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Motionless.
The young woman, just months into her 20s, kept a menacing eye pressed against a lengthy scope, keeping a keen eye on the city below.
Paris.
The bustling, energetic city she once knew, the crowning capital of France, the most romantic city in the world, now an empty, dusty, silent shadow of its former self.
Years back, when younger, she was thrust back into the world, into the lively suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt - Into a boarding school with the four people that brought her out of the world she was once captive in, who kept her as safe and happy as they possibly could, and kept fighting against the enemy haunting her, trying to rid of her and her friends, having already rid of her father, and indirectly, her mother.
She winced, a pang in her heart, for her family, and for her friends.
It was only a few years ago that I was attending school, preparing for a bright future, despite a ten year absence from earth...
A few years ago... Before the sweeping loss of control over continental Europe. Before the virus, its alias 'X.A.N.A', instigated an entire war on humanity, starting right in the middle of Europe.
Country by country fell into darkness within months of the war's beginning. Most of the central European population fled to escape the war, the destitution... The machines.
The very creatures my friends and I waged war against in their youth, on the digital frontier controlled by X.A.N.A, now being materialized right onto the earth directly. Krabs, Kankrelats, and occasionally Tarantulas and Bloks... Thankfully, the flying Hornets never have been seen on earth. Maybe our gravity is too strong for them...
At least the biggest ones don't seem to be appearing anymore - Megatanks.
A good thing too. One of them could easily wipe out the convenient, tall perch I call home... A cozy little camp at the top of the Eiffel tower.
Somehow spared from the vicious warfare in the streets below, this old monument now looks over the whole of Paris, with a view to every building, and every street nearby.
The perfect place for a sniper like me.
She smiled, and moving her eye away from the scope, sat up, carefully bringing the barrel of the considerably large rifle through the hole she cut through the fence.
.50 caliber. Easily capable of taking out a Krab with one well-placed shot.
Kankrelats didn't stand a chance either, but being so small, they weren't worth wasting the ammunition. Bloks, though rarer, were just as easy to pick off.
With the destitution of her home city, she didn't view her superior advantage to the monsters below as being unfair - The death, suffering, and uncontrolled chaos, of the virus' partial design, was paid back with every bullet.
She knew that someday soon, with the lack of reliable electricity in the darkness of Europe, and the literal blocking of all communication to parts of the world untouched, that the bastard entity, X.A.N.A, who no doubt considered its plan to eradicate humanity infallible, helped design its own downfall, needing sources of electricity to function.
With power plants abandoned, and several destroyed, you couldn't get power if you tried. And with every further monster created, X.A.N.A slowly was draining itself of energy.
Infallible.
She scoffed silently.
Sometimes Jeremy probably thought he was too...
She then bit her tongue, and was close to slapping herself in the face.
Jeremy fought valiantly over the years, and no doubt helped keep her alive.
And was suddenly slain mercilessly.
Just like Yumi.
Just like many that once attended Kadic Academy.
A lone tear forced itself out of her eye, and she waited as it slid down her face, collecting at her chin.
She didn't bother to wipe it off.
Up high on the observation deck of the Eiffel tower, was where she found her new home. Up high above the remains of a once-civilized, once beautiful Europe. Keeping an eye out, and slowly eliminating monsters, one by one.
For as much of a bright future that was planned, she never expected to be where she was now. She never even knew what a gun was until all hell started breaking loose on the streets, and she ran away from the factory into the mess of urban warfare.
The factory.
It used to produce automobiles, and it used to house the Supercomputer. Lyoko. Years of her father's work. The former prison of X.A.N.A.
She turned her head, and after a moment of searching, her eyes warily found the factory.
She instantly shut her eyes. Just beyond, was the blackened remains of the beautiful, tree-wreathed campus she once called home.
Memories welled up instantly - Unbearably.
She made a point to look away from that area as often as she could. It was the one place that she didn't keep an eye, and her rifle, upon.
Suddenly, her ears perked, hearing a noise.
Birds?
No. Footsteps...
She stayed stone silent, and clutched the high caliber rifle tightly in her hands, listening closely.
As quiet as the city was, it was easy to tell when something was moving, out of place...
Definitely footsteps.
They drew closer, until -
"Hmm?"
The girl instantly turned around, raised the rifle up to her shoulder, and stuck the end of the enormous silencer on the barrel right in front of the human's face, her finger tight against the trigger.
- And then realized, the same person had a graciously sized handgun drawn, and aiming at her too.
She stared at whoever it was, but being another human, her finger on the trigger, slowly relaxed.
One slip up, and a potential ally would be dead, their head quite literally blown to pieces...
To her slight surprise, the figure lowered the gun, and slipped it into a holster on his belt.
In response, she uneasily lowered the barrel of her rifle.
Ally.
Then, she watched cautiously as the figure reached up to its helmet and mask -
- And pulled both off.
The girl's mouth opened instantly, and she stumbled back, up against the chain-link fence, clutching the rifle in her arms.
Staring at her, in just the same stupor, was a young blonde man.
"Odd."
The name escaped her in a breath. Her heart kicked into overdrive.
She set the rifle down, and stood to her feet.
Despite his short hair, it had to be him.
She stepped slowly forward, still staring at his face, until she stopped, right in front of him.
Her hands reached up, and she touched his shoulders, and then, both sides of his face.
"...Odd."
She whispered, and her stare quickly disappeared, replaced instead, by a wall of emotion that was just seconds from exploding.
Her hand moved down under his chin, and the blonde's mouth trembled - and then opened.
"...Aelita."
Both of them collided tightly together, and released their pent up emotions.
Aelita let her tears flow freely, making no attempt to retain her normal, steeled nature, and Odd, overcome with such a sudden disappearance of grief, couldn't help letting a few fall himself.
He slowly rubbed his hand across her back as she wept over his shoulder.
Then, a minute or so later, she drew her head back and looked at him, looked longingly into his eyes.
"I t-thought you were... Dead."
He reached down, and collected her hands, watching as she eyed him mournfully.
"I didn't know what to think about you... And you've lasted this long all by yourself..."
His words ended feebly, but their hands squeezed each other tightly, refusing outright to let go.
Aelita's breaths were irregular, and Odd had simply lost any further words.
"...We're alive." She whispered, fighting back her own disbelief.
He nodded, shakily.
"Alive."
Then, she drug his head forward - Eagerly - Into a kiss.
Something never shared in their youth.
It lasts longer than she expected... The lack of a surprised reaction from him, maybe.
After it ends, a single second passes, and Odd brings her into another.
No school, no jealous pupils, nothing about pretend cousins...
Locked in a second, sweet kiss, Aelita's heart fluttered. From the closeness. From the sincerity.
She should have kissed him long ago... Before all of this happened. Before everybody she knew disappeared and perished.
...Everybody except Odd.
He had constantly thrown his life on the line for her in days past, and somehow managed to survive to this day, and find her...
The least she could do, was thank him in the best way she knew how.
Their lips slowly separated, and Aelita took in a great breath, releasing years of silent sorrow as she exhaled.
She then turned, with one hand still held.
"Come... Sit with me."
Both of them stepped over, and then crouched, and sat down, leaning against one of the crates.
A brief moment later, and she changed her mind about sitting next to him.
She leaned forward, plucked the enormous rifle off the ground, and then scooted over and reclined back against Odd, sitting between his legs and laying the gun across her lap.
She watched as his right arm carefully set down an AK47 assault rifle next to them both, and then settled snug against him as he too, leaned back against the crate.
His arms quietly snaked around her, and she smiled, filled with warmth, and the best company there could ever be.
Things I hadn't felt in years.
She closed her eyes as his hand rested atop her head, and he fiddled with groups of her hair, which was still distinctively red, like it always had been.
"...Where have you been all this time, Odd?"
He paused.
"A lot of places... Seen a lot of terrible things..."
She stayed quiet for a little while, but was enjoying having her hair played with.
"Have you seen... Ulrich?"
Odd's hand dropped flat on her head.
"Last time he and I were together was in Düsseldorf a few months ago. After that, we split up... Haven't seen or heard anything of him since."
He took in an uneasy breath, but a few seconds afterward, resumed fiddling with her hair.
"How long have you been all the way up here?"
Aelita's eyes lowered to the rifle in her lap, and after staring at the etches in the sliding bolt mechanism, she sighed.
"I haven't kept track of the date anymore... I know I've been up here at least a year by now... Maybe a little longer."
Odd then smiled.
"...Are you the one responsible for all of the monsters with a single huge bullet hole in their heads?"
She nodded, and proudly lifted up the rifle, watching as his hands appeared just outside of hers, and lifted it gently out of her grasp.
After a few seconds of looking the monstrous firearm over, he set it back into her hands again.
"...Now, how did a girl like you end up with a gun like this?"
She leaned her head against his.
"I stole it... Almost died when it happened."
Odd blinked, somewhat amazed.
".50 caliber?"
She nodded.
"Yep. Surprisingly quiet too."
Odd's eyes fell upon the huge sound suppressor fitted onto the barrel, and for a moment, he was proud that she made off with a weapon like this.
It kept her alive, and could reach out and touch the enemy long before they even knew where the shot came from.
"Any sidearms...?" He then asked.
She faltered, and then shook her head no.
After a few moments of fidgeting with something, Odd took off a different holster, and set it in her lap.
She undid the button on the cover flap, and withdrew a hefty Black pistol.
Releasing the clip, it slid down into her hand, and she looked over the bullets tucked neatly inside.
"228 Compact... It's a .357 magnum cleverly disguised as a regular slide action handgun."
She turned her head, and with a momentary, appreciative glance, pressed a kiss into his cheek.
"...Fires as fast as you can pull the trigger."
She then tucked it back into the pouch, closed the flap, and set it aside, next to Odd's assault rifle lying next to them.
The sky above, previously a brownish blend of clouds, was now darkening, and the cloud cover was slowly receding.
Both of them sat silently, as the city of Paris around them, quietly sunk into darkness.
Continental Europe, was again turning black...
Slowly, but surely, local wildlife, and the occasional whistle of wind began to drown out the silence, with birds chirping, perched up on the high observation post, just like the two of them.
Everything grew dark, remarkably fast.
Aelita stirred, and sat up for a moment, reaching over and opening a case, and pulling out a bag of food rations.
"...There's a blanket in the case to your left."
Odd reached over, opened it, and sure enough, a rolled up blanket bundle was present.
He tugged it out, opened it up, and draped it over both of them, and Aelita lifted herself, and tucked it underneath, causing him to do the same.
They resumed laying together lazily, which slowly turned into a cuddle, and Aelita rested her head back next to his, looking up at the clear, night sky.
The stars above, were just as beautiful as they always had been.
Then, after a period of silence, Aelita's heart ached when the question came across her mind.
"...Odd."
"...Yes?"
"Are you gonna keep moving on, like you said?"
She waited anxiously for his response.
Then, he breathed a gentle sigh.
"Now that I've found you up here... No."
Her held breath escaped, and he touched his lips tenderly against her neck.
"The last thing I would do now, is leave you behind again, Aelita."
She closed her eyes in a blush.
Another thing I haven't done in a while...
"We tried saving the world when we were younger. Now, we just gotta stay alive, and do what we can to get rid of X.A.N.A. once and for all."
She turned her head to the side, sidled down a little ways, and then rested her head against his chest, even though it was under Kevlar.
His hand returned to her hair, and he stroked her head softly, easing her into a well deserved slumber.
"...And then, one day, the world will finally start to fix itself."
He watched as she dozed off, drifting slowly away into dreamland, and gently grinned.
"Sweet dreams... Princess."
Her face slowly changed into a smile, from hearing the name again, and a light blush crept across her cheeks.
"Dream a dream that humanity would cherish... A new, reborn Europe, even more beautiful than before."
His arms delicately wrapped around her.
"...A reborn world, free from the evil we've been fighting against for years."
She nuzzled her head against him, and after finding a comfortable position, she finally dozed off, and drifted into silent, deep sleep.
Her eyes, though closed, were still at work, processing the long day, and the reuniting she thought would never, ever happen for the rest of her life.
Odd, his own eyes closed, reflected days gone by... The last moments he saw her before everything changed, one morning several years ago.
Peeping an eye open, he looked down upon Aelita.
Despite being 20, despite being in survival gear and despite being armed to the teeth, she was still the same, young, beautiful girl.
A little tougher, a little rougher, but still just as innocent as he remembered.
His eye shut again, and he smiled.
Together, with their combined skill, combined arsenal, and each other for company, they could very well turn the tide of war, and take back what rightly belongs to them.
What belongs to everybody.
A world without danger.
END.