InsaneJournal

Solitude...
Who? Clark Kent
Where? Room 166
When? Day 7
What? Rumination
Rating? PG...?
Status: Complete



Clark didn't make a sound as the golem left him, ironically leaving the door wide open. Clark wasn't too worried about the other people that might be in this place, but then, if he knew exactly the sorts of people who wound up here he would have been. The would be superhero however was not used to a world where other super powered beings were more than just a passing thing, where there were powers that could match or even best his own. So for the moment Clark's door was wide open for whatever stranger might happen to pass by, though given the fact that the planet was merrily sowing the seeds of love amongst it's inhabitants, such a thing seemed rather unlikely.

"JOR-EL!" Clark finally called after he was sure the golem was gone, a last vain attempt to try to summon who he had first thought was his captor, but suspected less and less by the minute. It unfortunately didn't make sense, and that was the most maddening part about it. Clark was something of an amateur detective, and while he was forced to live without ever knowing why certain people mutated under the green glow of kryptonite, he did like things to add up... here, there was no accounting for what had happened, he feared, and had just been about to give up hope when a benevolent voice lightly rang out throughout the chamber of crystals.

"I am here... my son... in some sense of the word." The voice itself sounded puzzled, as if uncertain if it were really telling Clark the truth or not. A few of the crystals lightly began to glow and then faded softly as the program that had once been a part of the space ship which had crash landed upon earth began to function after a sense, though the voice did not say anything more for a long time, which was unusual, until finally it added. "Though I fear I am not what you are hoping for, Kal-El"

Clark for once didn't feel a twinge of disdain at his birth name being used and instead steadily walked up to the crystaline control panel. "What do you mean, Jor-El? Where am I? Why did you take me here?" Clark glared defiantly, though there was little place to glare to, for as usual Jor-El's voice was disembodied about the chamber.

"I... do not know where 'here' is, nor do I have access to the libraries that I should..." the voice of Jor-El said calmly, benevolently, but with a twinge of sadness. "Which leads me to believe I am not actually the program that was meant to guide you, my son, but rather a shadow copy of it. I can tell that this place is not earth, but the sensors which I should have access to are denied me, as is the knowledge..." The voice paused, as if sensing the frustration of the young man before it, and began again. "That which you know as Jor-El is merely his echo, for Jor-El died along with his wife, your birth mother, when your home world was obliterated completely. In order to guide you, he stored his will inside of a program, which would activate after a time on Earth, when you were ready for it. However, as we are not on Earth, nor do I have any knowledge of this place, I must theorize that I am not truly that program, but rather a fascimile meant to comfort you... or perhaps worse to mislead you."

Clark's eyes widened as he tried to digest all of what was being said to him. If what Jor-El was saying was true, this whole cave was nothing more than... some sort of big computer system, and... he'd more or less gotten the cheap knockoff variety of it on this world, whereas on Earth the real thing was. He never could have concieved a day when he would long for Jor-El's power and knowledgeable advice the way that he did now, however, whatever it was that was in the Fortress of Solitude seemed to have neither, though it was rather honest about the situation, which only caused Clark to become more worried. Jor-El had never admitted weakness, even when his plans were being thwarted, to hear his voice, uncertain, sent chills down Clark's spine as his breath misted around him.

"How do I get back to Earth?" Clark slowed lightly at the last part as he felt what Jor-El was likely to tell him even before he finished his question, and his blue eyes glanced down expectantly, only to close tightly when Jor-El confirmed his fears.

"I do not know, Kal-El... In truth there may be no such way, even for you..."

Clark sighed and slowly ran his fingers over the crystals near the main control panel as Jor-El continued. "It seems as if this place has been outfitted with means for you to eat and sleep, which I am familiar with but not in control of, which makes me think that you are meant to stay here for an extended duration of time." the voice paused for the longest time, before finally concluding. "But I will try to help you, if I am able... but you should accept that I, myself may have been compromised by the same force which brought you hear. Be skeptical of my advice if your heart tells you otherwise..."

Clark paused as one crystal in particular felt out of place, and slowly he took it from it's place and held it aloft to his eyes, staring at it as if he could somehow read what it held. Alas, if that was a technique that he was supposed to have learned, he could not. All he could see was that it reflected rather beautifully in the light, and that it's clear shape held a bluish tint to it. Clearly it was meant to be placed in the center of the console itself.

"Kal-El, I do not think it would be wise to place-" Jor-El began, but it was too late.

As the cool crystal slid into place the panel lit up, and Clark's breath stilled in his chest. In front of him, on a crystal podium stood Lana Lang. Her hair down across her shoulders, her dark eyes staring at him, almost longingly as her teeth moved to softly bite her lower lip in nervous expectation. Clark slowly began to walk towards her, still not daring to breathe as a hand reached out to touch the side of her cheek. With Lana here, things might be different, there might be some chance that they could have a life... an existance, a...

"Kal-El-" Jor-El tried to warn again.

As Clark's fingers touched Lana's cheek, they passed through, not even the slightest tingle that might have been something of substance, and in that moment Clark realized if he looked hard enough he could see that Lana's figure was transparent in some places, and indeed her smile returned to exactly how it had been a few moments ago. The figure before him was little more than a well crafted hologram, a sophisticated picture... for if this place was born of his heart, how could Lana not hold at least a small corner of it as her own?

Mercifully Jor-El shut off the image, and the crystaline panel ceased to glow.

"Merely an image, my son, I imagine placed here as an attempt to appease you..." But Jor-El's voice trailed off into silence as Clark's face fell.

Slowly, the boy dropped to his knees, staring at the podium where the image of his love once had been. And all at once it came crashing down on him. He had no idea how to get home, no concept of where he was, or if it was even possible. Even the most powerful force in his life seemed to have been rendered powerless against whatever controlled this place... and the girl who held his heart, the one who he loved above all others... he might never see again, except for a faint ghostly image of what once had been. In that long silence Clark's head slowly fell...

In this Fortress of Solitude, for the first time, the Man of Steel was truly felt alone.