"Mom?"
Inside the originally sealed barn, Eric saw his mother, Martha, standing in front of the cellar, arms crossed, her brows furrowed as she gazed at the bottom of the cellar, seemingly deep in thought.
Hearing the sound, Martha was startled, but after turning her head and seeing it was Eric, she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Did something happen?"
Eric glanced at the spaceship in the cellar with his X-ray vision and asked his mother.
"No, nothing, I just like coming to look recently. You know, this place holds extraordinary significance for you and Clark, and for Jonathan and me. Sometimes, I wonder…"
"Will you two leave me one day? After all, you and Clark arrived in that spaceship."
Martha smiled, but her smile was a bit bitter.
"No, we won't."
Eric came over and put his arm around his mother's shoulder, "It will never happen. I won't leave you, and neither will Clark."
Although he didn't understand why his mother had suddenly become so pessimistic, he still comforted her in a low voice.
"But things are always changing, and we cannot see the future."
Martha shook her head, "Just like the conflict between your father and Clark earlier, even though it was because Clark's personality was changed by the red kryptonite, it also shows that you two are gradually growing up."
"Your father is always very strict with you two. Perhaps you and Clark will criticize him for being controlling and narrow-minded, but don't forget that your father also has a deep side."
Eric was silent for a moment upon hearing this, then replied, "I will, so Mother, what exactly happened?"
Martha hesitated for a moment, looking at the sealed opening of the cellar.
"A few days ago, you were in Gotham and hadn't returned. One night I woke up and heard movement from the barn, so I got up to check."
"Was it the spaceship making noise?"
Eric asked his mother with a frown.
"Yes, I don't know what happened to it. When I opened the door and came in, I found light coming from inside the sealed cellar, so I pulled the pulley to open the cellar. The spaceship was shaking and emitting a strange green light. It looked like it was calling out to you and Clark."
After Martha finished recounting her previous experience, she looked at Eric with a complicated expression, "This is why I'm worried. I'm afraid of losing you and Clark. You will eventually grow and mature, and then choose your own paths. Perhaps at that time, you will leave us in that spaceship. I'm afraid of losing you, truly afraid."
"I know what path I will choose, and it won't be the one you're worried about, Mom."
After comforting his mother in a low voice, he asked her, "Did you tell Dad about this?"
"Not yet. At that time, he was worried about Clark's rebellion, and I didn't want him to worry more, so I didn't tell him."
"I see."
Eric pondered for a moment and said nothing more.
He reached into his pocket with his right hand, gripping the octagonal metal piece he had just received from Doctor Hamilton.
This octagonal metal piece should be part of the spaceship.
He just didn't know if it was merely a metal fragment or some kind of key or crucial device to activate the spaceship.
At Niel's farm, Lana was trotting around the farm on a small horse.
After two laps, she was about to rest when her gaze fell upon Clark by the fence.
Clark, with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a few ranunculus flowers, greeted Lana as she rode her pony over.
"Hey, Lana! Niel told me you like riding horses, so I hurried over. It's really beautiful here."
Taking his hand out of his pocket, Clark, holding the ranunculus flowers with both hands, said somewhat awkwardly:
"I kept getting lost on the way here, but I finally made it."
To cover his awkwardness, Clark coughed.
"So, these are for me?"
Lana didn't dismount from her horse but asked him directly with a blank expression.
"Yes, I… I want to apologize to you. I shouldn't have taken your necklace, and I completely ruined it in the end. I know what it meant to you, so I want to say, I'm sorry."
Clark nervously shook the flowers in his hand and said sincerely.
"You think that after you give me flowers, I'll just pretend nothing happened?"
Lana still asked with a cold face.
"I…"
Clark showed a look of guilt, "What I said and what I did before, that wasn't my intention, Lana."
"Uh-huh, so everything you said was false? Clark?"
Lana continued to press, "Everything you said to me, what you said to your father, what you said to Eric, all of it was false?"
Clark looked at the ranunculus flowers in his hand, "I wish I could give you an explanation, but I can't."
Yes, he couldn't defend himself.
Even if it wasn't his intention, there was no justification for what he had done or said.
"You're always like this, Clark."
Lana disappointedly turned her gaze to the sunset on the horizon, "You can never express your feelings, always hiding your emotions, acting like an understanding and gentle boy. I even thought you were better when you were influenced by the red kryptonite. At least then you would express your thoughts freely, whether it was liking or hating, or disliking, or desiring to obtain…"
Lana now fully expressed her thoughts.
She wasn't simply angry because he had damaged her necklace.
It was Clark's awkwardness, always suppressing his emotions and feelings deep inside.
"Some people are destined to wait for others, and some people are destined to be waited for, Clark, you are the latter."
"Lana, I'm really sorry, I…"
Lana didn't wait for him to finish, turning her pony around to leave.
"I want to go home alone. Can you go back by yourself?"
"Yes, I hope I can."
Clark tried not to lose his composure, nodded, and replied with pursed lips.
"OK."
Lana patted the horse's head, and the reddish-brown pony quickly galloped forward.
Clark leaned on the fence, watching Lana's retreating figure.
Boundless sadness quickly overwhelmed him.
Was it because he was too afraid of losing, that he was so indecisive?
He glanced at the ranunculus flowers in his hand, and Clark gently placed them on the ground.
But why, after losing, did he still have to be punished?!
Turning to leave the stable, Clark asked himself in his heart.
Was it what he deserved?!
Only then did he realize the cost of recklessly wielding power.
Once he couldn't control his talents and acted solely on instinct and complete lack of emotion, then he would receive the most severe and harsh punishment.