I don’t really know if I got through to any of them. They seemed hell-bent on treating me like I’m some sort of royalty. Being picked by mere chance on a planet in the middle of the universe where love is discouraged to the point where they had to make a law against it, doesn’t make my blood anymore blue than theirs. And since Sarl actually had blue-colored blood that saying something.

Sharon sat across from me in my office. I don’t know if I should even call it an office either. It was basically a table with chairs. There wasn’t even a blotter with a fancy pen and pencil set, or a stapler. I think I had some Post-its around somewhere, but still.

She appeared nervous for some reason, so I wanted to cut to the chase.

“Tell me about where you came from.” Her narrow eyes widened a fraction.

“I don’t mean about what brought you here,” I clarified. I’d already heard enough depressing stories recently. “You said the humans that you allied with were originally from Earth?”

“That’s the legend,” she didn’t seem too convinced. “Judging from the technology level this Earth is at, I’m not so sure.”

“But we appear the same, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

I chuckled a little at her new way of addressing me. “Just Jade, Sharon. I’m not barking orders and it’s just you and me here.”

“Yes, ma’am…” she cringed. “Sorry, I’m just used to addressing a superior officer by her rank.”

Maybe I could make her feel more at ease. “Ring, casual clothes.”

A circle of violet started from my head and whipped along my body, changing my uniform into a comfortable crop top and shorts. “There, consider us off duty for the time being.”

I took advantage of the simplicity of my clothes to bring my legs up and crossing them akimbo. “So, the humans?”

She looked to the side. “If we’re just talking as equals… I’d rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind.”

Thinking this had a lot to do with the death of her husband and child, I let the subject drop. “Alright. Then answer me this and I won’t ask anymore until you feel like sharing. Why did you accept the ring?”

Sharon sat there and looked at me until I thought she wasn’t going to say anything else. That was until her eyes started going a little glassy. “In order to be with the man I loved, I had to betray my people. The humans believed I was a spy for the longest time. They probably still do. So as far as I’m concerned they can have each other, the last of the humans and the Cylons. The ring let me escape.”

She stood and looked at the table. “Is that all ma’am?”

I silently nodded and she left me to my thoughts.

“Jade, the Captain sent a message that the atmosphere processors have arrived and that the Phy’zary is supervising their installation.”

“Is there anything I’m supposed to do?”

“Negative. This is simply for information’s sake.”

I sighed and cradled my head. “What’s next on the agenda?”

“Your presence on Zamaron will be required for the construction of the new non-military rings. At that time I can repair the rest of the damage to your arm.”

Nodding I let my hand slide over my face. “Let Sarl know that we’ll be leaving soon and give Sharon the rest of the day off. I think I rattled her.”

“That would be inadvisable. At this moment Sapphire Agathon is pacing in her room trying to busy herself. The reports from her ring state that she seeks solace in her work. Her downtime only tends to increase her agitation.”

“We’re spying on our Sapphire’s? You know how I feel about that, Ring.”

“I do. Until such time that a central database is created, akin to the Book of Oa, all daily logs are sent to me for storage. Have you ever overheard a conversation that you weren’t supposed to, Jade? It’s something like that. I cannot easily compartmentalize information once it is a part of me.”

“Okay, I get that. Fine, just try not to… I don’t know.”

“Take advantage of the information? For instance you wouldn’t want to hear about Sapphire Lawquane’s observations regarding Lantern Natu’s staring at your butt when she approached you on Mars?”

“What? She starred at my butt?” I shook it off immediately. “No, no. I don’t want to know. Hold on -- why is Suu looking at Sora’nik.”

“Sapphire Lawquane is an excellent judge of body language. It is an inherent ability of her race.”

I remember the profile Ring had written about her. It’s one of the things that made her such and excellent fighter. She could literally anticipate her opponent’s moves by watching them and reacting a split second before they had a chance to complete their attack. This ability transcended species as well, so she was an ideal partner for Sarl.

I shuddered at the thought of them together at something other than work. Compared to him, she was tiny. There would be no way… never mind. That way lays madness.

The chime to my outer door rang, announcing Sarl and the gang.

~O~

Zamaron looked considerably different with temporary structures littering the surface. I was surprised at how many people were out and about as well. Most of them were in environmental suits since the air wasn’t breathable. There were even a few Star Sapphires that greeted us. Kori and the vast majority of the Violet Lanterns were on Oa learning what they could really do with their rings, leaving ten on so Zamaron for defense if needed.

Considering it had been largely ignored as an inhospitable planet since there were a lot easier ones to terraform, I wasn’t too worried about it being invaded anytime soon. But once it came to the attention of the Sinestro Corps that would be a different matter.

Most of my Guard stayed outside of the hidden cave entrance while my core guards observed the process that created their rings.

This time around, the circle was twice as wide and I firmed my lips at the approaching violet crystal that surrounded me and dropped me out of consciousness.

Just like before, one moment melted into the next. I experienced life as a crystal on the other side of the planet learning about the beginnings of their history and their evolution into sentience even though they stayed in the exact same spot for hundreds of years, if not longer. They took from me my memories and tried to understand how I live my life as a mobile species. It was all very surreal, but it eventually ended as before, in an explosion of crystal.

When I was released, Ring caught me again, before I could fall flat on my face.

The feeling in my arm returned and I tested it out, flexing it around.

I had to cover my ears this round because of all the AI voices. They didn’t speak as one this time and it sounded like the most crowded party in history as they searched for their directives and sector assignments then poured out of the cave.

My guards seemed to be a bit in awe.

Lyja watched as the last ring made its escape. “How many was that?”

Her ring answered her. “3972.”

“Whoa,” I said. “That’s a little more than last time.”

“You said you wanted more than two per sector, Jade. That requires more than the bare minimum of 7200 Star Sapphires. One or two more conversions and we should be at full strength.”

That seemed like such a large number when we only had thirty or so at the no-battle on Oa. Once my equilibrium had returned I gave a nod to the rest and we exited, once more sealing the cave entrance in purple and pink crystal.

“What’s next?” I felt like I need a check list or something to measure my progress. Just a few thousand ticks off the list and I could have my first vacation, something like that.

Sarl withdrew a small box from somewhere, I didn’t know where since there weren’t many places on his uniform where he could have hidden it.

“What’s that?”

“Fatality’s Yellow Power Ring. We thought it best to destroy it here where we are shielded by the energies of Zamaron, so that Sinestro cannot be aware of her fate.”

Holding out a hand for it, Sarl passed the box over and Ring automatically created a violet bubble around my hands so it couldn’t escape.

“Is it safe to open?”

He nodded a single time. “It is restrained in its setting and your ring has taken precautions.”

I lifted the lid backward on its hinges and peered at the ring so similar to the green and the violet except in its symbol and purpose. “It’s hard to believe that something so small can be used to cause so much fear.”

The symbol on top didn’t remind me of anything in particular, which made me wonder why it was supposed to symbolize fear. Reaching my finger inside, I poked at it. Nothing happened.

Meh. It’s a ring.

“Warning, detecting energy overload, detonation imminent.”

“Crap… whoops?”

Grabbing a hold of it with a construct of my ring, I sent it off in to the atmosphere and raced along right behind it to put as much distance between the yellow ring and the surface as was possible.

“Okay, important safety tip: don’t poke the enemy ring.”

Most of guards were right behind me, except for one. Sharon put herself in-between me and the ring, keeping pace with the both of us.

“Jade, take my hand! I’ll double the shield just in case!”

“Brace yourselves.”

Sharon grabbed me and pulled us to a stop as I watched the box ignite and the violet bubble it was encased in expand slightly. I could feel it fighting to contain the explosion, but instead of shooting outward, the power started feeding back through the violet energy.

“Ring!”

Bright yellow light engulfed us. A tugging sensation all across my body ended in an abrupt slamming onto the ground. Sharon broke my fall, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Oww.”

I tried pushing myself up, but that brought on a wave of nausea. Instead, I just rolled over and stared up at a plain black ceiling that looked to be made of rock. My eyes wandered the area until I saw a yellow glow off to the side. Lifting my head I saw a familiar face.

“Jade Cross, Queen of the Star Sapphires, welcome to Qward.” Sinestro said with a leer on his face. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”

~O~

After hearing his self-satisfied laugh, the current bane to my existence turned and walked away.

“Ring, where are we?”

When it didn’t respond, I brought my hand up and saw the damage to it. There wasn’t any because I didn’t have a right hand anymore. I sucked in a breath and saw that it had been severed cleanly and the wound cauterized. There was no pain and I could swear I didn’t notice any difference. It felt like it was there, but when I brought my other hand to bear, I felt nothing.

“Ring?” I whimpered.

Being careful not to damage my wrist even further, I sat up and searched for Sharon’s since she was unconscious. She wore hers on her left index finger which was also missing, her hand just as amputated.

Fatality’s presence on Earth, her capture, it was all a trap and I fell for it like the idiot I was.

Berate yourself later, Jade. Deal with the problems you have now.

“Sharon.” I shook her shoulder, but she had been knocked out cold.

I checked for any obvious injuries and felt a good size knot on the back of her head. “Hang on, Sharon. I’ll get you some help.”

My body screamed at me as I got to my feet and almost fell again because of the damn heels. I didn’t have Ring to balance me properly and didn’t realize how much I relied on her to do so.

Once I gathered myself I went over to the yellow barrier that held us in the small rock-faced room. I didn’t want to try my luck at touching the shield and instead looked around. There was absolutely nothing to see except for a narrow hallway that I couldn’t see the end of.

“Hello?” I hated to call him back, but I was pretty much screwed otherwise. “Sinestro? What do you want?”

There was no answer and I felt a dread that I hadn’t felt in quite some time. To top the whole think off, I was feeling decidedly different in a way that was disturbing, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was wrong.

Instead of screaming my head off, which I’m sure he would love, I returned to Sharon and gathered her in my arms so she wouldn’t have to lie on the cold stone floor.

I’d chosen to save my strength and not overexert myself trying to find a way out. It was obvious enough, even to me, that the only chance I’d have was when he returned, if he returned. So I rested.

~O~

“I have been to every corner of every sector in the universe, and I have learned one thing.”

Sinestro’s voice woke me from the restless half-way point of semi-consciousness. He was standing at the door, looking at me with something more than contempt on his face.

I tried to clear my dry throat. “What’s that?”

“The universe needs to change. We live in a place rotting with hedonism and chaos. A place untamed and morally devoid. A place of darkness.”

A single chuckle escaped my mouth. “And you’re here to fix all that I suppose.”

“When I was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps, I believed I had finally escaped the darkness. I worked hard to validate the power ring's selection. I tore my home planet of Korugar free from sin. I brought order and vowed to do the same for the rest of Sector 1417... and then, with the Corps' support, the rest of the universe.”

My eyes burned and I rubbed at them, only to notice again the absence of my hand. “How wonderful for you.”

“Silence, Star Sapphire Queen. I would have you learn a lesson.”

Running my tongue over my teeth, I tried to coax a little saliva to my mouth.

“For a time the Guardians even called me the greatest of the Green Lanterns. Until an Earthman I trained took everything from me. Hal Jordan called me a fascist for the order I bestowed upon Korugar. I was stripped of my ring. Labeled the first renegade of the Green Lantern Corps, I was banished to the underbelly of the universe, the Antimatter Universe... and delivered back into darkness.”

I didn’t know if I was supposed to feel impressed, pity, or curse the GL’s for not taking the chance to make a smear of the guy on the other side of the shield.

“For the first time in my life -- I felt fear. And I was blinded by its brilliance. I believed fear to be a part of the chaos I abhor, but it was more controlling than all the willpower in the universe. And it would be mine.”

He stood there and stared at me afterward. I guessed that was my cue. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

The contempt returned. “Are all Earth people as arrogant as you?”

I shrugged. “Pretty much, but I’ll leave the title of Grand Poobah to you.”

He looked confused for the briefest of moments. Apparently sarcasm doesn’t translate well over the matrix.

“You and I are not so different in certain aspects.”

That made me choke followed by a giggle. “Really?”

“We both desire our Corps to be a guiding influence to the inhabitants of the universe. We are each like a light waiting to be turned on in the dark, turned on to a universe that needs our guidance, our rule, our protection, our vision.”

What is he trying to get at? Is this a recruitment speech?

“You don’t seriously think that I’m going to join you.” I let that hang there for a few moments.

His lips pursed. “Eventually, you will. Unlike the Guardians of Oa, you have complete control over your Corps. They will bend to your will as my fear mongers bend to mine.”

“Love doesn’t work that way, Sinestro. But you wouldn’t know that would you?” I set Sharon down lightly and stood to walk over to the shield. Looking at him, he was the stereotypical representation of the evil genius bad guy. If it weren’t for the reality of the situation, I would have laughed.

But even seeing that ridged outer shell, I saw something deeper. “Thall Sinestro of Sector 1417, you have great loss in your heart.”

The edges of his mouth tinged upward. “You have no concept of the word, Cross.”

“Would you like to hear about your daughter?”

His expression didn’t change, didn’t betray any further emotion, simply freezing in place.

“She survived your fight on Oa. Well, sort of. She was dead, but I brought her back. That’s the power I hold. Fear can only bring you temporary control and in the end, death. While love… it will conquer all. And you, Sinestro, are not capable of great love.”

He slowly blinked like he was bored. “Would you like to see your greatest fear?”

The shield fell and a yellow collar construct secured to my neck along with yellow chains at my wrists, ankles, and waist.

“Come, there are more lessons to be had before this day is through.”

If I ever made it out of the situation I put myself in, I was going to strangle my ring. It was hard enough to walk in high heels, but adding chains to the mix made it virtually impossible. I fell a number of times as Sinestro pulled me along. We exited the hallway and started up an irregular staircase that I thought would never end. By the time we made it to the top, I was exhausted and my feet were killing me, not to mention the chains restricted my movement enough to where I had to rely on leg muscles that I never knew existed until that time.

Inside the room at the top was seated a blue-skinned humanoid woman with long black hair and pointed ears. Attached to her right wrist was a yellow chain and at the end of that chain was a book.

“Jade Cross,” Sinestro said with all the grace of an uptight noble. “May I introduce Lyssa Drak, your new keeper, possibly for the rest of your life.”

The blue woman closed her book and took it into her grasp as she rose from her chair. “Ah… the Sapphire Queen.” She smiled in a way that made me think she was thinking very naughty thoughts. “Yours is a tale of fear that will make an excellent entry to the Book of Sinestro.”

She took the leash from the Corps leader and pulled. “Come, my pet. Your chamber awaits.”

I winced at the collar that was beyond chaffing at my neck and followed her as we entered another room, this one occupied with a number of shell-like things that looked like a cross between a snail and a clam, only really big.

“Welcome to the Fear Lodge.”

I swallowed down my revulsion as I looked around for some way of escape.

She led me to one of the shells and gestured. “Inside here, is where our potential fear mongers face their final test. You are already well versed in the use of your power ring which I see has been taken from you,” she said in an unnatural pleasant nature.

“You will be encased in darkness and here you will face your greatest fear. At that time, you will have a choice. Cower and reject it and you will live what remains of your life trapped inside. Or you may embrace it and join our Corps.”

She looked me up and down. “Frankly, I think you’ll break. More than a few potentials have emerged from the shells with looks of madness etched on their dying faces. Either way, I’ll be here to record your experience. Do try to last for more than a few minutes, if for nothing else than the entertainment value. I do grow bored sometimes.”

There was no doubt in my mind that Lyssa Drak was freaking insane. I didn’t even have a chance to back away before the chains dropped off and a hand construct was formed to pick me up and slam me into the bed of the shell. Something clinked next to me and before the lights went out, I saw it was a Yellow Power Ring.

~O~

I braced my back against the top of the shell and tried to push against the floor, but the leverage was bad and I was already dead tired.

Settling down, I closed my eyes. The darkness didn’t scare me and I wasn’t terrified of small spaces. Once you’ve been in outer space, you realized exactly how small you are in the grand scheme of things, and lord knows it’s dark enough.

Instead, I tried to organize my thoughts, keeping them calm and as serine as I could. My plan as it stood was to fight the potential fears I held within with calm and with love, to deny any substance for it to feed off of.

Determination made my brow sweat, the longer that I held. I tried not to think of any specific thing, but my thoughts always wondered back to Sharon lying injured in that cell, and Sora’nik’s face right after I kissed her.

“It’s the only way, Jade,” she said.

My eyes fluttered open and she was there, beside me. Our bodies were sensuously fitted side by side. Sora’nik was in the violet uniform of the Star Sapphire Corps and Earth was below us. When I concentrated I could see my friends, all turned against me, all my enemies released and with them.

All of them wore the uniforms of the Green Lantern Corps and they were coming, seeking retribution.

“If you love them then you know what you have to do.”

I turned to Sora’nik. “I can’t, not that.”

“They won’t die, Jade. They’ll be forever frozen in time. You can visit them whenever you want and they’ll never lift a finger against you, forever your devoted friends.”

Her voice was smooth and tempting, her hands caressing my body in all the places she knew would please me.

“Do it for me, Jade.”

Looking in her face, I knew that I would do anything for her as long as she was by my side.

I closed my eyes and summoned up my Will and Love to focus through the Sapphire stone in my tiara… the stone in my tiara…

“No,” I said, pushing her away. “You’re not her,” I gasped. “She’d never ask me to do something like this.”

Sora’nik tried to grab my wrist, but I pulled away even further. “If you don’t do this, then you’ll die, Jade. Give in, embrace it. Be who you were meant to be.”

I closed my eyes once more and forced the vision away, hearing the screams of my friends, as they were coming to kill me, die down.

“I’ll be who I’m supposed to be, and that sure as hell isn’t a Fear Monger.”

Focusing every bit of Will and Love I possessed I channeled it though the Sapphire stone in my tiara that Sinestro probably thought was a vanity piece, but was actually the source of my strength, unfiltered by my Power Ring, and I released it.

The sound of the shell exploding tore through the chamber and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Lyssa Drak on her butt, looking at me like I accomplished the impossible. A second later she was encased in violet crystal along with the rest of the chamber.

“Sharon, come to me,” I whispered.

Swirls of violet light blew open the door to the outer room and I floated through to the outside door, all the while creating more crystal along the way. The tendrils of light skated down the steps through the hall and I felt it when they destroyed the yellow shield holding my Sapphire. They caressed her body and lifted it into their embrace, covering her, shielding her from any further harm.

I twirled in place then rose into the air letting my eyes take in all there was to see of the mysterious planet, Qward, home of the Sinestro Corps.

That home wasn’t left unguarded. Dozens of their Corps rushed to the disturbance, led by Sinestro himself.

I sighed and pulled the power I knew existed on Zamaron through my crystal and let it wash outward encasing it all, the entire planet.

The fear mongers along with their leader were caught in the wave and forced down to the surface as the crystal hardened, trapping them underneath, forever.

The next moment, Sharon was in my arms and I tightened my hold on her as I thought of Sora’nik, picturing her in my mind’s eye. Something erupted from my chest and shot into space above the planet as I watched the last of the planet surface disappear in violet crystal and then build upon itself, layer after layer.

“Love will conquer all,” I whispered.

I gasped as the other end of the tether connected to my heart.

~O~

“Jade!”

Sora’nik was on her knees looking up into the sky. Tears were beginning to fall from her cheeks when I landed and handed off Sharon to two Sapphires that I didn’t recognize. Dropping down to my own knees, I embraced my heart. It didn’t matter if she returned my feelings anymore. I could deal with that. I had my love for her to sustain me until I could show her what she meant to me. Being in her arms was more than enough to sate me for now.

“Where were you? What happened?”

I turned my face into her neck and breathed in her scent for a few moments. “Everything is fine now. I’m home.”

She tried to gently pull away, but I would have nothing of it.

“I missed you, Sora’nik.”

“Jade, let go. We need to get you to the Medical Bay. Your ring has kept your hand preserved. We can still reattach it.”

I giggled and pulled back. “It’s a little late for that.”

“What?” She looked down as I brought my right hand up and showed her something the use of the raw Sapphire gem accomplished.

In the place of my missing hand was one of violet crystal. I flexed the fingers and showed her that it was just as dexterous as the old one. I even had sensations running through it, though not quite like the one I had before. It was a different feeling altogether.

She grabbed my arm and pulled the torn sleeve back to see where the crystal joined with my arm. It wasn’t a clean attachment. I could see where flesh and crystal melded sporadically up my forearm and stopped at my elbow where my arm remained the same.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt,” I said.

“I still want to take a look at it. Come on.”

She tugged me up and I followed along, the heels not giving me anymore trouble even on the pebbly crystal terrain even though I was feeling pleasantly euphoric.

“Tell me what happened,” she said, her voice still filled with worry.

“The ring was a trap for me. Sharon got dragged along because she was trying to do her job. Chatted with Sinestro, met Lyssa Drak, took the Fear Lodge tour, and encased Qward along with a number of Sinestro Corps members including the man himself under about a billion pounds of violet crystal. You know… the usual.”

We walked along with her hand firmly around my waist. “You seem remarkable serene for someone that’s gone through all of that.”

I shrugged. “Meh. Day in the life of a superhero.”

The door was opened for us and I was escorted down a short hallway and led to a room with a hospital bed, where Sora’nik sat me down before making a big medical looking construct with her ring. A green light scanned me while I got interrogated a little more.

“Can you tell me how you did all of this without your ring?”

I smiled secretively. “It’s a secret. Shh. I could tell you but then I’d have to take you to bed and… well, I’m sure you can imagine the rest.”

Her eyes widened at whatever the readout was showing her. “That’s not possible.”

“Well obviously it is or I wouldn’t be sitting here.” I shook my head at her with a little doubt in my face. “Really, Sora’nik, I would have thought you’d have an open mind about sex between two species. We’re not all that different.”

She looked at me like I was going nuts. “What?” She shook her head. “I’m talking about your scan. You shouldn’t be sitting up right now.”

I looked from side to side at the bed and me sitting up. “I seem to be fine. Why don’t we scan you instead? Except I don’t need a fancy machine, just my hands… and if you’re a good girl maybe my tongue.”

“Later. Lay down for me, Jade.”

I rolled my eyes up in my head and lay down. “Okay, I’ll let you be the top for now, but I insist swapping roles next time.”

TBC...

Author's note: Some of Sinestro's monologue is a quote from the GL comics. Apparently he doesn't have the List of things to not do if you are a Super Villain.