The Promises We Keep: Chapter 3

By: Ryu Niiyama


The Brightest aspirations can make the darkest shadows.

Commander Danvers lay resting, her sleep uneasy due to the pain of her wounds. Her vitals were steady but they were not improving. The Lantern refused surgery or treatment despite several internal and eventually life threatening wounds, and Director Henshaw was pushing Washington to reinstate her credentials as a DEO Agent so he could override her wishes as her commanding officer. Supergirl stood silent vigil, mulling over the request for help Alex made and the stilted reasoning for her sudden appearance. A Kryptonian was likely headed to Earth with ill intentions and Alex had wanted any intel that Supergirl or the DEO had regarding unauthorized alien contact recently.

Kara Danvers flinched at the thought.

Information.

A Kryptonian was on the loose with Earth as his target and all Alex wanted was information. Azure eyes glowed crimson briefly as desolation gripped her heart. The emerald gaze, shaded with familiar brilliance had been distant and professional with only a shadow of regret to offer Supergirl. The Maid of Might clenched at fist at the thought. Not once did Alex call her by name during the entirety of their interaction. Such actions upon her awakening, Kara could understand for Alex had no way of knowing she was in a universe that was safe. Yet while there was no disdain or anger in her voice, she spoke to Hank with far more familiarity than she did her own sister. When she reached for him, taking his hands with a tearful, joyful smile it was all Kara could do to keep her face pleasant and her eyes dormant and dry.

The superheroine drove her fist into the heavy bag in front of her, the material more durable than the type used by a professional boxer, but still light enough to safeguard her wrapped hands as she boxed under the crimson glow of red solar emitters. Before departing for Washington, Alex had left designs for her red light emitters; wanting to use technology that didn't expose Supergirl to a radioactive substance, but would allow her to be safely depowered. Another act of love that Kara had foolishly dismissed.

Beneath the crimson glow was the closest to normal Kara Danvers had felt in decades. Kal… Clark had long been a source of confusion and misinformation about Kryptonian physiology on Earth. It had taken years for Alex to modify and revise her parent's highly regarded research and analyze a Kryptonian properly. Due to being the primary assistant to aiding Kara in harnessing her powers as well as being the first to engage in a true information exchange between Earth and Krypton, Alex understood the differences between their two species with the highest authority.

Due to the higher gravity of Krypton, Kryptonians were naturally stronger than humans. Even as a child had Earth possessed a red sun, Kara would have been as strong as a fully grown adult human male at peak efficiency. Her denser molecular structure allowed her to run faster, leap higher and punch harder than a human (and weigh more than her stature implied), albeit nowhere near the levels of strength she possessed under the light of Sol. Kryptonian bodies partially absorbed nutrients in much the same way as a plant would, lessening their dependence on food and making them mostly diurnal although there were those of her kind genetically tailored to be nocturnal.

Sol's light increased the efficiency of the Kryptonian cell structure beyond its already impressive natural means, at the cost of spiking their metabolism. While Kal and Kara's appetites on Earth were legendary, the food they ingested merely accounted for about 35 percent of their nutritional source. Due to the requirements to blend in with Earth society and the shortness of the days in comparison to the solar light that she truly needed, meant that Kara was essentially ravenous most of the time. A fact made worse by her activities as Supergirl as she now regularly tapped her reserves.

Also unlike Kal, who was born through sexual intercourse and gestation, Kryptonians were designed, genetically tailored to suit the roles they would play in society. As a noble and the eldest of the house of El, Kara was designed with the best aspects of many classes of Krypton. Her body was strong and her metabolism efficient, traits of the warrior class, her intellect already pre-dispositioned to be high due to her parent's genetics, was well into the genius level by Krypton's standard. Her endocrine system was designed to regulate her emotional spectrum to have her lean towards analytical, calm precision, although she possessed a great deal of the Ze passion that had made her mother such a convincing Judicator and her Aunt a fearsome warrior. The horror of her loss, the burden of Sol, the abandonment of her kin, and the comparable primitiveness of Earth left a perfect noble adrift with emotions that had to be tempered at all times.

Krypton also had a higher nitrogen count and a lower oxygen count to its atmosphere than Earth. Earth wasn't entirely toxic to a Kryptonian, but first exposure to Earth's air caused minor damage to the lungs and esophageal lining. Kara had been fortunate that she'd landed during the day, when Kal carelessly ripped off the hatch of her ship, for the sun quickly infused her cells, healing much of the instant damage but not perfectly. Essentially her body adapted, not scaring, but slightly altering the vocal and respiratory system. She had wondered why Kal had sounded so nasal to her ear when she first met him, although to this day the sound of his broken Kryptonese was grating, until she heard the sound of her own voice. The atmospheric adaptation caused a difference in tone and pronunciation, minor if not unnoticeable to one that didn't know better, but a source of horror to the newly landed Kryptonian. Other biological aspects of her species had been hidden and shunned until her body was barely her own anymore.

Supergirl punched and kicked fiercely at the heavy bag to escape the memories, her now skirtless suit allowing for a greater freedom of movement. Even with the distance Alex was placing between them Kara knew she would scour the ends of the Earth for this…Nor-Zar if only to present him to Alex and win her favor once more. She had a second chance and she would not waste it. Alex would see that Kara could do more than cast her aside, she would see that Kara could stand beside her greatest hero and walk hand in hand with her. Then the darkness she'd wandered in for so long would finally dissipate and they would be together, El Mayarah until Alex drew her last breath and Kara ended hers to follow.

For a moment, her mind flickered to the bracelet that she saw upon Alex's wrist and shielded with Lantern Light. Surely she'd been mistaken, there was no way for her to receive a bond bracelet. Most of the Kryptoinan species was dead either at her own hand as Fort Roz'z drifted through the cosmos with no power or Rao's destruction. Her mind, delirious with the thought of Alex's miraculous return had conjured a greater significance to the bracelet than it deserved…and yet her heart was not at ease. What if Alex had found a bondmate bracelet somehow…she was a member of the Corps…perhaps there were living Kryptonians serving there. Had she taken… a mate?

Kara shook her head at the horror of that thought. No, such a thing was impossible. Alex who never dated, Alex who was so wondrous that none were worthy of her, Alex who loved her family and her work would not have time, nor the inclination for such a thing. Besides, marriage bonds were made to negotiate the standing of one's House. The Matricomp in its perfect algorithms, could determine compatibility to ensure that love would one day bear fruit between betrothed pairs, but without a House or a matron to negotiate on her behalf…no, it was impossible. However the thought of Alex, standing upon the Jewel of Truth, clad in the dark green robes of Unity brought warmth to Kara Danvers' once cold six chambered heart. Rao had returned Alex to her…perhaps, she could earn more than just the trust and love of her sister in spirit…

Krypton held love to a different understanding than humanity did. They didn't disdain or eschew sexual and romantic love, but didn't see it as a basis or even a required component for true bonding. After all they were no longer subjugated by a mating drive in order to procreate, so for them love had to be strong enough to endure the journey through life and not just through sexual maturity, and it manifested in various types of relationships.

Unbreakable. Te:zehdh. A bond that transcended all else. A person's true Home.

Yet Kara knew that such a bond didn't preclude hurt or even betrayal for she watched her Mother betray Te:zehdh, Astra In-Ze who had been formed to Alura In-Ze in a rare genetic mishap, a spontaneous dividing that split one zygote into a two…Identical twins. Born from the same birthing matrix, raised together, the twin daughters of the House of Ze rose together…and fell together though they didn't know it. Alura who had been Astra's shield, had been forced to betray her beloved sister for the sake of Krypton and Justice. Astra, who had only wanted a world where her sister and her niece, the daughter of her soul would be safe, had taken her blade that had been wielded for Alura's protection and betrayed all that she held dear.

Kara Danvers remembered how being forced to sentence her sister to eternal oblivion had hollowed her mother out, how it had seemed that she had sent her own soul to the Phantom Zone with her. Neither her father's loving arms, or his kind smile could ease Alura's anguish. Zor-El, who loved his brother but competed with him and resented the place granted to Jor by order of birth, didn't truly understand what it was to cut out one's own soul for the sake of others. Kara herself had been too heartbroken to offer her mother comfort as well. Perhaps that was why she chose rather than to go with her family whole and in Rao's light, she'd sent Kara away to aid a child ungrateful and uncaring of his culture and the sacrifice his and her parents made.

Kara Danvers remembered the creature of rage and despair that her Aunt had become. As the head of House Ze, General Astra In-Ze was a warrior without compare, yet her sister and her niece only knew of her gentleness and kindness. With Te:zehdh alive in her heart there was no enemy that could defeat her, and yet no act she would not commit in Alura and Kara's name if it meant their safety and well-being. Without it, her Aunt could strike the niece she loved as her own; she could spit and snarl out the name of Judicator Alura In-Ze of the House of El as if it were a foul oath. She could threaten to destroy the home that had taken Kara in…and she would have slain Alex, a meaningless enemy soldier without a single thought.

Supergirl paused in her punching at the thought. In the overwhelming grief of losing Alex she had forgiven all between them…but she had done so blindly, desperate in her longing for her Light. She hadn't thought of what it truly meant for Alex, who lived and breathed for Kara's protection to end the life of her Aunt, a woman whose visage matched her mother's and whom she had adored. In naming Alex kinkiller, she had ignored that Aunt Astra, with the might of Sol in her veins would have been a kinkiller had Alex not ambushed her. Her grief and loss had painted Astra almost defenseless; an innocent slaughtered by an unforgiving soldier, rather than a near goddess with the ability to tear brave, yet so very fragile Alex into pieces with the same effort it took to rip tissue paper.

Would she have forgiven Astra, for what she did not forgive Alex? Or would she have sent Astra away to atone and die with only a heartbeat and her self-righteous anger for comfort? Her mother had always cautioned that Justice held no mercy for love. Justice had to see with a clear mind when love acted with reckless passion. After all, the brightest aspirations can make the darkest shadows; Alura In-Ze held the ancient proverb to her heart like a dagger…and in sentencing her twin to the depths of oblivion Kara finally understood why.

"Oh, Alex…"

The Last Daughter of Krypton sunk to her knees, believing that her heart could break no more and finding that there was room for one more crack, one more scar. She wanted to weep but was not certain if she had the right to. Had she not been doused in red light, she would have heard footsteps, moving towards her with frantic urgency. She looked up when the Agent (Ogawa, she remembered offhandedly) burst into the training room, panting heavily and face scrunched with worry.

"Supergirl, ma'am! Come quick, Agent Danvers…she…she's in a coma!"


Still thought it was short sighted of the show that Supergirl had to kill the last remnants of her race (they were eco terrorists/defected soldiers not serial killers and rapists) to save humanity. But we were supposed to ignore that because she was gonna die in space…

Also please note the bond between Alura and Astra is not romantic nor is it implied to be.

I find it ironic that green was the color of the core Girod (kryptonian virtues) given the color of kryptonite.

I'm taking great liberties with the Kyptonian language and my usage of zehdh, the first aspect of the Girod and applied the possessive modifier Te to roughly translate to [my]House/unity/belonging to imply the inherent strength of an unbreakable bond. (even when it hurts you…)

Thanks for reading,

R. Niiyama