A/N: My dear readers, the new chapter for you!
winthjo: Welcome back! Your question will be answered in this chapter ;)
Busard: Thanks for the great feedback!
Supesfan18: Here's the next part...
Thank you very much my betas Dragon166, rose123579, and Jremme who never get tired to help me to improve my English and writing style!
11.
Celeste still had her hands up as the wind persistently blew dust into her face. Even though she knew that there was nothing she could do if the ghosts tried to attack her again, she would be damned if she would die without trying to fight them!
Eying them closely, she noticed them approaching slowly and mercilessly. Big pearls of sweat dropped from her brow, mixing with the dust into a bizarre pattern on her forehead and gluing her locks to her face. As she turned her head, she saw even more creatures assembling with the others. There were so many that the only thing she could do was to gulp, and look at them with her eyes wide open.
They came closer. Much closer. Celeste estimated that there were at least twenty of them, all ready to attack her. She knew that she had no chance to survive another attack. Slowly, she closed her eyes and prayed. She could feel them almost grabbing her, as she involuntarily lifted her right hand in a last desperate attempt to fight them off. Absolutely unexpected, a beam of bright light shot out of her palm, as the creatures started to scream in high pitched voices, trying to get away from the light in total panic. Celeste, opened her eyes, totally surprised. At that moment, she was catapulted backwards and urgently made contact with the ground.
Rubbing her back, she got up again and looked, puzzled, at her hand that had stopped glowing. Surprisingly, all the creatures had vanished instantly.
Meanwhile, Celeste opened her hand to inspect her palm more closely. Her hand hurt terribly. Stunned, she noticed for the first time the House of El crest burned into her palm like a burn mark!
Terrified, she fell back on her knees, not being able to make any sense of the things that were happening to and around her.
When she suddenly heard the creatures, once more screaming in this deafening noises, she looked up. Some of them had tried to attack her, the moment she had let her guard down, but now a beam of the same light was coming out of a similar device, as a cloaked person emerged from behind her, holding the device in their hands and pointing it at the ghosts.
Watching the scary ghosts vanish, Celeste shifted her attention to the strange individual, approaching her slowly. Interested, the person came closer, still holding the device up high in order to defend against any of the ghosts. Celeste could see that the strange being was veiled in fabric and the person's beautiful blue eyes reminded her of the eyes of the man she loved.
Celeste slowly exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she had held for quite a time. She glanced at the creature and stuttered a silent "Thank you."
The person raised an eyebrow, at the same time lifting a leg and putting a foot against Celeste's chest to push the totally surprised ballet dancer back on the floor. While the strange person placed their foot just above Celeste's throat, the woman uncovered her beautiful face and said, "Welcome to the Phantom Zone!"
Celeste just stared at the woman, totally speechless. She was the prettiest thing she had ever seen, her waist-long blonde hair blowing in the wind as the woman kneeled down and grabbed her by her locks, slapping her harshly out of her awe. "Who are you and where do you come from?" she asked with aggression.
Celeste gulped and looked her straight in the eyes. "I come from Metropolis," she pressed out against the pain she was feeling in her head as the tears brimmed in her eyes.
While getting tense, the woman grabbed her even harder. "What planet do you come from?" she asked impatiently.
"Earth," Celeste whispered hoarsely.
"Earth? Then why can you speak perfect Kryptonian?" the other woman continued to ask questions.
Now Celeste was puzzled. Tearing away from the woman's vice-like grip, she asked, "What? I may know a word or two, but a conversation in Kryptonian? No way!"
"Then how do you explain that you are having a conversation with me in Kryptonian right now?"
Celeste frowned. "Why can you speak Kryptonian and what is the Phantom Zone?" she counter questioned, also getting aggressive out of frustration.
The other woman let go of her and turned around. After a minute, she glanced at Celeste again and held out a hand. "Come with me," she said briskly, while Celeste pushed herself up with the woman's help.
They walked through the strange desert for what felt like forever, until they finally came to a tent that was torn into shreds. Surprised, Celeste looked the woman in the eyes, but she only grabbed her hand and dragged her into the unusual dwelling. There, she pushed the woman from Earth down on a place that was covered with fabric that reminded her of the bed, she desperately felt she needed right now. As Celeste looked wistfully at the soft surface of the bed, she asked. "What is going on? Are you real or am I dreaming?"
The woman handed her a thing that looked like a bottle. "Drink!" she commanded.
Thankful for the offer, Celeste grabbed the container and took a greedy sip, for the first time tasting the dust in her throat. After she had emptied the bottle, she gave it back to the woman, awaiting some explanation from her.
"What is your name?" the woman asked.
"Celeste. What's your name?"
"Raya," she answered sharply, looking Celeste straight in the eyes as her expression shifted from tense to sadness. "Not that names matter here."
Celeste frowned. "Can I trust you?"
Raya walked to the other side of the tent to pick up a tunic and a cape, and threw them into Celeste's arms. "Here, put that on!" she commanded. "You should not trust anybody around here. That can get you killed."
Looking around the tent, Celeste asked, "Where is here exactly?"
"Jor-El of Krypton created this place to hold criminals from the twenty-eight known galaxies."
Surprised, Celeste jumped up on her feet and grabbed Raya by her arm. "You knew Jor-El?"
Raya pushed the other woman away and nodded slowly. "How do you know him?" she asked accusingly.
Brushing some of her locks out of her face, Celeste looked softly into Raya's eyes. "I'm married to his son, Kal-El."
"Jor-El and Lara never had children," Raya corrected Celeste.
Now the woman from Earth touched her arm again, this time very gently. "Yes they did."
"But Krypton was destroyed by General Zod many, many years ago."
Celeste nodded. "I know. Lara and Jor-El were able to save their son by sending him to Earth," she explained to the totally stunned woman. She was thrilled that she was able to get to know another being from her husband's eradicated home planet; even though she was still very confused why she was in this strange place.
A tear escaped from Raya's eye. "Celeste it is very dangerous here. The Phantoms, prisoners, are trapped here for life. Most of them had their bodies destroyed, but their essence still hunts the wasteland."
"The Phantoms were the creatures that attacked me?" Celeste asked as she slipped into the new robe.
"Yes," Raya confirmed. "The crystal Jor-El gave me seems to be the only thing they fear."
Celeste turned around and looked the other woman straight into the eyes. "How did you know Jor-El?"
Raya turned around and walked up and down the tent, deep in thought. "I was one of his closest assistants," she explained.
Celeste released a loud peal of laughter. "Yeah right, when you were five? Raya, Krypton was destroyed more than thirty years ago."
This information hurt Raya so much that another tear ran down her cheek. "Time is meaningless here," she tried to explain. "When Jor-El discovered what Zod had done, I wanted to stay with him and Lara. But he would not hear of it. He thought I would have a better chance to survive if I was sent to the Phantom Zone."
Nodding, Celeste asked the obvious. "Why didn't they both come with you?"
"Because Jor-El would not stop trying to save Krypton and Lara would not leave her husband's side." Raya brushed the tears out of her eyes and walked up to Celeste to show her the device she had used to defeat the Phantoms. "This is all I have left from Jor-El. Everyday he still saves my life."
Stunned, Celeste lifted up her hand. "I got mine from the artificial intelligence of Lara on the day of Kal-El's and my wedding. They are also watching over their son and me," she realized, totally stunned. Suddenly she grabbed the shoulders of the woman from Krypton and looked her deep in the eyes. "I have to go back to Earth, Raya. You were Jor-El's assistant, you helped him to create this place. Is there any way out?"
Raya nodded. "There is a gate," she whispered.
Now Celeste got really excited. "A gate? Why haven't you used it to escape?"
Raya got up and put her hand on Celeste's shoulder. "It will not open for anybody, except the house of El."
Celeste shrugged. "That shouldn't be a problem. I'm married to Kal- El.".
Raya shook her head. "You do not understand woman from Earth," she tried to explain. "The blood of the house of El is the key to open the gateway. It is the only way to leave this place. Otherwise you are not able to go back to Earth at all."
Celeste suddenly felt as if all of her blood was drained from her body. Stumbling, she walked out of the tent in a trance-like state. Her head was spinning and she felt as if she would be sucked into a big, black hole. In front of the tent, she suddenly felt very sick. Choking, she released all of the water, she had just drank a few minutes before, out of her stomach. When she was finished, she wiped her mouth with the hem of her sleeve, and looked up into the two pink pale suns, as she finally realized that she was trapped in the Phantom Zone forever!