Count Paris Meets Paris

Note: Code Lyoko fan-fiction. It seems that returns to the past are causing rifts within time and space. Apparently this return brings a fictional character to life. Upon being introduced to a world that is so different from his own that he feels bewildered. He is out of sorts until he sees the new love of his life in the city of Lights, Elisabeth Delmas. This dimensions Romeo (Odd) and Paris (XANA) are quite impressed, and Oleander, with daughter Diana on the way, feels jealous.

Chapter 1—Meeting the Count

Once more the Warriors had found themselves fighting a battle they had been previously unprepared for. This time, Umbra had created a flying monster that was difficult for the Warriors to hit the creature from their Mech. Quickly ejecting themselves from their metal fortress, they tried hitting the chimera from the ground. The being itself was a cross between a chimera and a gryphon. Taelia had gotten sideswiped by the beast. In Lyoko, life points were supposed to decline when a character was hit and hers were dropping subsequently. She had unfortunately, started bleeding and she looked at her friends in horror.

"We're not supposed to bleed in the virtual world. This isn't right. Something has gone wrong.", she said, becoming a little bit concerned. Since the last return to the past, the fabric between the real world and the virtual world were becoming thinner and thinner. Umbra had regained strength since their last bout and was determined to destroy the Warriors with his monstrosity "Chaos", victory seemed inevitable. Taelia had been hurt horribly and she started looking pale. She fell to her knees and Suzanne covered her with a shield, which the Chaos blasted through. The blast knocked Suzanne into a summerset in the air until she was caught by Jim.

"We have to go back…We're getting swamped.", Patric mentioned, Millie and Tamiya under his arms for protection. Jeramie didn't want to admit it but his friends were suffering from the attacks the Chaos was causing. He had even had his face sliced by one of its talons. If he didn't act now, they would surely all be dead in moments. XANA and Oleander surrounded them in a luminescent bubble, beginning a return to the past.

When they opened their eyes, they had landed in Paris and their wounds had been healed.

"Qu'est-ce que c'est ?" (1), Paris asked, wondering what had hit him when he awakened. He then saw Sissi and his mouth nearly dropped.

"Are you alright ?", she asked the young well-dressed man who had just regained his senses. The young man was dressed in period clothing befitting a man from the Middle Ages. His face was surrounded by a cream-colored ruff, followed by a striped pair of pantaloons that were in a various number of dark purple shades. His maroon jerkin was laced over a white long sleeved shirt with ruffles on the cuffs. His eyes were haunting, yet enticing in their shade of brown; almost as if they were black. His hair was dark, curly and formed around his cheeks and his right eye sported a fancy gold-rimmed monocle. On each hand, there were jewels of considerable sizes, shimmering in the sun. He seemed to be a bit boastful in showing them off.

"Yes, I am fine. I seem to have been overcome by a swoon.", Count Paris stated, honestly.

"Wait, I know who this character is ! But…it can't be ! He's supposed to be fictional.", Will said, in disbelief, shaking his head back and forth.

"What do you mean by that, Will ?", Sam said, becoming confused.

"That man who is currently trying to woo Sissi is none other than Count Paris from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. How odd, Paris in Paris. Ironic.", Will said, trying to be witty. Sam, of course, laughed at her love's precise wit.

"He is exactly as I imagined he would be. Elegant, verbose, affluent and a bit pompous.", Odd said, becoming a bit jealous of Paris's advances to Sissi. Since Paris was still discombobulated, the Warriors decided to help him adjust to this different place and time. At least he could speak French fluently, which gave him an advantage to assimilating into society a bit easier. But first, the group had to get him some new clothes to wear so he wouldn't seem so obvious.

Chapter 2—Unfamiliar Ground

The smartest minds in the group couldn't possibly figure out how Count Paris had become flesh and blood within the real world. The only answer Herve had was that time/space had been compromised. Nothing was ever going to make sense in the aspect of a theory (particularly one that was specifically mathematic) that had no physical proof. The Warriors had their proof of time-flux within the actual world yet even Jeramie's colossal mind couldn't process it. Paris was still inquisitive of where he was and what date it was. He was out of his element, but he felt so much better with Sissi by his side. Odd, however, was irritated and XANA tried to protect her, which a very pregnant Oleander objected to. All she had to do was glare at him in frustration and he knew that once all of this was over, he would be in the doghouse once he had a home to come back to.

Paris also couldn't quite place a finger on it, but Sissi completely reminded the Count of his fiancée, Juliet, the thirteen-year-old daughter of Lord Capulet. This had been why he was so infatuated with her to begin with. If ever love at first sight existed beyond the realm of fiction, it had occurred instantly. He received an envious vibe from her boyfriend, Odd. He didn't seem to be the violent type, but Paris felt that if Dellarobia had been challenged to a duel, he would duel to the death for his lady love. Some things, he admitted to himself, never changed, even since ancient times.

As Paris came to know France, he became more and more inquisitive. These places he had only heard about throughout his "life". He had to accept he was a character that existed only within the realm of fiction and the mind. He found it sad that this was true, since he had fallen so hard for Sissi, but knew that there was no way of them ever finding true love between their two worlds. It was, frankly, impossible.

Chapter 3—A Bizarre Route to Home

Paris had been staying in a motel nearby and working in an antique parlor, where the children would visit him during his work hours. Today had been the same as any other, except Sissi wished Paris to see her home for a grand tour. The Count had been interested as to what a mansion looked like in this day and age, and suffice it to say, he was very impressed and enthralled at everything he had seen before him. He had no idea how much wealth had existed in her family, but she seemed to humble and honest about her living. She treated everyone as equals, which spurred him onward in his quest to woo her. Momentarily, he had forgotten wooing her would be pointless until she reminded him she was taken. Sadly, he backed away and became a little depressed. Sissi then had a brilliant idea. She had recalled a possible solution to Paris' problem. As soon as she could, she gathered everyone together and then had Lionel load up the limousine to take them to the local library.

Once at the library, the group began reading more about Paris' author, Shakespeare. By the time they had arrived to the library, they had begun pouring over tomes of books written about Shakespeare himself and countless interpretations of the plays he had written. It was a fascinating time period, but not until they opened the play of Romeo & Juliet did they receive their obvious answer.

"When in doubt, read a book.", Jeramie said, as he saw Paris' expression brighten. As XANA read Paris's lines in a whisper, he saw something of himself within that character. He was different from him though, and thankful he had transformed since overcoming his dark side and finding light in his life. Besides, he was about to be a father, with little Diana coming into the world.

As the words were read, Paris' form became lighter and lighter, taking upon a golden hue.

"Alas, it seems I am departing. But weep not, dear friends. I live on here, and of course, here.", Paris said, pointing to the book and secondly to his temple, indicating he would always live within the minds of those who read about him or acted his part. His being became more and more particulate, golden dust illuminating the air and then formed a swirl of gold, circulating back into the book. Then, right before their eyes, the book levitated and placed itself back into the shelf. If the librarian had seen that, she would've fainted immediately, but thankfully no one else had seen that spectacle other than the Warriors themselves.

Epilogue

There were still so many questions that the Warriors had tumbling in their heads about how fragile space/time was. There was still a possibility that their dimension, as they knew it, might be destroyed if they didn't ask for help of some kind. They would have to put their heads together in the future and find a method of destroying Umbra before he ripped the very fabric of space and time apart. There would be a time when they would fight on more stable ground, and hopefully be victorious. But now, in the present, they had to rest themselves and leave everything else in the hands of a higher power. Hopefully that higher entity was on their side. As for Count Paris, he was back in the realm of fiction and restricted to only that. Happy they wouldn't have to encounter any fictional characters anytime soon, the Warriors had been glad they accomplished something so noteworthy, and if only they were the ones who knew of what they had done and were not thanked for their deeds, it really didn't matter. They were simply happy having helped another soul, fictional or not, back to its rightful home.

The End

(1) French. What is this ?