Still not the end. Yeh I fail at judging how many chapters I'm gonna write.....
Bequest:
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The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.
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Something that is bequeathed; a legacy.
Bequest Chapter Twenty Eight – Reclamation
The summer wind flowed softly over the trio as they took to the air. Lois held Jason on her lap as Clark cradled the two of them gently in his arms. Clark's cape swirled joyfully around them as they headed north, making a light flapping sound as they gained speed.
Everything he'd ever wanted was in his arms today. He had a family, a home, not in any one place. It wasn't on a distant star or even a cozy farm in Kansas. His home was made up of the people he loved and who loved him in return, those with him, and those who would live forever in his heart.
Clark took his eyes from the horizon for a moment to gaze at his precious cargo. Lois' head lay contentedly against one shoulder and Jason was snug against the other, looking excitedly at the passing clouds below. Nestled between the two of them, a risen symbol, the crest of his Kryptonian heritage completed the circle.
Lois' head pivoted upward and their eyes met. Clark kissed her gently, feeling her lips bloom into a smile along with his. The progressive chilling of the wind went unnoticed in warmth of their blissful cocoon.
"There it is!" Jason exclaimed, bouncing a bit in Lois lap, causing her to reflexively tighten her arms around her exuberant child's midsection.
Lois raised her gaze to peer into the distance as the Fortress came into view. A wry smile of understanding played across her mouth. She shook her head. "You took him to the Fortress, eh?" She tilted her head to look at him.
Clark's face transformed into a look of innocence that mirrored his son's. "Just the one time…I promise."
"And there was nothing there anyways." Jason interjected, a tinge of sadness coloring his voice.
His father's eyes darkened a shade, "Not since Lex…" The cloud in his eyes passed as quickly as it had come. Clark tightened his hold on them just a fraction. "Hold on tight." He said as they floated through a tunnel of jagged crystal on their journey into the heart of the cavernous fortress.
The temperature was warmer here, the wind content to whistle musically about the roof of the structure, did not make its way down to the Great Room.
Jason hopped out of his mother's arms and took off toward whatever wondrous thing had attracted his young eyes.
"Jason! Don't go too far!" Lois called after him.
A low chuckle rumbled through Clark's chest. "He'll be fine here, Lois." He lowered her gingerly to the snow frosted floor.
Lois raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I seem to recall some bottomless pits somewhere in the vicinity of your restroom." She tapped lightly on his chest. "I guess people who can fly don't have to worry about such things."
Clark watched her face as Lois' eyes took her on a tour of a place that held so many memories. She hesitated briefly on the area where Zod and his minions had sought their perverse rise to power.
Lois twined her fingers through his and squeezed gently. "Clark," her expression was uncertain. "Why…are we here?" Her eyes scanned over the charred, lifeless shell of the main control panel, now missing its cherished contents.
Clark ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. He understood her trepidation. The last time he'd brought her here it has been one of the best and worst days of their lives. He'd given up one part of himself to pursue another and he had paid dearly.
Beside him, Lois' heartbeat quickened. His eyes followed hers to the molecule chamber that had at one time or another both taken and restored his powers.
Lois' eyes widened as Clark reached into the folds of his cape and pulled out the Mother crystal. "Last night, when I touched this crystal, it brought me here."
A look of confusion crossed her features.
"My mother…my Kryptonian mother" left this with my mom in order to protect me if anything ever happened to her." He sighed wistfully at the mention of Martha. "I guess she hadn't planned for me to be a grown man when it finally made its way into my hands."
Lois nodded once, encouraging him to continue.
"When I arrived here I saw her…Lara. My mother. She transported me here with Kryptonian technology designed to keep me from the rest of the world if I'd been too young to defend myself. I got to see her, to touch her." He swallowed the lump building in his throat. "I told her about you…" his eyes fluttered over the room in the direction of their son. "About Jason… and she sent me back. She wanted to meet you."
Lois looked awestruck as she soaked in this new information. "But…Clark, how is that possible? Isn't she…didn't she…" Lois fumbled for the most delicate phrasing.
"Yes," Clark whispered. "She and my father passed with the rest of Krypton. It is a custom of my people to preserve the life source of a loved one and I imagine she used this technology in some way to do the same for me…"
Clark squeezed Lois' hand and released it. "I partly expected to be transported back here when I touched the crystal again, but nothing happened." He climbed the steps, small pieces of ice crinkling beneath his feet as he ascended.
"Mom! Look!" The boy was gazing into a warped piece of crystal, his reflection stared back, its features stretching and bulging comically from the other side of the surface.
"That's great." Lois said distractedly, stretching her hand out toward him. "Come here, honey. Your dad has someone he wants us to meet."
Jason cast one final look into the surface of the crystal before scrambling over to his mother's side. His eyes followed his father up the stairs, but after a stern look from his mother, her steeled for climbing onto a stocky stump of crystal at the base of the staircase.
Clark looked back and offered them a tenuous smile. He took a breath and slid the crystal into the console. It clicked into place and rotated, once before disappearing within the depths of the organic circuitry. The entire module pulsed in an organized rhythm that gradually increased in speed and intensity until finally, a shaft of emerald light erupted from the center of the mechanism.
The tune seemed to bounce and echo off every crystal in the once majestic stronghold, slowly at first, but it's fervor increased and the rebounding tones were coupled with shafts of light that came pouring in from outside as the crystals seemed to lighten shade by glorious shade.
The Fortress was reborn with a dazzling luminescence that took the breath of all who witnessed it breath. The console expanded, its natural tendency being growth, to a larger size as each gaping void was filled with what had been lost until the edges of each crystal that had been lost, reappeared in their rightful place.
"Amazing." Lois whispered, awestruck as Clark descended the steps to stand beside her.
"The
technology of Krypton is a bit different from that or your realm."
a
disembodied voice floated musically through the air.
Lois' head snapped up looking for the origin of the voice before locating the sparkling visage of a woman in her mid thirties. Her hair shimmered and flowed in a graceful waterfall of silvery auburn, her delicate features reminding Lois in some ways of Clark. Her electric blue eyes held the same warmth as her son's. For all her ethereal grandeur, Lara's presence gave an unassuming and welcoming air.
Lara smiled gently and continued on, " while your technology comes from the manufacturing of electricity and inanimate objects, ours roots from something a bit more organic." Her gaze fell on the crystal control panel, now fully restored to its former majesty. "Where the destruction of a machine on earth means the end of its function, in our culture, it can be regenerated and made to grow back..."
"Like a starfish." Jason said, grinning impishly, his little feet swinging to and fro from his perch.
Lois and Clark turned as one to regard their son in surprise.
Lara's smile widened. "Yes. Much like your starfish, dear one."
Clark took in the sight of the restored fortress with naked emotion. His eyes shone with tears as they caressed every inch of the crystalline surfaces. Memories of his father and his grief over the loss of this sacred place filled his heart until it overflowed with relief.
Looking at the main console, his mind sprinted forward in time to think of all the things he would teach Jason here, all the secrets of universes. His throat tightened at the thought of sharing his homeland with Lois. To be able to have them be a part of his heritage was an honor and blessing beyond description.
Jason leaned toward his parents. "Who is she? She's shiny." He whispered loudly to his mother.
Clark started, looking up to see Lara's glimmering apparition turned to Jason, her smile adding luminescence to her already glowing features. "I am Lara of Krypton; I am the matriarch of the house of El. I am wife to Jor El and mother to Kal El. And you, child of earth, beyond all my dreams and imaginings are… my grandson." Here eyes were alive with emotion that transcended need for a physical body.
Jason stared at her for a moment, his young mind soaking in the rush of information that had just been given to him. "Grandma…El." He tried out the name, his eyes widening and a toothy grin spreading across his face. "Cool!" Jason hopped off the crystal and scampered up the console steps without reservation toward his grandmother.
Lois took a step forward, "Oh…Honey I don't think you can hug her…" She looked to Clark, for assistance.
Clark turned up his palms in response. "This is new territory for me too."
"[i]Unfortunately, my son, the sensation of touch is only possible during the transportation you experienced before. In this state I am able only to converse and guide. I will forever be found in this mysterious place, waiting with gladness to see the path of my son and now my grandson, remain straight and true."
Undeterred, Jason reached out one small hand toward his ghostly ancestor.
Lara closed her eyes, her radiant countenance bending forward to embrace him. His face shone with light as the spectral arms surrounded him. "It tickles." he giggled.
Lara rose to her full height and smiled down at Jason before lifting her eyes to Lois. "And you, beloved woman, you must be the one to whom my son has entrusted his heart."
Lois blushed and nodded her head, letting her hand once again disappear into Clark's.
Lara's eyes fluttered to their joined hands, taking in the shine of the ring on Lois' finger. She looked at her son. A smile began in her eyes and then spread to her lips, "And I see she has agreed to become your wife, if my recollection of the earthly courting ritual is correct."
It was Clark's turn to blush under her attention. "Yes, mother." A knowing look passed between the two of them.
Lara beamed in joy. "May the heavens smile on you both. It is no small thing that you have chosen to talk together. You are uniting far more than just yourselves, through your love you will knit together galaxies and continue a heritage that dimmed so many years ago. Because of you, the legacy of a doomed planet has found new breath. But beyond the depths of this union, my heart weeps in greatest joy to see my son, whom with profound grief, I sent from my hand, having left one, has found home his after all."
