I had expected many things to occur when I grabbed the sword. A feeling of electricity coursing through my veins, unlimited power, even perhaps going super saiyan. The last one was rather far-fetched I'll admit, but it definitely was more realistic than what had actually happened.

Nothing.

No warmth, no buzzing sensation, no overwhelming power. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Of course, it took me nearly over half a minute of tensely clutching the sword before I came to the realization that nothing was going to happen.

Now thoroughly confused, I attempted to readjust my death grip, thinking that perhaps I had been holding it wrong, only to realize that I couldn't move. Not in the, 'my hands are superglued to the table kind of way'. I mean, I literally couldn't move a single muscle, I couldn't even blink. It was as if I had been turned to stone.

It was after that worrying realization that I felt it. The once cool leather of the handle felt like it was warming up. That wasn't the only thing I felt however. A feeling much like someone was ghosting their fingers across my scalp. 'No, that wasn't quite right.' I realized after a few moments of concentrating on the weird sensation. It was a few centimeters under my scalp. It felt like someone's fingers were gently brushing along the top of my brain, the sensation was somehow both calming and disturbing.

I knew nothing of this part of the sword, even with access to its schematics the exact nature and process the sword used to select a user was unknown. The information was kept out of the blueprints as a safety precaution to avoid an overzealous El from rigging it to accept them. And with how smart El's were, It was intentionally designed to be so integral to the swords foundation that if the process was ever tampered with in any capacity it would instantly destabilize the entire Sword Matrix.

While I knew intellectually that the sword must have been probing my mind, I had assumed that the process would be both undetectable and instantaneous. Instead, I had to sit and endure as the 'fingers' slowly increased in pressure, going from a light ghost of a touch, to more of a light massage. I winced mentally as the pressure continued to rise, now it was edging towards being painful. Thankfully the pressure started to flatline, leaving it just on the cusp of being painful, yet not quite reaching that stage. It was as if a pair of hands was attempting to give my brain a firm massage. A few times I could have sworn I could feel random surges of emotions that weren't my own. ‘The Sword.’ My eyes widened as I realized what it meant, the sword wasn't just going off of a predetermined checklist while searching my mind, it was looking and judging me. Going by how the emotions were starting to get a bit more aggressive with each spike, and how the pain would increase with each one, I think the blade was finding me wanting.

I would be hesitant to call the sword sapient but it was definitely sentient. I mentally begged it to accept me, if it didn't, my mother would die. The emotional tide stopped its ebb and flow for a moment as if in consideration before resuming with greater intensity, this time with a clear note of disappointment and what could possibly be defined as disgust.

If I could have, I would have been shrieking from the pain I could feel from both my hands and my head. The sword handle now felt like it was made of molten metal, and if I wasn't mistaken the smoke I was smelling was coming from my hands. And instead of fingers gripping my brain, it felt more akin to claws sinking deep into the delicate gray flesh.

I was going to die here, I realized with genuine fear. My Mom was going to die because a stupid sword doesn’t like me. I would never know the fate of my planet, I wouldn't know if my hail mary gambit with the laser would work in time for the fleet to save everyone. And even if Krypton did survive this, I already knew Krypton's fate. I wouldn't even be around to try and fight the planet’s fate.

Suddenly, the pain fled and I was filled with blessed nothing. With the darkness and the sudden absence of agony I wondered if I had passed on, after all this was rather reminiscent of my first death, agony then nothing but peace and darkness. The slight hum in the back of my head dissuaded me of that notion however, it felt almost curious in nature. I got the distinct sense that it was doing its equivalent of tilting its head to the side slightly.

'Fight?' It was less of a word and more of a jumble of images and primal feelings, the concept of the word given form.

'What?' I was confused, what did it want me to say? 'I don't under-'

'Fight?' The same jumble of images and sensations hit me, cutting off my question. Although this time it felt more...insistent? It was trying to ask me something it deemed important somehow, but for the life of me, I wasn't understanding what it wanted or what could have prompted it to start this line of dialogue, if you could even call it that.

'Fight?' It was different this time, this time they came much clearer and lasted much longer than the previous one allowing me to actually comprehend what I was seeing, burning cities, lasers filling the sky so thoroughly it turned night into day, an army of Kryptonians that seemed to all share the same face, a hulking humanoid with gray skin wispy white hair and bony protrusions sticking out of its skin and hate burning in its eyes. Many more images flashed by but they were too quick for me to glean anything of value besides the fact that they were scenes of destruction.

'Fight?' It had a sense of finality to it, and I knew without a doubt this was the last time it was going to ask.

I think I was starting to understand what had got its attention, and why it was asking that question. I had been thinking of how I wouldn’t be able to stop Krypton's doom when it started to question me. The images it had shown me must have been from the memories of the ones who drew the blade before me, after all my father had said it could only be drawn in defense of the planet. I had been going about it the wrong way, I wanted the blade to save my mother, and only my mother. The sword would never allow itself to be used for such a selfish request, it was made to save the world not grant a little girl’s wishes.

Now with a better understanding of what it was asking, I knew what my answer had to be, for my sake, for my mother's sake, and for Krypton's sake.

'Yes.' I thought with purpose. 'I will fight for Krypton with everything I have.'

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The constant hum in the back of my mind was replaced with tinkling bells and a sense of satisfaction. Then like a flip had been switched my senses returned to me, I would have flinched if I could have moved at the sudden return of my burning palms, my still burning eyes, and the killer headache from the blade’s earlier inquisition.

The burning in my palms and eyes slowly but surely began to fade and be replaced with an intense itching sensation. Though it was rather uncomfortable, it was still much more preferable to burning agony. After a while, I noticed I was able to see vague outlines, admittedly very, very vague and dark outlines, but it was better than the pure darkness I had been dealing with. The itching in my hands was winding down to practically nothing, while the itching in my eyes seemed to still be ramping up. And with every passing moment, I could see just a bit more clearly, now able to see the blurry red blob that must have been the glowing sword and plinth, though even in my current visual acuity, I was able to tell that the glow was much brighter than it usually was.

A sudden burst of warmth from my hands drew my eyes lower, I could see that the skin of my hands was glowing orange. As my vision cleared further I noticed I could see the veins in my hands as if I was holding them over a bright light. The warmth was spreading down my arms and with the warmth came glowing lines, they originated from the sword handle and wound their way slowly down my arms like a snake, they weren't on my skin like tattoos however, they appeared to float a few inches away from my flesh. No, not lines I realized, if I squinted hard enough with my blurry vision I could just barely make out the vague shapes of what looked to be letters, words. The lines finally stopped spreading when they got halfway to my elbows, and the glow from my hands condensed to form what I could only assume was my house crest on the back of both my hands, the lines seemingly originating from the shield.

'Read.' Once again I was assaulted with the disjointed images and emotions, though this time it was less aggressive. It was easier to understand this time as well, probably due to being exposed to its unique form of communication for longer. The problem now wasn't understanding it, so much as it was complying with its demand.

'I can't read this.' I was already preparing myself for its wrath as I thought the words. The words appeared to be written in the ancient Kryptonian script, but that wasn't the problem as I had learned the language during my time working on the sword. No the problem I was having was that I couldn't see the words clearly enough to read them.

Thankfully the emotions I felt from the sword wasn’t anger like I had been expecting. Instead, it was more of a muted frustration mixed with some impatience. Instead of pushing emotions and images in my head, I heard voices this time. Every word was spoken by a different person leading to a brief period of confusion as I tried to process the different tones and timbers. Once that was done, however, I realized it was giving me essentially an audio file of what was written on my arms. The different voices must have been from a recording of the previous wielders reading the words. Taking a deep breath I repeated the words of my ancestors that were ringing in my mind.

"In Rao's light, we prosper.

The Innocent yearn for his gladsome rays.

In the Dark the Wicked rise, and Innocent cower."

With each word I could feel my arms get warmer as the lines constricted tighter, getting closer and closer to my skin.

"But the smallest of lights blaze brightest in the darkest of nights.

Let all who thrive in the Dark be burned by Rao's just Light.

For I do not stand by in the presence of Evil."

Once the final word passed my lips, I couldn't stop the shriek that bubbled out. The sound of sizzling flesh met my ears and I stared down at my arms in agony, the lines had finally constricted tight enough to dig into my skin, revealing that the fiery glow wasn't just for aesthetics. After a few moments the glow died down to a barely visible shimmer, and with it so did the temperature.

Suddenly whatever force that was keeping me from moving disappeared, leaving me to fall over on my side. I just laid there panting, trying to get my breathing under control from the impromptu and unexpected branding. My hair was practically glued to my face and neck from the amount of sweat I had generated.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to lay about, and with a groan, I dragged myself into a sitting position. With some hesitance and bated breath, I grabbed the handle of the sword, feeling no pain or petrification I released the breath I was holding. With a tug, I easily pulled the blade free from the plinth. Even though I knew what the sword was supposed to look like after studying its schematics for months, the unique blade still managed to catch my eye, for one thing, it wasn't made of metal, instead, it was made of a deep red crystal, and just like the pommel and plinth, it glowed with an inner red light.

I could already feel my skin buzz from the red solar radiation the sword was pumping out. It was a far more intense and concentrated feeling than what I would feel even when sunbathing in the sun room. Taking the briefest of moments to relish in the feeling, I got up and approached my Mom who was still propped against the wall.

My heart stopped when I saw her eyes were closed, and I couldn't see her chest moving. "Kelex! Status report, NOW!"

"Mistress Alura is in critical condition, her lungs have stopped inflating, but her heart still beats. I am currently infusing her blood cells with oxygen to make up for the lung failure. However, she still is in need of immediate medical care."

Okay, so she was still alive. That was reassuring. 'Now I just needed to figure out how to heal-' Before I could even finish the thought, instructions on how to utilize the healing functions flashed behind my eyes. It was rather jarring, to suddenly have information you know you didn't have a moment ago.

I didn't dwell on it though, instead pointing the sword at my Mom. Going through the mental commands required to activate it took a few moments as I wasn't quite used to the swords UI. Once I had it, dozens of hair-thin tendrils of red light stretched from the blade and made their way to my mother, they stopped half a foot from her. I noticed that the moment I activated the healing function the symbols on my arms glowed just a little brighter and felt a tad warmer.

"Kelex. Move, it needs access to the wound." The droid promptly unlatched itself from around her throat and moved out of the way. Blood immediately started to seep from the wound, I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not considering that before it had been gushing out. But regardless the tendrils entered the wound and began healing it from the inside out. Within a minute, the work was done and the tendrils exited the wound, once out they made short work of mending the skin shut. When the tendrils retreated back into the blade, the symbols on my arms reverted back to their previous inert state.

"Kelex, Status update?" I was confident in the sword’s capabilities, but confirmation was always appreciated.

"Mistress Aluras' wounds appear to be fully healed and her lungs are functioning again." Kelex was waving his tentacles over Mom’s form to do a detailed scan.

Now that Mom was in the clear, I moved her into the standard recovery position. "Kelex, stay here and keep an eye on her."

"Where will you be going, Mistress Kara? Wouldn't it be safer for you to stay here as well and wait for the Fleet’s arrival?"

"Yeah, it would be safer for me to stay here..." I stared at the softly glowing blade in my hands before looking back up, "...but I can't just sit here when I have the power to help." I had also made an oath to the blade, and I got the feeling I wouldn't like the consequences If I intentionally shirked it.

"Very well. But please do take care, Mistress Kara. Mistress Alura would be most displeased if you were hurt."

"I will Kelex." And with that, I left the vault room. After sealing both the vault door and the hidden door to the stairwell, I made my way through the manor. As I opened the door to the outside and saw the dark city of Kandor before me, I found myself thinking of Zod's words to me all those years ago.

'It was the duty of the strong to protect the weak.'