Eternia Origins Part 3. The Evil Companions

Rqazz cares for no one, but misery loves company, so he decides to keep Skeletor around.  Skeletor's fragmented mind makes him little more capable than a child. For a time they take shelter in Castle Grayskull, until the extreme isolation drives them to venture out. They live in the jungle, just outside the fringes of remote settlements. Rqazz provides for them, robbing from the settlements when necessary.

Skeletor convalescences.  He has no memory of his prior life or the endless time spent in The Well of Souls.  At least, not when he's awake. When he sleeps, he remembers his torments in the Well with near perfect clarity. When he wakes, his nightmares are blocked from his mind, but he is left with vague feelings of horror and despair. He sees this as a detestable weakness and is motivated to become stronger.

In time, they leave the jungles. With Rqazz as his guide, Skeletor travels from one territory to another, learning the lay of the land.  In disguise, he lurks cities and villages. It is a rebirth for him, learning forgotten knowledge. Trying to unravel the mystery of his own origin, he studies ancient scrolls and practices alchemy. Eventually, his desire to remember the past become secondary as he begins to crave power, to subjugate a society he'll never be part of.

Eternian civilization is entering a prosperous new age, but there are many outlying frontiers and forbidden lands where life is primitive and savage. It is in these lands that Skeletor begins to make a name for himself. He builds a growing faction of marauders, enslaving people from various villages to add to his army of warriors.

Through all of this, Rqazz serves willingly. His life is given purpose by Skeletor's ambitions. He carries out his master's commands with deadly fervor. Like Skeletor, he relishes any opportunity to punish a world he believes has wronged him.

For the time being, however, Skeletor is no different from a hundred other warlords that reign among the territories around him. He continues to study and bide his time.