The Origin Of Castle Grayskull

Chapter 1

Eternia.

A planet situated at the nexus of all realities. A planet of infinite possibilities and infinite dangers. Long has it stood as a beacon to travellers from all dimensions; some noble and some not. Today, it is visited once more. This time, by a race of benevolent explorers. Their cloaked visages huddled in quiet meditation. Their thin, bony frames walk along the sterile floor of their ship. Across vast distances have they travelled, looking for a final resting place to deposit their accumulated knowledge. Secrets of the universe yet to be revealed. Wisdom of souls long since departed. A body of work amassed over millennia, spanning generations; outliving entire civilizations. They seek a place where they can deposit this knowledge, safe in the knowledge that it can only be accessed by the noblest and bravest of souls.

Fuelled by this desire, they arrive at last at their final destination. A place where heroes are made and protectors are born. Here, on Eternia, they will build a stronghold to contain this great treasure. A place that will lie in the protective hands of its most powerful champions. Heroes sworn to protect all life and all that is good. Masters and Mistresses of their craft, each and every one.

Masters...of the Universe.

...

Chapter 2

The hooded figures toil away in the blazing sun; digging foundations and laying rock upon earth. Etched on the face of their great construct, the face of their deity. A face they all share in solidarity. A face to act as a beacon to some and a warning to others. Its skeletal features protruding from the barren rock face in righteous anger. A face that many will come to know as Castle Grayskull.

...

Chapter 3

At last, their work is done.

The castle is built and its halls embellished. With one final act, they hold their staffs aloft in unity and unleash their entire history, the knowledge and secrets amassed over time, in brilliant streams of light. Blazing a trail brighter than any star across the walls of the castle. As the near-infinite wells within the confines of the castle fill up with light, the secret caverns buried deep beneath the castle glow with untold energy. The corridors sparkle with a multitude of colours with the brilliance of the beams.

Finally, when the wells finally fill up and the castle returns to scant daylight, their work is complete. The hooded figures file out of the castle one by one, their fates never to be known. All except one.

He alone will be the keeper of these secrets. He alone will act as caretaker of this sacred tomb. He alone will keep the forces of evil at bay.

...

Chapter 4

Time passes.

A month. A year. A millennium. It is as nought. For alone in this castle, so near to infinite power yet sworn never to access it, greed sets in.

"Why not?" whisper the voices in his ear. "Surely there is no one better than I to wield such power?"

The words echo in his head like a Siren's song, goading him to damnation. He ignores it for a time. His oath and his honour acting like a sword and shield. But one can only resist temptation for so long. One can ignore the wailing call of desire for only a time.

Knowing this, the hooded figure makes a decision. Before the day is done he will break his oath. But not to take power.

To give it.

To select another who will guard against evil, both external and otherwise. One who is so selfless that they will give up all that is theirs for the greater good. One whose majesty comes not from what they show but what they hide.

They must be relentless in their desire to protect the truth. They must be as strong as the foundations of the castle itself but as gentle as the feather that strikes its artifice.

They must inspire loyalty and goodness from the most honest and most wretched. Their ability to inspire must be an alchemy of sorts.

For they are not a warrior, they are a sorcerer.

She will be known as...the Sorceress.

But she will need to be tested. She will need an opponent who is as relentless as her resolve. She will need to meet the challenges thrown at her and her allies again and again.

He must become that opponent. He must cast aside his persona and take on another. Of one who must never again enter this castle. Of one whose very name instills fear and dread in every living thing on this planet.

He must become...Skeletor.

...

Chapter 5

No one remembers the one who left.

Tales are told and then re-told. Rumours become facts and facts become whispers. And as whispers fade to the sands of time, so do the memories.

No one remembers the one who left.

Not even himself.

...

Chapter 6

The Sorceress treads the lonely halls alone. Alone in a castle not of her making but of her choosing. Burdened by knowledge that no one else possesses yet somehow free. As free as the eagles that soar above her in the sky.

The forces grow stronger every day. Forces that seek to take the power within the castle for themselves. Her resolve is strong but her power is limited. For she can no longer interfere in the affairs of mortals. Such is her oath.

Another must be chosen to act as protector. One who is wiser than they are powerful. One whose strength comes not from themselves but through their friends. One who is able to bring out the goodness in others. To rally an army but be the first to protect it. To honour the light and tread boldly into the dark.

A warrior. A protector. A guide and a beacon. A symbol of hope and a scourge to despair.

The most powerful being in the universe.

...

Chapter 7

Time passes.

Battles are fought. Heroes fall. Evil is held at bay. Again and again, the endless cycle repeats.

The one who left sits alone in his lair. Alone with his thoughts, he hears echoes of the man he once was. Long-forgotten memories surface and fade like waves of a tide. Images of a life once lived and a pledge long broken, he wonders to himself, if only for a second, who this man was.

He lifts a bony finger up to his face to adjust his hood. He feels the familiar structure of his exposed skull; the face of his people. The face they recreated in stone so long ago. The face of the castle he longs to enter once again.

...

The End.