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The Dereskian Queen	By : LadyMoria Category: +G through L > He-Man Views: 2856 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own He-man, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Four: Goodbye, ‘Mother’

The mourning period for the deceased lasted a full twenty-fours hours, true to Dereskian custom. Traditionally, at moonrise of the second day, the new monarch was crowned. In this case, since Caerlin was technically older than her sister, she would be crowned Queen of the Dereskïgiä when the Red moon of Eläni rose to full height.

She had asked her sister if they could not have a dual monarchy, so that both she and her sister could be joint Queens. Moria replied that, although such a thing was not unheard in the past, she did not wish for such a system. Moria pressed for Caerlin to take the throne singly, telling her sister that she did not desire in any way the crown.

The ceremony was to be held at the exact moment when the Red moon rose to its full height. The reason for this was simple. When a Dereskian passed from this world, all of the strength and wisdom he or she possessed was passed on to the surviving members of the Dereskïgiä. When anyone died, regardless of whether or not he or she had been a monarch, their power, their life-force flowed to the remaining population. This happened only when the Red moon of Eläni rose, and thus, at moon height, the ceremony traditionally occurred. However, that night when the Red moon rose, the crowning ceremony did not take place. Caerlin had ordered that the ceremony was not to take place until the murderer of her parents was brought to justice in accordance with Dereskian law.

She sent out patrols to the Eternian border, and had them disguised as natives of the city she had grown to despise in her youth. She told them which questions to ask, as well as which people to ask them of.

Before the Blue moon had finished in its phases, the patrols came back, and their answers were all the same. The signs had been altered to make it appear as if the attackers were merely a raiding party. However, one of the raiders had apparently been careless, and, after receiving instructions, had kept the feather on which they were marked.

Upon close examination, the feather was discovered to have hidden markings along the colored half. The markings were almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but it was discovered that after water was poured upon them, large markings describing the layout of the palace was visible.

The results, carefully examined, all brought Caerlin to one conclusion: it was indeed the Sorceress of Grayskull who had ordered the attack.

Once it became certain beyond all manner of doubt that Caerlin’s ‘mother’ was to blame, she ordered the militia to go to Eternia for an arrest. Both she and Moria accompanied the force.

They reached the castle walls with little incident, barring a brief encounter with Eternian border patrols. Upon attempting to enter, it was discovered that a field of some sort had been placed around the walls. Since Grayskull was a castle surrounded on all sides by a seemingly bottomless ravine, it was needless to say that this posed a small problem.

Caerlin surveyed the area, and used a bit of her own Majicks to determine the power and strength with which the shield was held up. She reached a decision, and dismissed the militia with no warning. The captain tried to protest such a movement, but Caerlin would hear none of it. She ordered both the arresting force and her sister to disperse and get far from the castle. The militia left, but Moria did not. Caerlin relented, having never been able to refuse her sister anything.

The elder sister closed her eyes, and emptied herself of her passions, her wills, and her desires. Her eyes flashed open, revealing twin orbs bursting with what seemed to be lightning, and great bursts of amethyst-colored light shot forth.

The force field crumpled, not because of the force of Caerlin’s will, but rather, her lack of will.

Moria looked on, amazed, and a bit startled. “How did you do that? Not with will-power.”

Caerlin chuckled, “No, the strength of one’s will has no effect upon true Majick, sister.”

“Why is that? My teachers always taught me that it was only through will that you managed to have any control over Majicks.” Moria asked, as she watched her sister seem to empty herself again and stood, awed as the drawbridge dropped.

“That is what Celeno said as well. She told me that Majick could only be controlled if one has the strength and power to control it. That’s true, but I discovered that Majick couldn’t be won through willpower alone. As a wise woman once said, ‘the entire world is driven by a will-- blind and ruthless. In order to transcend the limitations of that world, you need to stop willing—stop desiring—stop hating.’”

Moria nodded. “I can see how desires and foolish hatred could get in the way of using high Majicks.”

The elder sister nodded, and kissed her sister on the cheek. “For luck,” she said, as the drawbridge finished its descent and slammed onto the ground with a dull thud.

Caerlin walked inside the castle first, as she was the most familiar with it. Moria followed quickly after, and the bridge rose behind them slowly, making no sound. The elder sister grabbed a torch from the wall, and gestured for her sister to follow closely behind her and make no sound.

They traveled through the maze of passages, Caerlin easily negotiating her way through the countless illusions and tricks meant to thwart invaders. She finally led them to a long and narrow hallway. Grinning slightly when she saw a familiar blue light, Caerlin approached a door at the end of the hall, and whispered to Moria that she should remain outside. Moria disagreed and made a good argument, but in the end, the young woman remained outside.

The door opened quietly when pushed, well greased so as not to make a sound. She left the door open, and walked inside. The sight of a large, gold pyramid awaited her, with an enormous viewing glass at the pinnacle. Gazing into the glass was a woman dressed in gold and aqua, with sparkling white-feathered wings at her back and a falcon headdress covering her hair. In the woman’s hand was a golden staff with the emblem of another falcon atop it.

She looked into the glass, and was unsurprised to find an image of herself, standing in the same spot she was standing, staring back at her. She then turned her attention back to the falcon-dressed woman as she turned to face her.

“Caerlin,” the Sorceress said simply with no emotion in her voice, and flew down from the pyramid. “Why have you returned to the castle when you know you’ve been banished?”

The younger woman said nothing, simply staring at the Sorceress as dull hatred entered her eyes.

“What?” asked the Eternian. “Is the bold Caerlin so perfect that she can no longer stand speaking to her mother?”

*You are no mother of mine,* came Caerlin’s voice in the older woman’s head. The younger woman’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the Sorceress.

The Sorceress stared, shocked at the Dereskian. “So,” she said. “You’ve learned to project your thoughts into the minds of others. I’m impressed.”

*I do not do it to impress you, I do it because I find the taste of Eternian words foul upon my tongue.* A breeze came up in the room, lifting the young woman’s moon-colored hair, and swirling it in the wind.

The Sorceress smiled in a smug sort of way. “You strive so hard to believe and let others believe that you were never my child, Caerlin. But it was I who raised you, I who brought you up, I who-”

*Took me from my true parents and people, denied me my history, exiled me when you no longer had a use for me, and then killed my parents when I was sleeping? *

“I didn’t kill your parents, dear Caerlin,” The older woman answered with acid in her voice, approaching the young woman slowly.

*No, you merely arranged it. * The Dereskian threw her shoulders back in defiance.

The Eternian stopped in her advance and smiled. “So, you know of that. I’m not surprised. You always were good at putting two and two together.”

*Unlike you, who never was very good at covering her tracks. *

A dark color appeared in the older woman’s eyes. She raised the hand not grasping the staff and a small ball of energy formed into her palm. “You go too far, Caerlin. And your next words will be ‘I’ve only just begun.’” The older woman paused as if expecting a retort, but Caerlin was silent. The young woman turned her eyes from the Eternian and looked at her feet.

The Sorceress laughed. “You can’t surprise me, girl. I know you. Whereas you know nothing!” She threw the energy ball at the younger woman, expecting it to collide and send her sprawling, or at the very least she expected some sort of feeble defense.

The ball stopped in midair a foot from its target. The Dereskian hadn’t even raised a hand to stop it. Then, faster than the Sorceress could think about what Caerlin had just done, the ball reversed and sped towards its sender.

The ball knocked the woman off her feet, and sent her lying on the floor. The Sorceress rose for another attack, and raised her staff. The Dereskian’s blue eyes sparkled as the light from the staff flickered. “Wait a minute,” said the Sorceress. “Blue eyes?! You’re not-”

A body slammed into her from behind, knocking the older woman down upon the ground and winding her. The Sorceress, gasping for breath, looked back at the woman who had been standing in front of her and now saw two women, one with icy blue eyes and the other with the light purple eyes she had known in past years.

*Hello, Sorceress, * the same voice spat in her head as the true Caerlin stepped forward. She looked down at the crumpled woman on the floor and smiled wickedly. *Surprised? * she asked maliciously.

“I won’t go back with you, you know,” The older woman huffed, trying to get her breath back. “I’d rather die!” She fired a blast from her staff at the elder sister, but Caerlin merely deflected it back again, showing hardly any effort.

*That can be arranged, * she retorted, too happily. She closed her eyes and a larger energy ball formed in front of her. The amethyst orbs opened and the ball flew towards the Sorceress.

At the last minute, the older woman shot another ball forward, not stopping Caerlin’s but halting it a bit. The larger ball hit the Eternian, but the smaller one burst through and headed towards the first target it could find, not Caerlin, but Moria.

Caerlin saw where the ball was heading and launched herself toward her sister, taking the energy blast in her stomach and falling into a heap.

“Caerlin!” Moria screamed and ran to her sister’s side. The ball had picked up some of Caerlin’s own blast when it had passed through it, and Caerlin’s side had a nasty gash across it, as if the blast was a knife slicing through warmed butter.

The Eternian had fared far worse, taking the brunt of the larger ball directly into her stomach. A hole roughly the size of a person’s fist had been punched directly through her abdomen. Her breathing gurgled as blood filled what remained of her lungs, and small streams of blood flowed like open wounds out of her mouth.

Moria did not bother checking the Eternian’s vital signs. She knew the sounds of Death when she heard them. Her sister’s eyelids fluttered open, and a great sigh of relief pushed its way past Moria’s lips.

Caerlin smiled up at her sister, and used her hands to examine the cut at her side. She closed her eyelids and emptied herself of all pain she was feeling, all hatred and adrenaline coursing through her veins. A white light enveloped her hands, and when her eyes opened, the slash was all but gone.

Moria hugged her sister tightly, and embraced her warmly. “Never do that again,” she whispered into her sister’s hair.

Caerlin smiled weakly as she was cradled. “I’ll try to avoid it,” she answered, trying to stand. She leaned upon her sister for leverage, and stood slowly, not wanting the blood to rush to her head. She looked over at the dead Eternian woman, and a dull smile crossed her lips.

“Farewell, ‘mother,’” she spat acridly in the coarse language of the Eternians, and then she departed, holding on to her sister for support.

*************

The next day, the people of Eternia noticed that it was unusually bright around Castle Grayskull, as if someone had built a large fire, like a pyre, and was letting it burn through the day. And at night, they noticed it was very silent in the areas around the castle.

Some few found, however, that in the dead of the night, a faint sound could be distinguished in the wind. The sound was weak, and of the few that could hear it, even fewer could actually distinguish it for what it actually was: the s ans and sobs of weeping.

*************

Two moonrises later, the entire population of the Dereskïgiä rejoiced as Caerlin was crowned Queen of the Dereskian people. Moria was made her chief and most trusted advisor. The energies of their mother and father swelled and then spread across the crowded masses, entering in equal parts, and melding with the individuals’ own spirits.

Moria smiled as the people cheered her sister’s crowning. She looked behind her at her sister, who was standing, tall and regally, with the silver and amethyst crown of the Dereskïgiä upon her head. She winked at her younger sister, and smiled.

That night, the sisters curled up in their sleep, and fell easily into the arms of a dreamless void. When all was said and done, it had been a fairly exhausting week.
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The Dereskian Queen