AN: Beta read by Danyeal, thanks man, we're starting to hit the home stretch.
Chapter 13 – A Legend Born
Their battle was brutal. Even outside of his mind, he could feel their battle. How the boy had so much strength he would never understand. Could it be the Universe had finally decided he shouldn't know everything? He shook his head and continued the summoning. A single, long crystal slowly rose from the pool of energy.
He smiled slightly. It was a long time since the warrior who had been had led his house had donned the cape. It would be an interesting experience to see how the boy reacted to them. He laughed slightly, it would be even more so to see how Diana reacted to the reborn Kryptonian.
"How are you able to fight?" Lak roared. "Your will is weak, your knowledge limited."
He slammed his fist into two powerful forearms. Clark just stood there, taking the assault as if nothing had happened.
"My will is to be King," Clark growled, slamming his fist into Lak's abdomen. As Lak bent over Clark grabbed both sides of his head and brought Lak's nose, directly into his knee. A splash of blood greeted him as his doppelganger fell back. "My will is to be greater than I was. You are standing in the way of that goal!"
Clark appeared inside his guard in a blink, slamming his fist into Lak's sternum. A crunch of bone, a gasp of breath was the only thing that told him he had connected. Clark continued to slam his fists into his dark half's face. Punch after punch, with no holding back. Now that he knew what it took to keep a Kryptonian down, he was not going to let up against Lak.
"Where has this killer come from," his dark half threw back as he fell away from Clark. "You've never shown it before."
"You still don't get it do you," Clark said with a nasty sneer that Lak had never seen before. The world around them began to warp, like the heat rising off the flames of a fire. "You seem to think that this is just another skirmish in our war. This is the end, this is where we decide who will be the King of this world."
Clark focused all his strength into his legs, with a sudden push he appeared a blur appearing above Lak, his right arm cocked back behind him. He slammed it into his head, driving him into the white ether with a black spider web forming around them.
Jor-El stared in amazement as his son battled his dark half with no real issues. As strong as he was the Dark Half had absorbed more his knowledge than his son had.
"What you see before you is a most frightening thing," the Source said from beside him. "At least to the Gods, there is little as frightening. He is ascending, his spirit is gaining power. He is becoming what he was meant to be."
"You know you make no sense," Jor-El said, not understanding what he meant. "There is no explanation for it."
The Source shook his head. He laughed slightly. "The Kryptonian mind can never understand the full depth of the soul. Your mind, too analytic, your way of thinking too set on the rules that had been laid out before you. I wish I had a way to tell you the full truth, but suffice to say the soul is the most powerful thing in creation. It can warp the world to fit the reality it desires, and when truly awakened, the potential is limitless."
Jor-El absorbed it. "You know what my presence is doing to his mind."
The Source nodded. "When the Fortress is fully operational we will move your matrix to the main computer, it was one of the features designed into it by your ancestors. Originally it was meant for a living being, but because of the mutations that the Nano-virus underwent in your son, you should work just as well."
"I feel like him, I believe I am him, but I know in the back of my mind all that I am in a copy, it doesn't make any sense."
The Source looked at him. "Jor-El created you in his image, he gave you a copy of his memories, of his experiences, so in a sense you are him, but you have changed from the moment of your birth in the boy. You have become someone new, so you are a possibility of what Jor-El might have been. It's strange logic."
Jor-El nodded, watching as his son absorbed another series of punches from Lak. "How can he handle Lak?"
"He understands," the Source smiled tightly. "He does get it, it's not just an act with him."
"This makes no sense, the only way to defeat your darkness is to kill it," Jor-El virtually screamed.
"No, it's not," the Source shook his head. "The greatest power a soul has, the greatest power any of us have, is the ability to accept. For with that you can come to terms with your own failings, and accept the failings of others."
"Acceptance is the key?" Jor-El asked, confused by what he was hearing. All of this went against everything that he had ever been taught.
The Source nodded. "You yourself never reached the point of awakening, even in Krypton's final hours your soul was never tormented enough. Here, your son, with the disconnect from the world because of his powers, let a dark thought fester in his head. He wanted to be normal, he wanted to stop being himself, and it was that self-loathing that grew into Lak, now he is accepting it back, he is letting go of this idea that he has to be "normal" and that he can be something extraordinary. It's a wonderful sight to see."
Jor-El nodded, remembering that fight with Rao in the waning days of Krypton. He remembered the peace and calm he felt, even though he knew the majority of his people were going to die. He had tried his best, he had lived a good life, and he was ready for the next journey. There was no torment there, nothing that could lead to the creation of a dark half, if the Source was to be believed. "You know I have knowledge of the God-Killer right?"
The Source nodded. "I was hoping that you would."
"Why?" Jor-El was stunned that he would actually encourage such knowledge.
"Because to kill, you have to know how to create first," the Source said with a smile. "The hardest thing in the world to do is to create you know, it's why I made killing so easy. Your people built a legacy even amid the bloodshed, they learned to create. There are still buildings in use by people who hated you, because their own engineering can build nothing close to it. They don't understand half the secrets you built into those things, but they try and learn from it."
"The people who hated us? They still use our things?"
The Source nodded. "That is the true legacy of the Kryptonian Empire. You conquered mercilessly, but in the wake of the bloodshed you tried to rebuild, and people use what you built. In a sense so many races owe what they have no to you, and your family Jor-El. Without your compassion there would only be desolation across the universe. In the end, with the knowledge of the God-killer that you have, it also means you have the keys to the greatness of your people, clean energy, renewable food sources, the ability to help make this world better bit by bit lies in your son's head and with what is to come, he will change this world. Letting others rise because of your own mistakes, it's a legacy that one can be proud of."
"You know then," Jor-El said flatly. The greatest sin of his family, they thought they had hidden it so well, but no one could tell
He nodded. "I know the House of El supported the Empire in the beginning, lending it's accumulated knowledge to the Imperial War Machine that Zodd had built, and when Rao withdrew his support I know it was you that caused it by deciding that Zodd's rampage had to stop. You even sparked a war between the Gods because of this."
"Cythonnia believed that we had broken the accord that she had with Rao when we went against the Empire and set out to murder him and my family," Jor-El said softly.
"She paid the price for her own sins in the end," the Source shrugged. "I am not one to judge, I know the reason for everything that your family did, for the sins it committed, and the greatness that it reached. And the greatness that it can reach through him."
He pointed towards the battling Clark and Lak. "In him there is a chance to be something more than the monsters of the past. I see something great in him, something that you put there, because you chose for yourself."
"It's so cliché," he breathed.
The Source nodded. "It's the nature of things the higher up you get. The things that a mortal takes for granted are truly wondrous things in the grand scheme of things, when you place them next to beings with powers like mine."
"What will he become," Jor-El asked, suddenly worried. The image before him, had not been seen since before the formation of the Kryptonian Empire, when they learned and stood at the Apex of their world.
"Your son," the Source said with a smile. "Above all, he will always be your son."
Lak felt his ribs shatter from the next strike. It was insane, this boy who could barely oppose him the first time they had fought was now on equal footing with him. The Last time the AI had managed to subdue him in a moment and take his place to give Clark a breather. It was too much.
"I will kill you," Lak growled.
"Try," Clark growled, matching him move for move. It was insane, the boy should not be this strong, he had stopped the absorption of Jor-El's knowledge so that he would not know how to fight.
"How are you doing this?" Lak roared. "How are you making a fool of me?"
Clark only smiled. It was so infuriating. He charged again, punching at the insufferable smirk. Clark twisted his upper body dodging each strike. It looked like he was barely moving to Lak, but that meant his speed was greater than his! He was moving at the maximum his body could produce and he still looked like he was moving slower than he was.
"How are you so fast?"
Clark said nothing, he simply stood there, watching him try and come up with a way to break through his defense. His speed was impossible, there was no way the boy could be greater than him. Why was it suddenly so hot in here?
"What are you!" His face was strained, his voice manic as he searched his own knowledge for the answer.
"I am you," Clark said simply.
"There's no way you can be me," Lak roared. "You're not supposed to be stronger than me. You're not supposed to be faster, and you're sure as hell not supposed to be smarter."
"You don't get it yet, do you," Clark raised an eyebrow. "We are one, everything I am you are and everything you are, I am. There is no division of power, there is nothing. I don't hate you, I don't love you, all I know is that you are me, and that this has to stop."
He blurred, faster than even Lak's eyes could track. Clark was in his guard before he could react. The boy smiled at him. "The world has to change, there can be no more light, and no more dark, there can be only one being in this mind."
"Then just die," Lak tried to punch him, but the boy blurred again.
"Is this all that you are Lak? Is this the sum of your existence, clawing away for the chance to rule over a body that will never fully accept you?"
"Shut-up," Lak roared, falling to his knees.
"How could only a portion of a soul command an entire body? You're less than even the container," Clark smiled grimly. "I wonder if you can see it yet, what really has to happen."
"You're a fool if you think I will let that happen," Lak growled, appearing over him, trying to punch him, only to be met by Clark's fist. A sonic boom happened as the force of the punch forced the mental wind to leave around them. "How?"
"You still don't get it. There is no way for you to kill me to take control. If you did you would die not long after, never realizing the full potential that we possess." Clark proclaimed, looking directly into the shocked eyes of Lak. "You think you're the complete version, all you are is a possibility, a memory of my own self-loathing. You're nothing more than a memory, and I will send you back there. It's time these games end, it's time that we become one."
"No," Lak roared, but his body began to dissolve. "You can't do this to me!"
"It's too late, it's already begun," Clark said coldly. "It's no longer a time for games, there is no longer a time for me to fight myself. My family, Diana, they need me to be stronger than that. They need me to Rise."
The Source smiled. "Rise my last son, soar above the clouds, and defy the fates that try and sentence us."
Lak gasped for air as Clark jerked his arm in a slashing motion. A slash appeared across Lak's chest. He stared at the blood flowing from his chest and looked slowly to Clark.
"I…" Lak gasped for air, collapsing to the ground.
"Just fade, once and for all," Clark said coldly.
"I…will…never…"Lak continued to gasp, the world around him was blurring. He found some strength to grab Clark's Leg. "I will never be a memory!"
He faded completely, even the blood that he had let go. Clark looked towards his father and laughed. "That's all you ever were Lak, a memory, and now I won't let it haunt me."
The Source looked up from his work. The boy was glowing now. He smiled. "Well son, it's about time you woke up. I can't tell you how proud I am. What you have gained, you will need, for the challenges to come will test the mettle of even a man of steel."
The light in the chamber grew to impossible levels, a brilliant white shining off the crystals that made up the Fortress.
Ares looked up, his eyes narrowing. What the hell was this feeling. "General, prepare your armies for an assault."
"Yes my lord, Ares," the second general bowed as they both faded away.
Rao's eyes narrowed as he felt the awakening. Did his father think that this would be enough to stop him? His eyes narrowed and he made his way towards that foolish Amazon girl who thought that she could escape his grasp. She had willingly bowed to him, and was his now to do with as he pleased.
Diana felt for him. She reached out with all her senses, trying to find where he had hidden himself, but there was nothing. It was like some power was blocking her from finding him.
"You know, Demeter's power doesn't work when he is in the Kryptonian tomb," Aphrodite appeared in the air next to her. "The Kryptonians learned to block us out a long time ago."
"Why were they so strong," Diana asked, a little tense. She still wasn't sure of what to make of her relationship with her patron. At one point already she had been willing to throw away Olympus to stand with Clark….Kal, she really needed to figure out what to call him. Having two names was not something that made sense to her. A name was an identity, it gave us form, having two made it hard for her to know who was in there, well three if you counted Lak.
"Because they fought to be," Aphrodite shrugged. She knew the relationship with Diana would be strained, she could only hope that it would get better as time passed. "They were the race that dared to ascend beyond what we thought mortals should be, they even defied their supreme god when they finally understood the sentence that Rao inflicted on them."
"He effectively killed an entire race because his children refused to play by his rules," Aphrodite shook her head. "The House of El, his own descendants on Krypton, opposed his vision of them ruling the stars. They conquered thirty galaxies and decided it was enough, they had hated the war."
"How do I find Clark," Diana asked not really wanting to get into the darkness of the Kryptonian race.
"Simple," she pointed due north. "If you fly straight north, you should recognize something from the dreams that you had with him."
"You knew about those," Diana gasped.
Aphrodite nodded. "True love, is my domain. I see destined pairs and the path that they take. I even see soul mates when they come to be."
To Diana the idea of soul mates did not sound like nonsense like Clark believed. The Amazons knew the stories, of how the gods had torn humans asunder and the search for the other half dominated so many lives. The Amazons had given up on the search to find the other half of their soul so long ago.
"You know it's not as simple as stories make it out to be," Aphrodite shrugged. "Love is a tricky thing, and when you find it it's up to you grasp it. If you falter he will fall away, and if he falters the same will happen. It's a give and take, and in the end it's about how you find that you fit together in the long run that makes it true. Most of the soul mates I have seen never ended up lovers, they had found someone else that they knew they worked with, but there was always a what if in the back of their mind that never goes away."
Diana nodded. "You know then."
Aphrodite smiled. "I knew the moment the dreams came, granddaughter. I knew you had something special before you and I wanted to see how far you could go. I never meant to hurt your mother you know, I just hadn't really grown up at that point."
Diana nodded. The stories of Aphrodite from before the war with Hecate spoke to what type of life she had led.
"You'll find him Diana," Aphrodite said with a smile. "I am proud of you."
Diana nodded and shot off to the north, not really knowing how to reply. Aphrodite watched her disappear towards the horizon with a sad smile. Her eyes watered slightly as she faded away.
The Source had completed the download when Clark's body jerked violently, a shudder ran through the fortress as his body settled back into a resting position. The two of them were so locked in combat that the basic motor skills that were no problem before simply shut down. It was some fight.
He smiled slightly as his son appeared before him.
"What are you doing, you fool," Rao raged.
The Source simply smirked. "You think you know everything, you're so sure that you're right you cannot see the pain that you have caused."
"I am their creator, I know what is best for them!" Rao looked like he wanted to hit his father, but even he held his hand against his father's power.
"You are their creator, but you stepped away," The Source said darkly. "You're like a parent who abandoned their child. You think you still have a right to call them your child after you stepped away."
"Because of this bastard's family, the whole people went against my will," Rao roared. "His grandfather killed the one who was bringing my order to the universe, his father went against my will for his people."
"And look what your will got them," the Source snapped. "You left them to rot on some godforsaken world because they failed in your task. You thought only the life that bowed to your whims was worth saving, and used an army of overpowered warriors to stomp everything in their path."
"When they failed you sentenced them to a world that was barely habitable," the Source glared at his son. "You believed that only your vision for life was correct, I am going to prove you wrong."
"I will make you pay for this," Rao growled.
"You can try," the Source smirked. "You are banned from this fortress as well."
"You can't do this to me," Rao felt his power slowly being unleashed.
"I can and I have," the Source gave him a cold state. "I will show you what your creation was truly capable of, how you failed. Those fool lanterns will have nothing on your descendant when I am done."
Rao's eyes widened in horror. "You've awakened his star soul."
The Source smiled. "So there is still some brains left in that head of yours. It was the one failing of your race, why they could never ascend to the greatness you wanted. You limited their spirit, and in the end spirit is the only thing that matters."
"No," Rao roared. "You can't do this, you can't bring him to full power!"
Rao threw a bolt of power at the source, so enraged by the thought. A star soul awakened in a mortal shell there was nothing that would stop him if that happened, he would effectively become a god.
The Source held up his hand, catching the bolt. "You think your powers are enough for me?"
Rao stared in horror as his father closed his hand, canceling the energy. "You think you have enough in you to usurp my throne?"
The Source held both hands out to his sides at shoulder level. Power began to flow through them and out the side. Crystal began to grow up around him. Rao's eyes widened as the Kryptonian weapon that he had known they had created activated. His father stopped the outflow of power and let the crystal sink into his legs.
"The first stage of their weapon has been activated," his father said darkly. "If you step out of line again I am going to activate the rest. It was a three stage process, the first crystals when fully active will cut your connection to all planes."
Rao's eyes narrowed. "You utter bastard."
The Source shrugged. "You forgot your place boy."
Rao faded from view in a fit of rage. The Source smiled as he felt the girl's approach. This story was getting so interesting now, it was wonderful. The branches of choice that he saw lay out before him, growing with each moment that Clark grew. It was astounding to think one soul could bring about so much change to the weave of the fates. They must hate him right now, forcing him to wildly change their weave. He smiled, it was time to wake Jor-El.
Diana saw it as she approached the north pole of the planet. Her eyes widened as the Palace she and Clark had flown to in her dreams stared back at her. Seven crystals formed a central arch that smaller crystals wrapped around. It shimmered in the pale light of the north, and gave off a warmth that she could feel even so far away.
"How is this possible?" Diana asked softly.
"Kryptonian technology," Aphrodite said looking at her from above.
"You followed," Diana said in surprise.
"No one knows what will happen between Clark and Lak," Aphrodite said softly. "I couldn't leave you to face that alone."
"Why are you so worried," Diana asked darkly. "I have enough power to contain Lak."
Aphrodite shook her head. "I have no doubt you're strong granddaughter, but you have seen nothing when a Kryptonian is fully unleashed."
"What do you mean?"
Aphrodite was about to say something when a light blasted out from the crystal structure. Both turned and stared, Aphrodite's jaw dropping slightly.
"It can't be," Aphrodite breathed. "It's not possible."
"What?" Diana asked, feeling the surge of power all around them.
"Fly granddaughter," Aphrodite said as she faded.\
Diana looked stunned for a moment and flew forward. Diana had never seen the goddess so worried, what was going on?
"He's awake," the Source smiled. He saw Clark grown from his position on the ice and slowly get up. "How do you feel?"
"Like I just went twenty rounds with a god," he groaned. "Why do I feel so warm right now?"
The Source smiled. "Your soul awakened."
"What do you mean?" Clark looked at him confused.
"The Kryptonian Race, their spirits were called from the ether where stars and gods came from," the Source began. "He left the key unturned so to speak. Ever since the beginning your race has been limited because so few of you have awakened the spirit."
"Spirit," Clark was absolutely confused now. To the Kryptonian mind none of this made any sense, to the human heart it made perfect sense.
"You will find the spirit is a more powerful thing than anyone imagines, it forces us to grow and change. Literally dormant spirits created the Kryptonian Race and see where they ascended to? They found the will to oppose the gods themselves."
"What does it mean that my spirit has 'awakened'?" Clark stood for the first time, he felt a little weak from the fight in his mind but for the most part he felt, complete.
"It means that now the power of your spirit is unleashed the powers of the god realm won't work on you as easily as they did before," the Source smiled. "It's how you were able to contain my son's power the first time you fought him in your mind. It was beginning to awaken back then!"
"I thought that was you," Clark breathed amazed by it all.
The Source shook his head. "You won't be able to use Power Words as other Gods, but your powers should come to you easier now, and you will grow stronger the more that you use them."
Clark's eyes widened. "How strong will I get?"
The Source smiled. He loved being confusing at times. "As strong as you want to be, remember in the end this is your choice now."
"What about the Anti-Life equation?" Clark asked, looking up from the spot on the ground he had found interesting. "Will it work on me now?"
The Source shook his head and shrugged. "The equation worked on Aphrodite, remember?
Clark nodded. It was hard to believe…he shook his head. It felt good, like he was whole once more. An image before his eyes, a girl pushed into the unforgiving earth, dead…
The girls eyes widened as he did not disappear as the spell was supposed to. He slumped for a moment and then straightened.
"You deserve a reward for letting me out," he whispered stepping closed to her. She shook with fright as the male reached out and wrapped his hand around her neck. He lifted her off the ground with ease, even her own strength was little match for his. "You should have stayed home girl, whatever brought you here is not nearly as bad as me."
He slammed her back first into the ground, she cried out in pain as her back shuddered from the force of being driven into the ground.
"You know there are 206 bones in a fully grown human body," he sneered. "I can see each of them. I know how many times you have broken them, I can see the tares in your musculature, and I can see your beating heart."
He knelt down, gently caressing her face. "I also know that you're not nearly a match for me, girl."
"You and your kind are all alike, slaves to the gods," he whispered leaning down next to her. "Even my dim witted other self is a slave, and for that he has fallen."
He stood staring down at her. He raised his heel slightly and slammed it into her chest right over her heart. With his eyes he was able to see the rib cage shatter and fragments be driven towards her still beating heart. He smiled slightly.
"Enjoy the only freedom you deserve," he said coldly, turning to the other Amazons. The five stood stunned as he walked towards them…
His eyes dropped, his shoulders sagged and the Source knew what had just flashed before him.
"You know that you can let it consume you or you can use it as a lesson and move forward in this life," the Source said softly.
"I killed her," Clark whispered. "I want to try and excuse it, as if I were possessed, but I am Lak."
"At least you're not running from it," the Source said in relief. "It was the common failing of your people."
"When we came out of the madness, we refused to accept the blame for what our emotions wrought," Clark said, remembering pieces of Kryptonian history and the apologies written into it for the actions of so many.
The Source nodded. "You're the first, it's a rather interesting thing to see."
Clark nodded, accepting the blasé attitude of the Source. He guessed when you were powerful enough to force creation from your will, there was little that could get you to show emotion.
"I killed her, and a part of me thought it was the right thing to do," he hung his head. "I killed her."
"You can do one of two things Clark, you can let it consume you or you can learn and move forward. You know you can never truly stop, if you do you die, and they win. Your acceptance of Lak helps you though, because now you understand that you aren't two separate coins, but two sides of the same coin."
Clark just looked down, trying to accept the weight of what he had done. Unlike the figments, whom he had no part in their death, this was direct, this was his choice. It hit him hard.
"I chose to kill," he whispered. "I chose to hurt someone who was nothing compared to me."
Clark bowed his head, and the Source simply faded. There was nothing that he could say that would make the boy feel any better. It was now up to him and what he would choose to do.
"You know, Clark," The Source knelt before him. "Power comes with a price, there is always a price. For you it will be never truly feeling the connection with the world around you, save one. This is the price for being who you are, it's the price for being a Kryptonian. It's the one thing of my son's work that I cannot change, but I can see a path where you use this gift to your advantage."
Clark looked up at him finally, with tears in his eyes. He sniffed. "How do I use this to my advantage?"
"By being something more," the Source moved to the side, revealing the crystal that he had summoned.
"Zan-El," Clark breathed. It was the uniform of the first, it looked like spandex at first glance, but it was a micro-filament that regenerated most of the damage and offered some protection to the wearer. He noticed the chest plate over, with the stylized red and gold diamond with the serpent trapped within.
"Glad to see you are absorbing those memories appropriately now. Yes, this is his uniform, this is the symbol of the First of the House of El."
Clark stared at the suit, slowly rising. "He sealed it?"
The Source nodded. "He felt, and rightfully so, that one day the House of El would follow his path once again, that there would be someone who would take up his cause. Are you willing to do it? Are you willing to fight against those things that would seek to enslave others. Can you give your life to be something more than just a man?"
"That's all I want to be," Clark said softly.
"Search your heart," the Source said with a smile. "You were raised human so I know you have one in you now. You know you were never raised to be just a man. Jonathan and Martha Kent would never raise just a man, they would raise an extraordinary one."
Clark nodded, his parents would never raise him to just be a man, they had always taught him he had a purpose in this life, that he was someone special. He always thought it was because of his powers…
"You had some time at least to know the love of touch, the ability to feel the world around you, but now you will be able to free a world from the oppression of the darkness. That is a trade-off I bet you can live with. It's in your heart Clark, the character that won't let you stand by and let innocents suffer. You know knowledge, you have power, and you have the opportunity to change the world. It's not leaders who change the world, but the ones who can stand up and say that this isn't right, that there has to be a better way. The ones not trapped in the rules of the world are the ones who can make true change. Think you can try?"
Clark looked at the sealed crystal, and for the first time in his life had a goal. Was he ready?
He looked at the old man. "Let's rock this."
The Source smiled. Now the true rise of the Kryptonians could begin. He felt Zan-El in his mind, and knew the old man approved. He had been waiting for too long for the House of El to rise above.
Diana felt a wave of depression hit her. She gritted her teeth to prevent herself from losing the air, the depression swept over her.
"Clark," she breathed, pushing forward, the crystals that she thought were solid were actually a lattice weave with narrow passages into the interior. The moment she tried to pass though she felt something rip through her body.
A wave of energy washed over her, stronger than anything she had ever felt before. Her entire body screamed in pain as she was brought down from the air. She shattered one crystal as she fell through it, and she cried out as she plummeted towards the ice below.
She shattered another crystal when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She turned her head slightly and saw Clark's profile.
"Clark," she breathed.
He nodded, a beautiful red cloak billowing in the wind behind him as they floated there. "Sorry Princess, I didn't realize my skies would try and take the wind from you."
Diana looked him over, clad in what appeared to be a blue spandex body suit and a thick red cape. "What are you doing in Spandex? Weird Kryptonian mating ritual?"
"Lak's a memory now," he said with a smile. "The fields the Kryptonians created can cut off access to the mana of the gods, pretty sweet huh?"
"I am so glad," she sank into him, wrapping her arms around him. "How?"
"I will key you into the wards the power this place when we get back to the command center, I have so much to fill you in on," he seemed to excited now, but there was an undercurrent of heaviness there now. "It's something Kryptonians cooked up to keep gods away from their work."
"What," Diana found it hard to believe such things were possible.
"Not enough to stop true gods, anyone empowered by a god would find most of their powers stripped from them," Clark explained. He closed his eyes for a moment and she found herself lost in the warmth that he exuded. The night they had first met, when she had slept with him on the couch, she was amazed at how warm he was, but it was nothing like this.
He opened his eyes, but he still looked so sad. "I hope you aren't affected by the weather. If I activated the heating elements here there is the chance that we could burn through the glacier."
Diana was amazed as they touched ground. She could feel the wind returning to her. Clark's warmth kept much of the cold away, it was like sitting next to a heater with a window open in the middle of a snow storm. She could feel ever bit of heat he let out.
"What happened?" Diana asked finally.
"Lak took control with what that girl did," he looked down. She noted he still had not released her from his hug.
"I saw the results," she mumbled. "I…I don't hold you account…"
"You should," he said darkly. Clark looked into her eyes, there was something there, something that had been missing. "Lak was still me, it was still a part of who I am."
Diana simply stared. There it is, she thought, looking into his eyes. The steel that had been there before but a hint of pain hidden in his blue eyes. Did the death of Aellia cause this?
"Kal," she said softly, choosing his Kryptonian name at this point. "You know that the enemy will not always be stoppable, you can't change the hearts of everyone."
"Least of all yourself," he said darkly. Diana finally understood.
"You're not a monster you know," she said stepping close to him. "You know you would never hurt the people that you love."
"How can you be sure," he screamed in frustration. "How can you know? The strong should protect the weak, no matter what. She may have been my enemy, but I know what I am. I know what I am capable of. I am as far beyond her as your sisters are beyond most men. I should always be in control!"
Diana understood. She felt the same way when dealing with her own family and people. She was stronger than all of them, she had to contain herself. The only person who came close was Artemis and that was with her Demon Sacrifice.
"Clark...Kal," she said softly. She touched him on the shoulder. She didn't let him walk forward, she simply held on, and held on to him, letting his warmth fill her and trying to return it to him. "The day you fall to the true darkness, is the day that the world ends."
AN: Homage had to be paid to the best line from Final Fantasy VII.