A/N: I did not forgot about this story. Just it's a mood I have to get myself into in order to write for it. That and when my tablet broke I had lost the section I had actually wrote for this chapter amongst a lot of other stuff. I wasn't particularly happy how the original chapter started so it did give me an opportunity to revamp it.

She was only a mere child. She was hardly anything but unique. She was what her people would refer to as a hetk'par. The term was used only for the weakest of Thanagarian soldiers and Shayera Hol was just that. She was nothing but a disgrace. A pathetic weakling who didn't deserve to be called a Thanagarian.

She hated fighting. She never fought even during lessons.

She regarded the two Thanagarian instructors, one male and the other female, before her carefully. Despite their attempts to speak quietly, she heard every word they spoke about her. If there was one thing Shayera could pride herself on, it was that she had taught herself how to closely observe others. It was a necessary ability given how often people tried to take advantage of her. She had learned from a very young age how to read a room and how to get herself out of trouble whenever necessary. Particularly when the older children would use her as their punching bag.

"A waste if you ask me," she heard the male instructor say to the other instructor. "She'll be dead in her first battle. It's clear she'll be nothing but a frontline soldier."

Despite being classified as a softhearted reject, Shayera wasn't stupid by any means. She would have been dead long ago if she was. A pacifistic child wasn't welcomed in a race who prided themselves on being the greatest warriors in the universe. She was an uncomfortable reminder that there used to be more to the Thanagarian race than just bloodthirsty warriors.

"She either lives or dies. There's no difference in the end," came the dismissive reply from the female instructor. "She'll serve her purpose and die for Thanagar."

The only thing that could be said that was unique about Shayera was that she was the oldest in the group of children currently in the room at seven-years-old. That in itself was also a negative. She was easily two to three years older than the others, the youngest being just four-years-old. Thanagarian children typically went through the weapon selection ceremony of Bakk'mith'dakk after learning how to fly and before they begun military training. Thanagarians saw it as necessary that a child would pick their weapon young and master it as they learned combat. Normally a Thanagarian child learned how to fly by the age of five, no older than six for the weaker ones. Shayera had purposely avoided the flying lessons by any means necessary. She had faked injuries, ran away from the housing facility, and had even put on acts that her wings weren't strong enough to lift her off of the ground.

That had all come to an end a few weeks ago when her instructor forcibly threw her over the side of a canyon. Shayera now not only abhorred violence but she was afraid of flying as well after her first experience in the air. If she had been born to more elite and higher ranking soldiers, she would have been killed off as a toddler and quickly forgotten. Although it seemed harsh, it was actually quite merciful. Despite the well-known brutal nature of their race, it was against their laws for a Thanagarian to outright murder another Thanagarian. Unless the Thanagarian in question was a traitor, a danger to others, or it was that of a mercy kill. With the young girl's gentle nature it would have easily been deemed a mercy kill.

Nowadays almost no Thanagarian committed murder amongst each other. That's not to say that no murders took place at all. They tended to happen on the battlefield where it was impossible to say if someone was killed by their own kinsmen or from an enemy's attack. Which was why it was important for Shayera to develop such a knack for observation. Even at her young age, she knew that she needed to be aware of any 'accidents' aimed at her.

Shayera truly wished she hadn't been born on Thanagar. She could only imagine had she not been and how she would have been allowed to live her life in peace. She wouldn't be forced to become a soldier and, once she was an adult, constantly have to look over her shoulder to ensure that her own comrades didn't kill her on the battlefield. She also wouldn't have to stomach this brutal, disgusting lifestyle.

"Now," the male instructor began, garnering the attention of the group of children. "Today is your first step towards becoming true, Thanagarian warriors. Ones who will proudly serve and protect Thanagar and its glory. Bakk'mith'dakk is one of our most sacred rites of passage. After today you are no longer children. After today you are soldiers for the Thanagarian Empire."

Shayera shifted uncomfortably as she looked past the instructors and the vast array of weapons behind them. The young girl wasn't fond of the idea of being forced to choose between deadly weapons. Shayera knew that they would also train her how to use a blaster on top of it. She didn't have the aggression or confidence to wield that let alone a weapon. Not to mention, jumpy as she was, she was more likely shoot herself or someone on accident due to the recoil startling her.

"Some of you will be destined for glory," the female instructor stated as she walked in front of the group. She then glanced towards Shayera for a moment as her eyes narrowed, "Whilst others will not. Some of you may not fully understand the situation you are in. Here on out your performance will dictate how your life will unfold and potentially end."

The instructor was wrong. Shayera did understand. She understood the need to increase one's rank for a better life overall. Most Thanagarians wanted to become higher ranking soldiers for the glory and greater battles. Shayera's only desire to be a high ranking soldier was so that she could avoid the frontlines and therefore certain death. These two instructors were examples of just that. Only the best were allowed to be instructors. Whilst they still did participate in war it was much less than an average soldier. That in itself was Shayera's only goal. She wanted to be an instructor so that she could escape the wars and killing involved.

"But trash will always be trash," the boy standing next to Shayera stated dismissively. "How great one becomes is determined by their lineage. No amount of hard work can change that. Some of us are already destined to become proper soldiers." He then looked at Shayera, "While others are destined to be hetk'pars."

Shayera winced at the boy's words but tried to hide it. She bit her bottom lip and looked at the floor. The best thing she could do was ignore him. She had recently discovered that avoiding things she didn't like generally made her life a bit easier.

"This is true boy," the male instructor contended. "Some soldiers are simply bred better than others. Thanagar has its way to ensure such mistakes do not repeat themselves. Now then, we shall begin."

"As the oldest you shall go first Hol," the woman tightly grabbed Shayera's shoulder and yanked her forward before shoving her towards the assortment of weapons laid out on the large metal desk.

Shayera involuntarily gave out a small yelp as she stumbled forward. She swallowed before slowly looking behind her at the two instructors. Seeing the disapproving glares aimed at her, the young girl shakingly exhaled as she turned her gaze forward. It had felt as though a rock had dropped in her gut. She felt physically sick.

Slowly she moved closer to the desk. She once again swallowed as she looked at the weapons in front of her. She gingerly ran her fingers over the weapons. She momentarily stopped at the daggers. They were small and easy to manage. She wasn't strong and they would be an easy weapon for her to manage. Though nothing with a blade interested Shayera. Just the thought of slicing another being open nauseated her.

Spears, daggers, pikes, swords, polearms, axes...everything had a blade of some sort. She needed to find a weapon that would make killing with difficult.

She then saw the war hammer. There were no blades on it but the weapon was massive in comparison to herself. She was far to small and physically weak to wield it and she doubted that she'd be able to even as an adult. As it was she was smaller than other Thanagarians her own age. She didn't have much hope for when she got older.

Shayera then stopped at the last weapon. The mace had spikes but they could be dulled. That and it would take a lot of effort to kill someone with such a weapon. At most she'd only be able to break bones with it and not kill. Tentatively, Shayera reached out to pick the mace up.

The metal was cool and heavy against her palm. The weight was balanced but hard to manage with her small fingers and she nearly dropped the mace before she could adjust her grip enough to hold it with both of her hands.

It felt...different and foreign. But, at the same time, it made her feel powerful and that was a feeling she was unaccustomed to experiencing. She was used to being weak and helpless.

She briefly imagined what it would be like to swing the mace as her one hand slowly rose up the handle. The mace suddenly sparked to life, startling Shayera as she dropped the weapon with a gasp and loud clanking noise as it hit the metal floor. The female instructor suddenly stepped beside Shayera, causing her to flinch. She was certain that the older Thanagarian was going to hit her for one reason or another. At this point she was used to it. She was even frightened by the very weapon she had chosen.

"An interesting choice Hol," the older woman remarked with a faint smirk as Shayera scrambled to pick up the fallen object. "The hetk'par who wishes not to fight chooses the deadliest of our weapons. Time shall tell if you will learn to wield it with the brutality that is required."

Shayera exhaled as the familiar feeling of Nth metal touched her palms. Her hands tightened around the handle of her mace. She wasn't quite sure why she had left it in her old penthouse in Midway City. Perhaps she had been a bit worried when the Thanagarians had first arrived and thought something could go wrong. Perhaps she wanted to leave something of herself behind on Earth if she had been forced to return to Thanagar. Whatever her reasoning at the time was, she was relieved that she had done so and that she at least still had her mace and a piece of Thanagar with her. Though it was both comforting and unnerving to have the weapon in her possession again.

"Where did you get this?" Shayera quietly asked Doctor Fate as she looked up at him.

Fate stood silent for a moment before replying, "Where I retrieved it from is my business alone. I merely wish to know how it functions. As I recall it is able to disrupt magic. Even being present within this dwelling is causing the magic from freely flowing as needed."

Shayera narrowed her eyes as she looked down at the mace in her hands. Excluding herself there were only three people who knew exactly where she had lived. She doubted John would have taken Doctor Fate to her old penthouse and let the mystic take the mace. She also highly doubted that John would have wanted to willingly go near any place or thing that was associated with her. Clark wasn't one to intrude on people and she didn't see it in his nature to take people's things, whether they were long gone or not.

The Thanagarian gritted her teeth as a scowl slowly formed. Despite never saying he knew where she lived, Shayera was certain that Batman knew regardless. Batman had been one of two humans who was able to intimidate her by sheer intellect alone; the other being Lex Luthor. She wouldn't be surprised if Bruce had known where she was this entire time though she hardly could care one way or another.

Shayera released a sigh as she placed the mace on the table between them. She then looked up, "What exactly do you want to know about it?"

"As I said the functions," Fate curtly replied. "I wish to know just how Nth metal is able to discharge electricity and what makes it disrupt magic. I also want to know if there is a way around this."

Shayera leaned forward and crossed her arms over her chest as she glanced down at the mace. She then bit her bottom lip. She knew every aspect about Nth metal and her mace. A piece of her didn't want to reveal any of the information that she did know. Perhaps it was too hardwired into her brain to never reveal military secrets. After all, Nth metal was an everyday resource in Thanagarian society. Nearly everything on Thanagar was built with it. That included the weapons and ships the military used. Even Thanagarian armor had Nth metal in it. Though she knew that she could also be selective with what she told the mystic as he wouldn't know one way or another if she revealed everything.

"Fine," Shayera relented. "Nth metal is a highly volatile metal found on Thanagar and the planets surrounding Thanagar. Rarely its found elsewhere in the universe. It's a transuranic iron making it very dangerous for anyone if they were to find it in its unrefined state."

"How so?"

"It's highly radioactive and unstable. Mining for it in itself is extremely dangerous, even for a Thanagarian. Mining for it normally leads to radioactivity being released into the ground and eventually killing the ecosystem around it."

"I'm assuming this happened to Thanagar?" Fate inquired as he tilted his head slightly.

Shayera lightly nodded, "Most of Thanagar was left uninhabitable because of it. We had to stop farming for Nth metal and go to other planets for it. There's very few places left on Thanagar that can sustain life. Our main use for Nth metal came with dealing with Icthultu, as you know. Icthultu was powered by dark magic and the Thanagarians came to learn that Nth metal repelled magic."

"It freed your people," he stated. "From there what other uses did it have?"

"Flight," she began. "Nth metal has anti-gravitational abilities. Granted you'd need a fair amount to make yourself fly with it. It's also a heavy metal so it wasn't ideal for my people to craft wings with it. From what I was taught, Thanagarians eventually learned how to manipulate genes and they did away with the need for Nth metal wings. Our armor still has Nth metal but is heavily mixed with an aluminum steel. It's a lightweight metal that can easily be plated with Nth metal."

"So you get the benefits of Nth metal whilst not having the repercussions of the weight," Fate said to himself quietly before nodding. "Ingenious solution given it would be difficult to fight and fly in heavy armor."

A faint smirk appeared on Shayera's face as she shrugged, "My people have their moments. Our other use for it was for combat. You've seen before that Nth metal is extremely conductive compared to the metals found on Earth."

"Does it activate by some switch then?" Fate asked as he looked down at the mace. "Since possessing it myself I haven't been able to activate it at all. You were able to do it as though it were second nature."

"There's no button to activate that mace," Shayera paused for a moment as she lightly ran her fingers over the handle of the mace. "I mean it's not sentient because it's just a metal but at the same time it's almost like it was alive. I just think and it does what I want. Which is odd in itself for Thanagarians. We're highly resistant to anything that tries to connect to our minds telepathically. Nth metal is one of the few things in the universe that seems capable of doing so somehow."

Shayera could tell that Doctor Fate was raising an eyebrow under his helmet as he asked, "And the other things?"

"A very strong and damn good telepath who can rip through mental barriers," Shayera replied with a frown. The only telepath Shayera had encountered in her life, who had been able to get into her mind, was Doctor Destiny. Even then he had not been able to go all the way in but he had gone deep enough to unnerve the Thanagarian. "Otherwise the only other thing that can connect to a Thanagarian's mind is an Asbsorbacron but even that is made with Nth metal circuitry."

Shayera then went silent. Doctor Fate didn't need to know about the other aspects about Nth metal. He had no use for its ability to enhance strength and durability of the user, albeit a fair amount was needed in order to do so. He also had no need for the medical properties it possessed either as both he and Inza knew healing spells. She had revealed enough and a bit more than she had initially intended.

She briefly looked down at the mace before looking back up at Fate, "There's no magic in this universe that can rival Nth metal. At least none that I've ever encountered. You're wasting your time if you think you can somehow make a spell that'll work against it."

"I can be hopeful can't I?" Fate questioned. "It never hurts to have hope Shayera."

Shayera stood and rolled her eyes, "Sounds more like stupidity to me."

Her action intrigued Fate, "Going somewhere Shayera?"

At this Shayera frowned, "I don't need to tell you everything I do. My life, and what I do with it, is my own business."

"I meant as in you won't be taking this with you?" Fate asked as he gestured to the mace on table. "You could theoretically get in some exercise within the tower. It has been a good time since the last time you fought. I'm sure I could conjure something up for you to battle. I could even offer myself for the task if needed."

Shayera paused before turning her back to him, "I don't have a need for that. Besides, the mace is yours now anyways. Do whatever you want with it."

Fate's eyes narrowed as he released a frustrated sigh after the Thanagarian left the recreational room, "What is it that will get through to you?"