled the trigger of her gun and shot off two more paintballs, aiming to smack him right in the chest.
Adam grunted as the paintballs found their home directly on his chest, and then he groaned, the miserable sound not quite matching the smile he couldn’t exactly keep off his face. “Aw man, this is going to take forever to get out,” he said, staring down at the blobs on his jerkin. “And also, I’m not entirely sure if these count. I hit you first, after all.”
He grinned at her, almost innocently, and then, without warning, he fired at her again, barely letting go of the trigger before he was running into the brush again.
He hadn’t run very far, though, before he broke out of the line of trees into a new clearing and came up short. The forest moved, he knew, and he knew there was no way he’d seen all of it. But there was no way to see the stalagmite of blue crystal jutting out of the ground, veined with pink in a way that looked more technological than natural without experiencing enough surprise and awe to halt one in their tracks.
The next one popped her in the shoulder before she could even open her mouth to argue with him and his technicality. She raced right after him, nearly slamming into him when he came to a sudden stop. When she looked up, though, she couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t help but gape for a moment.
“That - I don’t think that was always here.” She knew the forest shifted and changed all the time, but she felt as if someone would have noticed this and it would have made it on a map. But new things were popping up here all the time - like Castle Grayskull - so maybe that was the case here.
“I haven’t heard of it either.” Or seen it. He reached behind his back and felt the pommel of his sword materialise in his hand, though for now, he only pulled it from his back so that he’d have it ready if he needed it. “Do you wanna go check it out?” he asked, more eager than worried. It could be dangerous, he knew, but right now it seemed more interesting than anything else.
Most people would probably be sensible and say no to entering a mysterious castle that looked like it was carved out of crystals. Most people would probably take that as a sign that the place was dicey at best, maybe straight up dangerous. However, Teela lived in a castle that looked like a skull, with skulls lining the hallways inside as well. It may all be fake, but it certainly had an intimidating air of its own. She could handle this shiny castle without batting an eye.
“Let’s do it,” she decided, sliding her paintball gun into its holster at her waist.
Adam shot Teela a grin that seemed to imply that he knew she wouldn’t have answered any other way. “What do you think it is?” he asked, craning his head upward as he approached, trying to take all of it.
“I don’t know,” Teela admitted. The closer she got to it, the more she felt something, though - an energy she couldn’t completely place. But approaching the door, she noticed the symbols etched into it and her brows furrowed. “It’s Eternian.”
Adam nodded, though he was frowning. “I don’t remember ever seeing anything like this back on Eternia though, do you?” he asked, running his fingers over the smooth wall. He started to walk around it. “Maybe the Hall of Wisdom,” he admitted after a moment; it seemed to have been made of crystal too, at least, though of a different sort, without the circuit-like veins in it, and with a completely different architecture.
It didn’t take long until he came to a panel in the ground with the picture of a sword on it. It lit up pink when he put his foot on it, and he felt the Sword of Power respond in time, and then it sank into the ground, becoming a ramp to an underground tunnel.
“So, I’m guessing it’s like, 50/50 that this place is filled with monsters and traps.” He stopped himself before he asked if Teela was prepared for that. Her only weapon was a paintball gun, which was unlikely to do much in terms of protecting her if there was something creepy crawly down there, and it took him a moment to remember that she was the Sorceress now. “You up for an adventure?”
Teela nodded, considering the architecture before them. Adam was right - it wasn’t the usual sort of Eternian building, though she could see the comparison to the Hall of Wisdom. This felt colder somehow. Unsettling and prickling her skin in a way she couldn’t understand. Watching the Sword of Power slot into place and open a tunnel before them didn’t do much to help that feeling. Maybe it should, since this was a clear sign of the Power of Grayskull, but something still didn’t feel right.
But they’d come this far, and she’d never been one to turn her back on a mission, even if she knew it was dangerous.
“Always, partner.” She gave him a reassuring grin, bumped his shoulder with hers, then led the way down into the tunnel herself. There was nothing down there she - both of them - couldn’t handle if it came down to it.
Adam had no problem with Teela taking point, and he followed her down the ramp into the crystal building, stopping and turning to watch the ramp close behind them with a frown. The mechanism for it seemed to work well, at least; he didn’t have to worry about it rusting close behind them.
The tunnel they walked down was colourfully lit, nearly otherworldly. When nothing jumped out at them immediately, he let his sword arm drop a little. He wasn’t about to dismiss the Sword of Power, but he didn’t feel like he had to hold it in front of him, at the ready. Especially not with Teela there.
“What do you think this place is?” he asked.
“I have no idea,” Teela freely admitted. There was a lot about this world (everything, really) that she didn’t know. The Sorceress mantle came with absorption of an entire universe’s worth of knowledge - from the very moment of its birth to the millions of possible futures that awaited them - but Vallo wasn’t included in it. And although this building clearly had some Eternian influences, and it felt oddly familiar, she knew nothing about it.
“I guess all we can do is keep looking.” Or leave - they could do that, too. But that wasn’t really in either of their natures. So, she just kept on down the hallway until they found a door that opened into what looked like a control center.
As both Adam and Teela stepped into the control room, there was a sudden shift – a brief distortion, like static on a television, and then, suddenly, Adam knew exactly where they were. Almost, at least. It looked like the Heart of Castle Grayskull, but it didn’t take him long to realize it couldn’t be. It didn’t feel like it: the magic was missing.
His grip tightened on his sword, and he brought it up in front of him again, the words of power on his tongue, ready to fight if he had to.
“What’s going–” he started, but he was cut off by someone else saying the words.
He spun on his heel. Behind him, where there had just been a corridor, was himself. A younger him, at least for a moment, as the power rushed into him and turned him into He-Man. Teela Na was standing near him, the Sorceress of Grayskull, Teela’s mother.
“You’ll need a loyal companion,” she said, once the transformation was complete, and moved aside a curtain of vines to reveal Cringer and Orko. It wasn’t until after He-Man transformed Cringer into Battle Cat for the first time that the Sorceress spoke again. “He-Man, it must remain a secret that you and Prince Adam are one in the same. If the dark forces were to gain such knowledge, it would bring grave danger to your family and friends.”
Teela’s heart ached when they turned around and saw her mother. She had seen this memory before - becoming the Sorceress after her mother’s passing meant accepting memories of their universe, all of them - but that didn’t make it any less of a slap in the face to witness here. She gritted her teeth; she knew Teela Na hadn’t known any better. She hadn’t realized there could be another way, and by sticking to the old ways, she had caused her daughter a lot of pain.
“Your friends, all of whom helped you but me,” she replied sarcastically - and not without an edge of bitterness. She waved a hand in hopes of making this memory playback stop. It wasn’t her doing, and it wasn’t just in her head, so she assumed it was this place pulling from them. She didn’t particularly care for either of them being violated like this.
“You helped me too,” Adam insisted, looking at her, more than a little surprised. “You might not have known who I was, but maybe that helped even more. You never cut me any slack as Adam, even when the others might have been more willing to let things slide.”
As if to prove his point, a different Teela, a younger Teela, eighteen years old, started talking, almost before the previous memory fully faded. “He’s got brains, muscles, courage.”
“Oh, and I don’t have any of –” Adam started, but Teela didn’t let him finish.
“And he doesn’t go running off like Cringer when the going gets tough!” She jabbed a finger at Adam’s chest.
“Yeah? Well, let me tell you something about He-Man,” Adam started, annoyed. “He-Man is –” From the corner of his eye, Adam – both of them – spotted a brightly coloured falcon landing on a windowsill, and he trailed off. “A friend,” he finished.
“I didn’t always like it,” Adam added, a little embarrassed for Teela to see that. When it came down to it, he probably remembered every time Teela had implied he was a coward. He wasn’t too upset about the fact that whatever this was was broadcasting their memories – he’d come to accept these sorts of things years ago – but that didn’t mean that he wanted some things brought up. “And I always wanted to tell you. Not just because I hated the idea that you thought I ran away from every fight, but because I didn’t like keeping things from you. But…”
But, well, he’d had responsibilities as He-Man. He was sure Teela probably understood that much, intellectually if not viscerally, now. He still felt like he needed to say it. “I’m sorry though. That I couldn’t. It wasn’t fair that you didn’t know.”
“Stop,” Teela snapped back. “What’s done is done.” She glared at him, then closed her eyes, realizing she was being too harsh. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Whatever was going on here, it wasn’t because of him. But these were his memories. Yes, she was in them, but so far, they had all been from Adam’s point-of-view.
And she was still hurt. Intellectually, she was over it. She understood why Adam had made the choice he had made - well, really, it hadn’t been a choice. Her mother had made that call, told him ‘this is how it’s going to be’, and he hadn’t fought it because he thought it was the right choice. She knew that, and she wasn’t upset anymore. She didn’t blame him.
But some part of her was still broken from it. Maybe it was wounded pride, to an extent. She and Randor had been the only ones oblivious to it (because even Marlena had caught on after a while), and as much as she looked up to the king, being like him was never something she’d wanted. He had always been rough on Adam, hadn’t given him a fair chance to show that he was good, even if he could be a little lazy. She wanted to think she’d been better than that - than him.
“It’s fine. Just - do you want to keep going or can I get us out of here now?” she questioned, evening her tone and leveling her gaze on Adam’s. She had wanted to forge ahead, explore further, but her frustration was rising and she wanted out before she lost her temper unfairly again. She was bracing herself to teleport out, but if Adam wanted to stay, she would stay.
Adam grimaced. He knew that Teela had been hurt by the secrets he’d been forced to keep from her, but he hadn’t realized that she was still so sensitive about them. He should have though. He wanted to make it right, somehow; to find the words that would soothe the old wounds, but he was also pretty sure that anything he tried to say now would just make things worse.
“Yeah,” he said, softly. “Yeah, we can leave if you want to.” He didn’t want to discover any more if it was just going to hurt Teela. He shot her a goofy smile. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
Instantaneously, Teela swept them both up, returning them to the spot of forest in front of this crystal castle. She pulled out her phone, took a picture of the structure, and forwarded it on to Adam.
“Send that to Adora,” she instructed him. “I have a feeling it belongs to her.”
Adam wanted to say something to her. Something that would make it better. He was pretty sure if he tried right now, he’d only make things worse. That didn’t mean that they didn’t need to talk about it at some point though. Maybe some point when it wasn’t so raw. He hadn’t realized that it was still bothering her. Maybe he should have.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, I think you’re right. I’ll do that.”