Chapter 11: Reliving the First of Many Mistakes
The speed that Clark ran is much faster than he once could run. Instead of a few seconds to get to the caves, it took only one second.
My powers are increasing... Kal thinks.
They stop at the entrance of the caves, white light shining in their eyes. Calmly, Kal walks inside, along with Chloe who is squinting in the light. When they walk inside, the light dims, and finally disappears. The paintings continue to glow, but the light from the wall is gone.
WHO DARES ENTERS THE SACRED CAVES OF KNOWLEDGE!
The monotone voice of Jor-El echoes throughout the caves, shocking Chloe enough to have her fall backwards. Kal stares at the wall and smiles slightly.
"I do. Your son, Kal-El."
QUITE IMPOSSIBLE. MY SON IS INSIDE, WITH ME. WHO ARE YOU!
"Time travel is not impossible, Jor-El. I thought you of all people would know that."
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
"I want you to release Clark. Right now."
Jor-El laughs at this, this feeble attempt to bring him back.
DON'T YOU WANT ALICIA BACK, KAL-EL?
"You weren't planning on bringing her back, you were tricking me into doing your bidding."
INDEED I WAS, KAL-EL, BUT IT WAS WORTH A TRY.
"You bastard. You tricked me, and it caused my friend's deaths. It was your fault."
NO, KAL-EL, IT WAS YOUR OWN. YOU TOOK THE CHANCE OF BARGAINING WITH ME, AND YOU WOULDN'T PUT UP YOUR PART OF THE BARGAIN. YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO USE THE VOID ELEMENT, BUT YOU DID, AND THAT WAS YOUR DOWNFALL.
Kal runs at the wall, and starts to pound against it with his fists. Every punch seems to give off more power, and soon, the wall starts to crack. Jor-El realizes this, and ignites a red beam at Kal's chest, blasting him away from the wall, and slamming him against another wall, right next to Chloe. The beam continues to pass through Kal, and the pain is intense. His robes start to rip away from the intense heat and force, and the watch falls out from the pocket, colliding with the red beam. The watch starts to glow bright red and gold, then explodes, making the air around Kal and Chloe ripple like water. Chloe grabs Kal's hand, and suddenly, the cave melts away, and they both fall into a red and black tunnel. They continue to fall endlessly, as the very fabric of time itself rips apart. Kal and Chloe feel no pain, they can't feel their own bodies, all that encompasses them is cold and darkness. They continue to fall, increasing in speed. Chloe holds onto Kal's hand for dear life, while Kal holds Alicia's green scarf, and their photo in his other hand. They increase in speed, and right before Kal blacks out, he sees Alicia, white light shining all around her. Little does he know, Chloe sees her too, shocked and amazed that Kal was telling the truth. The last image Kal sees is Alicia's face, her eyes tearing up, afraid and worried about what will happen to her lover. Blackness fills Kal's mind as he blacks out.
Chloe watches in horror as Kal blacks out, and looks at the destination that they are heading towards. The end of the tunnel is full of black light, and she faints from how far away it is.
Both Kal and Chloe continue to fall through the time rip known as Hell to them both, until they fall onto cold, damp grass. They lay on their backs, Kal's ripped and burned robes lie in tatters on him, his head bleeding slightly.
Chloe is bleeding slightly from her mouth and opens her eyes groggily. Her eyes try to focus on her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was Kal, who was still blacked out. The second thing she noticed was that they weren't in the Kawatchee caves anymore. They were in a park, a park surrounded by very tall buildings, reaching far into the sky. It is mid-morning, and She crawls over to Kal, and tries to wake him up.
"Kal, wake up... Wake up, Kal." Chloe says, shaking him.
Her shaking does nothing to Kal, and his body sits still. She reaches for his wrist, checking his pulse.
It's weak. Come on, Kal. Pull through. I know you can do it.
Kal's Dream Sequence #1
Kal opens his eyes, and looks around. He's on his back, but Chloe is not with him. Kal has to squint, because the sun is shining brightly in the sky. His back is in pain, and he struggles to sit up. With all his strength, he is able to sit up, and begins to examine his surroundings. All around him is a gigantic garden. A place of serenity. Kal slowly makes his way to his feet, and is surprised that the pain in his back is leaving. He starts to walk slowly, and notices many different types of trees, from beach palms to pine trees, living in harmony. A moderate wind lightly blows through the trees, not to warm, and not too cold. Clark looks at where he was laying at, his body impression in the grass starts to disappear. The grass itself straightens itself out, and soon, the impression is gone.
Kal looks around once again, and walks through the grass, till he gets to a small path made up of blocks of limestone and granite. The path intertwines through the extremely large garden, and he begins to slowly walk down it. Flower beds cover the garden, day lilies, black eyed susans, and several different types of roses. A bush to his left is a mixture of pink and white roses, others are red, even orange and purple. Kal stares in wonder as he sees a small bush of strange blue flowers, covered in thorns. They look perfectly even, like someone just trimmed them. Kal continues to walk down the lone path, when something catches his eye. A purple flower, sitting alone in it's own bush. A piece of paper is attached to the bush, and Kal kneels down picking up the paper.
PICK ME is written on the piece of paper, and Kal looks around, making sure this isn't a trick. No other sign of human life is near him, and Kal picks the beautiful purple flower. He continues walking, and after about an hour of walking, he sees a bench up ahead of him. A person is sitting on one side of it.
Kal continues to walk forward, and he notices that the person on the bench is a young woman, the same age as Kal. She is wearing a light seafoam blue sundress, but a large straw hat hides her face. She is reading a book, keenly interested in it. As Kal continues to walk closer, he notices a pile of gardener's tools sitting next to the bench. Kal stands in front of the woman, her face still hidden behind the hat. She directs her left index finger next to her, and Kal sits where she points.
The woman carefully marks her page, and closes the book, setting it next to the tools. She sighs in deeply, and turns her head towards Kal. She takes off her sun hat, and Clark stares, dumbfounded at the person in front of him.
"Alicia? How can this be? All the stuff here feels... well... real."
"Did you pick the flower?" She asks, and Kal slowly gives it to Alicia, she takes it, softly caressing Kal's hand while doing so. This makes Kal's heart melt from happiness and love.
Alicia smiles at the flower, holding it delicately, as to not cut her fingers on the thorns.
"This place, it feels so real to you because this is Heaven, Clark."
"Heaven? So I'm dead?"
Alicia looks back at Kal, and smiles a little.
"No, your not dead. Your close to it. This is our version of heaven, both me, and Alex."
"Where's Alex?"
"Oh, he's playing with Julian in another version of heaven right now. Julian's mother is watching over them, so that I could spend some time with you, Clark."
"Julian? As in Lex's brother who died when he was an infant?"
"Yes, Clark. But, we need to talk."
"About what, Alicia?"
"Clark, you did something... very bad." Alicia states, looking out into the garden.
Kal looks hurt at Alicia, but she doesn't look back at him. She continues holding the flower, and touches the petals delicately.
"What did I do?"
Alicia sighs, and picks up the book again. She opens it to the place where she marked her last page, and hands the book over. Instead of words written on the page, instead there are pictures, but they are moving, the last things that happened to Kal. He is laying against the wall, Jor-El's red beam colliding with the watch.
"The machine was not supposed to be destroyed, Clark. You were not supposed to face Jor-El yet. You changed the time stream, and it launched you through time. Now you will be thrown through time unpredictably. That was a very stupid move Clark, to go against your biological father." Alicia says, sighing again.
Kal looks down at the ground, his hands sit in his lap. Alicia's hand sits on his, and Kal holds it carefully. She smiles slightly, and holds onto Kal's hand tightly.
The sun continues to shine, and the garden reaches out to the horizon.
"So Alicia, why a garden?"
She smiles, and looks out to the garden, examining all of it's beauty.
"I used to help my mom in her garden when I was little. I'd help her plant roses, and daffodils. That was before I gained my ability. Before she stopped helping me in her garden. So I began doing it myself. Alex loves it here. Sometimes he brings over Julian, and they play hide and seek throughout the garden." Alicia states, lying her head on Kal's shoulder.
Kal holds Alicia, and his love for her soars to new heights.
"Clark, why did you tell Chloe about your origins? About Jor-El? Do you like her?"
"I decided to tell Chloe, because I thought I would need help to fix this problem. She wanted to know the truth, so I told her. I only have feelings for you, Alicia. You should know that. I know Chloe likes my past self, but I ignored her feelings."
"I know I should know that, but I was just making sure. How can she help?"
"Well, I figured that she printed that article, she might as well see the error of her ways."
Alicia moves her face over to Kal and they kiss, the warmth and happiness runs through Kal, and his soul melts from the love he has for her. Her kiss is light, as if she isn't even there. Kal opens his eyes, and Alicia is gone. He looks around frantically, and sees her, on the top of a hill, under an oak tree.
Come on, Clark. You gotta be fast here. Come and get me.
He hears her light laughter, and runs for her, a smile on his face. Just as he gets to the oak, the ground fall out from underneath him, and he falls, continuing to fall, until blackness overcomes him.
I'm sorry, Clark. You have to fix the time stream your own way now. I can't help you anymore. I love you, Clark...