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Clark looked in awe all around him as he stepped into the looming structure. The massive quartz-like crystals crisscrossed above his head like a protective cage. Snow crunched under his boots as he traversed the uneven terrain, much like when he was still outside. The pillars hummed as he brushed his hands against them for balance. He could hardly believe all this came from one little stone he tossed out into the snow dunes. It was all so…surreal.
A large cluster of smaller crystals caught his eye and he approached. They stacked together like scrolls, backlit as though on display. He had barely touched the tip of one when another from the center shot out before him, glowing brighter than the rest. Hesitantly, he grabbed it. The light shone brighter and he could feel the very air of the structure change as though in acknowledgment.
“Kal-El.” A voice Clark remembered hearing from the old restored ship parts back in the barn cellar echoed through the cavernous structure. It was gentle, though precise in their words like a well-practiced speech. “You have traveled far. Hopefully, this has been one journey of many to come.”
“Who are you?” Clark called out. Instead of an answer, a glow emitted from another part of the structure. The gentle tug of the crystal in his hand prompted Clark to follow. What looked like a terminal of some kind came into view. It was made from the same material as the rest of the massive crystalline structure, only smoother, less layered, and contains a small section of hexagonal slots. It was stationed between two of the pillars, and additionally surrounded from behind by a display of more glowing crystal, flattened on top like pedestals.
The crystal tugged again, and Clark looked down at it. Then, he lifted it to the terminal and a matching slot began to glow, as though waiting. No other answers available, he shoved the crystal into place.
The cluster of crystal platforms behind the terminal lit up bright, and the rest of the building fell into shadows. The voice returned, and with it, a form flickered into existence within the light behind the terminal.
“Welcome, Kal-El, to my Fortress of Knowledge. Ask your question.”
“Tell me who you are,” Clark repeated once more. “I’ve done as you've asked, restoring this place here on Earth. Now tell me.”
The illusion smiled. “I am Jor-El, and your father. Or what is left of him.”
Clark wasn't sure how exactly to react to that. He had a father- A human one, at least. “My father? From Krypton, right? How are you here? I thought Krypton was destroyed.”
“It was. What you see of me before you is simply saved memories. This Fortress is all that remains intact. Of both Krypton and my work. In a way, it is now a Fortress of Solitude.”
“But what is this place exactly?” Clark pressed.
“All the knowledge and history of our world and the universe we know of, that I had amassed during my time with the help of your mother, is kept here. With its restoration, more information can once again be collected. I have no doubt that many things have changed since the last time it was activated.”
“My mother?” Clark asked softly. He was already taken off guard by the whole father thing. It felt a little too much to be reminded he would have had a birth mother, too.
“Lara,” Jor-El said with affection. “Lara Lor-Van, my wife. A bit of her remains here as well, if you wish to meet.” The apparition waved a hand, and another small crystal, a data storage device Clark realized, pulled itself from a nearby storage and went to Clark. Like the last one, he took it and added it to the terminal.
A second figure appeared, and Clark could not help but look at the pair in awe. They smiled at each other, stepping together and leaning into each other like an old habit. For a moment, Clark felt that he was looking into an illusionary mirror that showed himself, had his features been split between two others.
He figured that this must be what it meant to look like one's parents.
“Hi,” he said weakly with a slight wave of his hand, stuck between trying to smile and feeling like frowning from being overwhelmed.
Lara smiled, unbothered by his hesitation. “It’s lovely to see you, my son. It may not be the same, but…Welcome home.”
Clark settled on a sad but hopeful smile. “It’s nice to be here.”
“And what of our little Mars?” Lara continued. Jor-El’s face, then, began to fall. “I do not sense her within the Fortress, did she not come with you here, Kal-El?”
“Mars? I don’t understand,” Clark said in confusion, stepping closer as though that might help him to learn what his mother meant.
“Oh, Lara,” Jor-El said softly, and the two gazed at one another. There was a flicker of their forms, and then Lara’s expression fell. Her form continued to flicker when her husband stabilized. “Worry not,” Jor-El tried to reassure Clark, “your mother and her memories will be alright. I never could perfect the emotional capacity of the system on my own, and your mother was always far more open-hearted than I. If only we had the time to work on it together.”
Clark shook his head, not too worried about the capabilities of the advanced alien technology he understood nothing about. Something else far more pressing was weighing on his conscience.
“You said Mars, right? Do you mean another Kryptonian? Am I not the only survivor like you said?” Was he not alone? He hoped beyond hope that there was someone out there that could share in his struggles, to understand what he went through alone.
Both figures shook their heads. “Your escape ships lost contact with each other on the way to Earth,” Lara spoke up softly. “We had hoped you two would have stayed together.”
Jor-El continued where Lara could not. “When you activated my program on your ship, I was the only one to realize you two were apart. The Crystal of Knowledge being broken made it difficult to discover just how far the separation went. When you came here and erected the Fortress, I discovered there was no connection to Mars’s ship. I fear…she may be lost to us.”
It was all too much. Something was missing and as much as their explanation made sense, it wasn't what he needed. The feeling steamed up inside him and he couldn't take it.
“I don’t understand!” Clark yelled at last. “Please, just tell me! Who is Mars, what is she to me?!”
“Kal-El,” Lara said gently. Her eyes held boundless sorrow and regret, and the anxiety in Clark only grew.
“Who is she?” He asked in a bare murmur.
“She is our daughter, as you are our son,” Jor-El answered gently.
“Mars Jor-El is your twin, Kal-El. Our precious little girl...” A stray fluttering of falling snow made Lara look as though she was shedding tears.
“I- I have a sister?” Clark knew he felt as crestfallen and heartbroken as his…their parents.