[4 years later]
[Val-El]
The dining hall was unusually silent today, the red sun of Rao bleeding through from the windows. Val ate his food slowly, but all he tasted was ash. At the head of the crystalline table sat his father, his posture still as a statue, his food untouched. His father seemed to have aged ten cycles in the past few months.
This behavior hasn't changed in the past few months, and yet any time he tried to pry into his father's odd behavior, Jor-El waved him off. This didn't deter him, and he kept asking, yet his father seemed stubborn.
Val decided to find out for himself, since he already had an inkling as to what his father seemed to be hiding from him. It didn't take him long to verify his suspicions. Krypton was going to die.
Krypton was old; there was no denying that. Its core was old, which meant that the planet was doomed, but Krypton still had at least a few cycles left till its time. This time would have allowed him time to gain influence and save his people, even if it would be a small number. But, of course, a problem arose, yet it was one that he didn't expect.
It seems that the ruling Council of Krypton decided that they should harvest Krypton's core for resources, stating that the energy reserves were exhausted. But, this had the expected consequence of accelerating the time at which Krypton will implode.
Val didn't expect this level of idiocy, especially from what was the ruling body of Krypton, but it seems people have a way of surprising you.
Anger and disgust swelled within him at the thought of the Council. 'Fools,' he spat out in his mind. 'Craven fools who would rather hold on to the illusion of power, even when our race is about to face extinction.'
His hands clenched in anger, gripping the spoon tightly. Val was powerless to do anything about it, too late to do anything.
His mother's voice took him out of his thoughts. "Is something the matter, Jor?" She asked, looking at his father in slight concern. Jor-El didn't say anything, too absorbed in his thoughts, but Val noticed that his eyes flickered towards him for a second.
"I... have discovered something. Something that will doom us all." Jor-El spoke quietly, his eyes hollow. Lara leaned forward, her eyes concerned as she held his father's hand. "What is it, Jor?" she asked.
He sighed as the wrinkles on his face became more pronounced, which in turn made him notice the white hair on his father that Val hadn't noticed till now. It felt like his father had aged a few cycles in the past few months.
"For a while now, I have been monitoring Krypton's core and have noticed fluctuations ever since the Council ordered it to be harvested. I have brought my concerns to the Council, but they have ordered me not to push further. Yet, I ignored their orders, which has led me to discover something horrific. Krypton only has one cycle left to live."
Pin drop silence. His mother's eyes were wide open, her expression turning to one of horror. He himself felt his heart drop, even when he knew this information. The thought of his planet, his home, was about to die in a year left a hollow feeling in him. The feeling of powerlessness, helplessness, it all grated against him.
He thought that was the end of it, but he sensed that his father was hiding something. "There's more, isn't there?" Val asked. Jor-El opened his mouth and looked pained by what he was about to say.
"I... brought my findings to Non before I went to the Council, and he left after that. I haven't heard from him after that." He shot his father a discreet look of sympathy, as he could understand the pain in his father's voice.
"Then we must leave!" Val exclaimed, his voice serious. His parents turned to look at him. "We can't stay on Krypton. We need to figure out a way to leave. Can we not flee to one of the old outposts, father?" he asked, turning to look at his father.
The man sat in thought for a while, looking at him in contemplation. "It's a possibility, but one that I don't think will work. When the Council had the outposts shut down, they ordered everybody to evacuate the area. If there were people who stayed there, I doubt they would have survived due to the fact that there wasn't enough food to sustain them for a long period of time."
Val felt his jaw clench, his eyes narrowing at the answer he received. 'Damn it!' he thought. "What if we build a ship? We can escape before the planet's destruction. You could think of a reason to give to the Council, Father. Tell them it's a mission," Val said, yet he knew it was unlikely that the Council would agree. Especially after Jor-El brought his findings to them.
His father shook his head, frustration and defeat radiating off him in waves. "I wish so, my son. But what reason could I give them that includes taking my family with me? No, they might be old and ignorant, but they are not stupid. The only thing we can do is...." His father trailed off.
Jor-El sighed. "Send you and.... your sibling away from Krypton."
Val was about to object, but suddenly paused as father's words registered in his mind.".... A sibling?" he asked, uncertainty coloring his voice. He looked at his mother, who managed a weak smile and nodded at him, and turned back to his father, confusion written all over his face. "Why?"
He was confused. Why had his parents decided to have a child now? Yet, a realisation dawned upon him as he finally comprehended the words, and a feeling of dread settled on his shoulders. This was it. It finally registered to him that Krypton was indeed on its last legs.
His mother spoke up, her voice gentle. "It was unexpected, Val. They are growing right at this moment. " As she said that, her hand went towards her stomach. She turned to her father, who gave her a small smile that showed his love for her.
"They are already in the birthing Matrix, if you'd like to see them," she continued, her voice was gentle and warm, making him calm down slightly from his earlier fears.
He tried to answer, but the words didn't seem to leave his mouth. He stayed silent for a minute and somehow managed to find enough words to string a sentence. "But he won't ever know you..." he whispered, yet his voice seemed to reach them just fine.
Lara looked at him, and he could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes, and nodded sadly. His father seemed to know this, too, and chose to stay silent. Val couldn't speak. Couldn't really think.
"I, uh, I'd like to be excused." Val didn't wait for the approval and stood up. The chair was moving backwards as he did so. His feet moved instinctively, taking him away from the dining hall.
He heard the voice of his mother yelling out to him, yet he ignored her. The doors parted open as he neared, and he left without hesitation. He didn't have a destination in mind; what he wanted was just to get away from there.
He was going to have a sibling. A sibling that wouldn't experience what it was like on Krypton, where they would have to live without the knowledge of their birth parents. Val couldn't imagine not knowing his parents, and the idea that his brother wouldn't know who they were. What they were like left him with a hollow feeling.
They, one of the greatest races in the universe, couldn't escape their destruction. With the only survivors being a handful from what was a race of billions. What a cruel joke...
Looking around him, he noticed that he was in the garden, a place his mother tended to. It was one of the few places where you could see plant life in the estate. Val sat on the ground and looked up at the red sky of Krypton.
He burned it into his memory so that he wouldn't forget it. The thought of this beautiful place gone left him angry, which made his thoughts turn to the Council once again. "Old fools!" he hissed beneath his breath. "Worms. Decrepit, ignorant, greedy old people. They would sacrifice us all just for one more day of power. They are leading us to ruin!" His fist slammed the ground in anger.
"Is everything alright, Val?" The voice of his AI companion, Sol, made him come back to reality. "No, everything is not alright. Our people are dying, and the only people who could save us are instead leading us to our doom. What can I do?"
Sol didn't answer him right away, but soon spoke. "I was going to tell you this after your dinner with your parents, but I'll tell you now. I have gained access to your father's lab as you asked me, and I can tell he is building a ship. But..." Sol hesitated.
"What is it? If there is more information, tell me now," Val ordered, to which Sol immediately complied. "I can tell based on the ship's design that it isn't meant to fit more than two people, one that is a baby and the other a child of ten."
Val hummed; his mind instantly knew that Jor-El was building a ship just for him and his sibling. The man seemed determined to make them survive. "Anything else?" he asked.
"Yes, I have also discovered that he is researching a planet by the name of Earth, which is located in the Sol system. More specifically, he is researching the star there," Sol said.
"I see," Val said quietly to himself. He heard the sound of footsteps and turned to see his mother walking towards him calmly. She looked beautiful today. Glowing too.
"Mother," he said, moving to stand up. "Stay, Val." She stopped him as she sat near him. "I thought I would find you here."
He looked at her in confusion, which made her chuckle slightly. "While your father seeks solace in his lab, you come to the garden to get away when you are frustrated," she said, holding his shoulder.
A chuckle escaped his lips. "I find it calming here, and beautiful. Krypton is filled with towering skyscrapers and technology, and I find solace when I come here." Val admitted to her, leaning into her.
She grabbed his chin gently, making him look up at her. Lara looked at him as she studied his features. "You share most of your features with your father, but the shape of your eyes reminds me of mine." He smiled at her words. "And my smile, of course," she added playfully.
This was one reason he loved his parents. They expressed their emotions more freely than any other Kryptonian, unlike most parent-child relationships, where they were cold and distant. His parents showed their love, which in turn made him love them.
"What troubles you, my son?" she asked him suddenly, which made him remember the previous conversation. He sighed, letting the tension slip away from him. "I can't lose you, mother," he admitted quietly, staring at the grass.
Lara stayed silent, letting him continue. "The idea that you and Father will have a child, one who will grow up and not know you, hurts me. I will only have stories to tell, yet what will that change? You will be gone. Krypton will be gone. And in the end, I will have to take care of a child all by myself."
He felt her arm wrap around his shoulders, and he leaned into her frame. The feeling of crying came to him, but he banished it. He will not cry.
"I will tell you something, Val." He looked up at her, waiting for her to continue. "Your father and I have made preparations for this. We are sending you to a planet called Earth, where the atomsphere and gravity are weaker there, unlike Krypton's harsher conditions. It orbits a young star, one which grants you abilities you in ways I know not, Val."
He listened with rapt attention as she spoke, and nodded once she finished. "Amazing," Val whispered in awe. He had known that he would gain abilities, but to hear it being said was a different feeling. To know that he could be able to push entire planets away seemed incredulous right now, but would be possible in the future.
So far, he had been developing a suit, one which would store any excess solar radiation, while also being able to resist Kryptonite. He will not let himself be exposed to a weakness that could kill him.
"Amazing it is, Val," Lara told him, and he leaned into her as they watched the red sky of Krypton. They stayed silent, enjoying the scenery together. Just a mother and son, sitting together.