The Darkest Place

Hope

The man—Jix-Til, lowered his hands. "Yes, that's right. And you from Krypton." He gestured to the glyph on her chest. Despite the rivalry between their planets, there wasn't a hint of contempt in his voice, merely stating a fact.

Kara frowned, shivering slightly. The air was so frigid her breath came out in a white mist. "But our planets hate each other. Why would you help me? You don't even know me."

He hummed thoughtfully. "True, but I think we both know we are more than our birthplaces. And no one deserves to suffer at the hands of those Rao-forsaken creatures, regardless of who they are."

She gave him a small, grateful smile. "My name is Kara," she said after a moment's hesitation. "Kara Zor-El."

Jix-Til's gaze narrowed. "Zor-El? As in Alura Zor-El? The one who sent me here?"

Kara winced. She had been waiting for this. "Uh, yes. My mother...made many mistakes. I can admit that."

Thankfully, he merely smirked. "That's more than I expected, coming from a Kryptonian criminal."

Apparently teasing Kryptonians about their egos is a hobby all Daxamites share. "I'm not a criminal."

Jix-Til raised his eyebrows, clearly not convinced. "Sure. And I'm the Prince of Daxam."

Kara's stomach tightened painfully at the mention of Mon-El. She pushed the feeling away.

"No, really. I was sent here by accident. I don't even know how. It was like the portal just...appeared out of nowhere."

The Daxamite frowned slightly. "That's interesting...did you by chance encounter a synthetic form of kryptonite around that time?"

Kara blinked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Kryptonite created synthetically tends to have a unique reaction to large amounts of energy—such as heat or light. Sometimes, it can create an interdimensional tear of sorts that swallows up anyone in close proximity, thus transporting them to another dimension."

Kara shivered. At least she hadn't ended up trapped in Juru. "How do you know all of this?"

Jix-Til smiled wistfully. "I was a scientist on Daxam. It was my job to study and experiment with minerals such as kryptonite."

Like her father. Kara remembered spending hours with him in his lab, watching and listening as he explained everything and used her as a sounding board. It made her feel like the most important person who ever lived.

She looked up and noticed that Jix-Til was frowning at her. "What?" she asked.

He shook his head, chuckling softly. "Normally a Kryptonian would scoff at the mention of scientists on Daxam. And yet you seem unaffected. Why?"

Kara's shoulders sagged. "I didn't use to be," she admitted. "But then I um...fell in love with a Daxamite, actually. He helped to change my perspective a little, showing me that not all Daxamites are the same, or all Kryptonians. We're just people."

Jix-Til nodded thoughtfully. "Very wise, Kara Zor-El."

She studied him, choosing her next words carefully. "You don't seem like much of a...battle-hardened criminal. If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up here?"

His eyes clouded over with sadness, and Kara regretted her words. She opened her mouth to take them back, but Jix-Til spoke first.

"It's all right, I don't mind." He took a deep breath. "My daughter, Ariella. She was sick. My husband and I didn't have much money, so I agreed to use my status as a scientist to steal technology from Krypton in exchange for medicine. But I was careless in my franticness to cure my daughter, and I got caught. Sent here, to the Phantom Zone. After that, well...the newest prisoners told us of the destruction of Krypton and Daxam. So it seems my mission was futile after all." Jix-Til laughed bitterly.

"I'm so sorry," Kara whispered, tears stinging her eyes.

"You remind me of her, you know," he said softly, not really hearing her. "Your eyes. They're like comets."

Kara's breath caught. Comets. That was what he said. But his daughter...that must have been why Jix-Til saved her. Not that she was one to talk. She trusted this man, this perfect stranger, because of how much he reminded her of the father she'd lost.

Kara took a deep breath. "We're going to get out of here, Jix-Til. I promise."

He frowned. "Get out of here? That's impossible. I've been here for years, tried everything."

Kara shook her head. "Not everything. My mother built this place, and there is a way out. We just have to find it."

Jix-Til's face didn't change. "You don't understand, Kara. This is not a place you can escape. The Phantoms are everywhere—beings that feed on your fear by making you live it. They're like shadow spores that creep inside you and infect everything good and right, and then turn it against the host. Eventually, you forget the Phantoms are doing it to you at all. Your nightmare becomes your reality. That's when you go insane. I've seen it happen countless times, to people who believed they could escape. I won't make the same mistake."

His expression was firm, and Kara knew the subject was closed.

But later, when he had gone to sleep, she crept towards the exit, trying not to wake him. She stopped for a moment and glanced back at the sleeping Daxamite. "I'm sorry," Kara whispered. "You didn't deserve this. But I'm going to find a way out of here, with or without your help." She left the rocky cave and started forward, trying to calm her pounding heart.

Suddenly, the air around her grew even more bone-chilling, if that was possible. Kara stopped walking, dread churning in her stomach.

Just when she thought she'd imagined it, the first Phantom came, swooping towards her with an ear-splitting screech.

A searing pain pierced her head, and with it came the visions. Her friends, her family, Alex, Mon-El, J'onn, all violently dying before her eyes. And the worst part? It was her fault. They were suffering because of her and she was powerless to stop it. It was everything Jix-Til said and worse. The suffocating cold creeping over her—it made her want to give up. Just die if it meant this would stop.

Kara doubled over, grabbing at her head and screaming. Everything was fading, turning white. She saw Jix-Til through the fog, swinging some sort of glowing weapon at the Phantoms. "Get away from her!" he yelled. Kara finally gave in and crumpled to the ground, letting the darkness take her.

Her dreams were murky, but she could have sworn she saw Mon-El, standing in that sunny field. It was peaceful, serene.

What felt like hours later, she awoke in the cave again, every inch of her body aching. She sat up, groaning.

Jix-Til looked up at her from his seat across the fire. "You shouldn't have been out there," he said quietly.

Kara stood up, her face determined. "What do you want me to do, then? Stare at cave walls day in and day out until time loses all meaning? Because I would rather live through torture and do something than just exist for the sake of it!"

Jix-Til stood too, meeting her gaze. "Then you will go insane."

"I don't care, okay?!" Kara shouted. "I know you're afraid to believe it, but we can get out of here! And I'm going to keep trying, even if it means I just get an inch further every day!"

Jix-Til nodded, his expression hardening. "Then I'm coming with you."

Kara stumbled back, shocked. "You'd really do that?" she asked.

He smiled softly, a hint of grief behind his eyes, and she knew he was thinking of his daughter. "You have a beautiful soul, Kara Zor-El. And I believe your hope can light our way through the darkness." 

So how are we liking Jix-Til so far? He's my first OC, so be nice :-)Also, I know my quote-unquote scientific explanation made no sense...just roll with it plzAnd can I just rant for a second about something? Cool.What is with this show and bringing people back to life? It really pisses me off.It's like 'Kara's the Last Daughter of Krypton!' PSYCHE!'At least Zor-El's dead!' PSYCHE!'Finally, Lex is defeated!' PSYCHE!I mean, really. Can we just let them stay dead?I feel like most of this is just so the show can have its beloved Dramatic Moments

But anyway, enough of me being a grump. Love you, my dear readers, see ya next time