The yellow rays of sunlight were something that she has been frequently dreaming about. With war on the verge of breaking out between her planet and its sister-planet, Daxam, Kara Zor-El, had not been able to sleep an entire night in weeks.
She could still replay in her head the moment that was the beginning of it all falling apart...
"The Central Government of Krypton, located in Kandor City, had just announced that their negotiations with the Gand Monarchy of Daxam were of no success." the byline on the screen before her eyes read. The bright light, that ruined the darkness that had been installed in the room, hurt her eyes. Out of poor curiosity, the young Kryptonian woman scrolled through many other articles that announced the same thing: Krypton didn't make peace with Daxam. Nobody knew why. Was it because Kryptonians were not open to the idea of sharing research about their extra-galactic explorations? Was it because they didn't offer enough money for the resources that were needed for Krypton to continue its existence?
Still, with eyes glued to the hologram before her, the blonde woman became bored. Out of the blue, the screen turned off. The sudden blackness in her cold room made her shiver. The purple sky that was slowly trying to turn into its normal orange shade, became a bright blue and right after, an angry red. Her breath was caught in her lungs while looking out of the wall-high window. The door of the room was abruptly opened and her best friend, Alex, more like a sister if you think about it, entered followed by two guards. The worry Alex had on her face made the El realise that something had happened. "We're under attack." the voice of a certain brunette broke the silence. "What? Who is attacking us? Daxamites?" asked the El, the tremor of her voice could easily show that the heir of the most important family on Krypton was terrified. "I have no idea, but their King was killed."
"Here on Krypton?" the woman just nodded.
"Let's just go, you're a very important person and we can't risk having you fall in the hands of some maniac." Alex walked towards her friend, grabbed her hand and yanked her in the direction of the panic rooms that have been built after her grandfather Seyg-El moved in that house with his wife, Nyssa-Vex ages ago. Nyssa was the mother of her father, Zor-El and her uncle, Jor-El. After regaining his rank, Seyg-El was a man many people talked about. Some people said that he might have had another child with another woman after Brainiac was finally defeated, a child that disappeared just like his mother. Some might say that the famous former Primus, Lyta Zod was the mother of that child and that the skinny and dark-skinned Dru, the best friend her uncle always talked about, who disappeared too, was the long lost brother that was never considered a true El.
The women were running through the halls of Kara's childhood home, when they heard a sudden gunshot, mundane, human, not something that the Kryptonians were used to. They were used to going around with laser guns, nothing based on bullets. A cry followed the sound of bullets falling to the concrete marble. Kara stopped for a second and then started running in the direction of the sound. Alex caught off guard but after a second she came back and tried to catch up with the peer while having a laser gun of her own placed in the right hand.
Blonde curls were bouncing on Kara's shoulders while she was dashing through slightly dimmed halls. She stopped in the proximity of the room's entrance where almost silent whimpers were coming from and continued her way inside the room as silent as she could. Getting closer and closer to the centre of the room, one of the communal living spaces, the sight before her eyes made that reality turn into a real-life nightmare.
Before her eyes appeared the barrel of a gun. The metal it was made of was shining in the faint light coming through the windows covered by curtains made of lace, brought from planets light-years away. The cry of the old wife caught the attention of the man before her, with dark skin and blue eyes. An unusual combination, a rare one. The second his eyes left her face, so did the gun. Another gunshot dashed through the room and the only thing Kara had acknowledged was the thud made the moment his body made contact with the terranean marble.
Two guards came from behind her and brought the shooter to his feet and left. All while the blonde stood frozen in the purple light of the early morning.
Two arms came from behind her and the cheek of a certain brunette met the back of her clothed shoulder. After what felt like hours which in reality was a few split seconds, Kara was released from the hug. She slowly started to make way towards the two bodies curled on the floor. Crying could still be heard, but it was weaker now. When she was close enough her eyes were able to contour the silver hair, which she had loved and admired since before she was able to walk. Slowly her eyes moved to get the whole image, she realised that the woman was holding a bloody hand, which had another thing that she had admired since her childhood, on one of its fingers. The silver ring with the S that she knew belonged to her grandfather, Seyg-El.
That was the night the oldest El was murdered by one of their own. The DNA tests proved that the killer was a Kryptonian and the multitude of algorithms the security had, had helped them in identifying the killer as being a Dru-Zod. The same Dru-Zod that Kara and her younger cousin, Kal-El, had been hearing stories about for years.
Kara moved her whole body so she can be facing the window. Red rays of sunlight made their way through the soft curtains covering the entire window. She closed her eyes once again, wanting to get at least some sleep before the meeting her parents announced that she would take part in, later that day, but not before taking advantage of the fast interplanetary transport, Krypton created to be closer to Daxam. She took a deep breath and dug her head into the pillow. She hugged it while whispering a small prayer, hoping for at least an hour more of rest.
The alarm on her night-stand went off and she groaned, moved on her back and looked at the ceiling while counting to ten. When she reached ten, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then she rose from the bed. Her bare feet touched the puffy carpet spread on the light red marbled floor. She looked at the clock on her desk that read 3:75 (9 AM earth hours). She made her way to her dressing room, looked for the clothes she had prepared the night before and put them on. Exactly thirty minutes later the blonde closed the door of her room, positioned the bag she had with her better on her shoulder and started walking through the high halls of her home, in the direction of the main entrance.
She didn't even think about having breakfast or greeting the great number of family members that were gathered in the main dining room, most of them being in Argo City because the funeral of her grandfather had been a few days prior. The young woman left the El property and made her way through the crowded streets of Argo City.
Argo City was one of the most important cities on Krypton, it was calm, but also very angry and not as crowded as the capital, Kandor. In her head, Kandor was a city full of spilt blood and hatred. The news that the late King of Daxam was assassinated there was a very good example. Some Kryptonian people are full of hatred and only want the taste of blood. And even though the assassination didn't fully stop the negotiations between the two sister-planets, Daxam is not as open to having peace with Krypton after their King was killed by a Kryptonian, from the house leading their army, House of Zod. Not even knowing that the eldest El, the one who started those negotiations with the Daxamites, was murdered by the same person, made things better.
The Daxamites hated the Kryptonians and Kryptonians hated the Daxamites, even though they were all Kryptonians at some point.
She suddenly started running under the hot sunlight of Rao. She made her way through the great number of bodies on the streets of the city and reached the spaceport of Argo in no time. She presented her ticket when asked and boards. Seated in her right place, she placed her bag on her lap and put both of her hands on it to somehow protect the contents: a diary full of ideas and notes for possible future articles and a device that can be used to communicate between planets. Ready to take off, the voice of the pilot could be heard telling his passengers the amount of time it would take to reach the Daxamite capital, Daxlor.
Being a journalist without a real job, more of a blogger you might say, in human terms, was a difficult task. Running around the city, sometimes in other cities or on other planets, would make anyone feel discouraged and tired, but not Kara. She might be studying interplanetary law, but she loved reporting, telling the people the real truth about what is happening. And because of her family's place... she had a big advantage, she made the news before anybody else. Sometimes the high council damned a certain Kara-Vex because she knew what happened before they told the reporters that were always gathering outside the White House, which was not that white because of the high level of pollution in Kandor.
With her head propped against the window, her eyes followed how the buildings in Argo City became the size of specks of dust. The shield covering the Kryptonian city, similar to the ones covering all the other ones, opened and the ship dashed through the barrier into the atmosphere with its destination becoming from a star on an orange sky to more than that, a globe, Daxam, named after the first Kryptonian who set foot on it, Dax-Am.
The girl was a fan of travelling, but something about travelling to another planet not more than two hours was something else. Daxam might be seen as a shithole from the outside, but it was not that far behind with technology than Krypton.
Interplanetary travelling became a thing centuries ago and with time, the amount spent in a spaceship, travelling the ocean of stars between the planets, became smaller and smaller. But this number became like this because the Kryptonians had been digging into their planet's core to get the material to make the fuel more and more powerful, even though the fossil fuels closer to the surface were still in a great quantity.
Kara's been always thinking about the day she would die because the people of her planet didn't take enough care of the planet they live on. She had been wanting to help them to open their eyes, but the Kryptonian mind might as well be bombed and it would not change its bad perspective over a thing.
"20 minutes until touch down."
She shook her head and closed her eyes to count to ten again, she had shivers, she knew that this whole thing might as well change her life, maybe she will get arrested, maybe the former prince would recognise the blonde that somehow beat him at his game. Maybe reporters were not allowed to spectate the coronation, but that could not be, he was going to be the king of all Daxam for Rao's sake, how could not reporters take part and write about their king's coronation. Maybe he would even be remembered as "King Mon-El of Daxam, The saviour of Krypton" if things went as planned on the Kryptonian side.
Seventeen days before
The queen of Daxam was pacing in the living room of her rented penthouse in Kandor City. She knew she could think about anything else, but it was a huge thing. The Kryptonian Council proposed a way for them to guarantee that by getting what they need for survival from Daxam, the planet and its people would not be attacked; and so they will continue to coexist peacefully in that solar system.
She started to pick at her nails, not such a Queen-like thing to do, but the stress could be easily read on the small brunette haired woman. She might not be a very good mother, but sometimes she tries, but the proposition she had been put in front of was something else entirely.
She heard the entrance door opening and closing in just a mere matter of seconds. Heavy shoes made contact with the unusual floorings. She stopped pacing as soon as she heard her name and fixed her eyes on the man before her.
"Did you read it?" that was all it had taken to make her start pacing around the room again, this time playing with a piece of her hair.
"What do we do now, Rhea? It's a good trade, you can't deny it." the daxamite flew through his lips like music. She looked at him longly, making him anxious and somehow scared of what king of a hurricane might be thrown on him.
The Queen looked at her husband for minutes, thinking the whole deal through. "He won't like it." she finally whispered.
"One day he will be King of Daxam. He might not be into the idea of ruling with a Kryptonian by his side, but it's for the best. For our safety. Krypton dying means we're homeless too." the woman sat on an armchair near the window.
"We can still live if Krypton dies, they just die, we have enough ships to get at least half of the population off ground and live in space."
"But for how long, Rhea? I know that you despise Kryptonians, but their intentions are good and this girl might be of help."
"When she will rule, she will try and change my planet. She will come with her Kryptonian ideals and our planet will be just like theirs. Can't you see?!" She suddenly stands up, eyes clouded with tears and makes her way slowly to her husband. "I've been ruling this planet for more than a decade. I helped to make it how it is today, I can't just pass it to a dumb girl, who got caught in the crossfire between two planets that despise each other, I can't, Lar." The husband placed his hands on her arms and slowly started rubbing, trying to give her some comfort.
"I know you might not like this... but maybe this will do us good, maybe we will finally see eye to eye with Mon-El, related to you know what."
"She's Kryptonian, she will not be on either of our sides, our economy will fall and so will our country."
"Maybe she is a mathematical genius and will think this through."
"She studies law... she will throw our outdated and brutal ideas out the window the day she gets the power." For a second she looked at the ground and then rose her eyes again and met the ones of her husband, the ones that were copied by their child, the same greyish blue stared back at her. She knew he wanted what's best for their child, but what about their planet? Had she been the only one ruling in the last decade and a half?
Lar Gand looked at his wife, trying to read her intentions. The woman broke from the embrace and started walking to the wooden table by the window that had just a pile of papers on it. She took a pen out of her bag and started going through the pages, looking for the places where she was supposed to sign on. It took a while, but all the time her husband looked at her, admired her contained rage and when the Queen signed her name on the last line she calmly put the papers back together. Her eyes found her husband's again.
"This better be worth it. He might hate us, but I like to think that this is for a better future."
When the spacecraft finally touched down, the sun was high in the sky.
Kara was stopped at the gates, because of her Kryptonian origin. A form was put before her, she filled it in, stating that her visit in Daxlor was in peace, visiting the capital city just to write her article on the coronation. A Kryptonian coming to the coronation of a daxamite king was a strange occurrence.
She took her passport, in which it was stated that a Kara-Vex was entering daxamite territory, not a member of the House of El, Kara Zor-El. Because the El family was not the type of family to travel between planets using commercial spacelines.
Kara-Vex was a name the El woman picked for herself when she first got into journalism. During her time in the higher levels of education, the last few years in the compulsory school, Kara had taken up the hobby of writing, reporting about what was happening in the city. One night she saw a piece of news that explained the "good" situation of the Kryptonians working in the lower levels of society. Despite being a planet ruled by a high council, Krypton was far from being a real democracy. The people prefered using the term of democracy instead of thinking of their governmental system as being a monarchy just like on Daxam.
The term "democracy" sounded better, calmer than monarchy in a Kryptonian's head, but they could never understand the real meaning of the word that spread through galaxies. All starting with a primitive planet, in the Milky Way, a planet circling a yellow sun, that had smart civilisations, but had not developed technology smart enough to find about the alien worlds outside their atmosphere.
Democracy in Krypton was no democracy at all. People from lower levels were not allowed to choose their leaders, they didn't have the right to vote, the votes were only existent during the discussions in the High Council. The power of the people, their equality, their possibilities to have a better future, or a worse one, were all decided by Dynasties, by the important Houses of Krypton.
Krypton was a monarchy with multiple leaders, multiple kings and queens, but no crown. And Kara Zor-El was one of their princesses.
Putting her jacket's hood over her blonde wavy hair and covering her nose and mouth with a scarf, she left the spaceport in Daxlor and dived into the less crowded streets of the Daxamite capital. The small number of people present on the roads could be dedicated to an announcement that Kara had written about a couple of days prior. The Queen Mother, Rhea of Daxam, asked for the presence of as many people as possible to her son's coronation, she had also encouraged the Daxamites not to use their skimmers or any personal vehicles, and rely on the public ways of transportation underground. The streets were to be walked only.
Despite the lack of transportation by vehicles, the streets were still buzzing. Joy could be felt in the air, people circling each other while jumping and whistling. The sound of drums was filling the air and the presence of guitars and flutes was being heard from time to time, only when needed. She felt alive while walking through the streets of Daxlor. She felt free because the people didn't know that she was a noblewoman or that she was from the country with which they have been at war for centuries.
She took a moment to take in the scenery before her eyes. The wind was slowly blowing, while the sun shone high on the orange sky. If someone was watching the young Kryptonian woman, they could easily realise that she wasn't familiar with all the joy the people, before her, were feeling. She was used to the cold and dark streets, usually seen on Krypton. Not all areas were the same, that was for sure, but most of them made her feel insecure.
She broke off her stare and headed to the gates of the Regal Palace, not noticing the fact that she was being watched from behind the high fence surrounding the residence of the Royal Family. From behind a dense cigarette smoke, in the proximity of an old tree, in which a certain former prince with some of their oldest friends used to play around, stood a man.
The man inhaled from his cigarette and continued to stare at the eager young woman, with a scarf on her head and a school bag on her shoulder. The way her blue skirt with gold and red flowers sewed on it was flying in the soft summer breeze and the elegant way she walked took his breath away. The weird familiarity of her stance and the smoke of the old school cigarette calmed his nerves.
He took one last inhale and then threw the maggot on the ground, stubbing it with the foot of his shoe. He took in one last breath and then made his way through the fruit trees in the garden to get to the room where he was to be prepared for the ceremony.
Going through another row of security, showing her passport and visiting license, which she was given at the spaceport after filling in a form, Kara finally made it into the Grand Gand Palace in Daxlor.
The entrance room was filled with people, who were chatting with great enthusiasm about the ceremony that would start in the following moments. She took off the scarf she had to cover her nose and shadow her face from the burning summer sun in Daxam. Her jacket, designed for summers on Krypton, which were much more colder than the ones on Daxam, was placed over her bag, but despite the fact that she was used to the cold weather on Krypton, Kara shivered the moment she entered the hall.
Her eyes moved to the ceiling, one of the easiest places to observe. The chandelier hanging, like being ready to fall and break at the bottom of her feet, was shining under the soft sunlight coming through the small windows placed right under the ceiling of the room. The gold it was made of and the diamonds hung right under the light bulbs were spreading orange sunlight to all the corners of the room. All drowned in light, the room felt somehow warmer.
The whispering suddenly stopped and that took Kara by surprise. She moved her eyes towards the place a loud trumpet's song was coming from. When she realised what truly was happening, she started to make her way through the mass of people towards the big glass doors. She pardoned herself in a daxamite accent that she had been practising for a while. Keeping her bag close to her side and sight straight ahead, the Kryptonian woman swam her way towards the hall, in which she had heard that the ceremony would be held.
Another row of guards had been placed at the entrance of the hall she could only believe was usually used for banquettes, about which she had only heard from stories at the market or from eavesdropping the other noblewomen's conversations about their vacations during summer on the sister-planet. She had imagined the room many times, even tried to draw it once, but her talent was writing more than drawing, she didn't do a great job.
When she got asked about her status, her intention to attend the event, she was just about to give out her name, but she knew that it would cause a scene, so she pulled herself together and took out her visiting license, filled in at the customs, and her Kryptonian passport.
The guard took a moment to study the documents in his hands, gave her a long look, disgust could be seen in his eyes. "Is there any problem, sir?" she asked in her best daxamite accent. The tongue that left her lips made the man before her raise a brow. Another guard, younger than the one who was holding her documents, asked her to open her bag, so he could see whether or not there was something that could harm anyone. He checked her body of any other objects that could be used to kill, he didn't find anything. After all, Kara was there just to see the ceremony and then write about it. The guard, who held her acts, just shook his head, after he got a nod from his colleague, silently telling him that everything was fine. He gave her documents back and shook his head affirmative, letting her get in. She thanked him with a nod of the head and continued her way to the crown that was not as great as the one from the latter room. She walked through the hall in the direction of another entrance. Through the high and huge open doors she could see a smaller crowd seated in chairs, in a chapel.
She knew that at one of these events, anything could happen, but she could've never thought that the guards would be this strict with the number of people allowed to be in the same room with their future king. That room looked like a cathedral. The high beige walls were covered in slim, tall windows, through which the light of Rao fills the whole room. She picks a place somewhere at the half of the distance between the entrance and the chancel. The halls on the sides of the chairs were filled with dark red flowers in the scarce presence of bright yellow ones. The air was filled with their smell, one that Kara was not familiar with. She was very aware of the fact that because of their closeness to the sun, there was a greater variety of floral species on Daxam than the ones on Krypton. She wanted to get up and admire the flowers up close, but the song of another trumpet filled the air, now louder, due to her proximity to the instrument itself.
The whole room fell into silence. She fixed her stare to the priest, who entered the room, placed the book of Rao in front of the Crown of Daxam, which was held in a box made out of glass. The cleric made a sign of faith to both the Crown and the Daxamian Bible and kissed the Book. The trumpet song behind her was replaced by a song played only by a violin. The proudness and the low tones created a prideful and rigid atmosphere that she knew the daxamites were known for. Another violin joined, the dark theme of the song changed and more instruments joined and a symphony was created. It was a calming atmosphere.
The tones slowly rose. The doors of the church, placed behind her, opened and two other clerics entered, dressed in much darker robes than the one already standing at the chancel, after a podium, behind the glass box, in which the crown sat. They held the other two ceremonial objects, the Sovereign's Orb with the cross of Rao on top of it and the Spectrum and Rod, whose diamond was of the most profound red. The golden objects and the red crystals present on their surface were in the colours of the Daxamite Monarchy, Red and Yellow.
The music slightly changed its tone when the ten members of the High Council of Daxam entered the church. The first one being the prime minister and him being followed by the rest. All of them were dressed in suits with shoulder boards made out of gold and silver. When they reached the chancel, they sat on their assigned seats against the walls under the windows filled with religious paintings.
After them, the Queen Mother of Daxam entered with the Crown of the Queen in her hands, a sign that showed she no longer had the power. The Crown of the Queen was just as grandiose as the King's, but it was smaller, fit for a female, but still a royal of equal power as the King.
When the former sovereign reached the stage, the orchestra's music changed drastically. The calm tone was changed with a loud one, a fact that made all the people present, most of them of higher classes, turn to the doors again.
In the middle of the fully open doors stood the future king of Daxam.
Behind him, though the windows, the people all gathered around the fences to see their future leader. Kara was surprised by how calm all of them were, no one fighting for a place in the first row, because all of them knew that the whole ceremony was filmed and broadcasted on the whole planet, in each city centre, on each television. You could even watch it on Krypton. And she knew that all the high council members were watching it because they were still in negotiations with Daxam's leader. They might hate Daxam, but they needed their help.
Kara didn't worry about being seen by Kryptonians, because no one dared to disturb the ceremony because of a Kryptonian that did not harm.
On the Prince's shoulders sat the crimson and gold surcoat. He stood still for a moment and he looked at the people in the chapel. He found the eyes of the woman he saw from behind the fences before. He had the feeling that he had met her before, but nothing came to his mind then and there were more important things at hand. Becoming king was an important thing and it needed all his focus. He started walking slowly towards the priests and his mother. He held on his surcoat, the Crown of the Prince situated on his head.
When he walked past the blonde woman, he noticed the colours of her skirt, blue. Blue was not a common colour on Daxam, most Daxamites preferring warmer colours: browns, beiges, reds... Blue was cold, but the gold sewed on it, made the dress look like the sky of a planet, thousands of lightyears away that he had only heard and seen pictures of. He felt her eyes on him, she was curious, her stare fell so full of power and confidence. She could not be a Daxamite. No one of his people could stare at him that way.
With his head full of thoughts played like a spider's web, he didn't realise the moment he reached his mother, who was situated at the bottom of the stairs with the crown still in hand. He felt her warm hand on his arm, on the surface of his embroidered shirt in floral shapes with golden string, under the surcoat "Your father will be very proud of you," she told him when he bowed before her for the last time, as Prince of Daxam, she took the crown off of his head. He rose back and she kissed his cheek.
Mon-El looked at his mother one last time and then ascended the stairs. The train, made out of the same material as the surcoat, was brushing behind him. The gold embroidered in the crimson material shone in the light as the prince took his place before the priest.
He slowly kneeled on a pillow before the three archbishops. He fixed his eyes to the one in the middle, the one in charge of the crown, still placed in its glass box. The other two stood with the objects still in hand when the one in the middle turned to the High Council for their approval.
"Sirs, I here present to you Mon-El Gand, your undoubted King. For this reason, all of you are present here, on this day to our leader's oath of protection, homage and service, are you willing to do the same?"
When all of the ten ministers vowed and acclaimed the prince worthy to become king, the clergy turned to the crown and started a prayer, in which the other two joined. The glass caging the crown was placed on a nearby table and the priest rose the crown in the air. He stepped before Mon-El. And started saying:
"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the Great Daxam Kingdom and all of its other territories and their belongings, as well as all of your possessions, according to the laws and their respective customs?"
"I solemnly promise to do so." the prince said, eyes insanely blue while looking at the clergy before him.
"Will you, with your power, cause only Law and Justice, and in Mercy, all your judgements to be executed? "
"I will."
"Will you to the most extreme of your power, try to maintain the Laws of Rao and the true profession of the Book of Rao? "
"All of this, I promise to do. The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me, Rao." he told the priest, looked to the ceiling and made a sign of good faith.
Mon-El rises back to his full height and opens his arms, while two women, dressed in white and red dresses take his surcoat and replace it with a heavier surcoat, with fur on the edges and silver and gold shoulder boards. The ladies disappear after the royal is dressed. In his hands, the Orb and the Spectrum are placed and he kneels again.
"Oh Rao, we ask you and sanctify this your servant, our King, and as you do on this day, set a crown of pure gold upon his head; so enrich his royal heart with your abundant grace, and crown him with all princely virtues, Eternal Rao, God of the Sun! Amen!". The archbishop takes the crown in his hands and just as he places the crown onto his head he says.
"God save our King, Mon-El Gand of Daxam."
At that moment, the, now, King rose back to his feet and looked over the people who were now on their feet as well. He was led to his throne.
Sitting down and looking over the crown, his eyes found his mother's and for the first time in his life, he sees pride in them, the hatred was gone, even if it was just for a moment.
The voice of the clergy could be heard again, breaking the silence.
"Long live Mon-El of Daxam, The King!"