(POV Thara)

The streets are absolute chaos. People falling over due to the constant shaking. Buildings collapsing and set aflame in mere moments. Explosions going off all over. I don't know what to do. I want to help. But I need to get home. But I'm frozen at the carnage around me. I'm drawing blanks. What should I do?

*Crack*

"MOVE KID!" A loud voice sounds behind me as I'm roughly pushed forward into the ground before something crashes behind me. I skid across the ground a little before coming to a halt. It hurt but most likely not nearly as much as what I was just saved from. Thankfully that push managed to jump-start my thoughts again.

I turn to thank the man who saved me only to go pale and almost vomit from the sight. A man, most likely a soldier by the little armor I can see, lay crushed under a large chunk of wall. Positioned right where I was standing not too long ago.

Is this my fault? Is he ok? IS HE OK!

"MR. ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" I rush to the man screaming. Please by alright! Kryptonians are sturdy, something like this shouldn't be fatal right!?

My fears are unfounded. He's still moving so he must be alright. He opens his eyes to look at me as I try to check him over and maybe find an angle I can move this rubble. It's too heavy for me to lift. Kryptonians are strong, even as kids, but this is too much for me. I'm not strong enough.

*Cough* "Look, kid. You got to go. Get off the streets. *Cough* I'll be fine." he says coughing up blood on my chest. He's not fine at all! What do I do!? Should I get someone to help? I can't remember any spells that might help. I was never that good at healing spells. What to do?

"KID! *Cough* You got to move. Hurry up. *Cough* I'm a soldier. This is what we do. You really want to get in more trouble right after I saved your ass?" he urged me while trying to look angry. He's in pain. I want to help.

But he's right.

I can't help right now. If I don't move now I'd let his sacrifice be in vain.

*BOOM* *Bubble*

Another explosion goes off not too far away and lava starts to seep through some of the cracks near us. At this rate, he will…

"RUN KID! START MOVING!" I'm snapped out of my thoughts and I'm already standing and running the other direction towards home.

"Thank You! I'm sorry!" I couldn't help but yell out to the man who's name I never even got before hurrying along. Tears cloud my eyes as I offer up a small prayer to Rao for the unknown man while promising to never forget him.

# # #

(POV Alura Kal-El)

Sigh. I can't help but feel a bit melancholic right now as I hurriedly move along downloading all of Krypton's technological and magical knowledge into a preprogrammed codex while using telekinesis to move a few more things into the portable sunstone fortress outside.

I knew this day would come. We have been preparing for it since the day my little angel was born. But even so, knowing it's here now. I can't help but have second thoughts.

I've tried over the years to keep my distance between us so I wouldn't grow attached but despite all my efforts that little ball of sunshine really can't help but grow on you.

She tries so hard to put on a tough front so others won't look down on her, but I know deep down, under that facade is a lonely little girl looking for acceptance in a broken world. After all, mother knows best. 'She may try to hide it but she's a hundred years too early to get one over on me.' I thought smugly as I finished the final download of the guild archive.

I still remember the day she was born. Everyone present could tell she would be something special. She just radiated power practically glowing as her little spoofs of hair flickered between black and blonde before finally settling down.

I was enchanted with her the moment I finally held her in my arms. The only time I had been as happy was when that big oaf finally asked to marry me, and even that comes at a hard second place.

It wasn't until those damn Raoist came and delivered their so-called prophecy that everything went downhill. Kal's birth, his achievements, our meeting, and finally her destiny. All having been recorded years prior. It honestly made me sick. To feel as though I were walking on the palm of someone else's hand was infuriating. Even if it were a god. A feeling I never want my angel to feel ever, which is why I hammered proper planning into her sweet little head over and over. She must learn to always be ten steps ahead of others so she never has to feel so helpless.

As the final item is placed in the fortress the entrance closes and the entire thing shrinks down to a handheld size. Regardless of how annoying Kal says he was to deal with, I'm glad we at least managed to get a hold of Brainiac's shrinking technology. This way I'm assured she'll have everything she might possibly need for her journey.

I grab the little crystal dome and make my way to the ship. I'm not too worried about Thara at this moment. She's been trained by her father and myself so I'm sure she'll make it home safe and sound. She just has to follow her teachings and she'll be fine.

Though she has a pertinence to getting lost in her thoughts and panics a bit when overwhelmed. Hmm, maybe someone should have gone to pick her up after all. No, she will be fine. She will have to overcome much greater trials in the future. If something like this was enough to bring her down…

Then wouldn't this all be for nothing?

I pause my steps. I'm having second thoughts about all of this. This so-called prophecy could all just be a coincidence, right? Will she really be alright out there alone? Isn't it better to just keep her with me where it's safe? She's just a child for Rao sake! Why does she need to endure such trials!? Why her!? Couldn't it have been any child!? Why mine!?

"Alura" A calm voice quells my anger as I look into the eyes of my beloved. Don't look at me like that. Always acting like you can see right through me. My shoulders start to shake uncontrollably and tears threaten to fall as he pulls me into a tight hug.

We don't have time for this. I know that. But I don't want to let her go. So many things are uncertain. I hate this feeling. I can't plan anything this time. I can't be sure. Anything can happen to her out there. What if she's not ready?

"You just have to trust that she is." I'm not sure if I even said that out loud or he really does know what I'm thinking.

"We've done our best to prepare her for this day. There's nothing left but to hope for the best and that one day we'll meet again." he says while rubbing my back, the same way he did when we first had this damn prophecy hung over our heads.

Hope, huh?

"It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars." Those were the same words he said to me after I banished my own father to another dimension. The second hardest decision of my life. Although the man was crazy, he was still my father and had raised me with love up until that point. This, however, is infinitely more challenging than that decision will ever be.

"I'm fine now, let's get going" I straighten up and wipe away the tears. That's right, I can't give up hope just yet. Things may be tough for all of us, but I know we'll persevere. And maybe, just maybe, one day we'll meet and be a family again.

Who knows maybe she'll bring a husband or wife along with her. Oh, I'm well aware of her little crush on her friend Kara. It's a shame I never got around to teaching her about relationships. She can be a little dense at times. The other girl was practically throwing out hints left and right that she wouldn't mind trying something out.

Of course, if it doesn't have to do with her research she becomes about as clueless as her father. Sigh maybe they'll meet again in the future who knows. I sure don't.

"PAPA! MAMA!"

We've already made our way to the lab when we hear the front door thrown open and the frantic yell to follow. My heart wavers yet again and almost bursts at her cry and accompanying appearance. She hasn't called me mama in years. Another one of her attempts at trying to be more mature than she actually is. She's covered in dirt, soot, blood, and tears and I couldn't help but drag her into the tightest hug I know I've ever given her.

"Mama what's going on!? Everything is on fire! Auntie said to come home! But But that man got crushed and he told me to run and Val was on fire and and-" she starts crying, hyperventilating, and panicking. Clearly, as a result of now being in a place she perceives as safe. Running purely off adrenaline up until this point.

I want nothing more than to comfort her and talk things through since she's obviously experienced some kind of trauma and I don't want it to leave any psychological scars. But we just don't have the time. We need to get to the guild to get things ready. I don't have the time necessary to deal with such a delicate situation. No matter how much I want to.

I start casting a subtle sleep spell in preparation to send her off. I know her. If she has a choice she won't go by herself. Even if we tried to force her. She doesn't realize it yet but she's far stronger than any Kryptonian under a red sun should ever be. Especially one at her age.

Sigh, my angel really is dense. I'm sure she only thinks she's weak because she can't beat her father in a fight. But the fact that he has to fight her at least semi-seriously completely escapes her during their training sessions. She's a prodigy like none before her. If only she could see that for herself. I hope wherever she ends up, she'll learn to love herself as much as we do.

"Thara. Listen to me. You're going to have to go now. This ship was only made to hold one person and that has to be you. I'm sorry we can't tell you everything right now. The A.I on the ship will grant you access to that information when it deems you're ready. Believe me, I wish there was another way but this is the only choice we have. Stay strong sweetie. I love you." I tried to keep up the stern facade that I've held all these years, but I really just can't do it right now. I don't want her to go, but she has to.

She starts to get a little wobbly but still manages to express her shock, confusion, and disbelief while slowly trying to back away. This is what I mean, that spell would be able to knock out a grown man in two seconds at most if used on anyone else.

"I-I don't understand. Mama where am I going? Why can't you come? I'm scared I don't want to leave!" She begs and I nearly break down right there and call the whole thing off. She always tries to be strong in front of others. Even when she was much smaller, she would never admit when she was frightened. Seeing her like this, hearing her like this, breaks my heart.

"Thara. Sweetie, everything is going to be alright." Kal comes up from behind her and gently lifts her into his arms, the sleep spell finally kicking in a bit more as her struggles can only be described as half-hearted at best.

"Papa...why? Please don't go...I'll do better…" She begins to trail off finally drifting in and out of sleep as I finally lose my last semblance of restraint and begin to quietly sob.

"What did I tell you before? I'll always be proud of you, no matter what. Things will be hard for you from now on. You'll experience joy, sorrow, love, loss, victory, and defeat. But so long as you wear that symbol on your chest, you must never lose hope. No matter what. So long as you choose to hope, anything is possible. I love you, sweetie. Until we meet again" He finishes while placing her in the ship without a single sign of hesitation. As if he firmly believes she will be absolutely fine.

I need to be the same. I step to stand beside him as she only manages to mutter our names before finally falling into a deep slumber. Although my eyes are still wet with tears I can't help but smile at the sight. Even covered in all that filth she still looks adorable while sleeping. One of my favorite past times was watching her sleep since I tried to limit my interactions with her while she was awake. A decision I will sorely regret for the rest of my life, as I watch Kal put in the coordinates and start the autopilot systems up.

He puts his arm around my shoulder and I can't help but lean in as we watch the ship take off with a blast.

This is the start of her journey now. It will be filled with hardships I'm sure. She will have to make tough decisions all on her own. She will experience unimaginable pain and suffering coupled with the fun and joy along the way. She might fall in love. She might get her heartbroken. She might experience discrimination. She might become a hero. She might save a world. She might end one as well.

I don't know what her journey has in store for her. But, I'm confident she will be just fine. After all,

[Mother Knows Best]

UncrownedKing

And that marks the end of the prologue. honestly, I didn't expect it to be this long. I wanted you all to get a feel for her character before some of the psychological damage this event caused starts to show up but it ended up dragging on longer than anticipated.

Now as for the fate of Krypton and her family. I'm actually going to leave it rather open-ended for now. I know that sucks, but originally I just planned to blow the whole planet up and be done with it. but then I remembered things don't have to play out the same way as DC and I could already think of multiple ways people in marvel could survive a planet-wide explosion. especially those with magic. so my idea was to give them a plan to escape but never tell if it actually works out or not. as of right now, I don't know myself if they survived or not. I have a few ideas for arcs where they did survive but they wouldn't come into play until much much later in the story so it's irrelevant for now.