Surprising nobody, the members of the House of El weren't what one would call particularly pious. I could count on one hand the number of times my family had taken me to a Temple of Rao.

This particular Temple was by far the most inviting of the bunch. It felt much more like a community center rather than the unapproachable grand cathedral vibe the other Temples had given off. Instead of looking down from a raised dais of glittering gold far from the riff-raff, these red-garbed men and women freely mingled with those kneeling in prayer. Some were outright chatting along the walls, the easy smiles on everyone's faces made the whole atmosphere much more relaxed.

A giant brazier burned merrily away in the center of the room. Where once in a bygone era, it would have held crackling flame, now it contained a roiling sphere of red plasma. After all, why settle for a crude imitation when you could have the real deal? Despite it appearing completely unshrouded, there were some tricks in play behind the scenes, as the heat was actually bearable and the light was merely bright instead of blinding.

I cringed away from the miniature star, the unshielded fusion reaction must have felt absolutely wonderful to those who entered. Especially if they lived in these parts, with those insultingly dim red sun emitters, this Temple must have felt like a genuine blessing to their radiation-starved receptors. But not so much for me, while it was invigorating, it also felt like I was standing too close to an open flame. Like at any moment my flesh would combust as it got drier and drier, but I knew it wasn't true, it just felt like that was the case. I must have done a terrible job of masking my discomfort, as a woman in flowing red robes was quick to approach me.

“Greetings, Child of Rao. What ails you so?” The priestess sounded genuinely concerned as she looked me over. Unsurprising, since wincing in pain was hardly people's first reaction upon entering their temples, at least not with the near buzz the unfiltered starlight gave to Kryptonians.

As she studied me, I studied her in turn. Red hair flowed halfway down her back, it had a lustrous quality that bordered on being outright metallic, and her eyes glittered like rubies. Though it was hard to tell with the harsh red light, I knew from experience that even her skin held a faint red tint. A simple red robe hung loosely on her frame, noticeably lacking the elaborate golden threads I had thought to be synonymous with her Order. The only sign of frivolousness on her person took the form of a thin golden chain around her throat with a red crystal pendant of Rao hanging from it.

“Sorry, it’s my shoulder.” I stared up at her through loose locks of hair, my eyes even watered a little. Admittedly, that last bit had more to do with the receptors in my eyes getting irritated from the light, than any actual intent on my part. But intentional or not, it was helpful, so I wasn't going to complain.

For my ploy, I needed to get away from prying eyes, and I also wouldn't mind getting my shoulder properly looked at. The suit's supply of anesthetics would run out soon, so I thought it prudent to get two birds with one stone.

“Your shoulder?” She kneeled to get more on my level, slowly placing her hand on my left shoulder and feeling it up, then moving on to my right. As I was watching her face so intently, I could spot the exact moment she realized a shoulder really wasn't supposed to move like that, nor make those kind of grinding clicking sounds. ‘Yay, anesthetics.’

I didn't feel a thing, of course, the whole area was numb. But even I had to wince at the noises. I kind of felt bad for the poor girl, even in the harsh red light of the fake sun, I could see her face turn pale.

“Rao.” She breathed, her eyes darting upwards in prayer. “Okay, I’m going to take you to a healer, okay, little one?” She spoke slowly to me, her hands flexed uselessly for a moment, as she considered where to touch me. Given the last time she did, she was probably wondering if she should touch me. Eventually, she settled for hesitantly gripping my left hand, she seemed tense all the way up until my hand didn't give way under hers. Poor woman must have been traumatized.

“Okay.” I answered quietly, though I don't think she was all that concerned with my consent, considering she was already pulling me along. I was swiftly dragged into a lift and taken up to the twentieth floor. Assumedly, this was where the healer was.

“Daro!” The woman called out the moment the lift doors opened, her voice held a shrill almost panicked quality to it. “You need to fix her!”

The room we walked into seemed more like a storage room than any place of healing. Cabinets and various odds and ends filled the entirety of the massive space.

A man in white robes poked his head out from around one of the cabinets. Like all Church Caste members, he had the same red hair, eyes, and skin.

“What? Fix who?” He asked as he briskly made his way over, meeting us halfway.

“Her.” She held my hand up, like I was some sort of prize.

“I-,” He blinked down at me. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Her shoulder, Daro, it’s horrible! You've gotta do something!”

“Yaro, why didn't you take her to the medical center and call for me? Or better yet, let one of the other healers who are actually on duty right now help her?” He sounded annoyed, but not angry.

“...” Yaro just stared at him open-mouthed. “Her shoulder!” She flailed her hand at me, as if that somehow answered everything. It didn't.

Daro just let out a long suffering sigh, before brushing past us. “Alright, let's head down to medical.”

The ride down was even quicker than the ride up, with the medical center being on the twelfth floor.

The duo led me through the room, past various white-robed figures and dozens of healing pods, most of which were in active use. I was surprised there were so many patients, medical care was free, so I didn't see why they didn't just go to a proper hospital. Not to say that the Temple’s medical branch wasn't up to snuff, but it just seemed odd for them to be so packed. Besides all that, there really wasn't much our nanites couldn't handle on their own with a few days rest.

‘So why were they here?’ I peered into the pods we passed, but the sleeping figures didn't bother answering my silent question. Perhaps they were just particularly religious and preferred being seen to by the Temple?

Finally, we got to a row of med scanners at the end of the room. Glorified chairs with a ring of sensors that rose from the floor.

“Alright, kid, sit down please.” Daro requested, going to his own console nearby.

I hesitated, “Could we have some privacy, please?” Glancing around the room nervously with slightly hunched shoulders. Daro paused for a moment, studying me intently before nodding solemnly.

“Of course, Child.” He glanced at Yaro consideringly, “Do you wish for her to leave as well?” There was something in his blank expression and tone I couldn't quite place.

I shook my head, she seemed the most sympathetic so I figured she would be more helpful than harmful for my plans. With a press from the console, a white barrier flashed into existence around us. Instantly turning the once open affair into a private medical room.

Nodding my thanks, I made to sit down, but a sudden thought made me pause. “Is this connected to the net?” I already knew it was, but I needed to create an opening.

“Yes, it is. Why?” Daro answered, more than a bit confused at the random question.

“Could you disconnect it?” I stared at him imploringly. “Please?”

He visibly hesitated, brows furrowing as he wrestled with the request for a moment before finally relaxing and nodding. There were very few reasons why a person would make such a request, and If I had been older, I was sure he would have immediately declined. But he saw a nervous young child in need of help, and really, what trouble could someone so young really be involved with? Probably something petty, surely nothing too heinous. Nothing he wouldn't already be willing to overlook. At least that's why I assumed he agreed to my request.

I didn’t know if my name was on a police watchlist after my skydive, but I did know that my family was looking for any trace of me. The medical scanner would immediately recognize me and try to pull my medical records from the archive, I couldn't allow for such a clear digital footprint. It wouldn't surprise me if they had my exact coordinates before the scanner even finished downloading the requested records.

Voicing my thanks, I jumped into the chair, I wanted to get this whole thing over and done with. The sooner my shoulder was dealt with, the sooner I could see about them helping me get to Zod.

The sensor ring floated out of its recessed position, spinning around me in a blur. It only took a few seconds before it settled back on the floor.

I watched in morbid curiosity as a perfect 3D replica of myself rapidly took shape in front of Daro. Text boxes floated around the model, he immediately clicked on the one that was flashing bright red. The model faded away until all that was left was an enlarged version of my right arm with a decent chunk of my upper right torso. The clothing and flesh peeled away, exposing muscle and blood vessels, all still twitching and pulsing on a recorded loop. Even at that magnification, the damage was already clearly apparent, white bone fragments speckled the red muscle, tearing jagged bloody paths through it like shrapnel.

No one made a sound as he zoomed in further, leaving just the skeleton. There was a fractured arm, there was a cracked rib cage, and then there was the explosion of white slivers that used to be my shoulder. If I didn't have the rest of the skeleton for comparison, I would never have even known what section of the body it would have belonged to. Not a single fragment was larger than my pinky nail.

All of that damage was after the ESS had redirected most of the kinetic energy. If I hadn't been wearing it… I felt more than a little nauseous at the thought.

“Child, who did this to you?” Daro asked quietly. His tone was completely dead, intentionally so.

I licked my lips, thinking. His angry response to my injury spoke well of his character, or at least I hoped it did. “I- do I have your confidence?”

“Of course.” His response, while immediate, was a clear lie. I had no doubt that if he thought he could get whoever did this punished, he would break that confidence. But there was no one to punish, so his answer was good enough for me. Yaro nodded at my questioning look, her face pinched in fury and worry.

Now came the hard part, what to tell them and what to leave out. I straightened my spine and looked them straight in the eyes, no longer pretending to be the scared little girl. “Before I tell you what happened, I think I need to tell you who I am, otherwise I don't think you’ll believe it.” Holding up my good arm, I called my crest up to the surface.

“My name is Kara-El, Sword of Rao.” I paused for a moment to allow them to process that revelation. They just stared at my hand, completely gobsmacked, I pressed on. “I am currently carrying very sensitive information about a terrorist cell I uncovered that needs to be seen by Grand General Dru-Zod, the Shield of Rao.” Casually throwing in our proper titles for added weight, it was unnecessary, but a bit of overkill never hurt.

“But that terrorist organization doesn't want me to reach him. They attempted to shoot my shuttle down, forcing me to jump out mid transit.” I gestured to my shoulder, “I got this when I hit an airspeeder on the way down.”

It made me feel a little sick to refer to my family as a terrorist faction, but needs must.

Stolen novel; please report.

“They have extensive resources and are actively looking for me, hence why I asked you to disconnect the medical scanner.” I looked down at the floor guilty. “I hate bringing you two into this mess, but I need your help. They have moles everywhere and I don't know who else I can trust.”

It was all a lie, and I felt no guilt or shame. There was no real danger to them, and given the scope of my mission, I was confident that if they ever found out the truth, they would fully agree that tricking them was well worth it.

Yaro, surprisingly, was the first to break out of her shock. Falling onto her knees and pressing her head into the floor. “Of course we will assist you in your task, Blade of Rao.”

“Yes, what my sister said.” Daro was quick to follow his apparent sister to the floor. “I beg you to please excuse her earlier impertinence with your person. If she had known who you were…”

I just stared at the display, my mouth hanging open stupidly. “...of course, there is nothing to forgive?” I was caught completely off guard, I hadn't expected the title to carry that much weight in the church.

Clearing my throat, I continued. Trying to regain my composure. “Rise. You two have no need to bow before me. Your help and your discretion is more than adequate.” I tried for a regal self assured air, to match whatever religious preconceptions they were seemingly expecting from me. I didn't know if I succeeded on that front.

Successful or not, they were quick to get back on their feet. Daro went back to his console, furiously working at it. The hologram of my shattered shoulder began to move, the various pieces flying back together, fitting and merging together like a video played in reverse. Within seconds, the bone was digitally reconstructed with not a seam to be seen.

Nodding firmly to himself, he tapped his wrist comp to the console. The hologram seemed to warp and get sucked down into the little device.

“This way, Honored One.” The white ‘walls’ dropped and he quickly led me to the nearest healing pod. Tapping away at the device, it opened with a hiss. Another set of white ‘walls’ rose up to separate us from prying eyes and ears. “I have disabled this device's access to the net as well.”

He seemed to chew his words over before speaking. “I must ask that you disrobe, the severity of your wound requires full access for the best results. We can step out and retrieve a solar suit for yo-”

“No, it doesn't matter. Let's just get it over with. I’ve wasted enough time as it is.” I tugged at the tabs hidden in the neckline, the ESS rippled and flowed off of me like a liquid, compacting at my feet as a fist sized cube of gray material. My skin suit came off next, admittedly in a far less visually appealing way, with my shoulder being what it was, shimmying out of it was a long and awkwardly drawn out affair. I was more purple than not, under the suit, and without the ESS or skin suit to hold its shape, the mangled nature of my shoulder was distressingly more apparent.

I tried my best not to look at it.

Given everything, a little nudity didn't even make it on my list of concerns at this point. I wasn't going to waste even more time waiting for them to go get a solar suit and spend even more time putting it on, especially not for a procedure that would only take a few minutes at most. Whatever thoughts they had on the matter, the siblings didn't say a word.

I stepped into the pod with only a slight amount of paranoia. Given their treatment of me so far, I didn’t truly suspect treachery, but the thought of how easy it would be for them to knock me out wouldn't stop nagging at me. But I didn't have a choice, not with how much internal bleeding all those fragments were causing. Perhaps if I could use my nanites, I could stem the bleeding until after I met up with Zod. But I couldn't, so here I was.

A null field gripped me, ensuring I stayed perfectly still. Even through the numbness, I could feel the pieces in my shoulder start to shift around, seemingly on their own accord. No doubt the work of hundreds if not thousands of overlapping manipulator fields nudging the countless shards back into place.

After a minute of the vaguely uncomfortable sensation, it stopped. Various red lasers crisscrossed my form, particularly around the damaged areas. And I could feel a slight tingle in the back of my brain as the pod co-opted control of my nanites. The next few seconds in particular sucked, as the nanites were momentarily forced to stop their work of keeping my receptors in line. The constant dull burning sensation I had grown used to over the last year suddenly ratcheted up in intensity.

It only lasted for a few dozen seconds, but it felt like every moment dragged on. Eventually, the pain subsided back to normal levels as the nanites were released back to their normal duties.

The moment the pod opened, I was outside, already pulling my skin suit back on, a much easier task now that I had full use of both arms. Putting the ESS back on was as simple as its original deployment, simply squeezing the cube firmly was enough to get the smart matter to flow back over me.

“Thank you for seeing to my injuries, Daro.” I smiled at the man.

“It was my pleasure, Honored One.” He beamed, bowing low.

I glanced at his sister, she had hardly said a word since her initial response to my title. Just staring at me with wide red eyes, I swore she hadn't so much as looked away from me since my reveal. I didn't know how to feel about the siblings' treatment of me. There was something vaguely disturbing about the reverence they showed me, a complete stranger. But it was helpful, so I didn't bother dwelling on it. Not too much anyways.

“I assume you can arrange transport for me?”

“Yes, Blade of Rao.” Yaro spoke up, her voice excitable, and her eyes seemed to gleam as she stared at me with a smile that was a just bit too wide. “The Temple has an array of airspeeders that we can take without drawing too much attention.”

“Good. How soon can we depart?”

“We can leave immediately, Blade of Rao.”

“Then let’s go.”

/

“Honored One, we are approaching General Dru-Zods home now.” Daro said from his spot in the pilot seat.

I stared silently at the fortress. And there really wasn't another word to describe it. An unassailable construct of thick slabs of black and red metal, with not a single window to be seen. Rumors said that despite it standing for over a hundred thousand years, its walls had never been breached. How true that was, I didn't know. But it certainly looked impressive enough.

“Make for the landing pads, the defenses will challenge us, but don't be alarmed. I'll handle it.”

An obnoxious blaring sound filled the cabin as the ship received an authentication query. I recorded a video message. “This is Kara-El, I am requesting asylum from the House of Zod.”

The response was near instant, telling me it was the house’s AI. “Please relinquish control and allow your ship to be guided to an approved landing pad. Do not attempt to deviate. Once landed, be prepared to verify your identity.”

When we finally docked, a featureless droid was already waiting for us at the exit ramp. I flashed my crest at the droid and it immediately moved to lead me into the house. Though there was a slight hiccup when the two siblings made to follow.

“Unauthorized. They must leave.” The droid stopped and stared, not menacingly, but it was clear that the droid would take exception to them trying to get past.

“I guess this is where we part ways. Thank you for getting me this far. And remember, do not speak of this to anyone.”

“Of course, Blade of Rao.”

“Yes, Honored One.”

They both bowed deeply before scrambling back into the air speeder.

With them on their way, the droid resumed taking me inside. “Master Dru-Zod is currently aboard the cruiser ‘Melody’ in orbit, he is aware of your asylum request and has granted it. Though he is in a meeting and cannot come speak to you at this time.”

“That's fine.” I bit my lip for a moment as we got into a lift. “I have another request, if that is permitted.”

“You are under the protection of House Zod. If it is within my parameters to assist you, I shall.”

“I-, I humbly request that no one, not even my family, be allowed access to this location physically or digitally.”

“Regretfully, this request requires admin privileges to grant. Shall I route the query to Master Dru-Zod?”

“Yes, but add on that I understand what I am requesting, and that he please trust that I have a good reason for this.”

“Acknowledged, query rerouted.”

With how long it took for the lift to finally stop, we had to be underground at this point. Though without any reference points, I had no way of knowing just how deep underground we were.

It looked like some sort of apartment suite, it was a bit bland, but it had all the amenities one could want. A bedroom, bathroom, and living room with a small kitchen attached. I barely had enough time to sit on the couch when the previously silent droid suddenly sprang back to life, making me jump.

“I apologize, Lady El, but Master Dru-Zod has responded to your earlier query. He has approved it and has instructed me to move you to his quarters.”

“Oh.” I just followed the droid back into the lift. I guess it made some sense that his own quarters would be more secure.

Surprisingly the lift began to move upward, at least that's what the arrow next to the door indicated. I didn't even have the time to wonder at the implications before the lift came to a halt. It had stopped, but the doors remained shut.

The droid turned to me and held a hand out, a compartment in its palm slid open to reveal a small pin stylized like the House of Zod crest and what looked like a plain white sticker. “Forgive me, but I must request that you wear this identifier badge and apply this scent marker to your skin.”

I took them, staring at the sticker for a moment, wondering what kind of defenses would rely on scent of all things. Shrugging I put the badge on my chest, and the sticker went on my forearm.

“I must caution you to never remove the Identifier badge or the scent marker. The defenses would not be able to recognize you without it.” With that said, the doors opened, revealing a surprisingly comfortable looking foyer.

Considering how the house looked on the outside, and what the guest housing looked like, I had really expected the Dru’s place to match it. Instead, the space was warm and inviting. Lining the walls of the foyer were paintings of various vistas across Krypton, simulated windows showed a live feed of the outside world and allowed ‘sunlight’ to stream into the room.

An odd scratching scrabbling sound coming from deeper inside made me freeze. My ears twitched at the oddly familiar sound.

Before I could figure out why it sounded so familiar, a long snout poked around the corner, followed by a triangular face with black fur and narrowed brown eyes.

A rather large dog looked at me with a low growl rumbling in its throat. It didn't need to look up at me, at my height, its own face was perfectly level with my own.

“Uhh. Good boy?” I wanted to go back into the lift, but instincts from both lives were screaming at me not to run.

Its nostrils flared a few times and it stopped growling. Slowly it walked up to me, tail perfectly still and ears up in an alert position. I didn't move a muscle as it slowly sniffed at my face, its wet nose tickled my temple.

Then I felt a warm wet tongue lap at my cheek. The dog licked my face a few more times in increasingly longer strokes. Then it trotted back out of the foyer, only pausing to look back at me expectantly, its tongue lolling and its tail wagging lazily.

Belatedly, I followed the dog into the House of Zod.

At least now I knew what the scent marker was for.

/

Waiting hours for Dru to finally arrive was stressful.

Petting the dog was not.

“Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are!” I leaned down to get closer to his face as I scratched behind the dog's ears, its tail doing its best to beat the couch cushion into submission.

That was how he found me, just sitting on the couch, all but cooing at the pile of blissed out fluff in my lap.

“Kara?” He sounded amused.

I stared up at him in shock. I tried to get up, but the limp dog in my lap made that impossible.

“Antar, up!” Zod said firmly.

The dog immediately shot up into a sitting position. Any sign of its previous laziness gone in an instant.

“Now then, what is the meaning of this, Kara?” He looked at me, tone completely serious. His eyes roved over my form, narrowing at the ESS.

I’d had hours to think over what to do once he finally arrived. “First, before I tell you, I need your word that you won't do or say anything until I finish my explanation. This is serious, I need you to mean it.”

He raised an eyebrow, but he nodded regardless. “You have my word, Kara. Now tell me.”

“Okay, but you're gonna want to sit down. Trust me.” My heart thumped in my chest as I waited for him to get seated, once I continued there would be no turning back.

“As you know, at the end of the Clone Wars the clones tried to blow up Krypton.” I could practically feel Zod's attention intensify at the mention of the event. Given all the cloak and dagger vibes I had been giving off and how I had started the conversation, it wasn't hard to make inferences on where I was going with this.

Dru sat through the entire explanation without moving a muscle. He may as well have been carved from stone as he stared at me.

“-and that's how I ended up here.” I finished tensely, his expression throughout the entire thing had given nothing away. There was no small part of me that was beginning to wonder if this had been a mistake. Maybe my family had been-.

“Are you finished?” His voice was calm. Too calm.

I swallowed in apprehension. “Yes.”

“Good.” With that one word he slowly got to his feet and made his way to the foyer.

‘Back to the lift.’ I realized in panic.

“Wait! Where are you going?!” I scrambled to my feet, running after him, dread pooling in my gut. I grabbed his arm, making him look down at me.

“We are going to your house. Then I am going to break Jor's nose,” He titled his head consideringly, “Maybe his jaw too. I haven't quite decided yet.” He said it so serenely, like he was talking about nothing more than the weather. Even his posture was utterly relaxed and loose, but his eyes, his eyes told a completely different tale.

“Then, once he heals up, we are going to have a very long discussion on how we are going to save Krypton. And if he argues, I will break his nose, again.” Once more with that same disturbing calmness.

His piece said, he continued to the lift. I just followed numbly.

He was taking this a lot better than I had even dreamed he would.