To be or not to be? That, is the question.

I went back to my desk and got back to work after my conversation with my uncle. I knew what I needed to do, but even though I was committed to it, I still had some fears about the matter. I was proud of the fact that I cared about people I didn't even know existed because my ideas were going to benefit Krypton. It was the other civilizations I was worried about. I knew that most species in the universe wouldn't be a threat to us once my idea was fully realized, but there were still potential dangers. Power invites challenge, and we would be powerful. 

I needed to learn magic. I needed to study that mystical energy. Kryptonians being weak against magic was unacceptable to me. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. 

I finally went home after reviewing my ideas and forming a plan for what I was going to do. Dinner was nice, and I told my parents about what my uncle had told me. They already knew and were more enthusiastic about my decision than I was. I was making House El proud. My extended family was supposed to visit in a few days, and I hadn't seen Aunt Astra in a while. 

The next day, I got off early from work to visit Elona. I knew where she lived, even though I hadn't been to her house in all the time we'd been friends. I had met her cousin, Zal, though. He was very suspicious of me, even if he wanted his cousin to leech off me to climb to the top. 

I knocked on Elona's door, which was decorated with painted plant-like murals. The person who opened the door was Zal. 

"Oh, if it isn't Lady Kara," he said in an unfriendly tone, forcing a smile. 

"Hi, Zal. It's been a while. Is Elona home?" 

He narrowed his eyes and said, "Wait here. She's in the—" 

He was cut off by the voice of a woman from inside. "Zal, who's at the door?" She had a lovely voice. 

"It's Elona's friend, Aunt Ezna. She wants to know if she's home," he answered, narrowing his eyes at me further. I had to give it to him—he was very brave. Or maybe he knew that people from the Great Houses were friendly. Or perhaps I had a very non-threatening face that made people forget that some from the Great Houses were terrible people. I wished more were like him. 

"Oh! Elona's friend, the one she won't stop talking about? Kara?" The voice—Aunt Ezna—was getting louder, and a head popped out from the door on the left of a very short hallway. She was a very beautiful woman with dark hair and an oval face, her eyes a striking green. 

"Come on in, dear. Elona has talked so much about you, I feel like I know you by now," she said, gesturing for me to enter. 

Zal let me in with a step to the side, his narrowed eyes a familiar sight. I stepped into the house and headed for the door to the left where Ezna was. It led to a kitchen, which was divided from the dining table by a few steps up. 

Ezna looked at me with a smile. "My, you are adorable. My name is Ezna. I'm Elona's mother. She's said so much about you—it's nice to finally put a face to the name." 

I relaxed my shoulders and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Aunt Ezna. I've heard about you too." 

I turned around when I heard footsteps and saw Elona in the doorway. 

"Hey, Kara. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she asked, frowning. 

"I got off early. I wanted to talk to you." 

"Oh? Talk to me about what?" 

"I won't be able to hang out as much anymore. I'm working on something big." 

She looked disappointed at first, then got excited. "Oh! What are you working on? Is it cool? Tell me it's cool." 

"It's awesome, El. It's really awesome. You're gonna sh—uh, poop in your pants! But I can't tell you, I'm afraid. Sorry." 

I was matching her grin now because I knew she was going to love it. 

"Oh, I can't wait!" 

"But don't worry, we'll still hang out—just not as much." 

After that, we continued talking about other things while her mom busied herself and Zal disappeared to wherever Zal goes. 

"It's getting late, El. I have to go. Goodnight." 

"Okay, see you later." 

Elona's mom offered to walk me to the door. I wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about. She stopped and looked at me outside the door. 

"You are so young, and yet you've done so much for us—you and your family. For that, I thank you. I'm sure others feel the same in our guild. Things have been improving." 

"Uh… you don't have to thank us, but you're welcome. We're supposed to be symbiotic, so it's just correcting an error. Not that what happened to your people is just an error—it's much more than that—but it needs correction." 

"Are you sure you're a ten-year-old? Or a member of the Great Houses, for that matter?" 

"Almost eleven," I replied with a grin. 

She laughed at that. "Bye, Kara." 

"Bye, Aunt Ezna." 

With that, I was on my way home. 

---

### A Few Days Later 

A few days later, my uncles and aunts visited. It was a fun day, with congratulations thrown my way and plenty of discussions. I had sneaked onto the rooftop to watch the stars when I heard the door open, followed by footsteps. 

"That's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. No matter how many times I see them, it never gets old," my aunt said as she lay down next to me. 

"We'll be there someday—not too long in the future," I replied. 

"I heard about your idea from Jor-El." 

"Yeah. Even now, I still have some reservations. Even though I want to do it, I keep second-guessing myself. Maybe someone else can do it instead of me. I did send my data to Uncle Jor… I shouldn't have sent my work to Uncle Jor." 

"Yeah, even if he's the one to do it—which would take longer—you'd still be the one who did it." 

I got quiet after that. 

"Come on, Kara. I know you already have a way to stop us. You're afraid for yourself—afraid no one would be able to stop *you*. If it were someone else, I'd call them arrogant, but you, on the other hand…" 

I chuckled. "I'm too smart for my own good, aren't I? I just know I'd find a way to overcome the contingencies. I already did for some of them. Someone would stop me, but they'd drag their asses about it." I finished with a shake of my head. 

"Kara, you're a kind child. You're a kind person, and you'll continue to be so." 

"Yeah, I'm nice, but that's now. We can't predict the future, no matter how smart I am. There are too many variables to account for. Maybe after we get our powers…" 

"You're not just nice, Kara. You are kind." 

"I just worry what losing my family would do to me. The idea of losing any of you—it's suffocating. I fear I wouldn't be able to come back from that." Tears streamed down my face as I spoke. Just the thought, the idea, hurt. 

"Oh, sweet Kara. It's okay, my sweet niece. We're not going anywhere anytime soon, okay? We'll be with you for a long time," she said in a soft voice, hugging me and rubbing circles on my back. 

"Besides, you're going to make us gods, right? What's harder to kill than a god?" 

"Careful, Aunty. You're speaking blasphemy. The gods don't die," I said with a weak smile as she let go. 

"They don't, do they?" 

No. They don't.